The
University for Human Goodness
Christine
Hall
There’s an old adage among the yogis and yoginis in India and Asia that true enlightenment can’t be found while sitting on the side of a mountain. While a person who sits surrounded by the stillness of nature will certainly be able to settle his or her mind and undoubtedly gain much insight into the self, this wisdom will surely be lost when the person returns to the noise and stress of human society.
Enlightenment and emotional health must be gained while living in the world of people, where we are constantly confronted with the potential for conflict. It’s not the flowers, birds and other aspects of the beauty of nature that stokes our inner turmoils, but our interactions with people. The peace and quiet of the mountainside may be appropriate for turning off our mind’s churning windmills, enabling us to rearrange our priorities, but the world of people is where we have the opportunity to learn to live by these priorities.
This seems to be one of the guiding philosophies behind the University for Human Goodness, located on a small campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Here, students are given the quiet time that’s necessary for learning about the self, as well as tools for living a self-realized life in a world where the potential for conflict lurks around every corner. Like any good school, students are required to spend hours in classroom study and time doing lab work. It’s the laboratory where they learn to take the life skills they’re developing and put them into practice in the real world.
I recently had the opportunity to spend a Saturday morning at a conference given by the University as a way of introducing their campus and programs to the public. They focused on explaining some of the skills that the students learn from attending the school’s year-long program, and the ways these students have learned to apply these skills in the outside world. One of the goals of the University, I learned, is to teach students to become “TRPs,” which stands for “totally responsible person.” I gathered that much of this part of the curriculum deals with learning to make a proper and positive decision during moments of stress or conflict, when many of us would find it just as easy, perhaps easier, to give in to our anger, frustration, laziness or selfishness.
Some of the students at
the University for Human Goodness
The courses are divided into four major interrelated themes or “tracks.” In addition to the “Totally Responsible Person” track, they offer courses under the headings of “Science of the Soul,” “Entrepreneur” and “Synthesis.” In these courses, students are taught ways to recognize their particular emotional issues, given skills to enable them to work effectively with others (leaving their emotional baggage behind) and helped to develop team leadership abilities. Most of all, they are taught the importance of service to others, which is the guiding light behind both the University and the Human Service Alliance, their parent organization.
The University has a faculty of three. Stephen Leighton, MD, is a family practitioner who’s private practice is located on the university’s campus. Christa Thornburg is a wife, full-time mother and graphic artist who has an extensive background in counseling. Susan B. Baggett is a Certified Public Accountant who’s practice focuses on taxation, small business accounting and retirement planning. Both Leighton and Baggett are founding members of the Human Service Alliance and Thornburg has been a board member since 1988. Faculty members are volunteers who perform regular service tasks alongside the students.
Their laboratory is the California Fresh Buffet, a restaurant operated by the school, where the students are required to do volunteer work. Not only does the stressful environment of a busy restaurant offer a perfect proving ground for using the skills they learn in class, it’s also a good way to gain first hand experience in the benefits of serving others, since all of the profits from the restaurant are donated to charitable organizations.
In addition to the year long program for both full time students who live on campus and part time students from the local community, the University teaches their techniques in a variety of other ways. For example, more than 70,000 businesspeople in the United States and abroad have received training in the Totally Responsible Person program. The University is not affiliated with any religious organization and no fees are charged for tuition, room or board.
I wish I could say more about this alternative approach being offered by the University for Human Goodness, or to explain how fortunate we are to have such a positive and unique organization in this dog-eat-dog world. Probably, however, this is an idea that must be experienced first hand to be truly understood. If you’d like to find out more, the folks at the University will be hosting an introduction on Saturday July 21, 2001 between 9 am and 12:30 pm. Participants will have an opportunity to meet faculty and students and learn more about the university’s programs. For more information, call (336) 761-8745 or visit their web site at http://ufhg.org.
RELATED ARTICLE:
CALIFORNIA FRESH BUFFET – SERVICE FOR CHARITY
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