On Oct. 21, ABC and Disney+ will air "CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton," celebrating Dolly’s extraordinary life and legacy. As young people around the world watch the show, I hope they see in Dolly a model for turning their gifts into work that serves the world.
Research from Gallup this summer revealed that nearly 8 in 10 Gen Z respondents are looking for professional work that makes a positive difference in the world. At Belmont, the Christian university where "A Celebration of Dolly Parton" was filmed, I take seriously our responsibility to receive that good desire and deepen it with the wisdom and competence that come from hands-on experience, learning in community and the study of good role models.
Universities
have long emphasized the value of role models in forming young hearts a nd minds. That’s why students study figures like Socrates, Augustine, George Washington, Florence Nightingale and Martin Luther King, Jr. I’d propose that we add Dolly Parton to that list. Her songwriting, storytelling, philanthropy and entrepreneurial spirit offer lessons for young people discerning the work they might be called to.
Dolly's lessons in entrepreneurship
The phrase “entrepreneurial spirit” can make some young people squirm. For those who associate it solely with the pursuit of wealth and individual achievement at all costs, that discomfort is understandable.
Dolly, though, represents a fuller, more compelling picture of entrepreneurship. Her entrepreneurial spirit recognized needs and found creative ways to meet them using her unique gifts and resources. Dolly was an extraordinary entrepreneur in the traditional sense of economic development and job creation, and her business savvy is evident in ventures like Dollywood, as well as more recent businesses like her “Cup of Ambition” coffee line and “Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop.”
We also see her broader vision of entrepreneurship in her songwriting and the creation of the Imagination Library, an effort that began with a need close to home in East Tennesseeand grew into a global initiative delivering millions of books to children.
Bridging purpose and profits
In a 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Dolly recalled that her father, a smart man who never had the opportunity to learn to read, carried shame about his illiteracy. Dolly remembered thinking, “I need to do something.”
And she did. She turned an experience that shaped her family into a vision for helping children everywhere. She recognized a need and put her talents and resources to work. That is the entrepreneurial spirit, and it has changed generations of lives for the better.
The same instinct that leads someone to launch a business can inspire a songwriter to put pen to paper, a doctor to recognize a diagnosis or a philosopher to engage difficult questions raised by artificial intelligence. That instinct is, in theologian Frederick Buechner’s words, “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Dolly found that meeting place again and again, and she continues to help others do the same. Through Belmont’s Dolly Upartnership, students across disciplines work alongside industry professionals on real projects shaped by her artistry, business acumen and commitment to others. Thanks to Dolly’s generous trust, students have contributed to her work according to their interests and abilities, whether sewing costumes for her musical or developing customer service plans for her hotel. They are discovering their vocations and learning to turn their gifts toward others.
Our responsibility to Gen Z
College students in every field of study bring a deep desire to make a difference. Our responsibility is to help them build patterns of thought and action that cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit and pave the way for faithful action in the world.
So on Oct. 21, let's sing our hearts out at the Dolly tribute show airing on ABC and Disney+ at 9/8 Central. Amid the songs and stories, we’ll celebrate a life that shows what an entrepreneurial spirit can accomplish when directed toward community flourishing – a legacy we’re committed to carrying forward in the lives and work of our students for generations to come.
Greg Jones is president of Belmont University.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Dolly Parton offers Gen Z a better picture of success | Opinion
