Patrick Henry's First Graduates

by Rosalind S. Helderman                                                                       Vol. XV, No. 7, August 2002

Patrick Henry College, the Purcellville evangelical Christian school founded two years ago primarily for formerly home-schooled students, graduated its first class of 14 yesterday. "There is little doubt in anyone's mind that the dream we started is rapidly solidifying. We'll be here as long as the Lord tarries," said college President Michael P. Farris.

   The 10 women and four men, who each started their college education elsewhere before attending Patrick Henry, graduated with traditional commencement hallmarks such as strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," jokes about their parents' relief at finishing tuition payments, and encouragement to do well unto others.

   But at Patrick Henry, there was more -- exhortations that the first class fulfill the school's vision by using its Christian morality to change society. "When I see what has happened in our nation in the last 50 to 75 years, I fear for the future of America," said commencement speaker Don Hodel, who served as secretary of the interior and secretary of energy in the Reagan administration and is a former president of the Christian Coalition. "If it is God's will that we have a revival, it will happen. But God works through people. You may be called upon to be God's instrument."

   It was a message that rang true with graduates, several said. Rebecca Durnell, a 24-year-old graduate from Greenfield, IN, said she hopes to become a judge so she can adjudicate with a religiously based understanding of right and wrong. "This vision is so fresh," said Durnell, who will attend law school at Indiana University at Indianapolis in the fall. "People go to other schools because of their reputation, but people come here because of that vision."

   Justin Knepper, 21, from Ontonagon, Mich., said he knows that younger students will watch the school's first class to see whether the graduates succeed in leading. Knepper said he hopes to get a master's degree in political science and run for Congress. "There are a lot of Christian colleges that focus on the ministry. There's not too much emphasis on getting Christian youth involved in the political arena," he said.

   Farris, a former Virginia gubernatorial candidate, encourages students to work on political campaigns and to obtain Washington internships.

   The college, which accepts no government money and has pledged to expand without taking on debt, has relied on donors to help build its cupola-topped main building and four brick dormitories. The school now has 150 students and expects almost 100 freshmen in the fall; construction is underway on a fifth dorm.

   Yesterday's graduation ceremony took place on a grassy slope behind the main classroom building. Just visible behind a line of trees was a brown ridge -- more than 100 vacant acres Patrick Henry owns and hopes will be the center of its campus, said Dean of Students Paul Wilson.

   There is hope for the students as well. Farris said he believes Patrick Henry could produce a president. "I have great hope for the potential of these students, and I think they will disproportionately represent their society," he said.