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Oct 5, 2007

"The higher education so much needed today is not given in the school, is not to be bought in the market place, but it has to be wrought out in each one of us for himself; it is the silent influence of character on character." --William Osler

The New Quest On Campus

According to recent studies, college students are seeking more substance -- and sustenance -- in the classroom than their professors are willing to offer. Findings of an ambitious and long-range study of spirituality in higher education offer an interesting window into the unspoken assumptions and expectations about what the quest for knowledge means at American colleges and universities. The initial results revealed that undergraduates are eager to explore spiritual interests and to talk about the deeper meaning and purpose of life: more than sixty percent of first-year students entering over 230 U.S. institutions of higher learning said they hoped to have an opportunity to develop their personal values, self-understanding, and maturity while at college. This article explores what it means to prepare young adults, through "higher education," for the complexities of the life they face.