What do these people have in common: Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, Martin Van Buren, George Washington, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, William Faulkner, Andrew Carnegie, Florence Nightingale, Karl Rove, Bobby Fischer, George Gershwin, Walt Disney, J.K. Rowling, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Steve Wozniak, Charles Lindbergh, Ted Turner, Mark Twain, Peter Jennings, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Henry Ford I & II, Walt Whitman, Frank Lloyd Wright, R. Buckminster Fuller, and Orville and Wilbur Wright? Remarkably, they all appear on www.CollegeDropoutsHallofFame.com. The Web site lists famous non-college graduates. Some, like Lincoln, didn’t graduate from elementary school.

These people prove that a college degree is not required for success. Today of course, some professions require proof of advanced knowledge. Among them are doctors, lawyers, engineers and other fields which rely on extensive study of complex subjects. Still even with a degree there is no guarantee graduates in these fields will perform well. Stories abound of mediocre and downright incompetent people in these professions. True qualification involves other factors like personality traits and basic aptitude.

I’m a fan of higher education. I have seven university transcripts as proof. But, I can attest that an educated idiot is still an idiot. I’ve met a number of them in my career. I’ve also known very successful people who never walked a stage wearing a funny tasseled cap. Among them is former mayor Jim Nix, who during 28 years in office implemented his vision for Fairhope, which resulted in many of the things we now enjoy. Among them are the revitalized downtown, rose garden, fountain and the public beach.

I believe education is a great thing, but I’m perplexed at the obsession with degrees. I do feel that going to college gives a person broader exposure, and that is helpful in our complex society. But, there are other ways to broaden thinking that don’t require a degree. Military service is a great example; so are the Peace Corps or other types of civic service.

I recently read two August 2006 articles in Police Chief magazine, www.PoliceChiefMagazine.org, related to college education in law enforcement. A very compelling statement was, “Police need personnel in their ranks who have the characteristics a college education seeks to foster: intellectual curiosity, analytical ability, articulateness, and a capacity to relate the events of the day to the social, political, and historical context in which they occur.” The key point to that statement is the characteristics they seek. A college degree is one means to that end.

Fairhope was founded by and supports non-conventional thinkers. I believe anyone who exhibits the proper aptitude, personality and characteristics, with or without a degree, is qualified to work in Fairhope law enforcement. I would like to see our hiring policies for all city departments be broad enough to include candidates that are qualified by virtue of their abilities, whether those come from a college education or equivalent life experience.

Chris Toney earned bachelor and master of science degrees and is a Fairhope resident.