When defined by Webster’s dictionary, a quest is “a search; a pursuit; an expedition to find something.”
The idea of a quest was exactly what members of the Liberal Studies Advisory Committee were looking for when they announced the naming contest for the new liberal studies program with a flashy $1,000 prize.
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Erin Joyce, assistant dean for liberal studies, said the committee liked the concept of a journey for students to show “that this program was a part of a journey that won’t only help them here, but through their entire lives.”
The name Quest, proposed by the mother-daughter duo of Baker Administrative Assistant Cheryl McCrary and sophomore Kaylin McCrary, was chosen out of 65 entries. Entries were submitted by students, faculty and even people in the Kansas City metro area.
Cheryl said she initially refused Kaylin’s help offered her good luck, but then realized with her own knowledge on the subject and with Kaylin’s college student perspective, they could find the perfect name for the program.
Embedded into the winning name Quest are the three liberal studies outcomes: u for understanding, e for experiences, and s for skills. The McCrary’s hope is that each student’s quest will lead him/her to think critically, communicate effectively, act ethically, serve generously and live fully.
But don’t think the duo forgot about their cash prize.
“Since Quest was my idea, we’re splitting it 80/20,” Cheryl said. “It’s going towards bills, Kaylin’s books and a new suit for next year’s campus interviews.”