PRESIDENT’S PEN CONTENTS


1 President’s Pen 2 A Mission and an Identity 4 The Gospel at Work 6 NGU 2030 8 Athletics Update


10 Trailblazer Spotlights 16 Campus News 19 It Matters 20 Alumni Engagement 21 Alumni Notes 23 Campus Notes


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hat defines us? That question can be wrestled


with by individuals, by businesses, by churches … and, of course, by universities. There are qualities we hope to exemplify and traits we seek to pass on to those who will succeed us. How we answer reveals the scope of our vision and our aspirations. For NGU, the vision, the aspirations, and the mission all exist in the basic truth that Christ Makes The Difference. And the difference is seen in the transformed lives of faculty, staff, alumni, and students.


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“1892” is published twice annually by North Greenville University, a private Christian liberal arts university often recognized as one of the most notable in the Southeast. Whether learning at our campuses in Tigerville, SC, Greer, SC, Pine Mountain, GA, or online from anywhere in the world, NGU students become equipped to serve as transformational leaders for church and society.


EDITOR Billy Cannada (’11)


CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr. LaVerne Howell Marty O’Gwynn Ashley Merck (’19)


ADVISORS Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr. Rich Grimm Marty O’Gwynn Chad Peters


PHOTOGRAPHER Steven Guersch 16


To share your feedback, story ideas, or updated contact information, visit go.ngu.edu/1892.


NGU.EDU | 1


This fall semester, our Chapel services have been tied to the concept of “Transformational Leaders.” I was privileged to launch the discussion at Convocation, our first Chapel of the new year. I told the students that you cannot be a ‘transformational leader’ unless you have been transformed by Christ. In fact, we can teach all kinds of things, but in the end, if we do not emphasize that your relationship with Christ is what drives your outcomes, we have failed to make a difference in the lives of our students.


Transformational leadership within our university is deeply rooted in Romans 12:2, which says, ‘Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Paul is saying ‘don’t


“WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD COMES IN


CONTACT WITH US, WE ARE TRANSFORMED AND MADE ALIVE.”


be schematized by the pagans and become one of them, but instead, let your mind be made new by God and his word and the pursuit of his will.


In the opening of Genesis, God transforms the world from something chaotic and void and formless, into the highly structured and organized world we recognize. When the Spirit of God comes in contact with us, we are transformed and made alive. A fully operating understanding of the universe requires wearing a set of lenses that are focused on Christ as foundational to knowledge because Christ is the source of all knowledge. If we start with outcomes, which is the great temptation of higher education, we are seduced by an old challenge to Christianity, which is emphasizing our works, our actions, and our compliance with rules rather than the work of Christ himself. We can, like many biblical characters and many people around us, be secure in self-recognition and the affirmation of others. But when we are arrogant, especially as intellectuals, we focus on our self-perceived outcomes and not on the input of the one who positioned us to do these things.


We cannot be transformational leaders with that framework for success. We must know that anything we accomplish is out of an overflow of what God is doing in us. We are called to true transformation. If it is true, it will be doing our very best to learn, to synthesize knowledge, to be transformed, so that we can be transformational.


I hope you enjoy the stories of transformational leaders in this issue, and that you earnestly pray for God to continue using this university for his transforming work.


Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr. President


North Greenville University


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