President's Office

As I write this, members of the Kentucky General Assembly are considering  controversial bills that effectively would limit the freedom of LGBTQIA+ students and their equal access to education in the public schools of our Commonwealth.

The institution I am privileged to lead, Berea College, has long taken a fully inclusive approach to issues of gender identity. Our scriptural motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” compels that approach, which welcomes all into our community regardless of any aspects of their personal identities. You will find at Berea persons who represent all of the identities encompassed in the LGBTQIA+ list together with others who identify as heterosexual males and females. You will also find Bereans who hold to a conservative Christian point of view with regard to gender and so do not support the validity of non-binary gender identities. I will not say that such differences are easy to navigate in a small community of about 2,500 Bereans, but I can say that we are a better institution because of that diversity along, with the other forms of diversity that come with our inclusive identity.  I firmly believe that the same can be said for all of Kentucky.

Beyond its scriptural basis, we have other reasons for this choice.  First and foremost, I think of this as a clear matter of justice and fairness. And beyond basic fairness, those opposing this proposed legislation have provided evidence and examples of the traumatic and lasting effects such measures can have on young persons.

Under Section 183 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the General Assembly is charged with the responsibility to provide an efficient system of common (public) schools for all of Kentucky’s children. The Supreme Court of Kentucky has recognized that “the framers of our constitution intended that each and every child in this state should receive a proper and an adequate education, to be provided for by the General Assembly.” Rose v. Council for Better Education, 790 S. W. 2nd 186 (1989).

In that case, the court quoted from the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court of the United States observed that “education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.” The Supreme Court continued (using the gendered language then common) that “it [education] is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment.  In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.” 347 U. S. 483, 493  (1954).

To deny any LGBTQIA+ student equal access to education on pain of sacrificing their identity is unconscionable and unlawful. In addition, I do not see any justification for the government to take away fundamental freedoms of identity from any person in relation to education, parental rights, healthcare or any other aspect of their existence.

There are some pragmatic reasons that also argue against such legislation.  Students of today will live and work in a highly pluralistic society, and most are encountering in school and at college the diversity that will be part of their lives and work after graduation. Further, these sorts of laws are not business friendly. It is very much in Kentucky’s interest to attract the best companies in the country to do business here, providing tax revenue and great jobs for Kentuckians.

Let the example of Berea College be a guide in addressing these issues. I submit to my fellow Kentuckians that the many benefits of freedom and inclusivity are far preferable in all respects to the imposition of restrictions in matters of identity.

The work of Berea College was always audacious. In the mid-19^th century, Berea College founder John G. Fee didn’t merely advocate for the abolition of slavery—an audacious enough stance in slaveholding Kentucky. He also proposed that a proper education could serve to erase differences in race, class and gender, promoting equity in a world dominated by an upper class that was primarily white and male. Division of labor, too, served to reinforce that viewpoint and deny equity with enslaved Africans doing most of the manual labor, while the white population regarded even the skilled trades to be beneath them. And so, a work college was born where Blacks and whites, men and women could work and study side by side. In so doing, Berea blazed a path that addressed the most vexing questions in higher education at the time: accessibility, equity, inclusion and affordability.

In the 21^st century, the work of Berea College is still audacious, still blazing a path, continuing to disrupt the cycle of poverty and counter the inequities and injustices that are bound up in it.  And we are still audacious enough to think Berea College has something to offer American society, especially the world of higher education, which still today continues to struggle with issues like diversity, access, support, belonging and equity. In a document, titled “Berea College: A Model for Working and Learning in Liberal Arts Colleges of the Future,” we outline how Berea College is a model for what higher education can be. We are audacious enough to say that other institutions can look to Berea College as a thought leader in making higher education more accessible, affordable, equitable, and effective in preparing graduates for productive and meaningful lives. It continues the path that Fee and early founders embarked upon.

In the white paper, we argue that an especially important and mostly unique part of the Berea College model is the Labor Program, which not only serves the higher purpose of promoting equity but also provides students with the opportunity of a work experience that complements their studies. All students work and receive a paycheck, which addresses issues of accessibility, belonging and support while also helping students to develop the soft skills employers are looking for. Students all begin at the same level, where they develop and apply skills like attendance, accountability, teamwork, initiative, respect and the dignity of all necessary work. And they all have the opportunity to work their way up to jobs with management-level or more specialized work skills, giving our low-income student population a skillset that provides key advantages after graduation when they enter the workforce. In addition, the document highlights how, taking advantage of the diversity of Berea’s student body, the College can ensure that all students share in management and leadership positions, including those from traditionally underrepresented groups.  This prepares all students for success as they enter an increasingly diverse workforce.

