The onset of hostilities in the skies over Baghdad on January 16 forced Baylor administrators, faculty, and students to evaluate their daily activities in a new light. Two weeks into the war, we asked several members of the campus community to consider the question, “What is the role of a university during a time of war?”
Though the dramatic events in the Persian Gulf have absorbed the attention of our nation, they have not dimmed the importance of academic endeavors back home. Indeed, many campus observers believe that the traditional roles played by the academic community take on an added influence during wartime:
Working to improve understanding war, it could be argued, is the strongest manifestation of misunderstanding known to man.
During a time of war, our need to understand the world around us becomes especially acute.
Dr. David Hendon, associate professor of history, notes that the war in the Persian Gulf is the perfect retort to those who believe universities are aloof Ivory Towers, cut off from the world: “If anything, this war has revealed why we do need information about subjects that — on the outside — may seem obscure or unimportant. Such information can become important overnight.”
“I once got a phone call from the CIA,” recalls Dr. Robert Collmer, Baylor dean of graduate studies. “I was invited, along with thirty-nine other college graduate deans, to come to CIA headquarters near Washington, D. C. The reason? High officials of the CIA wanted to convince graduate deans to encourage well-qualified students to work for the agency. Research was being done on esoteric subjects. I recall particularly one. They were having a difficult time explaining to Congress why they should be studying twelfth-century Moslem religion in an effort to understand twentieth-century Moslem conduct! They thought we could help explain.”
Dr. Collmer says that war does point out the gaps in the educational system. “In the 1970s universities should have placed more emphasis on research into alternative sources of oil; now we find ourselves fighting a war over oil,” he says.
What can be done today? “We can study the history, languages, geography, and religions of the areas where the war is taking place,” he says. “Just read history! If you read about the Crusades in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the clash between Christian Europe and Islam, or the struggles in fifteenth-century Spain among Christians, Moors, and Jews — even the Thirty-Years War in the seventeenth century — you’ll see that much of what’s happening today is a continuation of ancient blood feuds. The old patterns reappear, from the taking of hostages (even Chaucer was once taken hostage!) to the threat of a ‘holy war.’
“I still think the Middle East has much to tell us,” says Collmer. “We need to recognize our indebtedness to them, not pretend they are monsters.”
English graduate student Stuart Kenny notes that the study of literature also can be particularly relevant during times of war.
“At this age, young men need meaning in their lives,” Kenny says. “They need to prove themselves — and that’s not bad. It is terrific that they are so instantly idealistic. The university needs to take that idealism and channel it into productive study. The more a young person knows, the less likely it is that he or she will do something stupid and die unnecessarily.
“I’d like to teach more literature about war: The Red Badge of Courage, maybe Slaughterhouse Five, Beowulf, and particularly War and Peace — I know of no other novel that explains war better.
“In his Civil War poetry, Walt Whitman wrote about the glories of heroism, but he also wrote about the horrors of war. The university needs to be teaching the whole of Walt Whitman, both sides of war. By promoting the reading and discussion of great literary works about war, the university can help students find a means for dealing with war’s realities.”
Philosophy professor Dr. Robert Baird says most university disciplines — including philosophy — should make use of the events in the Persian Gulf for contemporary illustrations in classroom discussions. Dr. Colbert Held. Baylor Diplomat-in-Residence, agrees: “Now the emphases of many of the fields may change,” says Held. “During a time of crisis, the university should seize the opportunity to make theoretical material relevant.”
Supporting free inquiry
Dr. Baird says the primary responsibility of a university in time of war is to continue its fundamental task of helping people think more clearly. “The university should enable people to think more clearly always — and, in wartime, that need to do so comes more into focus.”
Dr. Rufus Spain, emeritus professor of history, notes that this role of the university is a fundamental one. “Just as it is during peacetime, the university is a place where individuals can question the givens in society. It must be a place that supports free inquiry where students, faculty, even administrators may feel free to voice opposition to any policy they see as erroneous.”
Should professors present their opinions in classroom settings?
Dr. Held says personal observations should be allowed, as long as they are not presented in the form of advocacy for one side or another. During the Vietnam War, his experiences at the University of Nebraska — where professors openly urged their students to oppose the war — made him sensitive about that topic.
“I think it is appropriate to have limited class discussions about the war when it is related to class study on current developments. In that context, it would seem permissible for the professor to offer his or her personal stance — so long as it does not overwhelm the student stances.
“If a rational viewpoint is given succinctly in class, then everyone there benefits. When emotion is expressed without reason — when a teacher says, in effect, ‘I think this, and it is right because I think it’ — that is inappropriate.”
Linda Adams, assistant professor of political science, says that discussions about the war are permissible in the classroom when there is a direct connection between the classwork and the current events in the Persian Gulf. Classes in world economy, current history, geography, comparative religions, and political science would lend themselves to such discussions, she says.
“I do try to maintain a balance in the classroom discussions and opinion sessions,” Dr. Adams says. “I try to play devil’s advocate to both sides, to make students question and examine their positions. Whatever my views may be, I think I can look at both sides and question any signs of blind obedience or rhetoric. I suppose a professor’s opinions might enter in — but they are never as important as trying to get the students to think.”
Preparing students for a troubled world
“War in particular brings change to the university setting because it causes students’ attention to focus on something besides their academics,” says Dr. William Hillis, vice-president for student affairs. “Professors and administrators can’t ignore what gnaws on students’ minds, though. There is no question that the primary objective for students in college is to train themselves for their life careers. Our job is to prepare them to think about the issues of life — including war.
“I believe students need to hear a multifaceted point of view of what war was like, to ready themselves for the changes it may bring in friends — and in nations.”
Dr. David Hendon suggests that because university students are of drafting age (should a draft be reinstated), and that many are in the reserves or have friends who serve, universities actually may be the most affected institutions in the country during wartime.
“Baylor, as a Christian university, has a peculiar contribution to make to answering profound moral questions,” he says, “Even if there are no hard-and-fast answers, the university can provide the framework to make analysis.”
