HPU Professor of Law and Associate Dean Natt Gantt recently published an article titled “The Centrality of Spiritual Well-Being to Professional Formation” on the Holloran Center Professional Identity Implementation Blog. In the article, Professor Gantt reflects on his time moderating a discussion group at the 2023 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference. The group was titled “Professional Identity as a Search for Spiritual Well-Being—Helping Students Care for their Souls.” It featured legal educators from around the country who engaged in a rich discussion that focused on: (1) why the topic of law student spiritual well-being is important to discuss; (2) how to define the term “spiritual well-being”; (3) what practices and strategies can help law students cultivate their spiritual well-being; and (4) what are the challenges to improving students’ spiritual well-being and what are positive ways to overcome those challenges.
Referencing insights from the group as well as other research and reports, Professor Gantt contends that law schools should help students attain meaning, purpose, and a connection to something “beyond themselves”—”to the pursuit of justice, to the service of others, to the love of fellow humans, to . . . the eternal and transcendent.” He adds that cultivating such connections fosters students’ well-being and a clearer sense of their professional identity.
Moderating this discussion and publishing this article are examples of Professor Gantt’s commitment to improving legal education and helping law schools better attend to the professional formation and well-being of their students. You can read the full article here.