From the Editor: Our Season of Seeking Wisdom

Paul Eaton
Editor
Louisiana State University

As the academic year comes to a close, and as ACPA – College Student Educators International – begins celebrating and reflecting on 90 years as an Association, one striking and resonant theme is emergent: our desire for wisdom.

President Kerr focuses on wisdom in her Presidential Address, delivered during our Annual Convention in Las Vegas, NV. She is not alone. On May 9-10, I attended a symposium at Louisiana State University focusing on the questions we should be asking related to Internationalization & Education. Dr. William Doll, a prominent curriculum theorist and educator, discussed the need for wisdom in addressing shifting landscapes in education. “Knowledge we have; wisdom we have not,” he stated, calling on educators to align our knowledge and our values in addressing educational issues. President Kerr is summoning our profession to a similar call: aligning the knowledge we have, with our values as an Association and profession, in an effort to create the future.

Wisdom is also a prominent theme in the other articles appearing through this Issue of Developments. Karen Crozier continues our series “Women As” with a wonderful, poetic exploration of how to manage conflict. However, her piece also asks us to reflect on where we seek wisdom – in the Divine, through reflection of past experiences, with thoughtful action, and by adhering and staying true to our own core.

Krista Soria, Christine Lepkowski, and Brad Weiner report on new research regarding the experiences of Atheist students on college campuses. Their challenge to our profession is to remember our obligation of ensuring that all students – regardless of background or belief system – feel connected, engaged, and welcomed on our campuses. These are foundational values of the Association and the profession, and this piece not only challenges us to think anew and more broadly about religious and spiritual issues on our campuses, but also to remember that we should seek opportunities to conduct research and report on new, challenging, and exciting questions.

Finally, our featured columns also illuminate discussions of connecting values and knowledge in the creation of our future. Jeffrey Sun discusses the new affirmative action case, Schuette v. Michigan Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (BAMN). As he notes, this case is not focused on traditional affirmative action issues, such as Admissions. Rather, it gets at the heart of democratic ideals, specifically related to how individuals participate in the political process to ensure their voice is heard.

Michael Kocet discusses the process now underway to revise and update the ACPA Code of Ethics. Ensuring ethical practice has always been a hallmark of our profession, and the current process underway is seeking the wisdom and advice of not only professionals in our field, but a spectrum of Higher Education and other professional associations who will work to ensure the future of our profession maintains strong ethical commitments within swiftly changing, dynamic fields of practice.

Jason Lane asks the question about how we intentionally connect co-curricular experiences focused on internationalization with the student curricular experience. Here, too, there is a merging of knowledge and values: our obligation to share knowledge of the diverse world with students, while maintaining focus on the whole learning experience of students, both inside and outside the classroom. As Dr. William Doll also pointed out during the recent conference on Internationalization and Education, bridging these gaps between the curricular and co-curricular experiences are really examples of playing within the boundaries, where there are infinite possibilities for sharing knowledge, discovering values, and developing wisdom.

I hope that this Issue of Developments will help guide you toward being a professional with more wisdom.

About the Editor

Paul Eaton is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership & Research with concentrations in Higher Education & Curriculum Theory at Louisiana State University. He also serves as Director of Institutional Assessment at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Please e-mail inquiries to Paul Eaton.

Follow Paul on Twitter.