Loras College's Catholic identity and its drawbacks

As I have written earlier, I have been in Catholic schools for the past 16 years, so Loras’ Catholic identity was nothing new to me. Throughout my Catholic educational experience, both at Loras and in high school, I have noticed that living an active socially responsible life is strongly emphasized at school. In high school, this was reinforced by the requirement of service work every year for us in order to pass the grade. At Loras, though, they take the idea of living an active, socially responsible life much further. Throughout my four years here, I have been aware of the many service opportunities that Loras offers. Whether it is spending spring break in New Orleans or helping out at the area grade schools, the opportunities are there for every student to become more active in the community. Personally, I have taken advantage of the Loras Reach-Out program that spends time at the Dubuque retirement centers entertaining the senior citizens by playing cards with them and talking with them. This experience has been fulfilling for me, and because of that, I will continue to do service work like that upon graduation and entering the real world. That is the goal of Loras when they offer the vast array of service opportunities. By doing it at college, they hope that the students will continue to do service work in their local communities after graduating. The Catholic Church always preaches that its members should be actively involved in the community and parish, and Loras relays that message through the service opportunities. Most colleges offer service opportunities, but Loras’ Catholic identity allows it to openly urge its students to do service work because the Catholic Church wants its members to become active and socially responsible.

Contrarily, though, the Catholic identity of Loras also hinders its students’ development. Since Loras is a Catholic institution, it strives to hire Catholic professors in order to maintain that image. Likewise, it directs its recruiting towards Catholic students by offering grants to students who attended Catholic high schools, hoping that they will feel more involved here at a Catholic college where the majority of the students are also Catholic. This is also what happens at Notre Dame, as Nussbaum wrote. They claim to recruit any students and professors, but when non-Catholics attend Notre Dame, they do not feel as welcome because almost everyone else is Catholic. That is where the problem is for its students’ development. Because the students are mostly around Catholic professors and students, they are not being exposed to many different cultures. Personally, I noticed that problem within probably the first week here at Loras. The campus is not very diverse at all, and as a result, we are mostly communicating with others who grew up in the same backgrounds as we did. That is nice because it’s easy for us to become friends with others who are very similar, but it also hinders us. When we graduate from Loras and enter the workplace, we will be coming across co-workers and clients from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds, including religious affiliations. Without being exposed to that at Loras, or at most Catholic identity colleges, for that matter, we might not be able to adapt to it as well as other new workers from diverse universities. I think that the service opportunities Loras offers might be a way to help with this problem, though. Most of them are at places that are much different from Loras, such as the Washington neighborhood, or Haiti, for example. By participating in a few of these opportunities, students will become exposed to different backgrounds than those at Loras, and hopefully be better prepared for the real world. The Catholic identity of Loras was a big drawing point for me, as I’m sure it is for many prospective students, but it does have its drawbacks. Hopefully, by helping out in the community outside of Loras, we will all be able to overcome them.

Social Issues in the future and The Invisible Man

Now that my time here at Loras is coming to a close, I will be taking my skills into the real world in only a matter of months. Loras has prepared me relatively well for what lies ahead, but what will I be offering to others as I leave Loras? With an accounting degree, I will be ready to offer my expertise of managing clients’ finances and giving them advice about their financial decisions. Clearly, this is a very important service to offer to others with the economy in the current state of panic. Companies are being bailed out by the Federal Reserve Bank almost every day, and people are really worried about how to manage their money so they do not lose it all. As a result, there will be a large demand for my services as an accountant in the foreseeable future.

