Word: moralizer
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Secretary of Education, William Bennett, voiced these concerns with customary verve when he spoke at Sanders Theater in October 1986. "Where are our colleges and universities," he asked, "on the issue of their responsibility to foster moral discernment in their students? With the exception of a relatively few places--mostly religious or military institutions--higher education is silent." When asked about efforts such as the moral reasoning courses in the Core Curriculum, he replied: "That's about [moral] dilemmas, lifeboat stuff. I don't mean theory. I meant getting drugs off campus." Alas, the debate was never squarely joined...
...issue of whether to invest in firms operating in South Africa offers the ultimate example of the difficulties of trying to demonstrate a serious concern for moral standards. The problems of South Africa are far too tragic and inflammatory to escape bitter controversy, whatever a university decides to do. Student activists will claim that officials who oppose total divestment are insensitive to the injustices of apartheid, while conservative critics insist that selling stock is only an empty and expensive gesture to appease irresponsible radicals. In this atmosphere, divestment can easily acquire such emotional, symbolic importance that is difficult to examine...
...these are not only principles essential to civilized society; they are values on which all learning and discovery ultimately depend. There is nothing odd or inappropriate, therefore, for a university to make these values the foundation for a serious program to help students develop a strong set of moral standards. Indeed, the failure to do so threatens to convey a message that neither these values nor the effort to live up to them are of much importance or much common concern. This message is not only unworthy of the academy; it is likely in the atmosphere of a university...
Despite the importance of moral development to the individual student and the society, one cannot say that higher education has demonstrated a deep concern for the problem. Some efforts are being made on every campus, and a number of religious institution and small independent colleges actually devote much time and energy to the task. More often, however, and especially in large universities, the subject is not treated as a serious responsibility worthy of sustained discussion with determined action by the faculty and administration...
This question, and the dramatic manner in which it has been raised in recent months, has hit the American Jewish community hard and has made it clear that we are wandering in a moral desert. Confronted with reports of atrocities on the West Bank, American Jews find their liberal sympathies in conflict with their Jewish identity...