Since I was young, I have always collected quotes.  It’s interesting to look back through them and see how my views have changed reflected in the words of others that I thought were important enough to save.  As my daughter left for her first year of college, I gave her a journal that included a few of my favorites.  One of those was a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. about education.

“The function of education…is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education that stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason but no morals….Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.”

This quote resonates with me at a time that we debate the value of education and try to measure and assess what a university education provides. Too often, as in my own field of health services research, we measure what we can count, rather than what is the goal of true education or true health care.

I saw a recent article talking about value and measurement in higher education, yet the other value and measurement considered were salaries and return on investment.  These are important goals, but there was not even a consideration that student learning, much less the development of character, were worthy objectives.

As we start a new academic year, I hope that Penn State students and faculty keep in mind these words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and seek the true goal of education.