I have to confess to you… I’m not a pet person. I learned at a fairly young age that I am VERY allergic to most cats and dogs — which was fine in the pet-free home I grew up in, but it did make for challenging sleep-overs as a kid.

Of course, I ended up marrying a pet-person… isn’t that always the way it happens?  My wife has been very understanding for most of our first 10 years of marriage.  This past winter, however, her parents asked if they could drop off their “outdoor” cat for the winter.  Having just moved “out to the country” I felt obliged to create some space for this “outdoor” animal.

While we found ways to make it work during the winter months, you can imagine the shock (and horror) I experienced as I learned this cat had become pregnant during the active spring months.  Sure, the new kittens she produced were cute and all, but there was no way I was going to become a cat person.

Why am I sharing all of this? Great question.  And I promise there’s a connection to campus ministry coming…

I experienced my first redeeming quality in cats just the other day.  I learned that somewhere around the 6-8 week stage of life the mother cat will attempt to lead her kittens away — Yes, abandon them. Instinctively she knows that they are now, more or less, able to fend for themselves and she is more than ready to allow them to make their own way in the world.

This got me to thinking about today’s Parent… and the struggle or tension that seems to lie within regarding the separation that happens when they drop their student off on our campuses.  It would seem that everyone involved in the equation: parents, students and college administrators all believe that a transition is about to happen, should happen – now 18 years in the making – but for many it doesn’t…

In most cases parents will indeed leave campus (although I have heard stories of parents getting hotel rooms close to campus and hanging around for the first several weeks of a new year… just in case they are needed).  But with all of the technological advances we benefit from today, parents are now able to be more connected and more involved in their students lives, on campus, than ever before.  And I think it’s hurting our students.  I know it is.

On the heels of our new student orientation, as my eyes now look towards the horizon of the end of the summer and the start of new academic year, I find myself wondering if there’s some way we can begin to change this cultural tide. Is there a way we can communicate with parents and students about the need to first, recognize those internal indicators that are pointing towards change — a new way of living — and second, encourage them to fight the urge to resist this new, natural transition and live into that change?

What do you think?

• Do you see this issue on your campus?  In your ministry?  What are the signs you see?
• Do you currently address this issue on your campus?  With parents?  With students?
• If you had the chance to address families as they were entering your campus community, what would you want to communicate to them in regards to this specific issues?