Park University - Narva Yearbook (Parkville, MO)

Page 14 text:

IDEALS OF A COLLEGE PROFESSOR By W. F. Sanders. The traditional college professor whose idiosyncrasies made him a welcome field of investigation at the hands of the writers of the “Funny Column” is fast becoming obsolete. His faults were exaggerated; his virtues condoned, and his ideals misunderstood. The real college professor is an idealist; not in a sense that he is oblivious or indifferent to the life about him, but in the sense that his ideals are not the grossly materialistic ideals of those who measure the achievement of the human soul in dollars and cents. In so far as he is specialist he nat¬ urally finds his own department of knowledge an absorbingly interesting one. But his interests should not be confined within such a narrow compass. The demands upon his at¬ tention from the outside are loud and insistent: The progress in literature, science and art; the call for service to his fel¬ low-men; his concern for good citizenship and good govern¬ ment. He who is indifferent to these demands is scarcely a less grotesque figure in his noble profession than he who is lacking in scholarship. What are the ideals that inspire him and make his life real and satisfying? His intellectual ideals are high. He sees the great possibilities in the acquisition of knowledge and culture to refine and elevate the human soul. Perhaps his in¬ sistence on scholarship may sometimes seem to his students over-emphasized, but it is the key that will admit him into that great company of free spirits—in Park College not an aristocracy, but a true democracy, for Park College stands for democracy in education and not aristocracy. He has a high regard for the dignity of his profession. It is invested with certain honors and privileges that are dear to his soul. Some of these are a sacred inheritance, descended from the traditional ideal of a University. “Academic freedom” is also a phrase dear to the heart of a teacher. But academic free¬ dom in a College should not be confused with academic free¬ dom in a University. The College, founded for certain specific purposes, naturally wishes that its teachers should be men of broadness of vision and independence of judgment, but at the same time it expects them to be in sympathy with the purpose for which the College was founded. Service is the secret of the college professor’s satisfaction in life: To serve his fellow-men; to guide the steady growth of knowledge; to promote ideals of righteousness and justice; to develop spiritual and intellectual leadership. These are in¬ spiring opportunities and they bring him rich compensations. His interest in life never wanes. He comes daily into con¬ tact with the ambitions and purposes of youth. To have his little part in molding and shaping the destiny of a human life is a wonderful reward. Life becomes rich; not in ma¬ terial rewards, but in contentment and happiness.

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□ □□ D a P D P D D n D P D D D a D a D D P D P P D a D a D D a D a D p p p MERLIN C. FINDLAY Biology ROSS B. WELLS Mathematics ARTHUR L. WOLFE, Dean Latin and Art MATTHEW H. WILSON Philosophy HOWARD A. DEAN Chemistry J. HAMILTON LAWRENCE English ROY V. MAGERS History P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P a