President's Pen - Spring 2024

Higher education is at a crossroads as colleges and universities contend with immense societal change. It can be overwhelming, but Roanoke College will not shrink from an uncertain future. 
 
Imagination and innovation often spring from challenge, and we are always better for it. I don’t know of a single big challenge – be it personal, institutional or societal – that has been solved by stasis. That’s why Maroons are thinking big and asking what the world needs next from Roanoke College.  
 
When moments throughout our long history have compelled us to adapt, our mission has allowed us to skillfully balance tradition and innovation. This is the story of our 1842 founding, when two Lutheran pastors opened a tiny preparatory school for boys in Augusta County, Virginia, to provide students of humble means a classical and scientific education at minimal cost so they could enter theological seminaries – an opportunity otherwise unavailable. 
 
It is our story when, five years later, our founders moved the school to Salem, where we would soon become known as Roanoke College – a move made to increase enrollment, expand our reach and provide educational opportunities to southwest Virginia.  
 
It is our story from the 1880s, when President Julius Dreher recruited and welcomed Native American students from regional tribes, and international students from Korea, Japan and Mexico, among others, so by the early 1900s, Roanoke College had enrolled more international students than any other college in the South – a remarkable accomplishment for a small college following the Civil War. 
 
We can be proud that change and courage have been in Roanoke’s DNA since the beginning. As it has been for 182 years, the future of Roanoke College is ours to create and ours to become – and we get to bravely find the courage to imagine it together. 
 
Our students will tell you about the remarkable ways that our faculty shape their critical thinking, uncover their talents, and foster a capacity for writing, communicating and working in teams. At Roanoke, the liberal arts and applied professional programs aren’t in competition; they are complementary. I love that our computer scientists are also poets, our artists are also exercise scientists, and our mathematicians are also data scientists using sports analytics to improve our athletic teams. In a world where artificial intelligence is already dominating, Roanoke students will find no problem adapting and leading in this dynamic and fast-paced technological world.  
 
When we launch a new strategic plan, our 21st century moonshots will include plans to help our students develop their creativity and precision, critical thinking and technical skills, leadership and service.  
 
Here we go, with hope,

Frank Shushok Jr.

This column was originally published in Issue One, 2024, of Roanoke College Magazine. You may read the full issue on the magazine archives page.