Coast to Coast: Blue and Gold Ball in CA

June 24th, 2009

By Sarah Pride and Kaitlyn Czajkowski

CONTACT:

David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 338-8727 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu

Blue and Gold Ball, 2008

Eight Septembers ago, in 2001, Patrick Henry College supporter Kathy Young narrowly missed an eventful trip to the Pentagon by visiting PHC in Purcellville for the first time. Young and her family had been looking forward to touring the Pentagon on September 11, but instead they made a last-minute decision and drove to PHC. As a plane crashed into the Pentagon and the rest of the nation panicked, Young sat in Town Hall with PHC’s first students, praying and singing hymns.

“It was a very dramatic first experience,” Young said.

Since then Young, a California resident, has become the College’s West Coast Regional Representative. She coordinates events with area homeschoolers and NCFCA families, attends college and career days at local high schools, and arranges meetings between current members of the PHC community and potential members, either students or donors.

Currently, Young is inviting all PHC students and alumni to attend the 2009 Blue and Gold Ball, named for the official College colors, for free on August 8. She has planned this beautiful ballroom dancing event at the Valley Oak Ballroom in Danville, CA. Last year, the first time she ran the event, nearly 250 teens attended at $25 a ticket and raised $3,000 for PHC. This year, Young has kept the Ball invitation-only and has lowered ticket prices to $15 a head for each non-PHC attendant.

Some of the 2008 participants in the Blue and Gold Ball

“This is more a family event than a date night,” Young explains. “It should be a really upscale experience for everybody.”

Last year, alumnus Judah Kiley and current PHC senior Rachel Heflin spoke to attendees about the College. According to Young, they made an excellent impression.

“The Ball gives an opportunity for people to connect to the PHC community, and for students and alumni to give back to the school,” says Young. “It’s getting these traditions established on the West Coast that helps build community.”

So, why does a homeschool mom in California feel such passion for a little private college on the other side of the country? Young’s devotion to the school is simple: she sees God at work.

“I honestly feel that the work of PHC is so desperately needed,” she says. “It was a preposterous undertaking, to have everything paid for, to attract top-level professors, to have the audacity to compete with Ivy League schools… and God has blessed it!”