This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news

Convocation Explores 'Vocation' Theme

Returning students, faculty and staff form a "tunnel of welcome" to greet new members of the EMU campus community as they pass by.
Photo by Jim Bishop

"In the words of Sybil Marshall, 'Education must have an end in view, for it is not an end in itself.' It is not a job that is the end; it is to find your 'voice,' that which ignites passion within you.'"

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber gave this challenge in developing the theme, "A Vocation of Preparation," in a convocation service held Aug. 30 in Lehman Auditorium, the opening day of fall semester.

Swartzendruber cited Quaker educator/writer Parker Palmer in his book, "Let Your Life Speak," that the word "vocation" is rooted in the Latin word for "voice."

"My vocation, your vocation, is not a goal to pursue, nor is it a job. It is, instead, your calling," the president told the assembly.

"If Jesus needed time, approximately 30 years, to prepare for his vocation, surely a few years of preparation for each of us isn't a waste of time," the president said.

Finding Voice, Calling

"Finding your voice, your calling, takes time, energy and discipline, the president asserted. "No one has invented a drive-through McVoice, a place where you drive up to the first window, look over a catalog list of courses, place your order, drive up to the second window, pay the bill and find your voice, your calling.

"There are, of course, shortcuts available," Swartzendruber said, noting that he found a website called Affordabledegrees.com. that grants degrees in just five days for $199.

"Not only are there inappropriate shortcuts, but we have to acknowledge that there are many productive, happy folks in our world who have never been to college. And it doesn’t always have to do with one’s level of intelligence.

"We must also accept that much education takes place outside the walls of academia," he said. "Some things are better learned or understood in other settings or with other experiences. As Mark Twain put it, 'If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.'"

"Here we are, Aug. 30, 2006, and the world is crying for good news, for peace and stability, for people who will stand for the common good rather than for selfish ambition," the president said.

"The purpose of an EMU education is primarily for the good of others even as we benefit as individuals," Swartzendruber declared. "Ultimately, at least through the eyes of faith, an educated person always asks, 'How can I use my gifts and education in the service of others? What can I contribute to make the world a better place?'

'Reawaken and keep ourselves awake'

The president closed his address with a quote from Henry David Thoreau, "We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn," adding: "Then will you and I find our vocation."

The service included a commissioning led by Beth K. Aracena, director of cross-cultural programs at EMU, for 23 students who will leave Friday, Sept. 1, for a semester-long study seminar in Italy and Switzerland led by Kimberly D. (Kim) Schmidt of the Washington (D.C.) Community Scholars Center and her father, Mel Schmidt.

Returning students, faculty and staff formed a "welcoming tunnel" on the sidewalk between Lehman Auditorium and the Campus Center and applauded new students and other newly-arrived members of the campus community as they walked through.

An ice cream social and informal reception followed on the Campus Center plaza.

EMU's fall semester runs through Dec. 15.

— article by: Jim Bishop; posted August 30, 2006