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Writ Large: The Big Families of Rosedale Bible College
By Hans Shenk
F amilies and institutions of higher learning are be composed of siblings. I couldn’t find any research
deeply intertwined in American society. Mul-
on how often four or more students from one fam-
tiple generations of an extended family often ily attend the same college, and concluded that the
attend the same school, and many families can trace
silence meant it doesn’t happen often enough to be
their origins to parents meeting in college. Also, if notable.
there’s a college or university in the United States To find out more about the meaning behind the
that doesn’t claim to have a campus saturated by a numbers, I emailed a short survey to some of the
‘family atmosphere,’ I’ve yet to hear of it. parents of five or more alumni, and followed up
Nevertheless, as a graduate of Rosedale Bible with two phone conversations. While the sample
College, I’ve always suspected one way the college size was small, I found several factors that helped
stands out is in the number of families that send explain the proportion of students who attend RBC
large groups of siblings to RBC. (Full disclosure: I with four or more siblings, and some insights into
am one of six siblings who’ve attended RBC – and these families’ RBC experiences.
more are coming!) The obvious explanation for why so many RBC
I set out to find out just how many families send students come from sibling groups is the composi-
multiple students, why it happens, and what, if any- tion of the college’s constituency, which has more
thing, is unique about these families’ experiences. large families than most colleges and universities.
Since 1988 (when RBC’s current database was first
used) there have been 2,742 students with a parent RBC is more than a college
listed. Of those, 1,388 have had at least one sibling
who also attended Rosedale, and the database shows Second, for many parents and young people
73 groups of four or more siblings. in CMC, RBC is more than a college—it’s a place
These sibling groups of four or more add up to where students receive an indispensable grounding
312 students—roughly 1 in 10 of the total. Twenty in the fundamentals of evangelical Anabaptist faith.
groups of at least five siblings have attended RBC, It’s also a jumping-off point for experiencing the
and since 1988, six families have sent six students. world outside of their home communities.
No family has (yet) sent more than six.* Over the phone, Joe Byler, who with his wife Nao-
These numbers seemed to confirm that the large mi, is parent to six RBC alumni said, “Seems like all
sibling groups at RBC are a unique phenomenon. our children, by the time they turn eighteen, they
While it isn’t abnormal for multiple students from were ready to spread their wings, and try something
one family to attend the same school, it does seem different… And RBC has met that need in a safe
unusual for half a school’s historical student body to context.”
4 MIRROR | summer 2016
By Hans Shenk
F amilies and institutions of higher learning are be composed of siblings. I couldn’t find any research
deeply intertwined in American society. Mul-
on how often four or more students from one fam-
tiple generations of an extended family often ily attend the same college, and concluded that the
attend the same school, and many families can trace
silence meant it doesn’t happen often enough to be
their origins to parents meeting in college. Also, if notable.
there’s a college or university in the United States To find out more about the meaning behind the
that doesn’t claim to have a campus saturated by a numbers, I emailed a short survey to some of the
‘family atmosphere,’ I’ve yet to hear of it. parents of five or more alumni, and followed up
Nevertheless, as a graduate of Rosedale Bible with two phone conversations. While the sample
College, I’ve always suspected one way the college size was small, I found several factors that helped
stands out is in the number of families that send explain the proportion of students who attend RBC
large groups of siblings to RBC. (Full disclosure: I with four or more siblings, and some insights into
am one of six siblings who’ve attended RBC – and these families’ RBC experiences.
more are coming!) The obvious explanation for why so many RBC
I set out to find out just how many families send students come from sibling groups is the composi-
multiple students, why it happens, and what, if any- tion of the college’s constituency, which has more
thing, is unique about these families’ experiences. large families than most colleges and universities.
Since 1988 (when RBC’s current database was first
used) there have been 2,742 students with a parent RBC is more than a college
listed. Of those, 1,388 have had at least one sibling
who also attended Rosedale, and the database shows Second, for many parents and young people
73 groups of four or more siblings. in CMC, RBC is more than a college—it’s a place
These sibling groups of four or more add up to where students receive an indispensable grounding
312 students—roughly 1 in 10 of the total. Twenty in the fundamentals of evangelical Anabaptist faith.
groups of at least five siblings have attended RBC, It’s also a jumping-off point for experiencing the
and since 1988, six families have sent six students. world outside of their home communities.
No family has (yet) sent more than six.* Over the phone, Joe Byler, who with his wife Nao-
These numbers seemed to confirm that the large mi, is parent to six RBC alumni said, “Seems like all
sibling groups at RBC are a unique phenomenon. our children, by the time they turn eighteen, they
While it isn’t abnormal for multiple students from were ready to spread their wings, and try something
one family to attend the same school, it does seem different… And RBC has met that need in a safe
unusual for half a school’s historical student body to context.”
4 MIRROR | summer 2016
