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Advancing Cedarville
by Carol Lee ’96
“Friends for Life” has been the Alumni Relations
tagline for years. The phrase captures and celebrates
the lifelong connection Cedarville students share with
one another and with their alma mater. These “school
ties” can take root and grow in formal collegiate
settings, but more often they happen informally.
A group of Theta Rho Epsilon (OPE) students,
for example, built lasting friendships when they
gathered each Thursday for prayer, accountability,
and (on occasion) Star Trek.
More than 20 years after graduation, this
group maintains deep friendships with one
another and two decades of OPE alumni.
They are also forming friendships
with today’s student members while
encouraging them to form lifelong
friendships with each other. They
still gather — online and in person
— for prayer, accountability, and to
encourage (there’s no other way to
say this) “the next generation.”
Paul McGrady ’93 and Kevin
Parliament ’93 are two of OPE’s
founding members. They spoke
with
Cedarville Magazine
about
how this student organizationhas
established a multigenerational
brotherhood and a lifelong
connection with Cedarville.
When and why was OPE
founded?
PM
– OPE began our junior
year, in 1991. The other
founding members were Brian
Bales ’93, Tom Mathisen ’93,
Mike Heft ’93, and TomDriscoll
’93, along with Jeff Beste ’86 as
our adviser. We added additional
members the following spring,
and yearly membership has stayed
at about 15–20 men.
KP
– I’d love to say we had a master plan
to establish 20 years of brotherhood, but
we were 19- and 20-year-old college guys.
We thought it would be great to have a
men’s organization where we could get to
know each other as brothers, hold each other
spiritually accountable as men, and also have
a little fun. We wanted to make sure each class of guys
we brought in would be committed to these same
principles.
And how did you become “Friends for Life”?
PM
–We’ve maintained our accountability relationships
as we’ve grown older, keeping in touch in person, by
phone and text, and online through a Facebook group.
We share concerns and prayer requests about our
marriages, children, and health.
KP
– We also stay in touch with current OPE students.
Each year the officers plan an annual winter retreat.
As founders, we try to attend each year, and we invite
OPE alumni from other years. There could be as many
alumni as there are students at the retreat.
You can’t talk about OPE without talking about
Jeff Beste, the group’s longtime adviser. He’s had
a constant connection with this group from the
beginning. How did you see his influence?
PM
– Jeff had the vision for OPE as amen’s accountability
group, and he saw the potential for friendships that
could last a lifetime. He was the glue that held it together
and made it happen. With a gentle hand, he took a
young organization and steered us toward longevity.
KP
– I transferred to Cedarville at the start of my junior
year. Other students already had two years of bonding
with students and professors — I wasn’t yet part of the
crowd. Jeff welcomed me into the group of guys that
started OPE that year. He was older than us, so he was
like a big brother that we looked up to.
How did your OPE experience shape your
“Cedarville experience”?
PM
– OPE didn’t shape our Cedarville experience
as much as it continued it. Kevin, Tom, Brian, and I
went to a conference a while back and spent three days
together sharing meals and conversation and building
on a long-term friendship that began at Cedarville. OPE
also continues the experience because we know students
on campus today. So when we get funding requests for
various buildings and projects, those requests are not
abstract for us.
KP
– I agree. I don’t know that we would have stayed
this invested in Cedarville without it.
“Accountability Group” Living Long and Prospering
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Cedarville Magazine