Dr. Calvin Troup: President of Geneva College Shares College Direction Under Fresh Leadership

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the Best Place to Work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show. This is Joyce Bender with Disability Matters on Voice America. And as always, thank you so much. You know, this is, yes, my 22nd year, soon my 23rd year on the air. And this year I had my 1,000th episode. Can you believe that? And every time I meet someone, and I did just meet someone that said, oh yeah, I know all about you. I listen to your show. I'm like, wow. Wow, so thrilled. And I, I just want to thank you, uh, again for listening to the show because you're helping me help other people living with disabilities. So remember, you're part of the disability rights and Bender family with what you're doing. So keep spreading the news, and if you don't mind, make a point of telling other people about the show so people with disabilities will be recognized like everyone else. And oh my goodness, around the world we have 73 countries, 73 listening countries, and it's about to go up. And so for all of you, oh, you know what I always say? You know, I live with epilepsy and I always say a seizure and the United States is like a seizure in Kazakhstan. So you are all my brothers and sisters. And thank you. And Yoshiko Dart, a special shout out to you. So I have to check, but I think it's been possibly 6 years or more. Yoshiko, I just saw you, Yoshiko, in a picture on my wall. She is the wife of the late, great Justin Dart. And why I do this is I always get so upset that disability rights does not have the same history and education in schools as all the other groups. So what's that mean? That means if you would go to a mall and stop people and say, hey, do you know who Martin Luther King Jr. is? Of course I do. You know, oh, do you know what, um, John F. Kennedy did? Oh, of course I know. He helped people with mental health. And on and on and on. But if you said, and do you know who Justin Dart is? No. And yet he is the greatest civil rights leader of the Americans with Disabilities Act. So that is why I always give Yoshiko a shout out. And hi, Mark. What a great company Highmark is. They are the lead sponsor of this show, and I just can't thank you enough, Highmark, for everything you do. Well, it is a real pleasure today to have as my guest a friend of mine, an esteemed scholar and speaker throughout the United States, theologian, very respected theologian from my college. That's the most important part, is that I graduated proudly from Geneva College. So, Dr. Kelvin Troop, it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

So good to be with you, Joyce Bender. I just want to remind all your listeners from our last conversation what you said. You said you were never going to stop doing this. So 23 years is just the beginning, right? This is something that you're going to be doing forever, as we discussed. And we're really grateful for your work and for all that you're doing both nationally and internationally to advance the cause of disability and rights for people who have disabilities.

Well, it just fits with the mission of Geneva College, which is, of course, pro Cristo, following the love, the teachings, you know, of Jesus, and just giving back, giving back. That, that's what it's all about to me. I always say Geneva College, best college in America, and then I say, no, by the way, I went there, but Even at my church, we have Dr. Pastor— Pastor Kent Chevalier, who went on to be the chaplain for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We have Pastor Ryan, who is the lead pastor over the Wexford church, just over Wexford, but our lead pastor over all of the churches. Dave D'Angelo also went to Geneva College. So there you go. I can't leave Geneva. I'm still surrounded by Geneva. I'm surrounded no matter where I go.

Geneva people are everywhere. Yes, they are. And it's a wonderful thing that they're everywhere serving God, just like you are. This is a— it's just a wonderful thing.

It is.

You know, I love what you're talking about, the mission, because There are just story after story in the Scripture of Christ being attentive to people with all manner of disabilities. It really is central to the Gospel message that Jesus was attentive. When other people wanted him to wait, you know, "Wait to heal this guy. Don't heal this guy today. It's a Sabbath." And he was like, "Whoa, wait a second. You'll take care of your animals on the Sabbath, If your animal falls in a ditch, why is it that I shouldn't heal this man who was born blind now? And it's just a wonderful thing to follow that lead in how we think about disabilities and how we serve one another and build each other up.

Amen. And you know what? I just love you. You know, you are just, you know, Dr. Kelvin, you are just a wonderful, kind, someone I look up to, a great leader. And it's just an honor to have you with us. But I wanna say, and I'll say it frequently, from the best college in America, which is why I wanted to mention to everyone, if you should want to make a donation today to Geneva? I assume you go to the website, and once you go to the website, there's a place to donate. Is that correct?

