COLUMNS Spring 2020

The Magazine for Louisiana College Alumni & Friends

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Summer 2020

COLUMNS

FEATURED: Celebrating Dr. Brewer’s First Five Years - page 04 The End of an Era: Randall Hargis Retires - page 08 | Thank you, KathyCOLUMNS OverturfSpring - page2020 28

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Contents COLUMNS IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF LOUISIANA COLLEGE Correspondence: Louisiana College Attn. Columns P.O. Box 587 Pineville, LA 71359-0584 E-Mail: columns@lacollege.edu To update your alumni information, send email to karen.watkins@lacollege.edu

On the Cover: Posing with the shield she made is Dr. Natalie Maxey, Assistant Professor of Engineering. To the left is her sister, Samantha Zeringue, MD, a trauma surgeon at Rapides Regional Medical Center, and to the right is Michelle Butler, NP with Trauma Services.

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COLUMNS Spring 2020

Summer 2020 04 5 Year Review

31

ROI Rankings

08

Randall Hargis Retires

32

Renovations Underway

10

Founders Day

34

Dr. Castro Essay

12

Coronavirus Response

36

Innocence Lost

14

$2.2 M Grant

38 Honors Students

16

John Alley

40

2020 Donors

17

Mission Statement

41

Alumni Updates

18

Christ, Church, Culture

20

Computer Science

21

President’s Report

25

Jimmie Davis Scholarship

43 In Memoriam

26 Homecoming 27

Distinguished Alumni

28

Thank You, Kathy Overturf

29

Maddox Head Coach

30

IACE / CCNE

EditoriaL Staff Publisher Dr. Rick Brewer Editor Mr. Norm Miller Contributing Writers Norm Miller Brian Blackwell Juan R. Castro Will Hall Melinda Martinez Hilary Strahota Richard Thiberville Layout // Graphic Design Angel Girod Tim Roper

VIEW FROM THE HILL Time flies when you’re having fun. That’s how the old adage goes. However, fun is but one word to describe these last five years. Other words like rewarding, encouraging, challenging, fulfilling, enlightening, and exciting are a few descriptors for the road we have travelled together in this half-decade.

When one begins to offer thanks to individuals who have helped with along the way, the danger is forgetting to mention everyone. In my case, there is not enough space here for that list.

I do wish to thank the faculty, who are, doubtlessly, the finest I have ever known. The President’s Office staff are always willing to go above and beyond the call. The Student Life Team has contributed selflessly. The President’s Leadership Team continues to provide support and leadership that facilitate our God-given goals. How grateful I am for such servant-leaders.

As for our students, I am profoundly grateful to them, for they are the ones who leave here to so ably represent the College and our Lord. I have a special place in my heart for them.

No man could achieve so much without the kind of support that Cathy has lovingly given to me. She has far more to do with the College’s success that anyone else will ever know. Thank you, Cathy.

And certainly, I am most deeply indebted to our God. He has equipped and called me, and has provided power during some tough days and joy through days of elation.

While I am humbled with the reflection upon the past five years, I am also energized for the many yet to come. Thank you all.

Keep Pressing On!

Rick Brewer, PhD, MBA President Professor of Business Louisiana College

Dr. Brewer earned a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policies from the University of South Carolina with cognates in Management and Higher Education Administration, and a Master in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in History from Charleston Southern University. His post-doctoral studies include the Snowmass Institute for Strategic Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Education Institute for Educational Management Executive Certificate Program in 2008, Duke University’s Non-Profit Leadership Executive Certificate Program in 2012, and the Academic Leadership Program at Baylor University in 2016.

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Led by eight presidents since its founding in 1906, Loui-

siana College welcomed its ninth in March 2015 by unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees. Richard Bennett Brewer, PhD, left Charleston Southern University in Charleston, South Carolina, where he had served in numerous leadership roles for 27 years, and came to the Hill in Pineville with Mrs. Cathy Brewer.

“When the search committee met with Dr. Brewer, we all knew that God had sent us the one we needed to lead Louisiana College,” said Dr. Randy Harper, former trustee chairman and pastor of Bellaire Baptist Church, Bossier City. The College had endured some difficult days and was ready for the trumpet of leadership to sound clearly.

Though his official start date was April 1, President Brewer spent most of March on campus, assessing the College and looking to the future. Significant hallmarks of that ensuing year included a Dual Enrollment agreement with Rapides Parish School Board; the launch of the Board of Visitors initiative; a new Dean of the Rife and Carolyn Saunders School of Nursing and Allied Health, Dr. Marilyn Cooksey; and a firm initiative for the Integration of Faith and Learning that included publishing the inaugural “Faith Matters,” an annual collection of faculty essays highlighting the value of a Christian liberal arts education.

Clearly, a new sheriff had hit town. And the town was a buzz with excitement and gratitude that significant and substantive changes had successfully rejuvenated oncedormant interests in the College.

Brewer’s mantra of “Press On!” proved to be far more than words as the accomplishments of 2016 demonstrate. Cottingham and Tudor Halls saw major renovations. LC commissioned 12 students for summer missions and ministry trips that spanned the world. A BA in Leadership with 4 COLUMNS Spring 2020

concentrations in Business, Communications, and Christian Studies was established as were bi-vocational Pastor Certificate programs for Pastoral Ministry and Missiology. Wildcats men’s basketball advanced to LC’s first-ever championship game. The Board of Visitors had grown to 95 members, and the campus enjoyed its first Values and Ethics Conference.

The 2016 benchmark was the Guide One insurance claim that wrought the complete refurbishment of Guinn Auditorium’s interior. What was once a dark, dreary hall was transformed into the campus jewel complete with new floors – tile and carpet – new seats, walls, lighting, sound system, and HVAC system. Additional campus upgrades included 18 new roofs, new windows for Alexandria Hall, and several others to address damage from a rain/hailstorm.

With the wind at his back, Brewer sailed into 2017 with regatta-like fervor. Dark skies far behind her, the College followed a promising course with Brewer at the helm. From the campus to classrooms to curb appeal, the transformation continued with the VISION 2020 Strategic Plan. The inaugural apologetics conference, C3: Christ, Church, Culture, addressed cultural issues from a biblical worldview. The Christian Studies Division was renamed the School of Missions & Ministries. A 3+2 partnership in Engineering with Louisiana Tech and a 3+3 partnership with Union University in Pharmacy were signed.

The La Tech 3+2 agreement garnered a $100,000 gift that equipped the Tara Terrill Engineering classroom in Cavanaugh Hall. LC established a flat rate, no fee tuition.

The Board of Visitors reached 149 members. And alumni chapters met across the state.

Launching the MEd in Leadership, MSN, MSW, and BS in Computer Science increased graduate degree offerings

from one to four. Enrollment grew with more than 300 freshmen for two consecutive years. The Fall 2017 Freshman Class was 24 percent larger than 2016’s. Two LifeWay Fuge camps saw 35 people come to faith in Christ.

Alumni chapter meetings stretched into Texas, the Board of Visitors had 173 members, and the launch of the Cavanaugh Hall Refurbishment Campaign garnered almost $300K in gifts and pledges.

With a seemingly boundless capacity for ideation and action, Brewer pressed on into 2018 with the inaugural annual God in the Workplace Conference that featured keynoter Dr. Richard Blackaby. The campus and community enjoyed a dramatic monologue by British actor David Payne: “An Evening with C. S. Lewis.”

The GPA among LC student-athletes included softball at 3.4, women’s soccer at 3.3, and men’s soccer at 3.1. Baseball, women’s golf, women’s cross country, and men’s tennis all were 3.0 or higher. Assisting Hurricane Harvey victims, several Wildcats teams raised money, bought supplies, gathered canned goods, and traveled to Houston to distribute relief items.

The Wayne and Martha Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions was founded with emphases on evangelism training and mission opportunities. The Nursing program returned to full approval accreditation status under the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.

A $100K campus beautification donor challenge exceeded $200K. This provided security lighting in several strategic locations. Landscaping upgrades won two garden club awards. This addressed the third-most important consideration by prospective students: curb appeal.

Enrollment increased Momentum continued into overall from spring of 2019 with the signing of a 2017 to spring of 2018 by 3+2 MOU with New Or19 percent. From 2015, Signing Memoranda of Understanding with Chancellor Jimmy Sawleans seminary, and another enrollment had increased telle, Central Louisiana Technical Community College with the Louisiana Commu24 percent. Dual Enrollnity and Technical College ment increased by 93 System. The latter generated articulation agreements with percent. Spring Preview Day set a school record with a several member schools.

52 percent increase over 2017. The increase of 22 percent in TOPS recipients over 2017 saw the ACT score average Criminal Justice grads earned 100 percent pass rate on the move from 22 to 23.

Louisiana Municipal Civil Service Police test. The School COLUMNS Spring 2020 5

of Education gained accreditation by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. The School of Nursing & Allied Health was accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. December Nursing graduates earned 100 percent pass rate on the NCLEX. LC was recognized in several college comparison guides: U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges; The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development; America’s Best Christian Colleges; and America’s 100 Best College Buys.

Earning equal admiration and adoration is Cathy Brewer. She is the rock behind the man. Not preferring the spotlight, Cathy has served to create a welcoming atmosphere for students and has lent an exquisite hand in the décor and menus of significant campus events.

We are deeply grateful.

Concluding this retrospective look are comments from friends of Dr. Brewer, some of whom have known him for many years, and some just a few. But the content of their commentary is borne out in the record he has achieved.

Outstripping it all however, is Dr. Brewer’s passion for the spiritual development of Other initiatives continstudents. In that vein, hunued that included the dreds have come to faith in 4th Edition of Faith MatChrist through the intentionalters, the 2nd Annual ity of the Integration of Faith Values & Ethics Series, Signing Memoranda of Understanding with Chancellor/Rector and Learning he has strongly and the 2nd Annual Dr. Gerald Pillay, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, England. emphasized, facilitated, and God in the Workplace supported.

Hundreds more Conference. Freshmen have left their alma mater thoroughly equipped both and upperclassmen attended seminars on evangelism. The academically and spiritually to bring positive change into Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions sponsored the marketplaces of the world. They are living proof, the the Fall and Spring Campus Revivals, Missions Conferflesh-and-blood fruition, of Dr. Brewer’s Vision of Preparence, BCM Mission Projects, the local Go Tell Crusade, E4 ing Graduates and Transforming Lives.

Preaching Conference, and LBC Disaster Relief Training.

The Board of Visitors grew to 176, and the Hattie B. Strother Cafeteria saw upgrades totaling $420K.

