New center unnecessary

If you haven't heard, our beloved university has some big plans in store for us. It's called The Center for Holistic Education, or CHE for short.

Of course, fearing change and progress as the old fuddy duddy newspaper that we are, we were curious as to the purpose of this new center. In a nutshell, the idea behind CHE is to dig down deep with student's souls to help them better understand who they are inside.

It's an honorable mission for sure - what with the developing of students to become spiritually connected with themselves and the universe all the while advising them on what labels they should classify their little unique selves as while enrolled at Ottawa University.

Yet we can't help but feel offended by the gimmicky aura of it all. Is it really the college's business to set up a system that will hold our hands as we learn to develop our personalities? College is a transitional period between school and the "real world" so shouldn't we be encouraged to figure some things out on our own without an advisor? It's a time of independence and a break from home, a rely, for once in our lives, on ourselves.

The only conceivable reason we can think for establishing CHE is to appear progressive to outsiders without really being progressive. The concept probably seems fresh and contemporary. But we'd be willing to bet that almost all the students who will be required to plan out their lives and develop their souls in this program will view the CHE as a last-minute afterthought tacked onto their already busy schedules. It's like having a parent away from home. Who wants more parents?

Maybe we're wrong. It could be an amazing experience for students, and who knows, some of them might walk away with a different perspective on life. We're all optimists at heart, so I guess we can't really see anything overtly bad with the idea - except that it seems a little short sighted.

But at the same time, we just can't shake the feeling that there's a difference between education and hokey nonsense. Students made the decision to come here. And if they are having trouble finding themselves or fitting in, they can make the choice to get help. It shouldn't be forced upon us.

You can read more about the upcoming center online and decide for yourself.