Why Wesleyan? - West Virginia Wesleyan College

WHY WESLEYAN: REGIONALThe Value of WesleyanWest Virginia Wesleyan matters much to the State of West Virginia andthe region it serves. Wesleyan is one of those rare jewels of great worth thateasily is overlooked, in part because the College does not “toot its own horn”or publicly tout the many areas where it creates value, but also in largepart because many of the areas where it adds value are difficult to quantify.A popular term in international politicstoday is “soft power.” The antithesis of“hard power,” soft power is the use ofpersuasion and attraction to convinceothers of the merit of one’s causes. In asimilar fashion, Wesleyan provides bothhard value and soft value to the Stateand region. The hard value is mosteasily quantified because it principally iseconomic in nature. I will touch brieflyon this hard value, but this article willfocus primarily on the soft value WestVirginia Wesleyan College adds to theState and region, those things difficultto measure but of inestimable value.Hard Value: EconomicsThe easiest way to measure the valueof Wesleyan to the State and region isto review the economics. Without recountingall of the statistics, it is obviousthat the money the College spends foreverything from food to supplies toutilities adds millions of dollars to theState’s economy. A significant proportionof that money goes directly to theeconomy of Buckhannon and UpshurCounty, but no small part of all themoney spent by the College benefitsthe entire economy of West Virginia.An equally obvious economic benefit forthe State and the region is the millionsof dollars Wesleyan pays in wages andbenefits to its employees. This moneycirculates many times throughout theregion and adds great value to theeconomy of the State of West Virginia.These are the two most obvious economicways that Wesleyan matters to the Stateand region, but there are other, lessobvious, but very significant ways thatWesleyan adds value economically.• With almost half of the College’sstudents coming from other statesand countries, significant newresources are brought to West Virginiaand the region.• Recent construction projects, andsustained maintenance on thecampus have added tens of millionsto the economy.• The faculty and staff at Wesleyanannually secure significant grantsfrom federal, state and private sources.This money helps with the purchaseof supplies and equipment, and payssalaries and benefits for faculty, staffand student assistants.• Athletic, arts, church and otherevents bring thousands of visitorsto the campus from many areas ofthe country. These visitors have asignificant economic impact on theState and region.• Annually, Wesleyan often receivesmillions in contributions from alumniand friends, as well as interest earningsfrom its investments. This money helpsfund grants to students, construction,salaries and other expenditures thatbenefit the State and region.• Not insignificant, many of theseeconomic activities provide bountifultax revenues for the State, especiallyin the areas of sales taxes and incometaxes.So does Wesleyan matter to the economyof the State and region? There is nodoubt the answer to that question is yes.Soft ValueMuch more difficult to calculate, butequally important, is the value added tothe State and region by those items thatare noneconomic in nature, items I referto as “soft value.” Although these aredifficult to measure, they are of equalAbout the AuthorLloyd G. Jackson II serves as Chairof the West Virginia Wesleyan Boardof Trustees. He is a graduate of WestVirginia University and WVUCollege of Law. While serving as aWV State Senator, he was Chair of theEducation Committee. Lloyd and hiswife, Trina, live in Hamlin, WV.or greater value to the State and regionthan the purely economic benefits.First, West Virginia Wesleyan bringsdozens of talented and highly-educatedmen and women to the State and area.Our faculty and staff add value far beyondtheir economic impact. They join civicgroups, run for public office, serve onboards and commissions, contend forpublic causes, buy and sell quality housing,coach local sports teams and other youthactivities, and provide many more intangiblebenefits that simply would go undonewithout the presence of Wesleyan.Second, with slightly over half ourstudents coming from within the bordersof West Virginia, the education theCollege provides these students, youngand not so young, is invaluable to theState and region. Unfortunately, amongthe 50 states, West Virginia has thesmallest percentage of its populationwith a bachelor’s degree. The valueWesleyan adds simply by doing whatit was created to do, educate men andwomen, cannot be ignored, and perhapsis the main reason Wesleyan matters tothe State and region.Third, in addition to providing ourgraduates with bachelor’s degrees, the4 SUNDIAL SUMMER/FALL 2010