Impartial Love

At Berea, I finally understood that we were all of one blood. That’s one of the things Berea students carry away that students [elsewhere] do not get. You have to listen and learn and be open minded to actually bring cultures together. It takes courage, and Berea has a history of stepping out there. This is not something new to Berea. To do the right thing is where Berea has always stood tall.

Berea College made me a much better person. It’s good for the students to have people from different parts of the world and different races at Berea so they can see that people are the same. It’s a living example of what the school’s motto is—if you want to listen to it, if you want to take it in.

Before coming to Berea, I didn’t have a lot of people who I felt connected with. I was really needing somewhere where I was going to be able to connect with people, and they were going to actually want to know who I was rather than just exist there. I love the equal opportunity at Berea—the idea that everyone on campus has worked hard to get here. It is not something that has been handed to them.

I came to Berea from Whitesburg, Ky., in Appalachia, where there were few people from different races or cultures. My church instilled in me no prejudice, an open heart and an acceptance of all. Berea brought it all together. It taught me everything I would need and gave me my first exposure to the concept of impartial love and living. This fit me like a glove, and my time at Berea allowed me to indulge, learn, grow, admire and cherish different cultures. Berea proved to me without a doubt that we are all from one blood.