This is the audacious work of equity. Our no-tuition model allows low-income students to access an education traditionally available to only their more affluent peers. Our supportive environment and efforts to promote belonging mean that our retention and graduation rates are high among a demographic that historically struggles in higher education. And our Labor Program promotes a world where, as Fee put it, “labor shall be respectable and where laborers shall have cultivated minds, so that they can go out and be efficient in all the avocations of life.”

We believe the proof of this concept is in our success over the past 168 years, and we believe, as well, that other schools can learn from Berea College. As our audacious work continues, we hope our mission of equity can inspire and challenge similar efforts at other institutions of higher learning. The document can be accessed at the Berea College website at https://www.berea.college/whitepaper.

Every year, on the second Monday in October, many Americans observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. One way we mark this holiday is to celebrate and honor Native peoples by commemorating their histories, cultures and achievements. For this year’s observance, Berea College highlighted the remarkable life and legacy of Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck, an alumna and political scientist whose life’s work was advocating for American Indian tribal recognition, civil rights, educational opportunity and equality at the highest levels of government. A Notable Berean banner bearing her name and contributions hangs on our campus.

Scheirbeck was born into the Lumbee Tribe in Lumberton, North Carolina, in 1935, at a time when educational opportunities for Native Americans were limited. When she was ready for college, she found her only in-state option was Pembroke State College for Indians. Instead, Scheirbeck enrolled at Berea College in 1953.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Education in 1957, she enrolled in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs to study Arabic. A hitchhiking journey across the country to visit the Navajo and Hopi peoples in the Southwest inspired her to change her focus to helping her fellow Native peoples. Scheirbeck earned a doctorate in Educational Administration with an emphasis on public policy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and moved to Washington, D.C. For the next 40 years, she worked tirelessly to create organizations and shape legislation that would have lasting impacts on educational opportunities for Native peoples.

In her first job, Dr. Scheirbeck served as the first Native American intern for the National Congress of American Indians, where she had an integral role in founding the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Its mission was and is to influence federal policy on issues related to American Indian higher education. AIHEC was established in 1972 with six tribally controlled colleges, institutions that are owned and operated by American Indian nations. Today, there are 37 TCUs (tribal colleges and universities) operating 75 campuses across 16 states. Following her internship, she became a staff member for Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, and the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. It was in that role that she did perhaps her most impactful work.

In the context of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Dr. Scheirbeck helped to organize the Capitol Conference on Poverty in 1962 where young Native leaders learned how to effectively advocate for full participation in legislative activity. She worked with Sen. Ervin to push the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 through Congress, guaranteeing the Bill of Rights and other constitutional protections would be extended to Native Americans.

Realizing how important access to a quality college education had been for her, Dr. Scheirbeck devoted much of her attention to educational opportunities for Native Americans. In 1972, while working to establish the Coalition of Indian Controlled School Boards, she was appointed chairperson of the Indian Education Task Force by President Jimmy Carter to serve as. The task force studied the status of Native education in the U.S. and issued a report to Congress with recommendations for improving the quality of educational institutions attended by Native American and Alaska Native children. This work was central to the Indian-controlled schools movement. Knowing how critical funding is to policy implementation, Scheirbeck developed strategies to assist tribal colleges and universities in securing start-up funds as “developing institutions” through Title III of the Higher Education Act. In 1978, she assisted in developing the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act and helped move it through Congress to passage that same year. The legislation was the cornerstone of the tribal college movement in this country. Her tremendous legacy also includes leadership of the Indian Head Start Program for young American Indian and Alaska Native learners, serving as a trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian and becoming the museum’s director of public programs when her term as a trustee ended.

A 2001 article in Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education quoted Scheirbeck as being fond of saying, “I’m just a little old Indian woman who is working hard for Indian people.” Her record says so much more, and Berea College is VERY proud of her and her accomplishments. She passed away in 2010 but the significant impact of her work will continue into the future.

