When the ISACS Visiting Team left campus at the end of their accreditation visit this October, they commended the school on several things: the clarity of our mission and values, the depth of our curriculum, innovative programs like January Term, and an exceptional level of student support that comes from LSS, Wellness, and mentoring. And above all these things, the team leader noted that ours is a school full of love.
While the word love does not appear in our mission statement or on our list of core values, it is a constant presence here. From students cheering each other on at sporting events, to teachers encouraging students to produce their best work, love is a part of our school. Austrian poet Ranier Maria Rilke, whose command to live the questions has been the mantra of our year, also said this about love: “For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” He is calling out the fact that to truly love someone, to accept their faults, to be able to challenge them to grow, and to be challenged back, is hard. But he is also reminding us that it is crucial to being human.
Love, or belief in the potential of another, is the root of what Dr. David Yeager calls the ‘mentoring mindset,’ in his new book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People. Several of us had the chance to hear Dr. Yeager speak at the ISACS Annual Conference in November, and it was a tremendous reinforcement of the way we approach teaching at University. Dr. Yeager’s research shows that a student who receives feedback from a teacher who explains that their comments come from a place of belief and support is twice as likely to respond to the remarks as a student who receives the same feedback without the sense of support. Knowing that their teacher cares about them inspires better performance. Love actually does fuel learning!
I hope you’ve felt the love at University this semester. Thank you for being a part of our school. And best wishes for a peaceful holiday season.