Cedarville Magazine
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3
In our Student Life and ChristianMinistries Division, we emphasize four core values that
are foundational to biblical
leadership: 1)
Love for God
2)
Love for Others
3)
Excellence
in Effort
, and 4)
Integrity in Conduct
. Not only do we teach these principles, but we also
give our students opportunities to implement them as they lead in our Student Government
Association, various student organizations, student chaplaincies, resident assistant programs,
and other opportunities on campus.
In our Academic Division, we equip the mind with knowledge to lead, making sure that
leadership is consistently modeled in the classroom. In this magazine you will hear from just
a few of our alumni and current faculty members. One of those is Lieutenant General (Ret.)
Loren Reno ’70, who serves as the Dean of our School of Business Administration. Gen.
Reno assumed the Dean’s role after retiring from service in the Air Force, which included
work in the Pentagon. He has recently written an excellent book titled
Navigating Leadership:
A Guide to Serving and Leading
. What you might not know is that he personally mentors
students and staff members on a regular basis. Very few universities are so intentional
about equipping the next generation that their credentialed deans and faculty members
are personally investing their lives into students.
I am thrilled to report to you that Cedarville University does just that. We do not
relegate student interaction to teaching assistants. To the contrary, our professors came
to Cedarville University in order to proclaim their faith in Christ openly and to disciple
students to glorify God.
I still read a great deal on leadership. Recently, a new book
1
was published that performed
a sociological study onmore than 500 of America’s premier business, political, and nonprofit
leaders. The study had many interesting findings, but two deserve mentioning.
First, all but 3 percent of the leaders assessed in this study graduated from college, but
interestingly, the reputation or ranking of their alma maters was irrelevant. Attending an
Ivy League institution had no distinguishable benefit. I’ve heard parents wonder aloud if
their highly skilled son or daughter should pursue an Ivy League institution to achieve the
best opportunities. That thinking may be a mistake. Students have
less time with the highest credentialed professors at larger research
institutions and may find themselves discouraged from being lost
in the shuffle — an “average” student treated as a number among
the many other numbers. I fear that happens at far too many large
schools, which is another reason I am thankful that Cedarville
remains a quality, mid-sized school where every student attends
chapel together and is known by his or her name rather than by a
number.
Second, the study revealed the importance of a liberal arts
education. Even for those who desire to lead in non-liberal arts
areas, a well-rounded education and the ability to think well and
write well take on increased importance. Consider this quote from
the study:
“A generalist mind-set, however, is essential for leadership, and
promoting it is the mission of liberal arts schools, which seek
to educate young people through interdisciplinary and adaptive
learning” (pg. 49).
At Cedarville University, students receive a Bible minor and
complete a core curriculum that equips them to write and think
well. These skills provide the tools for future success.
As you read through the pages of this magazine, I ask that you
pray for us. We desire not just to train leaders, but to train biblical
leaders. We desire to train leaders who know serving God and
serving others matters more than possessing power. We desire to
train leaders who will work with the diligence of the ant and the
persistence of the beaver when striving for godliness in the midst
of the turbulent waters of trials that we all must face. We desire
to train leaders who will confront culture
articulately with the love of Christ and the
truths of Scripture wherever Godmay place
them.
I am thankful for the men and women
at Cedarville — past and present, some
featured in this magazine and many more
who could be — who have modeled these
principles of biblical leadership for our
students. Enjoy this issue of
Cedarville
Magazine
as we explore the blessing of
biblical leadership.
1
Lindsay, D. Michael. (2014).
View From the Top:
An Inside Look at How People in Power See and
Shape the World
. Hoboken, New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Thomas White
became Cedarville’s 10th
President in 2013. He is the author
and editor of numerous publications
and is a contributor to the forthcoming
Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook,
Volume 4
, set to be released November 2014.
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