Today I am writing to share the establishment of the Council
for Big Ideas at Virginia Wesleyan College. The Council will be
comprised of retired college and university leaders with a record of visionary
thought and action. Its purpose is to propose innovative strategies for
responding to current major challenges confronting residential colleges and
universities today.
Our sector's value to the society we have long influenced is
now questioned regularly on economic grounds by the media, parents, and the
public at large. Additionally, our traditional means of teaching, developing
social capital, and fostering civic engagement increasingly are not facile
means of learning and communicating for a significant number of today's
students.
Those of us in higher education leadership, believe that
communities of living and learning like Virginia Wesleyan College are where
"deep calls to deep" in the mentored formation of those who will
influence substantially the future of society. We believe, further, that the
formation of social goods like knowledge, wisdom and ethics should not be
placed at risk because of business models that may well need to change. Those
can be different issues, particularly if we heed the advice of Alfred North
Whitehead: "The vitality of thought is an adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something
must be done about them.”
So, the Council for Big Ideas will generate scenarios for
our consideration that expand our thinking and create solutions that avoid
“business as usual.”
I particularly wish to exchange ideas with six former
presidents who have a direct connection to Virginia Wesleyan College and/or me,
and who have long been "big idea" thinkers. They include:
Dr. David R. Black, former President of Eastern University,
Palmer Theological Seminary, Lakeland College
Dr. James L. Fisher, former President of the Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education and Towson University.
Dr. James V. Koch, former President of Old Dominion
University and the University of Montana
Dr. Terry Lindvall, former President of Regent University
Dr. James Noseworthy, former President of Hiwassee College
and former Assistant General Secretary for Schools, Colleges and Universities
of the United Methodist Church
Dr. Alvin Schexnider, former Chancellor of Winston-Salem
State University
I look forward to sharing our “big ideas” with the campus
community in the future.