Louisiana Baptists, in particular, owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Brewer, as do the graduates and students who are the benefactors of his vision and ability to make vision reality.

What he learned and accomplished in his previous employment was the training ground for the advancements causing LC to thrive under his leadership.

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Randy Harper Pastor, Bellaire Baptist Church, Bossier City Former chairman, Board of Trustees

Dr. Stephen (Steve) Horn Executive Director, Louisiana Baptists Hard to believe it has been five years already. Congratulations on the firm foundation that Louisiana College now stands on. There is no doubt our closest neighbor in Downtown Pineville is much stronger today thanks to the leadership of Rick Brewer. The future is very bright for Louisiana College, and I look forward to continuing the partnership that makes each one of our organizations so much better together.

Dr. David E. Hankins Executive Director (retired) Louisiana Baptist Convention

Mayor Clarence Fields Pineville,LA

Dr. Brewer is a strong, engaged, decisive leader who understands the challenges of higher education as well as the need to teach Christian values. Louisiana College, our community, and our state is fortunate to have him at the helm.

R. Blake Chatelain President and CEO, Red River Bank Alexandria, LA

Mayor Jeff Hall Alexandria, LA Keynoting the beginning of the annual March for Life, where hundreds gather on campus in defense of the unborn.

Dr. Brewer brought the term servant leadership to the presidency of Louisiana College. While that description fits, I would add the word unparalleled. Dr. Brewer is unparalleled in his work ethic. He is unparalleled in his enthusiasm for Christian higher education. Dr. Brewer’s unparalleled servant leadership is exactly the kind of leader Louisiana College must have to face the unprecedented challenges to all higher education, and especially Christian higher education.

The last five years have seen strategic advance for Louisiana College. Dr. Rick Brewer has brought innovation, vision, and integrity, in his leadership of the school. His insistence on excellence coupled with an unswerving commitment to the Lordship of Christ are providing the crucible, for preparing graduates who will change their world for God.

Louisiana College is a critical component of our local collegiate foundation, and Dr. Rick Brewer is doing an outstanding job. In his brief tenure, he has overseen the creation of additional graduate programs and achieved double-digit growth in enrollment. But what I truly appreciate is his broader vision. While he not only works to ensure the spiritual and educational development of the students at LC, he is an active educational leader, establishing partnerships with other institutions and consistently working for the betterment of the entire Central Louisiana region. I congratulate Dr. Brewer on his fiveyear anniversary, and I look forward to many more years of growth and innovation at Louisiana College under his leadership.

Dr. Brewer established several new scholarships in the first five years. Two of the most distinctive included the C.S. Lewis Honors Scholarship, which was for students with at least a 28 ACT score and featured an Honors Scholars program. The Francis Schaeffer Christian Worldview Scholarship accrued to students who had completed a study that reviewed a variety of worldviews as compared to a biblical one. Both scholarships represented Brewer’s passion and conviction for the necessary blend of academics and spiritual development.

The President’s Report | Spring 2020 included herein is not exhaustive of all Dr. Brewer’s accomplishments. And neither is the list already mentioned. The friends and family of Louisiana College can remain confident that the trajectory set by Brewer in 2015 and that continues into 2020 means that the next five years will be no less exciting and productive than the previous five.

Dr. Brewer answered God’s call to lead Louisiana College at a difficult time. The expertise he brought to the College, along with his steadfastness and determination, moved Louisiana College into one of the best institutions in the country. He continues to be on-mission for Louisiana College and Christian higher education. My heartfelt congratulations go out to Dr. Rick and Cathy for five years of unwavering service.

Dr. and Mrs Brewer have initiated a season of renewal and refreshment within the Louisiana College Community that is both welcome and exciting. As an academic colleague and seasoned curriculum expert, I find the new graduate programs and refinements among existing undergraduate programs to be of high quality and timely placement. During these past five years, Dr. Brewer has used all of his considerable talents, insight, and vigor to position the college as a regional leader in both academics and Christian service, giving first generation college students the kind of hands-on, minds-engaged education that the brain craves.

Dr Linda Karges-Bone, Author of “Rich Brain: Poor Brain” and Director of Education InSite.

My wife and I first met Dr. Brewer at a North Texas Alumni meeting shortly after he arrived on campus. We left that meeting convinced that he was the right person to lead Louisiana College through the multitude of known and hidden challenges he inherited. He has demonstrated time and time again that he has the leadership skills, strategic thinking, personality and work ethic to make LC THE Christian Liberal Arts college to attend in the region. We encourage everyone to support Dr. Brewer, LC’s leadership team, faculty and staff with your prayers and any financial gifts you are able to give.

Don Hill, Alumnus, Restaurateur Dallas, TX It is my privilege to join the chorus of those offering congratulations to Rick Brewer for his significant leadership for Louisiana College over the past five years. Entrepreneurial in spirit, President Brewer has brought a vision for new programs and timely developments that have led to a genuine sense of renewal for the LC campus. Dr. Brewer is to be commended for his efforts to combine a commitment to serious Christian commitment across the Louisiana College community with student enhancement, faculty development, and campus beautification.

We are thankful for five good years and hopeful for many to come.

David S. Dockery, President, International Alliance for Christian Education Theologian-in-Residence, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fifty years ago, Louisiana College made such an impact on my life. Five years ago, when I learned that LC was on the verge of losing its accreditation, I knew that would be the death of my Alma Mater. Thank goodness Dr. Brewer knew that, too, and made correcting that situation his first priority!

Joanne Hamby Alumna, Trustee

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RANDALL HARGIS RETIRES: HE LEAVES A 35-YEAR LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE In 1985, Mr. Randall Hargis became Louisiana College’s

Business Office Manager. In 2020, he leaves as Vice President for Business Affairs/Chief Financial Officer/ Executive Vice President.

“The end of June marks the end of an era and the beginning of a legacy,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer. “In the five years of my association with him, I observed that Randall’s mind is as sharp as his pencil.

With a commitment tempered by faith and facts, he has helped guide the College through some troubled waters.

No college president could want for a more competent and trusted confidant than Randall Hargis.”

The employee who has worked most closely with Hargis through the decades is Beverly Ingram, Business Office Director. She states: “I have worked directly with Mr. Hargis for 30 years.

I can tell you that he is one of the greatest individuals I have ever known.

He is a man of highest moral and ethical values. By example he set high standards for all of his employees. He loves his family and he loves LC. Mr. Hargis truly looked at his career here as a calling, not as a job. He has seen us through some great times and through some very tough times. His absence will be noticed. I know I will definitely miss him.”

Dr. Lillian “Lil” Purdy -- Professor of English and Coordinator for Academic Advising -- came to Louisiana College a year after Hargis.

She notes: “When I think of Randall Hargis, I think of a quiet rudder that continually guides the ship and keeps it both right side up and heading the correct direction. One of my first encounters with Vice President of Business Affairs Randall Hargis involved a student who had been signed up for the wrong class.

The student could not get his course fee back, but when I timidly approached Mr. Hargis about the fee, he told me that if the mistake was on the college’s side, then the student should be reimbursed. I have always appreciated his choice to put the student’s financial needs first as well as his integrity. Those of us who work here will never know how many financial pitfalls Mr. Hargis has protected the school from falling through. I wish him the best in his retirement.”

Former LC President Dr. Rory Lee reflected on Hargis as an employee, a Christian, and a friend. “From the very 8

COLUMNS Spring 2020

beginning of my tenure, I knew we had a jewel in Randall Hargis,” Lee said.

“During the first couple of years our financial situation was pretty tight,” Lee said. “I’m a numbers guy, and Randall was a numbers guy. He was looking at the numbers and guided us even before he was Vice President for Business Affairs.

He never let me down.”

“Randall is strong Christian man,” Lee continued. “He has a quiet influence upon many people with his Christian witness. He was a real blessing to me, a real rock.”

Lee said that “playing golf with Randall was a treat. He is a great guy. I know Louisiana College will miss him.”

“Trying to honor such a man in a measure equal to the stalwart service Randall has rendered is simply impossible,” Brewer said.

Nonetheless, President Brewer designated the offices where Hargis spent most of his career as the “Randall Hargis Business Office Suite.”

During LC’s April 2020 Board of Trustees meeting, Brewer announced the formation The Randall Hargis Excellence in Accounting Scholarship for five students who possess the minimum ACT score of 28.

“That really took me by surprise,” Hargis said of the scholarships. “I can’t believe 35 years have passed.

This has been a wonderful experience.

I will miss it in many ways, but it’s time to move on,” he said. Attendees honored Hargis with a standing ovation.

Mrs. Evelyn Dean, CPA, has joined LC as the Executive Director for Financial Services/CFO after serving in the Payne, Moore, & Harrington accounting firm since 2009.

Hargis is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Society of Louisiana Certified Accountants, the Alexandria Chapter of the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers. As a Licensed Certified Public Accountant in Louisiana, he met the requirement of completing at least 80 hours of continuing education every two years.

Randall Hargis is a Certified Public Accountant, who previously worked at the accounting firm of Payne, Moore, and Herrington for eight years.

He served as LC’s Business Office Manager from 1985 to 1989 and then as Business Manager from 1989 to 2001. He was named Vice President for Business Affairs/Chief Financial Officer in 2001, and was appointed Executive Vice President in 2016.

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Q: How has Louisiana College prepared you for your career academically?

Lauren: Louisiana College provided me with something I

By Norm Miller Louisiana College honored Carroll and Elizabeth Hixson on its annual Founders Day celebration Oct. 24, 2019, by unveiling a historical marker outside the Hixson Student Center.

Q: What stands out in your mind as the best experience you had at Louisiana College?

Lauren: Mom’s weekend and Dad’s weekend were some of

“The Hixsons believed that everyone should have access to a Christian education,” Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer quoted from the marker. “Their gift of the Hixson Student Center testifies to the unified hearts, shared convictions, and exemplary lives of Carroll and Elizabeth Hixson.”

my favorite memories. They were days I got to be reminded I was still my parents’ little girl and that there are people in my life that love me. We got to fellowship together and with other students and parents at LC.

Q: Which professor influenced you the most, and how?

Lauren: There were two who played a major role in shaping

Brewer said students frequent the center for many reasons, like “to hang out, or go to Starbucks, or stand in line at Chick-fil-A.” The Center was named and dedicated in 1994.

Carroll Hixson was a long-time co-owner of Hixson Funeral Homes with multiple locations in the state, and for 56 years was a member at the First Baptist Church in Lake Charles, where he served in various roles that included deacon and Sunday school teacher.

His love for Louisiana Baptists eventually led him to serve as a trustee with LC for 28 years, including a stint as chairman.

