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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
