Tufts students overwhelmingly reject the notion that active citizenship should be an "integral part" of their Tufts education.
At least that was the result of the poll that followed last night's debate sponsored by the International Relations Program and the Director's Leadership Council.
Director of the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) Sherman Teichman argued in favor of active citizenship, while Professor Robert Devigne, the chair of the political science department, advocated for the side that eventually prevailed.
Indeed, at the end of the debate, a whopping 64 people voted for Devigne, compared with 28 for Teichman. Twenty audience members abstained.
But those were only the remnants of an initially-filled Cabot Auditorium, whose seats and aisles were filled when the two-hour debate started at 7:30 p.m.
To begin the event, Associate Political Science Professor Malik Mufti welcomed the crowd and then handed the floor over to debate moderator Oleg Svet, a senior.
Svet briefly introduced both debaters and then yielded to opening remarks by Devigne.
"A liberal arts education is about freeing the mind from mystery, liberating the mind by furnishing it and providing it with light," Devigne said.
He then went on to explain the origins of a university education, arguing that universities are unique institutions, the only places that promote liberal studies. He compared college to a station on the subway of life, where students "stop and think about where they want their lives to go."
He criticized Tufts for not doing "a good enough job of providing a liberal arts education." Then Devigne criticized what he called the mission of the Tisch College "to make its vocation that of the entire university.
"[The Tisch College] has opted for a thoughtless strategy which has not been well-thought-out and is dumbing down the concepts," he said.
Warning of the dangers of replacing a traditional education with one that focuses on experiential learning over theoretical knowledge, Devigne accused the Tisch College of promoting egoism.
"The effect of [the] moral relativism being promoted by the Tisch College is mass egoism, whish leads to unthinking dogmatism," he said.
Devigne then fielded inquiries from students in the audience.
In response to a question from junior Matt Shapanka, Devigne said he is concerned about the institutionalization of activism.
"What [worries me] about all this structured, paternalistic student activism is ... that students are getting incorporated," he said.
Teichman opened his remarks by saying he doesn't represent the Tisch College. "My name is Teichman, not Tisch-man," he said in jest. "I don't own the term 'active citizenship.'"
Teichman then started showing slides in a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the projects of his Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) students. He also spoke about the missing connection between higher education and the military.
"How can we get you guys out there?" he asked. "There are 18-year-olds out there dying for a corrupt administration and no one is doing anything."
After Teichman finished his remarks, Svet invited other professors and administrators in attendance to share their thoughts. English Professor Jonathan Wilson spoke in favor of a more traditional liberal arts education without a specific focus on active citizenship.
"We live in a moronic inferno where no one reads anymore," Wilson said. "I think the danger here is ... putting ourselves in the piety business."
Wilson warned that a university that "brands itself" with active citizenship could alienate students "who like to read, dance and paint," making them "feel like second-class citizens."
Associate Political Science Professor Pearl Robinson spoke next. "I came to this thinking it was going to be an exciting debate but I am disappointed," she said. "The speakers have failed to engage each other."
Robinson then proceeded to offer her opinion on the topic at hand and a liberal arts education in general.
"The best education is grounded in academic knowledge and is deepened by engaging with the world," she said. "I think it is important for the university to combine the two."
Director and Associate Dean of the Tisch College Nancy Wilson then stood up to offer her thoughts on the discussion, which had turned into a rebuke of Tisch's goals without a clear rebuttal from Teichman.
Wilson took issue with the framing of the debate, saying she agreed with many of Devigne's points.
"It is not an alternative to a liberal arts education, it is in augmentation to it," she said of active citizenship.
"I think it would be foolish to confine learning to only reading and lecturing. We'd be ignoring the other senses," she told the crowd.
Both Teichman and Devigne then closed with remarks reiterating their points. Teichman said that students should become involved in things that resonate within them. "Ultimately, it is about what gives you meaning and what is your fire," he said. "I don't think [active citizenship] is for everyone. ... I just want you to be engaged in important ways, and if you desire it, it is provided by the university."
Devigne closed by saying the university should do more to support a liberal arts education and "spend less money on sending people running around the world."
He told the story of Socrates, who died as a result of his quest for wisdom. "I ask you not to contribute to the killing of Socrates again," he said.
After the debate, Nancy Wilson told the Daily she took issue with the word "integral" in the framing of the debate.
"The word integral is force-fed," she said. "I want people to care and to be educated."