Sons John and Paul Hixson reflected on their parents’ family and community influence for a near-capacity crowd in Louisiana College’s Guinn Auditorium.

John, who is a Louisiana College trustee residing in Lake Charles, said the Hixson family has “lots of roots [here]. Our family believes in Louisiana College.”

Alumna Lauren Hixson Philips is an accountant in Lake Charles; and Emma, a pre-med student and member of the Wildcats tennis team, attended the event. Unable to attend was Paul’s daughter Meggie, who is an alumna and doctor serving as a missionary in Tanzania.

Emma and her father Paul.

But the Hixson heritage at Louisiana College goes back to 1907, when Carroll’s father was an adjunct faculty member, John said.

Saying his father showed Christ-centered integrity as a businessman in Lake Charles, John challenged students to make Jesus their foundation upon entering the work force.

“That foundation will be with you forever,” John said. “You can make a difference in whatever you are doing, and that matters.”

“God has given you talents and abilities you can use for the Kingdom,” he continued. “The Kingdom of God is relational.

Think and pray about those talents and blessings that God has given you.”

Paul Hixson -- also an alumnus from Sulphur, LA., with a MAT degree -- asked students to consider how they can impact the world for Christ: “You are at a time in your life when you have some decisions to make. What’s your legacy going to be? The decisions you make are going to prepare you for the rest of your life.”

Brewer expressed his gratitude toward the Hixson family, whose generational and material contributions to Louisiana College support “our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives. The entire family epitomizes who we are as we strive to educate the whole student by emphasizing the maturity of intellect and maturity of Christian character.”

Lauren Hixson Phillips with parents John and Sheila.

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could not get anywhere else. The education I received taught me more than just information but how to critically think and perceive the world around me. I majored in Accounting and minored in Biblical studies -- not your average combination.

Early on in my degree, my accounting professor Dr. Lejeune encouraged me to get my CPA License, and now I am currently the financial analyst for Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Lake Charles. Without that CPA or the encouragement to get it from my professors, I would not be in this position.

Brian Blackwell of the Louisiana Baptist Message contributed to this story.

me, Dr. Lejeune and Dr. Langford. Dr. Lejeune inspired me to get my CPA license and encouraged me along the way. Many of my friends that attended other schools talked about how they never used at their jobs what they learned in college. I use what I learned in Dr. Lejeune’s classes every day at work. Dr. Langford showed me how studying the Greek language can deepen my spiritual walk and develop a stronger appreciation for how we have God’s written word today. I originally took my first Greek class as a way to get to know my boyfriend better, who is now my husband. I ended up loving the language so much I minored in Biblical Studies. We would sometimes have class at the local coffee shop, and those ended up being some of the sweetest memories I have at Louisiana College.

Q: How would you describe the atmosphere of Louisiana College?

Lauren: When I first stepped on Louisiana College’s campus

it felt like home, and that feeling never left me for four years. It was bitter sweet the day I left. I felt like I was leaving my home but I felt prepared enough to make a new one elsewhere.

Q: Did you play any Wildcats sports?

Lauren: I did not participate in any official sports but I loved

participating in all the intramural Frisbee games. I was not the best player but I always made sure to bring cool snacks.

Q: Was the emphasis on a Christian lifestyle advantageous to you?

Lauren: A life lived for the glory of Christ is the only life that

has true purpose. LC showed me that I can honor God and His great commission in the workplace.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to say about your time at Louisiana College?

Lauren: Louisiana College is a special place. It is a place

where you can grow in your relationship with Christ, find your spouse, and make memories that last a lifetime.

with

Q

&

A

Emma Hixson and Lauren Hixson Phillips Q: What aspect of Louisiana College drew you to enroll?

Emma: One of the most significant factors in my decision

to attend LC was the premedical program’s reputation for high medical school acceptance rates, and I now understand why that’s the case. I continually benefit from a high quality education that is providing me with the knowledge and skills I need in pursuing a career as a doctor. I am incredibly blessed to be part of this program.

Q: So far, what are some of your best college memories?

Emma: My best experiences at Louisiana College have been shared with friends. Some of my most cherished memories involve late night theological discussions and fits of laughter over ridiculous YouTube videos.

Q: Which professor has most impacted you?

Emma: The professor who has influenced me the most is

Dr. Wade Warren. Dr. Warren dedicates himself to ensuring his students are well-prepared for the futures God has in store for them after leaving LC. For me, Dr. Warren has been not only an excellent professor to learn from, but a wise and godly mentor and a source of encouragement.

Q: How has the college tennis program affected you?

Emma: Being part of the women’s tennis team has allowed

me to represent LC in an activity I’ve been passionate about since the age of seven. It has also proven to be an excellent diversion from the pressures associated with taking challenging classes.

Q: In general, what do you like most about Louisiana College?

Emma: The atmosphere here is similar to that of a closeknit community. It is not uncommon to find yourself enjoying hot cocoa in the quad with the same people you were in class with 15 minutes prior.

Q: What impact has LC’s? spiritual emphasis had upon you?

Emma: I have had the unique opportunity to interact with

professors who exemplify the character of Christ in how they relate to and teach students. Through their investment I have become more solidified in my Christian worldview, which will be pivotal when I graduate and enter into an evolutiondominated field of education.

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CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE

by Norm Miller

An idea that began with the discovery of a social media post originating in Montana has quickly flown south to Louisiana and nested in the heart of Dr. Natalie Maxey, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Louisiana College.

Using a 3D printer in the school’s engineering lab, Maxey began on Wednesday, March 25, making frames for the protective face shields that are in demand by hospitals and clinics amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maxey, who was looking for an opportunity to help, jumped in without hesitation. “My sister is a doctor, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her running short of what she needed to protect herself.”

All health care workers are somebody’s loved one, Maxey added, noting that local publicity on social media has fostered numerous companies to fire up their 3D printers and help. “This response represents my vision, because I can’t print the frames as quickly as the hospital needs them,” she said.

Based on a Facebook post, Maxey called the President of Louisiana College Dr. Rick Brewer about the project.

Brewer called Jason Cobb, FACHE, Rapides Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer.

Brewer said LC could produce the much sought-after N-95 face mask – a 4-hour process on the 3D printer.

Cobb said that he had an ample supply of those. Exercising foresight, however, Cobb later contacted Brewer, saying the hospital needed about 100 of the face shield frames. Each shield requires 75 minutes to create.

“We are thankful to our Louisiana College friends as they use their resources to help our community,” Cobb said. “As our hospital staff continue to care for patients on a daily basis, during a time in our history that’s unlike any we’ve ever known, it’s reassuring to know that community partners and friends are working with us to make sure we have everything we need to provide the best care possible. As always, our goal is to provide exceptional care to our patients while keeping our RRMC team and our Central Louisiana community healthy and safe.”

While Maxey was in the lab working, Brewer was a guest on KALB’s Good Day Cena. There he shared a few details about the project. Within an hour, Brewer received notice that a church wanted to donate $500 to the project. And before 24 hours had passed, more than $5,500 had been donated to help defray expenses and help buy another 3D printer.

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President Brewer summarizes COVID-19 responses Dear Louisiana College Family:

“All across the United States, corporations and companies both large and small are pitching in to help others in these challenging days,” Brewer said. “I am glad for LC to do its part through the servant heart of Dr. Maxey, who came to us through God’s providence.”

These are difficult days for you, your family, your church, and maybe for your vocation, as well. Louisiana College’s administration, faculty, staff, and students face similar challenges as you. Yet, we all must rely on God, who states: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10.

Brewer recounted the partnership agreement that he and LaTech President Les Guice signed in September 2015 regarding Louisiana College’s pre-engineering students completing their degree at LaTech in Ruston, LA.

Your Louisiana College leaders have asked for God’s wisdom to navigate these new waters wherein we find ourselves, and the information below represents our best efforts to respond to what some are calling the new normal. Whatever comes to pass, we, like you, will not fear but will rely on God’s strength for the coming days.

A few months later at a Sunday lunch with a few church members, Brewer met Maxey and discovered she was facing an inconvenient relocation her employer would soon make. She could relocate or resign. Brewer knew right away he had found a professor to teach the pre-engineering courses needed to utilize the LaTech agreement.

With Maxey on board, Louisiana College still needed an engineering classroom. That’s when the Tara Terrill Engineering classroom in Cavanaugh Hall became reality. Tara’s parents Jim and Mary Terrill donated $100,000 to outfit the room, including a 3D printer.

“I find it amazing, but not really surprising how God works,” Brewer said reflectively. “What we planted in 2015 is bearing life-saving fruit today. God has produced this harvest for such a time as this.”

Maxey said she is “doing what God created me to do. If what I do helps the community, shows the love of God, and glorifies our Lord, then that’s what I want to do.”

College leaders have worked tirelessly to safeguard the health and well-being of our campus family. Most students have returned home, and only necessary staff remain on campus. Other staff members are teleworking. We postponed the May 9 Commencement to August 8. Such decisions reflect what countless other schools have done, and were made prayerfully with the best interest of all at heart. Rest assured, however, Louisiana College remains open. We also remain open-minded in looking for ways to enhance current efforts or add new ones.

To help stay connected with our campus community, and to maintain the effective pursuit of our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives, we have made several adjustments.

STUDENT HEALTH On March 30, we launched Campus.Health, which offers free medical and mental telehealth visits for ourstudents. This provides unlimited, 24/7, FREE, on-demand access to medical advice or immediate therapy. Whether students are feeling physically ill or are stressed through other stimuli, they can obtain professional information and recommendations from licensed and trained specialists.

ACADEMIC Our new Center for Online Innovation and Development enables 100 percent online learning, where digital tools have significantly advanced the online classroom experience. Additional online resources include the Student Success Center, Writing Center, and Library.

SPIRITUAL CONTINUITY Leaders from Louisiana College, students, and other friends and supporters of the College have submitted devotional thoughts via video, as well as by text. These we are posting on lacollege.edu, and are sharing them on social media, too. On April 9, Chapel will resume in video format to be shared by email and social media with the Louisiana College family. Adding to that ministry is the newly established prayer request opportunity, whereby a student’s needs can be shared in confidence with select Louisiana College personnel who will pray for each request. The address is prayer_requests@lacollege.edu.

Although there is an air of uncertainty blowing across the country, we live in the certainty of God’s love and care that know no limits.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

If you are not already connected with Louisiana College on social media, you may do so.

TWITTER @LA_College @rickbrewer FACEBOOK @lacollege INSTAGRAM @la_college Following, liking, sharing, and retweeting our social media posts help us keep in much closer contact with you. That also aids in informing increasing numbers of people about who we are and what we are doing not only about COVID-19, but the avenues we choose to answer our calling on behalf of the students God has entrusted to us.

