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Ask A Kansan is a podcast where we're amplifying, connecting and uncovering stories across Kansas.
Every week, Gus and Sydney sit down with the people who actually make this state run — museum directors and ranchers, founders and historians, zookeepers and woodcarvers. From Kansas City to Kinsley, WaKeeney to Wichita, we go where the story is.
You'll leave each episode knowing something you didn't about the state we call home. It's not a history lecture and it's not a business show. It's a real conversation with a Kansan worth knowing.
New episodes weekly. askakansan.com
Ep79
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New Bedtime Story Hits Deep
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[00:00:00]
Sydney Collins: So Madeline's in kindergarten, my youngest, and we have to, you know, obviously we read to her every night or try to. And so I was picking books off our shelf, um, o- off of our bookshelf yesterday, 'cause she'll pick the same ones over and over- 'cause obviously she's got favorites. And so I was like, "I cannot read Llama Llama Red Pajama one more time." So I just went to the ki- and we have a ton of books, and so I, I picked, like, three of them off the shelf and n- not even thinking of it, and one of 'em I'd never read before. Um- somebody gave it to one of the kids, and I just, I've just never read it. And it was called The Remember Balloon or The Remember Balloons or The Balloons Remember, something along those lines.
Okay. And I was like, "Interesting, okay." And I'm starting to read this book, and it's about how... I'm gonna cry right now thinking about it. As we grow up, we keep collecting balloons, and each of these balloons has a specific memory in it. And so it talked about how [00:01:00] we get these memories and how we collect 'em, and then it goes, "Well, my grandpa..."
And it's from the kid's perspective. It's like, "My grandpa, he's got a lot of balloons." But as you read this book, um, the kid starts telling you how his grandpa's balloons keep floating away. And see, I'm gonna c- I, it, it got me. And it's about Alzheimer's. It's a kid's perspective- Oh ... on Alzheimer's and how-
Gus Applequist: Oh, wow
Sydney Collins: he watched his grandpa- lose his memories and- sorry. I was not- No ... I was gonna put it together.
Gus Applequist: That's okay.
Sydney Collins: And, um, like, the part that got me is, like, the kid and the grandpa had a shared memory. They had the same color balloon. Ah.
And the grandpa let that balloon go, and the kid was like, "Why did you let that balloon go?"
And it really got me. And then the next book we read was Llama Llama Grandma and Grandpa. And Madeline is like, "Why are you hysterically crying at 8:30 at night?" [00:02:00] And I was like, "Mom has lots of feelings right now." "It's okay." So anyway.
Gus Applequist: I, I've been listening-
to, like, a history of Pixar and stuff, and- and, um, the, the, the stories that we so often is, and label as kids stories- are, are really-
Sydney Collins: Oh, gosh
Gus Applequist: ... they hit so much deeper. They hit so much deeper. Uh, because they're, they're talking about the basic stuff- the human stuff, so.
Sydney Collins: And even- Tanner's gonna be the MVP right now.
Gus Applequist: Bravo. Bravo.
Meet President Laura
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Gus Applequist: Welcome to Ask a Kansan.
Sydney Collins: A podcast where we're amplifying, connecting, and uncovering stories across Kansas.
Gus Applequist: And we've developed a little [00:03:00] bit of a habit.
Sydney Collins: A bit.
Gus Applequist: We, we like talking to university presidents. There's just something about them that, uh, that I think illuminates a lot of what's going on in our state.
And today is no different.
Sydney Collins: Yes. But we have been very fortunate, and to get different... not n- obviously different- Oh, schools, but, like, different perspectives. So this is our first female president. Which made me excited. Um,
Gus Applequist: So our guest today is Laura Crawley from Bethany College in Lindsborg. Uh, Laura has an awesome story- and is doing really great work there in Bethany. And I'm not gonna s- uh, spill the beans on the whole episode, but I just, I hope you stick around because she, she has, she's gone through a lot and, and she's done some incredible things.
Sydney Collins: ?And I'm excited to see. She's only been there for probably a year, right?
Year and a half, I think. Year and a half. So I'm excited to see kind of where the next few years go and how Bethany ... uh, flourishes, so.
Gus Applequist: So without any further ado, here is our interview with [00:04:00] President Laura Crawley.
Sydney Collins: Hello, hello.
Gus Applequist: Hi, come on in. How are you today?
Laura Crawley: I'm good.
Gus Applequist: It's good to see you. Come on in. Hi. Hi,
Laura Crawley: Nice to meet you. Sydney.
Sydney Collins: You too.
Laura Crawley: Hi, Sydney.
Gus Applequist: All right, we'll get the ca- or the camera. This is a camera. This is a camera. This is now a camera.
Laura Crawley: Will that work? If I relax back?
Sydney Collins: There you go.
Laura Crawley: Okay.
Gus Applequist: Well, welcome to Ask a Kansan.
Laura Crawley: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Gus Applequist: We like to start our interviews by having our interviewees introduce themselves.
Could you do that for us?
Laura Crawley: Happy to do that.
Laura’s Career Journey
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Laura Crawley: So I'm Laura Crawley. I'm the 16th president of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Been with the college now since May of last year, and it's just been an incredible journey. It's my first presidency. I've been in higher ed for- since 1991. So my first job in, um, higher education administration, started out in student affairs. Um, I was the advisor for the student newspaper. I have a journalism background myself.
Sydney Collins: Oh, okay.
Laura Crawley: So I was the advisor of a student newspaper at a community college in [00:05:00] Atlanta, Georgia. Um, then moved into student affairs, and from there I've run academic programs, ran an, um, executive MBA program for Georgia State, um, ran an extended campus for the University of Georgia for nine years.
So I was there, um, for quite some time, uh, there in Athens, in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Um, and then spent two years at Lenoir-Rhyne University as the vice president for mission. Um, and Lenoi- Lenoir-Rhyne is in Hickory, North Carolina- um, sort of at the base of the mountains there about an hour outside of Charlotte.
So.
Gus Applequist: So. you sorta came out west to join us here.
Laura Crawley: I did. I did. I came out west, but I also sort of started west. Okay. I grew up in Austin, Texas. Uh, Texas is my home state. My family's been there for many generations in the Hill Country of Texas. Um, my mother's family were German immigrants there. Oh, okay.
Um, and were farmers in the Hill Country, um, there in Texas, so. And my husband's family is from Oklahoma, so been there for- quite some time.
Gus Applequist: I'm glad you went back to your youth, 'cause that's [00:06:00] where I was gonna go next anyway. Yes.
Growing Up Curious
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Gus Applequist: so w- what did education mean to you growing up?
Laura Crawley: So I discovered books probably when I was three years old. There's this wonderful picture of me. My mother loved reading, my grandparents loved reading, um, and they just read to me constantly. There's a wonderful picture of me sitting, uh, I think I must be four years old, uh, with a book in front of me, turning pages. So my happy place was always the library.
