“Oh, the Places You’ll Go... and Go… and Go!”
“Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!
Many of us recognize these lines from a classic Dr. Seuss book. We often give it as a congratulatory gift to our graduating loved ones as they complete their four- or five-year degree plan at university. But long gone are the days when students graduate at age 22, race out the door, and never return to university for other engaged learning opportunities. And long gone are the “ivory tower” images of universities that only serve traditional students and ignore the communities in which they are located.
Today, in higher education, we speak of the value of “community service,” “continuing education,” “building community by growing engaged constituencies” and “life-long learning from cradle to grave.” Some schools, including Grebel, even build this noble idea of engaged community education into their very identity. Our identity as a Mennonite college is imbued with strong ties to the region of Waterloo, the church, and relief agencies around the world.
From the beginning, Grebel took great satisfaction in seeing its educational mission as community engaged; as a two-way, nurturing, and collaborative partnership with the Mennonite and larger faith community. For many, the stained-glass windows in our chapel symbolize this reciprocal and resonant sharing of “light;” we share our special insights as others shine theirs and together we “seek wisdom.” Twenty-five years ago, Grebel’s annual report on community began with this observation:
“Conrad Grebel College has sometimes been described as a teaching, research, and community college, or at other times as a residential, academic and community college. Both are correct. The services provided to the community are much more extensive than frequently recognized.”
Indeed, for our day, community engagement is still much more extensive than frequently recognized. Grebel offers camps, exhibits, concerts, lectures, workshops, book launches, certificate programs, academic conferences, faculty forums, a Centre for Peace Advancement full of community engaged advocates, and many student initiatives such as Make A Difference Market, student MEDA ambassadors, the Ray of Hope Tuesday Soup kitchen crew—and the list goes on and on.
The collective wisdom sharing from these endeavours is palpable and powerful. Our community-engaged education tackles big trans-disciplinary ideas that are important to us and our communities. Here are some questions to consider: 1) What Thursday evening non-credit class draws people from K-W to Toronto, young and old, and from diverse ethnic and religious traditions? 2) What’s a “peace incubator” and what are our new members “incubating” in the Centre for Peace Advancement? 3) What exhibit marshals the resources of a Mennonite history class, an archival collection, and Grebel alumni? If you want to know the answers to these questions and more, check out this special issue of Grebel Now that features compelling stories from the range of community education being offered at Grebel.
How will Grebel ramp up on life-long learning?
First, we are adding new community engagement programs that complement our signature traditional academic programs in Music, Theology, Peace and Mennonite Studies. This year that includes a community gamelan class, a new Anabaptist learning certificate program resourced by MCEC and delivered by Grebel, and a new stream in family mediation in the successful and long-standing Grebel Conflict Management Certificate Program.
Second, we are committed to making more visible, and consolidating, community education. For example, we are looking at ways to combine special events and forecast them months out for more sustained engagement opportunities with more diverse constituencies. Regular monthly or bi-weekly “lunch & learn” days at Grebel may feature an invited speaker or performer, an art exhibit tour in the Grebel Gallery and lunch with faculty, staff, and others in our Schlegel Community Education room.
Third, we want to deepen and expand our partnerships in the community. We don’t want life-long learning to be one-directional—mere outreach. Mutual partnerships take time, patience and imagination. We cherish our partnerships with MCEC, Kindred Credit Union, Project Ploughshares, Tamarack, RIA-Schlegel Villages, Centre for Family Business, and others. We intend to develop others.
We believe Conrad Grebel University College should be a vibrant place of life-long learning. Four to five years of a person’s life engaged in university is an underutilized time span for an institution to fulfill its mission and for individuals to grow as responsible citizens. So, yes, with a nod to Dr. Seuss at convocation time we say “you’re off and away” and marvel at “the places you’ll go!” And, at the same time we say: “We hope your learning adventure has just begun.”
