Jon Wade Weatherford (’05) Park Manager at Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina State Park Service


I have often heard that the only people who look forward to the summer more than students are teach- ers. Tat is not Mr. Boggs!


My first impression of him was of his intelligence and the comfortable environment that he created in his classroom. I quickly was aware of his depth of knowledge and his willingness to share that with his students.


One of the fond memories I have with Mr. Boggs actually happened when I took the Discover Amer- ica class with Mrs. Trasher. We had a two-week lab associated with that class to tour and follow the Lewis and Clark Expedition for it bicentennial anniversary. We left for the trip the night I graduated from NGU.


After two weeks of an amazing adventure across the western U.S., I forgot about needing a ride back to campus to get my vehicle. Once our flight from Portland to Newark to Greenville landed, I had a brief moment of panic. How was I supposed to get from the airport to campus?


Tere, waiting at the baggage claim, was Mr. Boggs with a big grin on his face . . . much to my relief! I was very much impressed that he was willing to pick me up from the airport and bring me back to campus two weeks after graduation.


I also remember going into Mr. Boggs’ office one day for guidance. He was so willing to take time to just listen. Tat was so helpful. He was compas- sionate with me, he treated me well during my classes with him, and he always carried himself in a very professional manner.


I do hope that park rangers in my career will be able to say that I am professional and compassionate — just like Mr. Boggs! Mr. Boggs enjoys his field of study, and he enjoys his students. And it shows!


“All the schools I went to have mottos like eruditio et religio: ‘learning and faith.’ But time has eroded the connection between the two. And it hasn’t here,” Boggs affirms.


Grounded . . . But Growing Erosion seems an apt metaphor for Boggs to use; gardening is yet anoth- er gift he picked up from his mother.


“She was a pass-along plant gardener. She would cut things off walls and root them, and she would pick up plants from people. She venerated life,” he says.


Much like his love for learning, he’s inherited his garden from her. At his home in Greenville, SC, his family still boasts plants his mother estab- lished more than 80 years ago. And much like his garden, he’s proud to share his love for learning with others.


“We’re grounded here, and this is a good place to be grounded. NGU does an admirable job in equipping its students to do effective Christian apologetics,” Boggs says. “But the world cannot be ignored. Apologists need to know of the wider world — its ways and means, and its history — to be even more effective. Tat’s part of education.”


Because of his desire to connect NGU with the broader academic com-


munity, Boggs recently created an endowment to fund the newly named Boggs-Hickson Lecture in History; it brings published history scholars to speak on campus every year. In addition to a recurring annual gift toward the lecture series, Boggs has set up a legacy gift of $150,000 in his will to ensure the lecture, free and open to the public, continues at NGU for years to come.


NGU has hosted history lectures since 2008; however, Boggs’ gift will increase the honorarium and travel reimbursement the History Depart- ment can offer for visiting lecturers, as well as expand the opportunities for NGU family, local high school students, and other event guests to connect with the lecturers on campus.


Boggs hopes these added benefits will attract even more “notable schol- ars” from around the globe to NGU’s history lectures moving forward.


“My vision was that we bring the world here,” he says.


For NGU students — many who grew up in this area just like Boggs did — he’s become the pathway for them to expand their horizons; he’s become the encouragement his mother, Melree, was for him.


Fittingly, he’s made his gift to the Boggs-Hickson Lecture in History in her honor.


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