university

An Open Letter to Graduates (Part 2)

Sean McDowell — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:50:01 -0700

In my last post I offered the biblical prophet Daniel as an example to graduates of how to stay strong in their faith during college. Even though Daniel was in a foreign culture, not unlike where college freshmen will soon find themselves, he stood strong because Daniel determined in his heart beforehand not to defile himself (Daniel 1:8). Daniel had his heart set on doing right before the pressure came and that made all the difference.

In this post I want to offer three practical ways you can purpose beforehand to do the right thing so you can thrive in college rather than crash. Following are three specific issues you will soon face as you move into university life.

First, have you determined in your heart how you will respond to peer pressure to drink alcohol? Most of you have already faced this to some degree, but the stakes change when no parents are there to check on you at night or wake you up in the morning.

In his book University of Destruction, former tennis star David Wheaton shares about how his world came crashing down his first few weeks at Stanford. The rampant sexuality, widespread drunkenness, and attacks by his professors on his faith were too much for him to handle. He said, “I would soon find out that an excellent upbringing coupled with academic and athletic success was no match for the maelstrom called college. The waters were baited, the sharks were circling…spiritual shipwreck loomed” (p. 10).

David’s experience is typical of many young people who go off to college—they simply have not realistically thought through how they will respond to peer pressure. And so when “all” their friends are doing it, they give in. David described how the moment his duffle bags hit the floor of his new dorm room his tennis teammates barged through the door with pitchers of beer in hand. How would you respond in that situation? The only way to stand strong in college is to commit to a higher standard, like Daniel. Have you purposed in your heart that you will not defile yourself with alcohol? Don’t fool yourself, because the pressure will be strong. But you can do it!

Second, have you determined to stand strong intellectually? More than half of college professors say they regard the Bible as fable and legend. Far more professors are liberal than conservative (72% vs. 15%). Your professors have a worldview and they will try to impress it upon you. I am amazed at how many students have their belief system rocked when a professor questions the Bible, Jesus, or the evidence for creation. One of the best things you can do is to go into the university with your eyes wide open for intellectual challenges. Expect them!

One of the great things about Christianity is that there are answers to tough questions. Let me say it again so it sinks in—there are answers to tough questions. There are brilliant Christian scholars providing thoughtful answers to the toughest questions your professors will raise. If you really want to find an answer you can find it. Many young people don’t want to do the work so they simply adopt the views of their professors and end up walking away from their faith.

Here are three quick words of advice: (1) Befriend Christian professors on campus. Get to know them and talk to them about tough questions that arise in class. (2) Find a solid Christian ministry, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, or a good local church. There will be people there who can help you intellectually find answers to tough questions. (3) Do your research! Two great ministries that can help are Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig (double PhD!) and Stand to Reason by Greg Koukl. And of course you can find articles, videos, debates, books and more at my site too. Have you determined, like Daniel, to stay strong in your beliefs?

Third, will you take care of your health in college? You will no longer have your parents cooking for you and making sure you eat your green beans! Very soon you will be sitting in a cafeteria with options to eat whatever you want. I remember some of my classmates drinking soda and eating Captain Crunch or Lucky Charms night after night for dinner.

Eating poorly, lack of exercise, and lack of sleep will catch up to you. Every spring many of my students graduate and get ready for college. But every year some of them are back home by December having already dropped out. Why? One consistent reason is they simply don’t take care of their health. Depression is rampant in the university. Forty-six percent of college students said they felt hopeless at least once in the past year. While there can be many reasons for this, one prime reason is that students simply do not know how to take care of their health. The only way to do this is to determine ahead of time, like Daniel, that you are going to exercise, get good sleep, and make wise choices with what you eat. Have you purposed this in your heart?

There are many more issues that can arise. If you really want to be like Daniel, then I would recommend two outstanding books to you: (1) University of Destruction by David Wheaton. (2) Thriving in College by Alex Chediak. Both will help you think through a host of issues you will soon face so you can succeed in college.

College can be an amazing period of life. But it can also be a period of loneliness, regret, and foolishness. What makes the difference? The answer is simpler than you might think—determining in your heart that you will not defile yourself, like Daniel. Have you?

