"Leadership and Moral Responsibility," Term Paper

While it is difficult to teach students and faculty members at a university the importance of moral responsibility, the university’s educational environment can make some effective changes to build leadership skills and moral responsibility among its students. I would like to reference Higher Learning in America, by Robert Hutchins as a guide to further explain my point of view. Hutchins claims that the problem with universities is that they are essentially money-making machines which cause several problems within the system. He goes on to say that universities are spending too much time attempting to maintain an attractive social life that they degrade the education of its students. Also, instead of pursuing truth and knowledge for its own sake, universities strive to solely prepare students for work. Hutchins claims that by instructing students in classic and theoretical studies, schools will prepare students for any advanced study of work because this form of education draws out the elements of our common human nature.
My prescription for the university’s educational environment would be to restructure the core curriculum in a fashion which allows for students of all majors to become better-rounded in terms of acquiring more knowledge in general. Another thing I might add would be to take the focus off of grades within the university and place the focus on learning and taking something useful away from a course. I would suggest that instead of universities pooling its money to build new sports facilities or student venues, it should spend its money on educational tools/facilities or even perhaps student study abroad financial aid programs. Final tests in courses should be an essay, short answer format so that students can properly demonstrate the knowledge gained from the course and his or her ability to organize thoughts in a clear and advanced level. We have been socialized into getting the degree at any and all costs, however somewhere in the shuffle the importance of knowledge and understanding has been forgotten. It is imperative to the future of our society that universities shape better-rounded students (academically and personally) so that our future leaders are capable of strong, morally responsible leadership.