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God.” He announced his intention to
broaden hires to include people who pos-
sessed a strong personal faith commitment
regardless of their church preference.
“That meant talking to Assemblies of God,
Baptists, Presbyterians, and others.”
The decision of the board of directors
and the Church of God Executive Com-
mittee is now a matter of record, and the
wisdom of that decision has been proven
in so many ways it’s hard to imagine that
things might actually have gone a differ-
ent route entirely. But while Paul Conn’s
tenure as president has brought sweeping
changes to Lee, some things have
remained purposely the same.
“We’ve kept our commitment to the
church intact,” Dr. Conn says. “We’ve
maintained mandatory chapel and have
President Paul Conn with
devoted a lot of time and energy to doing
Christin Huff, the 10,000th
what we can for the spiritual health of our
Lee University graduate
students. Our semester convocations con-
under his tenure.
tinue to emphasize our Pentecostal dis-
tinctiveness. While so many other Christ-
Conn attributes this special attitude in 1973 and 1988. He was also becoming a ian schools have moved away from their
part to the notion of the radical calling of sought-after public speaker. roots, we’ve kept our Bible minor as part
God on people’s lives. “The faculty at Lee Perhaps in contrast, life at Lee College of every student’s educational experience
really bought into this idea that God is as a faculty member was not all roses. Dr. at Lee. We haven’t compromised our
active in your life, and many of them gave Conn felt that the school was still playing stand on those important core issues.”
up what might have been more attractive catch-up to its primary public, the congre- Dr. Conn is confident that the under-
careers elsewhere to be a part of Lee.” gations of the Church of God, who want- lying values that have brought Lee Uni-
But there was something else about Lee ed their children to be able to attend an versity this far will continue to bless the
College in those days that Conn feels has evangelical school that would prepare institution. “It’s still about how much we
continued to be part of the core of the their sons and daughters to be scientists, care about our students,” he says.
institution’s identity—community. “I really doctors, lawyers, and teachers as well as Paul Conn firmly believes that Lee
think the spiritual dimension at Lee has pastors and missionaries. The roots that University’s best days are yet to come. If
provided another level of community that ran so deep in Christ-centered values also that’s the case, then the two decades and
you may not find at a lot of other schools.” had a restrictive dimension that required more of his presidency have laid the foun-
Conn graduated in 1967 and moved the school to hire faculty almost exclusive- dation for Caleb Baber, a premed major
on to graduate study at Emory University, ly from the ranks of the denomination. from Nebraska who received special atten-
completing a Ph.D. in psychology. Later, This, according to Conn, was beginning to tion from Lee faculty and students after a
he would conduct postdoctoral work at create a serious problem with the school’s near-fatal accident in 2008, and another
Harvard. In the early ’70s, Paul Conn ability to provide high-quality programs. 10,000 like him who are yet to come.
found himself back at Lee College, this During a time of crisis for the institu-
time as a full-time member of the faculty tion, the board of directors, with the even- J. Matthew Melton has a
in the Department of Behavioral and tual support of denominational leaders, Ph.D. in rhetoric from Regent
Social Sciences. His personal résumé tapped Paul Conn for the presidency in University. He has been on the
would also come to include more than 20 1986. He recalled, “I told them we Lee University faculty since
books that were doing well nationally, couldn’t build a great college by restricting 1995 and has served as dean of
written in the 15-year stretch between faculty hires to members of the Church of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2005.
EVANGEL • MAY 2009 21
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