Small, Liberal Arts, Bucolic - Seton Hill University Could Use an Epstein and More

Jeffrey Epstein was a generous contributor to higher education. No question though, a lot of self-interest was involved. Hefty donations gave him access to the world of thought leaders, state-of-the-art researchers and policy influencers. 

Now Epstein is gone. Actually, that's been since 2019. And the challenged small, liberal arts sector, unlike the fortunate Bard back then which he financially supported, currently has to go it alone in fundraising. 

So, here in 2026 is Seton Hill University, based in bucolic Greensburg, Pennsylvania (population 14,462). Recently it launched its "Framing the Future" campaign. The goal is raising $110 million by 2028. 

Involved in that are influencers such as the daughter and son of Joanne Boyle, the late longest serving president and the change-agent who transitioned the institution from a women's college to the coed university it is. But the list of those on the fundraising front lines lacks the powerhouse players such as an Epstein. A nudge from him might have shaken loose donations from the deep pockets on his network.

Meanwhile, all of higher education, whatever the institutional size, is in crisis. The real issue is: Can the Seton Hills in America survive? Lourdes in northwestern Ohio didn't.

That life-and-death reality is being driven primarily by the falloff in the blind faith in higher education as essential to the American Dream of class mobility. Go to college and you can rise about the socioeconomic circumstances of your birth. Sure, there will always be the Lucky Sperm Club (The Nepo Baby) which has unique advantages in the labor market. But with a college degree, plus an advanced one or two, you can get a piece of the pie.

I began attending Seton Hill on scholarship as a first-generation college in 1963. That was straight from the hood in ungentrified Jersey City, New Jersey. It was a start. 

Then, along the way post graduation in 1967, I wound up in the top 10% of what writers grossed, an influencer in the legal sector and able to pivot smoothly to other lines of work when those faded. Although in my 80s I remain working for income. Now and then my blog posts attract 200k page views, along with likes, comments and reposts. Five years ago I transitioned to new niches in how to earn a living. 

But I am no cheerleader for College as The Ticket or Even A Ticket. 

In my current role as intuitive coach I warn youth and their families to take the blinders off. What college can provide is a splendid traditional education. But there's no guarantee of its being a platform for getting, holding and moving on to better work. Not as an employee. Not as an entrepreneur. Smirk. Even if you start out majoring in a supposed marketable field, by graduation day the knowledge base, skills and intern experience could be on the wrong side of the brutal law of supply and demand. 

Obviously, only members of the Lucky Sperm Club could wind up going to college. They can continue to enjoy the "college experience" as a necessary rite of passage. Along with that will be the usual travel around the world. Fun trying out trends. Maybe political activism.

Those I coach ask me: Would you do college again? Well, I tell them that's the wrong question. A more productive inquiry would be how any human being, whatever the background, spots and seizes opportunity and bounces back from setbacks. It's less and less about where you begin. What matters is what you do in the now, especially when your strategic planning doesn't pan out.  

Career Paths? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.