Thomas A. Shakely

The college experience was once regarded as a time to discover the richness and diversity of cultural tradition, a time to delve into matters deeply and explore the lessons of history toward the goals of discovering certain truths about humanity, and about oneself. College was a means by which to discover “Nature’s God” and Natural Law, the transcendent philosophy of mankind that guided our Republic’s Founders.

Colleges were good and worthy insofar as they enabled their students to grasp their place within the cosmos, and the meaning of a life well lived, thereby representing a wellspring whereby civilizations could replenish themselves.

We are know how strange the world has become since this old view of the university predominated. The “college experience” is more commonly understood as a time for casual sexuality and for ethical and moral experimentation.

(Odd that in this age that so prizes experimentation that rarely are conclusive judgments on the rightness or wrongness of actions ever arrived by the experimenters. One wonders to what end they are experimenting..)

And despite this new understanding of college as a time for personal pleasure and moral relaxation rather than as fidelity to the pursuit of answering the “big questions” of our time (or of all time), a new campus dogma has taken hold on the college campus, and those to blame are on both the left and the right. [Read more...]

What is the role of the modern university? Is it to educate students liberally in the rich tradition of Western Civilization? Is it to teach and train young people for the workforce, only in the skills they will need for specific careers? Or is the modern conception of the university someplace in between? These are colossal questions, indeed. What is surprising is not that answers can be elusive, but rather how few are asking the questions.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Hillsdale College in Michigan and Grove City College in Pennsylvania are two of the more well-recognized cases of private colleges with a firm handle on their principles, purpose and priorities in carrying out the task of higher education. Hillsdale “educates for liberty,” and Grove City strives to be a high quality, “affordable Christian college.”

On the other hand, many of our public colleges and universities, large and small, seem to lack any common vision or sense of purpose in carrying out their mission. Our Commonwealth’s land-grant university provides a perfect case study.

[Read more...]

In higher education, there was once a concept that enabled colleges and universities to set standards of conduct for undergraduates, defining ethical behavior and actively shaping their young entrants into adult men and women.

That concept, known as in loco parentis – Latin for “in the place of a parent” – has disappeared almost entirely in the life of the modern university.

In loco parentis was one of the casualties of campus activism in the 1960s, a victim of the movement that began so honorably to preserve free speech from infringement on the UC Berkeley campus, tragically devolving into the nationwide riots that would result in the jettisoning of so much that had made higher education so culturally cherished, so special and rare.

The idea of the college as one’s alma mater – his “Dear Mother” – was another old idea this new movement put on the road to extinction. A love for the humanities, especially Latin as a key to appreciation of the Romance languages, began to fade.

[Read more...]

The American college is probably at least as well known for its all night “keggers” off-campus as for the rigors of its classes on-campus. The idea that ever greater funding of awareness campaigns and educational programs is the solution, though, is rarely questioned despite results dubious at best.

Damon Sims, Vice President for Student Affairs at Penn State, displayed unusual candor for a college administrator in a meeting with students in Sept. 2008 as reported on by The Daily Collegian, the campus newspaper.

“Colleges and universities across the country have thrown millions of dollars at [preventing dangerous drinking],” Mr. Sims asserted. “I think if anyone tells you they’ve made a dent, they’re lying to you.”

We too often look to administrators, programs and police to reform the college dangerous drinking culture, yet meaningful change must first occur deep in the souls of our young people. No degree of advocacy for healthy consumption can convince one who simply doesn’t believe in his heart the message of moderation.

[Read more...]

In examining the successes and failures of higher education, too rarely do we acknowledge the important role of students themselves in the learning process.

In fact, much of the academic elite who dominate the ivy tower today tend to treat incoming students not as young men and women ready for a serious education, but as impressionable children in need of attitude formation and behavior modification.

In searching for a solution to remedy what ails our modern university system, though, we must look to broad ranging solutions that will do more than bring about short-term policy change or committee reviews of college policy.

Rather, we must reform ourselves, changing our own hearts and expanding our imaginations, in order that we might achieve real reform. Our view of young people requires an almost complete re-examination before we can hope to renew higher education.

Young people love to compete. They strive for the opportunity to prove their talent and test their limits. Imagination, exploration and energy are natural virtues for the young at the dawn of their lives.

[Read more...]