The Role Of Universities In Transmitting Values Examined At American Jewish Committee Session

American Jewish Committee
Wednesday, 13 May 1998

The American Jewish Committee met today, at a session of AJC's 92nd Annual Meeting, with three prominent university educators to discuss "The Role of Universities in Transmitting Values." City University of New York Interim Chancellor Dr. Christoph M. Kimmich, Connecticut College President Dr. Claire L. Gaudiani and George Washington University President Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg offered the AJC delegation their perspectives on ethics and responsibilities in education.

"Our forefathers struggled to settle new geographical space. Today, our job is to settle new psychological and social space where men and women of diverse backgrounds can live and work together in this increasingly global society. That means applying our traditional strengths in teaching and research to the improvement of the society of which we are a part, and teaching the liberal arts in an atmosphere where civic virtues, rights and responsibilities are integral to the learning process," Dr. Gaudiani asserted.

Dr. Kimmich recalled a time when, for the children of immigrants, "college was a privilege for the smart and the ambitious, not the prerogative of an elevated social class. For them, unlike their parents, political engagement, dissent, and debate were a right, indeed a responsibility, not a dangerous form of insubordination. For them, unlike their parents, everything seemed possible." He relayed a story of how students would discuss and "seize fiercely" upon rights, privileges and responsibilities of their citizenships. "New York's institutions of higher learning continue to perform the function they were created to perform: the integration of young immigrants and of the children of immigrants into the mainstream of American society," said Dr. Kimmich, "CUNY is their point of entry, their jumping-off place, the first large step on the stairway to their dreams. The particular immigrant population has changed in the course of this century and continues to change. The public responsibility of the colleges that make up the City University and the public service they perform remain essentially the same."

Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg suggested that a moral curriculum might be necessary for freshman and sophomore classes. "A concern of moral issues and an understanding of how to remain moral should be an element of higher education," Dr. Trachtenberg stated.

Dr. Trachtenberg added, "The facts of life are attained in elementary school. Moral facts of life are consigned to individual initiatives… These days a kid who isn't scared, isn't bright… Today, morality is news. We each wonder how to keep our mass impulses under control."

Dr. Trachtenberg said that morality classes would "include questions instead of answers."

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