McKinney, S.J., Ronald H.

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 39 Article 142-1-2011Something Special at ScrantonRonald H. McKinney, S.J.Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationMcKinney, S.J., Ronald H. (2011) "Something Special at Scranton," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 39, Article 14.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol39/iss1/14Conversations 39‘Isawed the human head in half yesterday,right down the midline of the face. Oddlyenough it got me thinking about SJLA.” Ioften get letters that start like that fromalumni who are graduates of the SpecialJesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program here atthe University of Scranton. I have spent thepast 24 years honored to be the Jesuitdirector of this program. I am passing on this position toa lay colleague next year, not because I am dying or fearassassination, but because others deserve to experiencethe same privilege I have had. Watching so many fresh-men over the years grow into the marvelous alumni theyare today is what makes teaching worthwhile.SJLA is a unique program that tries to package thegeneral education core of our curriculum in a way thatprivileges philosophy as the central discipline. As aresult, most students in this learning community, whiletaking all the “gen ed” courses others take, still manageto take a few extra courses to get a double major in phi-losophy as well. They think it worthwhile because ourdepartment has the reputation of having professors whoknow how to engage their students in and outside theclassroom. The program is equally attractive for the cal-iber of other students they meet in the thirteen J-desig-nated courses in philosophy, theology, and literature thatthey take together over their four years.At the heart of the program are two important cours-es. The Trivium is an arduous rhetoric course that teach-es them writing, speech, and logic in order for them tomaster “eloquentia perfecta.” Many graduates who gointo business claim they owe their success to Trivium’sweekly under-200-words essay. They argue that theirability to communicate effectively is what makes themattractive to their superiors. Another science grad studentclaims she got the only A+ a professor ever gave becauseSJLA “taught her how to write a well-developed argu-ment.” The other important course is the Jesuit magis thathelps students reflect on the volunteer service that is alsorequired of them here through the study of Jesuit historyand spirituality. Recently astudent claimed that readingThe Sparrow for this course“has been one of the mostpowerful experiences I’ve had in my educational career.”In his 25 page paper (4-5 pages were assigned!), hemaintains this novel “is not so much about Jesuits explor-ing outer space, but it is primarily interested about con-cerns of faith, friendship, pain, providence, suffering,and God.” He says he has learned in this course to bemore open “because I’m still growing into who I am andlearning about myself, God, and life every day.”The medical student whose quote began this essaygoes on to say that “philosophy, I have found, is not aclass, but after SJLA, is a way of life.” He argues that“SJLA has taught me to operate on a different level, onewhere I am not what I do, but what I do is part ofme…Take it from me. I started in the back row; thenihilist, the anti-idealist, the black-sheep of the class…So,think a lot. Be stumped,” he tells current SJLA students,“since confusion here, in class, will allow everything elseto make sense…I’m [now] serving the underserved innorth Philly and loving every second of it.”Obviously not every SJLA graduate achieves this grat-itude and clarity. Some would argue that we are elitist,only choosing the very best freshmen for admission.True, but we do allow others to join the following twosemesters, and the GPA requirement is a negotiable itemSomething Special at ScrantonSome student testimonyBy Ronald H. McKinney,S.J. Some call us elitist200 words a week1McKinney, S.J.: Something Special at ScrantonPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201140 Conversationsfor probation, depending upon the unique circum-stances of each student. Motivation and character canmean as much as one’s GPA. Indeed, one studentargues that “rather than isolating me from the generalstudent body, SJLA…has prompted me to direct mytalents back into the university community.”Other critics have argued that we put too muchstress on philosophy. Indeed, very bright students dodrop out because philosophy is not their cup of tea.Still there are other honors programs here for themto join. However, one alumnus argues that it was the“interdisciplinary nature of the program [that] led meto become an historian. By junior year I recognizedhow the book we read in Masterworks was connect-ed to the history paper I wrote next week, then relat-ed to the issues in philosophy we debated the fol-lowing week, and how those same ideas played outin the service work we did in the Scranton commu-nity.” Indeed, there are also those who remain inSJLA, in spite of philosophy (or to spite it!), becausethey love the community atmosphere: the pizzasocials, retreats, late night study groups, and Frisbeematches between classes.I have been sometimes asked by outsiderswhether our SJLA curriculum could successfully beadopted elsewhere. And I try to get them to see thatanyone can start an SJLA Program elsewhere, butthat it is not the curriculum that will make it work.Indeed, any of our current philosophy requirementscould be replaced by any other liberal arts offeringthat evokes critical thinking. What makes SJLA work,though, is its M.O of puttingboth conservative and liberalstudents together, with facultyserving as mentors (or refer-ees!), into an experiencewhere they have to questioneverything they hold dear.Many go on to become committed leaders in ourAmerican culture as doctors, lawyers, business entre-preneurs, and teachers. Others prefer less traditionalpaths by working in non-profit organizations anddoing service work here and abroad. But whether ornot they maintain their current faith (most enter aswhite middle-class Catholics), those who do remainstaunch Catholics are less likely to ignore the margin-alized in their community; and those who stop practic-ing their institutional faith have learned to realize theimportance of being a spiritual person who is capableof grappling with religious questions. As one studentput it: “This program is like one big family pullingtogether to help each other. It has changed my wholeway of thinking and outlook on life as well. It hasmade me more aware of the world around me andhas given me spiritual guidance as well.” Another acknowledges that “many of us havestrong convictions which often conflict. There arethose who would characterize us as ‘highly motivat-ed and competitive.’ Although we are competitiveand desire to do well in life, we never held it overeach other. SJLA is not cutthroat, but it has demand-ed excellence from each of us, and it is something tobe proud of…We are called to promote justice in anapparently unjust world, and I believe that we havebeen given the tools to do so in SJLA.”Fifty to sixty students begin as freshmen and afew others join along the way, but it is expected thatthere will only be about 30-45 who will graduatetogether in SJLA to preserve its community ethos.SJLA tries to balance the inevitable stress that candevelop by promoting in our students a realizationthat grades are not what it is all about. As one stu-dent puts it: “This semester I wanted to drop SJLA.But after talking to an upperclassman in the pro-gram, I remembered why I’m in this program—foran education. I’m getting my money’s worth!”I am sure that the goals of its founder in 1975, Fr.Ed Gannon, S.J., have been adapted a bit by me, andthat my successor will do the same as regards my aimsfor SJLA. Yet the unchanging heart of this G.E. programis the collaboration that occurs between members ofour faculty. It is only if we model for our students theideals we hold up to them that we will succeed in pro-ducing “women and men for others” that we can beproud of here at this Jesuit University. Would it bother me if an SJLA graduate suggestedthat our SJLA professors could better promote themagis by leaving Scranton and teaching at some CristoRey school for the underprivileged instead? No. On thecontrary, I would consider it a great success that theywere able to critique the very program that gave themsuch skills of discernment. In the end, though, perhapswe should attribute it simply to divine grace that oneof our graduates can be as eloquent as that studentabove who sawed into a human head: “In the blizzardof technical science, I find that my time in SJLA has leftmy mind open, allotting enough space for all theanatomical relations of the human body, since I amalways also in constant reflection about the occur-rences of my everyday reality.” ■Ronald H. McKinney, S.J., is in the philosophydepartment at Scranton University. Many drop out2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 39, Iss. 1 [2011], Art. 14http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol39/iss1/14

Something Special at Scranton

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Something Special at Scranton

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