Obviously, I will face some opposition, as not everyone will agree with the advice that I am offering them. Money is a very sensitive issue to all people, and when a freshly-graduated 22 year old is telling wealthy and powerful 50 year old managers that they are doing something illegal in their accounting records, they are going to argue and try to use their power to intimidate me into allowing them to continue with the same accounting methods. Likewise, if I have to audit a company and I tell them that they are not recording their inventory correctly and the ensuing change will result in a decrease in profit, they are going to argue vehemently. People in power do not like being told what to do, especially when it results in fewer profits, and that is definitely going the largest social issue I will face. Also, all business majors will encounter the problem of a young college graduate starting out in a company in charge older employees who have worked there longer and feel as if they do not need to listen to what we say. It could become a struggle to initially fit in with those older employees who are actually below us in the hierarchy because they will not give us much respect. These two social issues are related, as both involve people who do not want to listen to what a younger person tells them because they believe themselves to be above the younger person. I feel I am prepared to handle these issues. Throughout my business courses, I have been taught the best way to deal with difficult situations like these, and I think I should be able to do it, as long as I treat the person with respect and give them my reasoning. Likewise, as I blogged about last week, liberal arts courses focus on the humanities. I can use this knowledge to understand the person’s thoughts better, and if I can do that, I will be able to get my point across to them more easily.

The main social issue I am anticipating of older more powerful people not respecting my thoughts actually is very similar to an important scene that the narrator faced in The Invisible Man. In a meeting with Dr. Bledsoe after the incident with Mr. Norton, the narrator tries to argue with the decision of Dr. Bledsoe to expel him from the university. He argues that Mr. Norton clearly explained that what happened was not the narrator’s fault, yet Dr. Bledsoe felt the need to expel him. The narrator tried many ways to persuade Dr. Bledsoe, but when he threatens Bledsoe with the idea of telling Norton about the expulsion, Bledsoe goes on a rant. He told the narrator about how he was the person in charge at the university, and it did not matter what anyone else thought because he called the shots. If he wanted to expel the narrator, he could, and no one could argue because of his power. This is very much like the issue I previously mentioned. In the narrator’s case, he has had to accept (so far) what Bledsoe did to him when sending him to New York City because there was not an alternative. Unlike the narrator, I will have the ability to tell the person in power that he has to change his methods of accounting; if not, he could get in bigger trouble with the government.

Unlike the narrator, though, I will not have to deal with the racial issues in society that holds him back. We have already read many instances of the influence that the white people have over him and his fellow students at home and the university. His race has held him back from being able to attain the power that whites can because he has to start lower down than the whites do. Even with all the hard work he put in, it would still be nearly impossible for him to be as successful as the white donors are. In New York City he does not face as much discrimination, but I’m sure the racial issue will come back at some point. Luckily, this issue of race is not nearly as large as it used to be in society and the workplace. It does not prevent qualified individuals from reaching their potential anymore, and it should not really affect me. While it would seem that I would not have much in common with the narrator when it came to social issues, I do share the one issue, and hopefully I will be able to deal with it better than he could.

Liberal arts and the Socratic way of thinking

When I hear the term “liberal arts,” I usually think of the subjects that make us better all-around thinkers. Non-liberal arts colleges primarily teach their students in their major subjects, whereas liberal arts colleges not only teach the major classes, but also the courses that make it a liberal arts college. These courses focus on the humanities and social studies, which are basically studies how the human thinks, using philosophy, music, history, etcetera as sources to study. In addition to the humanities courses, a liberal arts experience needs to have small class sizes and encourage participation in class by all the members. If the students are able to participate regularly to the questions proposed to them in the humanities classes, they are able to analyze and think for themselves on these subjects. By creating their own questions and answers, the students become well-rounded, and seemingly would be better prepared for life after college.

The courses are designed to encourage the students to speak up in class and question and analyze material on their own, better preparing them for the real world. Instead of accepting what they are told, the students should analyze the question and decide if it is logical or not. To be successful in the workplace, individuals have to question what they are told. If they just accept whatever their superior tells them, they will not advance up the hierarchy very fast. But if they question some of the decisions, they will be noticed for their ability to critically analyze situations and make the best decisions. This kind of thinking and questioning will not only be beneficial in the workplace, but also in their relationships and activities outside of work because they understand people better. If a person has a general background in humanities and is able to make logical decisions, they will be successful outside of college.

