Peace: The Role and Mission of the University for the New Millennium

EDUCATION, 24 Mar 2025

Dr. Surya Nath Prasad – TRANSCEND Media Service

This paper is based on the  Guest Speech delivered by the author of these lines Prof. Surya Nath Prasad at the Seoul International Conference of University Presidents on the theme “The Role and Mission of the University for the Beginning of  the New Millennium” held October 10-13, 1999 at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Present State of the University

The university has many milestones in its journey from Ashram (owned and managed by highly enlightened individual teachers in their respective huts) through monasteries (managed by corporate bodies’ monks) to modern universities, especially in India; and also from Universitas of Pisan Prisoners (for their protection) at Genoa, (Italy) through Universitas of Bologna (a corporation of scholars) and Paris (a corporation of masters) to modern universities in different parts of the world.

Aims of university education also from salvation of soul through “The education of gentleman”(throughout the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries) to the training for the professions and the research (in the 20^th century) have been shifted. Though in all these periods, university education was and still has been for the privileged classes. Federico Mayor, then Director General of UNESCO also confirmed this by saying, “Today, in all parts of the world, entry to university is only for the elite – whether the elite, is the product of economic, political, linguistic, cultural, religious, gender-based or geographical privilege.”

However, the existing universities of different nations of the world, with a few exceptions, are functioning as nationalized industries. They serve the purpose of the nation-society narrowly, so they stand against world-society. These nationalized universities produce only selfish doctors, engineers, artists, architects, scientists, teachers and other personnel for the societies. They serve their selfish and/or their national purpose narrowly. The universities have helped to produce intellectual criminals also. P.A. Sorokin and W.A. Lunden (1951), Former Professors of Sociology at Harvard University and Iowa State University respectively, also observed,

“Moreover, with the increase in education, scientific discoveries and invention from the twelfth to the twentieth century crime has not decreased. If anything in the recent decades, at least, it has tended to increase. Furthermore, Statistical data show that illiterate persons, nations, and groups are not more criminal than the literate, scientifically and technically advanced persons, nations, and groups. The intellectual elite of the past few centuries, distinguished for their scientific genius and creativity, have hardly been morally superior to the less brilliant rank and file. We live in the most scientific, most technological and most intellectual educated century; and it is this same century which is the bloodiest, most turbulent, most inhuman, and possibly most criminal of the preceding twenty-five centuries of Greco-Roman and Western history, so far as wars, revolutions and crimes are concerned” (Sorokin, P.A. and Lunden, W.A. Power and Morality, 1951, p. 158-59).

The World Bank Document on Higher Education: The Lessons of Experience, 1994 states that there is enrolment ratio in higher education average 51 per cent in countries belong to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared with 21 per cent in middle income countries and 6 per cent in low income countries. But this expansion of of university education has failed to reduce war and exploitation, and to build peace. According to some estimates, up to 35 million people – 90 per cent civilians – have been killed in 170 wars since the World War II. Thirty wars are now taking, most inside national boundaries. And a billion people are hungry and malnourished in the world due to poverty. According to the United Nations Statistics, there are 1.1 billion poor people in the world, and the number is increasing. This fact is also established with an increase during recent years of expression violence, of exploitation, of xenophobia, intolerance and conflict in different parts of the world.

All these happen so because we have both: army and education, arms and educational tools, barracks and schools, military ranks and degrees, which are contradictory concepts for any country of the world to live and let others to live in peace. And they occur also because the university has not been used properly what it stand for. Robert M. Hutchins (1968) writes in his book: The Learning Society: “Instead of being thought of an autonomous community of masters and scholars pursuing the truth, the university was coming to be regarded as the nerve centre of the knowledge industry, dedicated to national power prosperity, and prestige.” However, somebody has always been trying to use the university for something. Napoleon, for example, as quoted by Gusdorf (19 64) wanted to make them a kind of intellectual gendarmerie. He said, “If my hopes are realized, I shall find in this corps a guaranty against pernicious theories subversive of the social order…These bodies, being the first defenders of the cause of morality and principles of the state, will give the first alarm, and will always be ready to resist the dangerous theories of those who are trying to single themselves out, and who, from time to time, renew those vain discussions which, among all people, have so frequently tormented public opinion.”

