937-766-4990 or 1-866-224-4490 advancement@cedarville.edu The With thankful recognition of your faithful generosity Friday, September 30, 2011 Doden Field House Cedarville University
I am a proud member of the inaugural class in Cedarville’s school of pharmacy, and I absolutely love Cedarville! Cedarville has an encouraging atmosphere that stimulates and challenges my spiritual growth more than I ever expected. The classes are interesting and engaging, and the professors take a genuine interest in students and try to build real relationships with us outside of the classroom. I feel so blessed to be able to come here and learn from such godly examples about how to integrate our Christian faith in everything we do. One of the most valuable things I have learned here can be summed up by something the pharmacy faculty tells us all the time — I am not a future pharmacist who happens to be a Christian. Rather, I am a Christian who happens to be a future pharmacist. I am so grateful for our generous donors who provide scholarships that allow students to become better equipped to challenge and serve the world around us. Upon graduation, I know that I will be able to serve those around me as a Christian first and a pharmacist second. Ashley Benjamin, ‘12 Bowling Green, Ohio Prepharmacy
The Reception Dinner Welcome and Prayer Jason Atwell, Alumni Association President Program Musical Presentation Cedarville University Jazz Band Presentation of Alumni Awards Jeff Beste, Director of Alumni Relations Testimony: Alumni of the Year Harry ’96 and Echo (Tuinstra) VanderWal ’98 Message of Gratitude Bill Brown, President Closing Bill Bigham, Vice President for Advancement We are honored to have you here.
Building for the Future Health Sciences Campaign Cedarville’s world-class facilities provide an inspiring environment for teaching and learning. We are now in the early stages of a capital campaign for the new Health Sciences Center, expected to open in fall 2012. This 19,000-square-foot, $14 million building will provide needed classroom and lab facilities for the department of nursing and the growing school of pharmacy.
Thank you to our Cedarville Society members! This past year your collective giving provided more than $300,000 for the Cedarville Fund. Your gifts provide a distinctive Cedarville education in five specific areas: scholarships, chapel, academic departments, Christian ministries, and Bible minor classes. Each year, Cedarville Society members commit to: Pray for Cedarville students, faculty, staff, and administration. Give $1,000 or more to the Cedarville Fund. Promote the University to their families, friends, and churches. For more information contact Wade Harris, director of the Cedarville Fund, at harrisw@cedarville.edu or cedarville.edu/cedarvillesociety. CEDARVILLE Society the
Young Alumnus of the Year Cody Fisher ’06 Dr. Jeff Cook’s urban ministries class changed Cody’s life forever. In a weekend poverty simulation, students lived as homeless people on the streets of Springfield, Ohio, begging for money, eating out of dumpsters, and collecting cans for what little money they would bring. “From that point on,” he said, “I knew I couldn’t be content with just loving from a distance. I had to radically displace myself if I wanted to love like Jesus loved.” Cody began working as the public relations director for Millennium Relief and Development Services (MRDS), an NGO helping rebuild Iraq. After spending 12 months there, he packed two suitcases and moved to Iraq, choosing to claim the promises of Jesus and learn what it means to love his neighbor. As he spent time in the homes of people he came to know and love, he became aware of dozens of children born with heart defects. The effects of war, malnutrition, poverty, lack of basic health care, and intra-family marriages had taken a toll, and an entire generation of Iraqi children needed heart surgery to save their lives. In 2007, Cody founded the Preemptive Love Coalition, a nonprofit organization that seeks to provide lifesaving heart surgeries for Iraqi children in the pursuit of peace. Through that organization he began to send the most critical children overseas to Israel and Turkey for lifesaving surgeries. The Coalition brings medical teams to Iraqi hospitals to train and empower local doctors to care for these special needs children. “The Gospel Jesus spoke about will be displayed through our lives and embraced by people we’ve grown to love as our own,” he said. Cody lives in Iraq with his wife Michelle.
Alumni Impact Award Rachel Reno ’00 “My love for God’s Word deepened during my four years at Cedarville through times of prayer, chapel, and Bible classes,” said Rachel. “Through many experiences in different classes, I learned how to live my faith as a teacher. God used Cedarville to give me a great love for getting to know people and walk in relationship with them.” Rachel’s deepest joy in teaching is in discipling her students at Xenia Christian High School. She enjoys sharing God’s Word, listening, praying, laughing, crying, and living life with her students. Many of her students through the past 11 years name her as one of the most influential people in their lives. Sami SanGregory ’12, who nominated Rachel for this award, said, “Rachel was the best teacher I had in high school. She invested her life into the lives of her students. I miss being blessed daily by this incredible woman of God!” Rachel teaches 11th- and 12th-grade English and junior high girls’ Bible at Xenia Christian where she also serves as counselor for the girls.
