Torch, Fall/Winter 2010

Fall–Winter 2010 | TORCH 35 TOP: CHRISTINE FULMER | CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY; BOTTOM: SCOTT HUCK | CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY U.S.News & World Report Again Ranks Cedarville Among Region’s Best Rigorous academics backed by quality faculty, staff, and students has led to another top-tier ranking for Cedarville University. This year the editors of U.S.News & World Report ranked the University among the top five regional colleges in the Midwest. The annual rankings appeared in the magazine’s August 31 issue and are available online at usnews.com. U.S.News used peer assessment along with objective factors including student academic quality, graduation rate, class size, student/ faculty ratio, and alumni financial support to determine the rankings. “We are driven by a Christ-centered commitment to academic excellence,” said William E. Brown, Ph.D., Cedarville’s president. “This independent evaluation affirms our efforts to equip students for lifelong leadership and service.” Cedarville University was ranked fifth in the Midwest and finished at or near the top of the region in several areas. The University’s 70 percent graduation rate and 84 percent freshman retention rate were second highest in the Midwest. The University was also recently named “A Best in the Midwest” college by The Princeton Review on its website, princetonreview.com. cedarville.edu/about Social Work Major Awarded Student of the Year Jennifer Mukes, a recent Cedarville University graduate from Fishers, Indiana, was recently honored as the Ohio Bachelor of Social Work Student of the Year. The National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter presented the title to commend Mukes on her dedication to the field of social work. She organized several awareness events including a campus-wide response to racial tension in Jena, Louisiana, and a 10K race to raise support for sex-trafficked minors in Ohio. The race raised more than $22,000 for Gracehaven, a safe house in Columbus. Mukes traveled to the Dominican Republic with other social work majors to serve women working in the sex trade and spent last summer working with urban youth in Indianapolis. She served as vice president of Phi Alpha, the collegiate social work honors society, and as president of International Justice Mission’s Cedarville chapter. cedarville.edu/socialwork