Walker urges students on Dean England Day to continue to build CGA’s future

 

Beth Walker ’75 stood before Culver Girls Academy students during the Dean England Day ceremony and asked them to reflect on a simple question:

“Did you choose Culver, or did Culver choose you?”

For Walker, the answer was complicated. Growing up only four blocks from campus, she was surrounded by Culver traditions long before she became a student. Her two older brothers attended Culver Military Academy and a younger brother would later follow. Yet Walker never imagined herself attending the Academy.

“Girls didn’t go to Culver,” she said.

That changed in 1971, when Culver admitted a class of girls for the first time. Walker was among approximately 70 girls who joined the school that year and helped shape what would become Culver Girls Academy.

Walker described her early years at Culver as a time of significant separation between CMA and CGA. Girls had restrictions on where they could go, what they could wear and which traditions they could participate in.

Walker recalled that girls were not permitted east of the Dining Hall, on the playing fields or near the barracks. Even clothing and social interactions were governed by rules that have since changed.

“Obviously, there was some real concern back then about how exactly girls were going to fit in at Culver,” she said.

Yet Walker emphasized that the challenges of those early years were also part of what allowed CGA to develop its own identity.

“CGA has come a very long way,” Walker said.

Walker credited Dean Mary Frances England with creating a strong foundation for the girls’ school by giving CGA its own traditions and leadership structure rather than defining it in comparison to CMA.

Walker recalled England telling student leaders: “Stop talking about what the boys are doing. Stop comparing yourselves to them. Think about what CGA needs.”

 

 

Walker said that principle remains relevant to CGA students today. Rather than measuring themselves against another person’s achievements, students should consider what they can contribute to their own community.

Walker connected England’s legacy to this year’s focus on the words “Strength” and “Justice” from the CGA crest.

She described justice as the everyday practice of treating others fairly and having the courage to speak when something is wrong. At the same time, she cautioned students against treating their peers as competitors outside of healthy academic, athletic and personal challenges.

“The other girls here are your community, not your competition,” Walker said.

She also spoke about the responsibility that comes with friendship. Walker noted that relationships are built through trust, vulnerability and shared experiences, but those same qualities can create opportunities for people to hurt one another. Keeping a friend’s confidence, she said, is part of treating that person fairly.

For Walker, strength is similarly found in ordinary decisions. It can mean sitting with a new student at lunch, speaking when others remain silent or taking responsibility for the community around you.

“Same strength,” she said. “It just starts smaller.”

Walker ultimately placed the responsibility for CGA’s future on the students themselves. England established the foundation, but each generation continues to shape what CGA becomes.

“You are not just inheriting CGA,” Walker said. “You are still building it.”

She closed by returning to where she began: Culver.

Walker encouraged students to return to campus after graduation and to carry their connection to the school with them wherever they go. She asked the audience to repeat the phrase that she said would continue to define their relationship with CGA long after graduation.

“Say it with me,” she said. “I’m from Culver.”