Two Visonaries: The Mission of Higher Education

HS #45 2019.4.11

Two visionaries: The Mission of Higher Education 

 I first arrived in Holland Michigan in April 1987.  I was a fresh Ph.D. recipient in mathematics and Hope College had a position open. It was late in the hiring season, so I was likely the final candidate interviewed by the president that spring – and thus likely the last person Gordon Van Wylen interviewed during his presidency. 

I remember the discussion well.  President Van Wylen didn’t tell me he had put a troubled institution on solid footing. He didn’t mention the campus expansion under his leadership, or his previous illustrious careers in the Navy and at the U of M. 

Instead, he proudly showed me a brochure with a statement he had written and honed during the final year of his presidency: The mission of Hope College is to offer, with recognized excellence, academic programs in liberal arts, in the setting of a residential, undergraduate, coeducational college, and in the context of the historic Christian faith. 

Hope College’s mission statement has been modified somewhat since then, but – in my opinion – not improved. A mission statement should be short enough to be easily memorized. It should hang together with an integrity that differentiates from others, while providing a clear path forward. The wisdom that led to that statement was the fruit of a lifetime of thoughtful experience in higher education. Gladly, it wasn’t the end of Gordon’s contribution to the community. Who knew that he’d have yet another successful  “career” developing downtown Holland. 

Although I didn’t know the namesake of Davenport University (which was founded the same year as Hope College), I am just as impressed with him upon seeing the mission statement he provided. It is succinct and powerful, and unique because it is a mission for the students rather than for the institution: “Make a Living. Make a Life. Make a Contribution.” M.E. Davenport didn’t realize it, but he was well ahead of his time – a real visionary. 

Make a Living: Gone are the days (if they ever existed) when an eighteen year old matriculates to a college, majors in an area of interest, and then is all-but-assured of a career with an income that sustains an individual or family.  Prospective students – and their parents – are now intentional about choosing a major and career which makes good on their educational investment. This is good; it’s perhaps too easy for comfortably tenured professors to challenge students to follow their dreams, trusting that a career will follow. Like most else in life, balance is needed. Dreams shouldn’t be ignored, but thoughtful planning is prudent – especially if graduating with a large debt. 

Make a Life: This is the other side of the balance. A college education should provide more than training for a career. President John Adams wrote to Abigail,  “I must study politics and war that my sons may study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order that their children might study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.” Yes, if education does not lead to a richer, more thoughtful, insightful, reflective, more pleasurable life, it has failed. 

Even more important, education should make the student hungry for more. Ideally, students should leave college self-engaged in music, reading novels, poetry, history – and yes, even playing thought-provoking, artistically-engaging video games. I am presently in a reading group with former Hope College students and present DU students. That’s good living. 

Make a Contribution: Are you familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? From bottom up: physiological (food and shelter), safety, love, esteem, and finally self-actualization. This loftiest need involves fulfilling one’s potential in the arts and other creative activities – essentially Davenport’s “Make a Life.”  However, later in life Maslow realized that there was yet a higher intrinsic need, “The self only finds its full actualization in giving itself to some goal outside oneself, in altruism and spirituality.” Davenport realized this all along. 

Indeed, M.E. Davenport and Gordon Van Wylen both felt this truth deep in their bones and their respective institutions reflect their values.  Hope College students and faculty contribute by bringing the performance arts to the Holland community. Davenport students and faculty provide free tax help for 6500 families in need, and STEM Days and free summer math and science camps for junior high students. Making these contributions is good for society, but moreover, it leads to healthy, full individuals.  Van Wylen and Davenport knew it, lived it and passed it on – and we are in their debt.