About 400 student leaders at Fairfield will gather this week for an annual celebration in which we acknowledge the role they play in the life of our University community. Some of them work as RA’s in our residence halls — as you can imagine, that can be quite a challenging and eye-opening experience — while others lead by serving with the Fairfield University Student Association, or as mentors in our diversity programs or in our sophomore living and learning communities. We also acknowledged recently those members of our faculty who have excelled in the classroom, and have led the way through their example as mentors and advisers to students.
It seems to me that it is increasingly important that a University be a place where we encourage students to lead — or to “step up” as is the common parlance. That’s why at Fairfield we have intentional programs that encourage students to really engage with one another and begin to see themselves as members of a community. Then, out of this experience of commonality, we encourage them to find their place in the community where they can begin to give back, particularly by making themselves available to younger students who are just entering the stream of University life, and, whether they know it or not, are looking for role models as to how to best manage the transition they are making to early adulthood.
This fundamental experience of “community” is the critical first step along this developmental line, because once you begin to feel that you belong, then you want to share in the common responsibilities that make a community a healthy, vibrant, and creative environment. Out of a sense of belonging springs a desire to contribute, and the confidence to believe that you have something important to contribute.
In so many respects it is our students — and our faculty — who are on the front lines in the efforts that we make to build community on campus. Yes, we set programs in place and hold for certain values, but where our community really gels is late at night — in the residence halls, in private conversations, in moments of shared insight and empathy, laughter, and moments of criticism, forgiveness and camaraderie that bind friends to one another. There are also the “office hour” conversations that anyone who has ever taught will be familiar with as well — the encouraging words from a teacher who points a student in the right direction, who lets them know of their genuine concern for their wellbeing, and ability to achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves.
There is much talk these days about what is appropriate to the “academy.” There’s much more to be said on this issue, but one thing is for certain: Only a fraction of what goes on at a University takes place in the classroom and the library. Most of what students learn during their University years they learn in their relationships, and through the processes of maturation that lead them to a place of confidence and self-awareness. We depend upon our student and faculty leaders to sustain the optimal environment that fosters this formation and maturation.
