Torch, Spring 1987: Centennial Issue

Teresa Palmer Teresa Palmer is a senior biology/ premed major from Hib– bing, Minnesota. Aspiring to become a doctor since her junior high days, she learned of Cedarville College and its premed program through her GARBC church and from talking with college ministry teams. At Cedarville Teresa has taken advantage of a variety of activities which have developed her talents and her leadership qualities. While participating in music and sports, she has been a residence hall advisor and president of her dorm. In addition to working in house– keeping, she is involved with SCO - Students Calling Others. This is an organization through which Cedarville students tele– phone prospective students to offer encouragement and answer questions. Teresa relates, "My Christian service at the nursing home and the children's hospital have helped me to have a heart for people, to communicate, to listen, and ulti– mately to turn the conversation to the Lord." She feels that this matur– ing process and learning to search the Scriptures for herself have prepared her to live a potent Chris– tian life. As she interviews for admission to medical school, Teresa feels confident of the quality of her train– ing at Cedarville. She credits the commitment of professors who are tuned in on a personal level to their students and are able to give wise counsel in career preparation. 22 President's Ann Dr. Paul Dixon , D.D., LL.D. , Ed .D. reporting on the 1985-86 academic year Thank God for Christian higher education! Some of the greatest colleges and universities in this country began with the Word of God as the foundation of their instruction. And although many have departed from their heritage, I'm glad to report to you that Cedarville College has not. One hundred years ago five godly men were led to found our school. They envisioned the need to train preachers and lay people for the work of God here and abroad . Today their purpose lives on. When classes began in 1895 , there were 32 students . Ninety years later, in the 1985-86 academic year, we enrolled 1815, our seventh consecutive record. In recent years Cedarville has been one of the fastest growing Christian colleges in the nation , despite the pressures on higher education. You may know that today the demographics in higher education are not encouraging. We're faced with a shrinking pool of available 18-year-olds . This country graduated roughly three million high school students in 1979. Ten years later that figure will be down to two million, and this massive decline is predicted to continue through 1995 . That means ten more years of tough times in Christian colleges. Yet, in the face of this , Cedarville has prospered. There are two good reasons . First, I sense the hand of God has been upon this institution. Second, Cedarville has achieved a balance that I perceive is distinctive - quality academics in harmony with a strong spiritual emphasis. Cedarville College is mission-driven . We know who we are , why we 're here, and what to do with our resources. In 1978, we began developing a model for strategic planning; today everything we do flows out of that planning process at Cedarville College. It is the only way to run a successful business, and I am convinced it is the only way to operate a quality college in these turbulent times . In 1985-86, we continued our plan to build one of the finest academic programs among Christian colleges and universities in the United States . Center stage of this effort was our fine Business Administration program. We taught nearly 500 business majors in 1985-86, and this excites me! Too long it has been communicated in the Christian community that laymen and laywomen are second class citizens compared to preachers and missionaries. God knows we desperately need the preachers and the missionaries, but they are not the only ones in the ministry. I believe every Christian is involved in ministry - whether it be in business, medicine, law , education, science, law enforcement, or communications . Cedarville College is exceptionally well positioned to train young people for these lay ministries as well as for the pastorate or the mission field . Last year, our very strong Science Department continued to send students to medical schools where they were accepted at a rate of 40% above the national average. Education, our second largest major, provided quality professionals for the education marketplace. Inquiries from potential employers of teacher education graduates were ten times the number of graduates available . The Department of Language and Literature instituted a professional writing emphasis within the English major to offer writing as an employment option. The first students in the progra~ were graduated in 1986. All who sought employment in writing were successful in securing jobs. Cedarville College graduated its first nursing students in 1985. This past year the nursing department applied for National League for Nursing accreditation. Only half the schools which seek this accreditation receive it on the first attempt. I'm happy to report to you that Cedarville's nursing program received accreditation on the first try - a feat which is indicative not only of our excellent program and faculty , but also of the quality preparation for the application .