Kim and I sat in the beautiful new auditorium. At least if was new since I attend the college thirty five years ago. On the stage we’re women attending their fiftieth reunion, talking about the challenges they faced as women in college in the sixties. These were students that had marched for civil rights and to end the war in Vietnam who went on to become prominent doctors, lawyers, and Foreign Service officers. They talked about the new opportunities that opened up to women with Title IX and expanded graduate school options. They talked about the hurdles they faced as women were expected to be sex objects to stay in graduate school, or good wives supplementing their husband’s work.

Things are so much better now, as we prepare to welcome our first female president of the college, right?

Before the next event, Kim and I stopped at the student snack bar and talked about a non-profit organization we are helping. We talked about addressing bullying. We need to help bullies, as well as the bullied. The discussion shifted to the bystanders. As long as people stand by and allow bullying to take place, and allow injustice to stand, bullying and injustice will thrive.

The next event was a gathering of classmates. One classmate brought up issues where she lived where money intended to help struggling school districts, especially those torn by racial strife, was being diverted to meet pension obligations in a chronically underfunded pension system. Another classmate spoke of an overtly sexist and offensive senior prank and school she teaches at. Yeah, some of those issues member of the class of 1965 fought against still need to be stood up to today.

Earlier in the day, I listened to the outgoing president of the college talk about how it was positioned for the coming years as liberal education faces challenges. He spoke from a great marketing perspective and the value of a Wooster education. Yet I had to pause and wonder about the underlying beliefs. As we prepare people for the twenty first century, where does faith fit in?

we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

What are we leaving undone when we when we don’t talk to bystanders about loving our neighbors as ourselves?