All doors were closed. That’s why Melissa Benson ’11 came to Berea College. “I was in my 30s,” she explained. “I had never finished college, and it was…
When Jonathan “JJ” Johnson ’99 thinks back on his childhood in Fairfield, Alabama, in greater Birmingham, he remembers a life that was both loving and precarious. He grew…
Dear Alumni and Friends, This August marks 26 years since I stepped foot on Berea’s campus as a first-year student. We pulled up to Talcott Hall in a…
Although my parents were both schoolteachers, when I began my undergraduate journey, I encountered aspects of a world very different from high school. I could, though, rely on…
Dear Alumni and Friends In our Winter 2024 issue, we shared inspiring, motivational and downright feel-good stories about the impact Bereans make worldwide. In that issue, I said,…
For Adam LeMaster ’25, identity was difficult to pin down. He knew he was Appalachian, although he didn’t have the words to describe exactly what that meant. As…
Allison ’26 is a Nickelodeon kid. As a child, she drove around in her Dora the Explorer Jeep and had Miranda Cosgrove stickers on everything she owned. The…
The world is unfair. For Jennan ’25, that doesn’t mean give up. Born and raised in Berea, Kentucky, Jennan grew up surrounded by Berea College’s influence. Her dad…
Though Shaun ’25 and Nicole ’26 came from much different backgrounds, their experiences share a common thread. Both communication and child and family studies double majors sought a…
Berea’s student chaplains greet first-year students as they exit Phelps Stokes on their first day on campus in August 2023. Photo by Crystal Wylie ʼ05 Berea College is…