There is a great place to donate on the website, and you go to the, uh, just worldwide web, .geneva.edu, and when you go there, uh, find the Geneva College Foundation, and that, and it will guide you, uh, how to donate to Geneva College..

And, you know, I found employment for thousands of people with disabilities, but I wonder, would I have been in this role if I had not gone to Geneva? You know, because even the teachers there had such an impact on my life. I'm always telling you about Dr. Ann Payton. Is that how you pronounce her last name?

Yes, that's correct. Dr. Payton.

Yeah. Who taught me Dickens and Shakespeare, but it was the Dickens that took over with me. And still to this day, I'll tell you what I have on the front of my phone. I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all of the year, said Charles Dickens. I keep that on all year because I am Miss Christmas. I'm a Fezziwig. Yes, I love— I love— and I know you read A Christmas Carol every year.

I do. I read it. Uh, I love the George C. Scott, uh, video, uh, version of it, that movie. But there are, there are many, uh, good movies of it. But we, we read it every year as a family and enjoy, uh The message and the drama of it. And, and, and I also love The Man Who Invented Christmas. Have you seen that?

Oh, isn't that a great movie?

Oh, it's wonderful.

It's just wonderful.

So creative and imaginative. Yes. And it's fun to have just a little bit of the backstory of the book.

Oh, I know. I know. And if you have not seen this movie, it's on Netflix. The Man Who Invented Christmas, which of course is about Charles Dickens. But as, as Dr. Calvin said, the background history on how he did this and how it came to be. Do you know what one of my favorite things in the movie is?

What's that?

The very ending when he said, and what's your name? And the guy looked at him and said, Copperfield. Oh, I love that. Yeah, because you know how I collected all those names. So clever. But yes, I love that also. But anyway, here's what happens. I have someone on the show and then I get notes and, you know, emails from people everywhere. I wish I knew more about this person. And by the way, if you're listening, you know, I'm located in Pittsburgh. You could be anywhere though. You could be anywhere. And if you haven't selected a college, It should be Geneva College, right, Dr. Calvin?

And you know what, if you're—

absolutely, yes, yes. And parents, look what happened to me. So I love the school, I'm just telling you. But anyway, Dr. Calvin, when did— where did you grow up and go on to pursue your academic pursuits? And I do have another question I don't think I've ever asked you, but when and how did you decide I'm going to serve in some capacity.

Yeah.

Well, um, I, I, uh, lived until I was 8 years old. I lived in Chicagoland in a little town called Wheaton, Illinois. I was a Chicago Bears fan and I was a Chicago Cubs fan and Chicago Blackhawks because I was a kid and I loved sports. And, uh, and so, and then when I was 8 years old, we moved to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. My father became the director of public relations at Geneva College and the sports information director. And so we moved to Beaver Falls. And, and so I grew up as a Western Pennsylvania kid from the time I was 8. The Steelers went to their first Super Bowls when I was in junior high and high school, which is like— and we won 2 World Series in, in, you know, in 1970 and 1979 in Pittsburgh. It was a great time for a kid who loved sports to be a Pittsburgher. And, and so I grew up in the area. I attended Blackhawk High School and I attended Geneva College and graduated in 1983. When I graduated from Geneva, the unemployment rate in Beaver County was 25%. And I had done an internship in Washington, D.C., so I went to Washington and Got a job in Washington, D.C. My wife Amy and I got married in November after I graduated from Geneva. And we can come back and talk about my disability story later. But I was working in Washington, D.C. and I worked in Georgetown for a trend analysis firm for a year. And then I worked on Capitol Hill as a press aide to a congressman for 2 years. While Ronald Reagan was president. I was on Capitol Hill the day of the Challenger disaster, and nobody knew what was happening. It was a very dramatic day.

Oh my.

