The Idea of a University
Yale - North Park - Dublin
At the Homecoming weekend alumni banquet in the old gym — where the floor serves as the ceiling to the ancient swimming pool down below — a group of the faithful recently heard about the future of North Park University. President David Horner has been guiding North Park for ten years now. His witty talk was filled with facts and news. It's good not to be patronized with a lot of malarkey after traveling over bill and dale to come to such an event. Horner spoke eloquently about the long range plan for the school. He doesn't want it to become too large. During his tenure, it's grown from 1000 students to 1870 and he would like it to be about 3,000 in ten years — 1600 undergraduates and 1400 in other programs. Horner mentioned that the endowment fund has been soaring upwards and now stands at 20 million dollars. He would like this crucial fund to grow to 100 million and because of his partner LeRoy Johnson's extraordinary fund-raising skills, this seems realistic.
Horner explained that some new buildings are needed: An indoor track and field mater and a high-tech library. He has practical strategies for accomplishing all of his goals. The fact that he has done so well in the last ten years makes me think he can keep going and carry out his ambitious mission.
A week or so before I heard this inspiring prophecy, I had been browsing around in a Starbucks Coffee/Barnes & Noble book shop in St. Paul. Contemplating my homecoming trip to Chicago, I picked up a new paperback edition of John Henry Newman's classic, The Idea of a University, edited by Yale professor Frank Tuner and published by Yale University Press. Newman went to Dublin 140 years ago to establish a Catholic university. His book outlines his views of Christian university education.
The mighty Yale has been in the news lately because it returned a 20 million dollar gift from an alumnus who wanted the money to be used to strengthen Yale's programs in Western civilization. The fact that Yale was apparently unable to use this money for this purpose really astonished a lot of people. What is going on?
The Yale book is part of a series entitled Rethinking the Western Tradition. Would Turner, who is in the History Department and has been a former Provost at Yale, trash Newman's great work as out-of-step with current day multi-culturalism and political correctness? And what should a university be doing these days?
Both Horner and Newman think a university education should include theological instruction. They both stress teaching, as opposed to research, as paramount in a university. They both believe in the virtues of a liberal education. Newman describes a liberal education as developing "a cultivated intellect, a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mind, and a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life." It is reasonable to assume that Horner could agree with this formulation.
Yet education for Horner is even more useful. In his new mission statement he suggests education as leading to a "life of service," and his professional schools in business, nursing, etc. may go beyond Newman's purview. Perhaps Horner is more practical, and as a business person knows these non-useless endeavors help pay the bills for the undergraduate baccalaureates.
I thought of Cardinal Newman again when Horner mentioned the possibility of some joint ventures with Loyola University. Horner also envisions developing a few Ph.D programs in specialized niches like community service. And he would also like North Park to participate fully in the global opportunities for education via the Internet. One of five interesting related essays on Newman in this new edition is by George Landow, a professor of English and art history at Brown University. In his piece entitled Newman and an Electronic University, Landow points out that hypertext's emphasis on making connections would certainly support Newman's conviction that education consists fundamentally in making connections. Newman describes an intellect "properly trained and formed to have a connected view or grasp of things."
When I first heard that North Park was going to change from a College to a University I was a little amused, even mildly disapproving. My wife wanted to go into the college bookstore and snare a North Park College sweatshirt before they disappeared. Now I think this name change and what it denotes is a good idea and an important part of the masterful Horner strategy that is propelling North Park along with such fine winds in her billowing sails.
I graduated from North Park College with an English major and history and philosophy minors. I had no vocational plans but eventually got a job (arranging concerts) and have been pleasantly employed for many years. While at North Park I read some thin blue books by Plato (e.g. The Phaedo) and Aristotle (Poetics). I also read Tristram Shandy, The Wings of the Dove, The Brothers Karamazov, and a lot of other great books. When I later hit bumps in the road I felt an elasticity, a perspective and a resilience that I know was developed and nurtured by the liberal arts I enjoyed so much in college.
The Yale book, by the way, is a first rate edition. The scholarly apparatus assembled around Newman's splendid classic text is excellent. But I still can't figure how Yale gave up that 20 million dollars. Maybe David Horner can get LeRoy Johnson to steer it into North Park University, where I'm sure it would be welcomed and used effectively.