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Every now and then, it is valuable for us to step back and ask fundamental questions about what we do and why we do it. The summer of 2004 was quite different for most of us on The Hill than was the summer of 2003. I had some time to think a bit about the fundamentals at Jewell this summer and it was far more enjoyable than working to recover from the havoc of the tornado that struck the campus in May of 2003. I would like to share some of those thoughts with you.
The late Ernest Boyer was one of the great thinkers in recent decades on the topic of higher education. He was the leader of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He wrote, “Education for what purpose? Competence to what end? At a time in life when values should be shaped and personal priorities sharply probed, what a tragedy it would be if the most deeply felt issues, the most haunting questions, the most creative moments were pushed to the fringes of our institutional life. The undergraduate experience at its best will move the student from competence to commitment.”
And I would add, “with confidence,” for I think we are in the business of building students' confidence. I want every graduate to walk across our stage knowing they can compete in graduate school, knowing they can compete in the workplace, knowing they can compete in every undertaking, confident not only of their academic preparation, but also of their values, committed to something larger than themselves.
Many of the issues our students will wrestle with over the coming decades have only recently found their way into the public conversation. Some of those questions pose problems that many of us have a hard time comprehending, problems that will only be fully addressed as our society moves further into the new century. There will be tough, tough issues for which simple answers are not always at hand.
I strongly believe that it is the job of William Jewell College to help its students live those difficult questions in an environment where the questions can be faced within the comfort and support of thoughtful and caring faculty and staff. Jewell should be a campus that allows students the opportunity to explore new ideas, to change one's mind without penalty, in a setting that creates the comfort to think and speak, then listen, think and speak again, then listen again, think again and speak again.
Jewell is not about dictating specific answers to all of life's questions, but rather it is about creating the circumstances in which students can search, where students see mature Christian living modeled, and where they can live the questions as they live their lives. The result should be confident graduates whose competence and commitment under girds a lifetime of successful work and service.
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