<p>"The profs should not be teaching values or mold character."</p>
<p>Did someone say they should?</p>
<p>So how does a university mold character? A mission statement is not worth the paper it's printed on if it has not effect in the classroom.</p>
<p>Really, does a school's committment to community service take place in a classroom. Does the existence of an honor code? etc, etc., etc.</p>
<p>The Foundation is far more concerned with an institutions policies than what teachers are saying in class: </p>
<p>"those institutions that emphasize character development as an integral aspect of the undergraduate experience."</p>
<p>I sent both my characters off to college with all the character they need to distinquish between the good/bad characters that teach them.</p>
<p>I like how Princeton made the list. The first image that comes to mind is the one I saw recently of a guy at an eating club party, nude save a package tied around his nether-regions. Character at its finest.</p>
<p>Given Princeton's popped collar image I think they could use a little more of that. LOL</p>
<p>lol yes but it strikes me as odd since this publication is supposedly "spiritual." heh. I wonder if Bob Jones is on there.</p>
<p>Considering that Harvard has the biggest community service organization in PBH, it's strange that it did not make the list then.</p>
<p>Whether or not it makes the list does not matter in the least to me. It's just another meaningless list. And as long as profs stick to what they're supposed to be teaching, I'm fine. Students can go off tutoring kids in inner-city neighborhoods or dance nude on tables.</p>
<p>I threw out community service as an example of how character can be developed outside the classroom, in response to your posted question:</p>
<p>"So how does a university mold character? A mission statement is not worth the paper it's printed on if it has not effect in the classroom."</p>
<p>You keep bringing Harvard into this. I'm sorry it's not on the list. The original post has to do with the development of character at the college level (all colleges). Maybe if we refer to colleges generically things will be less argumentative.</p>
<p>its interesting that the #1</a> school in the countryfor alumni serving in the Peace Corps wasn't mentioned atall</p>
<p>As I said, whether or not Harvard makes the list is of supreme indifference to me. I do not care for the premise on which the list is drawn. But if the school that has the largest public service organization and the school that sends the greatest number of alumni to the Peace Corps do not make the list, I can wonder what the criteria for inclusion and exclusion are.</p>
<p>sax: "I sent both my characters off to college with all the character they need to distinguish between the good/bad characters that teach them."</p>
<p>I was sort of thinking the same thing...</p>
<p>Although it was nice to see a couple of little-known, but quite excellent schools, make a list for a change (Nazareth College and St. John Fisher). Also, lowly Ohio University! Cool. (I like that school.)</p>
<p>Well hey--not a single school my kid applied to, or considered applying to, made the list! Including the one with the Mother Of All Honor Codes. Let's make our own list of the schools where kids are given some room to develop their own character and value systems.</p>
<p>Maybe the issue with Templeton is not with how big a school's community service organization is, but rather how issues of integrity, honesty, and general character flow through all aspects of the university. A kid may be quite dishonest generally, regularly committing sins of character in hidden areas, but spend considerable time doing "good" in publicized areas like working in the inner-city. If a school is particularly concerned with strong character in the too often neglected hidden areas, well, I would think this is a criterion deserving of special consideration. Everyone gives kudos for big, glitzy public service programs. Shoot, sometimes I get the impression that a lot of these programs exist to burnish the images of those who participate in them. But I don't see many kudos going out for focusing on inner character-- the sort of character that in many ways really matters. I am not saying that Harvard is not concerned with inner character. I am just saying that I don't think a public service program is a criterion that proves superior concern with character. Templeton could be focusing on an essential aspect of character that gets hardly any attention these days. If so, then I think it is a very fine thing, and that its list is worthy of my attention.</p>
<p>I would be supportive of the list regardless of the schools it contains, but I am very pleased to see Princeton on it. One thing that impresses me is how seriously the school takes not just its honor code, but the very source and nature of honor/ethics itself. It basically continues at the institutional level what I do here in my own home. It lays down its vision of how basic honor should appear (i.e. it does not cheat, does not plagiarize, etc.). It enforces its view, rigorously, through a process that is itself deeply concerned with being fair and honorable. And it gives students many opportunities to implement the code in their private lives, encouraging them to conduct themselves honorably before it gives these opportunities. Not only is the school's administration doing this, but it is happening in professors, down to student leaders, and to regular students. A professor, for example, may send out a document full of content to a classroom of students, instructing each student to read only a specific page of the content, reminding them of their honor as they are encouraged to avoid the other pages. The professor extends trust to these students, depending on their honor. The kids could easily cheat and read the entire document, but I am told that the notion of honor and the trust given along with it, are taken so seriously all over the campus, that cheating itself even at this level feels like a kick in the gut. That is why Princeton should be on this list.</p>
<p>
[quote]
we have a list of highly Christian, conservative schools, plus a few secular-but-not-"offensively"-secular well-known powerhouses, just so they can't accuse us of being biased.
