Recently in Ethics and the Undergraduate Experience Category

Those of you who have been inspired, by The Girl in the Cafe or by some other means, to take an interest in the fight against global poverty might like to have a look at the following open letter I received from the well-known moral philosopher and activist Peter Singer:

Dear Penn State Students,

Is global poverty a cause that concerns you?

In 2009 I set up the organisation The Life You Can Save, to spread the ideas put forward in my book of the same name. The central point I make in the book is:

"If we could easily save the life of a child, we would. For example, if we saw a child in danger of drowning in a shallow pond, and all we had to do to save the child was wade into the pond, and pull him out, we would do so. The fact that we would get wet, or ruin a good pair of shoes, doesn't really count when it comes to saving a child's life.

Given that it's St. Patrick's Day, I thought today might be a good time for some reflection on the similarly named day of celebration that occurred in State College just before Spring Break. As that day approached, I became aware of various efforts that were afoot to provide alternative outlets for student energies--outlets that were designed to be more helpful for the larger community and more reflective of what we want to identify as the real character of Penn State. I was impressed by the way the PSU-IPL  articulated the message behind their 'Positively Green' alternative, and by the way Sara Kizer articulated the reasons leading to the Council of Lion Hearts' 'State Service Day'.

I decided to ask some of the students involved in offering these alternative outlets to share their thoughts about the experience. What I learned surprised me a little bit:

All of us have learned how to reply with the right words when we hear someone shout "We are...", but how much effort have we put into spelling out what we mean by that response in a way that enables us to articulate to others precisely why it means so much to us to be able to respond in that way?

This recent post from Onward State calls on Penn State students across the commonwealth to Stand Up and defend the university in the face of what amount to the largest proposed budget cuts (in terms of both percentages and actual dollars) in the history of state-funded higher education. Like all members of the Penn State community, we at the Rock Ethics Institute share in the concerns expressed in that post. We also do what we can to promote an environment in which students will take the suggestions offered there: to read, participate, care, and be heard. In fact, the Speak Up blog and the Rock Ethics Institute Facebook page were created for precisely this purpose.

Thus, it seemed like a good idea for us to add one further suggestion. We hope that students will Speak Up and participate in informed dialogue not only about how to respond effectively to this threat, but also about the core values that are being threatened, the other values that are being prioritized over these, and the place of our various and sometimes-competing values in defining who we are; both as a university community and as a commonwealth that has historically both supported and been supported by its public universities.
 
We have already posted a couple of topics on the Discussion Board of our Facebook page to get things started. We encourage everyone who stands to be affected by the proposed budget cuts and who has an interest in being heard to contribute their responses, to share them with their Facebook friends, and to create new topics for further discussion there.  

A friend of mine is involved in the HealthWorks, a program at Penn State whose purpose is "to promote health among Penn State students." After getting back to our apartment from one of her HealthWorks classes, while deciding what we were going to make for dinner, she asked me, "Did you know there is a second food pyramid?" I told her that I didn't, and she began explaining what she had learned that day: Harvard had released a corrected and healthier food pyramid a few years ago that differed from the pyramid issued by the US government. As she was explaining the differences to me, I was shocked. I was shocked not about the dissimilar constructions but by the fact that I had never heard of any of it before. So I did a little research.

As an Honors student writing my Honors thesis and purportedly adhering to numerous Honor codes at Penn State, I am obliged to reflect on the concept of "honor."  What does it mean to be honorable?  Should I be honored because I am in the Honors College, because of academic success...or is it more than that?  The term "honor" appears to me to have two very distinct uses.  First, there is the honor associated with academic distinction, athletic performance, and extracurricular leadership.  But then there is also the honor that can't be written down, formatted and pasted on a résumé, the kind of honor that requires integrity and strength of character.  Unfortunately, this more profound sense of honor, this deep-seated self-assurance and conviction of purpose is not something that can be easily identified; this sort of honor can only be affirmed by observing an individual's actions over time and in critical moments of mental and physical duress. 

Now, while in practice the assumption is that those who achieve distinction possess this integrity, it is certainly not always the case.  We frequently hear about the debauchery of distinguished politicians, the perversion of high priests, and the corruption of decorated law enforcement officers in the evening news.  And we are extremely reluctant to call them honorable, despite their impressive accomplishments.  Equivalently, students who have gleaned a certain degree of distinction - whether in school, on the field, or in the community - do not necessarily possess the high degree of integrity required for this more profound sense of honor.  And this becomes an issue for the faculty and administrators of the Honors College, as they undoubtedly do not wish to produce merely accomplished students, but truly honorable individuals. 

For the Honors College, the question then becomes -- how can instructors and advisors instill students with this more profound variety of honor?  Should coursework be delivered in a broader context - that is - perhaps a broader political, economic, and moral context?  Should more emphasis be given to the implications of certain practices, rather than to their mere execution?  How can students be encouraged to reflect on their values and to develop an internal moral compass?  Moreover, how will they know when they have succeeded?

As for the students, we should be asking ourselves - what do I value?  What do I consider my virtues? Am I truly committed to any ethical paradigm, or do I just pretend to subscribe to a general sense of morality without really considering the implications of my views and actions?  Would I really consider myself an honorable person?