Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2019

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE Generous grace resulting in transformational growth. God continues to bless Cedarville University in amazing ways. Many Christian colleges and universities in our country have compromised by not holding to the inerrancy, infallibility, sufficiency, and authority of Scripture. Such compromise manifests itself in a lack of affirming a literal creation or a historic Adam and Eve, which affects our understanding of sin, human sexuality, and salvation. Compromise leads to a loss of distinctiveness and, more importantly, a lack of faithfulness to the teachings of Christ. Many schools have drifted beyond the point of no return. Compromised and trapped, they double down on appealing to broader culture, leading to either false assurance or desperation and doubt. This trajectory lacks appeal to most Bible-believing conservatives and produces graduates unable or unwilling to defend a biblical worldview. I am humbled to report to you that Cedarville University, by God’s grace, has not compromised and has experienced transformational growth in finances, student enrollment, building plans, and, most importantly, in hearts and minds, as we seek to be more like King Jesus. Because of the high demand for educational excellence that is uncompromisingly biblical, our student enrollment has exploded. This creates pinch points in chapel, student housing, dining services, and classroom space. The Cedarville team hired experts who spent a year participating in hundreds of meetings and obtaining thousands of data points of information to develop a comprehensive campus master plan to adequately handle this growth. Our experts also provided an architectural and structural evaluation of our older buildings on campus. All of this work resulted in a roughly 100-page book documenting this information. We’ve condensed the highlights into this magazine. In this edition of Cedarville Magazine , you will read about and see renderings of our working campus master plan, all of which only represent the top 10% of the iceberg. While some details might change throughout the ongoing refining process, the overall trajectory will likely stay the same. These plans represent major changes to the buildings on campus, with some outdated buildings being torn down and more modern, larger facilities constructed. Even as we embark upon an aggressive campus master plan, we know that our most valuable resource will always be our people, whom we have sought to care for through targeted pay increases accompanied by cost- of-living raises. After all, this really isn’t about buildings, but about creating spaces where faculty and students engage in the process of educational excellence and intentional discipleship. As has always been the case, Cedarville can only be explained by God and the amazing people He calls to serve in the cornfields. While God typically works through people, we rightly desire that all glory and praise belong to Him alone. Only by God’s grace has this transformational growth occurred. It’s an exciting time to be at Cedarville! We have the rare opportunity to re-envision the campus — to dream about the future and see glimpses of those dreams becoming reality. We invite you to come back to campus and see the progress for yourself. Until then, join me in praising God for all He has done as we continue to stand firm with compassionate conviction for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. 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