Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2013

8 | Cedarville Magazine Excellence With a Purpose by Thomas White For more than 125 years, Cedarville University has been equipping students for personal and professional excellence with a Gospel purpose. As I begin my tenure as President, my primary goal is to stay true to this immense heritage. However, as the history of Christian higher education has shown, maintaining fidelity to an institution’s confession requires intentional, deliberate effort. The halls of history are decorated with institutions, once founded to train men and women for Gospel ministry, that moved toward the middle and now have completely abandoned their Gospel purpose. It’s hard to fathom that Harvard University’s “Rules and Precepts” once stated: Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of Him (Prov. 2:3). [Editor’s note: Unusual spellings are part of the original document.] With this warning of history before us, Cedarville will continue to train students to be personally excellent. I believe that followers of Christ make the best leaders. Consequently, Cedarville will continue to focus on discipleship and ministry opportunities. We will not sacrifice ministry opportunities for efficiency or to reduce expenditures. Such actions would hinder the mission of the University. Instead, I am looking for partners to help support additional evangelistic efforts and missions trips. I want every student to go on a missions trip to an unreached area of the world. It will change students’ prayer lives, their views of financial resources, and their hearts for the Great Commission. Along with investing in students’ personal excellence, Cedarville will continue to produce men and women that exhibit professional excellence. Historically, our students have experienced higher earning potential and greater success finding jobs. Within six months of graduation, 94 percent of our 2012 graduates were employed or in graduate school, handily exceeding the national average. We intend to continue doing so by partnering with employers to ensure the end product meets the need. We will have academic excellence at the highest possible level because, as Chancellor Paul Dixon used to say, “anything done in the name of Christ should have quality stamped all over it,” especially when it comes to our students. As we invest in our students, we will do so with a Gospel purpose. Our mission will continue to be driven by what the apostle Paul describes “as of first importance,” namely, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4). Through repentance of our sins and faith in the