{"id":35537,"date":"2024-02-05T09:13:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35537"},"modified":"2024-02-05T10:07:42","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T18:07:42","slug":"a-letter-written-on-the-walls-of-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-letter-written-on-the-walls-of-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter Written on the Walls of Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0For my post, I wrote a hypothetical letter to leaders in Christian higher education believing that things can and will improve\u2013based on the solutions our readings suggest. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Letter Written on the Walls of Higher Education<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Christian Higher Education Administration,<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever I read books like\u00a0<\/span>The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All<\/em>\u2013But there is a Solution<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em>by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, I think about how extraordinary it is that you are still in existence. Your Christian colleges and universities were one of the first institutions of higher education in America. Early settlers in America, which included Quakers, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Baptists emerged providing not just religious education but a diverse curriculum. Approximately 106 of the 108 first colleges were founded by Christians. In fact, Harvard University, considered a leading global university, originally precepted that students should be instructed in knowing God and that Christ is the only \u201cfoundation of all sound knowledge and learning.\u201d<\/span>[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

I grew up in a diverse area of New Jersey as part of a Christian-Jewish family but spent the majority of my growing up years in Christian schools, even when I was adamantly opposed to staying because I wanted more freedom to think out of the bubble. \u00a0Yet, after I toured the universities where I was accepted, I decided to spend my undergraduate years at a Christian university whose marketing campaign won me over with the words from II Corinthians 3:17, \u201cNow The Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is\u00a0<\/span>freedom<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent much of my life behind your walls of higher education mostly because I married one of your administrators and because I am a lead learner. When I started freelancing as a writer, another one of your administrators persuaded me to teach writing to your students. \u00a0That one decision changed the course of my life and over the ensuing 25 years, your professors, students and administrators fed me new ways to think, express creatively what I was teaching, and gave me freedom to ask my students to think critically about history so they could become better writers and speakers. Writing books and articles alongside teaching your students behind your walls turned out to be more satisfying and transformative than I could ever have imagined\u2013the relationships are life lasting. What the First Amendment<\/span>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and academic freedom gave me was a place where I could see how my thinking was wrong<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u2013this was the gift I modeled for my students and they for me. We developed character together.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that all changed as Cancel Culture upended lives, ruined careers and undermined your more secular<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and, in part, your religious campuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lukianoff and Schlott say it best:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last several decades, many institutions tasked with teaching us how to argue productively have failed in their duties\u2013most notably, American higher education \u00a0. . .we rely on institutions of higher learning to help us sort out falsehood from truth, good ideas from bad, and tenable solutions from untenable ones.\u201d<\/span>[5]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sorting Out Falsehood from Truth<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0In\u00a0<\/span>The Coddling of the American Mind<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> Jonathan Haidt and Lukianoff (their 1st book) become convinced through research that overly involved, anxious parents made children less prepared for the real world. Christian parents are just as anxious as non-Christian parents. I taught these students; the only difference between them and a student who goes to Harvard, is that behind your walls, they will learn personally about grace, sin, redemption, forgiveness, and honesty. \u00a0In fact, I believe what you have been given to steward is what is so desperately needed in mainstream culture. As David Brooks remarked to the CCCU in Washington D.C., \u201c[Christian colleges] have a way of talking about and educating the human person in a way that integrates faith, emotion and intellect. You have a recipe to nurture human beings who have a devoted heart, a courageous mind and a purposeful soul. Almost no other set of institutions in American society has that, and everyone wants it.\u201d<\/span>[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it still in your mission to help students sort out falsehood from truth? The ways in which you integrate faith, emotion and intellect synchronistically keep God in the picture. Just last week we read in Matthew Petrusek\u2019s book how ideologies<\/span>[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0threaten your mission. Yet, behind your walls, there is freedom to explore varied philosophies and religions while pursuing the truth. \u00a0In any institution, pursuing truth meets a deep human need yet a truly academic approach can appeal to Christians and non-Christians as it adapts to other religions and philosophies. \u00a0In a recent\u00a0<\/span>Christianity Today<\/span>\u00a0article, Joseph Clair makes a case for the liberal arts in religious schools. \u00a0\u201cTh\u00ade Christian university of the 21st century ought to present a picture of the human person and the role of intellectual cultivation in human flourishing that transcends the impasse of liberal and progressive approaches to the liberal arts.\u201d<\/span>[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Sorting Out Good Ideas from Bad Ideas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Lukiaoff and Schlott, the Great Untruth of Ad Hominem\u2013means that if you can show someone to be \u201cbad\u201d by any measure, you don\u2019t have to listen to them anymore. Anything can be used to dismiss someone as \u201cbad\u201d depending on your political orientation\u2013from dubbing them of being \u201cconservative\u201d to accusing them of being \u201cwoke.\u201d<\/span>[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

