TIMES OF CHALLENGE AND CONTROVERSY

By: Lloyd V. Orduńa, Ed.D

Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “The ultimate measure of persons is not where they stand in times of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.”

When the Filipino community is on heightened alert with the hostage and other insurgency crisis brought by Abu Sayaf Group (ASG) and other militant groups, the internal wrangling in Congress, the politics of deception and broken promises, the destabilization moves, the economic depression, and other disturbing developments, where do we stand?

The most insidious threat in the society is not the presence of chaotic issues but rather the indecisiveness and passive acceptance of fate of the people. This kind of society is extremely prone to whimsical and egotistical governance which may even lead to total despotism. Given this scenario, it behooves us to say that the academic community deserves to orient the mass of students toward directing them to right motivations. The role of the academe is to prepare students by inculcating values and knowledge in the classroom which they may use for a more socially-relevant function outside. Educating the studentry will help sustain motivations toward learning. Educators mold students to be warriors protecting truth and reason from the ominous forces of mass ignorance and insularity. And the most intangible evidence of the faculty’s role in national recovery is in making the students take their stand in times of challenge and controversy.

We know that choices shape our lives. No one can debate on this. No one can make winning choices; but, we can improve our odds. The unpleasant encounters elsewhere are experiences anyone can relate to. If the times of challenge and controversy feel intolerable, a sense of continuity in a firm stand can be the winning edge.

Where do we stand?

In this jigsaw puzzle of life, to shape one’s career and to create breakthroughs depend on taking sides. We in the faculty have an image role in making the youth realize this. We led them out of the box of narrow understanding to a much broader one. Our greatest accomplishment is knowing that our products have acquired the germane values of critical attitude and analytical way of reflecting one societal problem to another. In having been diligent in carrying out service in an arena where negative publicity often seems to dominate, this academic community stands to make the studentry as important markers in the landscape of our lives. The community’s posture is in mastering situations. For isn’t it that to be successful, there is the need for intelligent choices and a reign in everybody’s emotions? In this regard, the academe’s guideposts for behavior and decisions are placing prime importance on these two considerations.

Consequently, with the variety of sensations that the country offers, choices remain as sharply elemental as simple a matter of right and wrong. We stand open doors throughout the populace in a climate of responsible stewardship of our resources.

Thus, if we take firm stand in times of challenge and controversy, the picture of life becomes unchanging and with a clear sense of continuity.

Where do we stand?