And so, so I worked on Capitol Hill during that time. I thought that I was going to become a syndicated columnist. I wanted to write, and I wanted to write about current events and those kinds of things the way columnists do.. And I was having a conversation with a good friend, someone I trusted greatly, and we were having lunch in the cafeteria in one of the office buildings in the Capitol Hill complex. And he said, "Have you ever thought about being a college professor?" And I said, "No, I've never ever thought about even going back to graduate school." And he said, "Well, you ought to, because when you lead our Bible study, the way you lead it, I think you'd be really appealing to college students. They'd really like the way that you teach. And so I didn't trust him, but I talked to Dr. Harry Farah from Geneva College and I talked to Dr. David Carson. I walked into Dr. Carson's office and I said, this person had this harebrained idea that maybe I should be in higher education. And he looked at me and he said, well, Calvin, I think that would be a grand idea. And when Dr. Carson talked it that way, You knew that that was like a resounding yes, or that's the way he would say, "Duh," right? And so, I prepared to go to graduate school after that. We weren't in a financial position to do it right away. We had two little children and that sort of thing, but the Lord provided for us to go to Penn State. And so, I did a master's and PhD at the Pennsylvania State University and graduated in '94 with a PhD. Worked there for a year, worked at Indiana University in Bloomington for a year, and then got to go to Duquesne University for 20 years. And we built a rhetoric PhD program as a department there, and I got to be involved in leading that and started to serve as the— on the Board of Trustees at Geneva College during that time. And then when there was a vacancy in the presidency, I was encouraged to apply and go through the application process with several other people. And was invited to serve as Geneva's 20th president to begin in July of 2016. So I'm in my 10th year, and this is not where I thought I would be when I left Geneva College as a new graduate. I didn't imagine that I was going to be in higher education as a profession for my whole life.

Wow, what a story. I didn't realize it was that long you were at Duquesne. Now, I know I— and so through all of this time, you were with the Reformed Presbyterian Church or thing. Yeah, why I'm saying that, everyone, Reformed Presbyterian churches, um, are behind the teachings at Geneva. Would you say it that way, or under the doctrine or whatever? Yeah.

Right. Yes, the Reformed Presbyterian Church founded the college in 1848 and has continued to guide and direct the college. I always talk about it as kind of a mission station because there are Christians from all different kinds of denominations that love the Lord Jesus Christ and love his word and serve together to make the college possible. But the Reformed Presbyterian Church provides kind of the biblical anchor of the college and and guides the college with the help of many others. And so it, it's, uh, becomes a wonderful place to learn and to study and to grow for people of all kinds of backgrounds.

Yeah, well, and yes, and it is, um, you were just saying it was founded in 1848. I did a little research. I did not know it was originally in Ohio.

Yes.

That was in— it was where?

It was in western Ohio, Northwood, Ohio. Uh, it was the last stop on the Underground Railroad before Sandusky, where people would come and stay the night, uh, at, at Geneva College, uh, in its location in Ohio. And then they would, during the night, they would be taken to Sandusky where they could get on a boat and go to Canada to keep their freedom. And so that was something that was happening at Geneva before we moved to Beaver Falls. We moved after the war, after the Civil War.

Wow, what a great story though about that Underground Railroad. Do you know why? Why did they choose Beaver Falls?

Beaver Falls chose Geneva. Beaver Falls was a growing manufacturing economic hub in Western Pennsylvania, and the leadership of, of the city really thought that it would be good to have a Christian college in Beaver Falls to elevate the educational and moral fabric of the city. And so they recruited Geneva to move to Beaver Falls. And, um, the Harmony Society, uh, you know, Old Economy Village in near Sewickley, those are run by the Harmonites. The Harmony Society gave us the original 10 acres of property on which Old Main sits, uh, and so it was a, it was a collaborative Christian effort to get Geneva to Beaver Falls. And so, uh, the Old Main was built, uh, in 1880 and became the first building of the college in Beaver Falls and still stands, and it's, it's amazingly beautiful building for an 1880 edifice. And so we're very thankful to be here on the hill, on College Hill in Beaver Falls.

