Universities Must Preserve American Values: Freedom, Faith And Self-Governance — Leavened With Humility

The Messenger Op-Ed: Universities Must Preserve American Values, by Jim Gash (President, Pepperdine University):

It seems every week produces another story of intolerance, hate, or worse on college and university campuses across the nation. As society rightfully expresses concern about students engaged in such behavior, it is past time for higher education administrators to take on their responsibility to cultivate academic communities that embody America’s founding virtues.

The Founders’ idea was truly revolutionary: citizens from all walks of life, religions, and political persuasions mutually submitting themselves not to the authority of a king or queen, but to the rule of law. The strength of this idea is rooted in a people who so valued the rule of law that they would even die to protect the freedoms established in the Constitution.

Our Founders believed that freedom, faith and self-governance — leavened with humility — are interwoven and indispensable foundational values upon which a pluralistic and enduring society can flourish. More than any institutions, perhaps other than the family and houses of worship, our schools are responsible for cultivating the character and resilience required of a productive citizenry capable of reaffirming the American experiment.

At Pepperdine University, which I lead, character formation is at the heart of our mission. It is why we are passionate about what our students learn. But we are even more focused on who they are becoming. James Phinney Munroe, an MIT scholar who was successful in business, leadership and education, perhaps said it best: “The question to be asked at the end of an educational step is not, ‘What has the student learned?’ but, ‘What has the student become?'” ...

Our Founders also knew the value of faith. They had experienced the threats to a free expression of it, and they knew it was a value not only to be held individually, but to be defended collectively. Religious liberty goes hand-in-hand with freedom of thought, speech and viewpoint diversity.

Universities must help students to understand that their value isn’t derived from temporal sources. Dignity and worth are inherent and God-given (the Founders would say “endowed by their Creator”). “Likes” on social media are fleeting and fickle. ...

The concept of humility might seem out of place in this list, but I believe these values can be fully realized only in an environment where there is a commitment to humility. The only way for me to fully embrace your freedom to disagree is if I humbly acknowledge I might have something to learn from you. The only way for you to truly cherish and live from your faith tradition is to humbly defend my freedom to choose a faith tradition and core set of values. The only way for a government to be restrained in its governance of the people is for its leaders to exercise the humility required to choose restraint.

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