Telehealth resource launched for students Difficulties posed by social distancing, travel restrictions, and the shift in established routines are unsettling. Add to the mix personal health concerns, and the reasons Louisiana College launched a telehealth service for students on March 30 become apparent.

“Because our primary concern is the health and well-being of the Louisiana College family, we are providing free telehealth service to our students,” said President Dr. Rick Brewer. “With the necessity of online classes comes the separation of our campus community, but I want students to know they are not separated from our compassion and concern.”

LC partnered with TimelyMD, which hosts Campus Health. Available via smartphone or any web-enabled device, students have 24/7 unlimited free access to professional health advice and licensed counselors.

Whether students are feeling sick or overwhelmed, they can talk to Campus. Healthmedical providers- who can diagnose common conditions (cold, flu, sinus infection) - and licensed counselors that offer students a safe space to talk about anything at any time, whether COVID-19 or any other mental stressor. All Campus.Health counselors are professionally trained, with some specializing in faith-based counseling.

Regarding COVID-19 specifically, Campus.Health will virtually assess symptoms and administer frontline care in a digital environment to limit the spread of illness. They will also give recommendations on the need for testing vs. self-quarantine, and where to go if testing or further care is needed.

Students already have received an email containing Campus.Health log in information. Any enrolled, full-time LC student can register, and they may choose a voice or video call from their smartphone.

“Thomas Paine said, ‘These are the times that try men’s souls; … yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.’ Well, these are the times that try everyone’s soul,” Brewer emphasized.

“Weeks and maybe months of trying times await us,” he added. “Yet the ‘glorious triumph’ will come only through our reliance upon a faithful God and our compliance regarding healthful advice from knowledgeable persons. Louisiana College is doing both.”

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$2.2M

Title III Grant Awarded

A Sept. 27 press release from Representative Ralph Abraham’s office said, “The education of our nation’s youth is among my highest priorities and I’m glad to see these federal dollars coming home to Louisiana.”

Abraham said the grant will “Better serve the students of Central Louisiana as they seek to broaden their academic horizons.”

“We celebrate this single largest grant ever achieved in the history of Louisiana College,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. “We spent nine months researching the needs of our community and how best to enhance technology to solve higher education access issues. We are beyond elated for what will become a transformational advancement in our curricular offerings and general overall enhancement.”

Divided into installments of just under $450,000 over five years, the grant underwrites a project called IDEA -- Investing in Developing Expanded Access -- with three main objectives: expanding access through online courses, improving faculty capacity in online education, and creating flexible online student services.

Elements of these objectives include upgrades to General Education and Business; two fully online programs, BS in Business Administration and a Project Management certificate; strengthening the creation and delivery of online courses, effective use of technological advancement; developing online student support services; and improving the information technology infrastructure for increased online instruction

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Center for Online Innovation & Development Utilizing a $2.2 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Louisiana College launched the Center for Online Innovation and Development (COID) as it moves to 100 percent online classes for remote learning on March 30.

Expanding online learning is an integral part of Louisiana College’s strategic plan, but the coronavirus put the effort on fast-forward.

by Norm Miller

Louisiana College received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help expand online education capacity and quality.

Louisiana College launches:

and new online service delivery systems, as well as additional personnel to facilitate and maintain these advancements.

“These developments will increase enrollment, and the college will sustain the improvements beyond the five years of the grant,” Brewer said. “The grant also aids our commitment to STEM becoming STEAM at LC.” “Online support services will ensure that all students have 24/7 access to the support they need to be successful,” Brewer noted. “But perhaps the most popular advancement will be the complete transformation of online access that will be upgraded ten-fold.”

Louisiana College will join Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure (LONI), which will bring a 10 Gpbs Internet access point to the campus.

“There are several on our team who did the heavy lifting in the lengthy process of research and writing for this grant proposal,” Brewer said. “I want to thank Dr. Cheryl Clark, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Henry Robertson, Associate Professor of History/Coordinator of Institutional Effectiveness and Sponsored Programs; Dr. Adena LeJeune, Chair, Division of Business/Associate professor of Business; Mr. Randall Hargis, Executive Vice President for Business Affairs/ CFO; Mr. Mark Shoemaker, Vice President for Information Technology/CIO; as well as numerous personnel in our Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid Office, and others of our extended family who contributed through external consultations.”

“Our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives just took a giant leap forward,” Brewer said. “While we are deeply grateful to many people, our ultimate gratitude is to the God we serve.”

“Facing COVID-19 restrictions and an unprecedented federal mandate, we had to adapt quickly to move classes to remote, 100 percent online access,” said Dr. Stacey Duke, who joined LC’s staff and faculty in February as Title III Activity Director, Distance Learning Coordinator, and Associate Professor of Business.

Jason Mercer joined LC in January as Instructional Designer for Distance Learning. Duke and Mercer marshaled web-based assets to create digital tutorials, resources, and community pages, where faculty can share ideas and readily communicate with each other and their students, thus further equipping faculty to teach in the online format.

“With the move from face-to-face classes to remote access, we provided immediate tools and training for faculty, as well as helped administrators develop new policies to meet the demands of remote learning,” Duke added.

resources.” Given what Duke and Mercer have accomplished so far, Brewer said he is “deeply pleased and very confident” about the future of online classes and remote learning at Louisiana College.

“Dr. Duke and Mr. Mercer rendered a herculean effort to so rapidly create The Center for Online Innovation and Development,” Brewer said. “I am grateful the Lord sent them to us not only for their ongoing assignment, but also for the timing of their arrival. These two consequential professionals are welcome additions to our team.”

Duke said, “From day one, God clearly confirmed that this is the right place for me. I have been able to use my God-given gifts to support faculty in an extremely difficult and uncertain environment. God knows when and where we are needed; we must be obedient to go where He leads.”

Formerly the Dean of the Graduate School and of Online Programs at John Brown University, Duke is a graduate of Regent University, where she earned a doctorate in Strategic Leadership and an Advanced Graduate Certificate. She holds an MBA from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, where she served as the Assistant Dean of Adult and Graduate Studies, and was the Director of Curriculum and Instruction.

“Facing COVID-19 restrictions and an unprecedented federal mandate, we had to adapt quickly...”

“I’ve had the opportunity to not only help faculty prepare for this transition through my work at COID, but the opportunity to pray with faculty and to assure them the Center will support their efforts to transition to remote learning,” said Mercer, who was a consultant for the Louisiana Department of Education and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber in the implementation of the BRAC Micro-Enterprise Jump Start pathway. The Title III grant enabled LC to employ Mercer and Duke.

“The higher education community is facing unprecedented times wrought by COVID-19 and a shrinking student population,” said LC President Dr. Rick Brewer. “Meeting these challenges requires innovation, flexibility, and leveraging effective

Mercer said he could “never have envisioned the scope of the project. But I know that I’m exactly where God wants me. I look forward to serving the faculty and students of LC during this transition to remote learning.”

Mercer was technology consultant for the Career and Technical Education Leadership Academy created by the Louisiana Council for Economic Education in Baton Rouge. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Adult Education – Technology Leadership from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and a Master of Natural Science in Biology from Louisiana State University. In 2017, the Louisiana Association of Business Educators named him Secondary Teacher of the Year for his contributions to business education in the state.

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ALUMNUS

JOHN ALLEY RECALLS HIS LC EXPERIENCE

By Norm Miller

Louisiana College’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved an updated mission statement for the College in its May 8 meeting.

The new statement reads: “Louisiana College is a Christcentered community committed to Academic Excellence where students are equipped for Lives of Learning, Leading, and Serving.”

“Louisiana College is mission driven and vision focused, and our upgraded mission statement concisely conveys those standards,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer. “Much prayer and conversation supported this modification emerging from the President’s Leadership Team, as well as from the Board of Trustees’ review and ultimate approval.”

The President’s Leadership Team identified themes that provided direction for the statement. Those themes are integration of faith, academic excellence, student development, resource development, stewardship, and technology.

Also identified were values that drove the improved statement’s formation.

From Spring Hill, Louisiana, 1957 alumnus John Alley was

born into a “wonderful, humble, poor family. We never owned a car,” he said.

When he answered God’s call to pastoral ministry, people told Alley he should attend Baylor University. So, he visited the campus.

Alley’s Sunday school teacher was Mr. Joe Mayor. He told Alley, “You don’t belong at Baylor. You’re going to Louisiana College.”

Mayor told Alley he would drive the young man to Pineville. “He took me to meet Dr. Guinn,” Alley said. Mayor also helped Alley enroll at LC. “After that he took me to lunch, he bought me stationery and some hangars, too,” Alley recalled. “He told me to write my mom every week and to hang up my clothes every day.”

Mayor also gave Alley a $20 bill and said, “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

“I had never been away from home, and I was scared to death. I didn’t know anyone. If I could have gotten a ride back home, I would have taken it.”

Alley said he met some “wonderful guys who became life-long friends, and they helped me.”

Graduating 70th in a high school class of 76, Alley didn’t think much of his college prospects. But a high school teacher encouraged Alley, telling him she thought he was an exception.

That didn’t matter much because Alley landed on academic probation in his first semester. And he had only one semester to improve or face mandatory withdrawal.

One of Alley’s professors told him there were some students at Louisiana College who would not be staying because of grades. “I don’t think you will either, but God gave you the mind and ability to accomplish whatever you set your mind to do,” he told Alley.

At New Orleans Seminary, Alley earned a degree in Philosophical Theology with minors in the biblical languages.

“All of it was a difficult time of learning,” Alley said. “But I am grateful to God and to the kind people who helped me.”

Rev. Alley served as the Senior Pastor for Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria, LA from: 1971-1999. Current Calvary Senior Pastor Dr. David Brooks said, “In uncountable ways, John Alley has immeasurably influenced where I am today and who I am today. I began serving at Calvary under his leadership in 1979. I was 23 years old.

One of Alley’s friends gathered some notebooks from other students and spent the semester break on campus with Alley, helping him study. “Except for leaving to eat, we stayed in that room and studied those notes. That helped me make the grades, and I stayed at LC.”

From day one, he became my father in ministry and my father in life. He saw potential in me and had a belief in me, and he invested in me. He nurtured, developed, and held me accountable. Even in his retirement, he continues to mentor me and clarifies the beauty and power of a local church when there is vision, leadership, hard work, and unity within a church.

Alley said he “liked Louisiana College so much that I stayed five years. If I didn’t have those kinds of friends, and professors who were Christians, I would have never made it. I am indebted to Louisiana College and my friends and my professors.”