All right, I have to tell everyone because I can't wait to tell you this. First of all, the campus is beautiful. Old Main is beautiful. It is, it is beautiful. When I was talking to Dr. Calvin here. I said, listen, I'm very upset. Why do we not have more accessibility? I mean, how could you get anywhere here? How could you do anything at Old Main? What would you do? And I went on and on and on about this. And he looked at me, I'll never forget this. And he said, well, you know, we do have to do something. I don't know if you remember that, but that's what you did. You looked at me and said, Well, you know, we do have to do something. And guess what? Many people, when it comes to employment or different things with disability, they say to me, and you know, we do have to do something about this, but they don't. But he did. He did. And I'm telling you, people with disabilities, because I know there are different colleges that used to cater and recruit people with disabilities to their school. Um, but you need to know about Geneva, that they are taking time to do all of this work to make it accessible. So I know how you are, people with disabilities, we want to go to where they want us, and parents that are listening. So do you want to just talk about that briefly? Dr. Kelvin?

Yeah, I do. Um, uh, I would like to think that I was a person that was just a good person and that, uh, that I would have eyes to see and ears to hear these things on my own. But the Lord really needed to bring me through a very traumatic experience in my life. I was involved in a head-on collision, uh, and, uh, two of my best friends were killed in the collision, and I was very seriously injured. And part of my injuries were I had a shattered pelvis and both of my legs were broken. And so I was not able to be weight-bearing from Memorial Day until after Labor Day. And that meant that I had to learn how to navigate life in my wheelchair. And, you know, I went to the Pirate game in my wheelchair and I went to I went and I shopped in my wheelchair and I had to learn how to live in my wheelchair. And having that changed my whole perspective on life. And so when I go places, see what's there or what's not there in terms of the ability of our brothers and sisters who live in a wheelchair, or who have other kinds of disabilities. And so when I think about our campus, I'm always thinking about how would I get around? What would I be able to do? What would I not be able to do? And one of the glaring areas that we needed to address, as Joyce, you recognized so quickly, was Old Main. Beautiful building, but not usable to a huge proportion of the population because at a school like Geneva, we have people that have disabilities, we have people that are elderly, we have people who are injured, we have all kinds of people that need access. And, uh, um, and, and so, um, uh, by God's grace, uh, the Board of Trustees came up with a wonderful plan for us to do a complete renovation of Old Main think of it seaworthy for the next 100 years. A major part of that is accessibility with an elevator that serves the whole building. We don't currently have an elevator and we don't have a way for people to get there, and that includes accessible restrooms on the first and second floor so that everyone can fully use the building all the time. And there are many other beautiful things that are happening in the building, but the most important feature is having a real ADA zero clearance entrance that will get people into the building and get people into the elevator and get people access to the whole building. Because of that, we're renovating the whole building to, uh, to maximize educational classroom space, to minimize administrative offices, to renovate a second floor glorious John White Chapel. And we're using the architects that work with Hines Hall and the Benetton Center, so they really know their stuff and what they're doing to make that space beautiful, to have an accessible stage and seating that is friendly to people that have disabilities, and, and 21st century sound and 21st century lighting and all of those kinds of things right at the center of our campus, uh, to make that building a useful tool for education for everyone who comes to us.

Yes, and I had, you know, spoken to people for a long time, but you already wanted to do it. You already had this in your forefront. So really, you know, I may have talked to you and said, oh, we should do this, but you already were on it, Dr. Calvin, and that is because of God and what happened to you.

Yes.

So you already were on, but I'm just wanting everyone who's listening to know that this man is responsible for what's happening for one big word: inclusion. You know, education has to be inclusive. So again, listening to the show, you can make a donation to help the school do more. And I— that would be wonderful— at geneva.edu. Go to the website, www. Go to their website, even go to Google and put in Geneva College, and it will jump up there, the website where to go. And also, I want you to spread this news to everyone. I want you to spread this news. Someone including people with disabilities, like, don't think that building, Old Main, is off to the side or, you know, down somewhere. Not— it is there right front and center. It is very prominent when you go to Geneva. So I'm so happy about that. I also have to say that, Dr. Calvin, I did— how, why did I never think, oh, Geneva could be named after Geneva, Switzerland? Yeah, why didn't I ever even think about that? Like, I don't know where, why I thought it was named that, but like, I never really thought about that. But approximately how many people graduate a year? Um, how many, how many people graduate?