Uh, my dad used to take me to the library every week, my sister and me, and I just loved learning. You know, back in the day, this would, this would've been the '70s, we didn't have the internet. So we were accustomed to just not knowing things, you know?
We didn't have pocket computers that we could look everything up on. But we did have something called a reference librarian.
And the reference librarian at the public library was my best [00:07:00] friend. I would call the reference librarian with random questions, and she would say, "Well, sweetie, I'm gonna look that up for you.
Give me your phone number, and I'll call you back." And she would call me back, sometimes within an hour, sometimes a few hours later, and tell me the answer. So I think I was sort of hardwired to be curious.
I loved school, loved it all the way through. Um, I still remember, um... In fact, up until recently, I was still in touch with some of my high school teachers. Um, and then I went to UT Austin, so. I didn't have a choice. You know, you grow up in Austin- you know, you're supposed to go to UT Austin. Um, I had a, an amazing time there. So education- has always been sort of the center- of how I approach the world. I think curiosity is fundamentally human. We are born to be curious, and we're born to live that curiosity in community with other people. [00:08:00] So asking questions, listening, um, sometimes being maybe a little arrogant, thinking I already know the answer and then finding out I don't. Usually I find that out from other people. Right? Um, which is good.
Sydney Collins: That's honest.
I think we all do.
Laura Crawley: Always very good. We always do. And sometimes, you know, they're not people who are older than me. My children have taught me a lot over the years. Um, but I think education, both the sort of organic that I'm describing now of just being curious and following an idea, but also what happens in school.
Family Roots in Education
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Laura Crawley: When I was, uh, my grandparents, my mother's parents, were very important in my life growing up. My grandfather did not finish middle school. Um, you know, he was growing up in the Depression and in a farming family in Texas, and you just didn't get to finish your education. So he was deeply committed to making sure that his children and his grandchildren finished school. We had big [00:09:00] parties whenever any of the cousins finished high school. Um, 'cause that was a, a dream of his that he did not get to fulfill. So when I went to college, um, that was huge for him. Um, he passed away when I was in college. My grandmother, uh, lived to see me, um, get my doctorate.
Sydney Collins: Oh, cool.
Laura Crawley: And that was so import- As she called it, "Have you finished your paper yet?" Um, but it was, it was a family affair, education. So, um, even though, uh, there, I'm the first in my family to finish college and certainly to get a doctorate, master's and a doctorate, it felt like everybody was involved, everybody was invested. Um- so that's very important to me.
From Journalism to Admin
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Gus Applequist: Okay, I have, I have a couple questions I'm gonna throw at you all at the same time, and you can kinda take the ones that you wanna take, okay?
Oh, goody, okay.
One is, when did you know that education was gonna be your [00:10:00] profession?
Laura Crawley: Oh, okay.
Gus Applequist: And then you, your PhD's in women's studies. Yes. And I'm just curious how that happened.
Laura Crawley: Sure.
Gus Applequist: And, and were there women in your life that led you to study that?
Laura Crawley: So how did I know education was gonna be my career? Um, I actually wanted to be a journalist. Um, I was the editor of my junior high newspaper. I was the editor of my high school paper. I worked for the Daily Texan at UT Austin- which was sort of a legendary college paper, but back in, back in the '80s was still a daily paper for the city of Austin as well.
I edited a literary magazine in grad school, and in college edited a, a political magazine as well. Um, I was gonna be a journalist. My plan was that I was going to be, at the time it was Barbara Walters. Now it would've been- like Christiane Amanpour. Oh, Like, I was gonna be the Christiane Amanpour of the day. Um, that was my dream, and as much as I [00:11:00] loved that work- What I found pretty quickly, especially in grad school, is that I also loved education. I loved teaching. Uh, my mother was a paraprofessional in my elementary school her whole career.
Um, actually started out as my lunch lady, which was great, um, and then was, uh, the library aide. So you're, you're sensing a theme, about libraries. But I think teaching was never exactly the goal. I enjoyed it when I was doing it. What I actually learned that I loved was administration- which is so abstract. What does that even mean? You know, when, when our kids were in elementary school, they would have career day.
You know, by then I was a college administrator, and they would say, "Well, well, Mommy, you should come and talk about what you do." And I said, "I'm not-- I don't know how to translate that-" to a fourth grader." And they'd say, "Well, what do you do?" And I'd say, "Well, I, [00:12:00] I go into meetings, and I talk about things that need to be done, and then people go and do that." I mean, it's a bit abstract, right? But really, what administration in higher ed is about is facilitating education. And that is what I have loved- is removing barriers, um, making things possible, not making it easy. It shouldn't be easy. Not removing barriers that are actually part of the learning process. You know, you should have to climb a few mountains- to reach the summit, right? Um, but it's more about enabling people to see themselves in the next stage of the journey of learning before they've reached it. Um, some people call that I mean, one harsh way to say it, I guess, is failing forward. Like, you're supposed to practice. And in higher ed, you're, you're supposed to practice and fail, and then there are people around you, [00:13:00] not to pick you up and dust you off and fix it for you, but to give you a path to fix it so you learn- how to fix it. That, to me, is, is what draws me to education.
So it's not so much about a particular subject. Um, I have taught. Um, I loved teaching basic composition. I'm a, I- a big fan of writing, um, and people knowing how to write. loved teaching history, loved teaching sociology, loved teaching literature. That was my real passion. But I think removing barriers-
so that students and faculty and communities have a chance to discover what's next- ...is much more interesting to me, and I think that's, that to me is the heart of administration.
Gus Applequist: Certainly.
Why Women’s Studies
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Gus Applequist: So, so why, um, study women's studies?
Laura Crawley: So why women's studies? Okay. So I was a, I was the classic liberal arts student.
[00:14:00] I wanted to learn a little bit about a lot. Um, I came into UT Austin in... When did I start? '86. And my parents didn't know a lot about college. They were very committed to me going to college, but they knew it took 120 credit hours to graduate. They knew that.
And I had made it through the core, so that's 60 credit hours, um, exploring all these wonderful topics, and I had already transferred out of the journalism program, um, but hadn't chosen a major yet. So I went to my advisor and I said, "I've taken 60 credit hours. My parents have said that I can stay till 120 credit hours." N- no offense to mathematicians or scientists, but I did say I don't wanna take any more math and science. What am I? Um, and she, uh, looked at my, um- credits up to that point, and she said, "I think you're an American studies major." And if you know American studies, UT Austin has one of the best American [00:15:00] studies programs in the country. It is truly interdisciplinary. It's using the American experience, American history, Ameri- the American story as filtered through history, literature, sociology, a little bit of anthropology, political science, et cetera-
to sort of intersect with and, and interrogate that story. Um, and I loved it. So I've been liberal arts from the start. Graduated, uh, from UT Austin. Didn't quite know what I was going to do. Um, at the time, hadn't really thought about graduate school. It was sort of a foreign concept to me. Got a job at a publishing company in Austin.
I was working as an editorial assistant, um, and went back, uh, to talk to some of my advisors. You talked about women who had been, um, instrumental. Uh, there was a... She's, she was a Victorian lit- um, she was a, Virginia Wolfe scholar.
