Thomas Berry at Prescott College
(Feb. 14, 1992):

"I have been deeply interested in the small American college for some time, and for the last 10-15 years I’ve been saying that…the small college that declares itself to place its teaching within the comprehensive story of the universe and within the dynamics of the natural life systems of the planet Earth, would have a significant future.

I am proposing Prescott College as the first Ecozoic college known to the human community.

I have a feeling about Prescott College….The future belongs, in every profession, to those who are integral with the natural world, particularly, I think, education.

What I suggest to small colleges is that they work out their program, articulate their identity, and write up the thing, and then take out a full-page ad in The New York Times: ‘Prescott College is based on the story of the universe and the survival of the planet Earth…and is the best possible preparation for all professions,’

The universe, throughout its vast extent in space, and its long sequence of transformations in time, is a single, multiform celebratory event. So the key issue at Prescott College has to be celebration. Celebration is the key to the future. It’s the key to human energies. You can’t have energies if you don’t celebrate. Prescott College should be a place that celebrates the universe, that celebrates the deep mystery of things, in a meaningful way. And that is what education is. It’s knowing how to enter creatively in celebration. It’s knowing the universe, and knowing how to celebrate because we know the Great Celebration.

…What we need to do is to move into the future as a group, as a community, as the community of Prescott College. No one of us can do very much without everybody else."

Thomas Berry at Prescott College,

February 14, 1992

 

(from the notebooks of Drew Dellinger)

About Drew Dellinger

Drew Dellinger, Ph.D., is an internationally known speaker, poet, writer, and teacher whose keynotes and poetry performances—which address ecology, justice, cosmology, and connectedness—have inspired minds and hearts around the world. He is also a consultant, filmmaker, and founder of Planetize the Movement.

Dellinger has presented at over 1400 events across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. He has spoken and performed at numerous conferences—including TEDWomen, Bioneers, the Green Festival, the Dream Reborn, and the Parliament of the World’s Religions—as well as colleges and universities, poetry venues, protests, and places of worship.

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