The mission of Berea College has eight parts, known as the Great Commitments. And while that may sound complicated, it boils down to one simple, Biblical concept: the notion of impartial love. In the mission’s origin, the founder of Berea College, the Reverend John G. Fee, was fighting against the institution of slavery. The profound inclusivity of Fee’s message was revolutionary for the 1850s, even though its truth is eternal. Because of that eternal truth, impartial love is still our mission today. As we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, known nationally as Hispanic Heritage Month, we would do well as a society—as leaders, politicians and citizens—to follow Fee’s example.

Dr. Gwendolyn Ferreti

Impartial love is a big, open-arms mission that challenges us to live up to our higher ideals. As the population of Berea students who identified as Latinx or Hispanic grew, we understood that our welcome table needed to get bigger. With that in mind, in 2019, we established the Espacio Cultural Latinx (ECL) to provide students with programming and engagement activities that celebrate Latin culture at Berea. While the focus is on supporting the Latinx student population, ECL programming is structured to welcome students from all backgrounds to participate. The goal, as always, is to learn from one another and discover our common humanity.

Juan Jaimes Costilla

We also hired our first tenure-track professor in Latinx studies, Dr. Gwendolyn Ferreti, who cofounded the ECL. The following year, we hired the first, full-time Latinx Student Support Coordinator, Juan Jaimes Costilla. Together, Ferreti and Costilla have developed programming that welcomes all students while creating a welcoming atmosphere for our Latinx students. They are also working to develop more Latinx Studies courses and programming, and they will continue to support and mentor Latinx students in the years to come. We believe that Latinx studies and resources will become a lasting part of the College’s rich history of interracial coeducation and will add to the College’s investment in equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Latinx students have also taken on tremendous campus leadership through the Hispanic Outreach Program (HOP) which serves the broader Latinx community in Madison County as well as through groups such as the Latinx Student Union (LSU) which advocates for students and organizes events. The fall semester began with a welcome back reception featuring Latin music and providing an opportunity for returning students to meet the incoming class.

Jean-Paul ’24, a Latinx student from Louisville, who is on the men’s soccer and track teams, said, “I didn’t expect to have such a close community at Berea. It feels like home. As an athlete, the support that my Latinx community shows is heartwarming and very appreciated.”

Jean-Paul’s feeling of being fully at home here is our goal for every Berea student. The power of impartial love has shaped the Berea experience since 1855 and has made a remarkable community possible, providing a model for all the other communities that together make up American society. As we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, let’s also strive to make all places and spaces feel more like home to everyone.

Latinx students pose at the ECL’s Welcome Back Reception

In light of a recent Supreme Court decision, it’s up to us, on an individual and organizational level, to combat global climate change.

In a 6-3 decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Supreme Court hamstrung the federal government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions of the nation’s utility companies. The court ruled that the EPA lacked the authority to push utilities to produce cleaner power because Congress had not given the agency that authority explicitly.

That means it will take an act of Congress for the federal government to provide leadership in combating global climate change. But we cannot wait for Congress to act; time is running out, and we are already facing the impacts of climate change.

According to the Washington Post, more than 40 percent of Americans live in counties that were struck by climate-related extreme weather last year, and more than 80 percent experienced a heat wave. Climate change brings fires to California, severe storms to Nebraska, hurricanes to the Gulf of Mexico, and flooding to Kentucky. As emissions climb, the earth’s average temperature rises, and weather everywhere becomes more variable and extreme.   That leads to melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, wildfires, extreme heat, stronger storms and drought, which much of the country is currently experiencing. It has been established that human activities are the dominant cause of the current rapid climate change, and it is only we humans, therefore, who can take action to mitigate the effects. And unfortunately, in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, we cannot rely on the federal government to structure our response and lead us as a country in meeting this huge challenge.  Even worse, in my opinion, is that climate change is really and truly a global problem, and it is great countries like the United States that need to be providing global leadership and supporting other countries with resources and technological advances.  The Supreme Court decision, from that point of view, has also hamstrung global efforts!

So, it is on us.  Berea College has tried to lead by example when it comes to reducing our carbon emissions. We have used our resources to innovate and invest in ways that will allow us to become

a carbon-neutral campus. This includes using our forest to absorb carbon from atmosphere, utilizing horse logging to increase the health of that forest and ensure that its carbon sequestration will continue to increase, and building two hydroelectric power plants on the Kentucky River, one at Lock and Dam 12 already complete and operating and the other under construction at Lock and Dam 14.  Together they  will completely offset our electricity usage, while providing many other benefits as well and even providing some revenue to the College for carrying out our mission of providing a tuition-free education to students who might otherwise be unable to attend college. We have also built and renovated our residence halls and other buildings following LEED or

Horse logging is just one example of the many sustainable practices used by Berea College to combat climate change.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines to use less energy and water.

