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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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Tierney (1993) extended the conversation about community in higher education by offering a definition of community based on difference rather than similarity. He suggested that higher education professionals need to develop an understanding of difference, and in community, learn to dialogue with each other across the borders of their difference. This can be a threatening and confusing prospect as community members are pushed to confront tightly held assumptions and views of what is denoted as the norm. But in this kind of community members accept difference, accept conflict, as they also search for commonalties through "dialogues of hope" (p. 22) with each other. Dialogues of hope lead community members into conversations focused on the universal questions of meaning, purpose, and existence. The ultimate hope in communities of difference is that members will be able to work together to build a more just and equitable world.

These ideas about community have prompted many student affairs staff and faculty in higher education institutions to realize that if we want a university culture that embraces diversity we have to understand and appreciate each other across our differences. Community building is a means to get community members deeply in touch with themselves, their peers, and the human condition. When a true community exists, people dig deep into their hearts and bring what they discover into communal conversation (Mirvis, 1997). Thus, participating in community such as this taps into peoples' spiritual and emotional selves and allows them to bring their complete self to their life in the university. The learning community movement in higher education is evidence of the push for wholeness and connection in a quantum universe and manifests the spiritual dimension.

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The inward journey. Parker Palmer (1998) provided another example of how the spiritual is emerging in the higher education workplace when he recently raised the significance of the "inward journey" for teachers. He eloquently argued for a focus on wholeness in the way educators teach in colleges and universities. He persuaded that the teacher's selfhood is a legitimate topic in education, for if the teacher does not know herself, how can she know her students or her subject? And if she is not in connection with her subject and her students, then how can she teach well? He argued for structures that encourage teachers to "scout out the inner terrain," because good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. He wondered how schools could perform their mission without providing the means and the validation for this important selfexamination. He built a persuasive case for us to talk to each other about our inner lives, especially about our fears related to teaching. His main contention was that our spiritual self is the path that will lead us out of our fear into wholeness. In his view, nurturing the soul of teachers is an important leadership task in institutions of higher education.


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