Critical Issues in Christian Liberal Arts Education, West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin, April 1966, pages 2-4, by President Stanley H. Martin
What is the difference? What is the difference between one institution and another? What virtue or value is there in attending a church-related liberal arts college as compared to a state institution? Why the small college rather than the large university? Why private support rather than public? These and many other questions could be raised and in the answer we may find a rationale for our being. Higher education is faced with a basic dilemma today — a dilemma that pits technological training against cultural development.
Christian higher education, as conceived at West Virginia Wesleyan College, rests on the premise that the educational experience must carry one beyond course content and campus activities to a philosophy of life that is oriented toward self-understanding, personal commitment, and high purpose. Christian liberal education emphasizes the centrality of faith, of Christian values, of spiritual qualities and personal dedication, all of which by definition and law cannot occupy such a position in a tax supported or secular institution. This is a fundamental difference, one which churchmen should recognize and support.
It should be observed at the outset, however, that the focus of the good liberal arts college must be on mind as well as on spirit if it is to exert a vital impact on the student and his culture. Knowledge becomes the second focal point in the Christian college of liberal arts, knowledge not narrowly conceived but knowledge cast within the context of faith and freedom, a freedom committed to the highest good and the greatest service. To be sure, the liberal arts college has no corner on truth, but instruction that overlooks the realm of value, that legislates away the cornerstone of faith, can only be recognized as incomplete. This, then, represents another significant difference that cannot be ignored or overlooked.
One of the most obvious and critical differences between the Christian liberal arts college and the massive universities of our day is that in many large institutions the individual is lost in a sea of numbers, research, and graduate assistants. Teaching and the individual student are often brushed aside as unimportant and unessential. Students often find little or no opportunity for self-expression and leadership, personal problems and individual anxiety often go unnoticed, moral standards are waived, and a sense of lostness and despair results.
A recent publication by NEA describes our situation well when it says,
“The foundation of our nation is its supreme commitment to the individual human being. The young nation fashioned its government to cherish those rights and to do his bidding. It shaped its economy to give free play to his ideas, his energy, and his drives. Very soon it began building a universal school system dedicated to the full development of his unique personal powers. Now this foundation is threatened. Caught in this cultural drift, the schools too are veering toward impersonal solutions to vital educational problems. Mass grouping, standard curriculums, texts, and examinations, and standardized institutions are squeezing individuals into a common mode…With an eye to masses rather than to individuals, the schools are departing from their unique historic character by manipulating pupils and teachers into organizational patterns and by leaning on administrative and mechanical devices that tend to destroy the very quality which has made them great.”
Faith, knowledge, and individuality, then, are three important cornerstones of the Christian liberal arts college, three qualities which assure a meaningful difference for the conscientious student. However, these qualities can prosper and function only in a climate and atmosphere of freedom, a freedom which recognizes justice, law, and responsibility. To many the church or Christian label denotes a lack of freedom, suggests undue personal restraint, and often reflects bigotry and hypocrisy. These limitations would unquestionably apply to some church-related institutions, but the mature Christian college is one that fosters freedom, encourages individual initiative, and in prophetic moments dares to stand against the corrupting forces of the day. It has been said the the Methodist pulpit is the freest pulpit in the world and I would hope that Methodist colleges might also qualify. There can be no discovery of truth without freedom—freedom to teach, freedom to experiment, freedom to inquire, freedom to explore—all in an effort to comprehend the mind and purpose of God. This is the difference! The reason for freedom is not to throw off the shackles of personal, moral, and social controls, but through the discipline of mind and spirit to achieve a new dimension of understanding and responsibility. This is why the beatnik and the radical have no place on the church campus. This is why immorality and listlessness cannot be condoned. This is why purposelessness and wastefulness cannot be tolerated in a Christian college of liberal arts. Man is free. Free FOR, not FROM, responsibility, and this represents a difference. Under rigid state control there cannot be this freedom of expression; under secular society there cannot be this commitment to God; in an opportunistic culture, there can hardly be the high level of self-discipline required in this hour. The Christian college, though far from perfect, attempts to meet this challenge and we at Wesleyan are proud to cast our lot with such a noble effort.
In an age of impersonalization the friendly Wesleyan campus is refreshing, a friendliness that is based on mutual respect and individual appreciation irrespective of race, color, or creed. Learning is creative living and in a Christian college of liberal arts the total process roots in the fundamental purpose of the institution, a purpose that focuses major attention on high academic achievement and Christian character. In this context, the student studies and the teacher teaches—not so much for personal recognition or reward, but for “God’s sake.” This approach to life and this motivation represent again, another significant difference between the Christian college of liberal arts and the secular institution. In such a positive and permissive atmosphere, students and faculty alike may grow and achieve.
I would not want to leave the impression that all is well on the college campus and that Christian colleges have attained any degree of Utopia. The Christian college of liberal arts can in a very real sense be no better than those who study and those who teach. In spite of the fact that institutions such as Wesleyan recruit their students from church homes, the fact remains that many, and perhaps most, do not bring a vital religious experience with them to the campus. On the other hand, there is evidence everywhere of a rising concern for meaning, a groping for values, and the forging of a new morality, a new faith, which may or may not have the virtues of the old. College must be a time of testing, when superficial beliefs and childhood concepts are examined and challenged, but it must also be a time of high inspiration when all of life is woven into a meaningful pattern as an expression of God’s continuing purpose. How to implement the new faith in a meaningful way then emerges as one of the principal problems of the Christian college of liberal arts, for unless this element is articulated with dramatic forcefulness, the institution loses its fundamental character.
