Date: April 8, 2025
The fourth quarter normally has a bounce. The pattern of the academic year is that we enjoy the Fall – after all, we are all coming back from a summer away, pleased to see each other, and then flow into Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then January through March is harder – the weather is difficult and the season is Lent. Then April and May brings spring, Easter, and the end of the semester. There is normally a fourth quarter bounce.
Perhaps for many reasons we are finding this academic year harder. Weather wise Spring is coming slowly (we are being impacted indirectly with some difficult weather events in the south). Lent was later; we are still awaiting Holy Week. And our proximity to Washington DC makes us feel more connected to the turbulence of the current administration.
If this is the diagnosis, then what is the remedy? I suggest the remedy needs to be a concerted effort by us all to enjoy the last few weeks of this semester. Seniors as you prepare to serve the Lord around the world take these weeks to enjoy each other; Middlers you are two thirds through reflect on how fast your time is going; and our Juniors and one year program seminarians value the gift of this time and prepare for the summer of CPE. In short, I invite us all to do everything we can in our own ways to end this academic year well. Let us make it a matter of prayer.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary