Sometimes you experience completely unconnected events, but pick up a theme that links them together. That link cognitively seems to become the organizing principle of your memory, and you can no longer think of them separately. That happened to me last week.
A colleague sent me an email with a video link; President DeGioia presented his thinking on the future of the university; I spent half a day with senior administrators and the Jesuit community. The theme that links them together in my mind—to fulfill its mission, the future of Georgetown needs renewed use of the Jesuit and Catholic resources for graduate and undergraduate students.
The video Sleep When You’re Dead mocks a feature of the Georgetown undergraduate culture perceived through the eyes of some undergraduates. It focuses on a tendency among some students to be hyper-involved in co-curricular activities. While each activity that one learns about in the video has its merits, through work skills or social justice involvement, the message is that the trophy list nature of the assemblage of activities may be self-defeating. A tone in the students is that they may be losing their own identity because of the frenetic pace of the volunteer agenda.
President DeGioia’s remarks as the launching speech of the Designing The Future(s) of the University identified three inter-twined products of a university—formation of students, scholarship by faculty, and a public role for the common good. In contrast to those who believe that information transfer to students’ memories is the sole act of universities, President DeGioia noted that knowledge production through scholarship given freely to the society for the common good of all is a necessary sustenance of the teaching role. MOOCs transmit the knowledge of today; someone has to develop the knowledge of tomorrow. Further, the deep reflection that is offered as part of the Jesuit and Catholic culture of Georgetown is a key ingredient in the intellectual environment. It is not a set of mottos or sayings but an enormous asset for Georgetown’s achievement of formation of students. Indeed, the designs of the future Georgetown must find new ways to evolve this asset to adapt to future student populations and new technology tools.
The final experience of the trio of the week was a series of discussions of practical implications of the Jesuit approach to discernment, Ignatian spirituality, and the animating mission of Jesuit schools throughout the world. Particularly meaningful as part of discernment is the deep introspection that focuses on discovering the central forces and actions that lead to long-run self-understanding and happiness. The discovery of what option in life allows us to be authentic to ourselves. This road was built centuries ago, before Facebook, texting, and email alerts. It was built before the requirements to get into an elite university were perceived among high school students to include being president of multiple clubs, a star athlete, a CEO of a startup, a published scientist, an honored poet, an artist with multiple showings (all in one applicant!). One deep principle of Jesuit thought is that effective human action requires understanding of the culture in which it is situated—the notion of “inculturation.” The modern internet-based culture may require an adaptation of traditional approaches. It’s clear that Georgetown’s Jesuit community and the lay leaders deeply schooled in Jesuit and Catholic values have great resources to help us adapt Ignatian thinking to this new culture. We need to figure out how to do that.
So, I experienced three events. Students “outing” their own “too busy to think” pace. The president reaffirming the central university role of formation of students, building an environment excellently tuned to discovering one’s authentic self. The Jesuit community teaching me about viewpoints, frameworks, and tools of discernment. The first defined a problem; the second located it within the mission of Georgetown; the third may hold the solution. I feel like I saw three sides of the elephant in one week.
It’s clear that we, as a community of students, faculty, and staff, can put together a few pieces of our university for the betterment of all of us.
IT’s not that the students are “too busy to think”, it’s that they are “too busy to connect” – that’s huge! That means they are too busy to create school spirit, to share their journeys, to congregate and let them inspire, and be open to one another; it literally means community can’t happen in the most organic, honest and earnest ways. It means they don’t own their belonging but have to create it through what they do. This is not the higher value of higher education. It’s the conversations and connections and community that so counts at this age. Also, who’s asking the students when you formulate your “policies” and make decisions?
What students gave input on the food court options? Where do students want to hang out and congregate? Levy is simply a very uninspiring, limp and lifeless place to meet…this is the “student union”! And if students aren’t eating or congregating on campus casually and having the conversations as to what they want their school to be, houston , you’ve got a problem. Also, why is nothing open after 10 p.m – that”s when students are just starting their night? Only the library and that closes “early” — Georgetown is not asleep – it’s just not happening there! GEt the students on board!
Thank you for an insightful blog! If we seek answers not only inside, but also outside of the classroom, (and away from technology) one might find that other staff on campus have excellent ideas for identity formation/development/ and preservation as we navigate through an evolving educational environment.
VERY INTERESTING
Thank you for sharing “Sleep When You’re Dead” and for placing it in context with the President’s launch of “Designing The Future(s) of Georgetown.” I wanted to point out that the video was academic work produced by students in Georgetown’s Film and Media Studies Program. Juniors Carolyn Lehman, Evan Sterrett, and Jimmy Ramirez produced “Sleep When Your Dead” as a short documentary project in Prof Roberto Bocci’s ARTS-181: Intro To Filmmaking Studio course. I was pleased that Carolyn, Evan, and Jimmy chose to focus on the pressing issue of student overcommitment and on the cost of stress to health, happiness, and academic performance.
Thank you for a thought-provoking post and especially for bringing the excellent video about our students to our attention!