After working with Wash. U. students for 17 years, I have observed a striking trend: Students find the most impact and meaning in the activities and communities in which they participate most intensively.

Students at Harvard complained earlier this year when the school eliminated hot breakfasts in upperclassmen’s dormitories. College life is not what it once was.
Today’s Washington University students enjoy memory foam mattresses in some dorms on the South 40 and eat fresh sushi for lunch at the Danforth University Center.

I realized the other day that there is no dignified way to climb out of a hammock. I was lying in one outside my dorm, sprawled against my most favorite philosopher, Plato (sarcasm), catching up on some reading that was long overdue.

This summer, I got a small taste of what it would be like to be a real person. All of a sudden I was someone with a job, responsibility and […]