09/18/2026
Two decades ago, the question was raised: "Can Hope Endure?" In their interrogation of this question, authors James C. Kennedy and Caroline J. Simon offered a “historical case study” focusing on the way Hope College had responded through the decades to the challenge of defining its position in the world of Christian higher education. In the two decades since their publication, much has changed in the overall landscape of higher education. Suspicions about the value of the liberal arts plague the twenty-first-century landscape. Yet Hope College has clearly endured. Through the voices of 18 authors, "The Endurance of Hope" shows that while higher education in the United States is experiencing a series of crises, the response to these crises requires a particular sort of educational vision, a vision that Hope College, at its best, embodies. This thesis is based on the examination of the recent challenges the college has experienced and the decisions it continues to face in shaping its future.
