Media post: The Role of Cars in College Culture: From the 1950s to Today
Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan from Unsplash
For seven decades, the automobile has served as a central plot point in the story of what it means to live, learn, and grow as an undergraduate. Whether it’s the drive-ins of the 1950s, the alternative cultures of the early 1970s, or the clean power of the early 2010s, the car has confronted mammoth shifts in taste and lifestyle that reflect larger cultural trends. Viewing the evolution of the automobile on campus with that in mind gives us a new perspective on the social, cultural, and practical dynamics of the college experience.
How Campus Car Culture Emerged in the 1950s
The postwar boom in cheap, mass-produced automobiles would usher in a car-centric modernity after the war. Nonetheless, this process had already started in the 1930s, with the popularization of automobile manufacturing using assembly-line techniques. By the 1950s, a car culture centered around campus life flourished on campuses nationwide. Students flocked to the automobile for both the freedom it provided and the opportunities it opened for independence. As a currency, a symbol of youthful independence, and an indication of social status, the car became an essential part of the modern college experience.
Students drove the main streets, ate at drive-in diners, and explored the limits of their new-won freedom in their painted coupes and old sedans. Students can balance their coursework with their new mobility by seeking coursework writing help with their studies. Intentionally or not, a car culture emerged from this auto-immersion. It showed up in the growth of drive-in movie theatres, car-hop social events, and on the grounds of many higher-education institutions, which added automotive maintenance and repair courses to the contemporary curriculum.
Understanding the Counterculture and Environmental Concerns
The environmental movement of the 1960s and ’70s, as well as the counterculture’s fear of conformity and its repudiation of the dominant culture, contributed to a growing campus skepticism regarding the harm cars inflicted on the planet and their role in students’ lives. In the wake of the ‘Summer of Love,’ the car’s association with youthful rebellion mingled uneasily with the more straight-laced image of the environmentalist. The automobile’s primary association became one with a grim, grey, polluted, and utilitarian future.
By linking the car with the very forces they had chosen to revolt against (corporate power, consumerism, and the spoiling of nature), students responded with a wave of initiatives that highlighted mitigation strategies. Campuses, for example, not only carved out traffic-free zones around their buildings but also supported carpooling and public transport initiatives throughout their neighborhoods. Tellingly, bicycles and motorcycles became fashionable too.
The Influence of Sustainability and Technology Trends
The 21st century, as scholars can attest, has seen a further evolution in the importance of cars on campus. Environmental concerns, technological developments, and student preferences all play a role in the current situation. Environmentalism has become an issue that today’s college students have embraced and grown to like in the 21st century, as well as a new generation of transportation options and systems—particularly electric cars and car sharing—that fit their value matrix and minimize their carbon footprint.
Recognizing this demand, many colleges and universities have introduced campus-wide sustainability initiatives, such as the establishment of electric vehicle charging stations, promotion of bike-sharing programs, and greater integration of public transport into the campus infrastructure. Meanwhile, students are embracing a plethora of new, improved transportation technologies such as autonomous vehicles (self-driving cars) and ride-hailing services (commonly known as Uber) to get around campus and the wider community.
Cars Offer Vital Mobility to Students in College
Still, it seems clear that the car’s future on campus will remain fluid, shifting as much with the changing desires of the collegiate population as with the ongoing technological or stylistic innovations brought on by those new to the wheel. The automobile’s position in collegiate culture will continue to be an ever-evolving discussion as colleges and students answer the age-old question of what a car should or shouldn’t represent.
