SAINTS PERSPECTIVE, SCCC President Brad Bennett
This Friday, Seward County Community College will host a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting for our on-campus Student Health Center. I think it is fitting that we scheduled this event on what the rest of the world celebrates as Valentine’s Day.
Don’t worry, I’m not presenting the overlap as some type of “either/or” choice. I am sure my wife will not interpret the ribbon-cutting as something I value more than our marriage. Like me, she knows that love is not just about words and gesture. It’s about how we show up in everyday life.
It’s about caring for the whole person, not just the athlete, or the award-winning student, or the high-achiever who lands the most prestigious job. Caring for the tired kid who didn’t win the game. The discouraged class member who just doesn’t get how algebra works. The graduate who earned a 4.0 GPA but flubbed the interview. It’s about caring enough to offer a hug.
We don’t talk about love all that often on the SCCC campus, but that is what drives our focus on student success.
We are not just tracking our students’ performance in the classroom or in the athletics arena. We want our students to be happy, well-adjusted adults who go on to make the world a little better, a little brighter. To do that, they have to be what former generations of educators called, “well-rounded.” That old-fashioned term in modern life could be understood as a holistic approach, one that takes into account physical and mental health, family struggles, food insecurity, and confusion that often clouds the ability of first-generation students to see a bright future.
Love at SCCC means the SaintsUP pantry, offering food, personal hygiene items, and other school supplies to anyone who’s feeling a financial pinch. It means the annual email requesting new or gently-used men’s neckties — and perhaps a demonstration of how to put them on — for students in the public speaking class.
And now, as we cut the ribbon on this Student Health Center, it means a listening ear for students grappling with mental health issues and physical care for students who can’t seem to get rid of a troublesome cough, or who have questions about medical problems. Having the clinic on campus, just steps away from the dorms, means students can easily access basic healthcare. That’s a win for them, their grades, their families’ peace of mind, and our entire campus.
I’m also aware that renovation of what was the college’s first on-campus dormitory building, shows another kind of care. We transformed what had become a giant “junk drawer” into a useful space. We got so much help from the community, with donations to fund the project. And we feel good about making good use of what we already have, which is of course funded by taxpayer money.
Now more than ever, it is important for us to take the time to do things that might not have the glitz and excitement of larger projects. We know that small things, repeated over time, make habit that in turn lead to big transformations. The small acts of care that will occur in the new Student Health Center, will accrue over time to make a tremendous difference to our students and their life pathways.
I’m proud of this project and proud of everyone who made the idea into a reality. It really is an act of love. I’ll wrap up with a reminder that there is never a bad time to buy a box of chocolates or a rose or two for your own Valentines. Those little things add up.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Brad Bennett is the president of Seward County Community College, a husband and father. One of his goals is to model positive, healthy relationships so his two daughters will know what real love looks like. On campus, his goal is to model civic responsibility, so that nobody walks past a piece of trash on the lawn without stopping to pick it up. You can reach him at