Social Change: Can We Begin the Process in the Schools?

bo.white — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:02:39 -0800

There is an old maxim that goes like this: ‘one cannot not communicate.’ In other words, whether we like it or not, we are always, whether verbally or non-verbally, communicating something. Even ignoring another person is a response and a facial expression is sometimes far more expressive than a few words. In a very real sense, the same is true in terms of schools and social change. Schools influence communities and they “cannot not” influence the communities in which they sit. In other words, schools will indeed leave a mark, so the question isn’t whether or not a school will impact a community through social change, but we must identify whether the influence is one that promotes social justice or injustice?

Do schools promote a certain type of social change or are schools simply reactionary institutions following current trends? In this paper, we will make a case that not only do schools impact social systems, thereby becoming agents of social change, but schools can actually lead the way in ushering in positive social changes by being more intentional in both instruction and influence. We turn first to a foundational question that sets up our understanding of intentionality. What is the difference between education that positively impacts a culture and education that intentionally advocates for social change?

Positive Influence or Fighting Injustice

“It has been well-documented and well-argued that educational reforms are mitigated by urban poverty and cannot transform inequities in schools without thinking about restructuring the city environment itself, which produces these students and the failing schools" (Anyon, 1997, p. 13).[1] So, who influences who? Is it the schools or is it the community that influences the school? Actually, we must admit that this is a mutually influential relationship in which the community benefits from a quality school while a quality school must be supported within a community.

Of course, when it comes to social change, “Is teaching for social justice a process of conveying a set of radical beliefs related to equity, diversity, and racial differences? Does it mean taking a political stand and becoming a change agent in diminishing the inequities in schools? Is it a virtue? Is it possessing certain abilities and knowing certain kinds of knowledge to do certain things in the classroom that reflect equality?”[2] What many people look for, to combat political, religious, or social biases is simply empirical data or quantitative measurements that will objectively tell us whether or not a school is socially impacting a community in a manner that is not only positive, but in a way that addresses issues like racism, poverty, and discrimination against women.

Yet, in order to understand this quantitative data a qualitative framework must already exist and there must be a vision or common understanding about what social justice looks like, otherwise, what are we aiming for?[3] To simply reveal that a school positively impacts a community via its reputation, its notoriety in certain extra curricular activities (note the large budgets of some sport programs in some schools), or its test scores, misses the opportunity a school has to position its own resources in a way that teaches more than its students. Schools, as a system within a larger system, have the ability to move beyond incidental influence to intentional social justice.

Let’s embrace the position that teachers are influential and let’s be intentional. After all, “classroom teachers are the most essential element because they have the ultimate responsibility to navigate the curriculum and instruction with their students in the classroom. They can examine the impact of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and poverty itself on the educational outcomes of students in urban schools. They have the intellectual and critical capacity to analyze the purposes, practices, and policies of schools and the impact on students' life opportunities. They may not be able to transform the society's fundamental inequities, but they can contribute in many practical ways by raising the level of social awareness of their students and guiding the curriculum for social justice instruction.”[4]

Celebrating diversity and promoting multicultural understanding isn’t enough. After all, what is considered ‘diverse,’ seems to change by the generation. Racism of the post World War II Civil Rights era in education looks very different to the fear of AIDS, homophobia, and gender inequality in the internet age.[5] In regard, then, to systemic change within organizations and communities, schools become a living, breathing laboratory where students can address pressing issues of social concern in a guided environment. Entire schools can address pressing issues of social concern as a community within a community, afforded the opportunity ‘fail’ a bit more, because the risk is in a sense protected for a time.

Can schools, then, become agents of social change? Absolutely and in many respects, this opportunity to do so, should not be passed over. The question, though, from ‘could’ to ‘should’ often becomes the controversial shift. Should a school take seriously its role in social change? If so, then ‘teaching to a test,’ becomes redefined as the tests of life are more than filling in ovals that a machine can read. We are talking about creating communities that address the issues that students and families will deal with the rest of their lives. And in doing so, the school becomes a proactive voice, even if in the inner city or in a troubled neighborhood, of advocacy and not simply a bystander in political and social discussions.

The question, for us, though moves to not only the role of a school, but does this apply to all levels of schooling? The answer is simply that not all levels of schooling are resourced in the same way to impact a community. The elementary school or primary school has a far different mandate in many respects, though still influential and still intentional, than a University does. And so, we turn now to the unique position that is afforded a college or University within a community and the myriad of ways that a University can and should be a change agent.