Sydney Collins: Oh my gosh.
Laura Crawley: Um, Jane Marcus. And Jane Marcus was the first New Yorker I'd ever [00:16:00] met. She was incredible.
Um, introduced me to, uh, what was then a new field, women's literature, and I loved it. I had an intellectual crush on her. Um, she was demanding, but very supportive. And I went to Dr. Marcus and I said what should I do next? I think I w- I'm thinking about graduate school. What should I do next?"
And she said, I won't try to do a New York accent, but she said, um, " You should go to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. They've just started a doctoral program in women's studies, and you should study with Elizabeth Fox-Genovese there."
Um, "She's incredible, and she's building something special." And I said, "Okay.
Well, if Dr. Marcus says it, that's what I'm gonna do." So I went home, filled out the application, um, got accepted. I couldn't even tell you that I knew what women's studies was then. It was a very new field. What I loved about it was that it [00:17:00] was looking at all of these fields that I had explored that I loved, I loved literature, loved history, loved sociology, from the perspective of people who at the time, their perspective had not been at the center. Women's perspectives on history, women's perspectives in literature, women's perspectives in sociology and anthropology had not been at the center of the conversation, and I found that to be invigorating- and exciting. So I went to Emory University. Um, I used to call Emory a intellectual Club Med. Um- They, they paid our tuition and also paid us a stipend-
Sydney Collins: Oh, wow
Laura Crawley: to study. Yes. So I got to go to a combined master's and doctoral program at Emory University, um, at no cost- ... to me. Um, I mean, that's also the power of higher ed. Talk about removing barriers. Um, [00:18:00] and it was just, you know, years of just diving in. And I think what's interesting, I think we often talk about first generation, the first generation experience, uh, the college experience, people who aren't familiar with it or don't have a lot of family background in it, as if that's sort of a barrier.
But for me-
not having family members who had gone through that before but really supported me doing it meant that I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know that I was in training to be a professor. I mean, some of the most obvious things I really did not know. I didn't know that maybe I'm supposed to specialize in something and not be a generalist forever.
I didn't worry about what my employment opportunities were. You know, I came from a family of people who always worked, and there always seemed to be something to do, so I wasn't worried about finding work. I just explored. And that sounds, [00:19:00] now, when I look back on it now, knowing what I know now, what a privilege that was. But probably one of the biggest privileges of that is I didn't feel, um, stuck in a narrative, a a received narrative. I was figuring it out as I went along.
Gus Applequist: I think there's a lot there to latch onto. Right. Um, uh, everyone goes through these sorts of journeys- in their own way.
Discovering Bethany College
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Gus Applequist: Um, so I'm gonna sort of jump forward in time now.
Okay. and, and I'm gonna even skip the, the process of discovering Lindsborg and Bethany.
Laura Crawley: Okay.
Gus Applequist: And, and I'd like you just to introduce Bethany College to our audience- Oh, yes ... in case they don't already know about it.
Laura Crawley: Yes. Bethany is an incredibly special place. I will tell you, when I went on the job market and was looking for op- opportunities, positions, I wasn't even sure I was gonna be a president. Um, Bethany, I was nominated for the position at Bethany.
Sydney Collins: Oh.
Laura Crawley: I had known [00:20:00] Bethany because it's a Lutheran college. And I worked at a Lutheran college. I'm a lifelong Lutheran myself, and so I knew Bethany sort of peripherally. But I learned a lot about it quickly. And what Bethany is, you know, it's founded in 1881 by Swedish immigrants, and it is the immigrant experience. It is the story of people who come to a place, they don't speak the language. They don't know. They know that they're looking for something, but they don't know quite what it is, and they're willing to risk everything. That grit, that resilience, that determination. They built a town in the middle of nowhere out of nothing, and then, like many immigrant communities, um, my f- my family, my mother's family were German immigrant, German Lutheran immigrants, and did very similar things. They, um, go to a place, they build a town, and then within a few [00:21:00] years, they're building a school because they value education. They need teachers, and they need preachers. Um, they need people to continue to build, and it's just the story of Lindsborg and the story of Bethany are so intertwined- in a way that, um, many small private colleges that were founded by immigrant communities, um, have sort of lost that thread.
Either the town around them has grown very large, so they're not... It's, it's just not as present, um, as it is still in Lindsborg. Um, but what I know about Lindsborg and Bethany is they're both right-sized for each other. And those ties are still very present there. So I mean, it- 20% of the businesses in Lindsborg are owned by Bethany grads.
Right? I mean, it is still such a strong- connection. And that connection is what enables us not simply to be tied to tradition, not to be... [00:22:00] You can get stuck in tradition, right? But also to continue building on that resilience, that grit, that determination, and that creativity that started it all. That's what's- really special about Bethany.
Carl and Alma Swenson
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Gus Applequist: I'm particularly interested in Carl and Alma Swenson-
Laura Crawley: Yes ...
Gus Applequist: and their story- and how, you were just talking about the sort of intertwining of, of Lindsborg and Bethany, and I think this couple perfectly illustrates that. So would you mind telling us a little bit about these two?
Laura Crawley: Sure. Um, and I w- I promise you, I would love to tell you more about Carl and Alma Swenson. In spite of my background as a history, um, I'm not even gonna use the word historian, there are some people who may listen to this who are historians- I know ... of Carl and Alma Swenson, and they'll say, "Oh, she got that all wrong."
So I'll, I will do my very best, friends.
Gus Applequist: We're, we're not looking for 100% accuracy.
Laura Crawley: Um, I think what Carl and Alma illustrate is, is, the power of a couple-
who are committed to a [00:23:00] place and a future. So Carl, uh, so legend has it, right? And he's not the only one. There's never just one. Um, but he had the vision to build the church, Bethany Lutheran Church, and then to build Bethany College out of the church, and also the town.
You know, there are so many stories of how he would send people back to Sweden to bring... I mean, Birger Sandzen came back. Right? Um, and that art legacy was founded out of that experience, those people. Alma Swenson created the Messiah Festival- um, with other women in the church. There's a history to that, too. a- again, in the immigrant community, um, story, uh, um, our home church, my home church back in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded by German Lutheran immigrants. And if you look at that history 150 years ago, St. John's Lutheran in Atlanta, it was the women in the [00:24:00] church who were creating music festivals to fund the building. So fund the building of the church itself and fund the building of, um, where the pastor would live, right? Um, so Alma Swenson was doing that with the Messiah Festival. Part of the reason, uh, for the foundation of that is to raise funds for the college, but also teaching people English.
Gus Applequist: Oh, nice.
Laura Crawley: That they were learning the Messiah, not a Swedish work, right?
Sydney Collins: Right.
Laura Crawley: Um, and singing in English, um, in their home. So in those first few years, 145 years ago, it was part of strengthening the community and then drawing people to the community. So there's those wonderful photos of the history of the Messiah Festival, like hundreds and hundreds of people coming from all over, and then they're getting on a train and taking it to other communities.
