As our time at [Saint Louis University] draws near its end, we have a lingering question. What is the purpose of this university?

SLU’s Mission Statement aims to promote the “discovery, dissemination and integration of the values, knowledge and skills required to transform society in the spirit of the Gospels.” Sometimes we wonder if instead of preparing us to fight against such racial injustices as a student recently experienced on campus, a SLU education’s function is to prepare students to get a job, make a buck and donate to SLU after paying off student loans.

One of the most important functions of a university is the public exchange of ideas, not merely job training. As a whole, SLU provides that opportunity. Forums of exchange include the [Great Issues Committee], the annual disputed question (this year’s question: Is health care a human right?), Atlas Week, academic conferences, events sponsored by [Chartered Student Organizations] and most importantly, the classroom. Despite these opportunities we sense a lurking apathy from students toward intellectual involvement and its role in preparing students to engage the world in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. That is to say an apathy toward engaging “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the [women and] men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted,” noting that “these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” (Gaudium et Spes)

We are thankful for our Jesuit education and we call on the faculty, staff and administration, but most especially students to engage the intellectual life of the University more fully. Let us realize our privilege at having the opportunity to excel spiritually, intellectually and socially not for our own benefit but for the transformation of the world. The world needs nothing less than our excellence.

–Dan Finucane and Drew Hillier, Seniors in the College of Arts & Sciences