Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Creating time to think for yourself

A great article about the lives of college students. While this is about Harvard students, I suspect it applies to many students CCO staff meet everyday on campus. The article highlights the powerful role of extra curricular activities in the life of college students (" The way social progress gets made is by learning to work together and the real place where people can learn to cooperate is in extracurricular activities"). This is exactly the kinds of opportunities CCO spring break trips and outdoor activities offer students.

But the article also describes some concerning trends among students and how framing some classic outdoor activities (like the three-day solo we do on our summer trips) need to be adjusted to meet the needs of this new generation.

"Many college students seem to suffer from horro vacui, a fear of empty spaces"

"You don't have time to dedicate to your friends or to yourself--or to thoughts that you haven't been taught to think."

Wow! that last quote is both bewildering and downright scary. Yet another reason the Jubilee conference and the CCO ministry to college students is important.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Faith and Reason in the University

From Newsweek, an interesting read about the place of faith in higher education and another great argument for the work of the CCO. Check it out (ht KH). Quite a propos with the CCO's Jubilee Conference happening this weekend. 2,000 students will descend on Pittsburgh to do the very thing the article discusses: talk about faith and their academic and professional pursuits.