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president's column
Nurturing hope
by Perry D. White
The week before Dalene and I flew to south central Kansas to participate in the on-campus interview for this position, I was struck by a message I received in one of the weekly list-serve updates from Jerold Panas, CEO of Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, a consulting firm out of Chicago. Jerry Panas suggested that as we pursue our vocations in life, we should look for two mentors – one around 10 years older and the other 25 years or more. I shared that advice with a group of Bethel students over lunch on that Thursday afternoon and, when thinking about this inauguration today, I wanted to introduce my mentors [Richard Giese and Weston Noble, who spoke at Dr. White’s Oct. 10 inauguration] to the Bethel family.
I have found that Bethel is also the kind of place one finds mentors like these – mentors who know you as more than a student or colleague, but as a friend; mentors who ask you the hard questions and probe the answers you give in order to help you discern your real hopes and dreams; mentors who encourage you to expand your vision for what you can become; and mentors who go out of their way to help you achieve those goals. … That is what Bethel can do for our students. … It is a natural part of our institutional DNA.
… [Dalene and I] are joining a college community with a long and very distinguished history of
- Continued regional and national recognition for our academic prowess;
- Continued recognition for the post-graduate success of our students;
- Continued recognition for the academic achievements of our athletic programs;
- Continued formal recognitions for the character of our students, faculty, staff and alumni;
- And one specific recognition I would like to mention: the “Mother Jones list,” as “…one of 8 colleges in the country that combines ‘great values with good value, especially for students who want to give peace a chance.’” This is a listing that is particularly special to me, as it recognizes one of the cornerstone characteristics of Bethel College – our commitment to our traditional institutional values of discipleship, scholarship, service and integrity. We are proud of our heritage and particularly appreciative of this recognition.
Yes, we are a very good college and we must remember to take the time to celebrate these successes with each other. However, we also acknowledge that many challenges still lie ahead.
Higher education is being challenged from many sides. Today, Bethel and all colleges are coming under much greater scrutiny from many entities. It seems that we nonprofit, private colleges are finding ourselves caught in the crossfire resulting from congressional concerns and oversight of the for-profit college sector. It seems that the “academic arms race” on college and university campuses has caused a severe drain on resources for many institutions, pushing them into greater debt and an inability to deliver on our corporate mission – to prepare knowledgeable and ethical leadership for tomorrow. …
We must continue to Seek ways to better deliver on our mission of high quality Christian education; we must strive to Serve our society by nurturing the hopes and dreams of others; and we must take every opportunity to Grow as individuals, in community and as an institution.
During the 10 full weeks I have now served as president of Bethel College, I have been privileged to engage a wide variety of people in conversation about the needs and suggested priorities for the institution. Let me tell you about some of the things I’m hearing so far.
Goal #1 – We must grow our enrollment.
We still need everyone’s help to do this, but we have set a firm target of 625 students by 2015. Yes, we certainly need students to remain viable as an institution, but I believe this need is more critical to our society than that. Our world needs more Bethel graduates. Our society needs leaders who not only bring the exceptional disciplinary knowledge that Bethel College can provide, but also the influence of the ethical values inherent in the Bethel College experience.
Goal #2 – We must build the college’s financial strength to secure its future viability.
Certainly, enrollment is the key to our future viability. However, fiscal security will also come from significant endowment growth and continued success with the Bethel Fund. Bethel alumni and friends have always been very generous in their support for the college and we are grateful for that sense of pride and loyalty. But there is still much work to do and we must shepherd our finances wisely and be prudent in our fiscal decisions.
Goal #3 – We must continually evaluate, invigorate and regenerate our curriculum.
Tremendous work has been done recently and that must be recognized: the development of the Individualized Major and rejuvenation of our General Education program. These are great steps toward better serving our students. However, I believe we are in a liminal period in higher education. I believe that our economy will return, some even tell us that we’ve been out of the recession for some time now. The Dow will return and rise. But if we believe that means a “return to normalcy” in higher education, we are naïve at best and at worst, foolish.
We must learn from this period and adjust to a new economy that will force us to evaluate our process and deliver our product in a more efficient and effective way. We must continually consider alternative ideas for curriculum delivery and explore potential for new or emerging degree programs. We are excited about opportunities for discourse with our faculty about potential for enhancing our curriculum and further support our institutional mission.
Goal #4 – We must enhance the residential experience on campus.
Today there are many factors that influence the perception of value and enter into the student decision-making process. Knowing that, we must make our campus a beautiful, supportive, and accommodating living and learning environment for all – our residential students, commuter students, faculty and staff, as well as our community at large. We must provide our students with an environment that allows for engaged learning to take place both in and out of the classroom. Our new Academic Center, once completed, is an important start, but only a beginning. We must also address how our students live, eat and play. To that end, we must be sure that all of our campus activities – academic, athletic, fine and performing arts, forensics, and the like – are intentional in efforts to help students grow intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Goal #5 – We must continue to enhance our regional and national reputation.
The awards and recognitions we’ve received certainly attest to the worthiness of our academic product. We should be very proud of the work we do with students. It is tremendous. However, we mustn’t take that for granted. We must continue to devote ourselves to student success and we must recognize that the obligation of higher education is to nurture hope.
At Bethel College, we will commit ourselves to nurturing hope as action, not just in thought or theory – yes, for our students, but also through our students for our communities and society at large. Such an approach forces us, as teachers and as an institution, to take responsibility for student success. However, such an approach also lays a heavy burden of responsibility on our students – our graduates – as they are our hope and the barometer by which we gauge our success as teachers and as an institution.
Such an approach is life-changing.
Such an approach can be world-changing.
Such an objective is our obligation – it is our call to service – and that brings me back to thoughts about “mentor-ship.”
I [recently] had a meeting on campus with Terry Shue, director of Leadership Development for Mennonite Church USA and a 1981 graduate of Bethel College. We were talking about this upcoming inauguration and I told him of my intention to share my mentors with you here today. During that conversation, he mentioned that he had reached that stage in his own life where he was “looking back to see who [I can] help more than looking forward to see what accomplishments were ahead.” In essence, he has set his course of nurturing hope for others, which is precisely what Richard Giese and Weston Noble have done and continue to do for me. I can’t begin to express how that approach has changed my life.
If we truly want to make a difference in our world, I believe the most effective way to start is by making a difference in the lives of others. We can start by nurturing someone’s hope as action. …
Life will never be void of challenges, as a people or as a college. But as we continue to address those challenges and seek to build a more robust Bethel College of the future, we can be assured that it will be a future built upon the hopes we share today.