Uh, our traditional undergraduate population, we have 225 to 250 200 students a year that graduate. You know, that, that's the estimated range. Class sizes vary a little bit. You know, we had a little smaller classes during COVID and we've had larger classes since. And so, but around 225 to 250 students. And then we have, we probably have about 25 to 50 graduate students that graduate every year. And, and so we have, we have a good group of folks that come through the college. Our total population is over 1,200 students, so we're a small college in the small college tradition, and that means that when you come to Geneva, you have support and people know you and know your name and are attentive to how your learning is going and how you're doing in the community. And so you get a very high level of engagement and support because, as you might know, being named Geneva, we have and want to develop in our students a strong work ethic and a strong virtue structure and a good ethical compass that's based on the scriptures and the Lord Jesus Christ and following him as our true north. And so we're really thankful for the opportunity to work with students You know, one of the wonders of, uh, of being at a— in a college is that so many places in our culture segregate generations. Um, and when you're in school, you have the richness of generations interacting and working with one another. And so you get to know people that are in a different generation than your own and work with them. And that's a very, very rich educational environment.

Well, we need more people like you in this country, Dr. Calvin, that take time to make sure in a building as old— how old did you say?

1880.

And a building from 1880 that is just beautiful. There are places they would not touch that, but you did, making it accessible. That's why I'm so proud I went there. And with that, hey, it's time for the news. Time for Mathis on the Mic to give us the weekly news of what's going on in the disability community nationally. Jennifer, welcome. How are you?

I'm good, thank you.

It's always a pleasure to see you.

Likewise. So I have two quick updates for you today on—

okay—

news items that we have talked about before on this show. Um, one is with respect to the Department of Energy's rules. This is something that we have talked about, I think, twice on this show. These were rules that originally the Department of Energy put out back in May And one of them primarily, well, really two, but I'm going to focus on one, was a Section 504 disability discrimination rule. And what they were doing was rescinding, withdrawing a rule that has been on the books for about 40 years that sets out accessibility standards for new construction for programs and activities that receive federal funding from Department of Energy. Every agency has similar regulation, and so randomly Department of Energy said, "We're getting rid of our accessibility standards because they're not necessary." Um, and so, uh, as you can imagine, that led to a lot of comments, uh, uh, 20,000 or so from the disability community and others saying this is not okay. But what was really notable was they really misused the regulatory process. They used a mechanism that's supposed to be for little technical corrections that are not controversial to do this without notice and comment. And people filed comments anyway, but they they used a process that was supposed to be where they go right to a final rule. And so, uh, that process is not one that you can use if you get significant adverse comment. They acknowledge they got significant adverse comment, so they have been holding and holding those regulations, and every 90 days they have been issuing something saying, um, we are delaying the effective date for another 90 days. So initially they put this out on May 16th as a final rule, Then they delayed it until September 12th, and they delayed it until December 10th. And then today in the Federal Register, they announced that they're delaying it again by another 90 days until March 9th. So I mean, this is positive in the sense that they have recognized that they have a problem. It is unclear what they will ultimately do, but they have not tried to finalize this rule at this point. I think that speaks to the power of the disability community that, you know, we generated enough comments and have subsequently sent letters making clear this was inappropriate. And so it is still on hold. The other news item, just very quickly, that I wanted to let folks know about because it's important is last week we talked about a notice of funding opportunity that HUD had put out that was in the Continuum of Care federal housing program. This program funds a lot of supported housing for people with disabilities, and basically this notice really dramatically changes this program and would shift a lot of the money into transitional housing instead of permanent housing. It would exclude people with mental illness from permanent supported housing. It did a lot of really, really problematic things, and a bunch of states brought a lawsuit about it. A bunch of service providers and counties brought a lawsuit about it separately. And so yesterday HUD sent a notice to the court in the state's lawsuit saying, okay, we're withdrawing this. We're going to consider the issues that have been raised by these lawsuits, and we are going to revise it, but we're withdrawing it for right now. Again, it's not over. They will reissue it. They will revise it. But again, I think showing the power of fighting back and the importance of it, that you can You can have an impact. You can be taken seriously. So I thought those two things just happening in the last couple of days were significant.

