The National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA), the nation’s leading advocate for parks and recreation, is partnering with the Walmart Foundation to establish a program that increases the ability of local parks and recreation agencies to serve as Community Wellness Hubs.
Brian Owens will perform “Soul,” a display of authentic rhythm-and-blues and soul at Berea College’s Stephenson Memorial concert on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel on the Berea College campus.
President Lyle Roelofs today announced that Berea College will make substantial funds available to eastern Kentucky counties impacted by last month’s devastating flooding. The flooding affected 8,000 residents in the region.
Berea College’s annual Giving Day is Thursday, Sept. 1. Giving Day generates support for Berea’s students with contributions coming from donors locally, regionally and nationally.
Berea College has ranked (tied for) No. 4 on the PraxisExam.org list of colleges with the Best Praxis Elementary Education Pass Rates in Kentucky.
Berea College Director of Digital Storytelling Justin Skeens won three Emmy Awards during last week’s 58th Annual Ohio Valley Regional ceremony in Columbus, Ohio.
Berea College junior Nathaniel Fish has been selected to participate in Campus Compact’s 2022 Newman Civic Fellowship. The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports community-committed students who are change makers and public problem-solvers at Campus Compact member institutions.
A gallery show featuring 40 individual pieces by 14 Berea College Student Craft Program staff and apprentice contributors will be featured throughout July at The Parachute Factory in Lexington. (more…)
(Photo: Crystal Wylie ’05)
The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program named 21 Berea College students as 2022 award winners. This record-setting number of students received more than $92,000 in funding to study abroad through the Gilman program.
Silas House
New York Times bestselling writer and Berea College professor Silas House has been awarded a Duggins Prize for Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist, the largest prize given to an LGBTQ writer in the United States. The award is given annually by Lambda Literary to two novelists.
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The Berea College Board of Trustees elected Brenda Williams Guy Lane as a board member for a six-year term. (more…)
Berea College today announced the launch of a capital campaign to construct two future-focused buildings that, when complete, will harness the power of computer science, digital media and information technology, and applied engineering and design (including sculpture and ceramics) to prepare the next generation of technology thinkers, makers and innovators. (more…)
Two Berea College students have been awarded 2022 Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grants. The $1,000 grants were awarded to 125 students across the nation. (more…)
 Photo: Tyler Rocquemore ’22 Money Magazine has named Berea College its 20th overall Best College and the 10th Best College in the South. Editors have also found Berea College to be the best college in affordability. While they do not compile a separate list for affordability, their scoring formula captured Berea as having the best score of all the colleges in their ranking. “We are excited about Money’s recognition of Berea College in this year’s rankings,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “As we continue to fulfill our commitment to providing educational opportunities to students who have great promise and limited economic resources —primarily from Appalachia—being recognized for that work ultimately helps us get the word out to students across the globe that even if they think they cannot afford to go to college, at Berea College, that may have that opportunity.” To compile its 2022 Best Colleges list, Money looked at more than 2,400 four-year colleges with sufficient data and above-average graduation rates. From there, colleges were scored on 24 measures in three areas: quality, affordability and outcomes. In short: quality measures focus on graduation rates; affordability is weighed on the net price of a degree, student and parent borrowing and loan repayment rates; and outcomes are based on median earnings, the share of alumni working and the share of alumni earning more than other high school graduates. “Berea College was founded as a Christian school with a mission of providing an education accessible to all,” Money says in its description. “In the past that meant Berea was one of the first colleges in the South to open its classes to people of color and women. Today, it means offering a path to a college degree for students with limited economic resources, especially those from the Appalachia region, where the college is located. As such, it’s not surprising that the small, liberal arts college is a standout for affordability, capturing the No. 1 spot for this measure in Money’s rankings. Nearly all first-year undergraduates are eligible for federal Pell Grants. Berea doesn’t charge tuition—all students work a minimum of 10 hours a week… At the end of their college careers students leave with a labor transcript along with a degree.” For more information, please visit: https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/berea-college/ Money magazine was first published by Time Inc., in 1972. Its articles cover personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement. About Berea College Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College only admits academically promising students with limited financial resources—primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia—but welcomes students from 41 states and 76 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of nine federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work 10 hours or more weekly to earn money for books, housing and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” speaks to its inclusive Christian character. ###
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Berea College is building on the success of the Matilda Hamilton Fee Hydroelectric Station at Lock 12 on the Kentucky River by partnering with Appalachian Hydro Associates to build a second hydropower plant 35 miles upstream at Lock and Dam 14 near Heidelberg in Lee County. (Photo courtesy of Berea College)
Berea College is building on the success of the Matilda Hamilton Fee Hydroelectric Station at Lock 12 on the Kentucky River by partnering with Appalachian Hydro Associates to build a second hydropower plant 35 miles upstream at Lock and Dam 14 near Heidelberg in Lee County.
