The ‘e2’ & ‘e4’ Combo: Kansas College Cranks Up Curriculum Pushing Entrepreneurship
- Posted on March 16, 2011 at 6:43am by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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When William F. Buckley Jr. wrote “God and Man at Yale” in 1951, he decried the rise of socialist and collectivist ideologies in the halls of his ivy league alma mater. My, how the times are changing. Today, Kansas’ McPherson College is making local headlines for embracing the free-market principle entrepreneurship both as a principle to be upheld, and as an activity to be pursued.
Many of you know about Glenn Beck’s e4 project, which celebrates four values that begin with the letter “e”: enlightenment, education, empowerment, and entrepreneurship. At McPherson College, we see what happens when e2, education, comes together with e4, entrepreneurship.
Here are some of McPherson’s graduating entrepreneurs:
This liberal arts college is adopting a plan to infuse the entrepreneurial spirit into the day-to-day lives of its 700 students. Consider, for instance, that the college is encouraging its young learners to pursue their own innovative ideas with the “Horizon Fund,” mini grants between $100 and $500 given to students to “explore or carry out an original entrepreneurial idea.” And there is an incentive scheme! The college reports that “You can apply more than once if your initial idea is selected and you can demonstrate progress.”
At least thirty students have received grants since October 2010, and with their money, many of them are starting small businesses: one young woman is hoping to expand her knit-scarves business, while another young man is starting an anti-bullying non-profit. Meanwhile, senior Rod Barlet, who hails from Elizabethtown PA, hopes to start a handyman business in his hometown, “competing against larger contractors with affordability. The grant will help Barlet develop a business plan.”
Two other students received money to pursue their passion for Christian Rock. Zack Gaddis and Jared Stevenson, both juniors, used their grant to copyright their music. Entrepreneurship and property rights? Was there ever a more beautiful Randian bond? My free market cup runneth over, to quote the Good Book (liberally). “We have many ideas, but they come from God,” Gaddis said, “We’ve taken it into action and people love it. I think that’s being an entrepreneur.”
But the entrepreneurialism does not end there. There is also the Global Enterprise Challenge, a competition encouraging students to work together “to develop an idea for a social enterprise.” And this too:
To help encourage that [entrepreneurial] mindset in students, the college has hired Betsy Gatewood as its first-ever entrepreneurship fellow…
Eventually, entrepreneurship will reach deep into the curriculum. The college will offer an entrepreneurship minor, but the concept will reach through all areas of coursework – something Gatewood says will set McPherson apart….
The college is trying to set itself apart through this effort; it will soon start marketing the entrepreneurial concept in recruitment efforts. But administrators say bringing entrepreneurship to the table makes sense for colleges, especially a liberal arts school.
As writer Greg Pesci reminds us over at GlennBeck.com, entrepreneurs are an indispensable part of our society. “Data from the Census Bureau,” Pesci writes, “demonstrate that since 1977 American entrepreneurs in firms less than five years old have been responsible for literally all the net job creation in this country.”
You can watch a clip of McPherson College President Michael Schneider speaking about the importance of entrepreneurship below. He explains rather eloquently the link between a liberal arts education and entrepreneurship: “You can actually take an idea and make it happen.”
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BurntHills
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 1:06pmso folks, poster MCEDPROF wants us to know that the KS college program is just trying to scam us into thinking they’re Americans too.. it’s not about business, or jobs… it is all about socialism.
Report Post »MCEdProf
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 10:55pmDear, Burnthills, As quoted in a recent newspaper article, “Faculty members at McPherson College have penned the following as their definition of entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is the creative process of developing sustainable, innovative ventures that solve problems and meet the needs of the greater community. Balancing opportunity and risk, the entrepreneur manages resources and constructs solutions that benefit both self and society.” It is possible to be pro-capitalism and pro-socialism. I believe one of the biggest problems facing our nation is our polarity. Until we can learn to appreciate our different perspectives and search for common ground we are going to be in trouble. We need more moderation and civility.
Report Post »dizzyinthedark
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:51pmNow this is something to support. I see this spreading to other Universities as the majority of students/parents in America see the need for ‘real, honest change’ and it will happen with our young–not the hopeless change that was offered to the unsuspecting, uneducated Americans that voted in Barry Soetoro.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:46pmam I loged in now
Report Post »MCEdProf
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:48amI’m a prof at McPherson College. Like others, I am excited these new offerings. However, I want to clarify my take on the topic. As this program and minor was developed we made a conscience effort to NOT emphasize the business side of entrepreneurship. The focus in this case is on SOCIAL Entrepreneurship. Our goal is to empower our students to make a positive difference in the world. This is NOT about making money or getting rich. When it turns that way, I’m done. PS. PIPER60–most of the facutly at MC are far from conservative. We really are not about the money side of entrepreneurship.
Report Post »monkeymom
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:05pmWell darn … it was such an uplifting story until this post
Report Post »:(
BurntHills
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 1:03pmin other words, it is a scam to fool people into thinking democrats are Americans too.
