As a community, Bates must raise the endowment of meaning. A B.A. degree ought to promise that its holder has a life-long, abiding, active devotion to education itself. In other words, being educated ought to mean doing education always. Similarly, being in love ought to mean doing love always. In turn, this calls for a spacious, inclusive notion of who is capable of learning.
Education is good for individuals, institutions, and civil society.
Education is a public as well as a family responsibility, which both public and private institutions must meet. This obligation has moral, social, cultural, and financial dimensions. Research matters as well as teaching. We must extend the philosophical and intellectual legacy that encourages us to search for knowledge as energetically, even as relentlessly, as possible. Education is a source of hope for people and society.