It seems widely known that dating back to centuries ago, many of America’s most prestigious universities were founded under common principles, often with religious significance. Or at least, one would presume this was common knowledge.
It was current Harvard President Drew Faust who re-acknowledged the present need for these enduring values, in a time when our world is dominated by secular values, discouraging faith or a belief of any kind.
Faust began her 2016 commencement address with the disconcerting question, “what is going on?” She continued, “what is happening to our world, the tumultuous state of American politics, spotlighted in this contentious presidential contest.”
With this daunting introduction, she began to lay out the ceaseless list of tragedies, war, famine and sickness that has come upon the world, and our nation more than ever. The speech, although seemingly pessimistic at its beginning, holds truth and reality.
Faust then brought to attention the Memorial Church that stood as a backdrop to the ceremony, referring to it as one of those “enduring symbols of Harvard’s larger identity and purposes, testaments to what universities do and believe at a time when we have never needed them more.”
She continued, saying, “in today’s world, I believe it is dangerous for universities not to fully acknowledge and embrace their responsibilities to values and to service as well as to reason and discovery.”
Statements of such gravity, Faust brought to fruition the significance of remembering where the institution began, how it began, and the roots that remain as Harvard’s mission and value.
So much of the world has seemingly ignored the importance of holding true to value, and particularly, Christianity has lost its way.
Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media noted the significance of Christianity as the foundation of many of our nation’s most respected universities.
“I went to my bookshelf for a copy of Vaughn Shatzer’s 1999 book, History of American Education, which tells the almost forgotten story of how Harvard and other colleges, including Princeton, Yale, William and Mary, Rutgers, and even Columbia, were based on a Christian worldview,” Kincaid stated.
Kincaid and Faust brought to our attention the profound importance that is value, in its simplest of forms. The dire need for the world, and our nation in particular, to grasp onto the values that uphold our country in order to march on in this pivotal time in our nation’s history.