One Another Mindset Award Jearl Ward ’81 As a student in the late 70s, Jearl was intentional about building friendships with Cedarville leadership, professors, staff, and students to help increase awareness of the differences and needs of minority students at Cedarville. Since leaving Cedarville, he has arranged several trips back to campus with minority students interested in seeing a Christ-centered college campus. From 2002–2005, he served on the African-American Advisory Council to help frame the organizational direction for Cedarville’s multicultural activities. During those years, he worked on multiple committees and was a consultant to Dr. Dixon’s team regarding issues of student recruitment, admission and retention, trustee appointments, faculty and staff hiring, and chapel programming. He has served as a member of Cedarville’s alumni council since 2005, and has chaired the alumni council diversity committee since 2010. The committee’s mission is “to help expand the scope, thinking, and planning efforts of the Alumni Association toward actions that facilitate increased diversity of membership, connection, support, and participation at Cedarville sponsored activities.” Last November, Jearl helped plan a men’s retreat with the leadership of a majority Caucasian church in the Annapolis, Maryland, area. The focus of the retreat was to increase understanding for cultural diversity and to model diverse church worship. He sponsored several Cedarville students to fly from Ohio for the weekend, housed and fed them, and worked with all worship team members from churches in Maryland to create a culturally diverse worship team. Jearl and his wife, Jessica, reside in Maryland. They have four daughters: Jerica ’09, Jernelle ’11, Jerielle ’14, and Jervonne.
Alumni of the Year Harry ’96 and Echo (Tuinstra) VanderWal ’98 Harry and Echo felt called to serve God in medical missions as young children. They are grateful for the strong academic foundation they received at Cedarville and faculty members who challenged them and affirmed their God-given call to serve on the mission field. Following graduation, both pursued advanced degrees in medicine — Harry attended Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and finished his residency in 2006, and Echo graduated from Kettering College of Medical Arts as a physician assistant. In 2005, they founded The Luke Commission (TLC), a faith-based, nonprofit health care organization operating in Swaziland, South Africa. Harry and Echo serve as executive directors while working with a team of highly trained Swazis to deliver comprehensive health care clinics to 25,000 rural patients a year. TLC’s mobile clinics serve as an avenue to share the love and hope of Christ with those who are physically and spiritually broken. TLC serves the most isolated and underserved population of rural Swaziland by treating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The VanderWals explained, “Cedarville played a pivotal role in our lives as we were more than prepared for further medical training and ministry overseas. We were blessed with exceptional professors whose expertise and encouragement taught us much more than the classroom necessitated. As we reflect upon our time at Cedarville, it is evident that God used the University as a powerful instrument to continue the work He began in us.” Harry and Echo live in Swaziland with their ten-year-old triplets, Luke, Jacob, and Zebadiah, and a seven-year-old son, Zion.
Distinguished Service Award Bryan Waggoner ’77 While a student at Cedarville University, Bryan began his lifetime involvement in student ministries. As a youth pastor in Brownsburg, Indiana, Bryan began bringing students in his youth group to visit Cedarville College, a yearly practice that continued for 25 years. As a result, dozens of students from Brownsburg, Indiana, enrolled at Cedarville. In 1979, while an intern at Bethesda Baptist Church, he helped coordinate a new training retreat for Cedarville’s Christian ministry teams. This retreat has continued for 32 years as Bryan now serves as executive pastor at Bethesda. The partnership has saved the University thousands of dollars and influenced hundreds of Cedarville students. Bryan is enthusiastic about Cedarville students and regularly makes the trip from Indiana to Cedarville to attend HeartSong events. “I thoroughly enjoy meeting the students, praying for and with them, and encouraging them in any way possible. It’s my way to pay forward for the investment Cedarville has made in my life.” Jim Cato, executive director of Heartsong, is grateful for Bryan’s personal investment in students’ lives. In his nearly 30 years of working with Cedarville ministry teams, he said, “I have never met anyone more committed to prayer.” Bryan and his wife, Sheri (Levin) ’80, have four children: Jess ’06, JB ’09, Korinna ’14, and Caleb.
