Calling the Question
by Chad Jolly ’94, Vice President for Institutional Advancement

It is clear to me that Jewell has a longstanding infatuation with the question mark.  On this hill, we live for the questions: “What can I do well?” “What must I do to prepare?” “Where can I make a difference?” “Is this my best?” “Who shall I serve?” “What do I believe?”  Our hope is that Jewell students never stop asking themselves the critically important questions.

If you are a graduate of the College, there was a specific time in your life when Jewell came to you in the form of a question [Jewell?].  It came as plain as any other “yes or no” question one might encounter.  Do you remember where you were when you decided Jewell would be your place?  Can you still articulate why you believed Jewell would give you the best experience? 

As I visit with alumni, I often hear how Jewell surpassed personal expectations. “I was surprised to find myself more prepared than my graduate school colleagues.”  “Dr. (fill in the blank) took a real interest in me and pushed me just hard enough.”  “The further away I get from the Hill, the easier it is for me to identify how Jewell shaped my life and the person I have become.”  “Jewell is where I learned to be effective.”  “Jewell is where I began to own my faith and live my beliefs.” 

I recently heard a quote I liked because it affirmed the focus and approach of the recent strategic planning process in which the entire College community has invested.  It is from Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr’s concept of organizational communication, and it reads: “The highest destiny of an institution can be realized only by a concerted effort on behalf of that institution to analyze its philosophy and formulate its mission; crystallize its objectives and project them into the future; and then take the necessary steps to realize them.”  If I read between the lines, I hear a question in the quotation.  It is a question I have answered before [Jewell?].

As alumni and friends of the College, this familiar question comes to us numerous times each year and in multiple ways.  You say “Yes” to Jewell when you respond affirmatively to an invitation to Homecoming, enjoy a College function like Achievement Day, reconnect through the “Cardinal Connection” e-newsletter, respond to an article in Achieve Magazine, send your update for “class notes,” refer Jewell to a college-bound neighbor, meet student needs through your participation in the Jewell Fund, or prioritize that appointment to place Jewell in your estate plan. 

In whatever form the question next presents itself, I hope you will always give it the level of consideration that a critically important question deserves.  I also hope you enjoy that wonderfully familiar feeling that comes from answering the question [Jewell?] with a resounding “Yes!”.