Dean and speaker share servant-leader message
More than 700 students attend former NFL player's speech; dean looks at job in light of teaching virtue
Michal Elseth
Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: News
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At least 700 students turned out to hear Ehrmann speak Oct. 8, said Petersen, who brought Ehrmann to campus.
Petersen arranged for Ehrmann to speak at Hillsdale because the issues of masculinity and leadership that Ehrmann addresses are issues that Petersen himself cares deeply about.
Ehrmann's message, like Petersen's vision for Hillsdale students, comes down to servant leadership. Petersen said he cares deeply about teaching students how to be servants, and when he heard about Ehrmann, he thought he would be an invaluable speaker to address the student body.
He said he felt the benefits of having Ehrmann speak far outweighed the cost of bringing him to campus. He declined to comment on how much that cost was.
Petersen said the purpose of his job is teaching Hillsdale College students how to grow and mature through servanthood. He sees his own job as a duty to model that intellectual and spiritual growth through servant leadership.
"Part of the goal is trying to teach students - to learn together - to rule passions with reason and virtuous habits," he said.
Ehrmann's message, he said, is consistent with that goal, and he felt the benefits of having Ehrmann speak far outweighed the cost of bringing him to campus.
Ehrmann's talk, "Building Men and Women of Virtue," focused on the importance of relationships and dedication to a larger cause. Petersen said he felt this was a simple restatement of what he and the Hillsdale College faculty teach students about the highest form of friendship, an idea borrowed from Aristotle.
Petersen said he has gotten good feedback from students on Ehrmann's talk, especially from athletes, who respected Ehrmann because of his NFL career and the character he brings to the football field in his coaching.
Like Ehrmann, Petersen sees servant leadership as the ultimate purpose of his job. Ehrmann's model of a leader is servanthood in the person of Jesus Christ, and Petersen said he takes that model for his job as dean of men as well. Having recently become a deacon in the Catholic Church, he said the new role only enriches his job.
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