[/quote]
I scanned the thread before I clicked on the link and was a bit surprised to find U of Miami on the list. Not surprising really for those of us Floridians, but with the media attention to certain behavior on the "fields of play...."</p>
<p>dross, about 'sins of character.'</p>
<p>Could you elaborate how these sins harm the individual? A code of honor ensures a cohesive group in which individuals go against a perhaps natural inclination to get themselves in front of the pack. At bottom, is this a practical strategy that promises a fair piece for all, if the individuals are simply patient and work together, instead, for instance, of rushing up to the bagge claim and blocking everyone from seeing their own luggage? I am asking what you see at bottom as the value of good behavior. The respect for others inherent in the golden rule ultimately can be seen as having practical application. But do you see some intrinsic worth in good character or is it completely an abstract matter of faith, a ground that needs no explanation. Furthermore, since we know that preparing people to be martyrs to the real world, ones who act in good faith in a fallen world, do you think that honor provides some kind of protection in itself, despite the perilous consequences?</p>
<p>(and no fair bringing hell into the picture)</p>
<p>I will add, I do not think that a college or university promotes values by teaching them in the classroom. That is not the only experience of the institution that the students have. Not even close. IMHO. That would be like saying that when you work for a corporation the only way you experience its culture is to use its products.</p>
<p>Damned if I know what character is. Closest I can come is its like pornography, I know it when I see it. But I do know something about how organizations develop, sustain, and make shared, a culture. And teaching is only a little part for a college.</p>
<p>With all due and genuine respect to marite.</p>
<p>And Drossl - it's funny, when you go to Princeton you don't even think about the honor code. You just absorb it. If I think about it now, the honor code is implemented in a way consist with culture-building. Cheating is absolutely not tolerated. The honor code is visibly supported throughout the university. That said, I still think the list is a refugee from the College of Bogusology....</p>
<p>Mini - where was the part about defecating out windows?"</p>
<p>Oh, that's so "last year":</p>
<p>This should not be confused with pudding slinging:</p>
<p>or wanton property destruction:</p>
<p>"We are also here to grow socially and to have fun, but when someone’s “fun” results in a broken window downstairs in Mission, glass bottles shattered over sidewalks, mangled bicycles at the bottom of hills, smashed vending machines, beer cans cluttering stairwells, vomit all over bathrooms and hallways, urine anonymously deposited in corners of dorm rooms, holes punched in brand-new walls, fires set in residences and beer-drenched common spaces that stay sticky for days after the party’s over, something is very, very wrong."</p>
<p>We do happen to value putting your time where your mouth is and volunteering quite a bit, even if some like Dross, are cynical about our motivations.</p>
<p>We found that several colleges also valued students who spent their time either working to earn money for college/volunteering for a good cause, as opposed to spending $5,000 for a three week academic program to give already top students more of the same.</p>
<p>My younger daughter is on a soccer team, and over the years, the coach has stepped back and allows the girls to coach themselves ( after guiding them on the way to do it). As a result, this team is one of the tops in the league, not only on the field, but even when they lose a game, they are still on the sidelines talking about the game and enjoying each others company ( which is quite confusing to the winning team) ;)</p>
<p>They know they are responsible for their behavior. I found the same atmosphere at my Ds college. Students are responsible for their own behavior, and each others to the point that they will not stand idly by, while someone is behaving badly, but will call them on it.</p>
<p>This has results in small incidents of kindness, like it not being unusual for a lost ipod/backpack/cell phone/wallet to be turned into Greywood ( community services) intact, and for notice to be put on LJ for the owner.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is absentminded - for example forgetting about her laundry, often found it stacked neatly on the table, after someone had taken it out of the dryer or even paid to have it put * in * the dryer.
More often than not, if you leave your laptop unattended for a period of time it will be picked up,.... by library staff or another student concerned about its safety and taken to the security building.</p>
<p>Personal responsiblity and concern for others are reflected in giving time to volunteer organizations like Peace Corps- which is not "done" to look good on a resume, as some suggest, but in my experience, because the participant is fully aware of a global responsiblity to each other, not just to those in your family or church community. Which is why I find it highly unusual that volunteer giving outside of an immediate community is not a criteria in finding educational institutions which value "character"</p>
<p>Come on, emeraldkity, UW does WAY too much pot and shrooms to be honored with such a prestigious award! All the hard work and volunteering they do is completely negated by this fact. Besides, they're all a bunch of dirty liberals anyway.</p>
<p>(disclaimer: I'm being sarcastic)</p>