Report Post »ETOOL USMC RECON
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 1:54pmLet’s see now……for there to be Social Entrepreneurship….there HAS to be a Business Entrepreneur that has given money, earned in the Free Market arena, to pay for it.
This is also true of any college…..all is paid for by earned money, as none of it grows on trees.
Report Post »QuantumVerp
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 4:36pmThe wealth of America is in her education bureaucracy! No kidding! < 0 (That is also the galactic symbol for 'professor') < 0
Report Post »ETOOL USMC RECON
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:45amKudos to McPherson for teaching something useful!
I wonder if they will have a class about the Fair Tax soon.
When will we stop punishing achievement in this great nation with our current tax system ?????
Report Post »felina g
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:09amThanks Glenn ! We are born with incentive to create anything we can dream. Nurture that in your babies and it will be one of the greatest gifts you can ever give to your child………..except maybe a charge account at “Toy`s R Us”.
Turn off the TV.
Report Post »ksagpilot
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:54amGod Bless Kansas. Another reason I proud to call myself a Kansan.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 1:10pmgo down to MCEDPROF and feel your stomach turn. so, acc to him, it’s not about starting a business, making money or getting rich (Capitalism) .. it’s a SOCIAL joke on us. that’s the only way we read him, anyway.
Report Post »MCEdProf
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:00pmIt is possible that it can about both: making money and helping others. For me, it is about balance. Making money at the expense of our fellow humans, destruction of the planet, etc. is not worth it. Read my post below to see the college definition of entrepreneurship.
Report Post »Pat in PA
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:53amHistory will call the past twenty to fifty years the Age of Entitlement.
It is up to this generation to write the next ten years+ as the Age of Enlightenment, Education and Empowerment….Entrepreneurship will inevitably follow.
This country needs every one of us to stop the fifty year slide towards a form of government and way of life much different than our founding fathers ever envisioned and intended.
Report Post »Joyce Ca
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:43amThis could catch on at other colleges. Let Us Pray.
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:20amWait for the socialist professors to start protesting the program. In their view this is promoting heartless capitalism and the exploitation of the working class, and will result in the uneven distribution of wealth. This is terrible.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 1:11pmread on MCEDPROF, it’s about socialism.
Report Post »QuantumVerp
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:16amNothing will do more for e4 than…
(Hand me the envelope…)
The Return to Barter!
which reminds me, everyone needs to have a pocket scale accurate to 1/100 gram! Cash register drawers need to be enlarged. Printing money may be outlawed! Let everything float!
(Just think-tanking…)
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:22amAnother reason I’m pround to be a Kansan!! Go Team Go!
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:25ampround = PROUD
Report Post »my typing fingers are still asleep… :)
NickDeringer
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:22amWe’re capitalists now.
Report Post »aLinedog
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:52am“..grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.”
Report Post »Buck Bagaw
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:11amFirst Kansas, then maybe the rest of the country. This seed should be watered and nurtured, for there is still hope.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:10amIt‘s about time we had a college that isn’t run by the presidents’ soulless mates. Yeah!!!!! We need this type of teaching in our colleges. It‘s nice to know that my spouse isn’t the only conservative professor.
Report Post »Buck Bagaw
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:14amIt’s nice to know that the term “conservative professor” isn’t always an oxymoron.
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:17amYou said it, we need all places of education k-12 and higher learning to use this kind of curriculum.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 8:15amI love this idea. I am sure they will be successful. Imagine they are not teaching them to live on Government handouts. Blazers I think our movement is beginning to really make a difference. GO US !!!!
Report Post »tobywil2
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:03amTHE TYRANT’S ENEMY, THE INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEUR:
Tyrants require an enemy to gain and retain power. The “Wannabe Peers” have used this “chosen enemy” tactic as an integral part of their agenda to usurp our freedom since the late 1800’s. The “Wannabe Peers” (Those who lust for the unearned power and prestige that King George III conferred on the English Peers) chose the Entrepreneur to be their enemy. However, these “Wannabe Tyrants” called their enemy the “Rich” not Entrepreneur. The word “Rich” was used because of the implication that the “Rich” enjoy unearned wealth, wealth that was somehow stolen from the masses.
Report Post »Entrepreneurs, of course, utilize innovation to create the wealth and increase the individual productivity. Their success made the United States the greatest industrial power that the world has ever seen. If the term “rich man” were changed to producer, employer or Entrepreneur the propaganda would be totally ineffective.
You would die of starvation and exposure if you had to exist on the wealth created by the “Wannabe Tyrants” but we all live in luxury (compared to the standard of living before the industrial revolution) in an economy created by innovative Entrepreneurs.
For more on the tactics and strategy of the “Wannabe Tyrants” see chapter 5 of “21st Sense Common Sense.” http://commonsense21c.com/
colonial10
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 5:56pmThey are setting a new high standard. I noticed they are taking advice from well rounded people instead of listening to socialist or liberal peddlers. Good on them.
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