Right? So those two people, and the people around them, had... They just had no [00:25:00] boundaries. There was no sense of, "We're just a few people out in the middle of nowhere. We can't really dream big." Absolutely not. And there was no sense of, "Okay, we can't do that until we get X, until we have enough resources, until we have enough people." None of that either. There was none of that sense of, "We have to wait until everything's perfect." No, we're just gonna do it. And that is such a powerful story. You know, in all of its complications in the way this country was founded, um, the way the West was expanded, all those complicated and often tragic stories, there are also these stories of, wow, these people with nothing, living in holes in the ground, also built all these amazing things-
um, that, that persevere to today. So I look at them and think, amazing. And then there's a whole other [00:26:00] story behind it, too, of not just Alma Swenson, but others around her.
Um, they're sending missionaries to other countries. There's just no limit to their imagination-
and what they're willing, um, to pursue. You know, have a dream, make it come true.
Gus Applequist: I, I totally agree that, um... Well, okay, I'm gonna relate this back to creativity. Um, and, and what we do here at Fili is, you know, we tell stories and, um, I find that oftentimes the limitations on creativity are what is actually a necessary ingredient in truly-
Laura Crawley: Oh, my gosh
Gus Applequist: being creative.
Laura Crawley: Absolutely true.
Gus Applequist: And I think that, um, when we look back at, at these people in our past that, that had tremendous things they had overcome- they not only overcame those things, but to your point, they were able to build, you know, they were sort of able to fill in their hole and then build a mountain on top of it.
Yes.
Laura Crawley: What a great way to say that. That's so true.
Gus Applequist: And, [00:27:00] and I mean, my, um, I'm fortunate to, to be of Swedish descent and, um, my, my ancestors settled between here and Salina.
Laura Crawley: Yes.
Gus Applequist: Uh, or sorry, here in Lindsborg in 1870. And, um, we're fortunate to have a lot of like written accounts of what our family was like in those days and, um, and what stands out to me is, is this, um, this resolve to make a life here.
Laura Crawley: Yes.
Grit and Creativity Today
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Gus Applequist: And so now sort of transitioning from what that resolve looked like in the past- to what that resolve looks like in the present.
How does that show up at Bethany today?
Laura Crawley: Oh, that's a great question. You know, Bethany is a very small college in a very small town. Um, I always like to say though that Bethany is at the center of the country. We are at the geographic center of the country. We're also at the geographic center of the Lutheran experience in this country, [00:28:00] and big things happen in small places. So in my, in my career, I've worked at very large state institutions. Um, nobody ever thinks they're well-resourced, but they were well-resourced, you know? Um, I mean, University of Georgia is an incredible institution. I mean, land grants, um, embedded in every single county in the state of Georgia. It was a privilege to work at UGA. but UGA didn't lack resources, right? Um, and that led to a lot of creativity. Um, but it also led frankly, to some opportunities say, "Well, we don't really have to do that."
Um, we don't really need to do that, or we can take it slow. Um, at Bethany, and this has been true for its entire history- Bethany has never had enough. And Bethany has never had a lot, but Bethany has [00:29:00] always had that creative ambition, and I completely agree with you.
I think creativity happens as a result or in response to limitation. When you have a limitation that you know you have to overcome and you, you can't buy your way out of it and you can't grow your way out of it How do you solve it? You look around you at what you have, which is the people around you and the history that you that you share, um, and simply the creativity and the curiosity that got you there, and then you solve it. Um, so one of the things that really drew me to Bethany is that I already saw that spirit-
at Bethany. And a lot of it has to do with the way we work together.
Leadership and Campus Culture
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Laura Crawley: So I can tell you my, um, first meeting on campus when I was doing the campus interview, which by the way was in February, and it was negative 17 degrees.
Sydney Collins: Oh, God. Come to our beautiful campus. You'll freeze.
Gus Applequist: If you can, if you can love this area th- at that, then you can love it anytime.
Laura Crawley: [00:30:00] Well, you know, I, I will tell you, coming out of North Carolina, it was a shock, but I also felt the, the other people around me were surprised, so I thought, "This can't be happening every day," right?
Um, but my first meeting was with the leadership team, uh, the cabinet at Bethany, and they asked me what you ask anybody who's about... who might become your new boss, right? You say, "Well, what's your leadership style?"
Um, and I answered the way I have always answered that question. I said, "What we really need to talk about is what is our leadership style." Um, because I am not an expert in every job that you do. Your job is to be the expert in your area, and then we really need to talk about what leadership means collaboratively. So do we trust each other on this team? Do we hold each other accountable? Can we disagree with each other safely? Um, can we put the brakes on when we know we need to if someone's pushing a little too hard, or can we push harder when some people are feeling, you know, a little resistant? [00:31:00] How does that work?
And immediately they were off and running. Immediately that team was talking about how they work together now, how they wanna work together in the future, and I thought, "Okay, I can work with this." Um, 'cause it, in a small environment where everybody's doing a little bit of a lot, um, I am much more in the weeds as a president than I would be if I were at a much larger institution. We all have to be committed to the outcome, but it really means that we have to be committed to being ourselves and bring our best selves to every conversation. Um, so I'm, I, I found a leadership team at Bethany a- and it has cascaded beyond that, right? Within faculty, within staff, among students. We have students who when they see a problem on campus, they'll just come up to somebody and say, "I've got a solution for that."
And we say, "Awesome. Let's solve it." You know? Even the littlest thing.
Pep Band Recruitment Moment
---
Laura Crawley: I'll give you one example from last Saturday. We had our first [00:32:00] recruitment event on campus, and faculty were engaging with prospective students in action. I always say no PowerPoints allowed at our open houses. It's supposed to be about the experience of education, and they were doing all sorts of things.
But I'll tell you one example from music faculty were teaching students, these prospective students, the alma mater.
And then one of them was a percussionist at their high school. Actually, two of them were, I believe, were percussionists at their high school. We had a football game Saturday afternoon, and so our music director, one of our music pr- faculty said, "Hey, we've got a couple of extra drums.
You wanna just come play in the pep band in the football game?" And they said, "Yeah." So, you know, I always sit by the pep band, so I go, uh, to the pep- sit by the pep band during football, and there's these two high school students- High school kids, who walked up that morning to come to an open house for college, and in the afternoon they're playing in the pep band, right? Like, that is That's, that's grit, that's determination, that's [00:33:00] being creative on the fly, that's inclusivity. Bring people in from the start because everybody has to be part of it. We don't have space, time, people, or resources for anyone to sit back and wait. Um, and I think that's always been true at Bethany, and true in Lindsborg.
Mascot Talk
---
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Gus Applequist: Your, your mascot is the Terrible Swedes, right?
Laura Crawley: Yes.
Gus Applequist: Um, and it's, it's-
Sydney Collins: Which is so funny to me. 'Cause it's such a positive, like, environment in Lindsborg. Yes. And it's like- The [00:34:00] Terrible Swedes We're like, "Oh." He looks a little happy, though.
