I heard a huge silent sigh of disbelief from a large segment of the readership of The Citizen, several of whom I have spoken to, when they read Mr. Schwab's letter of Dec. 16, expressing his bloated sense of self-importance and claiming ownership of the university on behalf of the students and faculty of UNBC.
Even some of the faculty and his fellow students would, I hope, choke on his well-developed and hugely inflated sense of personal entitlement, to oppose his thesis that the university belongs to the students and faculty alone.
If the faculty have embarrassed themselves, which they have, by their aggressive and superior posturing in a photograph on the front page of The Citizen, they should stand up and speak against the lonesome philosophical meanderings of this ill-informed undergraduate student.
I hear a deafening silence to date.
When I was admitted to university in Canada (admittedly in the previous century), it was the culmination of considerable effort to achieve the requisite qualifications to achieve admission and a dream of betterment. It was a battle against the poverty that I, like many, had experienced in my childhood.
When I was "granted" a degree, it was a recognition of an achievement. It was not an entitlement.
"Granted" means, amongst other meanings, "to permit, as a right, privilege, indulgence or favour."
It is not something that one is entitled to!
I am grateful for what I have been able to do in Prince George in the 40 years I have been here.
It is totally due to the privilege that I was "granted.
Dr. R.H. Dabbs
Prince George
