By Dr. Stanley P. Caine, President

In late July, I was invited, with 12 other presidents, to an educational leadership conference to discuss important texts dealing with the search for truth and the enterprise of education. We began with Plato, Machiavelli and Cardinal Newman and ended with some contemporary thinkers. The presidents came from all around the country and represented the public and private sectors, community colleges, large universities, church-related and secular institutions.

During these searching discussions we talked about higher education as a "great conversation," a learning process that most effectively takes place through dialogue and the exchange of ideas. From Socrates on down through the ages, learned men and women have encouraged students to wonder "why" and seek answers to life's deepest and most complex questions. The important role of the college or university has been to provide a space where probing discussions can take place, where ideas can be freely examined and points of view can be expressed and tested. 

I came away from the seminar with a strengthened conviction that Adrian possesses significant advantages in our ability to facilitate this "great conversation." We provide small classes, a key element in anyone's definition of the ideal educational setting. We employ faculty members who respect the place of research in academic life, but have a primary commitment to facilitating student learning. (When our faculty members conduct research, they often make students their partners or study new and better ways of teaching.) We encourage inquiry into the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life, something that cannot be easily done at public institutions.