Departments
|
Week of 11 September 1998 |
Vol. II, No. 5 |
Feature Article
Parents Convocation
Westling on the Educational Voyage -- Onward and Inward
By J. Nicole Long
President Jon Westling didn't exactly apologize for using the voyage as a metaphor for education at his Parents Convocation in the GSU's Metcalf Hall on September 1. He acknowledged the risk of cliché, but pointed out its superiority to another popular metaphor: "I won't win any prizes for originality, but it does strike me as slightly better than likening education to an investment."
"For certain," he said, "an education costs dearly, but unlike a financial investment, its value cannot be tracked from moment to moment. It is not liquid, easily traded for some other form of capital. Its ultimate worth is internal and intangible."
Recognizing the challenges inherent in education, Westling said that there are successful voyages and there are failures.
"Everybody knows," he said, "that a good voyage story really involves two discoveries: the protagonist, the Gilgamesh or Ishmael, Charles Darwin or Margaret Mead, learns something remarkable about the marvelous world in which we live, and something no less remarkable about him- or herself." Westling offered his vision of the University: "Our overall educational program emphasizes individual moral responsibility and intellectual self-discipline."
Failure can occur, he observed, when the voyager is faced with new experiences but undergoes no internal change, or conversely, when he or she fails to manifest an internal change by acting in the world.
|
|
|
President Westling delivers
his speech at the Parents Convocation. |
He identified three primary aspects of education: the teaching the university provides, the student's willingness to be personally and academically responsible, and parents' openness to the child's transformation.
"We realize that in much of the modern world, the beginning of college is a decisive moment in the history of a family. Even as the child grows into a young adult, the family will rearrange itself in subtle ways."
It is difficult to predict what variables will arise, Westling told parents, and how the voyager will endure them. He referred to these variables as surprises.
"You may be delighted one day when your daughter calls and tells you of the A she received on her chemistry exam, worried when she adds that she's switched from premed to ancient philosophy, and perplexed when she mentions that by the way, you can now take down and throw away her Leonardo DiCaprio posters," Westling quipped, eliciting laughter from the audience. He said parents should be aware that surprises are inevitable.
Westling also reassured parents that the University is prepared to address the surprises and provide services for students: conferences with professors, student activities, and counseling. These University services, he said, uphold the values of moral responsibility and intellectual self-discipline, which he highly regards.
We listen, but . . .
However, Westling was firm in saying that the University
does not coddle. "The student who wishes to change things
from the way they are done at Boston University quickly
learns an important two-part lesson -- it is easy to get a
hearing, but it is hard to win the argument," he said.
Students at the University will need the same fortitude to
function in its seemingly protected environment as they will
outside it.
"Boston University," he said, "is a voyage in the midst of society and that perhaps makes us a little less inclined to offer airy theories about how things should be and a little more inclined to do what we can to fix the problem. We don't mistake aloofness for objectivity."
One of the goals of education, Westling said, is to facilitate honesty and self-restraint so that students do not become self-absorbed and self-serving, but instead become prudent risk-takers who are responsible for their actions.
Parental comment
After the convocation, parent Tony Patire said he agreed
that education is not merely preparation for a job, but
provides a reservoir of knowledge from which a person can
draw in times of difficulty. The father of Sargent College
freshman Mary Patire, he traveled from Columbus, Ohio, to
attend a parents' orientation, an open house, and the
presidential convocation.
"Parents owe it to themselves to go to their child's school and have a glimpse of what he or she will be experiencing," he said.
"They should be more than a check writer," interjected his friend Theresa Couasnon.
"Definitely," said Patire. "Having an idea where my daughter is makes me delighted to send her here."
Westling told the parents of the Class of 2002 that BU has a long tradition of constructive engagement with students. He concluded by recognizing that their education is only a part of their travels.
"Like you," he said, "I look forward to that wonderful moment, less than four years from today, when I will confer upon them the degrees they will have earned, wishing them Godspeed and fair weather during the next stage of their voyage."
That moment in 2002 will have particular significance for Westling, he acknowledged; his daughter is among this year's freshmen.