CampusNotes Trailblazer


Hospitality Brings Fresh New Look to


Voices from Campus Reach Worldwide Audiences Dr. Hunter Baker


Dr. Nathan Finn


If you read or listen to World News Group, you may hear some familiar voices from NGU. Dr. Hunter Baker, provost, and Dr. Nathan Finn, Institute for Faith and Culture executive director, are regular contributors on the platform, sharing their opinions on politics, cultural issues, and everything in between. “My core expertise has to do with the intersection of politics and religion, but I’m formally educated in politics, economics, law, and public administration. Anything that has to do with political thought, public policy, and law tends to be in my wheelhouse,” said Baker. In addition to writing 2–3 articles per month for WORLD, Baker is also a commentator on their popular podcast ‘The World and Everything in It,’ which has 250,000 listeners. He also recently became a regular featured guest on the ‘Washington Wednesday’ segment. Through this platform, Baker is passionate about sharing why thinking about politics through a biblical worldview is important for Christians to consider. “We are citizens rather than passive subjects. That means we govern ourselves. Accordingly, it is extremely important that we are knowledgeable as we make decisions about voting and the other ways we try to influence our government,” said Baker. “I really believe that participating in politics and government is a stewardship issue that Christians should not ignore. ‘The World and Everything in It’ and ‘World Opinions’ are two projects that do a really great job of informing thoughtful and Christian approaches to public policy and culture.” Finn contributes to World Opinions, discussing topics pertaining to the state of higher education, lessons from Christian history, and human sexuality.


“I love to write and speak on Christian history, Baptist identity, cultural apologetics, the integration of faith and learning, biblical worldview formation, and spiritual formation. Most of my more popular writings online tend to touch on one or more of these topics,” said Finn.


24 | NGU.EDU “While I also write books and scholarly


articles on most of these topics, those works are less accessible than my popular internet writings for outlets like WORLD Opinions, The Gospel Coalition, Baptist Press, The Land Center for Faith and Culture, and the Christ and Culture blog. I also write content for my newsletter, Think Christianly, Live Faithfully, and I link to my other online writings.” Finn’s goal through his writing ministry is to help believers deepen their understanding and faith in the topics he writes about. “I’m a teacher and a pastor at heart. My writing ministry – especially the online content for more general audiences – is an extension of those closely related callings. My passion is using my training in church history and theology to help Christians think about the intersection of faith and culture,” said Finn. Through their platforms at WORLD, Baker and Finn use their content to share the vision and mission of NGU with their audiences. “One of the real pleasures of this work is that every episode in which I appear it is mentioned that I am provost at NGU. For that reason, I know that the name of our school is being widely shared with the community of listeners to the podcast,” said Baker. “I have tremendous confidence in the spiritual soundness of our mission and the faculty who serve at NGU. I very much hope that because of the podcast more families will want to find out about NGU.”


“I will teach a few dozen students a year in my classes at NGU. I’ll speak in chapel from time to time and connect briefly with several hundred students. But most Christians will never take a class with me or even listen to a chapel message or public lecture,” said Finn. “My writings online are a way to invest in a much wider audience that is all over the world. Almost all the topics I write about, I also teach about in my courses. So, in a very real sense, my writing ministry online is a natural extension of my teaching ministry at NGU.”


NGU Dining The new school year brought a new look and a new name to NGU’s dining services. “Trailblazer Hospitality” is bringing new culinary options and a fresh new look inside “Todd Gathering Place,” placing the focus on food, family, and fellowship. “A renewed Trailblazer Hospitality brand signals our commitment to a new beginning and a fresh outlook on the future of hospitality at NGU,” said Kevin Ingham, Trailblazer Hospitality District Manager. “We are relentlessly committed to forging new paths in hospitality that fuel Christ-centered experiences to foster fellowship, embrace innovation, and smash the status quo.” Trailblazer Hospitality is operated by general Manager Brent Wustman, who brings more than 20 years of experience in collegiate hospitality. The refresh represents the next step in NGU’s partnership with Aramark, which has now been serving students in Tigerville for more than 40 years. Options in Todd Gathering Place now include Mission Kitchen, Trailblazers Table, Pioneer Grill, Mountain Pizza and Pasta, Trailhead Greens, Expedition Eatery, Stress Less Zone, Rustic Spud, and the Blue Ridge Dessert Parlor.


Well-known theologian and church historian Dr. Carl Trueman will be making a stop in Tigerville, March 23-24, 2026.


The British scholar will be delivering talks at NGU on expressive individualism and critical theory, as


well as discussing his new books To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse and The Desecration of Man.


Born and raised in England, Trueman is a graduate of the Universities of Cambridge (M.A., Classics) and Aberdeen (Ph.D., Church History) and taught on the faculties of the Universities of Nottingham and Aberdeen before moving to the United States in 2001 to teach at Westminster Theological Seminary. In 2017-18 he was the William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Religion and Public Life in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. Since 2018, Trueman has served as a


professor at Grove City College in the Calderwood School of Arts and Humanities. He is widely published in both academic and popular circles, is a contributing editor at First Things and Touchstone Magazine, an opinion


CampusNotes Trueman Brings Scholarship and Insight to Tigerville Campus


columnist with World magazine, and a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC. His most recent books include The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Expressive Individualism, Cultural Amnesia, The Road to Sexual Revolution, and Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity. His writing has appeared in Deseret Journal,


Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, American Mind, Claremont Review of Books and Public Discourse. He and his wife Catriona have two adult sons and a granddaughter. For more information on Trueman’s visit to NGU, or to attend an event, visit go.ngu.edu/ Carl-Trueman.


Aspiring Teachers Join NGU’s First Teaching Fellows Program


NGU welcomed its first Teaching Fellows cohort this fall. Teaching Fellows is a competitive program, organized by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA), that provides funds for aspiring teachers to attend college in South Carolina. “Teaching Fellows provides an enhanced educational experience for the members of the cohort,” said Gretchen Pruden, NGU’s campus director of Teaching Fellows. “They will have more opportunities for professional development and training, and they will also be able to spend more time in the field than traditional students. Community service is also a big part of teaching, so we will provide opportunities for our fellows to be out serving in the Upstate.” NGU’s first Teaching Fellows cohort contains 12 students.


“I am thrilled with the quality of students who are in our inaugural cohort,” said Pruden. “They are hard- working, creative, and intentional about building relationships. I can’t wait to see how they continue to grow and lead.”


Hayden Dill, a freshman Elementary Education major, is one of those. She said she is excited about the community she has found in NGU’s College of Education. “I chose Teaching Fellows because I wanted the community to have people to be around me and helping me with everything,” said Dill. “Teaching Fellows, yes, helps you in college, but it also helps you all throughout teaching, so it’s just a great program.” Dill said she is following in the


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footsteps of her mother, who has served as a preschool director. “I really just decided I would rather go to a school that loves Jesus like I do, instead of a school that is the complete opposite,” she said. Through her education at NGU, Dill is eager to make an impact on her students and school wherever the Lord leads her in the future. “I want to be the light in schools,” she said. “Even though we aren’t allowed to tell them about Jesus, I definitely can use that in that way at school.”


Students of the program can receive a total of up to $24,000 from CERRA, in addition to other financial assistance they receive from NGU, along with federal and state aid. NGU offers education degree paths in Early Childhood, Elementary, Math Education, English Education, Social Studies Education, Music Education, Physical Education, and Theater Education. To learn more about the Teaching Fellows


program and how to apply, visit go.ngu.edu/ teaching-fellows.


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