We have fished, hunted, traveled, laughed, learned, celebrated, and cried together. After these many years, we continue to talk often. Rarely will a day pass that I do not thank God for John G. Alley’s love and presence in my life.”

“By the grace of God, I graduated,” said Alley, who earned a degree in Psychology with a minor in English. “When I got my diploma at graduation, I went back to my seat to look at it. I had to make sure it was real.”

We believe Louisiana College had a little bit to do with shaping the Spiritual Leadership mind and heart of John Alley to be the man described by Dr. Brooks.

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A MISSION STATEMENT STRENGTHENED the Lord Jesus, allegiance to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, dedication to academic excellence for the glory of God, and commitment to change the world for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“All of these ideals and their specific statements converge in the four words of our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives,” Brewer said.

“Beyond mere words, however, is the heart that our leaders at Louisiana College have for the students entrusted to us by God,” he said. “We did not pull these values and commitments from thin air. Rather, we reflected on the rich heritage of Louisiana College that has borne her along since 1906, and we used that reflection of the past as a guiding light toward the future.”

In an email to faculty and staff, Brewer said: “Please know of my genuine gratitude for each of you and your support of these core essentials shaping and advancing the College into the future.”

“Louisiana College is a Christ-centered community committed to Academic Excellence where students are equipped for Lives of Learning, Leading, and Serving.”

FAITH: Biblical faith informs our learning, motivates us to excellence, and focuses our dependence upon God.

INTEGRITY: Truth, honesty, and transparency provide the underpinnings that inform the breadth of Louisiana College’s endeavors.

LEARNING: Authentic learning must expand the mind and deepen the soul.

SERVICE: The most effective education results in service to others.

COMMUNITY: The synergy among professor and students leads to the path of discovery.

The former mission statement remains an important keystone of Louisiana College, Brewer said. It states: “The guiding principle of Louisiana College is to provide liberal arts, professional, and graduate programs characterized by devotion to the preeminence of

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CHRIST, CHURCH, CULTURE Manuel shares good news at C3 Great Commission Seminar

“Is there injustice in society?” Mitchell rhetorically asked.

“There is,” he said, “because we live in a sinful, fallen world, and the best that this world has to offer is still pretty messed up.

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message

In a day when fewer young professionals nationwide are attending worship services as consistently as prior generations, Louisiana Baptist young adults are bucking the trend, Keith Manuel said during the C3: Christ, Church, Culture Apologetics Conference in Louisiana College’s Guinn Auditorium, Sept. 9.

The C3 Conference is sponsored by LC’s Wayne and Martha Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions.

“God is doing some great things in and through our Millennials,” he said. “And I believe we can reach this state through the things they love.”

Citing a Barna study, Manuel said 47 percent of Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and 27 percent of Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) agree that “it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith.”

However, during his travels around the state, Manuel said he gathered much hope for the faithfulness of Louisiana Baptist students.

Manuel believes the next generation of Christ followers will become passionate about evangelism, participation in mission trips, service to their community and helping the less fortunate.

“Dr. Keith Manuel was the obvious choice for the kickoff of the C3 Conference on Millennials and how they impact the church,” Jones said.

“His studies which are supported by his personal ministry to Millennials are groundbreaking in that he, unlike most of his contemporaries who study Millennial patterns, sees a bright future for the church and for Millennials relating to the Church.

Keith’s presentation was relevant to the topic, including new statistical analysis, behavioral insights, and passion for this generation. I am thankful for his friendship through the years and grateful for his ministry to Louisiana Baptists and Louisiana College.”

Mitchell said justice and righteousness cannot be obtained through either “big” or “little” government.

And not through politics or economics, either. Instead, both will be restored by Jesus Christ “not right now, but in His timing.”

“The best thing you can do is share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this fallen world,” Mitchell offered. “To the degree that you share the Gospel with others and they come to Christ, and they strive for justice and righteousness, we will have a more righteous society.”

By Will Hall, Baptist Messenger Editor

Speaking to Louisiana College students as part of a “Christ, Church, and Culture” series about current cultural issues from a biblical perspective, a national speaker on ethics explained the controversial concepts of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality are rooted in Marxism.

Craig Mitchell, president of the Ethics and Political Economy Center, an evangelical think tank based in Dallas, Texas, described Marxism’s primary tenet is atheism.

“I hope you’re learning to pray while you’re here, that your prayer life is enhanced,” Manuel said. “The way that your prayer life is enhanced is to read the Bible.”

Marvin Jones, assistant professor of theology and church history and coordinator of the C3 Apologetic Conferences, said Manuel was the perfect choice to lead off the 2019-20 series.

Consequently, Critical Race Theory perpetuates the notion that white people cannot know right and cannot be moral.

Likewise, Intersectionality, declares similarly that men cannot know truth or determine the moral thing to do.

COLUMNS Spring 2020

“The best thing you can do is share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this fallen world.”

The roots of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality

He added that these two concepts also developed within the framework of different branches of thought that inform today’s Social Justice movement. But, ultimately, both of these concepts present a perspective that there is conflict between “an oppressor” and “an oppressed” and that the oppressor cannot know right or morality.

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“If you’re looking for perfect justice — if you’re looking for perfect righteousness — you’re not going to find it until Christ comes again,” he declared. “When you look at Revelation 20, Jesus Christ comes down and reigns in Jerusalem for a thousand years – a thousand years of perfect justice, a thousand years of righteousness. Then, you know what happens? People rebel.”

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Don Hill (’64) Provides Funding for State-of-the-Art Computer Science Classroom Thanks to the generosity of alumnus Don Hill and Terry, his wife, Louisiana College in Pineville unveiled a newly equipped and remodeled Computer Science classroom, Oct. 18.

“I am deeply grateful that Don and Terry recognize the importance of Louisiana College’s mission and vision and have demonstrated such loyalty to Don’s alma mater,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College, to about 50 members of Louisiana College’s Board of Visitors gathered for its annual fall meeting.

Hill, a 1964 graduate from LC, is an entrepreneur and restaurateur from Dallas who co-founded Saltgrass Steak House and the more recent Texas-based Lupe Tortilla. He is a member of LC’s Board of Visitors, whose combined annual gifts of more than $225,000 solely and wholly support qualified student’s scholarships.

“This gift provides a huge lift to our emerging Computer Science major and our commitment regarding STEM becoming STEAM,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College.

“I want to say thank you to Louisiana College because the four years I spent here were the four most important years in my entire life,” Hill said. “LC was the spring board for me to go on and have some success.”

The new classroom will attract students to Louisiana College because there is an increasing national demand for computer coders and popularity regarding cyber security training, Brewer said.

“The remodeled classroom has four learning stations for 16 students, complete with laptops. The collaborative style furniture will enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.” said Louisiana College’s CIO and Vice President for Information Technology Mark Shoemaker.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

SPRING 2020

The President’s Report provides a retrospective look at the progress Louisiana College has made academically, spiritually, and financially during the last year. The President’s Report would hardly be possible without the team that are not only followers, but are leaders in their own right. Some of our best ideas have come from the team, and I am blessed to lead them. As I sometimes say, “No single one of us is smarter than the rest of us.”

You will read of our achievements, but a careful read reveals the synergy we share. God has assembled a superior team to help me lead Louisiana College through some tough times and on to countless victories. The greatest victories are the students who come to faith in Christ and are discipled by the administration, faculty, staff, and other students.

Ultimately, all of this is God’s doing, and we give Him the glory.

Keep Pressing On!

The classroom is equipped with video recording and transmission capabilities for reviewing lectures and for real-time online instruction.

Rick Brewer, PhD, MBA President Professor of Management Louisiana College

COVID-19 SUMMARY OF ACTIONS: • LC leaders, students, and other friends submitted written and video devotional thoughts for our 40 Days of Hope and Encouragement ministry. These were shared via social media daily during the pandemic.

• Established weekly online Chapel Service and an email address for prayer requests, enabling students to share their needs in confidence.

• Postponed May 9 Commencement to August 8.

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LOUISIANA COLLEGE

• On March 30 launched Campus.Health, a 24/7, FREE, on-demand service for medical advice or immediate therapy.

• Rolled out Center for Online Innovation and Development, enabling 100 percent online learning.

• Adjusted hours for the Student Success Center, Writing Center, and Library while emphasizing online access.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

21 COLUMNSSPRING Spring 2020 2020

ACADEMICS Received from the U.S. Dept. of Education a $2.2M Title III grant that provided funding to expand/improve online education, create a Faculty Development Center, hire a Director of Online Education, an Instructional Designer, and a Faculty Technical Support person.

31 colleges and universities. The Wildcat Debate team competed in the 12th Annual Eddy Shell Invitational, taking 2nd place from among 60 competitors.

FAITH INTEGRATION

The 2018 Louisiana Board of Regents Fact Book said LC leads the state with the largest number of teachers alternatively prepared who earned highly effective ratings in both professional practice and student growth outcomes during 2014–2017.

Hosted Evangelism Seminars led by Vice President for Advancement Dr. Jerry Pipes and Adjunct Professor Dr. Keith Manuel, Evangelism/Church Growth Director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Equipped staff and coaches with principles for integrating the Christian faith into college life.

Louisiana Department of Education deemed Louisiana College a “Choice Course Provider” for high school dual enrollment courses. Launched innovative 3+1 Advanced Education Degree, offering a bachelor’s degree in three years and a master’s in the fourth.

Published the fifth edition of Faith Matters with contributions from Mr. Tim Roper, Dr. Juan Castro, Dr. Natalie Maxey, Dr. Daniel Moore, Dr. Christine Reese, and Dr. Jeannie Gauthier.

Established the President’s Leadership Award, which provides $6,000 annually to students who have demonstrated Christian character, leadership abilities, and academic acumen.

Established the Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship that offers free tuition for qualified applicants who are TOPS recipients and meet LCspecific PELL eligibility.

Fall Faculty Workshop 2019 featured Dr. David Dockery speaking on “A Christian Worldview and the Mission of Christian Higher Education.”

Signed Memoranda of Understanding with New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisiana Community and Technical College System, Southwest Louisiana Community Colleges, and Liverpool Hope University (UK).

Convergence Media students competed in the 2020 Southeast Journalism Conference, earning two 2nd place awards, one 3rd place, and one 9th place from among nearly 300 students from 22 COLUMNS Spring 2020 LOUISIANA COLLEGE

Chapel Speakers preached through 1 Peter. BCM Director Thomas Worsham organized weekly, student-led small groups to study Master/Teacher booklet on 1 Peter written by faculty.

