A Unique University

It’s not often I admit to being completely "taken" by an ad. By that I mean "taken up with" and not "taken in by." The ad was as honest a piece of effective advertising as I had ever seen. Sure, it was an ego seeker and its focus centered on me, or was it us?

A fine company that makes custom t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats must have found that there were lots of Virklers in the United States. There are, as our two-volume family lineage book shows. It is published every few years to update the family tree, which also includes the Farney and Zehr lineages. The families were interrelated way back in 1834 when my forebears sailed to America as immigrants.

Months ago, we received a classy, full color ad card offering a customized set of shirts and caps with "Virkler University" in block letters across the front at entirely reasonable prices. Just getting mail with personalized text is enough to catch your attention. We ordered enough for the immediate family, and, when the shirts came, we donned them for a choice family photo.

When I was speaking at a Bible conference this summer, I wore my Virkler University shirt to the dinning hall. The puzzled stares were a profile in group curiosity. Finally, a retiree who had some acquaintance with the name and had taught school in my hometown of Baldwinsville, NY, ambled over and asked, "Is that some sort of joke, or is there really a Virkler University?" I answered, "It’s really not a joke, and there is a Virkler University in the informal sense. Come to the men’s prayer breakfast tomorrow, and I’ll tell you about our school."

The next morning I shared the inside story.

A spiritual "school" with education in personal salvation and life’s hard knocks had been established in Alsace-Lorraine, France by Amish Mennonite farmers who had emigrated from Switzerland to escape religious persecution. They were in the Anabaptist tradition, and their religious convictions prohibited military service and membership in the state church.

The French government eventually ordered them to serve in the army, so in 1834, the small student body crossed the Atlantic Ocean seeking religious freedom and economic prosperity. After 42 days on the Atlantic, they settled in an area of upstate New York known as New France, a sprawling land tract in the North Country then claimed by Napoleon’s brother.

University "administration" was headed by fathers, and "satellite schools" were founded when families pushed across the country from upstate New York. As family size and enrollment increased, two tracks developed—one with a secular major, and one with a spiritual major. Some students worked primarily in secular pursuits and expanding their financial horizons. Others became students of unique higher education by studying the Bible and preaching the Word.
In my family’s particular campus branch, the records show each generation of students focused on Christ as Savior. Classes were mostly informal but purposefully perpetual. Many were held around family meals and devotions, some on vacations together, others in church—always in real time and real life.

A few special guided studies were like no other. For example, I studied radio long before becoming a broadcaster. When I was a boy, Dad took me to an early Sunday morning live radio program where he, his three quartet buddies and a young preacher were airing the Gospel. It was a fantastic lesson, and its impact is still felt every time this student makes a program even after 45 years of broadcasting.

I graduated not with a formal diploma but with a steady disposition to seek God’s best. Thelma and I established our own university campus, and our children have now graduated. Many Virkler University graduates have passed the final test and gone on to the ultimate post-graduate school in Heaven. They have laid all their educational achievements at Jesus’ feet while they await the rest of us graduates.

"Virkler University" may not be actual buildings and land, but it is a real school of spiritually guided studies. The core values courses remain unchanged with a changing world offering new and challenging electives. Our university on two continents and educating many generations is a great school with an enduring legacy. We wish this type of university education for everyone.
The name on the shirts and caps may vary, but the education of the soul ought always to be the same.

Dave Virkler