In chapter 13, Pelikan says that the university has duties to three societies - the local, the national, and the international. The local duties include giving access to a higher education to everyone, while not diluting the quality of an education by admitting anyone with a high school diploma. The local duty is to strike a balance between quality and equality. The main national duties for the university are scholarly publishing and research enterprise. Another duty is to study our country’s literature for other nations who don’t know our language. This entails studying not only current literature, but also works of the past and how they compare to modern works. The duty to international society is to instill a respect for international research, publication, and even languages in the students. This is mainly for the US universities because we’ve led the way in scientific research since WWII, and English is all we really need to succeed. The overall duty of the university to society is to train good members of society and to mount the resources and summon the will to redefine itself in all three contexts, so that the university may properly identify its duties to society. Kind of paradoxical I’d say.
Chapter 14 deals with the argument that the university will be the center of opportunity for the future. It will be the greatest and most important center for cultural and national life, as it is now and has been for hundreds of years. It will be a place in which the past (today) asserts itself with a special claim upon the present (tomorrow). It will be the place for knowledge from around the world to be stored where all can see it. It will be opposed to discrimination on grounds of race, color, nationality, religion, or sex. It will be where those who have talents from birth will be able to realize their potential, and those who are without extraordinary talents will be able to contribute to later generations by adding to the base of cumulative knowledge. The greatest promise of the university is the produce people who will reform themselves and the world not because they were pressured to, but because they feel doing so would be fitting and right.
Here are my five duties to society from most to least important.
To provide the best possible environment for learning - Giving students what they need to succeed in combating the four horsemen is paramount in keeping the university alive and therefore continuing to serve society. What students need are ample resources (computers, books, first-hand experiences of what they’ll be facing later in life), extracurricular activities like sports and clubs, and to be surrounded by fellow students who they can learn from.
To support faculty research and teaching equally - Pelikan said that if research tries to function without teaching, or vice versa, in the university, then it will not succeed. The university needs research to accomplish services to society, and it needs teaching to ensure later generations continue serving society.
To make itself accessible to the public - If the university isn’t connected with the public in some way, it’s not doing its job. The university is there to educate people who will eventually be major players in society, and if it doesn’t know what’s going on outside, it will be ill equipped to serve society. The university also has great facilities and programs for the public to take advantage of, like libraries, gyms, lectures, public events, etc…
To be an international network where scholars can gather peacefully and on their own terms - The university is supposed to be where knowledge is produced and then diffused, and what better place to diffuse it than all over the world. When universities are connected there will an increase in knowledge and understanding throughout the world.
To store the knowledge of past generations so they and their work won’t be forgotten - If universities don’t store knowledge from the past, public repositories, like libraries, will be hard-pressed to hold all that information. Also by keeping such knowledge on campus, students and faculty will have easier access to it.
