“One of the first events I experienced as a new Geneva faculty member was the retirement of psychology professor Dr. Paul Holland, who had a long fruitful career as a classroom teacher and counselor. On the day I have in mind he was clearing out his office and needed help. He handed me the typescript of his doctoral dissertation and told me to throw it in the dumpster. I do not know how he was feeling about this purge but thirty years later the memory of that experience still strikes me to the heart. It seemed somehow wrong to do what he asked, but I obeyed.
Now I have thrown the typescript of my doctoral thesis into the recycle bin in preparation for my own retirement.
It and nearly all my papers, files, course binders, and books must go. It is not possible to take them home. I am saying goodbye to my inanimate friends, a necessary but difficult goodbye, one that calls forth reflection.” -Shirley Kilpatrick, PhD
Kilpatrick’s retirement has been a time for her personal reflection, and also a time for remembering an incredibly impactful and fruitful career investing in the lives of Geneva College students.
Shirley Kilpatrick, PhD, Professor of English and Humanities, has been a professor at Geneva College for 32 years. Kilpatrick has taught many classes throughout the years, including Humanities 103, British Literature I and II, The Brothers Karmazov Seminar, Engaging Beauty, and many others.
Before coming to Geneva, Kilpatrick was living in Puerto Rico working in the home with her children while her husband taught at the University of Puerto Rico. Kilpatrick eventually embarked upon her teaching journey and discovered her calling to and love for teaching.
Kilpatrick, when asked what fuels the passion for her teaching and field of study, says, “To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, the study of literature, of the humanities, when humbly offered to God is, in its own small way, one of the appointed approaches to the Divine reality and the Divine beauty which we hope to enjoy hereafter. If approaching the Divine reality and the Divine beauty doesn’t work a body into a passionate joy, then I don’t know what will!”
Anyone who has had Kilpatrick in class or spoken with her about the humanities is immediately drawn in, and her love for her work is evident.
Some of Kilpatrick’s favorite moments at Geneva has been her one-on-one conversations with students, colleagues, and when Dr. Fraizer and other faculty colleagues come to contribute and enrich Kilpatrick’s classes.
These conversations and classes hold a special place in Kilpatrick’s heart, because she sees the necessity in students studying the humanities and learning to appreciate beauty. One of the largest changes Kilpatrick has seen here is technology and mental health.
“In this day we are standing before a generation of students more sad, more lonely, more anxious, more depressed, more suicidal, more truly at sea than we have seen in living memory. What food can we possibly give them adequate to their need? I have sought to serve them the carrot, the onion, and the pomegranate. The carrot provides the reality of grace, of recovery from their fugitive brokenness. The onion provides a model for humble service. And the pomegranate provides the grand vision, a vision of intimacy and beauty, of attractive sweetness, open to students now and for all eternity, the vision which makes their healing and calling sure.”
Read more about Kilpatrick’s work The Carrot, The Onion, and The Pomegranate here.
The Geneva College community, the staff, faculty, students, and surrounding community have all benefitted from the dedicated and passionate work Kilpatrick has devoted her career to.
To honor Dr. Kilpatrick’s distinguished career and years of service to the College, she has been given the status of emeritus faculty.
Learn more about Geneva College.
Have questions? Call us at 724-847-6505.
© Geneva College | All rights reserved
