Steiner Ball: ‘You can be the light’

Rachel Dorroh • January 26, 2024

A new semester is officially underway at Union College, marked by the Spring Convocation held Thursday morning in the John M. Robsion Jr. Arena. The annual tradition serves to welcome back students and also reaffirm CIRLCES – Union’s core values of celebration, integrity, responsibility, civility, lifelong learning, engagement, and spirituality. Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball delivered this year’s address.

“What an exciting time this is in your life,” Steiner Ball told students. “What an opportunity you have to bring hope, to bring healing, and to be a witness of good news to this world that struggles immensely with many things.”

Steiner Ball is one of roughly 60 active bishops in the United Methodist Church and is currently assigned to the West Virginia Conference. She has held several committee positions with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, was one of three moderators of the Commission on the Way Forward, and co-chairs a task force working to address substance abuse and addiction in and around West Virginia.

In her talk, she stressed that each person is loved and valued by God and can make a positive difference in the lives of others.

“You can be the light that breaks through the fear, that breaks through stigma and hopelessness, that breaks through the wide variety of isms and the abuse, the oppression or the violence that paralyzes,” Steiner Ball said.

“You can make a difference. You can impact this world for good. Let this convocation, this celebration of new beginnings, be a challenge to each one of you,” she continued. “You are here, yes, to learn how to work with each other and as a team, but you are also here to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captive, to give sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free.”

Carlos Sainz Barroso, Dr. Marisa Greer, Dr. Marcia Hawkins, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, and the Rev. David Miller standing on stage.

President Dr. Marcia Hawkins, Executive Vice President & Provost Dr. Marisa Greer, and Student Government Association President Carlos Barroso Sainz also shared words of welcome and support.

[PHOTO: Carlos Sainz Barroso, Dr. Marisa Greer, Dr. Marcia Hawkins, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, and the Rev. David Miller]

“You are not alone,” Sainz reminded students. “This campus is more than buildings and bricks. It's a vibrant community.”

The convocation also included a processional and recessional featuring Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Yukiko Fujimura on piano; an invocation and sending forth led by College Minister & Executive Director of Spiritual Life and Social Justice Initiatives, the Rev. David Miller; and the National Anthem and Union alma mater, led by choir group Union Harmony.

Located in Barbourville, Kentucky, Union College is a private, liberal arts-based institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church. With a student-faculty ratio of 15 to 1, Union provides personal, individualized education and promotes the intellectual, spiritual and physical enrichment of students, faculty, and staff as well as the economic growth of our Appalachian community.

Carlos Sainz Barroso, Dr. Christine Marley-Frederick, Dr. Marisa Greer, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, Dr. Marcia Hawkins, and Rev. David Miller.

Union's freshman students standing in the audience.

Union's faculty lined up and marching to Spring Convocation.

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Dr. Yukiko Fujimura on stage in Conway Boatman Chapel with her UCU piano class.

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