Alma Mater

Following the vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), to which Augustana College is related, to permit public rites performed by its pastors that celebrate and support committed same-gender relationships, I knew it was only a matter of time before a request would come for use of the college’s chapel by a same-gender couple. I was surprised that it took more than two years, but this fall two such requests arrived.

Liberal arts colleges that subscribe to the Division III philosophy enable students to integrate—and balance—their athletic experience with academic interests and other co-curricular activities. Student-athletes compete not because they expect a financial reward or because booster clubs and alumni have a vested interest in their performance, but because they are driven to excel.

As a newly appointed president, I awaken each day privileged to serve an engaged, talented, and caring community of learners. I also face each day responsible for helping my campus effectively address the convergence of external forces dramatically shaping higher education today.

While attending college, a traditionally aged student makes the remarkable transformation from an adolescent to a young adult, and such rapid growth requires courage. Therefore, in addition to encouraging a student to write, speak and think like an adult, colleges must attend to a student’s need for courage.

Colleges and universities agree that student success is their central focus. But what important factors contribute to student success? An under-emphasized contributor is student campus work.

Every time I see the acronym MOOC, I find myself filled with some combination of excitement and apprehension.

Much media attention has recently been given to the Thiel Fellowships, an effort described by The New York Times as “one of the most unusual experiments in higher education today.” But -- in these critical years for their development as persons -- will these young people spend time thinking about the meaning of their lives, about their moral obligations to fellow human beings?

Incivility has no place within college communities. It sucks the joy out of academic departments, provides an awful example for our students, and impedes honest face-to-face discussion of real issues. We should call incivility what it is – at the minimum, a breach of community, and at its worst, bullying.