Bradwin Address – Frontier College

89th Annual Meeting of Frontier College

Judith Snow

Oct. 22, 1988

Great Questions - Judith Snow - cover image

Irr IS AN HONOUR TO BE INVITED TO GIVE the Brad win Address at the 89th Annual General Meet­ing of Frontier College. I consider it a great distinction to be numbered among those eminent people who have given this address in the past. Frontier College has a history of being, and can continue to be I believe, an agent of social good in our nation. I hope that my words today will foster this capacity of our venerable College to bring about a better world.

There area number of reasons, I suspect, why I would be chosen to give this talk this year. For one thing, I am obviously a member of a group of people who have been pushed out to the margins of our society. I say “obviously” somewhat tongue-in-cheek for in fact I am unusual among disabled people. I have a job, I live in my own home, I have been able to avoid ongoing poverty, I have a good education and I have a large network of friends, colleagues, and even a husband. Frontier College has had a great deal to do with these accomplishments, and I will speak more of this later. But I have lived on the margins, and have fought hard to become a participating citizen. It is an experience worth speaking about.

Another reason for choosing me is that I have thought a lot about what it takes to make real community for people. I am a thinker and a dreamer, and I have been watching the people around me. I have gathered something of a reputation for being a visionary, and today I want to explore one expression of this vision. Let’s look at what fosters community; community capable of meeting the needs of all people in all their diversity.