President's Message
Dear Friends,
One of the most descriptive phrases I have encountered emerged from Tom Wolfe's great book about the U.S. space program, The Right Stuff. Wolfe wrote about courageous test pilots and astronauts "pushing the envelope" - which means not only testing the limits of their aircraft but also their own human potential.
I know and believe that exploring beyond our own potential, forging ahead of what is merely required and going further to discover what is new and important, is at the heart of Juniata's educational doctrine. We push the envelope in our teaching and research, and we urge every one of our students to reach past what's expected and find new areas of knowledge and wonder.
The stories inside Juniata's latest magazine all illustrate Juniata's entrepreneurial character. Henry Thurston-Griswold, passionate in his teaching and his activism, visited Guatemala on a service trip in the 1990s. Forever changed by the experience, he vowed to return and in 2002 led a service trip to help educate students at a Guatemalan school. In the years since, he expanded the trip beyond education to include a week of medical aid - helped by Juniata alumni and Huntingdon residents with medical degrees who volunteer their time. Henry is already at work figuring out how to push beyond the group's already considerable achievements.
Amy Chamberlin '94 visited Brazil as a member of the choir, an international experience shared by many choir members past, present and future. But Amy never forgot her visit to the Bahia region of the country, and this past fall returned to South America to create an art exchange program designed to expand the cultural boundaries of both countries.
The same idea of crossing boundaries fuels one of our business programs. Noting that not all great business ideas emerge from a business course, Juniata has begun an ambitious program funded by the Coleman Foundation in which professors in other disciplines incorporate entrepreneurial ideas into courses in IT, biology, environmental science, art, and communication.
The human genome is perhaps the next great, uncharted territory in scientific research. For biologist Michael Boyle and other colleagues on campus, such barriers were begging to be overcome. These days Juniata students are immersed in genomic research thanks to Mike's efforts to create a consortium of colleges with the ability to pool genomic research in order to make high-cost computer analysis more affordable.
One more step beyond what's expected.
Should we expect any less from the talented students and faculty at our College?
Warm Regards,
Thomas R. Kepple Jr.
President
The president's office is located on the 3rd floor of Founders Hall.
Home Address
11052 Hidden Valley Drive
Huntingdon, PA 16652
Phone: 814-643-2464
Juniata College
1700 Moore Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652-2196
Phone: 814-641-3101
Fax: 814-641-3355
