THE BEST TEACHERS I EVER HAD WERE . . . AT THEUNIFICATION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

I must deviate from the tradition of honoring only one teacher. I havebeen blessed with several excellent teachers, most of whom were facultymembers of the Unification Theological Seminary.

I decided to major in Biology as an undergraduate at Montclair StateCollege (New Jersey) because the only adult who gave me any careeradvice was my optometrist, Harvey Cash. He thought I’d make a greateye doctor, a dream that vanished when I couldn’t understand why I hadto memorize plant classifications in order to help other people see better. Iswitched from Biology to Mathematics because I was good at math. ThenI switched over to Accounting because I needed to get a regular job aftergraduation. There I was touched by Professor Joe Greco. One bleak morn-ing at the beginning of an Intermediate Accounting course, Joe walked intothe classroom and asked if we had any questions regarding what we readfor homework in Chapter Two. When nobody raised his or her hand, Joesaid “That’s wonderful, I’ll give you an exam on the material next class,class dismissed.” Then he closed his textbook and walked out of the room.We sat stunned, waiting for his appearance, but he didn’t come back untilthe next class, with exam in hand. Joe taught us that if we don’t ask, wewill not receive! We are responsible for our own education.

After a summer internship as a municipal accountant, primarilyconsisting of competing against other interns to see who could punchadding machine (remember those!) keys down the fastest without makingmistakes, I switched my major a final time, to Management. It was the onlymajor I could obtain that would allow me to still graduate in four years.There I was touched by Professor Herb Stein, who taught the Business &Society class. He was a genuinely, kind-hearted, father figure who caredabout the personal lives of his students. Unfortunately, other students sawHerb as someone they could take advantage of since he didn’t want to hurtother people’s feelings.

Teaching Business Ethics3: 297–300, 1999.© 1999Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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One afternoon I learned that John Trabucca, the star running back frommy high school football team, accidentally blew himself up when a matchignited gasoline he was pumping into the taxi cab he drove. Professor Steinnoticed that I had sat in the back of the class instead of the front, andI hadn’t participated in any class discussion that day. He approached meafter class, put his warm arm around my shoulders and asked what was thematter. He sat me down and explained that the meaning of life was similarto peeling a head of lettuce. You take one leaf off at a time, thinking it willtell you the meaning of life, and in the end there is nothing left. Thus, youhave to create your own meaning, and the best choice among the manyoptions is living a good life by serving others.

After graduating from college I was ready for the real world of business.But after two years experiencing the real world of business, too muchflavored with unethical activities, I quit work and drove across the countryto the promised land of California in search of a community of idealists.Shortly after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge I joined the UnificationChurch, popularly known as the “Moonies,” because they were activelytrying to build heaven within themselves and on earth. Following twoyears of witnessing and fund-raising, resulting in a tremendous amount ofpersonal development, I was back in academia. In the mid-1970s ReverendSun Myung Moon purchased the Christian Brothers Seminary in Barry-town, New York, about an hour south of Albany, on the Hudson River.There I lived, studied and blossomed from 1980–1983. The purpose ofthe seminary was to educate the heart through theology and experientialactivities, and the professors took this mission seriously.

Only one professor, Dr. Young Oon Kim, was a Moonie. Her job wasto teach us church doctrine as it related to various world religions and theviews of modern theologians. All the other professors taught at the semin-ary at great professional peril. Being a professor at the Moonie seminarydid not exactly enhance one’s academic career ladder. Professor WarrenLewis, an evangelical scholar with beaming eyes, overflowed with stor-ies of church heretics inspired to challenge the status quo. Rabbi JosefHausner explained Old Testament stories and the success and failuresof Jewish millennial movements. Once a month he’d take students to alocal Greek diner to continue class discussions over a heaping portion ofdelicious cheese cake.

Professor Constantine Tsirpanlis, a Greek Orthodox scholar, calledon the spirits of the Great Patristic Fathers to illuminate our mysticism.Professor David Boslooper played a Christian hymn on the piano atthe beginning of every class and provided a liberal interpretation of theGospels and Paul’s letters. Professor Boslooper was so moved by the

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lecture material that his voice would quiver. Professor Tsirpanils went onestep further, he’d stop lecturing to wipe tears flowing out of his eyes andto regain his composure. Professor Hae Soo Pyun, a Confucian scholar,revealed the mysteries of oriental religions. Professor Joe McMahon, aformer Catholic priest and practicing psychologist, expounded on theinner workings of our minds and the writings of Carl Jung, reminding usthat building the kingdom of heaven began from within. Professor HenryThompson, a Methodist minister, taught us how to preach from the heart,not the mind. Reverend Royal Davis continually reminded us of our ownimperfections and the imperfections of church leaders.

Lastly, there was Professor Richard Quebedaux, my thesis advisor.Richard, an evangelical scholar, paid the biggest price for teaching at theseminary. He was unable to obtain employment at other seminaries despitea Masters of Divinity from Harvard and authoring several books because ofhis association with the Moonies. The first day of class Richard announcedthat he’d never given a student an “A,” and the challenge was on! He intro-duced us to a wide range of literature on successful and failed Christianmissions, and demanded that we analyze the ways in which the Moonieswere following these same footsteps. He guided my understanding of themissionary and theological battles between Peter and Paul which determ-ined the evolution of Christianity, about Cyril and Methodius’ successfulmission to the Balkans by creating an alphabet for local residents, andMatteo Ricci’s failed mission to China when the Pope opposed his wearingthe robes of a Confucian scholar rather than those of a Catholic priest. ThePope also didn’t like the fact that Matteo painted shoes on the feet of thedisciples at the Last Supper because, in China, not wearing shoes during ameal is a sign of disrespect.

I parted ways with the Moonies in 1983, in part due to a blow-outregarding my dissertation on why it was time for American members totake over leadership of the American movement (a line of reasoning signi-ficantly influenced by many of the professors noted above), and in partdue to my unwillingness to make the major personal sacrifices being askedof me. Yet the spirits of my seminary professors have taken residency inmy heart, guiding my own tumultuous road in academia and the worldof Business Ethics. While undergoing nine months of chemotherapy forHodgkins Disease back in 1996, these were the people I vividly recalledshaping my heart and intellect, with the heart taking precedence. I couldrecall all of their first names. They were friends and guideposts on thisjoint venture of life, in addition to being professors.

I often wonder why Business Schools and Philosophy Departmentsdon’t unite around a similar mission – educating the student’s heart as

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well as intellect. If they did, I know a lot of people who would want toteach and study there.

University of Wisconsin-Madison DENIS COLLINSSchool of Business975 University AvenueMadison, WI 53711U.S.A.dcollins@bus.wisc.edu