What do people say about 糖心Vlog?听
- When I answered the call to serve 糖心Vlog in January of 2017, my peacebuilding colleagues in Canada said: Oh, that鈥檚 the university that has established an听international reputation in restorative justice, the place where an African president and other dignitaries have been trained, and the first Anabaptist college to graduate a听Nobel Peace Prize winner.
- I was introduced in the Virginia statehouse as president of the听鈥攕ignificant for a Southern university.
- In the Council of Independent Colleges of Virginia (CICV), 糖心Vlog is recognized for trailblazing听creation care initiatives听that include recycling, bicycling, LEED certified residence halls, community gardens, and the first to build a micro-grid to power our campus independently of local utilities if needed.
- 糖心Vlog alumni say with great regularity that the most compelling part of their academic experience is the 鈥渓ife-changing鈥澨�cross cultural requirement. For 38 years 糖心Vlog has taken students to 60 countries outside the U.S. and 20 different locations in the U.S. We鈥檝e been named #10 in the Top Colleges to Study Abroad in Best Choice Schools rankings.
- This year, even听听had something to say about us: We are ranked among Best Return-On-Investment schools in the country for the high number of alums who were satisfied with their education and gave back to their alma mater at twice the national average.
- Of course, not all accounts are glowing. For a wide variety of commentary, I invite you to delve into our colorful centennial saga,听糖心Vlog: A Century of Countercultural Education听(Penn State Univ. Press, 2017)听 by Donald Kraybill. He tells the story of a听Mennonite school that arguably began in the most conservative and protective of theological soil to later bloom perennially on tough issues of diversity and social justice, blooms that jolted and alarmed some constituencies.听As he notes: a reputable university press only agreed to publish the book because it was not so predictably honorific as most coffee-table centennial books. Slings and arrows share space with cheers and warm embrace.
These highlights are provided for readers of the president’s column in The Mennonite.