by Simon
Among the rainbow of words which may be employed to describe Dr. Keva Bethel is one that is brightly coloured, expansive and texturally rich – exuberance. It is a primary colour in any portrait designed to chronicle the life story and measure the extraordinary contributions of the noted educator, nation-builder and cultural enthusiast who passed away this week.
In the days ahead there will be many fitting tributes to Dr. Bethel. Yet, in addition to her contributions to our national life, is the underlying joy with which she served her country and revelled in being Bahamian. She seemed so forever young that her illness took many by surprise.
Capturing her exuberant spirit will require the labour of love of the artistic and cultural community she greatly loved and supported in public ovation and private encouragement over many decades.
Chronicling and celebrating Keva Bethel’s many contributions to and infectious delight for all good things Bahamian will require the imagination and skills of artists such as Max Taylor, Lynne Parotti, a Minnis family and two Burnsides as well as the literary skills of an Ian Strachan or Helen Klonaris, and of course, the attention to detail of her dear friend, Dr. Gail Saunders.
Dr. Bethel’s exuberance cannot be measured singularly in the enthusiasm she brought to numerous tasks. It can only be more fully measured in the variety of her interests, the quality and extent of her community service, and her devotion to family, friends and community.
She articulated the essence of good citizenship in both finely crafted words and practical action, including philanthropic efforts through various foundations. And, she did so with elegance and generosity.
In her book cum Ode to Joy, “Exuberance: The Passion for Life”, Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison explores the nature of exuberance which she defines as “an abounding, ebullient, effervescent emotion.”
Dr Jamison enthuses: “It is the infectious energies of exuberance that proclaim and disperse much of what is marvellous in life. Exuberance carries us places we would not otherwise go -- across the savannah, to the moon, into the imagination -- and if we ourselves are not so exuberant we will, caught up in the contagious joy of those who are, be inclined collectively to go yonder.
“By its pleasures, exuberance lures us from our common places and quieter moods; and -- after the victory, the harvest, the discovery of a new idea or an unfamiliar place -- it gives ascendant reason to venture forth all over again. Delight is its own reward, adventure its own pleasure.”
Is this not what Dr. Bethel taught her students, first in the classroom then as an administrator, rising to become the first Bahamian woman to head the College of the Bahamas? In the foreign languages, the English grammar and Bahamian colloquialisms she loved, she taught generations of Bahamians to not simply study for an exam, but to seek to master and delight in the subject at hand.
She passed this exuberance on to thousands of young Bahamians, including two, her daughter Dr. Nicolette Bethel Burrows and her son Edward Bethel, who share her and their late father, Clement Bethel’s enthusiasm for scholarship and cultural expression. Dr. Bethel’s legacy is more than ensured, including in the many contributions being made by her “adopted” and biological offspring to our national development.
Redfield Jamison also writes of exuberance, “It is kinetic and unrestrained, joyful, irrepressible. It is not happiness, although they share a border. It is instead, at its core, a more restless, billowing state.
“Certainly it is no lulling sense of contentment: exuberance leaps, bubbles, and overflows, propels its energy through troop and tribe. It spreads upward and outward, like pollen toted by dancing bees, and in this carrying ideas are moved and actions taken.”
It is exactly this joyful spirit that Dr. Bethel demonstrated in her unrelenting encouragement to established as well as upcoming Bahamian talent in music, dance, the visual arts and other forms of cultural imagination and expression.
This diminutive dynamo, with her silvery mane and twinkling eyes could be found at the opening of art exhibits, large and small, as well as concerts and performances showcasing the cultural richness of The Bahamas. Her enthusiasm for a shared cultural heritage which transcended our differences epitomized the essence of One Bahamas.
There is a story of Dr. Bethel, when serving as President of the College of The Bahamas, advising fellow administrators about how to respond to a group of students demonstrating over a fever-pitch issue. While some wanted to come down harder on the students, Dr, Bethel advised them not to be so dogmatic, as those young people were creating memories.
As an educator with a teacher’s heart and a mentor’s spirit she sought to provide countless thousands with the opportunity to create memories and pursue their dreams. Even after retiring from COB, she never stopped articulating her vision for the College, Bahamian education in general and The Bahamas. In an address to the Bahamas Business Outlook Seminar in 2009, Dr. Bethel enthused:
“We shall have a University of The Bahamas that will stand as the important source of intellectual leadership in the country and the broad range of its offerings will enable increasing numbers of our people to attain higher levels of academic, professional and continuing education here at home. The research generated at the University will serve to advance knowledge and guide national planning, policy and decision-making.”
“Finally, I hope that in the future our actions as a people will demonstrate in more genuine ways our oft-repeated claim of being a Christian nation. Our present tendency to strident manifestations of religious fervour and our complacent, self-satisfied belief that God must surely be a Bahamian are all too often belied by our lack of appreciation and care for His natural or human creation.
“I hope that as we tout our constitutional commitment to Christian values we shall in fact learn to translate these into more Christ-like behaviour, characterised by compassion, love and genuine concern for those who share with us this very special part of God’s creation. Utopian dreams? Perhaps, but let us aim for the stars, even if we only hit a tree!” In her life of extraordinary service, Keva Bethel taught us to reach -- with exuberance.
In the opening chapter of her treatise on exuberance, Kay Redfield Jamison notes:
“Exuberance keeps occasional company with grief, though grief may command the greater mention. Blake's belief that "Under every grief & pine/Runs a joy with silken twine" is a received theme in folklore. Our greatest joys and sorrows ripen on the same vine, says the American proverb.”
She also writes: “One joy, the Chinese believe, scatters a hundred griefs, and certainly it can be an antidote to fatigue and discouragement. Into those set back by failure, joy transfuses hope.”
Even as we mourn her passage, over the years to come, the memory of Dr. Bethel’s enormous contributions and the joy and exuberance she brought to her life’s work and our own lives will scatter the grief now felt by so many. In due course, we owe this to ourselves, but more importantly we owe it to her happy and exuberant memory.
Beautifully written for a beautiful soul.
Posted by: Sam Duncombe | February 23, 2011 at 10:55 AM
As a lecturer at COB I had a discussion with Keva Bethel before she left office as President. We talked about the challenges facing the College at the time, and its future. In conclusion, Dr. Bethel, stated,
"At least during my tenure, I got the roof leaks repared and the bathrooms working."
The understated modesty & humour, emphasizes her more lofty achievements, but shows she kept in sight the fundamentals of keeping the College functional.
Posted by: Leandra Esfakis | February 23, 2011 at 11:21 AM
Thank you, Simon!!!
Posted by: Nicolette Bethel | February 27, 2011 at 09:03 AM