Honorary Alumnus of the Year Travis (Lew) Gibbs If you’ve ever met Lew Gibbs, you would think he bleeds Cedarville blue and yellow. While not an alum, his love and support for our alumni and the University is not easily matched. Known around campus as “Mr. G,” Lew directed Cedarville’s career services office for 15 years, broadening its role and reputation to become one of the top career offices in the country. He strongly believes each student is “uniquely wired by God to do Kingdom things” and has had a significant impact on many students’ lives. Lew came to Cedarville after 31 years in management at IBM. He brought a marketing approach to a discipline predominately focused on counseling. His priority was to aggressively network with alumni and parents to tap into their potential as hiring influencers. His connections with alumni across the country and the world have accomplished that objective. Cedarville now enjoys the favor of many preeminent employers. Known throughout the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities as a “consummate networker,” his energetic leadership has also positively impacted career offices at other campuses. A sought after speaker on career related subjects, he has represented Cedarville University appearing on local cable TV and national Christian radio and has also been published in numerous journals and periodicals. Lew retired from his role at Cedarville in June, and has begun a consulting business. He and his wife, Sheron, have three children, all Cedarville graduates, and five grandchildren.
Friday, September 30 Play, And Then There Were None 8 p.m. DeVries Theatre, SSC Advance tickets required Homecoming Praise Concert 8 p.m. Jeremiah Chapel, DMC Homecoming Highlights Schedule
Saturday, October 1 Homecoming Parade 10 a.m. Main Street CU by the Lake Party 10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Lakeside Plaza, Lower SSC Health Science Center 11 a.m. Health Science Center Celebration of Construction Construction Site Women’s Varsity Volleyball Game 11 a.m. Stranahan Gymnasium, Callan AC Class Reunions: 11:30 a.m. Various ’61, ’66, ’81, ’91, ’96, ’01 Women’s Varsity Soccer Game 1 p.m. Varsity Soccer Field Play, And Then There Were None 2 p.m. DeVries Theatre, SSC Advance tickets required Men’s Varsity Soccer Game 3 p.m. Varsity Soccer Field Women’s Varsity Volleyball Game 3 p.m. Stranahan Gymnasium, Callan AC Class Reunions: 5:30 p.m. Various ’71, ’76, ’86, ’06 Play, And Then There Were None 8 p.m. DeVries Theatre, SSC Advance tickets required Jazz Band Concert 8 p.m. Plaza Steps, BTS Featuring The Demerits
Scholarship Funding Options Establishing a scholarship is such a personal way to make a difference in students’ lives. So often God uses the generosity of donors to demonstrate His faithful provision for students and their families. Every scholarship recipient has a story to share about receiving needed assistance at just the right time. While students benefit from support at all levels, we recommend establishing awards that provide a minimum of $2,500, or 10 percent of a student’s expenses for tuition, room, board, and fees. Below are the three most common funding options: Annually Funded Scholarships With an annual investment of $2,500 or more the University awards a scholarship to students according to criteria established by the donor. Endowed Scholarships Cedarville invests your gift and uses investment earnings to fund scholarships. An investment of $25,000 or more generates enough interest to award a significant scholarship without invading the principal. The endowment creates a perpetual income stream, making the scholarship permanent. General Scholarship Fund Gifts under $2,500 can benefit scholarships through The Cedarville Fund. The general scholarship fund provides assistance to recruit and retain academically talented students with exceptional need.
The Benefits of Gift Plans You can meet your personal financial goals and fulfill your charitable objectives through a variety of gift plan options: A gift annuity is a contractual agreement. In exchange for a gift of cash or securities, the University provides a fixed annual income for the donor for life. In addition to the annuity payment, the donor receives a charitable income tax deduction, and a portion of each annuity payment may be tax-free. A charitable remainder trust is a legal trust that allows the donor to bypass capital gains tax on the sale of appreciated assets. The donor receives a fixed or variable income for life and other favorable tax benefits. Thank you to our Legacy Circle members who have helped students through gift plans! Estate gifts are made by naming Cedarville University as a beneficiary of a will, IRA, or life insurance policy. Donors can transfer a specific asset, donate a percentage of their estate, or contribute remaining assets after providing for their loved ones. We are grateful to members of the William Gibson Society who have named Cedarville as a beneficiary of their estate! Your generosity is inspiring. Not only are you investing in students, you are securing the future of Cedarville University. We cannot thank you enough.
Cedarville University is a Christ-centered learning community equipping students for lifelong leadership and service through an education marked by excellence and grounded in biblical truth. More than just a mission statement, this focus attracts more than 3,300 Christian students from around the nation to study in our 100 academic programs on a beautiful 400-acre campus in southwest Ohio. Outstanding students, world-class facilities, talented professors, and award-winning technology contribute to an education that U.S.News &World Report andThe Princeton Review recognize as one of the best in the Midwest. Our Mission
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