Who Am I and Why Am I here?
Who am I and why am I here? Not the existential question, but the simpler one–what is the blog about, and why am I writing it?
That’s me, Steve Varvis, Ph.D., currently Interim Provost and Vice President for Enrollment Management, and Professor of History (but not teaching much right now) at Fresno Pacific Univeristy. (Behind me on my left is a print of Raphael’s “School of Athens,” and a brass rubbing of a medieval saint’s life, Saint Nicholas–that may tell you something about me.) I have played a number of roles here–business manager way back when, fundraiser, and Dean of what was once the undergraduate college. I think you call me a “utility player.”
I’ve been teaching here for 28 years–world civilization, medieval and renaissance history and literature, reformation history and theology, history of political theory, and more recently business ethics. To those who have had my classes (to those who have had to take my courses, I apologize) I can only say that I look forward to hearing from you again.
To others–friends, students, potential students, parents of students, colleagues–welcome to what I hope will be a good conversation about higher education…what it is, what it does, how we can think about it, how to plan for it, and make it happen, what to look for in it, what to avoid, what’s happening generally across the country, how to choose a college, finance it, why you might want to, how to make sense of Christian higher education, and who knows what else.
On my best days, I love everything about higher education, from the work with students to balancing the budget to planning for a program or facility to debating with my faculty colleagues to speaking with and listening to those who support and join in our efforts. On other days, well, we all have other days. But thinking through what we are doing and why makes those best days all that more frequent.
Your’s towards the goal of “faithfulness, wisdom” and “service” (our motto). Steve