Hosted our Christ, Church, and Culture (C3) Conference last fall titled “Evangelizing Millennials.” The spring C3 discussed: “What is the Real Issue with Social Justice?”

The Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions sponsored Fall and Spring Campus Awakenings, led by Dr. Don Wilton, pastor, FBC Spartanburg, SC, and by Dr. John Fream, pastor, Cypress Baptist Church, Cypress, LA, respectively. BCM Mission projects included ministry at the Bridge Church in Covington, LA, and the CENLA Food Bank in Alexandria, LA. Also provided funds in support of the LBC’s E4 Preaching Conference at FBC Pineville.

BUSINESS AFFAIRS

ADMISSIONS/ENROLLMENT

Phase 1 of residence hall renovations began in Summer 2019. Tudor Hall ($3.7M) and English Village ($1.9M) are underway. This summer, Phase 2 includes Cottingham and Church Halls.

In 2019, the air handler was replaced ($210K) in Cavanaugh Hall with Cavanaugh Hall Campaign funds. The upper roof over the H.O. West gymnasium was completed this Fall ($110K).

Total undergraduate retention Fall ’18 to Spring ’19, 94%; Fall ’19 to Spring ’20, 88%.

ADVANCEMENT

Conducted 3-week recruitment trip to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Taiwan.

Partnering with Haven of Hope Academy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and schools in Southeast Asia. Approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents to offer dual enrollment courses. Provided dual enrollment for Tioga High School students for Fall ’19 and Spring ’20 with an agreement for more students in the future. Hired 3 new admissions counselors.

Established the Wildcat Club to help support Athletic operations budget and enhance the college experience of our student-athletes.

Launched the LC Athletic Facilities Campaign Task Force led by notable student-athlete alumni and friends of the College, with the goal of raising the funds for long overdue upgrades to athletic facilities.

Alumnus Don Hill underwrote the cost of remodeling and equipping a new Computer Science classroom. Aug. 26-30 marked a week of generosity. LC received more than $300K in gifts.

Board of Visitors now has 195 members, whose gifts total almost $231,000.

Alumni group meetings held in DFW Metroplex, Baton Rouge, Ark-LA-Tex, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Houston, Monroe, College Station, and CENLA. Total Gifts to the College since August 1, 2019: $4,109,041.56.

Increased number of CENLA high schools participating in District Rally: from 21 to 28.

Hosted Future Business Leaders of America Leadership Conference and larger FBLA Conference with more than 375 students high school students attending.

Personalized campus visits by prospective students continue to be popular.

TOPS: • Increase of TOPS (20+) by 18% since 2016 • Increase of TOPS Performance (23+) by 28% since 2016 • Increase of TOPS Honor (27+) by 14% since 2016 • Overall increase of total TOPS recipients by 20% since 2016

Dr. Brewer keynoted CENLA Life March campus launch. Hundreds of campus and community members gathered to march from campus to downtown Alexandria.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

SPRING 2020

LOUISIANA COLLEGE

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

23 COLUMNS Spring 20202020 SPRING

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ATHLETICS Employed Louisiana College student-athlete alumnus Andrew Maddox as head football coach.

Baseball Coach Mike Byrnes earned his 400th career win at the beginning of the 2020 season.

Dean’s List for Athletes end of year reports for 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 show steady increase in cumulative GPA among 361 student-athletes: • 2016-2017 - 2.782 cumulative grade point average (all sports) 366 student-athletes • 2017-2018 - 2.813 cumulative grade point average (all sports) 443 student-athletes • 2018-2019 - 2.962 cumulative grade point average (all sports) 361 student-athletes º five teams at 3.0 or better for the academic year º 20 softball student-athletes, with 3.5 GPA, earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association Academic All-American honors this season.

The Title III grant increases web bandwidth through signed agreement with Louisiana Optical Network via 10GB capable fiber and equipment to serve the campus. New Learning Management System, Canvas, delivers premiere online course offerings. Updating entire campus wireless network to provide the latest technology to students, faculty, and staff.

Moving to a cloud environment LC’s Enterprise Resource Planning System to deliver seamless and reliable digital platform to conduct day-to-day business.

Partnering with Slate – a Customer Relations Management System – to move student application processes online and to serve as the Alumni Advancement Management System, thus consolidating and streamlining the life-cycle process from incoming students to alumni.

Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship Provides Free Tuition

COMMUNICATIONS/ MARKETING Launched multi-city digital billboard ad campaign touting some of Louisiana College’s most innovative scholarships and degrees. Designed/ placed ads for Jimmie Davis Scholarship in 30 newspapers statewide. Leveraged social media platforms to advance LC initiatives and news.

Designed/placed ads in newspapers and the Baptist Message. Maintained weekly submissions to Louisiana Baptist Convention e-blast, and sent bi-monthly e-blasts to alumni and friends of LC. Assisted the President and other campus personnel with media contacts and appearances on television and radio. Worked with campus leaders and LC Graphics Dept. to ensure proper messaging, branding, and content.

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“Education that instructs the mind and does not deepen the soul is not true learning.”

- Rick Brewer, PhD

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

SPRING 2020

Responding to pandemic-induced financial strains, Louisiana College will offer free tuition to eligible, incoming freshmen and transfers through its newly established Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship.

Brewer told Good Day Cenla host Mark Hamblen the pandemic accentuates the need “to make a college education accessible and affordable” for families especially in these challenging times.

Louisiana College’s President Dr. Rick Brewer made the announcement on KALB-TV’s Good Day Cenla morning program, April 13.

Named in honor of two-time governor of Louisiana, the Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship honors “our emblematic, most famous alum,” Brewer said. Davis completed his undergraduate degree at Louisiana College as a member of the class of 1924. “He was a fantastic governor of the state and transformational leader of the people.”

“We recognize the Coronavirus impact has curtailed and even stopped certain activities in our state,” Brewer said in an interview prior to the show. “But we do not intend to stop offering the quality liberal arts education that has typified the College since 1906.”

Travel restrictions and social distancing advisories prompted Louisiana College to shift its curricula to online, remote learning on March 30 – a move facilitated by a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Globally, Davis is best known for his song, “You are My Sunshine.”

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2019 Distinguished Alumni Cathy Rogers Franklin & Morgan Cryar

2020

Homecoming Schedule

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 Homecoming Chapel 11:00 am | Guinn Auditorium Board of Visitors Banquet 5:30 pm | Granberry Conference Center Louisianians’ Homecoming Concert 7:00 pm | Guinn Auditorium

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

Coffee and Registration for Saturday’s Events 9:00 am | Granberry Conference Center Reception Honoring our Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame Inductees 9:45 am | Formal Lounge Homecoming Celebration Banquet 10:30 am | Granberry Conference Center Join friends and family of this year’s Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame Inductees.

11:30 am | OakWing Golf Club Lunch at Noon…Shot Gun Start at 1:00 pm $75 per person or $300 per team includes lunch

Homecoming Parade around the Circle 2:00 pm

Homecoming Hoedown 7:00 pm | Lynn Alumni Center Lawn

3:00 pm | Formal Lounge

Pep Rally and Bonfire 9:00 pm | Lynn Alumni Center Lawn

Reception honoring the Class of 1970

Tailgating for the Classes of ’80, ’90, ’2000, & ’2010 4:30 pm | Wildcat Stadium

Cathy Rogers Franklin graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism. After graduation, she served one year as associate in the LC Public Relations Office before entering LSU to complete the Master of Journalism, where she was a teaching assistant for News Editing. Franklin holds the PhD in Journalism and Mass Communications from Ohio University.

She was Instructor in Journalism and Director of Student Publications at LC for two years. Since 1990, she has taught in the School of Mass Communication at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Franklin has been recognized for her work with the Loyola Faculty Senate and her support of the local organization of public relations professionals. In 2012, the Public Relations Association of Louisiana named her teacher of the year. In 2018, she received the Bruce K. Berger Educator Mentor Award from The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. In 2015, she was a nominee for the Scripps Howard Foundation Journalism & Mass Communication Teacher of the Year.

Most recently, the Public Relations Association of Louisiana awarded her their Professional Achievement Award.

None of Franklin’s various honors and awards is more important than preparing student teams to compete in the national Bateman Public Relations Competition. Her teams have won more Bateman competitions than any other university in the nation.

Cathy is married to Danny Franklin, who is retired from a career with the Louisiana State Police.

Morgan Cryar graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies and a minor in New Testament Greek. He was involved in several student-formed musical groups along with the Baptist Student Union. His original plan was to be a pastor, but he discovered songwriting as a student and began devoting all of his attention to that ministry.

Morgan left Louisiana College for a music career and soon his talents were discovered. He enjoyed fame in Christian music with his 1984 debut release “Keep No Secrets.” His next album in 1986, “Fuel on the Fire,” put him on the path to success. The album featured the chart-topping contemporary Christian single “Pray in the USA,” which won a Best Video Dove Award. This #1 song was resurrected in 1998 with a new recording and video shot in honor of the National Day of Prayer.

During the 1980s, Morgan toured with contemporary Christian groups such as Petra and DeGarmo and Key while making a name for himself in the music industry.

Leaving the road in 2000, Morgan became a record producer on his own label, Premier Records. He also taught songwriting, music business and stage presence in his Christian Music Workshop Series. From 2005-2007, he was CEO of Brett Manning’s Singing Success Inc., a Nashville based instructional company that has worked with the likes of Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Taylor Swift.

Morgan is married to LC alumna Melanie Gremillion. They reside in Franklin, Tennessee.

2019 Athletic Hall of Fame Rene’ M. Schwartzenburg

In the annals of Louisiana College athletics and indeed those of the American Southwest Conference for softball, few are more notable than Rene’ Schwartzenburg. When she graduated, she either held or was in second place in virtually every meaningful pitching category, single season and career. Her more notable records came in the 2010 season: 27 wins, 182.2 innings pitched, 12 shutouts, and 195 strikeouts. She holds the LC career win record of 75 and 649 strikeouts.

Schwartzenburg was a vital part of four NCAA national tournament teams, including the 2008 team that finished third in the College World Series and was ranked the No. 3 team in Division III at season’s end. She never pitched a season where her ERA was above 2. In 2009, she allowed an all-time low 8 earned runs for a season ERA of 0.53 en route to a perfect, 20-0 record as a starter. She hurled three no-hitters in her career and had a perfect game in 2010 against the University of the Ozarks.

