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Besides schlepping, my job was to procure the right electronic cables to plug her into the virtual world. Ethernet, but one end had to be USB, and blah blah... it was a challenge. And the router was wrong, apparently. I'd rather just haul boxes up stairs, thank you. But she can get the right hardware. Do we have the right mental software to handle the silence of the again-emptied nest?
Next up, convocation. But I get to sit in the gallery this time, as a parent and not a faculty host. Interesting shift of perspective, as at new student orientation in June. Like standing on Mr. Keating's desk, seeing things from a different angle. A good thing to do, when you can.
The speaker is Tara Westover, who wrote her own harrowing and inspiring tale of surviving a wacko fundamentalist childhood and gaining a great education. If she could do it, why can't everyone? That's part of the message our First Years are supposed to have gleaned from the summer read. How'd she do it? Well, she read a lot. Eventually. That's another message: it's not too late to form studious habits, kids. Step away from the Ethernet. Discover some of the big bold ideas you came here for.
President McPhee concluded his State of the University address Thursday with a promise to "aggressively endeavor to pursue three big bold ideas," though the details were a little vague and the ideas a little less bold than Tara Westover will talk about.
 | Sidney A. McPhee (@PresidentMcPhee) |
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Outlined several bold ideas @MTSU will pursue in the coming academic year, including working with @cityofmborotn & @smcfarlandmboro to develop ideas to make both ends of our wonderful Middle Tennessee Blvd more vibrant! #TRUEBLUE mtsunews.com/fall-faculty-s…
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Big Bold Idea #1: to "leverage the future potential that the enhancements to Middle Tennessee Boulevard bring..." Those enhancements to the thoroughfare that runs past our building, the James Union Building, took years. I'm not sure quite what kind of potential he means, right now we're just grateful for the reduction in noise and inconvenience.
We'll be getting that back in spades, if we do boldly go on "to create a campus district to bolster student experience and tourism by transforming the area surrounding our campus into a vital and active educational, cultural, and commercial district."
Big Bold Idea #2: to "build a business partnership hub closer to Nashville... and further respond to business and industry demands for employee education." Responding to "business and industry demands" is not what we educators, at least not those in the Liberal Arts, signed on for. We're here to educate and reflect upon and sometimes derail the demands of the society we serve, not surrender to them.
Big Bold Idea #3: to "establish a tradition of immersive learning by incorporating a high-impact learning experience into each major." High-impact, huh? Just listen to Tara Westover. We already belong to that tradition, as custodians and practitioners of higher learning. There's no higher impact than the inner transformation that comes from immersing yourself in the best that's been thought, said, and done.
"We must continue to create innovative academic programs to anticipate the jobs of tomorrow and to prepare our students with the knowledge and skills to fulfill them and become productive citizens." Becoming a productive citizen, if productive doesn't just mean compliant and consumptive, is more than filling a job slot and being a cog in the industrial machine. I'd like to hear more from my president about the true meaning of education, the point of college.
Then, the "True Blue spirit of passion and
commitment" can be truly and meaningfully big and bold.Meanwhile, I can report that the Steel Barrel Raider IPA they served up to faculty and staff at the stadium Beer Garden Thursday afternoon was plenty big and bold. Cheers!
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