In 2021, Berea College became the first higher education institution in the nation to complete construction of a hydroelectric generating plant, located on the Kentucky River near Ravenna. (more…)
Photo: Tyler Rocquemore ’22
During the first in-person spring commencement ceremony in three years due to COVID, Berea College recognized 260 students. This included 45 students who graduated between 2019-2021. The 215 graduates for 2022 represented 18 different countries.
Guest speaker Geoffrey Canada, globally renowned president and creator of the Harlem Children’s Zone and advocate for education reform, spoke during the ceremony on meeting challenges facing our youth. (more…)
Former Berea College First Lady Jane Stephenson and community organizer Michael Maloney have been presented with the 2022 Berea College Service awards.
Established in 1979 and awarded annually upon a vote of approval by the College’s General Faculty Assembly, the Berea College Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to our society in achieving the ideals of Berea’s Great Commitments. (more…)
Jaden Johnson named Major of the Year in Health & Human Performance by Shape America
By Joey Martelli, Shape America
SHAPE America–Society of Health and Physical Educators honored Jaden Johnson of Berea College as a Major of the Year during the organization’s 136th National Convention and Expo, held April 26-30th in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The award celebrates outstanding undergraduate students in the health, physical education, recreation, and dance professions who are nominated by a faculty advisor or professor. Johnson was recognized on Tuesday, April 26th during the Opening General Session.
“The outstanding achievements of future professionals like Jaden is integral to the future of SHAPE America and our profession.” said SHAPE America President Terri Drain, the Founder and Coordinator of the Health and Physical Education Collaborative.
Photo: Tyler Rocquemore ’22
Berea College students Maria Alejandra Hernandez Diaz ’22 and Hunter McDavid ’22 have been named Thomas J. Watson Fellows.
The 54th Class of Watson Fellows was selected from just 41 private colleges and university partners across the United States. This year, 42 students were selected from a national pool of finalists in an extremely competitive process.
Ezell becomes the Appalachian Eagle during the Clear Creek premier of the full Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man performance (photo by Erica Chambers)
Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man, an award-winning outdoor eco-cultural theater, music and meal experience will be presented at the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center and the Pinnacles over Earth Day weekend, April 21 to 24, 2022.
Ezell is an environmental, cultural and spiritual parable derived from living in the foothills of Appalachia, one man among many seeking to make sense of the time, place and condition in which we live. In the story, Ezell’s choices, traumas, ancestors and more intersect with themes of domination and resilience as he seeks to take advantage of an anticipated fracking boom and the opportunity to reconnect with the people and land of his raising.
Súle Greg Wilson
Súle Greg Wilson, founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops, will perform at Ballad Night at Berea College on Friday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Gray Auditorium, Presser Hall. The evening is hosted by the Berea College Folk-Roots Ensemble.
Wilson will present a 30-minute set of African American ballads which will be followed by a ballad round robin. The performance is free and open to the public. All audience members must be masked as per college policy due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Can readers escape the end of the world? Join National Book Award–honored authors Julia Phillips (Disappearing Earth, 2019 Fiction finalist) and Jackie Wang (The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void, 2021 Poetry finalist) for readings and conversation on writing the environment of place and people in the 21st century.
The free event takes place on Tuesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in the Berea College Alumni Building’s Baird Lounge. Refreshments will be available. Masks are required.
To bring cutting-edge authors to Appalachian Kentucky, the National Book Foundation’s public programming arm, NBF Presents, arranged these authors’ visits in partnership with Berea College and Appalshop (Letcher County).
Photo: Tyler Rocquemore ’22
Nine member institutions of the USA South Athletic Conference (USAS) have officially formed and have been approved by the NCAA as a new Division III athletic conference, following a planned separation of USAS. This new conference, the “Collegiate Conference of the South” (CCS), will include Agnes Scott College, Belhaven University, Berea College, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University, and Wesleyan College.
Kelly Mehler, who ran his own woodworking school on the Pine Croft site, led a previous class at the Woodworking School at Pine Croft.
Berea College’s Woodworking School at Pine Croft will be buzzing with activity beginning in April with a new slate of classes that include guest instructors teaching their trade.
The first full session in October 2019 was attended by students from Kentucky as well as Florida, North Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota. Andy Glenn, head of the Woodworking School at Pine Croft, hopes to see an even greater interest this time around.
“We are just getting started with Pine Croft,” Glenn said. “2020 and 2021 proved challenging, but we’re excited for the future. We have a great slate of instructors scheduled for 2022 and a wide range of classes.”
Three guest instructors will be part of the Spring 2022 class schedule.
Photo: Crystal Wylie ’05
Berea College recognized 80 students last week during its Mid-Year Ceremony. Alumnus and former Berea College Trustee Robert Yahng addressed the seniors, who represented 20 states and five different countries.
Berea College recognized 80 students last week during its Mid-Year Ceremony. Alumnus and former Berea College Trustee Robert Yahng addressed the seniors, who represented 20 states and five different countries.
Photo: Gaston Jarju ’23
Yahng, who was introduced by Board of Trustees Chair Stephanie Zeigler, spoke to the graduates of the importance of their achievement during what he called “extraordinary uncertainties.”