St. Olaf College Phi Beta Kappa Initiation Speech
April 22, 2004
First and foremost, I would like to say “congratulations” to my fellow
initiates on your election to Phi Beta Kappa, and “thank you” to the
Delta of Minnesota chapter officers for this opportunity to share some
of my thoughts about the importance of the liberal arts in our lives.
Now, since today is April 22nd, and since I am an Environmental
Studies major, I can’t pass up the opportunity to wish everyone a
Happy Earth Day. But what does Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970 by
20 million Americans with a very practical mission of putting
environmental issues on the political agenda — have to do with Phi
Beta Kappa and its recognition of academic, intellectual excellence?
I believe that the connection lies in the breadth of abilities that
were required to put knowledge to work in service to the world.
The first Earth Day had as its foundation academic excellence in
disciplines such as the natural sciences and environmental literature,
combined with moral and political engagement. As a society dedicated
to “fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and
sciences,” Phi Beta Kappa exists precisely to promote the development
of such well-rounded students who are able to see their work in a
particular discipline within the context of how it might serve the
human and ecological community. In its mission statement, St. Olaf
College affirms a similar tradition by expressing its desire to
provide “an education committed to the liberal arts.” So tonight, at
this Earth Day initiation ceremony of the St. Olaf chapter of Phi Beta
Kappa, it seems especially appropriate to reflect on the place of the
liberal arts in the education we have received from St. Olaf and in
the lives of service we will lead once we leave the Hill.
As St. Olaf students, we have all heard numerous encomiums singing the
praises of the liberal arts. Not an invocation, Honors Day, or
academic ceremony passes without some mention of this cornerstone of
St. Olaf’s educational philosophy. The liberal arts are central to
this college’s identity, and yet we feel compelled to constantly
defend the relevance of such an education in the so-called “real
world.” What I would like to propose tonight is that as we reflect on
our education, we need not eschew practicality in order to affirm the
liberal arts. For me, the value of the liberal arts education that I
have received is not that it has allowed me to pursue lofty
intellectual pursuits without some straightjacket of practicality, but
rather that it has enabled me to redefine what is practical and
worthwhile to pursue in preparation to tend the creation with which we
have been entrusted.
Our interdisciplinary education has instilled a desire to seek truth,
and the ability to think critically and morally about the world around
us. Such development of our intellectual capacities, far from
separating us from a needy world, instead enables us to be active
citizens with a passion to uphold principles of dignity and justice
for our fellow human beings and for the Earth that sustains us. In
Representations of the Intellectual, scholar and peace activist Edward
Said asserts, “Real intellectuals are never more themselves than when
they denounce corruption, defend the weak, deny imperfect or
oppressive authority–The intellectual belongs on the same side as the
weak and unrepresented.” He continues, “The intellectual is an
individual endowed with a faculty for articulating a message, to as
well as for a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be
played without a sense of being someone whose reason for being is to
represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or
swept under the rug.”
The first Earth Day came about because intellectuals such as Rachel
Carson were able to transcend the narrow boundaries of their
particular disciplines in order to advocate on behalf of public health
and the integrity of creation. It was Rachel Carson’s breadth of
talents, a quality valued by the liberal arts, that enabled her to
serve. While trained as an ecologist, she was able to translate
scientific knowledge into lyrical prose for the public and persuasive
speech for policymakers. It was these abilities outside her field of
expertise that ultimately enabled her to contribute to a changed
consciousness regarding humankinds relationship to the natural
world, and improved policies to preserve ecological integrity.
As people who have been blessed with the gift of a college education,
it is our privilege and responsibility, like Rachel Carson, to use our
gifts in the creation of a more sustainable, just, and peaceful world.
Envisioning the goal of education as preparation for service, it is
intensely practical for the scientist to study ethics and philosophy,
for such pursuits can inspire research that will enable us to live
sustainably on the Earth and alleviate the suffering of people now
burdened by disease or malnutrition. It is vitally important that the
anthropologist be trained not only in ethnographic methods, but also
in public speaking, so that he may defend the human rights of
marginalized peoples before powers with the authority to guarantee
these rights. Literature becomes an essential element of the
curriculum for all citizens, for the gifted writer can give us a
glimpse into the lives of communities with different experiences from
our own, nurturing what Dr. Mary Titus called “compassionate
imagination” in her invocation address two years ago. This ability
to empathize with others is crucial if we are to live the “lives of
worth and service” that St. Olaf College is committed to fostering.
Each of you is here tonight because you have demonstrated excellence
in a range of intellectual pursuits. Best wishes as you go forth to
put your liberal arts education to practical use in the world we are
called to care for. Congratulations!