Voices
qualities of intellect and character that are essential not only
for a satisfying career and useful
life, but to make judgments and
choices in the face of uncertainty
and complexity. Learning judgment demands taking an active
role in your education, and not
being a passive receptacle for information transmission.
College can’t serve you well
without challenging you to
integrate information and skills
in ways you haven’t before, and
to apply the results to problems
that may not yield clear and
simple answers.
We do know that you will need
to understand and assess competing ideas. You might need to
revise long-held views and oppose conventional wisdom when
given good reasons to do so. Consequently, you will need courage
to re-examine cherished beliefs,
a commitment to work with others with whom you disagree, persistence and discipline to work
through difficult problems, and
intellectual curiosity so that judgment is a satisfying pursuit.
The goal of a classical liberal
arts education was to prepare students to live in a community as a
suitably prepared responsible citi-
BOBBY
FONG
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
zen. In our time, you will need to
be citizens not only of a local community, state, or nation, but also
citizens of the world. You will need
to negotiate the intricacies of community-building with classmates,
roommates, faculty, and staff, in
the classroom, on the athletic field,
and in the residence hall, dining
commons, labs, and clubs. You
will likely find opportunities to
practice cooperation, to engage in
civil discourse, to disagree without being
disagreeable, and to
A college
weigh the responsibil- may not
ities of being a memalways be able
ber of a community
to anticipate
against the dictates of
what technical
individual conscience.
skills students
Over the next four
will need
years you will probaten years
bly change at a greatfrom now.”
er rate than any comparable period in the
rest of your lives, as you develop,
not only your intellectual capacity, but also your character, your
aesthetic sensibilities, your moral
compasses, and your relations to
the community of humankind.
The experience you are about
to embark on can be costly, as
media continues to remind us.
But regardless of price, you must