April, 1977 - CROSSROADS - Page 5
Trousered Apes: Modern Values Assessed
By REV. JOHN P. BRADLEY, President
As a Catholic college, Belmont Abbey proclaims in its
official statement of goals and purposes that it is
“especially concerned with examining, and where ap
propriate challenging, the values that are predominant
in modern society.” To my mind, our efforts to im
plement this statement in the day-to-day life of the
College are of extreme importance at the present time
when it seems that many of the values which are
predominant in modern society clash with the values for
which Belmont Abbey College stands. I believe that we
do indeed make the effort throughout the College to
challenge various modern values that are offensive to
our tradition, and which, in my opinion, are threatening
to our society. I also believe however, that an even
greater effort must be made by all of us if we are to cope
with today’s culture. Some time ago, I came across an
excellent book written by Duncan Williams, a professor
of English at Marshall University, titled Trousered
Apes, which I believe can be helpful to us by alerting us
to the danger of certain values that are nowadays
predominant in our culture. Consequently, the College
will provide every administrator and instructional
member of our faculty with a copy of this book.
The respected periodical, Christianity Today,
recommends Trousered Apes (the title is taken from
C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man) as “a devastating
analysis of contemporary culture, one that ought to
strengthen the hands of Christians subject to in
timidation by avant-garde literary and artistic pundits.”
In the Foreword, the distinguished commentator,
Malcolm Muggeridge, praises the book as a “cogently
argued, highly intelligent and devastatingly effective
anatomisation of what passes for culture today, showing
that it is nihilistic in purpose, ethically and spiritually
vacuous, and Gadarene in destination.”
It is to me rather strange that universities and
colleges, institutions that one would think ought to
question and challenge current ideas, all too often
nowadays seem to conform to the latest fad and novelty
and, confusing perhaps novelty with originality, regard
membership in the avant-garde as some sort of
academic distinction. This, I believe, all of us in higher
education must be wary of, for none of us can completely
escape the all-pervasive influence of our culture, and so
Professor Williams’ thesis can be helpful in prompting
us to a deeper examination of many ideas that have in
recent times been so casually canonized as part of the
contemporary conventional wisdom.
The following excerpt from the book gives some in
dication of why I believe it ought to be required reading
for everyone here at Belmont Abbey College, an in
stitution which has committed itself to examining and,
where 'i^ropriate, challenging the values that are
predominant in modern society:
No real understanding of modern literature
or society is possible without recognizing that
for the vast majority of modern writers,
artists, critics and other moulders of public
tastes and beliefs, God, in the old sense of the
word, is not dead but never existed. Fur
thermore, anyone who professes such a belief
in a supernatural force is, in their opinion,
either an escapist (that is to say, a moral
coward), or lacks the intellectual apparatus
to give his opinion weight.
In consequence, a form of intellectual
totalitarianism has been established, within
which charmed circle everything is condoned
and no limits are imposed upon its members’
actions or beliefs ... One may recall that this
total rejection of tradition and of traditional
^morality and religion signified, in Spengler’s
opinion, the death-throes of a culture and of a
civilization.
It seems to me that all of us in a college such as this, if
we are to be true not only to our stated goals but also to
our entire history and tradition, must take very
seriously our claim that in our educational philosophy
we are “especially concerned with examining, and
where appropriate challenging, the values that are
predominant in modern society.” All of us involved in
higher education nowadays know only too well how
difficult it is to do this effectively, since we are com
peting with the vast apparatus of modern com
munications, TV, radio, recordings, publications, that
all too often panders to the lower tastes of our society
and makes it extremely difficult for our young people to
put together for themselves a value system which can
enable them to make sound judgments about what is
right or wrong, and about how a human being ought to
live if the gift of life is to be truly meaningful.
It is encouraging to learn from an article in a recent
issue of Time magazine that many qniversities and
colleges are now showing a concern for a proper un
derstanding of a liberal arts education, an education that
ought always to include the effort to make college
students not only think, but think about values. Harvard
is searching for a curriculum that would educate its
students to “think effectively, communicate thoughts,
make relevant judgments, and discriminate among
values.” Georgetown has announced its intention to
stress “value education, moral and philosophical
education.” Dr. Alice Emerson, president of Wheaton
College, announced recently that her institution is
seeking for the best way “to communicate values.”
