Don’t Be Cruel

A plea for kindness in a mad world.

One could fill a book with reasons why people are cruel or compassionate. Several of our faculty just did.
The first chapter in The Psychology of Compassion and Cruelty: Understanding the Emotional, Spiritual, and Religious Influences (Praeger) opens with the unsettling observation that our ability to recognize pain in others gives us the ability to not only alleviate pain but accentuate it: “The worst torturer to have,” the author of one chapter writes, “is an empathic one (who puts the gun to your child’s head rather than your own).” But this is no grim book. Edited by Thomas G. Plante, psychology professor and director of SCU’s Spirituality and Health Institute, the volume examines scientific evidence showing how certain psychological, spiritual, and religious factors spur compassion and deter cruelty. Among SCU contributors: Plante and Erin Callister ’14 look at efforts to promote compassion during higher education, such as through community-engagement programs; Management Professor André L. Delbecq shares results of a pilot study suggesting that organizations should develop leadership training on how to express compassion at work; Diane E. Dreher, professor of English and associate director of the Spirituality and Health Institute, examines how mindfulness practices can reduce stress and cultivate greater compassion, clarity, and effective decision making; Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, a Zen priest and senior lecturer in religious studies, explores how the mindfulness practices of Zen Buddhism may promote compassion; and Barbara M. Burns, professor and director of liberal studies, describes the critical role parental compassion plays in child development.

post-image Photo courtesy of iStock
From Scratch

The new leader of SCU’s adolescent mental health concentration wants to design better mental healthcare delivery systems to help more kids, now.

Green Is the New Black

Leaders in sustainable fashion shared career advice with student designers at SCU’s popular EcoFashion Show.

Hop 2 It

How do you get from hops to beer? Sustainability interns found out by turning hops grown at SCU’s Forge Garden into “Forge Ahead,” an English-style pale ale.

Racking Up

Tess Heal ’26 is nabbing awards left and right thanks to a stellar freshman year with Santa Clara women’s basketball.