Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

Page 8 text:

There is an old adage by john Heywood which says, 'A man may well bring a horse to water, but he cannot make him drink without he will.' l would apply that adage to higher education and it would go something like this. 'You can lead a student to education, you can even force hini to take a mouthful, but you cannot make him swallow it., To put it simply, true education cannot take place without the consent, cooperation, and participation of the student The great teacher is a teacher who is able to secure that consent, cooperation and participation from his students. The successful student is one who participates freely. He is one who also takes full advantage of the existence on the campus of hne libraries, concert series, art exhibits and theatrical productions. As the Bible says, 'Man does not live by bread alonef l'

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hy Higher Education? What is the fundamental objective of a college or university? I am sure that we could find dozens of alleged definitions if we sampled widely enough. For example: 'to train better citizens,' or 'to train students to get better jobs,' or 'to train the leaders of tomorrow,' and the much debated 'adjustment to life philosophyf I could cite many other examples but these are typical and will suffice. These are not, and should not be, the basic objectives of a college or university. These are actually by-products which will result from the successful accomplishment of the true objective. What then is the true objective? The objective of a college or university is education. But what is education? In its true sense education seeks to train the mind. The fundamental objective of a college or university is to train minds. Information is important, but information and education are not synonymous. The dissemination and acquisition of information are vital processes in a college or university but they are not the ultimate goal. An individual does not become a success in any line of endeavor by virtue of spending four years listening to others describe how it is done and memorizing those descriptions.

Page 9 text:

American higher education will never succeed in its goal of giving higher quality education to increasing numbers of students until the nation recognizes the true objective of the process of education and what must be done in order to achieve it. NVhen that happens, students will enter college with the realization that education is something to get into, not something to be resisted or avoided. They will know and accept, as right and just, that the ultimate responsibility for his own education rests with the student. lf this understanding and acceptance occurs, we will manage to get the job done. I have too much conhdence in the basic intelligence of the American people, particularly the young people, to believe that our job is doomed to failure. l am conhdent that we will ultimately succeed. Excerpts from rt speech by Prrctiflffrzl lconzzrrl H, Axe.