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An open letter to employers

Satisfied and successful alumni are the tangible results of a college fulfilling its mission, and D&E has some great alums! This spring I received a newspaper clipping from alumnus Frank Mele, Class of ’58.

Frank sent a wonderful column from his local newspaper in New Jersey titled “An Open Letter from a Liberal Arts Graduate” written by Mr. Eli Amdur (www.amdurcoaching.com). The author wrote eloquently and convincingly of the power of a liberal arts education. Having received permission from Mr. Amdur, I share the following excerpt from his writing.

“Dear employer: I majored in history and (more generally) studied the liberal arts and humanities — for a good reason: I wanted an education, not just job training … The liberal arts have taught me to understand my place in the continuum of humanity – and to recognize its incumbent responsibilities: honor the past, embrace the present and build the future …

“I’ve learned to think — both logically and creatively — and I’m determined to keep building that capacity … I know the pleasures — and the value — of sitting still and listening to a symphony or of wandering around and getting lost in a museum … I read. I think. I vote. I generate ideas. I still write in cursive, believe it or not. I don’t want or need a faster Internet; I’m looking for better, more trustworthy content … I’m not intimidated by things I don’t understand … I love trying to understand them. Trying is exhilarating.

The liberal arts teach me to be filled — always with awe, wonder, interest and fascination. Because if I let myself be awed, I’ll be awesome; filled with wonder, wonderful; interested, interesting; and fascinated, well, fascinating. That’s the liberal arts for you.

“The liberal arts have taught me to understand, not just observe; to be fair, not opinionated; to think holistically, intuitively, playfully, and inductively; to think randomly as well as linearly; to be unafraid of ambiguity, newness and novelty; to take intellectual risk; to seek to answer questions and then to question the answers; and never to let a conclusion be the place I just got tired of thinking.

“So that means I’m pretty good at figuring stuff out: recognizing patterns, connecting dots, synthesizing ideas, deriving meaning, and solving problems in very creative ways – ways that you might find interesting. And perhaps even new. And I’m going to keep on getting better at doing these things — right in front of your eyes.

“Oh, and by the way, don’t think I haven’t studied — and excelled at — the physical sciences, mathematics, and other STEM stuff. Look at my transcript: biology, chemistry and calculus. Not to mention international business and economics. STEM teaches ‘what’ and ‘how.’ Humanities teaches “why.”

“So if you’re hiring people like me, I’d sure like to join your team. If not, I hope I’ve convinced you why you should. When may I call you to set up an interview?”

I am convinced, Mr. Amdur. D&E graduates, grounded in the liberal arts, are finding employers ready and waiting to employ all the knowledge, skills and problem-solving abilities their transformative educational experience has provided. We remain steadfastly committed to a high quality liberal arts education for the generations to come.

The journey continues….

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