What’s a college education worth these
days?
Amid rising costs of tuition and an
economy still rebounding from recession, higher education consumers and
observers are increasingly asking that question—and with good reason.
Since 1978, according to a Bloomberg
report at the start of the current academic year, costs of tuition and fees at
colleges and universities have increased more than 1,100 percent—“four times
faster than the increase in the consumer price index.”
Although it’s tempting to view an
investment in college in purely monetary terms, I’d like to offer a broader,
more inspiring view of the value of a college education, more specifically, the
value of a Bethany liberal arts education.
On this year’s Founders Day, March 7, we
hosted West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman ’73 of Wheeling as our
featured speaker. Of the many speeches and addresses I have listened to in my
three decades of higher education experience, Marc’s presentation to a packed Commencement Hall was one of the most
memorable.
He paid tribute to his Bethany
education; it “shaped me profoundly and held me together,” he said.
“Bethany was the savior,” he noted. “Not
only did it keep me from getting lost, but I had superb teachers. A tome on
Bethany’s history noted that among the goals of the faculty was the desire to
educate the conscience at Bethany. They did so, and I believe they still do.”
Marc read from his body of poetry and
later presented an autographed copy of
his collection Green-Silver and Silent Poems, which will hold a place of honor
in our College Archives.
Yet it was his delivery to a hushed
audience in historic Commencement Hall on Founder’s Day that moved many of us
beyond the capacity of our own words. Here was eloquent, compelling, and
persuasive evidence of the power of a Bethany education—its ability to draw
upon an individual’s own talents (such as the gift for capturing and relating
stories that Marc referenced in his speech), and to transform lives profoundly.
To hear Marc’s address was to understand how the undergraduate years of study and
reflection here lead to lifelong awareness of the world in perhaps unexpected
yet immeasurably satisfying ways. Education is growth, the perpetual flowering
of knowledge and understanding in all of our graduates.
The worth of that cannot truly be
measured, but it is certainly worth honoring as we did so by awarding Marc the
degree Doctor of Letters, presented by Dr. Jessie L. Janeshek, assistant
professor of English and an accomplished poet in her own right.
We continued this year’s Founder’s Day
by commemorating our roots and traditions with the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ), a number of whose representatives joined us for the day’s
activities, including the annual wreath-laying ceremony in memory of our
founder, Alexander Campbell.
I believe that Campbell would have been
quite pleased with our Founder’s Day this year. Not only did we celebrate the
beginnings of our College in 1840, but we also, through Marc’s address,
dramatically reaffirmed the value of our founder’s vision and intentions for
Bethany. For this is an institution that invigorates the spirit and nourishes
the soul amid the wilderness of our natural surroundings and the metaphorical
wilderness where we wander in search of meaning.
The worth of a Bethany education was
also highly evident during this year’s March 9 Kalon Scholarship Luncheon,
featuring the keynote address by Dan Verakis ‘94. Dan, senior vice president
and director of public relations at Cramer-Krasselt, the nation's largest
independent communications agency, credited Bethany with paving the way for his
astounding career success, which has included helping major brands such as
Abbott, Kraft, and McDonald’s with their communications and operational goals.
The annual Kalon luncheon is among my
favorite occasions at Bethany. It unites prospective students, their families,
Bethany alumni, faculty, current students, and friends in a joint examination
of the qualifications for our next class of Kalon Scholars whose demonstrated
service leadership and academic excellence recommend them for consideration.
As we look ahead to the conclusion of
another remarkable year at Bethany —our 173rd—we eagerly anticipate this year’s
Oreon E. Scott Lectures, April 8-9, by Dr. Richard Lowery, adjunct professor of
Hebrew Bible at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and Phillips
Theological Seminary in Oklahoma. His wife, the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins,
General Minister and President of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), is a previous Oreon E. Scott lecturer at Bethany
College.
Alumni Weekend, May 3-5, is also fast
approaching, with a special honoring of this year’s 50th reunion Class of 1963
and presentation of awards to distinguished graduates of Bethany.
We invite you to join us for these
annual traditions. Thank you for your ongoing support of Bethany College, your
sharing of our mission of faith and knowledge, and your emails, letters, and
visits which mean so much during the busy spring season on a college campus.
I wish for each of you a beautiful
spring with all of the promise of hope and renewal that it brings to the
community of A Small College of National Distinction.
