Inaugural Address: Jay L. Kesler, October 24, 1986

Five Smooth Stones

The transition to the world of higher education has been eased, even made quite pleasant, by the cordiality, understanding, patience, professional expertise and, indeed, love shown me by so many. I am reminded of the story about the man who was showing off his new business card. His friend said, "Congratulations, I see you are vice president -- why have they written your name in pencil?" Some have speculated that perhaps this accounts for why we have waited until I've been here for a year before this inauguration.

We, however, chose to wait until we could invite you all here to celebrate the dedication of the beautiful new Zondervan Library and Rice Bell Tower while, at the same time, installing a high mileage clergyman-youthworker as president. This past year has been a most rewarding and challenging time.

The Taylor students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni have done all that people can do for others to make Janie and me feel accepted and at home.

The university's Board of Trustees has provided yeoman service, in addition to strong leadership, during the transition months. I have had a great deal of experience with boards and offer highest praise to these men and women who serve faithfully on behalf of the Taylor community. Their partnership with our dedicated faculty combines to provide strength and stability as I have gained orientation.

Fellow presidents across our state have modeled the ideal of collegiality in its highest form. I'm extremely grateful to them.

My involvement in the Indiana Conference of Higher Education, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Indiana, the Associated Colleges of Indiana, the American Council on Education, the Christian College Consortium, and the Christian College Coalition has provided specific and particular insight in dealing with complex issues. I am grateful that all of these are represented here and, even in this moment, I am strengthened by that knowledge.

This inauguration has in it some ingredients that are new and relatively revolutionary for this institution. My standing at this podium is a forthright acknowledgment on the part of all concerned that the challenges facing Taylor University in this one hundred fortieth year of her service require resourcefulness and innovation. Declining student populations, catch-up responses to inflation and economic pressures, coupled with the danger of private education being increasingly elitist, form the parameters of much of today's challenge.

This is true, of course, in varying degrees of all institutions. However, my being selected to serve as Taylor's president at this point in history is an intentional decision on the part of our leadership to respond to our unique challenge. From 1846 until the turn of the century, the institution received direction from various groups within the Methodist Church. Since that time, we have been an independent Christian college with a clear commitment to evangelical theology. My presence here is a forthright statement of our intention to proceed on our founding principles.

I, of all people, would not be interested in personifying a reactionary response to current religious pressures. I see myself as being here to participate with the Taylor community in creating an atmosphere in which quality Christian higher education can take place. One of my primary tasks is that of interpreter -- to interpret the university community to our publics and to represent their expectations here on campus.

This ceremony is, therefore, not only the placement of an individual but is the acknowledgment of the need to define and consolidate our constituency and build for the future. It is, as importantly, a structural and organizational response to that reality. I am deeply interested in young people and in higher education, and it is my desire to apply the experience of my life over these last thirty years to the success of our unique endeavor. The creation of the position of provost/executive vice president is, I believe, a courageous and resourceful response to the challenges that face this institution. The structure provides for visionary leadership and external communication coupled with strong internal guidance and management from an experienced educator. Having this structure in place and having the pivotal position of provost in trusted hands provides the added strength necessary to complement my gifts.

Like David of old, I cannot wear another man's armor. Experience in education and academic preparation should, in most cases, be the prerequisites for such a task. There is no sensitivity or reluctance to acknowledge this forthrightly. Lacking these, I reach into the streambed of experience to share with you the commitments that serve as my "five smooth stones" for the challenge ahead.

The first of these is an abiding confidence in God. I am committed, with the founders of this institution and the stalwarts of her history, to the presupposition that we live in a created universe. "This is our Father's world" -- therefore the confident exploration of all of its secrets is not only permissible but mandatory, lest we sin against the creator through carelessness or indifference to His creative efforts. All truth is God's truth. God and truth are synonyms. When our ideas about God and our ideas about truth seem to be in conflict, we have misunderstood one or the other. Some of the deepest disappointments and least attractive chapters in human history are monuments to the violation of this precept. Christian higher education must never be a fortress of superstition and obscurantism. Our commitment is to the fearless pursuit of truth with the deep confidence that the specific revelation of God in the Bible does not contradict the revelation He has made of Himself in the world He has given to us. There is no sacred/secular distinction in the life of Christ and there should be none at Taylor University. A frog dissected at Taylor looks exactly like one dissected at a state-supported institution. A college, at its best, remains private not in belligerence or in a fear of truth but to pursue its distinctives with quiet conviction and humility.

I am committed to the belief that Jesus Christ, indeed, came in the flesh and was the very son of God. There is, however, little wonder why many thoughtful people become weary of those of us who make strong religious claims. The name of Christ has been historically, and is today, attached to many movements and conflicts that demonstrate not what is the best but what is the worst in human spirit. If as many suspect, the seeming powerlessness of the Christian faith to alter the course of world affairs is the result of the sublimation of Jesus Christ to the cultural, nationalistic, and selfish interests of individual factions, then the commitment of Taylor University to elevate this sometimes violated Christ to transcendent lordship is a noble imperative. We must not only teach students about the savior but also encourage them to imitate Him. Models of authentic discipleship fill the pages of world history in sharp contrast to today's media-driven examples. The interpretation of Christian obedience by John Wesley, William Wilberforce, and a host of others set the example for us. One contact with Mother Theresa is more convincing than a volume of dogma. As a result, Taylor students serve all across the globe in self-sacrificing dedication in all forms of occupational and professional pursuits. Continued commitment to world evangelism, accompanied by a liberal arts education and enlightened love, is our historical mandate.

