New
President Interview -- Part 35
Ethics
and Academia
Q:
This is season for new college graduates to search for jobs. Some were lucky to find jobs before
graduation, but others are still struggling to find something appropriate. Many
students are faced with entry level positions that require 1-2 years of
experience. Employers complain that many
students graduate without critical thinking skills, research and analysis
skills, and a lack of moral compass.
What is the role of the College in
teaching morals and ethics?
A:
This is a
question that has been on the agenda of colleges and universities since the beginnings
of the university. In 1986 Dr. Norman
Lamm in an address to Yeshiva University that was later printed in the New
Times[1] challenged
universities to teach ethics and offer moral guidance. In the days when some colleges were
“gentleman’s clubs” for the rich, moral guidance and learning for the sake of
learning (i.e. knowledge without an immediate practical purpose) were major
parts of the curriculum. Dr. Lamm writes
that 50 years ago (i.e. 1930’s) colleges were the special stewards of the
wisdom of a good life, truth, goodness, beauty, and the value of investigating
thought. Creative writing teaches among
other skills, how to contemplate life. Philosophy teaches the value of pure thought.
While many professions have codes of
ethics, these ethical codes are not part of the undergraduate curriculum. In
the 1960’s the moral mission of higher education was equated with imperialism. Today
the moral or ethical component education is part of critical thinking skills that
employers want.
The 1780 Constitution of Massachusetts[2]
includes the following in Chapter V.
Section
II. The Encouragement of Literature, etc.
Wisdom,
and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the
people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and
as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in
the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people,
it shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this
Commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all
seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools, and
grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public
institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts,
sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country;
to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general
benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and
punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humour, and all social
affections, and generous sentiments among the people.
Q: Are students becoming moral
illiterates?
Without a moral or ethical compass,
students can fall prey to predators, liars and half-baked rhetoric. The goal of teaching critical thinking is to enable
graduates to have the ability to understand the world tomorrow in a way that we
could not imagine today. They should be able to analyze new situations and come
up with reasonable solutions. As educators we have to not only believe in
the superiority of education as opposed to ignorance, but also live this belief
in words and actions. Reason,
investigation, and planning should push aside impulse and temporary fixes. We must live and teach integrity over
cheating; discipline over quick fixes; patience over impulse, thinking and
planning over laissez-faire. A moral
compass helps students to better cope with life experiences.
Dr. Lamm says that pushing moral
education to the churches or synagogue does not work because the very students
who need a moral education are not going to the religious institutions. Morality is much more than going to church,
prayer, or listening to sermons. Moral
education is learning the natural laws of right and wrong. Natural (or divine) laws transcend human
laws. A legislative body could pass a
law making an act legal, but that does not make it right or just. The existence of the soul and the divine do
not overrule or condemn scientific knowledge.
As I have mentioned before knowledge
comes before wisdom. Knowledge grows and ripens into wisdom. Wisdom is the strategic use of the knowledge
of the facts to meet the challenge. It
does not matter whether you believe in the creation story of the Bible that
says human beings are the reason for creation. Creating human beings who are viable,
productive members of society is the reason education was created. Respect for the human spirit and a love for
learning should be among the goals of higher education.
Q:
Why should love of learning be a goal of higher education? What is your definition of the human spirit?
A: Love of learning is
one of the most important reasons we became educators. We have to transmit the
belief that learning is a life-long activity.
Sometimes I have to remind our faculty of this. They need to change and adapt to new
challenges and knowledge. The College
encourages professional development and individual scholarship. While we don’t have a requirement to publish,
we encourage publishing in academic and professional publications. We encourage writing articles in print and
electronic publications that support our values of education, knowledge, and
wisdom.
The human spirit is that which elevates
us above the animal instincts and impulsive behaviors. Thinking, planning, and analysis are human
spirit activities. Sleeping and survival
eating are part of the animal in us.
These are lofty goals. We have lost track of the idea that higher
education has place in the goal of the society.
People have lost confidence in the government so much that they embrace
“outsider” candidates who claim they can turn around the government and make it
“work” for the citizens.
