Terrain V01 - Journal - Page 11
Sterling College | 9
Photo: Class Four
The legacy that Derr leaves, perhaps
the one that has greatest lasting value,
aligns beautifully with his evolutionary
approach to fundraising. The college,
the little cluster of buildings perched on
a hill in Northeastern Vermont, is healthier in a variety of ways than it has ever
likely been. Specific efforts have made
the College more accessible to an increasingly diverse population, as has the
appointment of Sterling’s first Diversity
& Inclusion Fellow in partnership with
College of the Atlantic. Philanthropy
has enabled facilities upgrades such as
the Behrend Admissions Center and the
1958 Room, installation of renewable
energy infrastructures, and aid opportunities for students that might otherwise
not attend. But Derr has never been
myopic about Sterling’s relevance in
Craftsbury, nor has he ever felt the need
to constrain himself within the fencelines that encircle the Common. In 2019,
after two years of preparatory work, the
two-year, no-tuition, Kentucky-based
Wendell Berry Farming Program was established thanks to a $3.5 million grant
and matching challenge from the NoVo
Foundation. This partnership works as
proof of a theory that Sterling exists
not as a standalone institution, but as a
working model for place-based learning
that can be disseminated. Granted, the
work and curriculum being presented
in Henry County, Kentucky, is unique in
that it is suited for its immediate biore-
Photo: Will Freihofer
gion and community, but the value of
the education, and the means by which
it is communicated, has roots in the
acid soils of the Northeast Kingdom of
Vermont. Nourish the roots, and new
growth will come, in soils the world over.
problems facing our ecosystems have
outgrown that “conserve and preserve”
paradigm, and that place-based learning must be reinterpreted, utilizing an
appropriate use of technology, if global
change is to occur.
In that vein, Matthew Derr leaves Sterling
with something of an assignment, one
that will propel it forward into yet another stage of evolution. The development
of the EcoGather™ initiative grew out of
Derr’s belief that to have pervasive impact, Sterling, and indeed the worldwide
community of thinkers and educators,
must shift focus from an historic interpretation of environmental stewardship to ecological thinking and action.
As his tenure comes to a close, he challenges Sterling to recognize that the
Derr leaves Sterling with the charge
to cultivate its brand of education in
places beyond Craftsbury, to increase
impact and reach, and to leverage a
bigger toolbox, one that includes technology as well as axes and oxcarts.
It’s fair to say that everyone could benefit from a Sterling education, particularly amidst the crises we now face. In the
generations to come, EcoGather may
well make that possible.