Mostly the states or the governments whether they are democratic or totalitarian have their hold on universities and dictate the students and teachers in accord with their ideology. One can observe this in the saying of   Eisenhower, the former President of United States of America, quoted in the article: Subversion of Educational Field (1974), who said, “We cannot afford to neglect colleges and universities. It is here the seeds of revolutionary disorder germinate not only in Latin America, but elsewhere in the countries of Asia, Africa and West Asia. We must concentrate on educational institutions to win support of our ideas, our policies and our way of life…”

Thus universities have been used to corrupt and not to elevate the people. Educational systems warp the minds of the students by offering them rallying symbol of race, class or nation. The are asked to live and die for anti-social and fictional abstractions by false propaganda which masquerades as education.  

True Nature of the University

But the true nature of university is very different. Merely buildings do not make a university. It is the teachers and the students and their pursuit of knowledge which make the soul of a university. The university is a sanctuary of the intellectual life of the world society.  The roots of of intellectual life are to be found in the people here. It is the place of origin for international awakening and hence, peace must be defended in universities. Though students and teachers in their national universities belong physically to their countries and their age, but as seekers of knowledge they belong to all countries and all ages. Therefore, university must have a humane and international purpose. The university men must form a brotherhood of learning without a doctrinal need to build and sustain peace for all. University professors are living civilizations of peace.

In the last war, a University Professor of Great Britain, when asked what he was doing when the fight for civilization was on, replied, “I am the civilization, and you are fighting for”. In fact, not only present but civilizations of many generations were produced by infinite labour of creative personalities, priests of learning and prophets of spirit of different nations of the world. Our national civilizations are varied expressions of one civilization which is emerging for the whole of civilized humanity. And these civilizations, in the past, were not produced in four walls campuses of universities only, but these were created in jungles, monasteries, houses, and in wide societies also. For Newton, garden was the university where he discovered law of gravitation; for Archimedes bathroom was the university where he discovered laws of floating bodies; and for James Watt, kitchen was the university where he discovered the theory of steam engine; and for Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, prison was the best of universities (as told by him in his letter dated 7^th April 1932, from Bareily District Jail addressing jointly to his sisters who were both in Lucknow District Jail). Prison itself he made a university by his creative use of nine years that he spent in detention during the struggle of India’s freedom, and there he learnt fundamentals of politics and sociology and morals, and whole philosophy of life.

One should not conclude from the above citations that for better learning and creation of knowledge and civilization, scholars should be sent to jungles, and they should be encouraged to learn in gardens, bathrooms and in kitchens for scientific discoveries and inventions. The main and basic point in the above examples is awareness about the situation which provokes  the persons for learning and creation. Nehru also did not mean that the students of universities should be kept in prisons or universities should be converted into prisons for the study of politics, sociology, and philosophy. The main thrust of his was for how to use the leisure creatively by being conscientized.

And thus, this awareness towards total situations-social, political and economic-enables individuals to encounter with them nonviolently which make them true men (male and female both). Here I would like to tell you a story of a Greek Philosopher who was walking in a broad-day-light with a lantern in his hand. Everybody was surprised and asked why he was carrying a lantern in his hands. He said, “I am searching a man – and I could not find without a lantern.”   All of them said, “We are all men”. He replied, “I am sorry, I am looking for a man who is full love for everybody in the world, who is full of scholarship, who is full of compassion and who is a real human being.” All of them knew that they could not satisfy his conditions. No doubt, Jesus, Buddha, Mahavir, Socrates, Confucius, Saint Kabir, Comenius, John Huss, Saint Francis of Assisi, Galileo and many other true scientists, saints, philosophers, poets, dramatists, artists, ascetics, hermits, true religious leaders and founders of monastic orders and among the common masses of different nations – some labourers, peasants, teachers doctors, and the like persons were the men (male and female both) who have been satisfying the conditions of the Greek philosopher.

In fact, they are the real living civilizations. Their ideas, principles, theories, laws, formulas, preachings, and practices, for which, they were humiliated, tortured and or killed are the real foundations of university curriculum. And their convictions towards their statements are the real spirit of university. About the university spirit, here I would like to give the example of the great John Huss, who was one of the early Rectors of Prague University. In him, we had had the true symbol of the university spirit. Faggots were piled up to his neck and the magistrate was there saying, “If you withdraw your statements, you’ll be let off, otherwise I’ll light the fires.” His answer was, “Light the faggots.” And the last word, which he uttered, was one which crosses frontiers of race and nation. He stood for universal humanity when he said, “I prefer a good German to a bad Czech.”

Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea is also the real Symbol of a true university spirit. Because its main function is to restore humanity and morality for creation of global society on the principles of United Nations. Its purpose is “The Creation of Civilized World”. Its philosophy is democratization of School, Ideas and Living. Since 1949, this International Peace University has been education the young men and women to create a better living for mankind. This global university was founded by the great world peace educator late Prof. Dr. Young Seek Choue, who was himself a living symbol of university Spirit.