Gus Applequist: I, I'm, I'm turning this around on you, Sydney. Oh, goodness. So Syd- Sydney's spouse, uh, uh, went to Bethany.
Yep.
Sydney Collins: He graduated from Bethany.
Laura Crawley: Oh, really?
Bethany’s Wider Reach
---
Gus Applequist: And, um, you know, it's, for an organization that was, my understanding, is largely founded to, to educate the people locally-
Sydney Collins: Yes ...
Gus Applequist: that circle has been drawn much wider-
Sydney Collins: Yes ...
Gus Applequist: in recent years.
Laura Crawley: Absolutely.
Gus Applequist: Could you talk just a little bit, Sydney-
Sydney Collins: I
can ta-
Gus Applequist: ... about Milton
Sydney Collins: which is so funny, 'cause this morning I go, we're, we're interviewing the president of Bethany today." He's like, "Oh, leave me out of it."
Gus Applequist: I'm so sorry, Milton.
Laura Crawley: Too late.
Sydney Collins: I go, I told him, I go, "I make no promises." So my husband's from Texas.
Milton Finds Bethany
---
Sydney Collins: So he, but he's from, um, south of Houston, like way south Houston.
Um, and he never applied to Bethany. He just actually followed a friend up-
who was getting recruited for football, and his friend's like, "Do you just wanna come with me on the trip?" And he's like, [00:35:00] "Sure." And they're sitting with the coach, and the coach was like, "You play?" And he's like, "Yeah" He goes, "You wanna play here?" And so that's how he ended up at Bethany. His friend went to a different school.
Laura Crawley: Oh, hilarious.
Sydney Collins: So all because of that same mentality- Yes ... you know, 10, 15 years ago, however old we are and however long ago he graduated- um, of that inclusivity of like, "Oh, hey, I have another, you know, player here who wants to go to college."
And pr- and I don't, I don't think he applied anywhere. I, I don't think, anyway. Um, and so that's how he ended up at Bethany, and he's been here ever since.
From Student to City Leader
---
Gus Applequist: Can, can you talk about- what Milton does now in Lindsborg?
Sydney Collins: Oh, Milton works for the city of Lindsborg.
Laura Crawley: Milton is your husband? I love Milton.
Sydney Collins: Everyone says that.
Laura Crawley: I see him at city council all the time.
Sydney Collins: Yes. So Milton's my husband. So, um-
Laura Crawley: Say hi to Milton for me.
Sydney Collins: I will. I'll say hi to him. And, So he's the community, uh, their director of community development. So he does, like, all the code enforcement [00:36:00] and, and- Yes ... other duties as assigned, so.
Gus Applequist: What a great example- of what happens when we as a community welcome people- Yes. from outside of our community in, and how they can grow to be a leader.
Sydney Collins: Yes. I think he's lived in Kansas longer than he's- Was that, uh, almost lives in Kansas longer than he lived in Texas now, so.
Gus Applequist: So, so one of your- many alumni, uh, that's doing pretty well.
Laura Crawley: Oh, I love that.
Falling for Kansas
---
Laura Crawley: And you know what's, what's so great about that, is that, I mean, about almost half of our students are Kansans. Um, but I like to think about- We're still carrying on that Carlin and Alma Swenson- tradition of it's, we are part of the world. They were bringing people from outside from the start. And that, that is what it means to be, we used to call colleges anchor institutions, which sounds so, know, um, heavy. But I think Bethany's a good example- of an accelerator institution. Not [00:37:00] just for Lindsborg, um, it, it, it really is for Kansas.
Like, we're bringing people from 30 states and multiple countries here, and they do fall in love. And they literally sometimes, uh, fall in love. We call them sweethearts if they meet- ... their future spouse at Bethany.
Sydney Collins: Sweethearts.
Laura Crawley: Isn't that adorable?
Sydney Collins: That's so cute. Um- Oh my gosh
Laura Crawley: ... lots of sweethearts out there.
Sydney Collins: Why is that not a campaign?
Laura Crawley: Isn't it great?
Sydney Collins: Oh
my gosh.
Laura Crawley: Um, but they also fall in love with Kansas, and they fall in love- with the area. And there's something about being able to see the impact of your work. You know, I, my, my family, my husband and I built our family in Atlanta.
And Atlanta's huge. We were there for 30 years, but then you find out pretty quickly that Atlanta, like Houston- my sister lives in Houston, is just a series of small towns.
Um, and when you can find that connection in place and see the impact of what you do, like Milton has- right?
Um, a lot of our graduates do. [00:38:00] And it's so, it's just kind of beautiful-
to see people find their place.
Vocation and Purpose
---
Laura Crawley: Um, meaning find the place where they're, as a theologian, uh, Frederick Buechner, who talks about vocation.
And vocation is when your greatest joy meets the world's highest need.
Um, or your highest joy meets the world's greatest need. But that's vocation, right? Is where you find what you know you do best and what inspires you and ignites you. And it happens to meet the need of the world. You're part of it. That's a life. That's a great life. Um, we spend a lot of time at Bethany on vocation. Um, and that sense of purpose. Um, and I think it's, it's so great to hear stories. They don't have to be, it doesn't have to be big and splashy- and huge. It's finding that place in the world where you know you matter. [00:39:00] Um, it's really powerful.
Gus Applequist: That's a, I love that framing for higher education too.
That it's not just about making more money, uh- or getting a better job, but, but that it's about finding who you are meant to be- and going beyond that. It, uh- What you were just saying reminded me that one of our previous guests on the podcast was Abel Fredrick from Wichita. Okay. And he's, he's another, uh, Swede.
Sydney Collins: Oh, yeah. He is. I totally
forgot
about that.
Gus Applequist: And I think he's with United Way. Is that right?
Sydney Collins: He's- uh, with United Way of the Plains. Oh.
Laura Crawley: United Way's a great example.
Sydney Collins: He has a very similar story of- Yes ... he moved to Kansas and just- ...he loved it, and he stayed. Yes.
Gus Applequist: So check out that episode if you haven't.
Sydney Collins: I totally forgot he was a Bethany grad. Goodness.
Turbulence in Higher Ed
---
Gus Applequist: I, I think this has already been acknowledged, but I'm, I wanna ask this question anyway. Um, it's no secret that it's a turbulent time in higher education. Yes. Um, and as a college president, how do you approach navigating these times? And specifically, how does Bethany's Lutheran identity influence your approach?
Laura Crawley: it is a turbulent time in higher ed, but I, I'm not [00:40:00] sure there has never-
Gus Applequist: Fair.
Laura Crawley: I'm not sure there's ever been a time when it wasn't turbulent, truly, because education, you know, we've had a commitment in this country to education for a long time, a very long time. the the democratizing power of education is part of the American story, and it's always also been a very complicated part of the American story.
