Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2018

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor Janice (Warren) Supplee ’86 Managing Editor Clem Boyd Creative Director Chad Jackson ’05 Graphic Designer Craig Salisbury Photographer Scott Huck Administration President Thomas White Vice President for Academics Thomas Mach ’88 Vice President for Advancement Rick Melson Vice President for Business and Chief Financial Officer Christopher Sohn Vice President for Enrollment Management Scott Van Loo ’98 Vice President for Marketing and Communications Janice (Warren) Supplee ’86 Vice President for Student Life and Christian Ministries Jonathan Wood Athletic Director Alan Geist ’83 Our Mission 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. Our Vision Cedarville University will be an exemplary Christian institution known for commitment to academic excellence, submission to biblical authority, passion for the Great Commission, and intentional discipleship that transforms lives for godly service, vocational distinction, and cultural engagement. Cedarville Magazine is published spring, summer, and fall and mailed free of charge to alumni and supporters of Cedarville University. 1-800-CEDARVILLE • cedarville.edu Direct inquiries and address changes to: Cedarville Magazine Cedarville University 251 N. Main St., Cedarville, OH 45314 cedarville.edu/magazine magazine@cedarville.edu 1-888-CEDARVILLE READ ONLINE! Visit cedarville.edu/magazineSP1 8 on your computer or mobile device. Spring 2018 Volume 6 Issue 1 On the cover: Greg and Tricia (Walker) Clark ’96 and their adopted sons, Braxton and Camden. Photo by Ashtyn Brooke Photo In these pages, you will find an edition of Cedarville Magazine that is close to my heart. I have personally learned so much from adoption about the priceless nature of salvation, that I cannot wait for you to read these stories and apply their truths to your own life. When we started working on this issue, I was amazed by just how many in the Cedarville family had adopted or been adopted. I learned about many alumni passionate for adoption, even to the point of founding organizations that encourage and support adoption. I am overwhelmed by the James 1:27 love expressed by the Cedarville family. My favorite story is still being written through the life of my daughter and the students involved in our Foster Care Scholarship program. Every week, one student in particular comes by to say “Hello” as I sit on the stage after chapel. He brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart with every fist bump, handshake, or hug. He is but one of our Foster Care Scholarship recipients. Cedarville’s administration started this scholarship after looking at the Ohio Foster Care Registry and seeing so many 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds listed. We wondered what opportunities for higher education these students would have and sought to provide the opportunity to study at Cedarville University by providing a full-tuition scholarship and support for one person who had timed out of the foster care system. In this way, our institution lives out the James 1:27 mandate. I believe the reason stories like these affect me so much is that it reminds me of my own spiritual adoption. Each of us, at one point helpless as slaves to our sin, had to be adopted by a loving Father at great cost. Through no effort or merit of our own, those who have received the free gift of salvation have been adopted into the family of God — no longer slaves, but sons and heirs of the King. So I pray that as you read these stories you will be encouraged to appreciate your own spiritual adoption and that you will be inspired either to consider adoption or to prayerfully and financially support others seeking to adopt. Ultimately, adoption is at the heart of the Gospel. Steadfast in Christ, Thomas White, President cedarville.edu/president @DrThomasWhite facebook.com/DrThomasWhite instagram.com/drthomaswhite/ linkedin.com/in/jthomaswhite Subscribe at drthomaswhite.com 2 | Cedarville Magazine Cedarville Magazine