That is awesome. Here's my only— I have a request, and that would be for you to let our listeners know if and when they have to make any comments again or call senators or congressmen or whatever. If you could let us do that, because they do listen to you. So Jennifer, give us that update, okay?

I will.

Thank you. All right. Hey, have a great day. All right, bye-bye. So you know what, Dr. Kelman, we're the only place in the world that has weekly news because you— if you have a disability, there is no CNN You know, there is no place, oh, I'm going to turn on the TV and see what's happening. But you can come here, and that is why we do that. I wanted to just go back to something you said about the size of the graduate class. I love those classes. And I looked it up, and it is a ratio of 1 teacher to 13 students, approximately. I love that because you feel like someone and you learn and you have a better opportunity to ask questions versus being at a university where you're like a forget, you're just there, you know what I mean? Because there's so many hundreds of people. I love that about Geneva. I feel when it's like that, you get a better education. That is my opinion, and I, I really do think that. So, and you know what Dr. Paul Holland told me? After you graduate from Geneva College, the most important thing you will have learned is how to think.

Indeed.

So, so, Dr., uh, Calvin For people listening, parents, aunts, uncles, young people, people with disabilities, young people thinking about where to go to college. If someone asks you, which I'm going to, why do you think a student should choose Geneva College? What would you say?

I'd say it's the greatest preparation for your life's work that you can get. The, the purpose of a good college education is not your first job. And we love the fact that our students find employment or placement in the graduate school of their choice at a 96% rate. We're a leading institution that way. We love that. But that's not what a great college education is for. It's for your second and third and fourth job. It's for— to be well-educated is to be equipped for what we don't know is going to happen in 10 years and 20 years and 30 years. We didn't imagine the world that we live in today when we were in college. We didn't know, and our— and our— actually, our faculty members didn't know what we were going to face in the decades after we graduated. And being well-educated gives you the equipment to be able to make wise choices and to grow and learn new things long after college. Um, and you have to have that strong basis on which to do that. So we have great majors at Geneva College. We have all the liberal arts majors, we have engineering, we have education, we have business and accounting, uh, we have cybersecurity and computer science, we have nursing and and healthcare preparation and all those kinds of things. But what you really get at Geneva is what you said, and that is you need to learn how to think in college, not what to think. You don't need people telling you what you're supposed to believe. You need to have people that believe things deeply themselves who can teach you how to think and learn so that as you go out into the world, you have a strong base under your feet and that you can think and you have a heart and mind that are really prepared to— and like what we say in our mission— to be, to, to, uh, commit, uh, to faithful and fruitful service to God and to neighbor. Um, and, and so, um, it's that it, uh, I think one of the most important questions when you're looking at college education is who will Who will my teacher be, right? Who will my teacher be? And at Geneva College, we attract faculty members that love college students and want to impart their great knowledge and wisdom and training and pour those things into the lives of students so that they can go out and be vital members of their communities and churches and the families that they engage in. And all of those things are— come out of a great college education that you can get at Geneva.

Yes, it's all, you know, when you learn, but when you feel that you're listened to, then you listen. And I, I just— I would recommend to anyone to go to the best college in America, Geneva college by college. So we talked about Old Main, but I did want to talk about this 100% financing for students, which is unbelievable. Would you mind explaining that?

I would, I would love to talk to you about that, Joyce Bender. We call it the Geneva College Tuition Promise, and for students who live in this, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who have a household income of $70,000 or less, They apply to— for federal grants and for the wonderful state grant we have in Pennsylvania and can come to Geneva College tuition-free for their whole 4 years. And we have— we probably have about 150 students at Geneva College today who are participating in that program we started 2 years ago. So freshmen and sophomores and we have a good group of incoming freshmen for next fall that are coming with the idea of coming on the Geneva College Tuition Promise. And we discovered as we were doing our research in our own data that Geneva is the most affordable Christian college in Pennsylvania and that we can provide this kind of wonderful education to students who, who have really wonder whether they could go to a college like Geneva and could afford to come, and they can come tuition-free. And that means that for our students that are over $70,000 a year in terms of household income, it's still a very affordable opportunity for people to get a Christian education that's available at Geneva. And so We're so excited that that program is up and running and actually working so that so many students who would like to be at a place like Geneva can actually come and be educated.

