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Invoking the spiritual in campus life and leadership

Journal of College Student Development,  Nov/Dec 2001  by Rogers, Judy L,  Dantley, Michael E
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In recent years, student affairs professionals, in particular, have been challenged to take the lead in creating communities of difference on university campuses. Student affairs professionals have been called to be both "revolutionary leaders" (Manning, 1994) and "transformative educators" (Rhoads & Black, 1995). As revolutionary leaders, student affairs professionals are urged to employ the tenets of liberation theology (Freire, 1970, 1985), specifically praxis, individual critical consciousness, and transformation to critique, and then transform existing university structures in partnership with those marginalized by the current system. As revolutionary leaders, student affairs professionals work with students and staff to engage them in transforming themselves and the society in which they live. The ultimate goal is a just and equitable university community.

Likewise, as transformative educators, student affairs professionals seek to create "campus communities based on an ethic of care and a commitment to democracy" (Rhoads & Black, 1995, p. 419). They create spaces in which diverse faculty, students, and staff participate in decision-making while respecting cultural differences. Much like the communities of difference that Tierney (1993) outlined, all persons in the democratic community are considered equal in the struggle to create a just and caring academic environment. As revolutionary leaders and transformative educators our spiritual intelligence can guide in this process as we critique our own perspectives, attempt to be open to the views of the Other, and relinquish our own power and favored ways of operating in the service of recognizing and respecting the needs of others. Spiritual intelligence is a critical component in the ability to recognize and act on one's interdependence with every member of the institution. In the push for wholeness and connection, student affairs leaders grounded in spiritual intelligence create a place where the vision of a democratic community is explored and crafted by all, is made sacred by affording it time and resources to grow, and where information and processes for understanding and building community are available to everyone.

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Soul Leaders Engage in and Encourage Dialogue as a Key Form of Communication Among All Members of the Community

In a quantum world, organizations are envisioned as networks of conversation (Isaacs, 1999). Dialogue is an infrastructure that promotes deeper conversation. Dialogue is a significant tool in the community building process.

The idea of dialogue as used here emanates from David Bohm's (as quoted in Senge, 1990) definition of it as "a free flow of meaning between people, in the sense that a stream that flows between two banks ... in dialogue, a group accesses a larger pool of meaning which cannot be accessed individually" (p. 240). In contrast to discussion or debate, which is about sharing perspectives with the ultimate goal of winning others to your view, dialogue is about expanding peoples' awareness, enriching it to develop more complex meaning. This is not to say that dialogue is necessarily about reaching consensus, rather it is about what one can learn from difference and from seeing truth through the eyes of those whose worldview is in contrast to one's own. Zohar (1997) contended that debate and discussion are essentially Newtonian practice, whereas dialogue manifests the quantum principles of connection, integration, and wholeness.


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