Bethel … University?
I never cease to be amazed by my alma mater. The board’s latest hare-brained scheme is to change the school’s name from “Bethel College” to “Bethel” (something or other) “University.”
Apparently, the decision has been made, and all that remains is to choose a specific combination of the words “Bethel,” “University,” “Indiana,” “Christian,” and “International.”
As a former student, I was invited to fill out a survey to express my preference. Here is a small part of the survey.
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I drafted this entry a couple of days ago but decided not to post it. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t posting just out of anger.
Today, I was told that Bethel is planning to market itself to students in other countries who would take courses online. This explains why the board wants to add “International” to the school’s name, even though there’s very little about Bethel that’s international or even inter-regional.
It also explains why “University” would be added to the name: outside the U.S., that word, much more than “College,” is associated with tertiary education.
This is worse than I’d imagined. There’s a horrific potential for exploitation. Lots of domestic online schooling is exploitative. Online schooling across borders would be even harder for authorities to regulate, making exploitation a greater danger.
Of course, other schools already are doing this sort of thing. But that’s no reason why a Christian school, a school from a denomination that purports to care about Christians abroad and calls itself the Missionary Church, should involve itself in a business practice that fleeces students from other countries.
I’m sure that Bethel’s authorities would retort that what they’re planning to do is all above-board.
But then why wasn’t this announced to the alumni as a reason for changing the school’s name?
Apparently, the decision has been made, and all that remains is to choose a specific combination of the words “Bethel,” “University,” “Indiana,” “Christian,” and “International.”
As a former student, I was invited to fill out a survey to express my preference. Here is a small part of the survey.
We invite you to submit a name of your choice that is not already on the list. … We ask that it contains [sic] the words “Bethel” and “University.”I couldn’t bring myself to take the word “International” seriously enough to mention it in my response.
[My answer:] “Bethel College” or “Bethel College Indiana.”
Please provide a brief rationale for your name selection.
A case can be made for changing Bethel’s name to distinguish it from other Bethels. The word “Christian” is redundant, as “Bethel” already has a clearly Christian connotation. “Indiana” is accurate and informative.
Calling Bethel a university is utterly pretentious. I have attended two universities in addition to Bethel. Bethel is not in their league in terms of the quality or breadth of its teaching. Nor does Bethel have the research focus associated with paradigmatic universities.
Shame on the board for approving this change.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I drafted this entry a couple of days ago but decided not to post it. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t posting just out of anger.
Today, I was told that Bethel is planning to market itself to students in other countries who would take courses online. This explains why the board wants to add “International” to the school’s name, even though there’s very little about Bethel that’s international or even inter-regional.
It also explains why “University” would be added to the name: outside the U.S., that word, much more than “College,” is associated with tertiary education.
This is worse than I’d imagined. There’s a horrific potential for exploitation. Lots of domestic online schooling is exploitative. Online schooling across borders would be even harder for authorities to regulate, making exploitation a greater danger.
Of course, other schools already are doing this sort of thing. But that’s no reason why a Christian school, a school from a denomination that purports to care about Christians abroad and calls itself the Missionary Church, should involve itself in a business practice that fleeces students from other countries.
I’m sure that Bethel’s authorities would retort that what they’re planning to do is all above-board.
But then why wasn’t this announced to the alumni as a reason for changing the school’s name?