You know what? You know about the Bender Leadership Academy, which is the not-for-profit I started to prepare students with disabilities for the world of work. And how to deal with or conquer the negative impacts of bullying. Many of those students, I'm going to guess, are at that level you talked about. Yes. Like, I'm going to have to have someone from Geneva come and speak at our academies and also, you know, give something to all the schools, because what a wonderful thing. I mean, I just think it's so wonderful what Geneva's doing.

Well, Joyce, when you think about the wonderful work that you're doing and helping people with disabilities find employment and ways to really contribute to their communities and society, and overcoming the limitations. All of us have limitations, but the limitations of disability— I don't know if you have ever— have you ever placed anyone with Westinghouse? I mean, there are people. So we had the president of one of Westinghouse's major divisions, their long-term their long-term resource support division, which is worldwide. And, and, and he came and we've had a couple of people from the executive leadership of Westinghouse come to Geneva in the last year and say, we want more Geneva students. And I asked them as a president, why, why do you want Geneva students in? And this is what they said to me. They said, well, there are two things that we can't teach at Westinghouse. They said we can teach any good engineer how to do nuclear engineering in our nuclear engineering program. So if they have a great technical engineering background, they can do that. We know they get that at Geneva and we can teach them the specifics of our business in nuclear engineering. The second thing is we need students that come to us, we need employees that come to us who are of a strong moral character and have a good moral compass. He said, we can't build that into people, and we know that Geneva College, uh, really cultivates and encourages that in students. And so we want Geneva College students. And, um, and I think, you know, when we think about the Leadership Academy and we think about the students that are really, uh, in a position to excel and do well in a college education that there are places that you know they can go with a Geneva education and excel as professionals in whatever, in whatever their chosen field might be. And so, you know, we would love to have someone come to the Leadership Academy. And, you know, we've had students at Geneva.

Oh, yes. Every year, Disability Mentoring Day.

Yes, I was with them had got to visit with them at lunch a few weeks ago when they were here, and, and that was a real treat for us. We love to host them on campus and introduce them to the college and, and let them see what college life is like.

And thank you very much for always doing that. I really appreciate that. I want my listeners to hear again, you know, because Westinghouse— wow, international prestigious company. What are the two reasons again that they want Geneva students?

Yeah, they want people who have excellence in technical training that students get in our engineering program, and they want people that have been encouraged to have a strong moral compass, uh, a strong virtue and ethical structure that guides their life.

Why I'm having you repeat that. Don't— I know that we've talked about this, but don't be thinking Geneva. Oh, you know, they must, like, not be that— I don't know what kind of education. We're talking top-of-the-line education. Now, you know, if Westinghouse— Westinghouse nuclear reactor, I know all of the divisions. If they are coming to Geneva, they could go anywhere, and saying, because of your training in engineering, what does that tell all of you about Geneva? I mean, this is like a wonderful opportunity in so many ways. And I also think that's just such a great thing that you're doing, that we're doing there. So, um, what do you feel is your greatest accomplishment since you've been at Geneva?

I, I think that the greatest accomplishment is, uh, to, to just be faithful in inviting young people into the mission of Geneva College so that they would really gain what you and I have had as alums of Geneva College, which is this deep commitment to faithful and fruitful service with our whole lives, to be directed towards service to others and to be committed to service to God. And because we love God and want to serve him, we want to care for everybody and we want to serve others well in everything that we do. And that's a heritage that we didn't start at Geneva. It's something that was given to us. And so to give that to a whole other generation of young people and to see young people coming, you know, it's wonderful to watch what happens in the growth between a freshman and a senior and to see how they grow and develop and, you know, grow into their heart and mind as young adults and then be ready to go out and serve in a world that's not easy. Right? It's not an easy world right now to go out and find a job and to go out and establish a new household and those kinds of things. And so we really want people to be well equipped so that they can go out and do the hard work that God's calling them to do in the rest of their lives. Right? It's not easy to be someone who is facing the kinds of things that you faced in your life and that I've had to face in mine and that everyone You know, that's, that's one of the best-kept secrets, right? We're going to have challenges and we're going to have to work through things and being equipped and trained and taught and having the opportunity to learn how to do things that then will transfer to adult life for the rest of our lives is— that's just a wonderful kind of work to be involved in.