How might college administrators and faculty keep Christian campuses friendly to free speech? If Brooks\u2019 convictions are right that \u201calmost no other set of institutions in American society\u201d has a way of talking about and educating the devoted human person, then what might you need to pay careful attention while swimming in the waters of cancel culture?<\/span><\/p>\n

Be the Leader with Tenable Solutions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Reform Existing Christian Universities and Institutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Lukianoff and Schlott write that higher education is begging to be fixed.<\/span>[10]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On pp. 287-291, they offer first steps to healthier free speech. One viable solution they mention is to Install an academic freedom Ombudsman. With someone in charge making sure academic freedom is protected, students and faculty would feel protected no matter how they challenge one another\u2019s thinking. \u00a0Might this be a way to reform anti-intellectualism?<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Name the Enemies<\/span><\/strong> that keep you from staying in your lane of spiritual and character\u00a0development in your student\u2019s lives. Is it hypocrisy? Legalism? Mission drift? How might you lead in demonstrating humility in your System 2 thinking? The world understands when you misstep with your initial responses to students and faculty who make bad decisions. In Daniel Kahneman\u2019s book, <\/span>Thinking Fast and Slow,<\/span>[11]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He teaches us another way\u2013to pay attention to our slow, deliberate way of thinking and responding. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>R<\/span><\/strong>ecommit to Truth-Telling and Truth-Knowing as a Process.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>You in this sphere have the Gospel, You know Christ and you know how to teach the next generation\u2013Like Paul Hunham, the teacher in the movie The Holdover\u2019s<\/em>, who says, \u201cTeaching is not for the faint of heart. It takes more than competence and intellect. It requires emotional and moral intelligence, too, including kindness, gentleness, and courage.<\/span>\u201c[12]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0As you recommit to the calling of learning, keep Jeremiah\u2019s words close to your heart and mind as you work toward freedom of speech, academic freedom and character formation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf I say, \u2018I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a>\u00a0September 29, Allison McCalman-Updated and 2017. \u201cThe History of Christian Education in America.\u201d The Classroom | Empowering Students in Their College Journey. Accessed February 3, 2024.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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[2]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Greg Lukianoff: The Canceling of the American Mind. Free Speech and Academia<\/span>, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ucIL2IZZqog<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The First Amendment discussion with Lawrence Krouse and Greg Lukianoff is fascinating. \u00a0Here Greg talks about the reason for the First Amendment which was to give people the freedom to speak so they could think aloud with others. By doing so, they could discover that their thinking was wrong. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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[3]<\/a>\u00a0Schulz, Kathryn.\u00a0<\/span>Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error<\/span>. Illustrated edition. HarperCollins e-books, 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[4]<\/a>\u00a0It\u2019s important to note here what happened when several schools left the CCCU over LGBTQ Issues:https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/. \u201cMore Schools Poised to Leave CCCU | Baptist Press,\u201d August 24, 2015.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/more-schools-poised-to-leave-cccu\/<\/a><\/span>. \u00a0The point I am trying to make is that inside Christian higher education, the cancel culture is mainly focused on theological stances around the LGBTQ issue. Secular universities face the Cancel Culture with more severity, at least publicly.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[5]<\/a>\u00a0Lukianoff, Greg. \u201cThe Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All–but There Is a Solution.\u201d New York: Simon and Schuster, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[6]<\/a>\u00a0Brooks, David. CCCU. \u201cThe Cultural Value of Christian Higher Education,\u201d July 10, 2017.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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[7]<\/a>\u00a0Petrusek, Matthew, and Cardinal Thomas Collins.\u00a0<\/span>Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture<\/span>. Word on Fire, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[8]<\/a>\u00a0Clair, Joseph. \u201cThe Christian Liberal Arts Tradition Can Appeal to Christians and Non-Christians Alike.\u201d ChristianityToday.com, November 27, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[9]<\/a>\u00a0Lukianoff, \u201cThe Canceling of the American Mind.\u201d Pp. 8-9.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[10]<\/a>\u00a0P. 283.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[11]<\/a>\u00a0Kahneman, Daniel.\u00a0<\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span>. 1st edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[12]<\/a>\u00a0Baggett, Marybeth. \u201cSpoiled Hopes and Recovered Dreams in The Holdovers.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Christian Scholar\u2019s Review<\/span>\u00a0(blog), February 5, 2024.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>https:\/\/christianscholars.com\/spoiled-hopes-and-recovered-dreams-in-the-holdovers\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0For my post, I wrote a hypothetical letter to leaders in Christian higher education believing that things can and will improve\u2013based on the solutions our readings suggest. \u00a0 A Letter Written on the Walls of Higher Education Dear Christian Higher Education Administration, Whenever I read books like\u00a0The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3040,3037,1537,3039,3036,3038,3041],"class_list":["post-35537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christianhighereducation","tag-davidbrooks","tag-haidt-lukianoff","tag-highereducation","tag-lukianoffandschlott","tag-theholdovers","tag-thejoyofteaching","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35537"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35545,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35537\/revisions\/35545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}