As a college professor of 30 years, I think a lot about what college is all about and what it’s for. College students want many of the same things that students wanted decades ago, and struggle with many of the same things, too. It’s normal for students to arrive on campus with the same age-old questions of “Who am I?” and “What will become of me?” Or, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, they’re likely wrestling with the question of “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

One of the most timeless and important qualities about college is that it’s a structure, a dwelling, of and for and about hope—what I call a “hope structure.” College is about educating a new citizenry. And it’s also about socializing for, and toward, hope. I was reminded of this when, while scrolling on social media, I noticed my friend Dr. Kathryn Feltey, a brilliant, now retired sociologist at the University of Akron, had posted a photo of her 18-year-old self under which she had inscribed, “I am leaving my childhood behind as I search for my life and who I will be.”

That is essentially what college is all about―to individuate from one’s family of origin, forge a new path, and discover........

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