Seventh in a series.
In our fast-paced, technocratic age, the university is under siege, but not from without, from within. The university’s deepest purposes risk being reduced to transactional exchanges and utilitarian calculations. If the modern university is to be worthy of its name, it must stand resolutely as a place to cultivate wisdom and not merely distribute information. The holistic, integrated understanding of truth, virtue and human flourishing is the DNA of excellence in higher education.
The call to seek wisdom is not a passing fancy or a dusty relic; it is the foundation upon which higher education was built. Universities are not merely credentialing factories or research enterprises, but living communities where students encounter great ideas, discover their vocation and prepare to contribute meaningfully to the world. The university’s mission, when rightly conceived, is to nurture the whole person, the mind, character and spirit, and not simply to mint diplomas or chase rankings.
This mandate is rooted deeply in the Judeo-Christian tradition, grounded in a moral perspective that, for millennia, has insisted that the search for wisdom is a sacred duty. In this tradition, wisdom is a way of life, grounded in moral discernment, humility and reverence for truth, not just intellectual prowess. Knowledge alone, untethered from wisdom, can become shallow, dangerous and even destructive. As the Hebrew book of Ecclesiastes laments, knowledge pursued without purpose, “is vanity and a chasing after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
Western universities were born from the vision of schools devoted to forming wise, virtuous individuals, not merely training professionals. The early university mission was clear: to prepare graduates to live wisely as citizens, leaders and human beings ordered toward the common good and ethical goodness.
Wisdom and utility should go hand in hand with a university education. Today, however, the pursuit of wisdom faces formidable headwinds. Mounting economic pressures and a relentless focus on metrics have tempted universities to justify themselves on financial return, job preparation or technological advancement alone. But, as I have cautioned previously, “Education must cultivate not only knowledge, but judgment, humility and virtue.” If institutional efforts do not contribute to the character of every graduate, their value to students and society is diminished, and the worth of educational investment fades.
A university that loses sight of its obligation to wisdom as a moral mission risks becoming a buffet of disconnected courses driven by fads and the allure of perceived short-term results. The curriculum must be more than a collection of requirements to be “gotten out of the way” or substituted to shorten the educational timeline. Instead, core courses should challenge students to grapple with the perennial questions of meaning, justice, beauty and truth that define and critique civilization. Only then can universities continue as “custodians of civilization,” as Martha Nussbaum warns, rather than mere suppliers of workforce credentials. There is a place for such credential learning, which does not require a degree.
Wisdom also demands integration, not fragmentation. “Education that values a rigorous appreciation for literature, arts and science, coupled with quantitative and technical skills, will prepare graduates for good jobs that require the thoughtful application of cognitive and intellectual skills, and a 21st century rebirth of a Renaissance realization,” as I wrote over a decade ago. Interdisciplinary integration, long modeled by thinkers like Aquinas, is essential for addressing contemporary, complex problems like ethical dilemmas in technology, environmental challenges and cultural conflicts, which will only be solved by science, history and philosophy working together.
Character formation and engaged citizenship at their heart demonstrate that wisdom is not a solitary achievement, but is cultivated within a community grounded in trust, integrity and a shared sense of purpose. Struggle nearly guarantees educational excellence, I have written previously. The struggles of mind and heart, the pursuit of balance in life and the quest for meaning should be the mark of the university student and set the cornerstone for a life well lived.
Universities must foster environments where inquiry is both rigorous and humane, where disagreement leads to deeper understanding rather than division and where students learn how to think AND how to live as intentional citizens prepared to serve the common good. This is not high-mindedness, but the bedrock of the university’s purpose, built on the Western tradition.
To succeed in resisting reductionism and restoring purpose to the university, the mandate to seek wisdom is not an optional enrichment for faculty and students, but rather the moral and intellectual compass by which the university fulfills its mission to cultivate human flourishing. The traditions that shaped the university are rooted in faith, reason and a commitment to the whole person and must not be abandoned in the rush to satisfy short-term demands. Rather, these values or purposes should be reclaimed, boldly and unapologetically, as the foundation of a university worthy of the name.
A university education void of wisdom is a betrayal of our highest calling. I aspire for WT, in every action it takes, to relentlessly pursue only one high motive: the enlightenment of the student. That is how we serve the community. All other benefits will flow from this.
Walter V. Wendler is the President of West Texas A&M University. His weekly columns, with hyperlinks, are available at https://walterwendler.com/.
