I was relieved and grateful when the Taskforce recommended that PUC remain a college. This means that my colleagues and I may expect continued support, both tangible and intangible, for our commitment to undergraduate students. We know that our holistic approach to teaching—sharing not just knowledge, but also curiosity, creativity and a love of learning; sharing our time and companionship—will remain central to our mission.

Teaching at a college often means smaller classes, more time for one-one-on meetings, and a recognition that just “hanging out” with students is part of our job. When a student plops down in my office and announces, “I want to be a children’s librarian!” I am there to chat, to search for programs on the web, to recommend someone she can talk to.

Next door, we hear laughter, and heated conversation between my colleague and some students about the latest movie version of Pride and Prejudice. Down the hall, a senior is getting help on her personal statement for dental school, from her freshman English prof of so long ago. All this is teaching.

Because we teach at a college, we may play a part in “Our Town” in fall; join the choir or orchestra in winter; do some writing in spring. As teachers, we play basketball with students, eat Chinese take-out with them as we weep over “The Joy Luck Club,” ride mountain bikes together over Angwin’s famous trails, or share favorite religious poetry by the fire in our homes. This, too, is teaching.

As classroom teachers at a small college, we spend our lives thinking and reading and talking and yes, researching—but in the service of our students and their growth as Christians and citizens, as whole persons in a confusing, challenging world.