by Hallie Gleeson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the purpose of a liberal arts college education? That\u2019s a question that your FYC class probably attempted to answer. (Maybe repeatedly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students arriving at Centre hail from many cities, many states, many countries. Each Colonel comes to Centre for a combination of reasons\u2014perhaps to continue playing their favorite sport, to stay close to home (or explore somewhere new), or to take advantage of Centre\u2019s generous financial aid package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This little school at the top of the southern United States is rightly referred to as a \u201chidden gem\u201d by The Princeton Review. In the midst of a small historic Kentucky town, there are towering pillars, a mishmash of brick, and a seal with verdigris that declares \u201cDoctrina Lux Mentis\u201d\u2014learning is the light of the mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the halls of Olin, Young, Grant, and Crounse, we engage with something larger than ourselves. As we sit in the same plastic chairs as so many students before us, we join a tradition of many scholars that stretches across the years of human advancement. It\u2019s a privilege, and one that I hope I can acknowledge more frequently. Many of us here at Centre would not have been able to attain a higher education if circumstances had been different\u2014if grants had not been in place, if scholarship donors had been generous, if high school teachers and mentors had not opened doors, your peers might not have been next to you during orientation. A staggering twenty-two percent of students are the first in their family to have attended college. That\u2019s a brilliant achievement, on their part and on Centre\u2019s, and I would like to commend both for choosing to pursue this path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just a few decades ago, large portions of us would have faced significant barriers to receiving a higher education. Financial burdens made college impossible for many. Women were discouraged from seeking a degree, especially in certain fields. Segregation was not all that long ago\u2014your grandparents likely remember it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A college education is sometimes touted as a status symbol and a networking opportunity\u2014but it\u2019s also a transformative process, truly \u201cthe best four years of your life,\u201d because at no other time will you be so free to devote yourself to the study of the world. That history, biology, philosophy\u2014it matters. As a result of those \u201cpesky\u201d gen eds, you see what generations before you have: the ongoing pursuit of knowledge and truth that is so very human. That\u2019s a reason a college education is such a good indicator of future career success, and also why an educated populace is harder to deceive! No wonder tyrants and dictators throughout history have tried to suppress education\u2014that \u201cedumacation\u201d changes lives and revitalizes communities. The study of liberal arts is liberating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a Centre student, you have already made it past the hardest step\u2014getting in. Now that you are here, what will you do with your education? What are you paying for? A framed piece of paper to hang on a wall? A \u201clicense\u201d to get that well-paying job? You could get those at any college, and likely for cheaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Centre?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was a high school senior, I applied to over twenty colleges. Though that number is high, I actually had very specific criteria for each school on my list. I wanted to attend a small liberal arts college with a high residential population, an excellent chemistry program, and a robust study abroad system. Admissions can feel like a bit of a lottery sometimes, so I cast as wide a net as my conditions permitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I landed on Centre\u2014and I love it here. Yet I have one plea to you, my fellow students. Treasure this community and these years. We are staying on the precipice of something larger. We are entering the future\u2014of education, of technology, of more globalization and conflict and growth than our species has ever encountered. It\u2019s a grand experiment, a crazy time to be alive. These times, these \u201cunprecedented events,\u201d will require strong thinkers, and I truly believe that is something you can become at Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our adolescence has been shaped by political turmoil, rapidly changing cultural norms, and the slow and steady rise \u2014and then revolt against\u2014cancel culture. All of this has left behind a strange conglomerate of a situation in which the rules of what is acceptable to believe and say are ever-changing. The questions we face, and how we answer them, will shape the world in which our children will grow up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a polarized world, cries of censorship abound. There has been a flurry of concern about institutional-imposed censorship from all around of the political spectrum. This influx has given rise to questions such as what freedoms a government should permit and protect, as well as what colleges and universities should do to foster communities of learning. I am not writing, however, to address the recent actions coming from the White House\u2014that is a piece for another time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am writing because before a law or policy silences you, you are much more likely to silence yourself. Before a professor would mark you down for a dissenting opinion, you might hesitate to even share that though in a class discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s understandable. Our culture doesn\u2019t foster an environment where dialogue is encouraged. Tolerance of opposing beliefs is few and far between\u2014though we need it. If you don\u2019t voice your thoughts and opinions, it is harder for those opinions to be challenged, or for you to persuade others to your position. Every position worth holding is worth examining. Grab on to the spirit of inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It starts small\u2014 maybe you actually think that passage from The Metamorphosis<\/em> is getting at something totally different than what the three classmates before you have said. Then maybe later you\u2019ll want to discuss the merits of a controversial Supreme court case or get involved in a cause you care about on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe unexamined life is not worth living,\u201d said Socrates. That\u2019s a bit dramatic, but I would generally agree. Speak up. Say what you think. Change your mind, or sway others to your side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll leave you with this final thought from Pontius Pilate, recorded more than two millennia ago: What is truth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth is worth searching for. Let\u2019s look together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hallie Gleeson What is the purpose of a liberal arts college education? That\u2019s a question that your FYC class probably attempted to answer. (Maybe repeatedly.) Students arriving at Centre hail from many cities, many states, many countries. Each Colonel comes to Centre for a combination of reasons\u2014perhaps to continue playing their favorite sport, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8757,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8756\/revisions\/8757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}