Colleges, Prisions, and Mental Hospitals

I should be writing the papers that are due, but I didn't want to go another week with out writing so today I'll quickly share a quote I found while was researching my History of Higher Ed paper on the University of Wisconsin Experimental College. You can find the following quote here: The experimental college.

"Never again, unless he is taken over by a prison or a mental hospital, will any institution devote itself explicitly to the forming of his character, the general training of his mind, the enriching and directing of his personality." --Alexander Meiklejohn 1932

This quote really hits home with me because as a student affairs professional, I live for the 'whole student.' I want to enrich and enlighten. I want to develop character and promote success in the training of the mind. But I've already thought to myself, "How much is too much?" Seeing my profession compared to a prison or a mental hospital add a very sharp perspective.

Students are coming to college for a degree. They want instruction in a specific field. I want to make them good people and good citizens. The kind of development that I want to offer can't end when they walk off campus but I know that no one else will be striving to develop it.

There is also the people that never come on to campus. So there is also a part of me that wants my job done before they get to me, but that's not the answer either. Ideally, personal enrichment would be a life long societal and cultural goal. Then I could be assured that high schools, colleges, churches, community centers, workplaces, and individuals were striving for enrichment. That is much less pressuring than thinking that I and my institution are the last stop personal development in the game of life.

Either way, I have to keep in mind that I am a support field. My goal is to enrich the experience that is defined and driven by academia. I am responsible for the environment that makes student learning and faculty teaching as successful as possible. Inspiring good people and good citizens is just one way of promoting that success.