These sustainability efforts reflect the seventh of our eight Great Commitments at Berea College. Other organizations need to prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions, too.  There are many, many ways to reduce our carbon footprint—a simple Google search can illuminate them better than I can here—and they will be different for different organizations.

Climate change is a global emergency, and we must do all we can to mitigate its effects. With the government being forced to pull back, individuals and organizations will need to step up even more. Doing what we can could even inspire Congress to act; let’s be the example our legislators need!

With construction slated for two new technology-focused buildings, Berea College is embarking on a technology future like no other, a future that is inclusive of everyone while attempting to solve humanity’s most pressing technological issues. The combination of technology, the liberal arts, and practical hands-on experience for our underserved student population will have implications for Appalachia and beyond as our capable students continue to access technological fields and careers.

On June 10, we broke ground on the first of two new buildings that will better serve students eying careers in the tech-related fields of the future. The first building, which will be home to computer science, digital media and information technology, is planned for completion in the spring of 2024.  The second building, with construction to follow in 2025, will house engineering technologies and applied design, including sculpture and ceramics.

Together the two buildings will replace the Danforth Technology Building, which was constructed in 1958 and can no longer meet the needs of a modern technology curriculum. With computer science becoming the most popular major on campus, the need for new facilities was apparent. Both new buildings will be constructed to meet the curricular needs of the present and future, feature transparent classrooms where students can see technology learning on display and spacious labs and studios and maker spaces that stimulate creativity and problem-solving.

These new buildings will serve our untypical population of students, all of whom come from backgrounds usually underrepresented in technology fields. Nearly all of our students are from low-income families (98% qualify for Pell Grants); nearly 60 percent of them of first-generation college students; 45 percent are of color; and nearly three-quarters of them are from Kentucky and/or Appalachia. We have a great track record of sending our graduates on to careers in technology, despite the lack of diversity typical in that industry.

That’s important as we seek to build a technology future that is inclusive of everyone regardless of gender, race, or economic background. The average starting salary is nearly $60,000 in the tech sector, so that these careers are instrumental in advancing the social mobility of the students we serve, who come from households making on average half that amount annually.

Also important is the integration of the liberal arts, learning and labor. Our students do not just learn to be adept coders, their liberal arts education enables them to see the ethical dimensions of the technologies they are advancing.  We believe what higher education leader Randy Bass has said about the future of technology and post-secondary education: that as machines get better and better at being machines, the best thing that higher education can do is teach humans to become better at being human. In addition, through Berea’s Labor Program, which requires all students to work for the College, most Computer Science majors work in Berea’s IT program, which allows them to apply what they learn in the classroom in real-world settings, adding significant practical learning to their academic program.

As always, the Berea College motto—God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth—drives our efforts to build a technological future that includes everyone, that attempts to solve human problems, and presents a new age for Appalachia. These two new buildings represent a faithful investment in our students and in Kentucky and the Appalachian region.

For the first time since 2019, Berea College celebrated commencement in person. The joyous day did not mark the end of the pandemic, but it did prove one thing about this group of graduates: they are resilient. They have succeeded despite adversity, and that is something we should celebrate.

In 2020 and 2021, we celebrated remotely as the graduates of those class years “walked” from a distance. I’m happy to say that 45 members of those classes accepted our invitation to come back and cross the stage this year. While we did what we had to during the height of the pandemic, virtual commencement ceremonies are just not the same. There’s something about the tradition, the regalia, the experience of personal interaction that cannot be sufficiently replicated online, try as we did. The two-year absence of ceremonies made this year’s commencement that much sweeter, even if we still had to wear our masks and avoid the traditional handshake.

We’ve learned a lot over the past two years.

We learned that though we had thought colleges are slow and resistant to change, in fact they are able to adapt much more nimbly than we had imagined thanks to modern technology. We learned something, too, about this generation of young people. They are more adaptive and resilient and more able than they’ve been given credit for. Generation Z has proven their critics wrong! They not only survived the pandemic, they succeeded in meeting all the challenges associated with continuing their academic progress! And now they are college graduates—a fact that carries with it all the hope of past years with an extra tinge of pride that they can, indeed, face difficult situations and come out successful.

