I don't think there is any such thing as a perfect curriculum. Students lined up in the cavernous, wainscotted room, sometimes 25 and 30 deep, to ask the president questions. Sonnenschein was repeatedly pressed about whether new faculty members would be hired as the college expands. He didn't give a specific answer to the question. Students are concerned because in the traditional curricula established 60 years ago by Robert Maynard Hutchins, most courses met in small discussion groups.
Students fear that their classes have already gotten too large.
Sonnenschein has announced plans to update the U. of C.'s educational blueprint. Traditionally, the Hyde Park school has had a relatively small undergraduate college and larger graduate and research divisions. Over the next seven years, the undergraduate enrollment is scheduled to rise to 4,500 students from 3,800. Coupled with changes in the undergraduate curriculum recently approved by the faculty, that projected increase has led critics to fear a dilution of the school's academic integrity. Also last week, an alumni group announced the launching of an opposition Web site and called for an embargo on contributions until the university backs off from its current plans.