The construction of Wesleyan’s new chapel and religious center will help symbolize this concern on our campus. However, in my judgment, we must develop within the church a quality of Christian instruction and continuity of program that will make the Christian college an integral part of the total education experience of the individual student while at the same time developing on the college level a creative, experimental and dynamic approach to the study of Christian values.
One of the most harassing problems on the college campus today is lack of motivation and seriousness of purpose among students and, on occasion, among members of the faculty. In my judgment, Christian colleges of liberal arts have a much higher percentage of well-motivated students than the secular, yet few students attempt to achieve at the full level of their capacity. This, again, reflects in part the dominant mood of our day. Those who do graduate, on the whole, achieve this sense of purpose and direction, but the loss of time and production in the years of indifference and confusion represents a major tragedy in American education. Wesleyan is prepared to help these students achieve this insight and the total program is designed to motivate a seriousness of purpose; however, the college in itself cannot achieve miracles when unmatched by productive effort.
In a recent publication entitles “Education is Good Business,” we read:
A technologically advanced nation requires an educate body of citizens. When every man on the street is concerned about nuclear war or fallout, about automation or space; when every family has possessions of dozens of the products of modern technology ranging from an automobile to a television set, automatic taster and electric clock; when every citizen must vote for candidates for public office, who in turn must make decisions on matter of national defense, atomic power, space exploration, the regulation of industry, communications, and transport, it is clear that an educated citizenry is an essential national requirement.”
It becomes imperative, then, that we find ways and means of challenging our youth with a greater sense of mission, a greater dedication, a greater commitment to life and vocation. For many young people this is, as indicated earlier, a delayed decision, but for many it could be a decision of early adolescence if church, home, and school would more effectively serve the individual and is needs.
A Christian college of liberal arts should not only attempt to provide a broad liberal arts training with professional orientation, but also attempt to inculcate in every student a desire and an eagerness to serve his fellow men.
There are many other problems that could be identified as major sources of concern in the Christian college of liberal arts, but perhaps one of the most critical is that of support. During the history of Methodism, over 500 colleges, universities, secondary schools, and academies, have been established, but today only 150 survive. The explanation is simple—they were either poorly conceived or poorly supported. Wesleyan’s budget next year will exceed $3,500,000 representing an increase of $300,000 over that of this year. The growing plant, the increase in faculty, rising salaries, added maintenance, and an enriched curriculum and cultural program, all demand significant increases in support in the years ahead. Our present endowment is under $2,000,000, while approximately 75 per cent of our income is from tuition and fees. It is almost universal among Christian colleges of liberal arts that, although founded with enthusiasm, they have not received sufficient support to keep pace with the growing demands of modern education. In order to offset this, appeals are made to alumni and friends; corporations, foundations, and industries. New efforts are being launched to promote wills and bequests, to encourage the gifts of insurance and annuities, to soclicity parents, and to increase alumni participation. Wesleyan operates with a balanced budget, but if this favorable condition is to persist, it will require a major increase in financial support in all categories in the year ahead, beginning NOW.
One of the more encouraging aspects of our financial picture is that of increased church support, which has grown from approximately $15,000 in 1950 to $185,000 in 1965, this latter amount representing approximately 5 per cent of our total budget. It is a fond hope that we may in the next two years find one thousand individuals, business firms, and corporations that will contribute $1,000 annually on a sustaining basis toward the operating budget of the college. It is also my hope that all of us working hand in hand will promote a vigorous program of wills and bequests with which to undergird the endowment. A school of our size should have approximately $15,000,000 in endowment. What better way can be found to perpetuate one’s influence and impact on the future, than to undergird and strengthen the program of a Christian college such as Wesleyan? I would also hope that we might find an increased number of churchmen of less affluence, who would agree to give at least 1 per cent of their net income before taxes to the college for operational purposes. Free enterprise and free churchmen have an opportunity to join hands on behalf of Christian higher education and in so doing, not only help insure a rising economy and a trained citizenry, but also channel into the stream of time an army of youth committed to Christian ideals and a fearless search for truth. It is doubtful if the free church and free enterprise can long endure if we do not sustain strong independent movement at outlined above.
It has often been observed that it costs too much to attend a college such as Wesleyan and that after all, one school is as good as another. Both observations are false! In the first place, the cost of education is fairly constant in our present society and economy. At Wesleyan, and in most similar colleges, every student is subsidized by approximately $500 annually—even when he pays all his costs, including board and room. Many have found that it actually costs no more to attend Wesleyan than a state institution, when all of the costs are compiled. The important thing to note is that the choice of a college is one of the most critical decisions of a lifetime and that the quality of the instruction should be considered more than cost. May Wesleyan always merit the confidence and support of its friends and may these friends rally to Wesleyan’s support as it moves into its fourth quarter-century of service in Christian higher education. I pray that the differences at Wesleyan will always be positive and apparent, that we may always have your prayers and good will, and that we in the future, as in the past, work hand in hand to make Christian higher education a vital force throughout our state, our Church, our nation.