In fact, our commencement speaker, Geoffrey Canada, made the point that the best of America is yet to come because of this next generation. Canada, author and creator of the Harlem Children’s Zone, which was replicated throughout the country when President Barack Obama created the Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, spoke of how famed suffragette Susan B. Anthony did not see women get the vote in her lifetime. But she predicted it would happen, and the next generation saw it through after her death. Whatever important goals our generation has not been able to accomplish, this already talented and intelligent group of graduates, steeled by surviving a global pandemic, will bring to fruition one day. Mr. Canada asked them to promise him that they would take up that challenge; from the platform I could see eager assent in 265 faces!

Likewise, the setbacks this generation will face will be overcome by the generation that follows them, and so the march of progress will continue as each new generation leaves the world a better place than they found it. That is always the hope of commencement, that these minds, full of fresh ideas and determination, will take on the task of creating a society shaped by values like the power of love over hate, human dignity and equality and peace with justice.

When the world appears bleak, or even seems to take a step backwards, I am reminded that commencement carries with it a unique hope for the future. I was SO proud to see the graduates of 2020, 2021, and 2022 come together again in person after a two-year hiatus. They gave all of us renewed hope and optimism. I hope you will join me in celebrating.

Amid all the news on Ukraine and the war its people are enduring, have you stopped to consider how much you may have in common with Ukrainians? There are striking similarities between Appalachian people and culture and the people and culture of the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine. According to Christopher Miller, curator for Berea’s Loyal Jones Appalachian Center, the people in that part of Ukraine, like Appalachia, have struggled with stereotyping, out-migration and resource extraction by outsiders. People from the Carpathians produce beautiful crafts that are uncannily similar to those in Appalachia.

On Berea College’s campus we often say we are more alike than we are different. Historically, this has been primarily to promote harmony between races, but it applies in other ways. We have Ukrainian and Russian students enrolled in Berea who must study and work together despite the conflict between their countries. Around the world, people suffer because one side of a dispute or the other (or both) have forgotten their basic kinship with one another. On campus, our motto reminds us that “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” (Acts 17:26), a concept that seems more relevant than ever in our divided society and world.

I hope we can all remember that concept as we welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing their home country due to Russia’s invasion. We should consider it an opportunity to test the limits of our love for humanity with the understanding that there is no limit if we truly open our hearts to people who are struggling. We should see ourselves in the people of Ukraine, who fight for liberty and independence, the way Americans once had to.

Alas, the war in Ukraine, while getting most of our attention at the moment, is far from unique as there are a number of other ongoing conflicts that are causing great misery and danger to people who bear little responsibility for the situation. Conflicts in Ethiopia, Myanmar, Haiti, and Pakistan come to mind, and these are all places where some Berea College students call home. Regardless of where they are happening, we need to learn to see ourselves in other people’s struggles.  In so doing we become a more compassionate and just society and, perhaps most importantly, a model for the world. And wouldn’t we want “other peoples of the earth” to have such compassion for us were the situations reversed?

It often seems that there is little we can do as individuals to stop war and oppression in other countries, so we need to focus on what we can change in ourselves and what we can do at home. At Berea College, we will remember and teach our common humanity even as we recognize important differences. Future leaders from all over our country and the rest of the world are learning right now that we are more alike than we are different, that we have more in common than we have differences that divide.

Imagine the power of that lesson if everyone learned it and applied it. It might be naïve to think things could change. People and nations have fought each other for millennia, and there is nearly always on-going conflict in several places, so much so that we are sometimes tempted to turn away, to pretend it isn’t happening. It can, after all, be overwhelming. The invasion of Ukraine has removed that luxury, at least temporarily. The horrible destructiveness of modern weapons, the suffering, death, and displacement of so many people are there for us to see every day on the media. A little boy walks alone across the frontier between two countries; mothers in Poland leave baby strollers with supplies at the train stations for arriving mothers from Ukraine. It is heart breaking!  And there is similar suffering in those other conflicts; the photos and reporting are just not being shared by mainstream media.

Yes, maybe it is naïve, but Ukraine has reminded us that we really have only two choices. We can either accept and apply the truth that “God has made of one blood, all peoples of the earth,” or we will continue to see more people suffering, more cities destroyed, and more enmities created or renewed.