LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

State's Transportation Plan Gets Federal OK
28 Mar 2024 15:06

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]

New Funding Plan Ahead for Visit Sitka?
28 Mar 2024 15:02

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]

Sitka 'Frankenstein' Puts Classic Tale in New Ligh...
28 Mar 2024 15:01

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]

State May Los Millions Over Ed Dept. Missteps
28 Mar 2024 14:59

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]

Gov Signs Bill On Internet In State Schools
28 Mar 2024 14:57

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]

Capitol Christmas Tree to Come from Tongass
28 Mar 2024 14:56

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]

City League Games Thursday
28 Mar 2024 14:52

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Police Blotter
28 Mar 2024 14:50

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead  [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Community Happenings
28 Mar 2024 14:48

This Week in Girls on the Run By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Group Targets SJ Campus for New College

By TOM HESSE

Sentinel Staff Writer

For years Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has been finding ways to make use of the Sheldon Jackson campus, and his next idea is even more ambitious.

Kreiss-Tomkins is working with dozens of collaborators from Alaska and other states in an effort to bring an accredited college back to the campus.

 

Deep Springs College alumn Bryden Sweeney-Taylor, at left, speaks at a meeting in Allen Hall to discuss creating a college in Sitka based on the Deep Springs model, Nov. 11. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The proposed Outer Coast College would offer a two-year program on a different model than that of traditional higher education.

Students would make decisions on nearly everything, from meals to classes to faculty. After Sheldon Jackson College closed in 2007 and the campus was turned over to the nonprofit Alaska Arts Southeast, the primary use of the historic campus has been for the summertime Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

“The campus is such a great attribute for Sitka, but it sits empty for most of the academic year,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “I realized that creating a college on a campus would be an incredibly natural fit, and once I had that sort of practical or utilitarian fit, my mind sort of moved into idea connecting world.” 

He connects the potential of Sheldon Jackson to a college he heard about while studying at Yale University – Deep Springs College. It’s a two-year institution founded in 1917 and located in the central California desert near the Nevada border. 

Kreiss-Tomkins said he met a number of Yale students who had transferred from Deep Springs. 

“A handful of Deep Springers would transfer to Yale for their junior and senior year and I got to know some of them and became exclusively impressed with their character and their personality,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. 

In contrast to typical academic institutions, Deep Springs students are mostly on their own. Students handle admissions, self-governance, faculty hires and their own cooking and cleaning. 

“Students effectively run the boarding school,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “I would sort of describe that kind of labor as ownership of the institution and of the education of the students.” 

Kreiss-Tomkins said modern education needs more of that approach, and he thinks Sitka can replicate that kind of success. 

“The idea is for this to be a sort of academically and intellectually rigorous and alive place,” he said. “You can’t really quantify it but that’s one of Deep Springs’ most obvious and renowned features.” 

The idea is still in the incubation stage. Kreiss-Tomkins expects the earliest it could start would be 2017 – a decade after Sheldon Jackson closed and a century after Deep Springs was founded. The student body would be small, “well under 100 students,” Kreiss-Tomkins said.

A number of hurdles lie ahead for the project, the largest of which is getting the school accredited. After that’s obtained, students would be eligible to transfer Outer Coast credits to other institutions, the way that Kreiss-Tomkins’ Yale colleagues did. 

“Our limiting factor right now is figuring out accreditation,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “We’ve been doggedly learning everything there is about accreditation over the last three months. We’ve definitely made progress so far – we have a pretty respectful understanding of how the process works so far.” 

Kreiss-Tomkins is Sitka’s representative in the State House of Representatives, so he’s experienced with red tape. But even he was surprised at what it takes to get a school accredited. 

“It’s a complex and difficult regulatory system and I say that as someone who spends a lot of my life regulating regulatory systems,”  he said.

The group working with Kreiss-Tomkins includes Sitka residents and Deep Springs alumni. Fine Arts Camp Director Roger Schmidt is also helping. Schmidt manages the campus and has headed up most of the revitalization work. 

Some of the people involved have been tied to past ventures such as the Bulldogs on Baranof program and the Sitka Fellows, which bring college and post-college students to Sitka for individual study projects and community service. Parts of those programs, such as revitalizing the SJ Campus or community volunteering, also are included in the Outer Coast vision. 

“One of the big aspects of the college is going to be community integration, and this is effectively one of the founding principals of the school, which is Sitka is a magical place and young people have a lot to learn being a part of a place that is this integrated and this amazing,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. 

Unlike Deep Springs, which has an all-male student body, Outer Coast would have no gender barrier. Aside from mapping out how the college will function, Kreiss-Tomkins and his team are also tracking down donors,  through both Alaska and Deep Springs networks. Kreiss-Tomkins expects those efforts to step up in the coming months with the hope of taking applications in 2016 for the 2017 school year. 

More information about Outer Coast plan can be found at outercoast.org. 

 

 

Comments  

 
# Ted 2015-12-11 19:59
Given the history of how that land was taken, if a college is to be located there it should be a tribal college. I intend to write in more depth soon about why I believe this. If only the planners like JKT and others had used their connections and energy to work toward that end.
 

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!