Extension of University Education

University education is not the end in itself for an individual who takes and completes the course. But it demands perpetual extension and sharing of knowledge to be ever aware towards life situations to sustain with him and in the society. The extension and sharing of knowledge is the basis of peace. In the Chinese Classic, The Great Learning, it is noted that:  “The extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things. When things are investigated, knowledge is extended, when knowledge is extended…The mind is elevated; when mind is elevated, the personal life is deepened; when personal life I deepened, the family will be regulated; when family is regulated, the state will be in order, when the State is in order, there will be peace on the earth.”

Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea has been extending its knowledge beyond the campus through The Creation of New Civilized World serving national and global society through sharing its knowledge with 161 universities of the world. The universities of the world should follow the paths shown by this great Kyung Hee University, and be sharers in the common mission of building peace for the new millennium.

Who are Entitled for University Education?

Paragraph one of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free at least in the elementary and fundamental stage…higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” A great educator Comenius said in The Great Didactic: “He gave no bad definition who said that man was a ‘teachable animal’. And indeed it is only a proper education that he can become a man…The education I propose all that is proper for a man, is one in which all men are born into this world should share…

Our first wish is that all men should be educated fully to full humanity; not any one individual, nor a few nor even many, but all men together and singly, young and old, rich and poor, of high and lowly birth, men and women in a word all whose fate it is to be born human beings; so that at last the whole of the human race may become educated, men of all ages, all conditions both sexes and all nations.

Our second wish is that every man should be wholly educated, rightly formed not only in one single matter or in a few or even in many, but in all things which perfect human nature…”

Therefore, university education must be brought within the reach of all. This is why then Director- General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor often said, “The train of education must pass every individual’s station many times.”

Who should pay for Higher Education and Why?

World Development Report 1991 quotes a Chinese Saying: “If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people. When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest. When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred harvest.”- K’UAN – TZU,, 551-479 BC.

Therefore, university education should not be considered as non-merit good and services and it should not be compared equally with electricity diesel and fertilizer with respect to subsidies. University education is highly merit good. Hence, expenditure on higher education is not “expenditure” but it is an “investment” – investment in human resource development, and in long run not, not only the particular society, but all societies of the world will get heavy returns for centuries while the cost of ignorance can be very high for every society. Therefore university education is not only necessary for all but essential for sane and peaceful growth and development of any society. The Executive Summary of the World Bank document on Higher Education begins by stating: “Higher education is of paramount importance for economic and social development. Institutions of higher education have the main responsibility for equipping individuals with the advanced knowledge and skills required for positions of responsibility in government, business and professions. These institutions produce new knowledge through research; serve as conduits for transfer, application and dissemination of knowledge generated elsewhere in the world and support government and business with advice and consultancy services… he development of higher education is correlated with economic developments…which are essential for poverty alleviation” (World Bank, 1994, P.1).

Really, if we want to build non-exploitative, non-violent and democratic society, somebody has to pay for university education. If government is not paying, the society – rich people, industrialists, philanthropists, foundations, NGOs, alumni and the like persons and organizations – will have to for the university education.

In the past, in India, Pathshala (School), Goshala (Dairy) and Dharamshala (Public Inn) were run on charity. In modern times also, the government of India has already announced that if any person donates the money for educational institutions, he will get 100 percent rebate in Income Tax for the amount donated. Two former students of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay donated heavy amount to the institute. Mr. Nandan Nilekani contributed Rupees 6.9 Crore and Mr. Kanwal Rekhi Rupees 8.5 Crore to their Alma Mater. Bill Clinton, Then President of United States of America proposed two-year tax exemption for university students, tax-free-savings to pay for registration fees and subsidies for adult vocational training, if he is re-elected.

In fact, all true progress, as a distinguished French writer said, is progress in charity, everything else being subsidiary to it.

Therefore, let the university education be free for all- the children of rich and poor parents both- to feel themselves obliged and indebted towards all mankind.

Role of IAUP in University Education

Visualizing thee damaging state of university in the world and understanding the true nature of university, International Association of University President (IAUP) was inaugurated in 1965 at Oxford University, United Kingdom. Dr. Young Seek Choue, Founder Chancellor of Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea was one of its founders, and perpetual President Emeritus. Its primary purpose is to strengthen the international exchange and quality of higher education, and to promote global awareness and competence as well as peace and international understanding through education. And this Association is doing a great job in mobilizing the heads of universities to make them realize the bad effects of the present state of university, and through the International Assembly of University Presidents, which was the original idea of Dr. Young Seek Choue, it wants to aware them about sharing their mutual insights into the promises and pitfalls of their current educational plans, and it hopes they will come up with a new paradigm of education for a Global Common Society.

