Letter from Massachusetts, the citadel of American intellectualism

The Welcome Centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [XN Iraki, Standard] Kiambu and Massachusetts, United States of America, share something in common-they are home to elite schools. For Kiambu, it's six of the original 17 national schools before the list was enlarged to 103. That probably diluted the mystique of the national school, with private schools slowly taking over. Some of these elite private schools are coming up in Kiambu. Massachusetts is home to a number of elite universities, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). You can walk from MIT to Harvard in about 25 minutes across Harvard Bridge over the Charles River. Let's leave Kiambu for now, better known for the fast-disappearing coffee plantations and still intact, beautiful tea plantations. I have always wondered why they are not marketed as tourism attractions beyond the Big Five. Let's focus on Massachusetts (MA), a mouthful of a name; it's a native American name. It's a small state, only 27,340 km2, with a population of about seven million. It's part of the six states that make up New England. Others are Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This region had an uncanny semblance to England. Massachusetts' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to be $785 billion (Sh101.265 trillion) in 2025. Kenya's economy is projected to be $132 billion (17.028 trillion). Massachusetts, with only 4.6 per cent of Kenya's land mass, has six times Kenya's GDP. The secret behind its economy is services and innovation. Think of it, Massachusetts, popularly called MA, has over 100 universities and colleges. Its key industries are biotech/life sciences, finance, technology, education, and healthcare. All these are driven by research and innovation that originates from the universities. Can you see why we should see our universities as economic assets beyond students' accommodation? It's the reputation of MA as the citadel of US intellectualism that took me there, specifically in Boston. I visited three universities-Harvard, MIT, and Tufts. I made several observations. One is the openness of the universities. No fences or walls around the campuses. No security guards! Public roads pass through universities. These institutions are part of the cities/society. I found the same openness at the University of Washington in Seattle. None of these universities has a grandiose gate! The universities are tourist attractions. At Harvard Square, you queue to take a photo next to the statue of the founder, John Harvard. How many tourists visit our universities, excluding high school students? Two, the universities are old, built when bricks were popular. Harvard was built in 1636, while MIT and the University of Washington were built in 1861 and Tufts in 1852. The new buildings rhyme with the old ones. There are great efforts to preserve the old buildings, which are surprisingly beautiful. MIT seems to have more modern buildings and is more integrated into the city of Cambridge than Harvard or Tufts. They all have a quad, like the University of Nairobi's (UoN) Great Court, but theirs have trees. Three, the universities don't just compete; they cooperate. Students can take classes in the neighbouring universities with mutual agreement. Harvard students can take some classes at MIT and vice versa. Tufts' Fletcher School and Harvard can do the same. Why can't we do the same in Kenya? They also cooperate in selling books. I noted that with MIT and Harvard through COOPs (Cooperative Education Programmes). Four, they have income-generating projects. One curious observation is that textbooks and general books are sold separately at MIT and Harvard. Could it be for control over intellectual property? There are other enterprises owned by these universities, directly or indirectly through their endowment funds. Check the value of their endowment funds. Five, philanthropy is part of their culture, with buildings named after donors. Some of Harvard's key donors include John Paulson, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. For MIT, we have George Eastman, Stephen Schwarzman and Patrick J McGovern. Tufts has Pierre Omidyar, Jonathan, and Lizzie Tisch, among others. Who are our university donors in Kenya beyond names? Six, all these universities require that all first and second-year undergraduates stay on campus, with their residence guaranteed. You can now explain why these universities easily get donations for endowment, and their games are well attended by their alumni and alumnae. Think about it, how do you admit a girl from Loyangalani and tell her to get her own accommodation in Nairobi? Who said that tuition and accommodation must be separated? Seven, universities and corporates are symbiotic. Not so surprisingly, Google has a building next to MIT. Universities provide a workforce for the corporate world, while cooperating on cutting-edge research leading to innovations. So, are there any lessons for Kenya? One, we need to start seeing education as an export. What if so many universities attracted foreign students and their fees? For that to happen, we must improve on their ranking and reputation, which makes it easy to charge higher fees. We should start by getting the basics right, like accommodation. I even visited a hostel at Tufts. Who wants to come to a foreign country to look for accommodation behind a shopping centre? One might argue that accommodation is being provided by the private sector; that is different from the university's own accommodation, where students develop a sense of identity and pride. Two, our universities are part of society. Do we see them as such? Have universities raised the value of real estate where they are located, not because of student accommodation? Do Machakos, Karatina, Njoro, Kabianga, Garissa, and other towns take pride in hosting the various universities? Does the concept of a university town exist in Kenya? Do you take pride in neighbouring a university? Three, in the Boston area, universities are part of an ecosystem, generating research commercialised through technology, life sciences, or finance. How about Kenya? How much do societies near universities benefit from spillover effects? Do farmers neighbouring faculties of agriculture have better and higher yields? How integrated are our universities with the rest of the economy? Finally, New England, specifically Massachusetts, is a model to emulate in making the best out of higher education. Highly ranked universities attract talented students, who spawn innovations, leading to new firms or the expansion of existing ones. Success begets success. Which Kenyan county can be our Massachusetts?

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Letter from Massachusetts, the citadel of American intellectualism

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