A 1968 Warning Against Mediocrity in Education
In 1968, my grandfather penned a speech he gave at the graduation ceremony of Newberry College titled “Treasures from the Attic: Self-Respect, Excellence, Education.” His message was clear: when we stop measuring ourselves against excellence and instead compare ourselves only to those around us, we invite mediocrity.
He warned that once a student grows content with the “gentleman’s C” or crams for shallow knowledge rather than pursuing true mastery, something far greater than a grade is lost. He called it selling one’s birthright for a mess of pottage—a powerful reminder that settling for less steals the deeper satisfaction of striving for the best within us. His conclusion was sobering: when individuals or nations settle for mediocrity, they risk decay and destruction from within.
More than fifty years later, his words feel prophetic. In education today, too much of the conversation is shaped by comparison. How do our test scores rank against neighboring districts? How do we compare with the state average? While benchmarking has its place, my grandfather’s challenge was to aim higher—to measure our schools against true excellence, not the minimum bar set by others.
Excellence, he wrote, is tied to self-respect. A student knows in his heart whether he gave his best effort. A teacher knows if she has poured into her students with compassion, fairness, and humor. And a nation knows if it is producing citizens who can think, lead, and serve with integrity. This kind of accountability cannot be measured by comparison alone—it is internal, rooted in honesty and character.
As his granddaughter and as a school board member, I see the relevance of this challenge every day. Our students face pressures that my grandfather could not have imagined in 1968—social media comparison, constant distraction, and an uncertain world. Resilience and character are as important as grades or test scores, because true education is about forming the whole person.
At the same time, his words speak directly to our responsibility as a community. Local schools thrive when local people—parents, teachers, and community leaders—set the standards of excellence, not bureaucrats far removed from the classroom. We cannot let excellence be defined by what is easiest, what is average, or what checks a compliance box. We must demand more, for the sake of our children and for the strength of our nation.
My grandfather ended his essay with a call to aspire beyond our limitations. He quoted Browning: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” That is the challenge before us in Oconee County and across America. May we be bold enough to aim for excellence—not because it is easy, but because it is worthy of our students and our future.
We must not allow the length of our own arms to determine the dimensions of our aspiration.
— Dr. Meghan Ketterman
Dr. James Cummings, Address to the Graduating Class of Newberry College, August 1968, Commitment to Quality: America’s Greatest Need