Oh, it is. I mean, it is. And I'm glad we have you doing that. So I have to ask you, uh, who is your role model?

Hmm, well, Joyce, you know my first answer to that. This—

yes, I do. I was gonna say, I was gonna say other. Of course we know who number one is with all of us. Numero uno, we know it's Jesus. But okay, yeah, I'm other than—

yeah, I, you know, it's hard for me to pick one because God has been so good to me. I, I have, I have, uh, I have the blessing of having had faithful parents who were not only loving, which so many parents are, but leading. They, they led me, but they also put me in positions to be with, uh, with great, uh, other people teachers and coaches and professors and directors and people that I could look to and follow. And, you know, I think about people like Gene Sullivan, who was my head football coach at Geneva, who taught us over and over again, first priority is God and faith. Second priority is family. Third priority is your studies and your education. Fourth priority is football. Football's fourth. Right? Right? It's not the main thing. And, you know, people like that that just surrounded me and led me and challenged me, right? And said, you know, Calvin, you can do better. You need to work harder. You need to look up. You need to trust God and keep at it. And so, I would say that— that I'm really grateful for the kind of people that— and in so many cases, my parents said, you should go and learn from this person. We're going to send you there and you're going to learn from that person. And then they were reliable. And so I could come back and then we could work through things together. So I have lived a blessed life, Joyce Bender. It's a rich question for me.

Well, it's amazing how many wonderful people that you meet, but there is one. Mm-hmm. There is one that's the main one because I always say if you could just follow part of the teachings of Jesus, I mean, you would realize, for example, about the least of these. Peace. I mean, so many things, so much. And you will learn that, of course, at Geneva College, where— don't you have chapel?

We do every week, every Wednesday. And you know, Joyce, what you were just saying, I think, is a wonderful prayer. A wonderful prayer that I was taught to pray is, Lord, help me to see the world and the people around me the way you see Help me to see the world and the people around me today the way you see them.

Um, and we will see them also as beautifully and wonderfully made. Absolutely. Which means that, um, well, we all know how he was. You know, it's not that he came and said, you know what, I want disciples, I want scholars. I want scholars. That's what I want. I want scholars. And what a— I mean, he was a rebel because women were like cattle or like whatever.

Right.

And yet he had them right there with him. And I mean, so many other things. Right. Yes. Oh, just love your neighbor as yourself. Just that one, even that. Yes. Think how that would change everything if everyone in the world would say, I'm gonna love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and then I'm gonna love my, my neighbor as I love myself. Wow. What a change that would be. Yeah. What a change. So in closing, Dr. Joyce Bender, Dr. Calvin Traub, what message do you have for our listeners?

Hi. The message for the day is to look to the birth of Christ. It's that time of year, right? And to remember that He came in humility and that He came not into wealth and pomp and circumstance, but he came for us, to us, in our low condition. And that's how we're loved. And he came and he lived and he died for us. And he took on all of our infirmities. He took on all of our weakness and our sin. And he crucified it on the cross. And he rose again from the— he didn't come to make things a little bit better. He came and changed the world. By his design. And he rose again from the dead and is ascended, uh, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And he cares for us.

We, uh, yes, we can come to him because he cares for us. And in closing, always remember this: if you want to know how powerful someone is, would you ever imagine that thousands and thousands of years after that they would be celebrating your birth. I mean, that is amazing. Well, folks, we got to go. We've talked to Dr. Kelvin Traub, and I hope— go to Geneva.org and make a donation. You heard what he's doing at Geneva for the least of these, $70,000 and down. That is what it's all about. Oh my goodness, you won't believe this, Dr. Kelvin. You mentioned humility. Our theme for the year this year at Bender was humility. And oh, are you going to ever love the quote I'm ending the show with? Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less, said Joyce Bender. The great C.S. Lewis, another one of my favorites.

And mine too.

Yeah. And when you go out tomorrow, remember, choose joy. Oh, your whole world will be so much better. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week. Be safe till then.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific Time and 2 PM Eastern Time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.