By Carol P. Bartold     

Sep. 23, 2015: The best aspects of education, community, and volunteer service will be celebrated at Concordia College's 34th Annual Community Dinner on Wednesday, November 4, at the Schoenfeld Campus Center. 

Concordia College neighbors and Bronxville residents Matt and Nancy McKenna will be honored with the President's Award for Excellence in Educational Service to the Community. The McKennas' understanding of the value of a liberal arts education and their own commitments to volunteer efforts that bring strength to the community reflect Concordia College's own shared commitment to education and service for the community. 

"Concordia College has been important to us," said Matt, "a good neighbor, and good neighbors encourage each other's missions." 

"It's just great knowing that such an excellent institution is in our backyard," Nancy added. 

A graduate in philosophy from Hamilton College and now an advisor to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Matt McKenna noted that a liberal arts education gives students the opportunity to defer specialization and develop the broad background and deep platform that will enable them to approach technical problems and develop the communications skills needed to deal with them. 

"The ability to see how learning takes place and see how a good teacher can educate you on how to approach a problem, or a beautiful work of art, or a piece of literature and communicate are the benefits of a liberal arts education," McKenna said. 

At USDA, McKenna works for Rural Development, authorized by Congress to make loans to fund essential services such as hospitals, housing, utilities, and other economic development projects in rural areas. The program has a portfolio of approximately $200 billion in loans, he said. With a demand greater than the government's capacity to fund those loans, McKenna works to recruit private investors, private institutions, and private lenders to invest alongside USDA. "So far we've raised almost $11 billion in third-party funding for various projects around the country." 

A former litigation associate, Nancy McKenna, who graduated from Smith College and Georgetown University Law Center, became involved in volunteer fundraising work at the Reformed Church Nursery School and for the annual Memorial Day celebration at The Bronxville School. She also served as chair of the Bronxville School PTA High School Council and chair of the Non-Partisan Committee, and she was on the board of governors of the Bronxville Field Club. 

"I don't think anybody would argue that in any job you have to be able to communicate effectively," she said. "If you can't read, and you can't write, and you can't speak, which is the whole premise of a liberal arts education, you're not going to be very effective at what you do." 

She put her own communications skills to work when she realized, after sending her fourth child to college, that she had become an expert in helping students with their college applications. Her goal became to help students who didn't have access to the vast resources offered to Bronxville students in their move from high school to college. Through tutoring basketball players at Mount Vernon High School, McKenna became involved with Destination: College, a program that helps underserved athletes with SAT preparation and guidance through the college application and selection process. 

"Concordia College is a fantastic neighbor and a wonderful resource for us," she said. "It's always on the radar for Destination: College kids." 

In his congratulatory letter to Matt and Nancy McKenna, President Viji George wrote, "From your contributions in the classroom, on the playing fields, to the national stage, your myriad volunteer efforts are transforming lives and ensuring a strong sense of community for future generations." 

Past recipients of the President's Award for Excellence in Educational Service to the Community include Sarah and Robert Underhill, Marilynn and John Hill, Vicki and Silas Ford, and Sheila Stein. 

Visit the Concordia College website for more information about the 34th Annual Community Dinner, http://www.concordia-ny.edu/.

Pictured here:  Nancy and Matt McKenna.

Photo by Natasha Patel