Jeff Kunkel

A growing relationship between a small liberal arts college in Kentucky and steadfast friend began 44 years ago with a simple lunch and a road trip.

Jeff Kunkel, a student at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, was traveling via I-75 in his 1963 Chevy Nova on his way to a work assignment in Eastern Kentucky. Along the way he saw a sign indicating the Historic Boone Tavern Inn and Restaurant at the next exit. Jeff thought he would take a break from his travels and have a nice lunch, and it turned out to be so much more.

Jeff notes that the young waiter who assisted him at Boone Tavern was a "Berea student who was working and training in the restaurant as part of her tuition-free education. This made me want to learn more about Berea College, so after lunch, I wandered around town, talked to more students, visited Hutchins Library, the Sunshine Ballard Weaving Studio, and the Log House Craft Store." He also collected materials from the Office of Admissions and learned about Berea's unique model of education.

While Jeff was impressed with so many aspects of Berea College during his encounter, he later learned that the grandmother of one of his friends attended Berea College when women were un-welcome in many other college classrooms. "I began to make small annual gifts to Berea College, which helped me feel connected to the students," said Jeff.

Years later, Jeff and his wife, Mary Elyn Bahlert, scheduled a campus visit, stayed in the Historic Boone Tavern Inn, and toured the campus farm, gardens, library, studios, and music center. "We saw and met students who were studying, working, and making things," said Jeff. "The students were engaged - body, mind, and spirit."

Last summer, Jeff and Mary Elyn met with Randie, a second-year Berea student, during a visit to their home in California. Randie joined Amy Harmon of the College's Planned Philanthropy team during this visit and, according to Jeff, Randie "shared about growing up in West Virginia and her studies and work in the Berea College Writing Center, which, she hoped, might offer her some direction about her future path." This meeting also opened Randie to the experience and perspectives of two of Berea College's steadfast friends. "My favorite part (of the Ray Ramseyer Endowed Internship) was meeting donors, as I got to see in person the investment they put in us students as the future," said Randie. "I got to experience the feeling behind the support and the care."

As a writer and artist, Jeff said he knows the value of making useful, beautiful, and interesting things by hand, and he is glad that making such things can be a necessary part of student education at Berea College. Mary Elyn most values the integrated, co-educational history of Berea College, and as a first-generation college student herself, Mary Elyn knows the value of a college that deliberately serves first-generation students.

"Mary Elyn and I have discovered that one of the great joys is the ability to offer financial support to the people and organizations we value," said Jeff. "We both value liberal arts education, and Berea's unique model of education remains attractive and relevant. Mary Elyn and I want to be part of that unique model of education and growth."

"Not long ago, we made Berea College a beneficiary of our living trust and became members of Berea's Great Commitments Society during the 100 in 100 Initiative. Just recently, we began to set up acharitable gift annuity with Berea College,"said Jeff. They hope that one day Jeff can offer a workshop on writing or painting to Berea students, and Mary Elyn, as a retired pastor and current spiritual leader, can lead a retreat or preach a sermon at Berea. "All of this has arisen from a lunch at Boone Tavern more than forty years ago," said Jeff.