COMMUNITY

BY WALLACE CALEB BATES

Earlier today, I found myself reflecting on the power of our individual lived experiences. In my role in marketing and communications at a rural community college, I witness this power from a unique vantage point each day.

We are a gathering place for people from all walks of life: recent high school graduates, middle-aged parents, and senior citizens. We bring together those who love English literature and those who are training to become electricians, welders, or carpenters. Each story is different, but each one matters.

For generations, a harmful stigma has lingered. There has been a belief that the educational opportunities offered in our local communities do not provide the same level of knowledge, mobility, or skill as those available elsewhere. That belief is not true.

In reality, community colleges play a critical role in rural communities and the broader fabric of our nation. Faculty members prepare the next generation of K-12 educators, allowing communities to cultivate their own talent. Truck drivers find their passion for the open road, hauling essential goods from distribution hubs into mountain towns and farming regions. Nurse assistants and phlebotomists develop the skill and compassion to serve the very communities that raised them. Skilled tradespeople acquire the expertise necessary to construct homes, schools, and commercial properties that enhance the local economy.

Most importantly, community colleges provide something even more powerful: hope.

They reach out to those who are too often overlooked. They stand beside those who have been underserved. They open doors for those whose dreams feel distant, helping them become reachable through a devoted faculty member, a caring staff advisor, or a scholarship funded by a generous community donor.

That kind of power is transformative. It is quiet, steady, and deeply human. It is the heartbeat of this country.

I could not be more proud of what I do. Telling the stories of a rural community college is more than a profession. It is a calling. It has made my life rich with purpose, and I would not choose to do anything else. 

POPULAR

A NEW START - AN ENTRY FROM MY HEART

BY WALLACE CALEB BATES As I sit here drinking my coffee this Saturday afternoon, looking out the window at the snow-blanketed ground and my dog frolicking through the yard (I love the word frolicking!), I am reminded of how the world outside our homes can fill with joy and pain, happiness and sadness, and other contrasting emotions.  At the start of this new year, I set a few small goals that were aligned with James Clear's framework in Atomic Habits : incremental, small changes that will lead toward steady progress. Among these goals are making my bed each day, listening to or reading scripture each day, and journaling each day.  This blog site is part of the last effort mentioned above. I plan to use it as a public-facing journal in which I share my thoughts regarding topics of varying natures. Some of them will discuss my faith, my profession as a higher education public relations professional, my academic pursuits as a scholar, and my perspective as an Appalachian living i...
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FREE SPEECH IN THE DIGITAL AGE — A STRUGGLE FOR TRUTH

BY WALLACE CALEB BATES It is hard to believe that the COVID-19 pandemic's onset is now five years in the past. I will never forget the painstaking experience we endured as a collective people during that time. We faced a public health challenge and an issue involving disinformation unparalleled to any other era in American history.  I try not to compare our modern days to bygone eras. The world has always been dysfunctional, and people have always lied and perpetuated harm against others with whom they disagree. However, social media platforms have only existed for a relatively short time. Social media, serving in its often-watchdog capacity, could have prevented some of our most widespread stains against humanity.  Perhaps world leaders would not have turned their backs on the horrible occurrences in Hitler's Germany during the late 1930s; possibly, the slave trade would have never unjustly brought oppression to generations of African people and their descendants in the Ameri...
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PROTECT AND DEFEND

 BY WALLACE CALEB BATES On the eve of another inauguration, I am pondering what it means to be an American. The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of American democracy, an event we can anticipate every four years that ensures our voice leads a government created by the people, for the people, and of the people. At noon tomorrow, a new president and vice president will swear in to begin their terms, taking an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, a breathing, living document that has enshrined the rights of the people into America's foundation. This moment, while steeped in ceremony, reminds us of the enduring strength of our republic and our responsibility to safeguard it. As President Joseph R. Biden recently said, "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." A po...
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