The Common Good Forum, January 5, 2011

An Education in Ethics

By Sharon Latchaw Hirsh, President of Rosemont College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

For the past decade, faculty and other leaders in Higher Education have shared a common lament in recognizing, and trying to address, a lack of proper preparation in many of the students who come through their doors. In 2008 an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education established that a disturbing 77% of all high school graduates who took the ACT exam were under prepared in at least one of four areas: reading, writing, mathematics and science.

As all colleges and universities struggle with this challenge, however, we should also be aware of a tremendous opportunity: in today's world, there is never enough preparedness in the field of ethics.  This area is one in which all colleges and universities can prepare our students for productive and worthy lives. In other words, almost everyone entering college could use more ethical training, and this is something that is doable. But many colleges and universities do not take on that responsibility, assuming that this is a job for families and faith to instill in students before they attend college.

I could not disagree more. I believe that it is the responsibility for any institution of Higher Education to teach ethics. For our students who are already well grounded in ethics, isn't it our responsibility to foster that grounding further? And for our students who arrive at college less well grounded in ethics, isn't it our absolute duty to assure that they will be leaving our institutions as leaders who will also lead in ethical behavior?

I have the honor and pleasure of serving at a Catholic college, which means that the teaching of ethics is an important function of our dedication to a values-based education. Our undergraduate general education requirements include a requirement in ethics, and our MBA program, in particular, emphasizes the learning of ethics throughout the degree program as a whole. We are proud of our education of leaders, but even more proud of our education of ethical leaders. But my point is this: ethics, as part of the Catholic intellectual tradition, makes Catholic colleges "automatic" leaders in ethics education. We should be good at this, but we should also be constantly improving. Should we not be doing more to encourage other institutions to accept the teaching and learning of ethics as a basic necessity for a college education?