Boling Praises Role of Community College at Commencement
Title
Boling Praises Role of Community College at Commencement
Subject
Motlow State Community College
Description
Newspaper account and image of Motlow's third graduation with Dr. Edward J. Boling, University of Tennessee president as commencement speaker.
Creator
The Tullahoma News
Date
June 8, 1973
Contributor
The Tullahoma News
Rights
No restrictions. Open for research.
Format
.jpeg
Language
English
Type
Newspaper Clipping
Transcription
Tennesseans are given a dramatic boost toward helping more Tennesseans of college age, get a college education, the president of the University of Tennessee has told 1973 graduates of Motlow State Community College.
Furthermore, said Dr. Edward Boling, colleges like Motlow are helping students realize that a college and university education should not be an end in itself but a beginning of a lifetime of “learning, understanding and personal growth.”
Dr. Boling, who heads the state wide U-T system, was the third commencement speaker at Motlow College, which open in fall of 1969. It had held two other graduation exercises before the last one Friday in the college fieldhouse.
After Dr. Boling’s address, Dr. Sam Ingram, college president, conferred associate in arts and associate in science degrees to 127 students.
The U-T president said that from 1960 to 1970 the proportion of college-age Tennesseans attending college went from 17 percent to 28 percent. The national enrollment at the same rose from 23 percent to 32 percent.
“Although Tennessee is not yet up to the national average in this one measurement of educational opportunity,” said Dr. Boling, “It is rapidly closing the gap- aided by the dramatically by the advent of the community college system.”
Aside from the general view, however, he said the next best measure of education is an individual one: how well the students himself benefits from his experience.
Dr. Boling said despite a more sophisticated level among young people, many college freshmen still arrive with the naive expectation of “being educated” by some mysterious power or process which resides in the campus.
Concentration of Resources
He suggested that students may get along better if they realize that a college is more of a concentration of resources for learning than a teaching institution that primarily force-feeds students facts.
Aside from the libraries, classroom and cultural events, Dr. Boling said one of the best educational advantages is the variety in college life among students, teachers and administrators.
“The resulting campus community,” he said “is full of a variety of lifestyles, interests and causes. This special cultural mix is one of truly educational aspects of campus life.”
“And a college campus does have, I believe, in higher proportion than other communities men who have developed a rational philosophy, who have achieved some degree of wisdom along with their studies, who have achieved a personal balance and style which enriches the lives they touch.”
While a college or university is not a political organization that forces changes, Dr. Boling said, he reminded the graduates that generation of ideas has been a function of a higher education.
Are beginning schools
“College and universities have always been on the leading edge of the ideas which shape our world.” he said, “And ideas- right or wrong- are the most powerful agents of change.”
He concluded that the experience of going to college is better described as a “career beginning school” than as a finishing school.
“So, your college experience- completed and achieved and hung on the wall in the form of a certificate- is not in itself an education.” Dr. Boling said. “But the college which today becomes your alma mater deserves more than faint praise if it has stimulated you to make a beginning on a lifetime of learning, understanding and personal growth.”
“If you have taken advantage of the opportunities offered at Motlow State Community College, you have started on a journey of personal and intellectual growth, which shall last as long as you live and shall even enrich the lives of those who follow you.”
Ready for Study- Dr. Sam H. Ingram, left and Dr. Edward J. Boling, right, president of the University of Tennessee, pause before leaving Dr. Ingram’s office for Motlow’s graduation ceremony, at which Dr. Boling was the speaker -Motlow College Photo
Furthermore, said Dr. Edward Boling, colleges like Motlow are helping students realize that a college and university education should not be an end in itself but a beginning of a lifetime of “learning, understanding and personal growth.”
Dr. Boling, who heads the state wide U-T system, was the third commencement speaker at Motlow College, which open in fall of 1969. It had held two other graduation exercises before the last one Friday in the college fieldhouse.
After Dr. Boling’s address, Dr. Sam Ingram, college president, conferred associate in arts and associate in science degrees to 127 students.
The U-T president said that from 1960 to 1970 the proportion of college-age Tennesseans attending college went from 17 percent to 28 percent. The national enrollment at the same rose from 23 percent to 32 percent.
“Although Tennessee is not yet up to the national average in this one measurement of educational opportunity,” said Dr. Boling, “It is rapidly closing the gap- aided by the dramatically by the advent of the community college system.”
Aside from the general view, however, he said the next best measure of education is an individual one: how well the students himself benefits from his experience.
Dr. Boling said despite a more sophisticated level among young people, many college freshmen still arrive with the naive expectation of “being educated” by some mysterious power or process which resides in the campus.
Concentration of Resources
He suggested that students may get along better if they realize that a college is more of a concentration of resources for learning than a teaching institution that primarily force-feeds students facts.
Aside from the libraries, classroom and cultural events, Dr. Boling said one of the best educational advantages is the variety in college life among students, teachers and administrators.
“The resulting campus community,” he said “is full of a variety of lifestyles, interests and causes. This special cultural mix is one of truly educational aspects of campus life.”
“And a college campus does have, I believe, in higher proportion than other communities men who have developed a rational philosophy, who have achieved some degree of wisdom along with their studies, who have achieved a personal balance and style which enriches the lives they touch.”
While a college or university is not a political organization that forces changes, Dr. Boling said, he reminded the graduates that generation of ideas has been a function of a higher education.
Are beginning schools
“College and universities have always been on the leading edge of the ideas which shape our world.” he said, “And ideas- right or wrong- are the most powerful agents of change.”
He concluded that the experience of going to college is better described as a “career beginning school” than as a finishing school.
“So, your college experience- completed and achieved and hung on the wall in the form of a certificate- is not in itself an education.” Dr. Boling said. “But the college which today becomes your alma mater deserves more than faint praise if it has stimulated you to make a beginning on a lifetime of learning, understanding and personal growth.”
“If you have taken advantage of the opportunities offered at Motlow State Community College, you have started on a journey of personal and intellectual growth, which shall last as long as you live and shall even enrich the lives of those who follow you.”
Ready for Study- Dr. Sam H. Ingram, left and Dr. Edward J. Boling, right, president of the University of Tennessee, pause before leaving Dr. Ingram’s office for Motlow’s graduation ceremony, at which Dr. Boling was the speaker -Motlow College Photo
Citation
The Tullahoma News, “Boling Praises Role of Community College at Commencement,” Motlow State Community College Archives, accessed May 6, 2024, https://msccarchives.omeka.net/items/show/65.
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