A new year has begun at America\u2019s 3,500 or so institutions of higher learning, which means it\u2019s time for yet another cycle of news about alcohol, sex, suicide and cheating.<\/p>\n\n
As dean of the Duke University chapel, theologian William Willimon has heard more than his share of sobering statistics and angry debates about who is to blame. Instead of going around in old circles, he thinks it would be good if more educators had to sit down with students \u2013 sharing books or coffee or maybe both \u2013 and work on some big question of mutual concern.<\/p>\n\n
Here\u2019s a good one: What is the meaning of life?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe fact that many people are scared to ask that kind of question says a lot about the state of higher education,\u201d said Willimon. \u201cPeople are afraid that it might lead to discussions of good and evil, of right and wrong, and we\u2019re not supposed to do that. But we need to be honest and admit there is no such thing as value-neutral education. We are teaching our students some kind of values, whether we want to or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
So here\u2019s another good question: What is the meaning of meaninglessness?<\/p>\n\n
At that point, students and teachers might find themselves talking about binge drinking, date rape, eating disorders, careerism and a legion of other issues. Willimon believes it\u2019s time for teachers to realize students need input from their elders \u2013 before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHow can we be neutral on the role that alcohol plays on campuses?\u201d, he said. \u201cHow many people are going to have to fall off of fire escapes and die before we take this seriously? Somewhere along the line we lost our nerve, when it comes to talking about the things that matter the most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Willimon is speaking from experience. Back in early 1990s, the theologian teamed with economist Thomas Naylor to create a freshman seminar called \u201cThe Search for Meaning.\u201d For starters, students had to write short papers about their lives. The results from a 1994 class were pretty typical. Seven of the 16 students said the event that most shaped them was their parents\u2019 divorce. Only one of the papers included any other reference to having had a father.<\/p>\n\n
When it comes to meaningful relationships with adults, many students may as well be orphans, concluded Willimon and Naylor, in their book \u201cThe Abandoned Generation: Rethinking Higher Education.\u201d The irony is that most live on campuses led by adults who, when they were students, attacked \u201cin loco parentis\u201d policies in which the college played a protective, parental role. Thus, most educators now use what Calvinist philosopher David Hoekema has called the \u201cnon sum mater tua (I am not your mama)\u201d approach.<\/p>\n\n
Willimon and Naylor don\u2019t mince words about the result: \u201cWe have failed to teach an ethic of concern. We have created a culture characterized by dysfunctional families, mass schooling that demands only minimal effort and media idols subliminally teaching disrespect for authority and wisdom. It is as if there were a conspiracy of parents and educators to deliberately ruin our children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
But it\u2019s too late, especially on secular campuses, for \u201cin loco parentis.\u201d Instead, they suggest an \u201cin loco amicis\u201d approach, in which faculty dare to play the role of wise, experienced friends. At the very least, the advertising slogan \u201cFriends don\u2019t let friends drive drunk\u201d could be applied to sexual promiscuity, cheating, drug abuse and other moral issues.<\/p>\n\n
This would require teachers to spend more time with students in and out of the classroom, requiring changes in academic policies that stress research, over teaching. Colleges may need to find alternatives to massive dormitories that depress and depersonalize students. Administrators will have to confront painful problems instead of hiding behind public-relations officers.<\/p>\n\n
Parents and religious leaders also need to realize that today\u2019s campuses are even more risky \u2013 to body, mind and spirit \u2013 than those they knew, said Willimon.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe average campus is not a benign or neutral environment,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes the paganism comes in bottles. Sometimes it comes in books. But there\u2019s no denying that it\u2019s out there. Somebody or something is going to mold these students, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new year has begun at America\u2019s 3,500 or so institutions of higher learning, which means it\u2019s time for yet another cycle of news about alcohol, sex, suicide and cheating. As dean of the Duke University chapel, theologian William Willimon has heard more than his share of sobering statistics and angry debates about who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n