What if Tradition...?

My alma mater is within the throes of major change. What is currently known as JBC will soon be formerly known as JBC. And not just the name is changing.
I have kibitzed some online alumni discussions concerning these changes.
Most of the voices are saying one of two things: either "change is progress, progress is good, so change is good," or "change is departure from tradition, tradition is good, so change is bad."

It has become a very polarizing discussion, and I find myself sailing the doldrums along the equator.

At the North Pole you hear people declaring the virtues of progress in an ever-changing world. How can the practices that served to train preachers 150 years ago continue to be relevant in the wake of two World Wars and the invention of the iPad?
How can any institution that calls itself a "Bible College" hope for status, positive name recognition and academic influence in a world where the oldest "preacher training" school in the country (Harvard) has evolved into a beloved incubator for liberal-minded leaders both politically and theologically?
In light of this present era, we must get with the program or lose our "saltiness" altogether. That means, creating more varied degree options, adopting a new and improved PR strategy and invoking higher academic standards in order to cast a much wider net for prospective students. What the Kingdom needs is more universities in which students can prepare for whatever vocation they choose and GUI (Graduate Under the Influence) of Christianity. So expand JBC to JCU (or whatever) and watch the influence and impact we have on the Kingdom multiply.

At the South Pole, the voices are broadcasting a much different message. What the Kingdom needs an institution that will preserve a higher quality of Bible training and will focus on being great at hitting one target - training preachers - rather than striving for adequacy at hitting a variety of targets. How can the smaller churches survive and thrive without good quality preachers/leaders being slow-churned by a single-minded academic plan? Maybe, when it comes to preaching, the principles that worked 150 years ago still apply? What evidence do we have to the contrary? So keep JBC true to its founding values and watch the preachers continue to fill a need in the Kingdom that will never go away.

G.K. Chesterton wrote, "Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors." He was talking about democracy and tradition. Democracy being the concept that the Everyman is entitled to participate in government based simple on the virtue of being a human being. And tradition meaning that the influence of the masses shouldn't die when they do.

Applied to this discussion, the question we need to ask is, "How would past generations vote on the changes taking place at JBC?"
Or maybe the question is, "Do we really care what they thought?"

What if tradition and change are not diametrically opposed? What if a balance can be struck that "holds on the one without letting go of the other"?

We may see this very thing accomplished at JBC.
May we see it in our local churches as well.
Amen