The former provost of Southern Vermont College (SVC) highlights the work of Greg Winterhalter, Sarah Nosek, Lynda Sinkiewich, Eric Despard, and Jennifer Nelson at SVC. He notes that SVC has left an indelible mark on higher education and in all those who have played a role advancing its noble mission.

Higher-education analysts have predicted it: The global financial shambles will cause the closing or merger of a growing number of colleges. At the top of the endangered list are rural colleges. Included in this group is the author's own college, Sterling College, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. Despite this prediction, the author is counting on…