The Unique Role of the University

Immanuel Kant makes the point that “If you punish a child for being naughty, and reward him for being good, he will do right merely for the sake of the reward; and when he goes out into the world and finds that goodness is not always rewarded, nor wickedness always punished, he will grow into a man who only thinks about how he may get on in the world, and does right or wrong according as he finds either of advantage to himself.”[6] So, what happens when this child goes off to college? Do colleges challenge this preclusion to protect oneself or is there a way that Universities can model, in a unique way, education that advocates for the common good?

Nicholas Wolterstorff, from Yale University, identifies three ‘distinct dimensions’ that make up an ‘adequate framework’ for teaching social justice in a University setting.[7] First, there is the “social ethic,” which is further defined by one’s faith-based or moral convictions.[8] This is followed by a “structural analysis of our present-day social world.”[9] The third component, suggested by Wolterstorff is that of bringing together the “ethic with the analysis,”[10] so that the principle understood as ‘the ethic’ is applied more specifically to the situations that are analyzed.

Taking this three dimensional framework to various communities, we find that there is a wide range of understanding in terms of what people feel are proper social ethics. And thus, there are limitations immediately attached to an analysis of social issues. In many respects, we can all agree on the indisputable effects of racism, poverty, and social injustice that plagues many cities and neighborhoods, but without a common social ethic, solutions to social ills often become rather generalized or superficial. Why? Because, so often we tend to back up to the lowest common denominator to solve problems, because the respective lenses through which we view the problems or social ills are so often fogged over by various understanding of ethical behavior.

Herein lies the advantage of both grassroots movements as well as faith based Universities. While many faith based Universities advertise an ideal that is far greater than the reality of its own environment and curriculum, there is the possibility of unifying around a ‘greater’ cause and something that is greater than what is often visible. Faith based education can, without apology and as part of its own mission, address issues of the heart in very clear terms. Public Universities, who are funded by taxpayers and our own government, often must address social issues first, from an accepted social ethic, then the analysis is done in terms of what is ‘politically correct’. This limits the analysis rather quickly and this is evident in the history of racism. In public education, the prevailing view that is in power tends to influence greatly the prevailing acceptable views and taught social ethics.

When power shifts, then so do some ethics. So, for example, a culture like ours can say in the 1800’s that women and blacks have no vote, but in 2008, we see that as so utterly oppressive that it’s virtually unthinkable. The result of a changing social ethic though can be healthy for the University to address. And Universities have historically been places where challenging the prevailing powers that be can be done in effective ways.[11] Universities are uniquely positioned in communities, with resources and a certain respect allocated to them, to address social justice issues in reforming ways.

“The lesson to be learned by schools is that they must look for ways to confront their students with the faces and voices of suffering—with images and voices of the night….it helps to have that other presented in such a way that one suffers over his or her suffering and rejoices over his or her rejoicing.”[12] And often, Universities are afforded the freedom to peel back the current plight in the drama of suffering in our world. We tend to insulate children from it and understandably so and we tend to try to frame it for secondary students. But, University students and thus, the University faculty and community are uniquely positioned to show issues as they truly are in all of their ugliness, beauty, controversy, and compassion. If a school is going to intentionally address issues of poverty and inequality, then the challenge is to clearly show what poverty and inequality looks like and the implications of it.

The insulation can be taken from a student and the resources of a University can allow students a guided tour into a different side of life where injustice is seen clearly for what it is—ugly. Without seeing injustice clearly, social change will often be accidental, not incidental. And as Kant observes, the outrage will hardly be outrage at all, but a cry from personal discomfort, articulating an individual struggle, not a collective ownership of a community.

[1] Jose Lalas: “Teaching for Social Justice in Multicultural Urban Schools: Conceptualization and Classroom Implication.” From Multicultural Education; 2007, p. 3.

[2] Ibid, p. 1. See also http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3935/is_200704/ai_n19198580?tag=artBody;col1

Where in this review, the author makes the compelling point that qualitative data influences our understanding of social change or social injustice so much that we ‘take sides’ before there is empirical evidence, therefore tainting the data. I want to make the case that this is true individually as well as communally and we need not fear this, but embrace this as our reality. Numbers mean something only as we attach meaning to them.

[4] Lalas, p. 3.

[5] See also

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/spissue/ueee_pr_38_2.pdf for references that take this line of thinking further. Teachers that are allowed to move beyond teaching to a test can be change agents inside and outside the classroom.

