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president's column

Counting blessings

by Perry D. White

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep,
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings.

Recently, Dalene and I enjoyed a very nice evening at a Kansas City area theater. Among the selections in the show of crooner tunes was the Irving Berlin song (made famous by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney), “Count Your Blessings.” Although we haven’t really needed one since our arrival, hearing those lyrics was a good reminder of the great privilege we feel to have an opportunity to serve in the presidency of Bethel College. Yes, we are truly honored and we are blessed.

Our first year at Bethel has brought us many blessings to count. We have been blessed to meet and get to know loyal and supportive alumni and friends of this institution. Many have served as chief contributors to the accomplishment of significant institutional goals over the course of this past year, contributing generously to the Bethel Fund or to the Academic Center renovation. Without them, we would never have been able to meet another Mabee Challenge and break ground for the facility in May. For that, we are so very grateful.

Last fall, we were blessed to have the largest freshman class in 15 years and thrilled to have a fall-to-spring retention rate nearly four percentage points above average. This spring, we were then blessed with the opportunity to watch 94 seniors walk across our stage at commencement, as we took that opportunity to reflect upon all they had accomplished during their time at Bethel. They depart with the tremendous responsibility of serving as our society’s hope for the future and we are certain they are prepared to meet that challenge.

We were again blessed to be recognized as a leading institution in higher education, with representation on listings in U.S. News and World Report, the Forbes.com listing of “America’s Best Colleges” and the President’s Community Service Honor Roll. In addition, we were pleased to appear on the Mother Jones listing of colleges that provide “great values at a good value” and thrilled to be ranked in the Postsecondary Education Opportunity’s listing of the top 12 liberal arts colleges in the country for our “actual vs. predicted” graduation rate, an honor that speaks directly to the relationships we build with students and our remarkable ability to help them persist to graduation.

However, the greatest blessings God has bestowed upon us are the tremendous people who have and continue to give so much of themselves in service to Bethel College and our students. This spring, we took the opportunity to thank three of those individuals for their contributions to Bethel College. Upon their retirement, we honored Larry Friesen for his 28 years as professor of social work and Jean Isaac for 10 years of service at KIPCOR. We also took the opportunity to honor Diane Flickner for her 20 years as athletic director as she steps down from that role to devote herself more fully to the classroom. These people have contributed significantly to the successes Bethel College has enjoyed over the past number of years and we thank them for their commitment to our students and their discipline.

Yes, Bethel College has received many of God’s blessings throughout the years and we are honored and humbled by that. We hope that you have and will continue to find Bethel to be a blessing in your life and that you will seek every opportunity to return and engage with this very fine institution. Until then, may you always fall asleep before you can finish counting your many blessings.