09/01/2026
As the nation mourns the passing of celebrated Kentucky author, farmer and environmentalist Wendell Berry, we share this excerpt from the speech he gave at Centre College’s 1978 Commencement, accentuating our connections to one another and the Earth itself.
“The human meaning of this is that we are not, have never been, can never be, alone. There is clearly some comfort in that. But I hope I am making equally clear the difficulty and even the fearfulness that also are in it. No one can act simply in his or her own behalf. Escape either into specialization or into solitude is illusory. If we live in an order that we cannot escape, if we creatures are all “members one of another,” then we cannot act except in each other’s behalf, and indeed in behalf of the whole densely woven globe of connections that we call the Creation or the Universe.”
His address was published in the 2017 book “Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place.” Berry served as a writer-in-residence at Centre in 1975 and returned to Centre over the years for public readings, commentary, and as a visiting scholar. These photos were taken during a 2016 visit to talk with students and share a convocation address.
Wendell Berry
8/5/1934 – 8/31/2026