[6] Immanuel Kant quoted in “Teaching for Justice: On Shaping How Students are Disposed to Act,” by Nicholas Wolterstorff, from Educating for Shalom, edited by Clarence Joldersma and Gloria Stronks; Eerdman’s Publishing, Grand Rapids, 2004; p. 138.

[7] Ibid, p. 146.

[8] Faith based colleges have both an advantage and disadvantage in addressing social justice. The advantage is that there is often a clear or at least clarified, somewhat unified understanding of what is meant by the term ‘justice’ and so the faith based community can move forward in a more unified fashion. The disadvantage is that often the perception of a faith based community is one in which many people believe that ‘faith’ or religion is part of the oppression that constitutes a society, therefore faith based institutions often fight first for credibility amidst a culture that so often identifies exclusivity and intolerance with religious ideals.

[9] Ibid, p. 147.

[10] Ibid, p. 148.

[11] We probably only have to mention phrases like ‘California Berkeley and Kent State’ to clarify the point.

[12] Ibid, p. 152.

Cheat In College (if you have no conscience)

Chuck Bomar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:51:10 -0700

A few weeks ago I came across a website that allows college students to cheat on due dates, but without a “lame excuse.” The website is Corrupted-Files.com. This is a very witty way of using the complexities of technology to cheat. Very interesting to say the least. Here’s how it works…

The student does not have a paper done by the assigned due date.
The student can then go to Corrupted-Files.com and download a corrupted file (Powerpoint, Excel, or Word) – the file doesn’t corrupt anything on your computer, it’s simply not able to be opened by the person receiving the file (which in this case is a professor).
The student purchases the file, names it the title appropriate for the project that’s due, and emails the purchased file to the professor
It will likely take the professor a day or two to get back to the student describing his/her inability to open the file.
It may also take the student a day to get that professors email (which is likely intentional on the students part) – thus giving the student a minimum of 2-3 more days after the original due date to get the actual document completed.
The professor just assumes that something happened to that particular file, not assuming anything is fishy with the interaction with the student.
Meanwhile, the student is taking the extra time to get the assignment done.
Once it’s complete the student emails the actual file to the professor without him/her knowing anything that’s gone on.
The student is not likely to be marked down for being late because it was an “unkown error” that occured.

What are your thoughts about this site? Actually, do you think I should've even posted this? Do you think some people might see this - and then cheat?

For an article written about this website, click here.

Questions about Christian College Environments

Chuck Bomar — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:54:50 -0700

I was at a Christian high school this morning. Cool kids. We had some good discussion - I was both impressed with some of their thinking and yet disheartened by confusion that was so evident in others.

You could say I'm becoming increasingly concerned about these environments. Whether it be high school or college, I'm finding more and more confusion with those attending these schools. Whether or not it's the school's fault I'm not ready to say, but I can say that people in these environments definitely have some of the same confusions and struggles going on.

I'm not saying we should throw them out, nor am I suggesting we negate them. I'm just saying I'm concerned. Thus, I think I will start blogging about this more frequently - in particular college environments.

I'm concerned that they are feeling pressure to do everything a church ought to be doing in the life of an individual. And frankly, I'm not convinced they should be.

How many chapels can a person sit through....really? There is no possible way people can apply all that information! Why are these mandatory? Really, why? Do we really think it's helping the spiritual growth of the students? Or, is there something else driving it?

Why is it that college campuses higher pastors for the campus? Shouldn't the school have someone in the position for the purpose of connecting students to local churches? Without this, aren't we just saying that the church isn't important? We might verbally say it is, but through our actions are we not undermining our words by providing everything a church should be doing?

Originally Christian colleges were started for the purpose of defending the faith. This purpose is long gone, leaving me to ask the question: why do they even exist?

I'm not saying they don't have a role or purpose, but I think that question needs to be answered.

Is it just a "better" yet more expensive education? Is it a marketing pitch - that is very effective by the way. Or, and I hate to even say this, is it just another way in which we've created a weird sub-culture that's great marketing?

I know God has used Christian colleges in the lives of people. Shoot, I can attest to some of that myself. But just because there are some good things that come of it, doesn't mean we shouldn't talk honestly about some of the negative implications it's causing us today. This is a subject that is worthy of discussion - and possibly upheaval.

Much more on this topic to come, I'm sure...