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October 4, 2002

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Students learn under fire

Learning happens beyond fifty-minute blocks on MWF. There is so much more. Any decent student commencement speaker will tell you that. Year to year such students describe not just classroom learning, but the application of that learning to their lives outside of class, and their learning from experience, mistakes, and relationships.

The recent late-night false fire alarms in the residence halls have provided tremendous educational opportunities for our students. And so they learn.

In this situation, there are issues ripe for classroom discussion. Academic disciplines such as political science, sociology, philosophy, and communication offer fertile ground for students to not only consider and discuss abstract concepts, but also apply them to real campus experiences.

There are many ethical and practical issues about this episode that can be explored. In a University setting the ability of students to think critically and to question count most. And the questions abound.

If people ignore alarms, because they are usually false, whose moral responsibility is it when the alarm is finally real and injuries or death result? The pranksters? The students who choose sleep over safety and don't evacuate? The University?

Does it matter that for many, their anger at unnamed students subsided as they learned the identities and realized that these were people they cared about? Is that right?

Whose rights matter most here, those of the responsible individuals or the majority?

Many times situations such as this provide students very real and significant opportunities to assume responsibility, to confront, to act, to decide. And so they learn.

The students in the Association of Student Representatives were first to tackle the issue. They asked many questions of each other. To what degree does ASR speak for the students? Is it appropriate to tell the Court how serious students think incidents are, or is it irresponsible to stay silent? ASR chose the Court, shouldn't ASR trust the Court? How do they effectively communicate strong differing opinions within the group, and remain an effective organization?

Students in student Court heard the case. They asked themselves and one another questions too. Should they care what other students think? Do they send a signal and make an example of these students? Do they recall their own mistakes and reflect on how they wanted to be treated? Is the University's student conduct system punitive or educational?

The recent late-night false fire alarms in the residence halls have provided tremendous educational opportunities for our students. And so they learn. ... Academic disciplines such as political science, sociology, philosophy, and communication offer fertile ground for students to not only consider and discuss abstract concepts, but also apply them to real campus experiences.

One can imagine that the students at the Trinitonian had their own questions too. Do they run a photo of the accused? What means more to them, empathy or accuracy? Are they peers or journalists first?

What of the responsible parties? How do they make this right? Aren't the consequences on their reputations, with their friends, in their activities, and with their families enough? Does one act doesn't define their character?

The University is supposed to provide a safe environment for students to make mistakes. What level of mistake should the University tolerate while trying to maintain a safe environment? On this one, the students figured that out. And so they learn.

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