Belmont Abbey College, in virtue of its history and
tradition, has no alternative but to stress value-oriented
education. All of us here, therefore, must never forget
this, and must strive to find better ways to do it more
effectively.
earn
ifficult schedule,” commented
>udko. “Besides tough District
Wj s matches against High Point
B t hd Pfeiffer, we pl^ UNC-
hapel Hill and Appalachian
tate. We will have to play our
estf Those are 13 very good
we face.”
honorar
having ^ ^ 1 i?
universLyOXI
Not al
there is^
are mor
Select,
compos'
Usually
June co:,, „ „ ,
Ariinli**^ Belmont Abbey College
.u team has opened
the degr 1977
An aohe team is being coached by
academ Martin Hayes, O.S.B. A
standaril of 13 matches will be
colors, yed, with home matches
specifying played on the Forest
The course in Charlotte,
welco^® played in the
use thb^'^ loucnament held at
Weekend. They
u Limestone and Catawba
Hem Tuesday, March 15 at
degree vtuckett.
lays
Honohe remainder of the
Forexftdule will be as follows;
of Lawhday, April 4, J.c. Smith and
graduaingstone here; Monday,
excepti'il 18, Gardner-Webb here;
Divinitsday, April 19, UNC-
or an here; Wednesday,
ictorl'* USC-Spartanburg;
Miioic 21 at Catawba;
EaiiT' “ ■'
specialit is going to be a difficult
Collejon,” commented Martin.
selecteiere are very fine golfers on
receivoi team that we play. We
institute a young team and it will be
accept hile before we see how well
MostP going to go. I’m
howeve'"® season,
dignit^^^ith
compete with area teams.
“We just didn’t have enough
girls interested to field an in
tercollegiate team,” said Pam
Allison, coach. “We tried for a
week and the most we had was
11 girls. We needed at least 15
girls, but we just didn’t have
them.”
“With the girls we have, we
will be able to compete this
way,” continued Ms. Allison.
“It will allow them to gain a
great deal of experience and get
some needed playing time. It
will also give us a good foun
dation for next year. I’ll have
something to build with.”
Ms. Allison went on to say
that “I hate that we were unable
to have a team. There were a
few of the girls that were really
interested in an intercollegiate
team.”
John Miller, a Plainfield, N.J.
freshman, will be assisting Ms.
Allison with the coaching duties
for the team. Miller is the head
trainer for all Crusader teams
and has been supervising
practice while Allison handles
her duties in the Recreation
Department.
^ftball is one of the two
women’s sports being offered at
Belmont Abbey College
beginning this year. Volleyball
was added this fall. Interest in
the volleyball program was
strong enough that the Lady
Crusaders will play an ex
panded schedule next fall.
“We have several tough tests
next season,” commented
Allison, who also coaches the
volleyball team. “We are
playing more teams. These
teams are all very tough.”
“Getting a program started is
a very difficult task.” Ms.
Allison concluded. “You have
to prove to everyone that you
are serious about what you set
out to do. People are hesitant to
X... ^
College and participating on one
of our teams. There is a very
bright outlook for ini
tCTcollegiate sports here.”
lead S.A.
p had also been active as a
- — {gjpj. jjjg Assembly prior to
TM »» n election,
i lease HpIi'ss Healy, the daughter of
iand Mrs. J. C. Healy of 2160
,, 3ny Road, Charlotte, N. C.,
You will notice below^uated from Charlotte
an expanded form whichholic High School in 1974.
requests information we is a junior history major
have not attempted tq has been active in several
gather in several years, npus organizations among
As you may surmise, WQch are the Golden Hearts of
at the Abbey look upoqma Phi Epsilon, “Free
the Centennial year 197face,” and campus ministry,
as a year of opportunity has been a cheerleader for
for the College in manyee years, and has been on the
directions, and we hopejOn’s List,
with your help, it wilPilloian is a sophomore
become also a^joring in accounting. He is
memorable time for alf son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul H.
lloian from Neptune, N. J.,
d graduated from Neptune
Name ' ^nior High School. He is a
^ ~ jther of Sigma Phi Epsilon
Address
The Student Association of
Belmont Abbey College is the
political arm of the student
body in their relations with
other constituencies of the
college. Major issues that face
it include instituting a
“visitation plan” for the
residence halls which are now
closed to members of the op
posite sex. The plan currently
under consideration now must
be approved by the
college’s Board of Trustees.
NAMES OVERLOOKED
The following names were
inadvertently overlooked’when
the list of contributors to the
B.A.C. Centennial Campaign
was published in the last issue
of “CIrossroads”:
Dr. Robert Jones
I James W. Heffernan
City
Children
Employer.
City
Bus. Phone.
Does Employer match
Year of graduation or
Degree?
When you left the Abbey,
Name of School.
Current Salary Range (P
$5,000 - 7,000 7,000 - 9,000
ese players from the ItM football