Baldwin expressed that sense of hope when he said that education should bring us to a point where we can change society. When students enter an educational community, they must enter with a belief in hope for the future and with a sense that hope, like faith, will be fostered by a serious learning environment. In order for an educational community to exist, the final condition necessary is charity. Some people may think that charity is the type of work that is performed in hospitals or at AIDS centers. In biblical terms, charity means love and caring for the neediest members of the community.
Charity also means charity of spirit.
In a dynamic educational environment, students and teachers must come to discussions and classes with a sense that they all bring different life experiences. They must also realize that those life experiences mean that each person reads books differently, has different questions and will raise different points in class. Again, this may be hard to accept. During a student's time in college, he or she will, hopefully, come to know that the world is a complex place. Charity of spirit means that individuals come together in community to acknowledge and love one another.