A College Degree: Does it Mean Anything at All?

I found a good article in the Greenville News, linked from SC Hotline. Last Friday, three Republican candidates for lieutenant governor engaged in a friendly debate. One of the issues that came up was whether Mike Campbell, the son of former governor Carroll Campbell, was fit for the job given his lack of a college degree. Campbell downplayed what the paper called a "lack of a few hours," saying, "I've never been one of these people that has associated leadership with a diploma hanging on the wall." Of course, the other two candidates were affable and said nothing of it. Henry Jordan, one of Campbell's opponents, responded, "Some of the smartest people I've known never darkened the door of a college. You can be an effective leader without a degree."

I would tend to agree with both of these statements taken at face value, but is there a little more to it when we're talking about the son of a former governor? In an age where people overcome poverty, get up to their ears in debt, and/or take care of a child while working on and completing a degree, should we just brush off the fact that Campbell - who is from an unquestionably privileged background - did not finish college? I'm not really prone to look the other way, in this case. It requires very little resilience or self-discipline for someone from a privileged background to complete college. I had an easy enough time finishing up with a 3.6 GPA. How much easier would it have been for me to graduate with a minimal 2.0? I don't even want to think about it! I was a doctor's kid, so I had more advantages than most, but not nearly the advantages of the son of one of the most powerful men ever to be involved in South Carolina politics.

In light of this, I wish that at least one of Mike Campbell's opponents would have had the balls to raise some serious questions, because when it comes to a governor's kid, I'm not satisfied with the whole "plenty of good people don't finish college" bit.