I am committed to the encouragement of the liberal arts. In a society where pluralism is replacing the melting pot, it is imperative that young people understand and appreciate the variety, complexity, and unique contributions of those with whom we must live on this crowded planet America cannot be viewed by its citizens as a large protected island with unending independent resources that ensure affluence and unimpeded growth while our neighbors scratch out mere existence. Others who have struggled for centuries without the blessings of this fertile land and democratic government have much to teach us. Arrogance based on ignorance and disregard of others is a dangerous ingredient in a nuclear world Students should develop knowledge of self, of the natural world, of human cultures, and of human relationships to God Exposure to the world through media and travel are marvelous bonuses and provide enlightening and stimulating experiences. However, they can never replace the reflective study of the best and most lasting literature and the events and ideas that have shaped the world. To watch a Soviet diplomat interviewed on the evening news is one kind of knowledge but to read and discuss Tolstoy with classmates under the guidance of a caring professor is quite another.

Few of us have the patience to sit through another discussion of Hi tech-Hi touch. However, the nature of man to a world of technology is a topic that will demand our effort long after our media-conditioned attention span is exhausted. Students must be taught to evaluate critically, to reason logically, and to communicate effectively while developing a sensitivity to personal and social relationships, moral responsibilities, and spiritual needs.

Our capacity to live above function is related directly to our understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic, the beautiful, and the musical.

The spring is silent, not only when the birds die of the overuse of pesticides. It is also silent when that which sparks the creative, the artistic, and the melodic, dies in the human spirit. The liberal arts college is a place to cultivate and nurture the creative expressions of humanity. Being and function must be wedded in the whole person.

I am committed to the idea that faculty are more than people paid to teach subject matter. Faculty are the embodiment of learning expressed in incarnational terms. They are models of what the educated person should look like. As in all of life, there is diversity, even strongly held and argued differences. It is precisely in this diverse expression of truth that the value of learning is exposed. Indoctrination allows no contrary opinion. Educated people learn to research and think before they decide. Exposure to equally diligent people with equally noble motives holding fast to differing degrees of certainty produces humility. Still, in the face of incomplete knowledge and suspended judgment, faculty must live and decide. Life goes on. In the small college, students are exposed to these faculty lives with some depth. To watch a professor live is as valuable as to hear him/her teach. Learning cannot be done wholly without human interaction. A teaching machine may disseminate information, but it does not care about the death of your parent or challenge you to fairness and honor. To have chosen to teach youth in today's value system is something akin to Albert Schweitzer's decision to practice medicine in Africa. It is more than a vocational choice - - it is a statement about what is valuable, lasting, and important. It is a kind of living word.

I want to be reminded of these words when plans are made, priorities are drawn, and resources are allocated. We may not always agree, but we will know how to disagree using all of those resources so valued by all who would teach. It is in disagreement and stress that true learning exhibits its value.

I am committed to the belief that man has been put on this planet in a pattern of interdependence. Learning finally expresses itself in practical terms. Graduates must be able to make a living; but, beyond that, they must find the living they make worth the effort The wisest of all once said, "Man cannot live by bread alone" and also that "only by losing our lives can we save them." The most satisfying examples in each of our lives bear out these truths. Our families, friends, and students, those we have learned to serve provide the deepest of all satisfactions. The extension of this principle to a life of service through the application of knowledge to technology, statecraft. business, education, medicine and, indeed, the whole range of human experience must be the goal of our efforts. Success and the aggressive pursuit of vocational goals, even when expressed in financial terms, is not evil. It is not money but the love of it and its selfish irresponsible use that is condemned by God. Achieving people who are faithful stewards of their wealth, energies, talents, and creativity are a validation of the Christian liberal arts college. To blend liberal learning, convincing faith, a compassionate heart, and the opportunities afforded by free enterprise into a life is surely a worthy task. A glance at the titles of some of the best sellers of the last decade should be warning enough that this task will not be easy. We are encouraged to take care of number one, win through intimidation and seek self-centered pleasure. Chauvinism, social Darwinism, and a myriad other forms of me-ism are being offered as survival options in an increasingly desperate world. The truth still sets men free, and right is still stronger than might. A citizenship of youth who esteem others with the same value as themselves will be a treasure to any business, community, or government.

I offer these five smooth stones with some confidence because their very smoothness is stubborn testimony to their endurance as human values and their usefulness to slay whatever giants lie hidden in our future. We, however, never face challenges alone, nor do I feel alone. In this audience today are represented those in whose hands our future rests. Quality students, dedicated faculty, able administrators, skilled staff, loyal alumni, committed friends, and experienced colleagues from respected sister intuitions are all expressing, by your presence here, your willingness and desire to see Taylor University continue. We proceed then into this fifteenth decade with strength and vigor to accomplish her task with confidence; but most of all, assured that, if God be for us, who can be against us.

Jay L. Kesler, President
Taylor University

Inaugural Address
October 24, 1986