Inspire, Fall 2002

Inspire 17 C ompetent. Understanding. Passionate. That’s how those who work with Roger Overturf ’75 describe him. As director of public relations at Cedarville University, Roger is charged with maintaining and enhancing the University’s image in the public arena. The public relations mission is to effectively tell the Cedarville story often and tailor it to a variety of media and varied audiences. The story of Roger’s journey back to Cedarville follows a long path filled with many twists and turns. Roger graduated from Cedarville in 1975 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts and worked in the insurance industry before accepting a commission in the Air Force in 1979. During that time, he earned a master’s degree in public administration from Central Michigan University. Roger has taught public affairs, journalism, management/leadership, speech communication, and politic-military affairs at the Defense Information School, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Additionally, he has served as public affairs officer and primary spokesperson for Joint Task Force Full Accounting (U.S. POW-MIA investigative team in Vietnam) and director of public affairs at the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is now completing a Ph.D. at Trinity Theological Seminary. Roger shared, “Shortly after I was assigned to teach in the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Notre Dame, it became apparent to me that working with college- age young people afforded tremendous opportunities to impact their lives. I saw the light come on in the eyes of students on many occasions, both in and out of the classroom. I could see how things I said and did affected the trajectory of their lives.” He continued, “I was reminded of watching astronauts playing golf on the moon. I know that sounds strange, but follow the logic for a second. Those of us old enough to remember the Apollo program remember that several astronauts took golf clubs and balls with them to the moon. Because of the bulk of their spacesuits, it was impossible for them to take much of a swing. Although their motion was compact and slow, the ball took off and traveled a long distance. I came to see the same thing was true in my interactions with students. Statements about life values or comments about personal motivations, although anything but profound, had the same kind of effect on their lives as that compact swing had on the golf balls on the moon. A little effort went a long way.” He enjoyed working with students so much that he decided that when he retired from the Air Force, he wanted to be a public relations director at a Christian college. He explained, “It wasn’t long before I thought, ‘ Why not Cedarville? ’ So, in 1983 I started praying about becoming the Cedarville PR director.” Roger then spent several years overseas in a variety of military public affairs assignments before being assigned to nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1995. “Shortly after we settled in, I learned that the public relations job at Cedarville was open,” he said. “My reaction was, ‘This is it! I’ve been praying for 12 years for this opportunity, and now the Lord is opening the door!’” Roger did not get the job then; he wasn’t even interviewed. “I was devastated,” he admitted. “In fact, looking back, I think I was probably in a clinically depressed state for many months after that. I was certain that my prayers were not going to be answered, and my A l l R o a d s L e a d t o C e d a r v i l l e by Cessna Catherine Winslow The story of Roger’s journey back to Cedarville follows a long path filled with many twists and turns. For Roger Overturf ’75, this was definitely the case. Pictured at left: Roger ’75 and Linda Franson Overturf ’77