| A thousand years ago there were two kinds of | | | | We have inherited a fast moving world in which |
| people; those who mattered and those who were | | | | events, good and bad, take each of us by surprise. |
| expendable; the serfs. What separated the both was | | | | When they do so we become confused and |
| education, through which came influence, brought | | | | uncertain of our security. To make matters worse |
| about by mixing in the same circles as those with | | | | our situation may deny us the mobility needed to |
| authority. | | | | seek pastures new. |
| The landed gentry system of privilege; the barons, | | | | This is where choice of university is a decision equally |
| feudal lordships never disappeared but morphed into | | | | important to that of choosing a partner or career; it |
| what became know as 'the establishment.' Nor did | | | | is truly life-changing. Universities too have to move |
| the serfs fade away through progress. They became | | | | and react to changing world situations. Today there |
| known as the lumpenproletariat; the underclass of | | | | would be little call for an early 20th Century or even |
| humanity. | | | | a 1950s graduate. |
| In the medieval age if you could read, write and | | | | The genesis of a revolutionary approach to holistic |
| understand basic mathematics you were of the high | | | | higher education was founded on a principle of |
| order. If you could not then you tilled, husbanded | | | | accepting change as challenge. At the sharp edge of |
| livestock, or lived precariously off your wits. Today, | | | | educational evolution are the three privately funded |
| higher education bestows the same separation and | | | | universities of Mediterranean Spain's Marbella, Mallorca |
| privileges on the few; bringing with it more lucrative | | | | and Benidorm academia. |
| careers that are far better protected. | | | | An Inspired Choice |
| The Rewards of Privilege | | | | The setting for each of the universities' was an |
| Achieving privilege through education is a screening | | | | inspired choice. The international interaction of each |
| process for the next generation's elite. Those who | | | | of the locations was considered an essential |
| graduate will either be sought after or find positions | | | | component of the courses offered. Each is a vibrant |
| of employment that bestows rewards that others | | | | hub of affluence set against a backdrop of |
| can only dream of. | | | | international association between the privileged elite |
| With their elevated role in society they are | | | | of wealth and influence on world affairs. |
| automatically listed for a lifestyle; events and | | | | Humanity as it enters the second decade of the 21st |
| occasions denied to those who are less fortunate. | | | | Century is facing far greater challenges than ever |
| They earn and travel more; they often make | | | | before. Collapsing currencies, geo-politics, climatic |
| decisions that impact on others, and are better | | | | change, and population movement are considered to |
| protected by 'the old boy network'. | | | | be even more far reaching in their effects than the |
| If lucrative positions become available they are the | | | | calamitous wars and revolutions of the 20th Century. |
| first to hear of it. Their applications, in a manner of | | | | Worldwide famine, the need for nations and peoples |
| speaking, go by special courier. Most intriguing of all, | | | | to collaborate, to balance need with nature, a more |
| the higher education of one person cascades down | | | | equitable fiscal order, the need to monitor and control |
| to benefit all their family members. | | | | population movement; to discourage it by the |
| University life is demanding of time and application; its | | | | elimination of poverty, are to be the fruits of the |
| nature calls for commitment and focused ambitions. | | | | prospectus. |
| One's choice of university calls for prudent | | | | Never was education more important or its nature |
| investment in one's intellect and future. Altruism can | | | | more uplifting. Higher education is no longer the |
| find no one better to favour than its backer. | | | | preserve of a rich and powerful intelligentsia; today it |
| It also calls for considered thought before deciding | | | | is the duty of each individual to bring his or her true |
| which is best suited to one's ability and lifestyle | | | | worth to the betterment of mankind. There can be |
| destination. Where universities are concerned one size | | | | no finer way of achieving this than by accepting that |
| does not fit all. | | | | the greatest challenges bring the greatest rewards. |
| The Challenge of Change | | | | |