NEW YORK—The root cause of the downfall of four-star general David Petraeus was immorality, said Kuo York Chynn, an 89-year-old retired doctor.
“An immoral relationship. He’s married to his wife for 36 years. Is that moral? That’s not moral,” Chynn said.
Chynn sees a lot of immorality in the world. So in an attempt to inspire college students to reflect on and pursue morality—such as the four cardinal virtues of ancient Greece: prudence, justice, courage, and self-control—he started a unique essay contest. Students select one virtue and write about it. They describe a personal experience practicing that virtue, and obstacles they encountered along the way.
“It’s not about how much money you can make, or how successful your career [is],” said Chynn, emphasizing it’s more important to be a virtuous person.
The Asian American/Asian Research Institute partnered with the Chynn Family Foundation to put on the contest. Thirty-eight submissions came from 14 different schools within the City University of New York network of schools.
Love
The winner, Jesaiah Prayor, and the runner up, Nicole Wong, both chose the virtue love.
“If it were an option,” Prayor writes,“ I would not go to school to become an engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor; I would go to school to become a superhero.”
Yet instead of warding off bad guys and saving the assailed, Prayor discovered showing unconditional love is a better form of heroism.
