What don’t you know about what you know? I invite my students interested in writing out of their own experiences to explore that question. Is there any value to the state, the nation, the world in an academic environment in which students are encouraged to ask that question again and again?

Values such as compassion, social justice, and the search for truth, which animate and give purpose to the lives of students, faculty, and staff, are honored and strengthened by an integrative education. But to be truly integrative, such an education must go beyond a ”values curriculum“ to create a comprehensive learning environment that reflects a holistic vision of humanity, giving attention to every dimension of the human self.

As we think about the future of education, we must focus on questions of “why” rather than simply “how.”

IUP’s new Mindfulness Living Community shows how broad student services can connect curricular and extracurricular activities, creating a richer and more engaging educational environment.

To the extent that we, in higher education, have forgotten our primary mission–challenging our students to inquire as to what it means to be a good citizen of this world–we risk collapsing into a fee-for-service industry in which we simply convey information and train narrowly for the workforce.

In a final exam last May, nearly half of the 279 students in a Harvard government class were suspected of cheating. This is not just a “Harvard” problem; rather, this is emblematic of a crisis throughout post-secondary education. Many have lost sight of our fundamental mission to create environments for students to discover what is most meaningful to them and to provide the information and tools for them to live out their vision.