Messiah University’s Hoverter Course Opens Doors to Higher Education for Adult Learners
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Asia Tabb
Aired; July 21st, 2025.
Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation.
For adults who may have once believed college was out of reach, Messiah University’s Hoverter Course in the Humanities is proving that it’s never too late to return to the classroom. Run by the Center for Public Humanities, the program offers tuition-free, college-credit humanities courses to community members who’ve faced financial, educational, or personal barriers to higher education.
“The Hoverter course provides college credit education to members of the community who may not have had an opportunity to go to college in the past,” said Prof. Pete Powers, Director of the Center for Public Humanities at Messiah University. “Maybe it was beyond their means financially. Maybe they just had other things going on in their lives.”
Started more than 20 years ago, the Hoverter Course has offered dozens of students the chance to build confidence and sharpen skills in writing, communication, history, and more. Participants begin with a fall humanities course and, if successful, can continue with a spring semester focused on specialized topics—from literature and communication to Black theology.
Messiah’s former Dean of the Humanities, Joseph Huffman, helped launch the initiative with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Powers says the vision was simple: “How can you keep some form of continuing education going in the community?”
One of the professors deeply involved in the program is Dr. Bernardo Michael, a history professor at Messiah, who says the learning environment is anything but traditional.
“The students are extremely engaged. They are there because they want to be there,” Michael said. “It’s always invigorating, and I’ve found it to be an opportunity not just for the students—but for me as well. I learn from them.”
Michael emphasizes relationship-building as key to the program’s success: “I walk very closely with them and try to become a friend, not just an instructor… We resubmit assignments. We go to bookstores. We attend campus events. We create a culture of learning.”
Audra Graves, a student who has completed both the fall and spring semesters, said the Hoverter Course gave her the tools—and courage—to invest in herself.
“I was a little nervous, but I was confident,” Graves shared. “Adult learning, I think you put more into. You look back at the sacrifices you’ve made and you say, ‘I want to do this. This is me. I am enough.’”
She discovered the program online and through word of mouth from others in the community who had found success through it.
“The professors meet you where you are in life,” she added. “They continue to build your confidence and let you know that you’re in the right place at the right time.”
In a world where access to education is often dictated by zip code, income, or circumstance, Messiah University’s Hoverter Course is quietly rewriting that narrative—one adult learner at a time.
Enrollment for the fall 2025 semester is now open. More information about the Hoverter Course in the Humanities can be found at Messiah University’s website.
