Thank you

On April 20, 2012, one of Kepler’s MA graduates, Maire Masco, and Enid Newberg traveled to Olympia, Washington to personally thank Mike Ball and Karen Oelschlager of Washington’s Higher Education Coordinating Board. These two worked with us for more than a decade, providing advice and assistance to help us navigate the complicated requirements of state and federal accreditation.

Every two years, the Mike and Karen reviewed and signed off on our authorization to grant degrees, earning the hostility of state legislators and members of the academic community, as well as scathing articles in various national publications. Throughout it all, Mike Ball stood by his belief that it is not the role of the government to discriminate against the what is taught, but to ensure it is taught in an academic fashion.

Two years ago, Kepler was faced with the economic reality that we could not complete our federal accreditation effort. This meant we could not retain our state authorization. Mike helped again by giving us the maximum time allowed to ensure our students could complete their degrees.

During our visit this April, Mike and Karen were pleased that to hear of our graduates’ success. They were equally pleased to hear that Kepler is not going away but is still pursuing its mission of providing a high quality education for astrologers.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Kepler program, for both students and faculty, is chance to bring multiple perspectives together through team-teaching, visiting lecturers and the juxtaposition of different astrological traditions in a single class. This tradition continues in our Certificate Program. Our students still have the opportunity to explore the origins of different techniques and how methods and philosophies have changed over the past 2,000 years. They get the chance to talk with and learn from different practicing astrologers. Those students who want to earn a Certificate diploma also get a grounding in the history of our craft and an appreciation of its cultural, social, political, and artistic impact. And best of all, because our program is online, we continue to welcome students from all over the world.

It was only through the continued generosity of our donors that Kepler could convert its academic program to the new certificate format. Our vow to all our supporters is that we will continue our tradition of excellence and will continue to broaden our outreach efforts to the entire astrological community through free webinars, classes, our research library and more.

Thank you,

Enid Newberg, Robert Hand and the rest of the Kepler Board