Do you always have to go to class?

The country's university community, and more specifically Barcelona's, has for a few hours abandoned its militant alienation from active life and the world of current affairs in general, following an email that the dean of Political and Social Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra sent to his students, denouncing worrying absenteeism in the classrooms. "We observe low levels of attendance in classes, as well as deficient involvement in following subjects, with tasks often done with little rigor and an attitude not very committed to the learning process," writes the professor (the press does not cite the authorship of the letter but, if the Pompeufarra website does not deceive me, it would be Dr. Abel Escribà), with the typical warmth of an apocalyptic phrase and a certain tone of nostalgia for a better past. 

For anyone who has some contact with the university tribe, this type of refrain is not new. When I was a student, there were already many illustrious academics who longed for a time (non-existent!) when most students read Heidegger in German even during recess and where the authority of teachers was more sacrosanct than the Gospel. But even nostalgia is not what it used to be... and before shooting at what the pretentious call "the student body," we should consider whether the emptiness in the classrooms is only attributable to the students or if it could also be related to that type of professor ---perhaps a minority, but with a great gift for longevity--- who always regurgitates the same dust-yellowed notes from six decades ago and has the indecency to systematically approve all his students or to repeat the same questions every year in exams, thus generating a rather scarce sense of ambition. 

The author of this Stab, educated in priests' schools and naturally repellent, always attended class at the faculty. I did so, first of all, because my two passions - thought and the world of sounds - have always woven themselves better in common and under the gaze of others, however much they are associated with existential solipsism. I always went to class because, in a more than acceptable percentage, during my years at the University of Barcelona I had great professors who gave me an education quite close to the world's first division. There were also correct ones, just okay ones, and a sufficiently important number of unpresentable ones; but I swallowed it all, because I was aware of the privilege of occupying a public space funded by all citizens and also the responsibility of doing it well, because, unlike many classmates, I could dedicate all my time to reading Plato's dialogues and learning Wolfie Mozart's operas. 

Do you always have to go to class? My answer is yes and absolutely yes. But I also understand that, at least when it comes to the humanistic sect, there are professors who make things very difficult for their students. I would also add that there are public managers who do not offer many incentives to fill the faculties, favoring (at least, I insist, in "liberal arts" careers) subjects that increasingly have a more meager bibliography and delirious themes that would even make the apologists of the woke thing blush. A educational system that stuffs our young people into university by default doesn't help much either ---regardless of whether they haven't been able to choose their first vocation or that perhaps they would find more existential meaning in other types of studies more focused on specific trades--- just to keep them away from unemployment for four years. A classroom is one of the most beautiful places in the universe; but if things are not done well, it can also become hellish… 

I understand the desperation of this dean from UPF and, if I were in his place, I too might have written this letter to his students. But before giving lessons, I insist to the point of nausea, the academic Olympus of the country should also embrace the art of self-criticism, and this is an effort I have not yet seen our university professors make. I know firsthand the precariousness of our teachers, even more so if we compare it with the salaries from nord enllà and the money that Yankee professors charge, but this is no excuse to impute academic disinterest solely to students. In my teaching experience, if you do things well... the classroom is always full; but for that, you have to try to be your best student.