Before a presumably horrified faculty, Varvis told students that he was confessing the secret of higher education. "We will do almost anything to control your minds," he said January 15 in the Special Events Center. "We're plotting to make you our disciples, our acolytes, our minions."
Varvis called upon FPU academic deans and their representatives to answer questions frequently asked by students, such as:
- Why are there so many general education courses?
- Why are assignments so long and difficult and filled with…writing?
- Why don't professors just tell students what to write about instead of heartlessly forcing them to choose their own subjects?
- Why does FPU tolerate cocurriculars such as music, drama and athletics?
- What's the point of international trips?
- Why are faculty allowed to have differing opinions?
At the end of a soul-searching hour, Varvis closed with an impassioned plea to students to read deeply, ask questions and use their minds. "Protect yourselves!"