Wilson University

The present circumstances in America and beyond are unique in history. The world pandemic has created a chaotic climate of confusion, fear, and death. Following this, the fateful death of George Floyd and many others, and the ensuing upheaval, has shined a glaring spotlight on abuse of governmental authority and needed change. This confronts every... institution in American society with new responsibility for introspection and new opportunity to utilize the distinct power of each to create national unity and equity. The ray of hope in the midst of these developments is that, as new science has recognized, chaos can be and often is the seedbed for improved and even new forms of life and living. Inherent in each chaotic situation are particular possibilities for change. Par-tic-ular indicates particles, of which each person, each group, and each institution are a part and of which each brings unique contributions to improve the whole. In light of this, Wilson University is deeply committed to doing its part in helping to translate the present chaos into new and positive creations. The question is, what are the particulars of such possible new and positive creations in this present time? First, the pandemic has created awareness of fragilities, beginning with fragility of individual and community health, even in a time when medicine is advanced far beyond any historical past. (continued) It has disrupted life as we know it. Healthcare workers at every level are frantically working towards better practices and greater protections. In turn, the search for measures to control the outbreak has created new and serious threats in terms of individual freedoms and the power of government. This has brought new awareness of the fragility of freedom. We have seen how easy it is for freedoms long taken for granted to be abruptly removed. Governmental agencies assuming power over constitutional rights, while perhaps necessary in a particular emergency, is, nevertheless, a sobering crossing of a freedom line which, in America, ...Read More