An “Intersection of Things” Brings Students to Bethany

For Camille Dubler, it was an “intersection of things” that led her to Bethany. A poet who is interested in theology and drawn to serving others, Dubler found that Bethany’s Master of Arts in Theopoetics and Writing brought together her various interests in a way that other graduate programs that she considered did not.

“I looked at MFA programs, but I really appreciated the way that faith and spiritually could be an authentic part of my studies at Bethany,” says Dubler. “I was also drawn to the service component, so Bethany BOLD was a draw as well.”

BOLD (which stands for Build, Organize, Love, and Dare) places students at local nonprofit organizations in Wayne County, Indiana, challenging them to put their faith and education into practice while they are still students. The program, funded by a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, provides students with opportunities to address societal challenges including racial injustice and poverty. Participants receive full tuition scholarships, housing, and a living stipend. The Bethany BOLD program has received additional support from Priscilla Wampler, and her late husband Dr. J. Paul Wampler, who made a $1 million gift to Bethany and established the Wampler Scholars to support students participating in Bethany BOLD

As a Wampler Scholar, Dubler works at Girls, Inc., working with an afterschool program, and completes additional hours at Townsend Center (a community center primarily serving the African American community) and Bridges for Life, which serves sit down meals to people in crisis.

“This is a great opportunity to serve and invest in the community,” she says. “It is important to remember that life is happening everywhere, and that if you look, you can find ways to make a difference.”

Dubler earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Akron, and has worked in safe houses, in a prison, and an afterschool program for at-risk youth. Before enrolling at Bethany, she and her husband also worked at Seventh Seed, a Christian farm-based learning and retreat center  in Huntington, Vermont. Part of that organization’s mission is to provide food to the hungry.  BOLD provides Dubler an opportunity to continue her commitment to serving others.

After developing an interest in creative writing  through various poetry groups, Dubler was excited to engage with fellow students and professors. She has been pleasantly surprised by the new perspectives and approaches she has been introduced to at the Seminary.

“My theopoetics class has taught me that there are ways of thinking about writing and faith that I had not thought about before,” she says.

“Discussions of poetry are often in the clouds,” she says with a laugh, “But at Bethany I am discovering that there are other clouds I never knew existed.”

Dubler considers poetry an ideal medium in which to explore big questions of faith, life, and death.

“In a way, poetry is hard to mess up,” she says. “It is a form that allows me to take a somewhat satirical and critical look at the world and society, and the audience can take from it what they want. Poetry is what it is, and unlike story-based forms, people aren’t going to critique the plot.” And as with her commitment to service, Dubler’s writing is an opportunity for her to make a positive difference in the lives of  those around her.

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