The University of Austin's president, Carlos Carvalho, delivered a speech at convocation this week, urging students to focus on engaging with what is true and looking outward rather than inward for personal growth. Carvalho argues that traditional notions of self-discovery in college should be replaced by a more outward-facing approach, where students measure their progress by how deeply they engage with knowledge. The article references Alexis de Tocqueville's 19th-century warning about the dangers of individualism, which he saw as leading to personal isolation and dependence on others for direction. Carvalho's speech is presented as an alternative perspective on what college should be for, one that emphasizes engagement and service rather than self-interest.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-26,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Carlos Carvalho, president of the University of Austin, delivered a speech to incoming freshmen that departed from the usual college message of self-discovery and affirmation. Instead, he urged students to "forget yourself" and focus on being absorbed in something greater than themselves. Carvalho argued for a return to traditional education principles, encouraging students to look outward rather than inward and measure their growth by how deeply they engage with what is true.
Written for “The Value of Higher Education” on 2026-08-31,
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Leaning score +0.85 for article 2632 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-08-27
As students settle into campus this week, unpacking in dorms, meeting new roommates, and stepping into the familiar ritual of “finding themselves,” it’s worth reconsidering what college is actually for.
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college → settle → what
At a moment when most universities promise affirmation and self-discovery, Carlos Carvalho, president of the University of Austin—of which Bari is a trustee—offered his incoming freshmen a different message at convocation this week: “Forget yourself and discover the durable joy of being absorbed in something greater than you.”
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Bari → promise → you
He argues for a return to the first principles of education, asking students to look outward rather than inward, and to measure growth not by how seen one feels but by how deeply one engages with what is true.
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what → argue → growth
Whether you never went to college, graduated decades ago, or are about to start your first semester, President Carvalho’s speech is worth your time.
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speech → go → semester
It is a clear argument for a different way of thinking about learning, and a reminder that the discipline it describes does not end at graduation but carries into how we think and live long after.
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we → think → graduation
In the 1830s, the French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville traveled across America and admired much of what he saw.
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he → travel → what
But he observed a dangerous paradox in the American love of equality.
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he → observe → equality
As the old ties of class, tradition, and community dissolved, he predicted, each citizen would retreat into a small world of narrow concerns—until every American would end up “thrown back forever upon himself alone,” confined at last “in the solitude of his own heart.”
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American → dissolve → heart
A man with nothing above or beyond him has nothing important to strive for and becomes focused on himself alone.
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man → have → himself
Tocqueville called this danger individualism.
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Tocqueville → call → danger
Paradoxically, he worried that the more independent the citizen feels, the weaker and less independent he actually becomes.
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he → worry → ?
And weak men are more susceptible to being governed by others.
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men → govern → others
They are dominated by the ideas and fashions of the majority and look to a government bureaucracy to take care of them.
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They → dominate → them
Tocqueville saw this individualism as a path to comfort in servitude.
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Tocqueville → see → servitude
America’s version of individualism led to something quite different.
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version → lead → something