Who gets access to it? What does it mean? What's it for? Um, we, we've been re- in wrestling matches over that for Well, a couple centuries, you know? Um, I think right now what we're finding is that there's a narrative, we want quick return, and the return on higher education is for the long haul, especially the liberal arts, especially the humanities. When you're looking at an education, um, that is about, um, learning a lot about a [00:41:00] little, learning how to knit that together, learning how to communicate that across differences, that payoff is long-term. I mean, the numbers are clear. A, a bachelor's degree earns more than a high school degree, earns more than an associate's degree.
A bachelor's degree earns, the, latest average is 1.27 million. Like, we can put numbers on all sorts of things. 1.27 million dollars more over a 40-year career than someone without a bachelor's degree. It provides you with the ability to ride the tides- of the economy, you know, the, the ups and downs of the economy more easily because you have translatable skills across multiple places. I mean, my career is a great example of that. I've been in and out of higher education. I did branding and marketing consulting- for five years. I've run academic programs. I've run, campuses. You know, I've done facilities management. I've done all sorts of things, um, that started for [00:42:00] me in higher ed. So we- we're living in a time now where people, for very good reasons, are looking for what's the quick return on my investment, whatever that investment may be- so that I can hedge my bets on the future, an uncertain future. There's nothing wrong with that, you know? But I do think it's always important for us to remember, especially when we're talking to young people, that you have a long life ahead of you, a long life ahead of you, and there are very practical, very reasonable, very useful applications of your natural curiosity and your sense of vocation and purpose. Um, you know, I come from a family of people who earned livings however they could, and they were very proud of that, you know. The, the, the carpenters, the plumbers, the HVAC technicians, military careers, um, teaching assistants, you know, all sorts of great careers. [00:43:00] They loved their jobs, um, but they also loved education because they saw education as opening doors, which they did. You know, we used to have this story in the United States that education is the path to middle class for people who aren't already there, and it's the way to keep your place in the middle class, um, for the next generation. That still happens to be a true story. It's just not the story we're telling ourselves right now. And I think for institutions like Bethany, we have clearly built a history and a future around that narrative, and we're tripling down on that. Um, I'm not willing to give up on the long-term benefits to our students that come from a bachelor's degree. I'm just not willing to give up on that.
Bethany’s Practical Value
---
Laura Crawley: I am also more than willing to show the true practical [00:44:00] applied value of that degree immediately. You know, we have-- We're growing internship programs. We're growing connections You mentioned Milton a minute ago and the city of Lindsborg. We have a class right now in political science where the students are going to be applying AI tools to solve immediate problems for the city of Lindsborg.
Oh, cool.
Like, they're working with the city government in, in Lindsborg and using AI, um, to help them solve- some pretty straightforward problems, right?
So it doesn't have to be flashy. It doesn't have to be exciting. It can still change the world. Um, so that's where I think schools like Bethany are crucial to the future. Um, we're unique in the, in the world- in the, the, breadth and depth and diversity of higher education in this country, and it's worth preserving for the future.
Gus Applequist: Beautiful.
Laura Crawley: We just have to get good at telling the [00:45:00] story.
Laura and Charles
---
Gus Applequist: As I prepped for this episode, it struck me that you and Alma Swenson share a particular hardship of losing your husband early in your life. Um, and I've... We've heard in, uh, how Alma left such an impact on Lindsborg in the years following her husband's death. as you confronted this awful thing that happened to you, um, I don't think anyone would've blamed you if, if you decided to make a life change and, and- Sure ... go home or go someplace else- Sure
and, and reevaluate things.
Laura Crawley: Sure.
Gus Applequist: But that's not what you did.
Laura Crawley: No.
Gus Applequist: You, You, decided to continue to lead Bethany- after and through that loss. Can you share what kept you here and how you- Sure ... soldier on?
Laura Crawley: So I, I wanna say first thank you for asking about Charles. So, so Charles, Charles, Fox, my husband of 32 years, we met in a poetry writing class at UT Austin-
in my last semester of college, and I still remember the [00:46:00] first time I saw him. I mean, it was, I won't say it was love at first sight. It was definitely, um, a shared, uh, curiosity at first sight. So we... And we had, um, 36 years together of, just an amazing love story. Anybody who's been in a long marriage knows that it is not always easy.
We didn't always like each other. Um, but we were always learning from each other. And he was also an academic, so he got a Master's of Fine Arts in poetry, um, was an English professor at, um, Georgia Perimeter College, a two-year college in Atlanta, and then, um, at Georgia State University, retired as Associate Dean for Student Success at Georgia State. After getting his own doctorate later in life, um, in his 50s-
Sydney Collins: Oh, wow
Laura Crawley: ... he, he did a doctorate in film theory. Um, he was a philosopher, um, poet, [00:47:00] musician, um, a natural athlete. He was someone who... I used to call him my generator. Like, he's just a generator. He's always gonna be creating something new, always going to be thinking something new, and we just fascinated each other for 36 years. Um, have two beautiful children, a son and a daughter, who both live in Atlanta still, and Charles passed away of a, a heart attack, they, they call them widow-makers, um, in March of this year, and went to bed, um, and didn't wake up.
Why She Stayed
---
Laura Crawley: So yes, of course- And many people, I think, expected that I would leave, um, Bethany, go back to Atlanta where my children are. Um, but Charles and I made a commitment to Lindsborg. It was his idea for me to apply for presidencies. It was always his idea- for me to do anything. [00:48:00] You know, he was my, um... He used to say he loved cheering me on from the sidelines. Like, it was always his idea for me to apply for the next big thing, and I would always say, "You're crazy. No one's gonna hire me for that." Um, and he said, "Oh, I think they will. I think you should do it." So it was his idea for me to apply for presidencies. We picked Bethany and Lindsborg together.
I think I said on that negative 17 visit, um, he was there, uh, in the front row, and I- somebody asked, "Why would you s- why would you move here," was the question.
I guess everybody was freezing. It was a fair question. We were all, everybody- was uncomfortable. "Why would you come here from North Carolina?" And I said, "Well, Charles and I are always looking for our next hometown. Like, what's our next hometown gonna be?" And we both liked Lindsborg immediately. And then when we moved there, Charles was retired. Um, his mom came with us, um, lived with us, and [00:49:00] so partly he retired to take care of her, but he threw himself into Lindsborg. Like- he joined the Front Porch Pickers. He played ukulele. I played drums. He played guitar. Um, he joined, um, the church choir and was a church musician at Messiah Lutheran Church. We were both, uh, had both joined the Messiah Chorus. He joined the Bethany, the, uh, the, uh, men's chorus there at Bethany Lutheran Church or in Lindsborg. Um, he was on the Arts Council board. He, um- He didn't necess-
Sydney Collins: he didn't retire.
Laura Crawley: He did not retire.
Sydney Collins: He just find... He just found ways to stay busy.
Laura Crawley: He threw himself into everything. He had written a grant to do a Swedish film festival-
Gus Applequist: Oh, wow ...
