Last Wednesday, columnist Will Gonzalez railed against UA students’ general lack of civic engagement, largely criticizing the efforts of Honors students.
It is curious that Gonzalez decided to single out the Honors College – one of the most hyper-engaged institutions on this campus – in attempting to argue that students aren’t doing enough. Such a misinformed perspective is confused at best and entirely fabricated at worst. Near as I can tell, Gonzalez’s main beef with the alleged apathy of Honors students seems to be that “Tuscaloosa’s unemployment rate sits above 6 percent.” To presumably fix this complex issue, he recommends that the University pursue a more “institutionalized approach” toward civic engagement.
As an economics major, I’m not even going to touch that, other than to say that his statistics grossly distort reality. A growing midsized city, Tuscaloosa has economically thrived in recent years, especially considering the tornado-related difficulties it has had to face.
Gonzalez and I agree that civic engagement should be an important part of every student’s education here at the Capstone. Unfortunately, that’s about where our agreement ends. While he seems to be of the mind that the University ought to hold students’ hands by requiring community service, I strongly believe that it is the responsibility of our students to make that decision for themselves. College is not for hand-holding. It expects you to take ownership of your education.
Gonzalez also seems to favor sheer quantity of service hours over the actual quality of community relationship-building. Although he is no doubt well-intentioned, his approach invites disastrous results.
Is the student who simply fulfills requirements going to truly honor the special relationships that the University has carefully cultivated over the years? Will they take the time to appreciate how complex these relationships are or comprehend the trained nuance required to sustain them? It seems more likely that they would, instead, view their time in the community as a resume line, a means to an end.
During my 13 years in Catholic schools, community service hours were compulsory. I resented it; the hours were just another check I needed to tick off my life every semester. I mentally compartmentalized the people who I had “served,” tucking them away in a comfortable little box which I didn’t have to open if I didn’t want to – I didn’t have to think about their very real needs when I was interacting with the “real” people in my normal life. As a result, I never integrated the vital lessons of service-learning into the broader narrative of my life education.
When engagement becomes a requirement, you are actually serving yourself; when you take ownership by choosing to volunteer, you are truly serving others.
At this University – and in the Honors College particularly – countless opportunities for involvement exist. Now, they won’t come to your doorstep begging you to get on board, nor will they require you to pretend to care about the important issues of this state for a few hours each semester so you can graduate with “Honors.” But, if you take some personal initiative, you will be surprised at the positive impact you can make.
Could we do more? Of course. Can we do better? Probably. But trying to quantify true impact with concrete metrics like unemployment rates is an exercise in futility.
That is why I’m so extremely disturbed by Gonzalez’s defeatism: It’s unfounded and unconstructive. I just wish he could feel the positive impact the University and the Honors College have made – and continue to make – every day in our city and our state.
Henry Downes is a junior majoring in economics and political science.
