Process and Progress through the Liberal Arts - Hartwick College

From the President
Let’s Call it
Priceless
Not long ago a mother of a prospective student shared this dilemma with
me: she wanted a Hartwick education for her daughter, but she didn’t
know if her family could afford it. She clarified that they probably could
afford it, but it would take significant sacrifice and her family would have
to make some hard choices. She said her family was struggling with these
choices. She asked if there was anything more the College could do to
make this experience possible for her daughter.
This conversation occurs more frequently with each passing year. I
appreciate this mother’s candor on its many levels. She was struggling
to make an important decision that will change her daughter’s life, and
the lifestyle of her family. She also exposed the fundamental dilemma of
the “affordable education” question. The press repeatedly fashions the
question of the relative worth of a college or advanced degree in terms
of accumulated debt vs. future opportunity. (It’s a good question that, if
asked 10 years ago about real estate, might have helped us to avoid the
housing crisis.) However, the more complex and fundamental question
is this: Who should be expected to pay for the high quality educational experience
that we all expect and demand?
As a nation, it has been decades since we truly grappled with this
question. The result is a public that is largely unprepared—financially
and psychologically—to pay for the true cost of the quality education
they want for their children. I think about “worth” and “value” almost
daily. For reasons that are economic and financial and social and political,
I believe that colleges will have to pick up the tab for a disproportionate
amount of the real costs associated with a high quality education.
This may seem unfair. Isn’t quality education a good and a service we
should all embrace and for which we should be willing to sacrifice? Is it
fair that people want the best quality at a deep discount? At the end of
the day, issues of fairness will need to yield to necessity because we can’t
afford to educate only for near term return.
2 | The Wick | Summer 2012
In truth, the worth of a great education will be measured for generations
to come, the dividends realized in the very fiber of our culture. As
educators we are in the best position to fight against such expedient and
time-bound questions as “Why study philosophy?” Engaged citizenry
that can do more than turn a personal profit—and actually shape a future
—requires an understanding of art, philosophy, history, science, and
literature. Thinking expansively and futuristically requires exposure to
catalysts that can be found in a multitude of disciplines. Nothing grows
in a sterile environment.
What is the worth of this type of education? Given that the future of the
society depends upon it, let’s call it priceless.
How will Hartwick assure the continuation of its critical mission?
Through engagement—of its generous supporters, its outstanding
educators, and the open and active minds of young people prepared for
the challenge. They comprise this issue of the Wick.
No one understood the importance of people to process better than
Chairman of the Hartwick Board of Trustees Dr. James Elting. As many
of you know, Jim passed away on August 10, leaving us to forge ahead
with his memory of his ever-present words of encouragement to sustain
us. The first of our tributes to Jim, his memorial service on the Hartwick
campus, was anticipated as this edition of The Wick went to press. Jim
Elting will always be remembered for making our process, and our
progress, possible. The value of Jim’s influence? Priceless.