Laura Crawley: um, that we hope to still make happen- um, there in Lindsborg. He was assistant coaching the men's soccer team on campus. He was- He was teaching Quest courses, so he had students. He was teaching first-year classes, um, and [00:50:00] had... He just threw himself into life there in Lindsborg and at the college, and he loved it.
We had a memorial service for him at Messiah Lutheran Church, and he filled the church. It was after 10 months at that point. And so of course, people were asking, you know, and, and I said then what I keep saying now, "There's nowhere in the world I can go where he is waiting for me."
Sydney Collins: Ugh.
Laura Crawley: There's nowhere in the world he is, um- there. But the work that we chose at Bethany and in Lindsborg is still important. Um, it matters. You know, it matters to me. Um, so I, I don't wanna go-
anywhere else. And right now my, our daughter is, she's a paralegal for a law firm in Atlanta, um, and they agreed that she can work [00:51:00] remotely, so she's actually in the house with me, so she's working remotely.
Sydney Collins: Oh, cool.
Laura Crawley: She has a basement lair. Um, she and her cat. Um, and my son and I talk every day. He's getting married in October.
Sydney Collins: Oh.
Oh, congrats.
Laura Crawley: Um, so we're planning a wedding. But thank you for asking, because, you know, when you've had a, a, a life partner, he's never gone.
Um, I miss him constantly.
Um, but it's... What a ride. We had an incredible life together, so. And there's still more to be done-
that we both said we wanted to do, so.
Gus Applequist: Well, I imagine he's cheering you on, and that, um-
Laura Crawley: He probably has opinions every day too that he would like, he would like to share with me.
Gus Applequist: And going back to how the hardships we encounter in our lives- [00:52:00] make us better in some ways. You know, not that it's a good thing to lose your spouse-
Laura Crawley: Right ...
Gus Applequist: but, but he's with you and, and I, I'm excited to see what- you do moving forward.
Living Through Change
---
Laura Crawley: You know, you say that about, like... I think as we get older, one of the things we learn is that there are very few experiences in life that are absolutely terrible or absolutely amazing. You know, change is the human condition, and human beings really don't like it. Many, many times. We can't escape it. It's part of being human. It- change happens all the time. I am learning so much from this experience about life.
Would I trade it in a second-
to have him back? Of course.
Um, but like you said, I mean, it was an experience that Alma Swenson had.
It's an experience that [00:53:00] many people have. Um, we all will experience-
a loss, and it does give you a perspective on things-
that's really valuable.
Gus Applequist: So.
How to Engage Bethany
---
Gus Applequist: as we sort of wrap things up, How can people engage with Bethany? And, and, you know, I, I, think especially earlier when we were talking about the opportunities that a place like Bethany creates, and if that stirs something in someone's soul-
Laura Crawley: Yes ...
Gus Applequist: what can they do about it?
Laura Crawley: Well, obviously if you're looking for a college for yourself or for a student, come to Bethany. I, I, I don't mean come to Bethany, like enroll. I mean, come to Bethany and experience it. See if it's something that's right for you. Um, I would say come to Lindsborg, if you haven't been already, you should. Um, and see how Bethany and the college intersect. And [00:54:00] follow us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram.
We've got some exciting things coming up. uh, Reverend Adam Hamilton is gonna be on campus in a week or so, talking about, um, running for a US Senate, obviously. Talking about, um, faith in the, and the public good, faith in the public square. Um, he chose Bethany as the place to have that conversation. Um, we've got, uh, Dr. Aaron Denney out of Duke University, whose entire field of study is what I mentioned earlier, failing forward. Um, encouraging students to embrace failure as part of the path to learning. Come visit the Sansing Gallery. Come walk around campus. Come see what's happening.
There is a great place to start. Um, for employers, for, uh, business leaders, for, the political leaders of the state, for nonprofits who are looking for partners [00:55:00] in preparing the next generation of leaders, we wanna talk to them. I wanna talk to them. I mean, that's the beauty of being the president at a small college. There aren't many layers between me and anybody who's interested in the college.
And I don't... I think the president at a small college should be engaged in those conversations from the ground up. I am eager to speak to anybody who is thinking What is the future of work in Kansas? What's the future of community in Kansas? What's the future of civic engagement, of education in Kansas? What's the future of small congregations across Kansas and rural towns across Kansas? That's the bread and butter of Bethany College, and I wanna talk to those folks. Um, and I'm pretty easy to find.
Rokar Stokar
---
Gus Applequist: Well, um, you know, we've managed to go the entire episode without acknowledging that, uh, Tanner and I, and several other members of our staff- are Coyotes, and that [00:56:00] that typically would pit us- ... against you all as Swedes. I happen to be- Literally like half the- ... a Swedish Coyote, so I'm kinda conflicted. Uh-oh, uh-oh. Um, but, uh, but Tanner asked a good question, uh, and, and I, I wanna bring it up now as our, our final question. Um, what does Rokar Stokar actually mean?
Laura Crawley: You know what? I think it doesn't mean anything.
Gus Applequist: Okay.
Laura Crawley: I think Rokar Stokar is one of those things that you yell- at an athletic event that is just meant to gear up the crowd and give us something to scream. Um- Yes ... it's a lot of fun.
Gus Applequist: You guys-
Laura Crawley: It's a lot of fun ...
Gus Applequist: certainly do that.
Laura Crawley: We do. We do. We have a new one.
This year we're, we're doing a lot of, "Let's go Swede."
Gus Applequist: Okay.
Oh, okay.
Laura Crawley: Um, we have a crew... One of the beauties of Bethany, because it's small, the students support each other. So we now have, this year, a roving band of miscellaneous athletes.
Sydney Collins: Oh, I love that.
Laura Crawley: There's members of the golf team, and the soccer team, and the football team, and the- [00:57:00]
Sydney Collins: The miscellaneous athletes.
Laura Crawley: The miscellaneous. Our, our miscellaneous band of merry students who go to all of the sporting events. And they have their own set of ye- they, their cheers that they yell. They show up. They jump up and down. I sometimes wonder if they're gonna go through the bleachers. Um, and it's just so much fun to see that enthusiasm and engagement- um, across the campus. It's, it's a lot of fun. But y- come yell Rokar Stokar, and, uh, you know what? We could have a contest. There you go. You give us the best definition you can come up with for it, and we'll roll with it.
Gus Applequist: I like it. I like it. I think, um, you know, there, there are so many institutions of higher learning in Kansas that deserve our support. Bethany is certainly one of them. Thank you. And so thank you for everything you're doing in Lindsborg and across the state, and- Absolutely ... and bravo. Rokar Stokar.
Laura Crawley: Thank you. Go Swedes.
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Lindsborg vs Lindsberg
---
Gus Applequist: So I've made a terrible... Or actually, Sydney realized that I don't know how long, but I've been- ... saying Lindsborg incorrectly for possibly my entire life. I've lived there.
Sydney Collins: You are the terrible Swede. 'Cause it's the burg versus the borg. Right. So technically it's B-O-R-G, not B-E-R-G, and it's a thing. So if you talk to people who live in Lindsborg, they will say Lindsborg.
