What Are We Even Doing Here?

As artificial intelligence changes how people learn and work, St. Edward President KC McKenna ’00 considers what students will need most—and why educating the heart and mind matters more than ever.

Last month, while visiting the University of Notre Dame with leaders from other Holy Cross schools, I found myself around a dinner table talking about the future of education. Our conversation turned to the accelerating influence of artificial intelligence and the extraordinary uncertainty surrounding the world our students will inherit.

At one point, somewhat jokingly, I asked, “What are we even doing here?”

The question drew a few laughs. It was meant to be funny. But the more I’ve thought about it, the less funny it has become. In fact, I’ve spent much of the past month, and frankly years, consumed by it.

What is the purpose of a high school education in 2026? What will that purpose be in 2030? Or 2040? And perhaps most importantly, what should a St. Edward education provide a young man that he could not otherwise obtain from a world in which vast amounts of information are instantly accessible?

From Knowing to Doing

For generations, education has been organized around a relatively straightforward premise: knowledge is valuable because knowledge is scarce. Schools existed to provide access to information, help students retain that information, and measure how successfully they could demonstrate what they had learned.

We created courses, curricula, assessments, grades, and admissions processes that rewarded students for knowing more than the person sitting next to them. It was a teacher-centered model, with students as consumers of knowledge.

Knowledge opened doors. Academic achievement helped determine access to colleges, careers, and opportunities.

But what happens when knowledge is no longer scarce? What happens when artificial intelligence can perform many of the tasks we have spent decades teaching students to perform?

Does that make education less important? I would argue precisely the opposite. It makes the right kind of education more important than ever. Knowledge still matters. Deep understanding still matters. But knowing something can no longer be the finish line. It’s become the starting line.

Questions That Matter

For much of the past century, education has emphasized the question, “What do you know?” I believe the defining question in the decades ahead will be, “What can you do with what you know?”

As I consider these ideas, my thoughts turn to my sons, Henry and Roger, both students at St. Ed’s.

Like every parent, I think about the men I hope they will become. I want them to leave with a strong academic foundation, prepared for college, a career, and the opportunities that follow.

But increasingly, I think the most meaningful measure of their education would be whether they could confidently answer yes to eleven questions:

What Technology Cannot Replace

As technology transforms our lives, I find myself increasingly convinced that the most important elements of a St. Edward education are the ones technology cannot replace.

A teacher who recognizes potential before a young man recognizes it in himself. A coach who helps him respond to disappointment with determination. A classmate who offers a different perspective. A service experience that changes his understanding of his responsibility to others. A moment of prayer or reflection that helps him discover who God is calling him to become.

These experiences are not peripheral to education. They are central to it.

Our Holy Cross tradition has always understood this. Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the congregation, envisioned an education that forms the mind and heart, preparing young people to contribute meaningfully to the world. The world may finally be catching up to the wisdom of his vision.

Honoring that tradition also requires us to examine our practices. We should be willing to challenge our assumptions about homework, assessment, grades, standardized testing, classroom instruction, and even the traditional boundaries between academic subjects. We should ask whether our students are spending enough time creating, collaborating, experimenting, questioning, and solving meaningful problems.

This is not an argument for lowering expectations. It is a call to raise them.

Memorizing an answer can be difficult. Applying knowledge to a complex problem is often harder.

Repeating an argument requires understanding. Constructing an original argument requires understanding, judgment, creativity, and courage. Completing an assignment demonstrates responsibility. Recognizing something that needs to be done, developing a plan, and seeing it through requires initiative and leadership.

We should expect more from our students, not less.

And we should be prepared to rethink how we help them achieve it.

Preparing for the World Ahead

Artificial intelligence will continue to transform industries, professions, and daily life. Some familiar careers will change. New opportunities will emerge. No school can confidently predict every change that lies ahead, but we can prepare students to navigate change.

We can help them become young men who are intellectually curious, morally grounded, creatively ambitious, emotionally resilient, and capable of meaningful relationships. We can teach them to use technology as a tool rather than allow themselves to become tools of technology. We can challenge them to think independently, act courageously, and recognize their obligations to the people around them.

So, what are we even doing here?

We are here to help young men discover what they are capable of doing with the knowledge, talents, opportunities, and gifts they have been given. We are here to help them develop the wisdom to know what is worth doing. We are here to help them find the competence to see and courage to act, as our mission calls us to.

We can ensure that, when they leave St. Edward, they understand that their education has not simply prepared them to make a living. It has prepared them to make a difference.

That is the education I want for my sons. It is the education I want for every young man who walks through the doors of St. Edward High School. It is the future I believe we have a responsibility to create, together.

I’m excited about what the future holds for St. Ed’s.