The Deficit Narrative of College Men: How Would Cardinal John Henry Newman Respond? The Association for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities (ASACCU) Conference, July 2012, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN.

1. The
Deficit
Narrative
of
College
Men:
How
Would
Cardinal
Newman
Respond?
Daniel
A.
Zepp
Boston
College

2. Small
Group
Conversation
Ê Think
of
a
male
mentor
Ê How
were
they
unique?
Ê Qualities/traits?
Ê Behavior/actions?
Ê What
made
them
unique
from
other
men?
Ê How
did
they
stand
out?
Ê What
drew
you
to
them?
Ê How
was
their
relationship
transformative?
Ê How
did
you
change?
Ê Is
there
a
lasting
impact
on
you
today?

6. The
Deficit
Narrative:
Mainstream
Media
Depiction
of
Men
Ê Where
have
all
the
good
men
gone?
(WSJ)
Ê Meet
the
unemployable
man
(WSJ)
Ê Are
men
the
new
minority?
(Newsweek)
Ê Add
this
to
the
list:
Boys
are
failing
in
education
(K.C.
Star)
Ê The
End
of
Men
(Atlantic)

7. What
do
you
see?

9. Men
&
Masculinities
Research
Ê Men
are
now
more
likely
than
women
to
hold
only
a
high-­‐
school
diploma
(Rosin,
2010)
Ê For
every
two
men
who
receive
a
college
degree
this
year,
three
women
will
do
the
same
(Rosin,
2010)

10. Men
&
Masculinities
Research
Ê Men
are
more
likely
to
miss
class,
not
come
prepared,
and
not
complete
homework
or
turn
it
in
late
(Sax
&
Arms,
2006).
Ê College
men
study
less
(Kellom,
2004)
Ê Participate
less
frequently
in
study
abroad
(Kellom,
2004)
Ê Engage
in
community
service
less,
use
career
services
and
vote
less
often
(Kellom,
2004).

11. Men
&
Masculinities
Research
Ê College
men
drink
and
party
more
often
(Sax,
2008).
Ê Spend
more
time
playing
sports
and
video
games
(Sax,
2008)
Ê Overestimate
their
academic
achievement
(Sax,
2008)

12. Men
&
Masculinities
Research
Ê Men
in
general
are
three
times
more
often
the
victims
of
violent
crimes
other
than
sexual
assault,
and
suffer
greater
rates
of
depression
(Pollack,
1999).
Ê Higher
suicide
rate
(Courtenay,
McCreary,
&
Merighi,
2002).
Ê Consume
more
alcohol
and
do
so
in
more
dangerous
ways
(Capraro,
2004).
Ê More
involved
in
campus
judicial
proceedings
(Ludeman,
2004).

13. What
do
you
make
of
this
trend?

14. Dr.
Shaun
Harper
“Beyond
Bad
News
about
Black
Male
Students”

15. Productive
Conceptions
of
Masculinities
Ê Dr.
Shaun
Harper
–
Black
male
student
success
in
higher
education
Ê Dr.
Frank
Harris
III
–
High
achieving
male-­‐student
athletes
Ê Dr.
Peter
Folan
–
Boys
schools
Ê The
Good
Men
Project
Ê MaleStudies.org
Ê Longwood,
Schipper,
Culbertson
–
Male
Spiritual
Lives

16. Uniquely
Catholic
Response
Ê Men
of
faith
at
Catholic
colleges
and
universities
Ê Qualitative
study
Ê Why?
Ê Religious
and
spiritual
dimensions
are
productive
conceptions
of
masculinities
Ê Men
with
cultivated
interior
life
are
antithetical
to
traditional
hegemonic
notions
of
masculinity

17. Cardinal
Newman
Ê Analysis
of
the
Christian
Gentleman
Ê Shorthand
for
“cultivated
minds”
Ê Bifurcation
of
Men
Ê Extended
adolescence
Ê Men
“are
always
more
or
less
inaccurate,
and
too
many,
or
rather
the
majority,
remain
boys
all
of
their
lives”
Ê University
as
a
place
to
rectify
intellectual
and
moral
sensibilities

18. Newman
on
Liberal
Education
Ê Often
reduced
to
champion
of
liberal
arts
education
Ê Education
of
the
whole
person
Ê Fully
alive
human
being
Ê Enlargement
of
mind
or
“philosophical
habit
of
mind”
Ê Habitually
reflective,
synthetic,
interdisciplinary
mind
Ê Lifetime
learner

19. Newman
on
Personal
Influence
Ê “It
has
been
upheld
in
the
world
not
as
a
system,
not
by
books,
not
by
argument,
nor
by
temporal
power,
but
by
the
personal
influence
of
such
men
as
have
already
been
described,
who
are
at
once
the
teachers
and
the
patterns
of
it”
Ê “An
academical
system
without
the
personal
influence
of
teachers
upon
pupil
is
an
arctic
winter;
it
will
create
an
ice-­‐
bound,
petrified,
cast-­‐iron
University
and
nothing
else”

20. Newman
on
Personal
Influence
Ê Oxford
tutorial
system
Ê In
the
face
of
changing
pedagogy
Ê Professionalization
of
the
academy
Ê Pursuing
knowledge
as
it
own
end
Ê Dialogical,
social,
relational
Ê Friendship,
collegiality

21. What
is
your
experience
with
men?
Ê What
works
and
doesn’t
work
with
men
on
your
campus?
Ê Why
does
it
work
or
not
work?
Ê What
are
challenges
you
face
in
gender
programs
or
gender
ideas?

22. Contact
Information
Ê Daniel
A.
Zepp
Ê Boston
College
Ê Assistant
Director,
First
Year
Experience
Ê Resident
Minister,
Campus
Ministry
&
Residential
Life
Ê Ph.D.
Student
in
Higher
Education,
Lynch
School
of
Education
Ê zepp@bc.edu
Ê 617-­‐552-­‐0906