Gus Applequist: I'm gonna have to retrain.
Sydney Collins: But if you talk to people outside of Lindsborg, they will say burg. So I'm a burg just 'cause I'm terrible at it, 'cause I grew up with, "Oh, you went to the burg," and that- was Lindsborg. [00:59:00]
Gus Applequist: I'm gonna have to get, like, a shock caller that every time I say Lindsborg-
Sydney Collins: You are. Get, like, a little rubber band- ... that every time you say it, you know, do, do.
Gus Applequist: No.
Inauguration and Homecoming
---
Gus Applequist: Um, well, I just wanna, uh, thank Laura for her vulnerability with us. I, she, she obviously talked about some, some sensitive things, and, and so that was really appreciated, and big fan of her and everything she's doing down at Bethany.
Sydney Collins: And we talk about kind of the, um, the outpour the community had for her during that tough time. Um, which actually brings up a great point, is she is being inaugurated, um, October, I have the dates here. 24. October 24th.
Gus Applequist: And that is the Saturday after this episode releases. So, so if, if you're interested in checking out Lindsborg or Bethany, it'd be a great time to be there.
Um, inaugurations are, are pretty joyful experiences, and so, um, you don't have to necessarily go to that, but, um, just go check it out.
Sydney Collins: It- it- it's homecoming weekend. There's a lot of thing, other things- going on. It's a great time to check out Lindsborg-
Gus Applequist: Fall in the borg ...
Sydney Collins: and Bethany College. [01:00:00]
Gus Applequist: Fall in the borg. It's a great time to be there,
Sydney Collins: More in the borg.
Gus Applequist: More in the borg. We're, we're slowly turning- ... into the Swedish Chef..
Sydney Collins: I really like this. More in the borg. All right.
Gus Applequist: What do you have for us, Sydney?
Sydney Collins: I need a sh- I'm gonna have shirts that say that. Okay. I'm gonna, I'm gonna petition that to the marketing-
Gus Applequist: There you go
Sydney Collins: marketing people at Bethany, more in the borg. All right.
Stories From a Hat
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Sydney Collins: So, um, we're just gonna do a couple of these- Okay ... um, 'cause we had a, we had a great conversation. Um, so the episode went a little long.
Gus Applequist: So this is stories from a hat. This is- Story
Sydney Collins: from a hat ...
Gus Applequist: our segment where we have a bunch of random prompts in a hat, and we, uh, we just tell a story that is the first to come to brain, to come to mind, not come to brain. Go ahead.
Sydney Collins: All right. I love this one, a guilty pleasure song you'd never put on a playlist for others. And it would definitely be Amish Paradise- by Weird Al.
Gus Applequist: Okay, nice.
Sydney Collins: It's something that I enjoy and know every single word to, but I don't think I would put it on someone else's playlist- [01:01:00] just 'cause it's a very niche-
Gus Applequist: I-
Sydney Collins: It's a very niche thing ...
Gus Applequist: I'm, I'm embarrassed to say that mine would probably be, uh, Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song. Oh. It's just so catchy. But it is very inappropriate. So uh, a person everyone should know is my prompt. Um- And wow, there's, there's a lot of good answers to this. Um, If you somehow missed our recent episode with Rafael Mendez-
uh, I think Raf is a person everyone should know- so go, go check that out.
Sydney Collins: That's a good one. All right, mine's a diner booth or a counter seat that's basically yours by now. So it probably wouldn't be, like, right now, but it would definitely be, like, in college.
Um, so I went, my freshman year, um, I went to Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. Very Lutheran school. and, uh, so we were right outside of Lincoln, and I lived at Perkins-
during that. So there is a specific booth- [01:02:00] at, like, 1:00 AM that I would just sit at- ... at Perkins and drink coffee, and- that was the only time I really did homework.
Gus Applequist: Perkins, I can see that being a good- environment for studying.
Sydney Collins: Pie and coffee.
Gus Applequist: The most overrated must-eat food around here. Oof.
Sydney Collins: Overrated must-eat food. Oh, you're gonna make some enemies on that one.
Gus Applequist: I'm...
Uh, I guess I'm gonna have to say like, no offense to anybody out there who loves Tex-Mex food.
Sydney Collins: Oh,
Gus Applequist: Like in my opinion, if you're gonna eat- That's fair ... Mexican food, just eat Mexican food. Don't eat the white rip off of-
Sydney Collins: Don't eat the Chili's version. That's fair. All right, I have a, I have a good one. We can f- Okay ... we can probably end on this one. All right. But your luckiest moment. So there was a day, this is probably two, three years ago. So backstory, uh, my most unluckiest day, actually most unluckiest week, I wrecked my car and then a week later the car keys from our other car got stolen. And so, but [01:03:00] fast-forward like six months after that, I woke up one day, I went to go make a loan payment on my student loans and they had all been forgiven. So that was that morning, and then that afternoon I got a call from the local Ace Hardware in McPherson and goes, "Hey, did you lose some keys?" And I'm like, "I had some keys stolen." And th- someone had and I quote, "thrown them in a ditch," and someone found them, which I still can't figure this one out. But, um, whoever stole all the keys out of our car put them all on one keyring. Which they were not on all on one keyring when, when we lost them, when they got stolen. Um, and, uh, my Ace Hardware tag was on my keyring.
And so whoever-
Gus Applequist: They could scan it ...
Sydney Collins: found my keys took it to Ace, they scanned it, found my name and my phone number, and I got my keys back.
Gus Applequist: Did you play the lottery? Did you play Quidditch?
Sydney Collins: Nope. Did you- I, I, stopped there and was like, "I'm done for the day." "I'm feeling pretty good. [01:04:00] We're gonna end on this high."
I like it. I like it.
Episode Wrap and Credits
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Gus Applequist: Well, we've done it. We've reached the end of another episode of Ask a Kansan.
Sydney Collins: Make sure to check out our website, askakansan.com, uh, where you'll find our library of, um, over 70 previous episodes, um, links to our social media, um, our line of merch, and the Curious Kansan newsletter, um, featuring Tanner's explorations of the people, places, um, around Kansas.
Gus Applequist: This month, Tanner is gonna share a little bit about the Prairie Festival that happens out at the Land Institute- Yep ... uh, here in Saline County. Uh,
Sydney Collins: And if you wanna learn more about the Land Institute, ta- check out Rachel Stroer's episode. We, um, interviewed the Land Institute's, um, uh, president- Right.
um, a few months ago.
Gus Applequist: Ask a Kansan is a production of Fili Creative based here in Salina, Kansas. Our show is produced by Tanner Colvin and Julie Mindrup, technical directed by Merlin Shippy, graphic designed by Austin Tone, and it is edited by Bryan and Alan at Forge Podcasts.
Sydney Collins: Thanks to Everyday Lights for the use of our theme [01:05:00] song, Horse Thief Canyon.
Gus Applequist: For everybody here at Ask a Kansan, thanks for tuning in, and remember, every Kansan has a story.
Sydney Collins: What's yours?