Let’s do it
9/20/2005
This semester's Faculty Seminar Series was just announced. This is where, every week, faculty members give talks about topics of interest and projects they're working on. Today, a physicist, a biologist and two theologians will talk about "Hurricane Katrina: The Short and Long Term Implications." Other presentations this semester will focus on Mexican art, the science and ethics of oceans, the hundredth anniversary of Einstein's theory of special relativity, and many other interesting topics. It's for me a weekly reminder of the vitality of our faculty and of the camaraderie of our scholarly community here at Dominican. It's one of the things I most love about this place.
Last week at our university's opening Convocation, we heard from the recipient of the Bradford-O'Neill Medallion for Social Justice: Douglass Cassell, director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Notre Dame Law School, a man internationally recognized for being on the forefront of civil and human rights activism. I first met him some years ago when we worked together at A Previous Institution. He's the real deal who makes a real difference in the world. He challenged us by asking, "Why are you here?" He suggested that we could rise quickly up the ladder of "success" in a chosen profession and still not necessarily answer that question well. He noted that everyone has both a private and a public life, and in terms of the latter, in a democracy we have a responsibility to argue for our convictions and strive to put them into practice. He confronted us with the provocative thesis that together, humankind has the capacity to eliminate poverty—but do we have the moral and political will?
It was a superb way to inaugurate our academic year but I must say that through it all, even with the president's compelling speech, the dedicated faculty in their impressive academic regalia, the students poised to graduate this year coming up on stage to receive special pins, etc., it was the new freshmen who, in my humble opinion, stole the show. They spoke about their hopes and dreams as they join us here at Dominican. Their remarks were funny and poignant and together they challenged us to deliver the Goods.
One of them said this: "I intend to take all the parts of me—the part that wanted to speak but was stifled by self-doubt, the part that wanted to take action but lingered exhausted in the shadows, the part that wanted so badly to reach out and connect but was hindered by fear of what I had to give—to take all these parts, and free them, and to so achieve with others what I could never accomplish alone." It was a thrilling moment for me and so I say yes, let's do this together. Let's do it now.
I have class in 30 minutes so I should be preparing. In today's assignment, Soren Kierkegaard is asking, "What is your occupation in life?"
This semester's Faculty Seminar Series was just announced. This is where, every week, faculty members give talks about topics of interest and projects they're working on. Today, a physicist, a biologist and two theologians will talk about "Hurricane Katrina: The Short and Long Term Implications." Other presentations this semester will focus on Mexican art, the science and ethics of oceans, the hundredth anniversary of Einstein's theory of special relativity, and many other interesting topics. It's for me a weekly reminder of the vitality of our faculty and of the camaraderie of our scholarly community here at Dominican. It's one of the things I most love about this place.
Last week at our university's opening Convocation, we heard from the recipient of the Bradford-O'Neill Medallion for Social Justice: Douglass Cassell, director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Notre Dame Law School, a man internationally recognized for being on the forefront of civil and human rights activism. I first met him some years ago when we worked together at A Previous Institution. He's the real deal who makes a real difference in the world. He challenged us by asking, "Why are you here?" He suggested that we could rise quickly up the ladder of "success" in a chosen profession and still not necessarily answer that question well. He noted that everyone has both a private and a public life, and in terms of the latter, in a democracy we have a responsibility to argue for our convictions and strive to put them into practice. He confronted us with the provocative thesis that together, humankind has the capacity to eliminate poverty—but do we have the moral and political will?
It was a superb way to inaugurate our academic year but I must say that through it all, even with the president's compelling speech, the dedicated faculty in their impressive academic regalia, the students poised to graduate this year coming up on stage to receive special pins, etc., it was the new freshmen who, in my humble opinion, stole the show. They spoke about their hopes and dreams as they join us here at Dominican. Their remarks were funny and poignant and together they challenged us to deliver the Goods.
One of them said this: "I intend to take all the parts of me—the part that wanted to speak but was stifled by self-doubt, the part that wanted to take action but lingered exhausted in the shadows, the part that wanted so badly to reach out and connect but was hindered by fear of what I had to give—to take all these parts, and free them, and to so achieve with others what I could never accomplish alone." It was a thrilling moment for me and so I say yes, let's do this together. Let's do it now.
I have class in 30 minutes so I should be preparing. In today's assignment, Soren Kierkegaard is asking, "What is your occupation in life?"