Left to Right: Wayne Ryan, Class of ’69, Sandy Turner Class of ’69, Ted Stanley, Class of ’69 with wife Mary, Joanne Hamby, Class of ’69, Kathy Hegwood Overturf, Alumni 26 Director, Class of ’80,Spring Morgan Cryar, COLUMNS 20202019 Distinguished Alumnus, Class of ’80, Cathy Rogers Franklin, 2019 Distinguished Alumnus, Class of ’82, Rene’ Schwartzenburg, 2019 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee, Class of 2011

She earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association Second Team All-America in 2010, NFCA Division III Third Team AllAmerica in 2009, NFCA Division III Atlantic Region First Team in 2009 and 2010, NFCA Division III Atlantic Region Second Team in 2008 and 2011, ASC East Freshman of the Year in 2008, First Team All-ASC East in all four of her seasons, and ASC East Pitcher of the Year in 2011. Schwartzenburg also excelled in the classroom, having been named ASC Academic All-Conference as a sophomore, junior, and senior (freshmen were not eligible for academic all-conference during her playing career).

Schwartzenburg was also named to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s AllLouisiana Team in each of her four seasons, meaning her accomplishments were on par with student-athletes at numerous state schools in Louisiana.

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Thank You, Kathy Overturf Kathy Overturf, a 1980 alumna, came to Louisiana College in 1976 as a freshman. From 1980-85 she was an admissions counselor and Assistant Director of Admissions. She later returned in 2015 as Director of Alumni Relations. In February 2020, she left LC once again and returned to Monroe for a job with a former employer.

Employed for her role in 2015 by then interim president Dr. Argile Smith, Kathy brought an enthusiasm that is uniquely hers. With a warm heart for LC’s past, an active mind for its present, and a vision for its future, Kathy jumped in with both feet and began reconnecting her alma mater with alumni from across the country. She brought significant impact in organizing alumni group gatherings across Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee.

“When it comes time to plan events, we will miss Kathy even more,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer.

“As skilled as Kathy was in the other aspects of her job, event planning was a definite strong suit in her repertoire.”

Brewer noted Homecoming weekends and their festivities as a pinnacle of Kathy’s efforts.

“Although Kathy has moved closer to her grandchildren and left the campus, she will always be a beloved part of Louisiana College,” Brewer said. “We will miss her, but also will look forward to seeing her again on the campus of the College she so dearly loves.”

Louisiana College Wildcats fans dot the landscape of CenLa, the state, and the nation. And with the launch of the Wildcat Club, every fan of LC Athletics can assist the entire program or the sport of their choice regardless of location.

The biggest perk for joining the Wildcat Club is the satisfaction of underwriting the athletic programs that help studentathletes as they strike the balance between their studies and respective sports. Other advantages include events and access throughout the year to connect fans with coaches, players, and staff.

Wildcat Club As the fundraising arm of the Athletic Department, the Wildcat Club will provide additional budget funds for the ongoing operational and facility upgrades to enhance student-athletes’ college experience.

“The Wildcat Club is a tremendous opportunity to invest in LC Athletics. The dividends from these meaningful investments will serve our college and our communities for years to come,” said Athletic Director Reni Mason.

“Louisiana College gave me a chance. I was a walk-on,” said former Wildcats middle linebacker Taylor Cottano (‘13). “I learned some valuable lessons through Wildcats football.”

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Cottano said LC “blended my faith and my education and athletics. I am grounded in those values, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

A successful entrepreneur, Cottano credits his alma mater for his business sense and for introducing him to the woman he would marry: Meggie Burkett Cottano (‘12).

The Wildcat Club offers several levels of engagement: White ($100); Blue ($250); Orange ($500); and Claws Up ($1000).

Once full payments are made, members will receive swag exclusive to the Wildcat Club. White and Blue levels will receive a logo branded cap. Blue level members also receive season tickets. Orange level members receive all the above and a branded polo shirt.

“Louisiana College Athletics has a rich and storied heritage,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president. “That heritage is often communicated by our alums whose lives were heavily influenced by those who coached at Louisiana College. Our Wildcats alumni can help secure the same kind of character developing experiences and meaningful memories for today’s studentathletes by joining the Wildcat Club.”

Become a Wildcat Club member by going to https://www. lacollege.edu/athletics/ and completing the registration form to get your swag. That way you can help the Louisiana College Wildcats keep their #ClawsUp.

Andrew Maddox

Returns to LC as Head

by Richard Thiberville

Football Coach

What is old is new again for Andrew Maddox, as the Louisiana College alum and former Wildcat football player and defensive coordinator has returned to his old stomping grounds, named the sixth head coach of the LC football team in the modern era on Tuesday.

“My family and I are glad to be coming back to Pineville, a place we consider home,” said new Louisiana College Head Football Coach Andrew Maddox. “We enjoyed our time here the first time. It’s exciting for us to see many familiar faces, but now we’re ready to get started working and get this program the best we can get it and heading in the right direction.”

President of Louisiana College Dr. Rick Brewer said, “At the top of my list of qualifications for our new head coach was that we sought a man of character and integrity, and Coach Maddox is all that and more. The successful candidate will be humble, hungry, and smart,” Brewer added while acknowledging Maddox’s attributes, saying he has the #AndThenSome traits that will bring success to the Wildcats football program. I have every confidence that Coach Maddox will develop the student-athletes under his supervision athletically, academically, and spiritually.”

Maddox later said, “If you hear nothing else today, hear this: God has been very, very good to me.”

Over the last two seasons, Maddox served as the head coach at Glenbrook High School in Minden, LA. where he took over a team on the verge of being shut down and in two seasons guided the Apaches to a 6-4 record in 2019, their first winning season in six years, while making the playoffs both seasons of his tenure.

For his efforts in 2019, he was named the Webster Parish Coach of the Year.

After five years in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Knox in Kentucky, Maddox came to Louisiana College as a student in 2013 and joined the Wildcats football program as a walk-on. He appeared in 13 games over his two seasons in the orange and blue, and the team amassed a 13-7 record while he was a LC studentathlete. Maddox graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and a minor in physical education in 2015.

Immediately upon receiving his degree, Maddox joined Coach Dennis Dunn’s staff as an assistant coach, focused on linemen of both sides of the line of scrimmage and aided with special teams and was key in recruiting. In three short seasons, he was elevated to defensive coordinator for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, where his defense was in the top 25 of NCAA Division III in turnovers forced. His defenses also accumulated 75 tackles for loss.

“I always look for three traits when hiring coaches at Louisiana College,” said Louisiana College Athletic Director and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Reni Mason, “the desire to get better every day, the ability to create expectations in spite of what the naked eye can’t see, and someone who loves Jesus. Coach Maddox fits the bill. During his interview, it was evident he is prepared and ready to go. We’re proud to welcome back Coach Maddox home to the Wildcat family.”

Maddox is married to, Caitlyn, who is a teacher, and they have two children, Allianna and Gabriel.

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Louisiana College Broadens Academic Relationships The International Alliance for Christian Education (IACE) is an educational network designed to unify, synergize, and strengthen collective conviction around biblical orthodoxy and orthopraxy, cultural witness, scholarship, professional excellence, and resourcing of Christian education at all levels, from early childhood education to professional graduate programs.

Included will be a fellowship group to help cohere the shared interests of confessional Christian liberal arts colleges and Christian comprehensive universities.

The IACE will place an emphasis on the development of next-generation leadership opportunities for educational, ecclesial, and missional entities, while enhancing the work of Great Commandment, Great Commission, and Cultural Mandate programs and partnerships.

“The IACE faithfully reflects Louisiana College with its admirable commitment to the integration of faith and learning,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer. “We are very pleased to join arms with educational institutions that are built upon a biblical worldview.”

Some of the IACE’s goals seek to

-Strengthen scholarship in the Christian confessional tradition, while enhancing Faith, Teaching, and Learning efforts among evangelical colleges, universities, related educational programs;

- Reclaim the Christian Intellectual Tradition as a resource for Christian scholarship, leadership, effective teaching, and faithful service;

- Engage the culture with Christian worldview thinking and service;

- Develop alliances for addressing matters of the public square, public policy, and cultural engagement.

“Anticipating the accomplishments of this new Alliance includes the global possibilities for the advance of Christian education,” Brewer said.

“Louisiana College is honored and blessed to participate in such an influential undertaking.”

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Louisiana College’s Nursing Program Accredited by the CCNE The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is officially recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national, autonomous accreditation agency contributing to the improvement of the public’s health. CCNE ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate, graduate, and residency programs in nursing.

“Accreditation by the CCNE, as well as the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN), ensures that our Nursing program complies with the highest standards of health care training,” said Dr. Marilyn Cooksey, Dean of the Rife and Carolyn Saunders School of Nursing. “These accreditations confirm that our training is on par with any other school in the nation.”

Per the CCNE’s website, the accrediting body “serves the public interest by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices. As a voluntary, selfregulatory process, CCNE accreditation supports and encourages continuing self-assessment by nursing programs and supports continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education and nurse residency programs “The historical benchmarks of excellence and applied rigor of our Nursing program are underscored by the CCNE and LSBN accreditations,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer. “Given the recent public health crisis in the U.S., these qualifying endorsements could not be any more important.”

Brewer noted LC’s December 2019 Nursing graduates, who earned a 100 percent pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). “These students not only reflect the quality education supplied by Dr. Cooksey and her capable team, the students themselves have demonstrated a level of accomplishment expected from every student with the program. I am very proud of them, as I know I will be of our incoming class, too.”

ROI on LC BA Ranks 4th & 5th in LA

by Norm Miller

A Bachelor’s degree from Louisiana College has the 4th highest return on investment (ROI) among private colleges in Louisiana and 5th highest among public schools offering BAs according to a Nov. 14 press release from Georgetown University.

Recognizing the challenges, LC’s intentionality to “close the affordability gap has made our school both affordable and accessible especially for those who value a liberal arts education built upon a biblical worldview,” Brewer said.

The release cites a report -- “A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges” -- from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). The report notes that, despite the investment needed to attend private colleges, a degree from a non-profit college like LC is worth $8,000 more annually 10 years after enrollment than a degree from a public school. And 40 years after enrollment, the non-profit private college BA yields a net economic gain of $838,000, even after paying off debt as compared to $765,000 for a public college BA. The yield of a BA from a forprofit private school in the same time period is $551,000.

Although private college tuition is higher than a public school, Louisiana College’s flat-rate tuition and available scholarships and awards make the Pineville, Louisiana, institution competitive among all schools in the state, as well as the region.

CEW says it used the “expanded College Scorecard data to calculate the net present value of a credential from 4,500 colleges [and] developed an online table of the 4,500 colleges that allows users to sort data on tuition, median student debt, and median earnings for each institution.”

