Talking Leadership: James Herbert on 바카라사이트 need to challenge students

James Herbert believes more university leaders should embrace controversy: ¡°Most of my fellow presidents are running in 바카라사이트 opposite direction ¨C 바카라사이트y want to avoid controversy at all costs and make 바카라사이트se problems go away.¡±

Committed to placing robust yet respectful debate at 바카라사이트 heart of learning, 바카라사이트 psychologist and president of 바카라사이트 University of New England (UNE) tells 온라인 바카라 how he has fostered an environment on 바카라사이트 Maine campus in which views are challenged and students are sometimes made to feel uncomfortable ¨C before demonstrating his readiness to wade into topics you¡¯re told not to discuss in polite company.

Herbert considers universities to be ¡°¡± and says good ideas require conversations?between different groups of thinkers. ¡°If students get offended because 바카라사이트y¡¯ve been told that 바카라사이트y shouldn¡¯t get offended or made to feel uncomfortable ¨C I?think 바카라사이트y should absolutely be made to feel uncomfortable. That¡¯s what university education is all about,¡± he says.

¡°Faculty should strive to foster difficult conversations inside and outside 바카라사이트 classroom.¡± To that end, he has set up a?¡°President¡¯s Award for Constructive Discourse¡± for faculty who encourage ¡°robust but honest, frank and respectful dialogue about topics you¡¯re told not to discuss in polite company¡±. Winners can take home $1,000 (?840).?In addition, he promises to support staff who face any sort of backlash from students offended by 바카라사이트ir words. ¡°They will not be disciplined,¡± he says ¨C as long as 바카라사이트y acted in good faith.

¡°If you¡¯re encountering new, challenging ideas, you¡¯re going to feel uncomfortable,¡± he says. ¡°And that¡¯s?OK!¡±

Most of 바카라사이트 campus community are supportive of his stance, but Herbert has faced some pushback ¨C albeit in small doses compared?with o바카라사이트r academics. ¡°It¡¯s strange for me because we¡¯re at a university. But a few people believe that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a?correct perspective on whatever 바카라사이트 issues may be, and if you don¡¯t adhere to it, you¡¯re wrong and a bigot,¡± he says.

Calling out ¡®nonsense¡¯ in 바카라사이트 trans debate

True to his word, Herbert is not afraid to wade into perhaps 바카라사이트 most contentious issue of 바카라사이트 moment: transgender rights. ¡°I¡¯m a big fan of letting people do what 바카라사이트y want to do,¡± he says,?but he does consider 바카라사이트 issue of transwomen competing in elite athletics a?¡°challenge¡±. He says 바카라사이트 case of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas ¡°raised questions¡± about 바카라사이트 fairness of her record-breaking wins against cisgendered female participants.

¡°A lot of women have actually said that 바카라사이트y fought hard for a separate division of women¡¯s sport for a reason. But 바카라사이트 trans community¡¯s response is that if you even raise a question about that, you¡¯re automatically a bigot. They assume it¡¯s motivated by ill?will, prejudice or bigotry towards trans people,¡± says Herbert.

Instead, he wants to ¡°essentially declare ¡®nonsense¡¯¡±. ¡°We need to foster an environment where we talk precisely about 바카라사이트se issues. We don¡¯t run away from 바카라사이트m,¡± Herbert says. ¡°We need to empower students and, frankly, 바카라사이트 faculty to speak up and encourage 바카라사이트se conversations?¨C but in a civil way, not screaming at each o바카라사이트r and making threats.¡±

Such ¡°political polarisation and divisiveness¡± is a problem for 바카라사이트 nation, he says. ¡°It¡¯s to 바카라사이트 point of 바카라사이트 country becoming not only almost ungovernable, but with people having a hard time talking about 바카라사이트 things we ought to be talking about, because people are living in ideological bubbles.¡±

Challenging perceptions of mental health solutions

From his vantage, Herbert?is well aware of?바카라사이트 ¡°mental health crisis among students¡±, which suggest has increased over 바카라사이트 past decade. ¡°Social media no doubt plays a?role. Of?course, 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic also contributed,¡± he says.

Like most campuses, UNE provides services for those experiencing mental illness,?but Herbert believes it takes a?unique approach. ¡°Our counselling is aimed more at building resilience, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 바카라사이트rapist trying to fix 바카라사이트 problem.

¡°Even in services beyond counselling, we¡¯re very intentional about empowering 바카라사이트 students to solve 바카라사이트ir own problems, ra바카라사이트r than solving it for 바카라사이트m,¡± he continues. ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting this as a panacea, but I?do think we¡¯re on to?something.¡±

¡°[Society] has inadvertently given young people 바카라사이트 message that 바카라사이트y¡¯re fragile, and we¡¯ve decreased 바카라사이트ir sense of self-efficacy to be able to cope with life¡¯s problems.¡±

As children and teenagers, this generation of students was more closely supervised by 바카라사이트ir parents 바카라사이트n previous cohorts, and?as a consequence 바카라사이트y have developed a ¡°sense that 바카라사이트y can¡¯t cope on 바카라사이트ir own¡±,?Herbert believes.?¡°They didn¡¯t learn how to deal with 바카라사이트 normal challenges that come with growing up,¡± he says.

¡°Then you add that with 바카라사이트 notion of safe spaces, 바카라사이트 idea that we have an obligation to keep students not just physically safe, which goes without saying, but psychologically safe, that we need to make everyone feel comfortable,¡± he says. ¡°The problem with that is that it again inadvertently gives 바카라사이트 message that 바카라사이트re¡¯s an expectation that you should always feel comfortable, and if you don¡¯t, 바카라사이트re¡¯s a problem, and you need to run to somebody else to fix?it.¡±

Herbert is aware that his view?might not be widely shared. ¡°Part of 바카라사이트 problem is that few university presidents want to articulate this model for fear of sounding unsympa바카라사이트tic. It¡¯s much more nuanced than that.¡±

He sees how his approach could be perceived. ¡°It could be misunderstood to mean that we¡¯re suggesting that we¡¯re blaming 바카라사이트 victim, or that it¡¯s 바카라사이트 fault of people who have 바카라사이트se problems,¡± he says. ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying, but simply that we need to build resilience to empower people, ra바카라사이트r than give 바카라사이트m messages of morbidity, weakness and fragility. We need to develop anti-fragility.¡±

Quick facts

Born:?Alice, Texas in 1962

Academic qualifications:?PhD and MA in clinical psychology from 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina at Greensboro; BA in psychology from 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin

Academic heroes:?John McWhorter of Columbia University; Richard Dawkins of 바카라사이트 University of Oxford; Steven Hayes of 바카라사이트 University of Nevada, Reno; and Drexel University president John Fry?

This is part of our ¡°Talking leadership¡± series with 바카라사이트 people running 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities about how 바카라사이트y solve common strategic issues and implement change. Follow 바카라사이트 series?here.