Role of IAEWP in University Education

International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP) which was then affiliated with the 5 Specialized Agencies of United Nations: UN-ECOSOC, UNDPI, UNICEF, UNCED, and UNESCO, had been promoting university education throughout the world then through its more than 100 Chapters by encouraging the development of Colleges and Universities for peace research, including support of UN-efforts in this regard, and of developing the kind of education which could contribute to the formation of characters capable of delaying aggression  so that conflict situations might be solved in a positive manner. In 1988, IAEWP sponsored for the establishment of The Global Open University for World Peace in Italy with the purpose of making university education within the reach of all to be enlightened for being helpful in building a peaceful global democratic society. The author of these lines, who was then President of IAEWP, was Executive President of that global university. Late His Holiness Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche (an Italian citizen) was Founder President, and Prof. P.R. Trivedi was its Chancellor.

Some Genuine Proposals for University Education 

The August International Assembly of University Presidents must adopt 21 proposals for 21^st Century as recommendations for implementation by all the universities and their respective governments:

1. The University of any Nation must work as autonomous community of scientists and scholars pursuing the truth because free universities might turn pacifists. The university should not be treated or used as knowledge industry. However, the national government must provide sufficient financial assistance to the universities needed for pursuing higher level of teaching and learning.
2. The universities must keep in mind the UNESCO Report- Learning: The Treasure Within of the International Commission on Education for 21^st Century, especially four pillars of education, viz. Learning to know, Learning to do, Learning to be, and Learning to live together as enunciated in the Report when they restructure the aims of university education.
3. University education should be free for all the children of rich and poor both to make them indebted towards whole society. Certainly, merit should be criteria in their selection, not money; but all merit individuals must have chance for university education.
4. A list of prospective donors like rich persons, industrialists, philanthropists, alumni-alumnae, other individuals and foundations should be prepared and maintained for seeking their financial support for the university education.
5. Governments should abolish armies and destroy arms and ammunition; and money spent on them should be diverted to university education.
6. There should be impartial selection of teachers and non-teaching staff in the university.
7. Better service conditions for university teachers should be planned, and better facilities should be provided to them to raise their status. And they should be suitably honoured for their services and contributions.
8. A National Directory of unemployed highly qualified persons holding Ph.D., D.Lit. and D.Sc. in different disciplines should be maintained, and they should be suitably absorbed in teaching or research in the universities or colleges. The unemployed persons on the Directory should get a reasonable pay from the government till they are absorbed in suitable vacancies.
9. Professional education must be delinked with the university, for examples, medical, engineering and agriculture education must be attached with hospitals, industries and farms respectively.
10. The university being autonomous must have national character that extends to the whole world.
11. The university should train men and women to think for themselves and ultimately for the whole humanity.
12. In universities, at least, feelings of love and brotherhood among all communities should be fostered, and a broad and liberal tolerance should be developed.
13. The students of a university should be trained to struggle against ignorance, injustice, oppression, and fear of all men of whole world, and for international understanding and peace.
14. The university must seek to create an attitude favourable to the values necessary for a peaceful progressive and democratic world government.
15. The university must teach peace, disarmament, human rights and about different N.G.Os., United Nations, UNESCO and other agencies of the United Nations.
16. The university must render support to the United Nations and PAX UN.
17. The university should be a sanctuary of international awakening and peace and lighthouse of perpetual learning.
18. The university should produce sane leaders for mankind.
19. The universities must be looked after a Ministry of Peace in the nation. Therefore a Ministry of Peace must be created in every nation for smooth functioning of national universities to serve the cause of peace.
20. National Universities of Peace must have affiliation with United Nations University for Peace of Costa Rica.
21. Last but not the least, the university must develop a Global Common Society, according to Dr. Young Seek Choue, an Oughtopia – a society as it ought to be which would naturally be spiritually beautiful, materially affluent and humanly rewarding.

Thus the role of the university should be to preserve, to develop and to create a Culture of Peace, and ultimately its mission would be to build Peace for the New Millennium.

 _______________________________________________

Dr. Surya Nath Prasad, Former President, Executive Vice President & Secretary-General of the International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP); associate professor of education emeritus, the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea. Founder and editor-in-chief of Peace Education: An International Journal. dr_suryanathprasad@yahoo.co.in

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 24 Mar 2025.

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