Dykstra takes a deep dive into Berea's institutional culture and enduring commitment to democratic values. In so doing, she demonstrates how the college's distinct approach to liberal arts education has nurtured generations of low-income and minority students to respect tradition, diversity, and the dignity of work while living a life committed to social justice and civic responsibility. This small college in the foothills of Appalachia has long served as a model for progressive leadership in higher education in America. Lessons from the Foothills is indeed a very good read about a remarkable institution.
~Ronald D. Eller, author of Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945
From its initial impetus to create a collegiate environment dedicated to racial coeducation to its focus today on equality and environmental sustainability, Berea College has long been a force for positive change in the Appalachian region. Gretchen Dykstra has written a significant and appreciative study of how Berea College has excelled in realizing the values to which it is committed. Admirers of Berea College and readers interested more generally in the impact of higher education in Appalachia must not miss the opportunity to read this important book.
~Dwight B. Billings, University of Kentucky professor emeritus of Sociology and former president of the Appalachian Studies Association
With the keen eye of a gifted storyteller, Gretchen Dykstra weaves a rich tapestry that sheds light on a question asked by every admirer of Berea College: How does this small institution, nestled deep in Appalachia, outpace virtually every other American collegeon every metric that matters? The story of Berea, beautifully documented in this engaging book, reflects Berea's deep commitments to racial equality, community empowerment and the transformative potential of education. The remarkable success of the Berea idea is more than simply inspirational. The Berea story also poses a radical challenge to the country's educational establishment: work harder to open wide the door to opportunity.
~Jeremy Travis, President Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Berea College has been disrupting the norms of higher education ever since its inception as an interracial school in a slave state before the start of the Civil War. Gretchen Dykstra offers a history of this small, liberal arts college in the Appalachian foothills. Just as important, she artfully describes how the college is continuing to build on its commitment to "impartial love" to address the needs of the current study body.
~Tim Marema, Berea College graduate and editor of The Daily Yonder
Berea College provides a fine education, tuition-free, to a richly diverse student body, made up entirely of low-income students. To read how Berea came about, and how well and in how many ways it continues to serve, is to see that a kinder, fairer, more responsible society is not as unreachable as it seems. If society paid heed, and turned its resources in the directions Berea has taken, think what we might accomplish. Reading this book makes you want to. A richly reported, wonderfully written paean to a great American institution.
~Geneva Overholser, former editor of The Des Moines Register, columnist at the New York Times and The Washington Post, and former director of USC Annenberg School of Journalism
There is a small but venerable college nestled in the Appalachians, where students are offered a rich curriculum taught by excellent teachers. No tuition is charged, though the students are expected to help with the upkeep. The average annual income of the students' families is $27,000. Half the students are white and half are Black or Latino. Most of them are the first in their families to go beyond high school. This against-all-odds institution is Berea College, and Gretchen Dykstra does a masterful job of telling its story.
~Conn Nugent, chairman cmeritus, the Land Institute
Dykstra captures the significant and unique role of Berea College in American higher education. Since the nineteenth century, more than any other institution, this college has been a national model of excellence in educating low-income students. For years, Berea was known to be the higher education institution in the South that had the moral courage to openly promote integration between the races. Students get to know each other, come to appreciate the dignity of work, and study the liberal arts as they prepare to lead and serve in the larger society. The reader will be amazed by the inspiring stories of the Berea educators, students, and alumni who continue to havea substantial impact on Appalachia and beyond. Berea has been a college whose vision was farmore than a century ahead of its time.
~Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, president emeritus, UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland
Gretchen Dykstra sheds much-needed light on the history and ongoing progressive mission of Berea College, which was founded as an interracial abolitionist school—a southern sister to the more famous Oberlin College. Berea survived segregationist attacks in the early twentieth century and its most famous Black alumnus, Carter G. Woodson, founded Black History Month. Today the college remains a haven in deeply conservative Kentucky catering to disadvantaged black and white students. Berea's free tuition policy and openness to all faiths and perspectives personifies the liberal, Christian antislavery theology of its founder, Reverend John G. Fee. May Berea become a model of accessible and sustainable higher education in the United States and the world.
~Manisha Sinha, author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition
