Many Majors, One Body

My lunch conversation brought to mind an issue that, it seems, has recently been concerning me without me consciously realizing it. [And, no, you may not construe this as an indictment of anyone who was present. We ironed out the misunderstanding; I speak only of generalities.]

Many people on campus – CLA and GOV alike – seem to hold “It is my major that is the main mission. The rest of y’all are here to support that effort.”

This is, like most wrong ideas, correct in part. Yes, the world works in such a way that, separating out one major on campus, you can trace paths of service to it from the others. Only difficulty is, that works for all of them. The public policy majors are here to support the writers… and the historians are here to support the journalists… and the SI folks are supposed to keep everyone alive in the process.

Indeed, we are a body. The foot, I’m sure, could create an argument saying that all the other parts are there to let it do its foot-ish thing. And it would be right; they are. But that’s not their only purpose. Each member, by fulfilling its function, is to support the others and, thereby, the continued life of the body. No one member (except the Head) is the end in itself.

So, who takes precedence – journalism or lit? The hand or the eye? Tactics or strategy? One without the other is useless. Neither is the be all and end all. The ultimate mission belongs to neither. Rather, it belongs to both. Only in working together can they accomplish the mission and serve the will of the Head.

The space between ourselves sometimes
Is more than the distance between the stars.
By the fragile bridge of the servant’s bow,
We take up the basin and the towel.

The call is to community –
The impoverished power that sets the soul free,
In humility, to take the vow
That, day after day, we must take up the basin and the towel.
(Michael Card, Basin and the Towel)