Hesston Presidential Inaugural Address

It’s a real privilege to be here in this very important day in the life of Hesston College and to honor and encourage how we’re trying to build with this new era.

This college is a place that for some of us growing up on Lancaster Avenue was the playground next door [audience laughter] and eventually the launching pad for our first exploration as adults away from safety and protection and, of course, the curfews of home. [audience laughter] When I left home in 1973, I moved a full two blocks. I was gone for about an hour and when I just had to get back for some milk and cookies, I discovered that my parents had already removed my kitchen chair from the table. [audience laughter] This, I think, is the sign of genuine adulthood, when your kitchen chair is gone. [audience laughter]

It was in the Fall of 1973 that off to school I went. But what is this thing we call ‘school’? An education?…