Nussbaum is an advocate of the liberal arts education, basing her opinion on the teachings of Socrates. He taught his students to question everything that they were told in order to have it make sense logically. If the person could not satisfactorily answer all of his questions on the subject, he would not trust their judgment and thus disregard what they say. Nussbaum thinks this is the way students should be taught in the present day. Currently in college, students are not taught to ask questions until things make sense logically. There are a few exceptions of colleges that require courses to get their students to participate and question ideas, and Nussbaum thinks these courses should at least be offered at all colleges. Even though traditionalists do not agree with her, she believes that if a student questions ideas and values that are not factually based or do not make logical sense, they will become better thinkers.

The traditionalists differ from Nussbaum because they argue that students should be taught to just accept some ideas that have been taught for centuries. For example, if a student is taught the Socratic way in religious courses, they will probably begin to question their beliefs because so much of religion is based on beliefs, not facts. In addition, students who are taught to ask questions will begin to question all their values, and traditionalists think students should not be exposed to this type of thinking. If the students are taught traditionally, they will not question everything they believed in before attending college. Traditionalists believe in this method, unlike Nussbaum.

Liberal arts prepare students for service because they give them a well-rounded background in humanities, as well as teaching them how to think things through logically on their own, and by putting the students out into service, they will be able to help the people by using what they learned in the classes. Learning something in class can only teach so much, so by getting experience outside of the classroom and combining the classroom experience with the real life experience, the students will be able to learn much more about the humanities. Outside experience will give a much better insight into the human mind, and by already having a background in the humanities, the students will be better able to serve people by understanding their needs and how to serve them.

Wisdom and Socrates

Defining wisdom is a tough assignment, as it is such an abstract characteristic, and there really isn’t one set definition for the word. When I hear the word, I usually think of a wise person, someone who has been through life experiences and has gained a unique perspective and view of life because of it. When a person blessed with wisdom is asked to make a decision, they can look back at all the past experiences in their life and make a “wise” decision, a decision that is best for all involved. Wise people are able to make such decisions and statements because they have seen and heard the consequences and benefits of almost any situation in life, and as a result, they can learn from those past lessons when making the next wise move. Because of this, I usually think of a wise person as an older person who has seen everything, some for the better and some for the worse, who is also great at interacting with others and hearing their stories and experiences. By seeing what life has to offer, they gradually get to that point of being “wise.”

This leads me to where service learning comes into the wisdom discussion. By working with people of a wide array of cultures in the Washington neighborhood, both we the volunteers and the citizens we are helping have a chance to become wiser. Many of the residents have been through a lot of experiences living in a cultural melting pot in downtown Dubuque that we haven’t experienced in our lives yet and might not ever. By communicating with them and getting to know them better, we can gain wisdom and have a better outlook on the real world. Since this is the last honors class before graduating, it is a fitting way for us to gain wisdom before entering the real world. Likewise, the residents of the neighborhood will also gain wisdom by associating with college students. The majority of them never went to college and do not have the same perspective on life as college students do. After sharing stories with them about ourselves, they also will come out of this service experience wiser.

Switching my focus to Socrates in the Apology, I think that the meaning from it was a little different than when I read it freshman year. If I remember right, I voted to have Socrates executed after reading it the first time, mostly because I was going along with the majority and not thinking about his actual motive and actions. Socrates truly was a wise man, as he interacted with many humans and had a different outlook on life than everyone else. He was persecuted for it, but he realized that death wasn’t the worse thing in life; rather, death was better than being forced to live with something you didn’t agree with. In addition, he was a humble man and admitted he did not consider himself to be the wisest man on the Earth; although the Oracle did said it, and he even proved it by showing that every other “wise” person was actually ignorant and just believed them to be the wisest. By admitting that he wasn’t the wisest, he actually was wise. This type of thinking and outlook makes me think Socrates was an innocent man who probably deserved to live. The different reaction to the Apology shows that my experience at Loras has made me an individual thinker. Loras has taught me to look past the common group think, in addition to becoming better at analyzing the tons of reading that I’ve done in the past four years. My Loras experience has made me wiser, and I think that the service learning will contribute to this experience as well.