In the Footsteps of Giants Here At Oxford

By Turney Stevens, Dean

The first student enrolled in what would become the University of
Oxford in 1167.

Today I became the newest. Or at least I am pretending to be a "student"

for a week here on these hallowed grounds.

For one week, I'll be meeting with 44 other educators from around the

world in a program known as the Oxford Roundtable. The participants

will be looking at contemporary issues facing Higher Education,

such as the undue pressure created by the competition for rankings,

the role of community colleges in making learning more accessible

and more affordable, and many other topics, all within the context

of a rapidly changing 21st Century world.

Founded two decades ago by Dr. Kern Alexander, a former president

of Western Kentucky University and of Murray State University and

father of our own College of Business Board of Visitors member,

Klint Alexander, the Roundtable annually calls together scholars from

around the world to spend a week at Oxford's quaint and very proper

Harris Manchester College discussing issues of significance.

Although not formally a part of the University of Oxford, the

Roundtable draws its academic inspiration from the historic surroundings

n which it is housed and it enables its "students" to take a week in

order to gain greater perspective on an "industry" that is changing more

rapidly than most.

The first Roundtable held its meetings at St. Peter's College (another
of Oxford's 39 Colleges) to consider public policy issues bearing on
education in the U.S., the U.K., and other selected countries.
Participants included college and university presidents, ministers of
education from 20 countries, the chair of the National Governor's
Association, and the Chancellor of Oxford University.

Past topics have included human rights, social welfare, economics,
religion, ethics, morals, and the liberal arts and sciences.

Participants must be invited upon nomination by a past participant.
The week is spent listening to paper presentations with both formal
and informal dialogue following each.

Although not a degree granting institution itself, the Roundtable
nevertheless does have a long-standing connection to Oxford (if 20
years can be defined as "long-standing" at an institution that has
educated students for more than 800 years.)

Participants live in the the Harris Manchester College Residence Hall
and dine together (coats and ties required) in the College's
candlelit, gothic Dining Hall.

In the gardens of Harris Manchester College, Oxford. The College's Chapel,

where Christian Prayer services are held daily, can be seen in the background.

Just steps away from Harris Manchester College is The Eagle And The
Child pub, where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S.Lewis met every Tuesday to
break bread and share ideas.

A few steps more brings one to Christ Church College, site of the
Alice in Wonderland adventures as well as Brideshead Revisited and the
largest of Oxford's Colleges with 675 students (out of a total Oxford
enrollment of almost 21,000.) The College was laid out by Sir Thomas
Wolsey and constructed by King Henry VIII.

Walk on and one comes to University College where a young Bill Clinton
studied politics and economics on a Rhodes Scholarship but left early
in order to enroll at Yale Law School. Although he never earned a
degree from Oxford, he does hold the distinction of being the first
U.S. President to study at Oxford (the university counts 26 British
prime ministers among its alumni.)

A few more steps, however, brings one to the site of our own U.S.
Congressman Jim Cooper's Oxford student days, where he also studied on
a Rhodes Scholarship and did earn a joint B.A./M.A. in 1977.

And the history here at Oxford just goes on and on. A lot of it can be
made in 800 years.

It should be a fascinating week of debating the future while being
humbled by the past.

Thank you, Klint. It's truly an honor for Lipscomb University to be
invited to participate.

All this week Dean Stevens will be posting about his experiences at
Oxford University. Check in frequently to hear what he is learning,
and discovering at one of the oldest educational institutions in the world.