Remembering Freshman Orientation 2012

[bluebayou]

<p>It is a great read, but I find the comments by Fr. Himes somewhat inconsistent with the story line of the Jesuit College.</p>

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After a preamble about how “robust conversation” defines a great university, Himes arrived at his core contention. A great university is not about finding a job or “adding a zero to a starting salary line” or even getting into graduate school, he said. “Don’t get me wrong,” Himes went on in his curiously blended accent, part Brooklyn and part Britain (having grown up in the borough, around relatives from abroad). “It’s terribly important. It’s just not what a university is good at. It’s not what it’s about.” He continued—“It’s about producing intellectuals.” These are people who are never completely satisfied with an answer to a big question and always keep probing. Their rallying cry is, as Himes put it, “Yes, but.”

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<p>Indeed, I am one of those that says, ‘yes, but’, but for a different reason. Approximately half of BC’s programs are targeted towards what are considered vocational majors. And in academia, vocational majors are not typically associated with intellectual fervor. But vocational majors are good at producing students who are jobs-ready! (Egad.)</p>