Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2020

KINGDOM DIVERSITY TEAM To advance the biblical value of diversity at Cedarville, nine members of the campus community have been asked to serve on the Kingdom Diversity Team. These individuals represent students, faculty, and staff and come from a wide array of disciplines and departments. DR. DEFORIA LANE DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP At its fall meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a new diversity scholarship that honors the faithful service of Dr. Deforia Lane, a member of the University Board since 1997. Lane served as the Director of Music Therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Seidman Cancer Center, and Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. She earned her Ph.D. in music education from Case Western Reserve University. Beginning fall 2021, the Dr. Deforia Lane Diversity Scholarship will be awarded annually to select undergraduate students seeking to enhance the Cedarville community through their personal experience and appreciation for racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The new scholarship was recommended by the University’s Kingdom Diversity Team. For more information, visit cedarville.edu/lanescholarship . AFFIRMING BIBLICAL JUSTICE AND KINGDOM DIVERSITY In the days following the death of George Floyd, the University reaffirmed its commitment to biblical justice and racial equality. That statement follows here: We have been deeply grieved by the events that have transpired in our nation. In considering a response, we begin with a word to our African-American students, faculty, and staff, our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. We affirm our love and care for you as fellow image-bearers. We pray for you and stand with you, eager for and working toward the day when we see men and women of all ethnicities and race living out the unity that is ours because Jesus has torn down the “dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). We turned to J. Murray Murdoch to give expression to the anguish we feel in our souls and the hope that exists only in Jesus Christ. Many of you have sat under Murdoch’s teaching; some of you have traveled with him on the Civil Right Bus Tour. As Distinguished Professor of History and a 55-year member of our faculty, he has stood boldly for decades, articulating clearly and compellingly a Christian response to the evils of racism. Contemplating these recent events, Murdoch shared the following words. They reflect the heartbeat of Cedarville University and each member of our leadership team: “Frommy arrival at Cedarville in the fall of 1965 until today, we have sought to live by the statement that we stand for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. You cannot live with that as your motto and not be devastated by the recent events in our nation. I was devastated as I watched the life slip out of George Floyd’s body as he was choked by a police officer’s knee. My thoughts were, ‘That could have been one of my students. That could have been one of my grandchildren.’ “The Word of God cries out against the sin of racism. God tells us that all people — “all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” — are welcome in the family of God (Rev. 7:9). “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ As a University family committed to biblical justice, my prayer for our community is that we open our arms in love to all peoples and reflect the diversity of the Kingdom of God here at Cedarville University.” Clem Boyd is Managing Editor of Cedarville Magazine . God tells us that all people — “all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues”—are welcome in the family of God (Rev. 7:9). Murray Murdoch Cedarville Magazine | 27