At the University of Chicago our distinguished faculty believe that the vocation of teachi
ng defines the highest and best nature of the University—teaching has given the University
a singular identity of intellectual transformation, and teaching has also made our univer
sity a powerful agent in the constitution of the quality and integrity of the broader cult
ure in which we live. In fact, it is fair to say that much of the University’s history and
identity have been shaped by and constituted by the faculty’s preoccupation with the Coll
ege’s curriculum.A diverse community of intellectuals, Chicago faculty affirm the importan
ce of general education as the foundational principle for liberal learning. They embody an
d teach the skills of critical thinking, writing, and argumentation, and encourage the bol
d, self-confident questioning that produces student scholars of extraordinary intelligence
, character, wisdom, and compassion. The dedication of the faculty attracts students to th
e College who care deeply about the quality of the learning in which they are eager to eng
age, who have a passionate commitment to conducting their personal lives infused by Chicag
o’s special intellectual style, and who see the intensive study of the liberal arts as the
best possible preparation for a successful career in one of the free professions or in ot
her prominent professional domains of American life.In welcoming the College’s 1987 incomi
ng class Professor Hanna H. Gray, former President of the University of Chicago, captured
these values in eloquent terms:“We hope that your education and participation in the [UChi
cago] community of learning will make a lifelong difference and encourage for you the grow
th and practice of intellectual liberty, in stimulating intellectual curiosity and a respe
ct for the power of thought and literature and learning, of scholarship and discovery at t
heir best, and in strengthening the capacity to penetrate to what is significant, to sift
and distinguish, to synthesize and judge. We hope that your education will render it impos
sible to think that there is not a common—by which I do not mean comprehensive—core of lea
rning that not only should be studied for its own sake and for the sake of understanding y
our heritage and that of others, but will also command attention and reflection for the re
st of your lives."