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Social
Responsibility Reflected in a Wide Pool
 “Not
to harm is not enough, there is a need also to help. These are
complementary requirements.”
The speaker was Prof. Gesine Schwan, president of the
European University of Viadrina, Frankfurt a. Oder. Her opening
talk—and questions—on the role of a society and the role of a
university set the tone for the seminar, “Multiple Reflections of
Social Responsibility.” This particular morning session of the 33rd
Board of Governors Meeting gave the governors serious food for
contemplation as they sought the role of the University of Haifa in
the myriad reflections generated by the array of seminar speakers.
Criticizing the market orientation of public discourse about
universities, which she says causes scholars to be afraid to speak
out in public, she urged them to contribute to truth. Even while
they are trying to be competent, she said, “Universities should be
an institutional authority in society, in the sense that they are
trusted.” She is fearful that problems that are “out of the purview
of social responsibility” today will not be able to be faced twenty
years from now.
In her opinion, the sign of a free society is to allow people to
have alternatives. “The first step of a university is to battle
against not having them.”
Touching on a theme that she later expanded after the Board of
Governors Meeting, Schwan pointed to the importance of a
university’s location. The institution she heads is located in
Germany, but close to Poland. “It services the two borders,” she
would elaborate to those who came to celebrate the fifth anniversary
of the University’s Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary
German History and Society.
Ilan Tirosh heads a capital fund, Yuvalim, whose objective is
to reduce gaps in Israeli society and to advance equality of
opportunity, alongside excellence. He sees the community, the
university, and business as a triangle and “a kind of eco system.”
How involved should a company become? he asked. “A symbiotic
relationship can be created between business and the community,” he
answered, adding that “social responsibility was not a privilege,
but an obligation.”
He described his three-track program, which focuses on junior high
school-age children. One part was to boost academic achievement,
another to make these pupils aware of their commitment to society.
The third track was to create a caring family, but one that demanded
a lot, as well.
Tirosh said he wanted to be able to “leverage business leadership
and inspire students.” The ultimate intention was to instill a
“life-cycle reaction, not a one-time act” of social responsibility.
Viewing society from another part of the fence, if not the other
side, from Schwan, Ahuva Yanai asked how an organization
could be socially responsible and answered it differently: “Do good,
but also no harm.” She is managing director of Matan, a non-profit
organization set up by billionaire Sheri Arison that, she said,
follows the value of the United Way. “There is no one agenda, no one
thing is most important or needs improving the most.”
She complained, “Even in the high-tech world [known for its supposed
liberalism], everyone asks why we should do it. It’s a government’s
job” to be socially responsible. Her response: “People can not only
talk about but actually make a difference.” Involvement is the key
word for a civil society, she stressed.
Social responsibility can be used a tool by managers, Yanai said,
pointing to the Harvard Business School, which offers a course in
the subject.
Dr. Danny Statman of the Dept. of Philosophy asked whether
universities have a commitment to act on behalf of society. In his
view, they “need to pay back the society, which allows the
institution to exist.”
Paying back, for this philosopher, means taking the lead in doing
the right thing, even if other universities do not follow and even
if it doesn’t bring in more friends and more students. “Moral
action,” he advised, “needs a lot of patience. It may pay back or it
may not. But [this University] should do it for the sake of
society.”
Statman warns that “there is no guaranteed harmony between doing
good and doing well. It involves a leap of faith to take the moral
path.”
The University of Haifa’s commitment to social responsibility is
manifested, among others, in the appointment of a special adviser to
the president on this subject. The adviser, Dr. Iris Kenan,
believes that excellence, toward which the University strives, is
the “leverage making it possible to experience social
responsibility.” The university, she remarked, is the last chance to
influence youth, so the goal is to further develop student support
for socially responsible activities.
The very fact that this institution is a pluralistic university, she
continued, “commits us and presents challenges” in the realms of
multiculturalism and equality.
She revealed that the Dept. of Multi-disciplinary Studies is
developing a “social responsibility cluster” of courses so that
students “will understand what we are talking about.” To create
further awareness, she is planning an annual conference on the
theme. Still another project under development is one to identify
underachievers in both the Hebrew and the Arabic-speaking
communities. The latter target, she noted, is entirely new.
The commitment to society, she stressed, was a policy of this
University, internally and externally. It was to be reflected in
teaching and research, as well as community service. As Kenan sees
it, “there is no tension between critical and being socially
responsible.”
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In
This Issue:
The University Becomes a Little Like
Annapolis (and West Point)
Supported Academic Learning Aids Students
with Problems
Synagogue/Church Controversy and a
Digestive Amulet
Mark University’s Dig at Hippos-Sussita
Golumbic Elected Israel’s 1st European
Fellow
Prof. Asher Koriat Is 1st Recipient of
Prestigious German Award
Intelligence Corps Wisely Chooses the
University
Sweating Before an Audience—Working to
Control a Phobia
Michael Wainer—University’s First Vice
President for Finance
and Business Development
Prof. Eli Salzberger Elected Next Dean of Law Faculty
University Responds to Tulane Students'
Needs
A Look Back at Graduation 2005
33rd Board of Governors Opens with Song
and Story
University Honors Five with Honorary
Doctorate
First Egyptian to Conduct in Israel Adds Highlight to Ceremony
Social Responsibility Reflected in a Wide
Pool
New Recanati Lab Dedicated
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