Q: What are the societal goals of higher
education?
A: We are answering to
the almighty dollar. Some colleges
invent programs that could be tuition cash “cows.” They accept foreign students just because
they can pay full tuition. Every
decision is based on economics rather than looking at the academy as a
repository of culture and a hot bed of thinking and creativity. Budgeting does take a large amount of my
attention and I don’t want the college to lose money, but we can’t forget why
we exist in the first place.
In an article published in Harvard
Magazine in 2010 by Ellen Condliffe Lagemann and Harry R. Lewis[4]
the authors agree with the ideas of Dr. Lamm, but they add the concept of civil
responsibility. They state that moral philosophy was an important part of the
education in pre-Civil War universities.
By the end of the 19th century this required subject was
rarely offered. Social science was
separated from social work. Science pushed aside moral and religious
education. For example Jewish or
Christian studies were taught from a cultural point of view rather than a
religious or moral viewpoint except at religious institutions. Condliffe and Lagemann propose that every
course reflect on social and political issues and raise questions concerning
society. Science courses could include
discussions on human welfare and how the academic material fits into the
destiny of society and the greater world.
Discussions on morality and what kinds
of citizens we want living in our community should be part of the academic
atmosphere so that we have fewer scoundrels or faculty members who need
discipline after shooting off their mouths before the brain starts working.
Q: Let’s take a couple of steps back to reality.
Is the college really at the point where the social contract is part of its
academic fiber?
A: It is very hard to separate economic
pressures from the dream college goals that I mention above. The idea of a social contract with the
community and the college is an idea that is being rediscovered in
academia. The framers of the
Massachusetts constitution recognized the importance in 1780, but today people
want too many instant rewards. Dr. Lamm made his proposals in 1986 and I only recently
learned about them. May be no one is listening?
I listen to reports about the teachers unions,
the public schools, and the state government and hear nothing about civic education,
moral education, or social contract with the schools. None of these groups talk publically about making
better citizens. School boards threaten to fire teachers over test scores. States threaten to measure school success over
test scores. But no one repeats the words from Massachusetts, “inculcate the
principles of humanity…”
In a way TV and
instant answers on the Internet have interfered with learning. Scholarship is slow
and tedious. Some lessons take time to sink
in. I have to remind the faculty of
reasons we exist. Proprietary schools,
i.e. profit making higher education, remove the aspects of being the keepers of
culture and developers innovation. The concentrate
on training students to get a first job.
We have limited
resources. I can communicate. I can plan,
but I can not create time. I can balance
the budget and hopefully allocate resources to further the missions of the
college. I can only change my own part of
the world.
Q: Thank you very much.
Part
thirty-five of the imaginary interviews with the president of the College.
After more than 30 interviews the president is no longer “new,” but since we
are all works in progress I am continuing the series as if s/he were a “new
president.” Please feel free to suggest new ideas for interviews and
presidential comments. This article is for your information, amusement, and
edification. Everything is true, but some details have not yet happened. Any
connection to a real college or president is strictly coincidental.
[1] The
message was first presented at the convocation celebrating the 100th
anniversary of Yeshiva University. A
version, “A moral mission for colleges,” was published as an op-ed in the New
York Times on Oct. 14, 1986 page A35 and another version, “Are we creating
ethical illiterates?” appeared in USA
Today, March 1988 page 55-56. The New
Times version was reprinted in Dr. Lamm’s book: Seventy Faces: Articles
of Faith, Volume
1
chapter 20 page 214-216. (New York : Ktav, 2001).
[3] This
section is still present in the current constitution, but it was amended. Here is the current version:
The Encouragement of Literature, etc.
Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue,
diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the
preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading
the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the
country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of
legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to
cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of
them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar
schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions,
rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences,
commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to
countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence,
public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in
their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous
sentiments among the people
[4] “Renewing Civic Education : Time to restore
American higher education’s lost mission.” Harvard Magazine March-April 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2016 from: http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/renewing-civic-education
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