{"id":36031,"date":"2017-12-08T13:28:36","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=36031"},"modified":"2017-12-12T07:19:37","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T12:19:37","slug":"centennial-year-senior-calls-creative-thinking-emus-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/centennial-year-senior-calls-creative-thinking-emus-future\/","title":{"rendered":"In our Centennial year, this senior calls for creative thinking about EMU’s future"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/em>Senior Harrison Horst, a sociology major, published this op-ed in the Oct. 29 Weather Vane.\u00a0 It was edited for length in Crossroads magazine, but is published here in its entirety.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Centennial Celebration this past weekend was an incredible success, drawing unprecedented numbers of families and alumni to campus to participate in over 80 events during a three-day period. A lot of time during the celebration was dedicated to remembering and exploring what makes us a unique university, including alumni affinity meetings, a series of TenTalks, and a reflective play performed by Ted & Co.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Harrison Horst (left).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a result, campus is awash with feel-good sentiments right now. I indulged in the sentimentality of the weekend as much as anyone, but for me, all of this \u201clooking back\u201d also sharpened what I perceive to be a need for us to look forward. It is the question we have all been thinking about but not talking about: how will EMU stay relevant in the 21st century United States?<\/p>\n

Last week, Caleb Schrock-Hurst wrote a column questioning EMU\u2019s distinguishable characteristics, going on to call for us to \u201cthink outside of the box\u201d and \u201cembrace our distinctions\u201d in an effort to truly become a university like no other. I disagree with Caleb on a few counts \u2014 for instance, I do think our university has traits that distinguish us from the \u201cthousands\u201d of Christian liberal arts colleges, and conveniently ignoring those to make a point is unnecessary\u2014 but on the whole, he is absolutely right.<\/p>\n

One of these distinguishing traits is our cross-cultural program. Caleb wrote about building on our strong cross-cultural foundation as a way to further prepare our students to \u201cserve and lead in a global context,\u201d and I could not agree more. That could look like anything from a cross-cultural major, as Caleb suggested, to planning new trips that have increasing relevance in a changing world. For example, we could envision a \u201cglobal metropolis\u201d cross-cultural that focuses on the largest urban areas in the world and the challenges that we face as an urbanizing world; or a \u201cchanging climate\u201d cross-cultural, which could be a dynamic and service-oriented trip dedicated to connecting students with the areas of the world most affected by climate change.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Caleb\u2019s point is well-taken. Despite significant amounts of financial aid, our tuition is still too high. Despite a motto attuned to our differences, we recruit students no differently than any other university.<\/p>\n

Despite a robust recycling program, we still create far too much plastic waste, Centennial Weekend operations not excluded. Despite a voiced dedication to sustainability, less than 10 percent of our energy is renewable. Despite our use of the word \u201cradical,\u201d none of this appears to be changing anytime soon. Our inability to extract ourselves both from an incredibly unjust higher education system and from an extractive, resource-intensive consumer culture should be taken as a sign of institutional decadence, and not lightly at that.<\/p>\n

This is hard. I understand that. We are facing a lot of tough realities as a school right now, and I earnestly do believe the people making decisions have our best interests in mind. Believe me, I am glad that these types of decisions are not on my plate, because I honestly do not know if I would be able to handle that pressure. And yet, I cannot help but think that there is room for us to be more creative in our solutions to the myriad problems we are facing.<\/p>\n

Maybe next year\u2019s Homecoming should be a \u201cthink tank\u201d weekend. Can you imagine if all of the people here for the Centennial were thinking not about the past, but about the future? I can see it now: two thousand passionate parents, students, and alumni working together in 80 events over three days to brainstorm creative ideas about how to move forward as a university.<\/p>\n

I feel a little like one of the characters from Ted & Co.\u2019s centennial show this past weekend, warning about the descent into the \u201cbroad, worldly\u201d path. But I think there is one important difference: instead of asking whether our path forward aligns with the way we have done things in the past, I am calling for a dramatic reorientation that engages the world in a way that is more true to our values and calling.<\/p>\n

This is not about taking a step backward. It\u2019s about leaping forward in faith: in faith of a greater plan, in faith that we are called to a radical rather than complacent worldview, and in faith that the next 50 years \u2014 the lifetime of my generation \u2014 are going to look different than anything we have seen before.<\/p>\n

We are at a watershed moment. How will our descendants remember us at our bicentennial celebration? Will we be the brave visionaries for a new model of higher education that truly reflects our desire to \u201cdo justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God?\u201d Or will we be the passive stewards of education who were not imaginative enough to remain distinctive, leading us ever further into the pitfalls of the inescapable American progress machine?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be brave, EMU. Now is the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Senior Harrison Horst, a sociology major, published this op-ed in the Oct. 29 Weather Vane.\u00a0 It was edited for length in Crossroads magazine, but is published here in its entirety. ... read more about In our Centennial year, this senior calls for creative thinking about EMU’s future<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-36031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIn our Centennial year, this senior calls for creative thinking about EMU's future - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/centennial-year-senior-calls-creative-thinking-emus-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In our Centennial year, this senior calls for creative thinking about EMU's future - 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