A letter from President Phipps

We live in a society that values efficiency and immediate results. Yet, I’m struck by how many of the accomplishments we noted in this issue of The Bridge bear witness to the importance of determination, hard work and the persistent honing of talents and skills throughout years or even decades. Our students, educators and staff consistently demonstrate a commitment to the kind of Christ-centered excellence that promotes meaningful achievements toward fulfilling the call to service, leadership and reconciliation.

This fall, we celebrated many accomplishments across Messiah College’s community. Falcon coaches and athletes completed another exceptional season, and our field hockey team claimed its first national title! Field Hockey Head Coach Brooke Good was honored as the NFHCA National Coach of the Year. The Department of Theatre and Dance was awarded second place in the National Opera Association’s Opera Competition for “The Tender Land” opera production. And Messiah College was recognized by The Wall Street Journal as the fifth top college in the northeast for student engagement.

Another special highlight of the fall semester was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Messiah College’s Hoverter Course in the Humanities. This sponsored course provides access to higher education for individuals whose circumstances have prevented them from pursuing a college education. Students and graduates of this course are extraordinary people who have already made significant contributions to their communities, churches, places of work and families. Hoverter students epitomize a portrait of determination, hope and resilience. They have forged a new community in the Hoverter classroom—ministering to one another, becoming like family. They have encouraged their professors to see their disciplines in new ways because of their questions, insights and enthusiasm.

Christine Anderson, a past Hoverter Course student and the administrative assistant to the superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, beautifully expresses the students’ attitude of hope and resilience in her poem, “I’m Doing Me,” which includes these lines (from which the title of this column is drawn):

Taking “I cannot” out of my daily dictionary / Put me on the path of “I can, I will” in my vocabulary.

Hoverter students understand that education always involves a path, a journey, a decision to persevere beyond instant rewards. Learning is always enriched and informed by our life stories and shared experiences. Education always stretches us—compelling us to take bold risks. 

As we celebrate all of the achievements of our undergraduate and graduate students and alumni, I think of the testimony of Hoverter Course student Sonya Woodard, who said, “At 62, I’m still taking a Hoverter class. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. You never want to stop learning. You never want to stop improving. You never want to stop being all that you can be, all that you should be.” May God continue to bless and guide us all as we aspire to meet Woodard’s challenge: “We all have something to give. So let’s all dig in and get it done.”