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A. Altruism
The former president of Harvard, Derek Bok, made these remarks in a commencement address:
During most of the 20th century, first artists and intellectuals, then broader segments of the society, challenged every convention, every prohibition, every regulation that cramped the human spirit or blocked its appetites and ambitions. Today, a reaction has set in, born of a recognition that the public needs common standards to hold a diverse society together, to prevent ecological disaster, to maintain confidence in government, to conserve scarce resources, to escape disease, to avoid the inhumane applications of technology.... As people everywhere worry about our ethical standards, universities are bound to come under scrutiny. Almost every public servant, business executive, attorney, physician—indeed virtually all leaders in every walk of life—enter our colleges and professional schools and remain there for several formative years.... In these circumstances, universities ... need to think hard about what they can do in the face of what many perceive as a widespread decline in ethical standards. Such evidence as we have about the values of college students only heightens these concerns. Several studies have found that undergraduates are growing less altruistic and more preoccupied with self-serving goals. In polls of entering freshmen over the past 15 to 20 years, the values that have risen most are the desire to be "very well off financially," to gain personal recognition and to have "administrative responsibility for the work of others." The goal that has plummeted furthest is the desire to find a "meaningful philosophy of life," while other values that have fallen include the desire to keep up-to-date in political affairs, to participate in community action programs and to help clean up the environment. Further studies suggest that the number of college students who admit to having cheated in class has risen appreciably over the past 30 years. ... what can universities do and what should they do to help students to achieve higher ethical standards?
What has your university done or is it planning anything to answer Bok's question? Check professional schools and departments to find the answer. Interview faculty members as well as the heads of departments about what has been done and how effective the action has been. Interview students to see whether they consider the action (lectures, reading, required courses) effective.
B. Social Scene
The campus scene, reports The New York Times, consists of:
Socializing in unpartnered packs. Binge drinking. Unplanned and unprotected sex.
A survey by the president of Teachers College at Columbia University in New York found that students prefer "casual sexual liaisons to emotional intimacy and commitment," the Times reports. The newspaper quotes the president, Arthur Levine, "When students talked about relationships, the majority said they'd never seen a successful adult romantic relationship in their lives. They're scared of relationships, of deep involvement, and that doesn't happen. Sex does happen. One way you overcome the fear of a relationship is you get loaded first, and after getting loaded, you go back to somebody's room and do it."
C. Interracial
Randall Kennedy, a professor of law at Harvard University, wrote: "In college classrooms today, when the ethics of interracial dating and marriage arise, black students are frequently the ones most likely to voice disapproval." Some black student associations have refused to admit as members students who have dated whites. On some campuses, interracial support groups have been formed. Is interracial dating a factor on your campus?
D. Credit Cards (2)
