Cedars, January 2018

January 2018 4 COVER by Zach Krauss A fter decades of teaching at Cedar- ville University and investing in the local community, Dr. James Phipps, senior professor of communication, will retire at the end of this semester. Phipps arrived in 1964 when the uni- versity barely had five buildings to its name. Immediately after finishing his degree in speech and English, he was asked by the head of the department to teach the general education speech class, which is now known as Fundamentals of Speech. He continued teaching students at Ce- darville while pursuing his M.A. in broad- casting and Ph.D. in communication from Ohio State University. Phipps said his original plan had noth- ing to do with Ohio. He planned to go to Stanford to study law, which was much clos- er to his home in California and offered him a free ride. His second college option was Cedarville, which he’d heard about through some family friends. If he chose Cedarville, he’d have to sell his car in order to afford it. Phipps chose Stanford, and the day af- ter, he totaled his car after a collision with a tree. After the accident, a police officer spoke with Phipps saying, “Young man, you gotta have a reason for living, because you shouldn’t be.” Phipps said those words stayed with him. Looking back, he said he didn’t see how the Lord was leading, but now he knows He definitely was. “I think the whole thing of coming here was God’s leading,” Phipps said. “Even though there have been ups and downs, there’s never a day I don’t want to come here to work or that I regret deciding to come here.” Phipps was the chair of the commu- nication department at Cedarville for 33 years, from 1970 (just two years after he graduated from the university) until 2003. As a sophomore, he began broadcasting Ce- darville’s Yellow Jacket sports games and continued to do so for more than 20 years. Phipps said that being at Cedarville for so long has been incredible because he has been able to see how much the campus and community have changed. “When I came to Cedarville, there were just two of us in my department, and the campus stretched out to just a few build- ings,” Phipps said. “I remember when we were positive that there was no possible way we’d reach more than 2,500 students.” Once the number of students continued to break expectations for all of the faculty, Phipps decided that the Lord clearly had bigger plans for Cedarville than anyone anticipated. As he’s seen the campus grow, he’s been impressed by the dedication and sincerity in the hearts of the students. One of Phipps’ favorite things about Cedarville is the focus on global missions. “Especially in recent years,” he said, “I think that Cedarville has truly begun to understand what it means to be on mission in every field. Just seeing how much impact our students have in every field all over the world is incredible.” Phipps has also been increasingly in- volved in the community of Cedarville and the surrounding area since his coming to CU. He was on the Cedarville village council from 1982 until 1996, when he was elected mayor of Cedarville and served until 2012. He has been the president of the Cedarville Opera House Society since 2011. The soci- ety supports the opera house that Cedarville students can use for events such as show- cases done by Ayo, the student dance orga- nization, and concerts by the Inversions, the a cappella group on campus. Rebecca and Dr. Wes Baker, both former professors at Cedarville, have wit- nessed Phipps’ kindness throughout their years serving alongside him. “He really is there for you,” Rebecca Baker said. “He is someone whose kindness is more than words – it’s active.” Dr. Baker said Phipps was a key player in his and his wife’s teaching careers in theatre and broadcasting. The Bakers said Phipps has been strongly involved in the community and the University, and he will always be a trea- sured part of their lives. Phipps’ son, Tim Phipps, chose to fol- low his father in working at Cedarville. He serves as the technical director and produc- tion manager for the university’s theatre de- partment. Tim originally never wanted to go into education, but he said that a large part of his decision to begin to teach classes at Cedarville had to do with his father’s dedi- cation to students. “When I was younger, we always had stu- dents from Cedarville at our house,” he said. “People who didn’t have places to go over breaks and just students that my dad wanted to pour into were common guests at home.” Tim said that one of the most inspiring things about his father was his dedication to the students throughout all of his years at Cedarville. The fact that his father never grew weary of helping students no matter their needs inspired Tim as he considered teaching at Cedarville. “Even when [he] was busy with school- work or other things, I always remember see- ing him at sports events and other activities, even if he had to bring his work with him,” he said. “Even when he had other things going on, he’d never hesitate to do what he needed to make his students’ lives better.” During his time at Cedarville, Phipps has taught almost all of the communication de- partment’s classes in some form or another, and he said his favorite classes are the ones in which he is able to pour into students and learn more about them. Inspiring Professor to Retire After 50 Years Photo courtesy of Scott Huck Dr. James Phipps, senior professor of communication will retire after teaching for 50 years.