Read the entire report and view its metrics at https://cew.georgetown.edu/CollegeROI. Georgetown University’s Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale – lead author of the report and CEW director – said in the press release: “Not only will [the report] help students, but this kind of information on the costs and benefits of higher education holds institutions more accountable.”

Dr. Rick Brewer resonates with Carnevale’s comment, saying that a “shrinking pool of available college students and the increase in higher education costs will require creativity and flexibility to maintain quality in an environment that is deflating in one aspect and inflating in another.”

According to christianuniversitesonline.org, LC is the 4th most affordable Christian college in the South, North, and Midwest.

“Louisiana College is very grateful for this report from Georgetown University,” Brewer said. “While we are pleased to be ranked as we are in Louisiana regarding ROI, we look beyond the temporal accolades to the eternal import of our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives. True, though we can apply actual numbers to the worthy material investment in our liberal arts education, we also realize the impossibility of quantifying the eternal return on the spiritual investment Louisiana College makes in its students and culture.”

Brewer noted there is no tension between the temporal and eternal investment regarding a degree from Louisiana College: “The more affordable and accessible our undergraduate programs are, the more likely the opportunities our graduates will have to impact the marketplaces of the world with the message of Jesus Christ. The ROI on that is incalculable and priceless.”

Hilary Strahota -- Associate Director of Strategic Communications at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce – contributed to this story.

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RENOVATIONS UNDERWAY

Following two years of study and planning, along with discussions and approval

by LC’s Board of Trustees, refurbishment plans include extensive remodeling to corridors, restrooms, and residents’ rooms in Tudor Hall, whose first-floor lobby and commons area underwent modern upgrades and remodeling in 2017.

The 17-month, multi-phase project began last fall with Tudor Hall and English Village.

Tudor’s rooms feature modular furnishings and modern plumbing and light fixtures. EV’s cedar shake siding is gone and new durable siding is up and painted.

Apartments A-D and H-K are completely remodeled, and the commons area is transformed into a bright and welcoming gathering place for students.

“This is an answer to prayer and the result of hard work to significantly upgrade facilities that have seen no major improvements in decades,” said President Brewer. “With curb appeal ranking as the third most important consideration of a college by prospective students, these improvements will significantly improve our recruiting efforts and enhance retention.”

J.D. Perry, chairman of the trustees’ Business Affairs Committee said, “Louisiana College has and continues to provide a superior education and this renovation initiative will allow us to offer our students facilities to match. Louisiana College has long been the best kept secret in higher ed, but the secret is getting out.”

Board of Trustees Chairman Ken Schroeder said, “The leadership that Dr. Brewer brought to Louisiana College has resulted in dramatic changes to the school’s overall culture. However, one aspect of our school that hinders the growth in enrollment is the condition of our dorms. We believe that by improving this aspect of campus life, LC will be in better position to attract even more students.”

Summer renovations to residents’ rooms in Cottingham Hall will reflect upgrades similar to Tudor Hall rooms. Cottingham’s White Parlor, as well as hallways and other common facilities, underwent major renovations in 2017.

“The long overdue time has finally come -- and we welcome it -- to demonstrate how much we already value our current students and how much we desire to more effectively attract new ones,” Brewer said. “I am thankful for the hard work of our trustees and how readily they have embraced our Vision of Preparing Graduates and Transforming Lives by rolling up their sleeves to help implement it.”

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What is God’s involvement in economic poverty?

By Juan R. Castro, Ph.D. “You will always have the poor with you” Nowadays, poverty is one of the most powerful and provocative words in both economics and politics. No other economic issue has caused so much reaction and dispute. The main dispute seems to center around what or who causes poverty. There are potentially many culprits such as markets, corporations, factors of production, corruption, education, government, rich people, rule of law, property rights, currency devaluation, and the list goes on and on based on the type of economic system used in a country. This essay focuses on just two possible origins. Is it God or is it man? Is poverty established by God or determined by men? Or is poverty the result of both, God and man?

From a Christian perspective, it should be relatively easy to determine the origins of poverty. One would simply determine whether the reader ascribes to a more Calvinistic or Arminian theology. If our eternal destination is determined completely

by God, then it would follow logically that our terrestrial socio-economic level has also been pre-determined by God. Nevertheless, the Bible is replete with passages that teach, and even at times command, the Christ follower to have compassion and to provide for the poor and the needy. Would God command us to perform an action that is frivolous or unattainable in nature?

Is this done solely for the benefit of the giver? Or can someone that is poor actually be helped out of poverty? Can the poor learn to be rich? Many believe that this debate is settled in the Bible as we are to love, help, and provide for the poor. The central question then becomes, who made a person poor or what causes poverty?

Jesus sheds some light into this dilemma when he uses the word “always” in the Bible passage “You will always have the poor with you” (Matthew 26:11, see also Mark 14:7 and John 12:8). The “always” expression of Jesus in this passage suggests a pre-existing and post-existing condition. He compares the trade-off between spending a large amount in a short time rather than spending it on poverty, which he asserts is a permanent condition. He applauds the woman’s large investment in the preparation of his death over the investment in something that will never go away, such as poverty. Jesus clearly indicates that spending one-year’s wages in a few seconds in cleaning and washing his head is a better use for the woman’s wealth than investing the money to cover expenses for one year with the poor. In this Bible passage, we have two tenants, the poverty and the wages, as means to measure the value of the woman’s investment and this essay discusses both.

Now we could argue that Jesus is not determining who will be poor, but rather stating that poverty will always be present on earth. So, it may not be a Calvinistic assertion that a person is born poor but rather that there will always be people that will live in poverty. However, the Bible asserts that the ability to produce wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:18). Giving power or

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the ability to obtain wealth is supposed to be God’s side of the covenant with his people. It appears that wealth and prosperity in obtaining and building land, houses, wells, and vineyards are not a result from people’s own efforts, but entirely from God (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). And many passages in the Bible indicate that God is the real provider of wealth to the people (see Hosea 2:8; Proverbs 10:22). Is the ability to make money one of many abilities that God has given to his creatures? If we believe that the physical and mental attributes such as in sports, math, science, music, etc., are given by God to his people, could it be possible that the ability to create wealth is also given to people?

If so, is economic poverty a reflection of the God-given born preconditions in the mind of a person?

This conversation between Jesus and his disciples is not related to spiritual or emotional poverty, the context clearly implies economic poverty. The debate between the disciples is mostly how to properly invest the huge amount of money on hand. Would it be better to use the money in the short term without any clear economic or social return (as Judas thought) or would it be put to better use in mitigating the hunger of poor people. Two gospels, Mark and John, use the word “wage” to measure the value of the perfume. The economic word “wages” in the Bible is used consistently to determine the value of payment or value of subsistence. In addition, the word wage is used in the Bible as the source of compensation and/or payment. The reaction of the disciples was not related to the act, but rather to the value of the perfume, which were measured in wages, three hundred Greek denarii.

The idea of how societies have reacted to wages is a point of great discussion among economists. Classical economists, originated

by Adam Smith, founder of capitalism, indicate that wages are flexible and are based on free market and the freedom of hiring workers. They postulate that the classical economy will adapt to eliminate economic poverty conditions such as recession and depressions. However, classical economists base their ideology on the fallen nature of human beings. Adam Smith observed “It is not from benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”

According to Smith, it is not from “love thy neighbor” that wealth creation comes from, but rather by being selfish and thinking first about your own profits. This understanding that wealth creation may be founded in the sinful nature of the human being, may be not attractive to many. In fact, this is a trait of capitalism that its accusers have against it. The idea that entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors must think first of their own profit at the expense

of human beings, is hard for many people to accept. Who would have thought that the best economic system known so far in creating wealth, is rooted in greed and selfishness. Supporters and critics of capitalism contend with the idea that it is the selfishness of people that make possible the creation of wealth or the deprivation of it.

From a humanistic approach, we would be appalled with the suggestion that some men have a better potential to succeed than others. Would a just Creator select some people to have more wealth than others? How can a loving God provide better resources for some to be more successful and content? However, some may answer that perhaps the Creator knows exactly what resources His creatures need to be successful and content. And both the Creator and creatures may have a different idea in how to obtain these levels of satisfaction and personal utility. Is spiritual death and natural death the same for God? Is God more interested in the eternity of people? Would he perhaps use any conditional earthly living situation to accomplish that eternal goal?

The Bible clearly prefers poor people and strongly attacks the attitude of rich people. James (James 2:5) makes a strong warning against the rich. The correlation between economic poverty and spiritual poverty are both positively related to dependency. And from God’s perspective, dependency on Him is always good. So perhaps, economic poverty is not a bad thing. When we measure the effect of poverty in two spaces, eternally and earthly, the poor win.

May it be the case that in the eyes of God economic wealth is mutually exclusive with other types of wealth? Is it so difficult to obtain other wealth, such as humility, peace, and dependency on God while being economically wealthy? Some of the strongest statements pronounced by Jesus was related to wealth when he declared, “It is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:22-23, see also Mark 10:23 and Luke 18:24), when a young man confronted him with a decision to select either spiritual or economic wealth. That young man chose economic wealth. It seems that God sees economic poverty as a better approach to get people to heaven, which means we will be better off depending on God than wealth, and we should accept poverty with open arms. It would seem like heaven, where Jesus has prepared places for his people, is filled mostly with poor people.

So, when Jesus said to his disciples, the investment of the woman on my head has a better return than the investment on the poor, he was declaring that poverty was not a bad thing, but a great one.

And when he declared, “You always have the poor with you,” he was implying that there will be many economically poor people not only in the earth, but mostly in heaven.

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INNOCENCE LOST

By Melinda Martinez The Town Talk

CHILD HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR ASKS YOUNG PEOPLE TO REMEMBER ATROCITIES

“When I do this and speak to people — young people like yourselves, it’s up to you. It’s up to you to carry on after I’m gone,” child Holocaust survivor Jeannine Burk told the mixed crowd of students and community members.

Burk, 80, of New Orleans, was the guest speaker for “Lost Innocence: Children of the Holocaust,” a remembrance event presented by the LC Departments of History and Music on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020.

“She is so inspiring and shared so truthfully,” said Jackson Sleet, one of the members of the public who attended the program. “A heartwarming life through such dangerous times.”

Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis sought to eliminate the entire Jewish community of Europe. Jews were murdered by death squads called Einsatzgruppen or transported to extermination camps. Six million of the eleven million European Jews perished.

Others deemed inferior by the Nazis such as Romani people, disabled people, Soviet Prisoners of War and civilians, Polish civilians, homosexuals, socialists, communists and trades unionists, Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses were also killed during the Nazi regime.

“The sole crime of 6 million,” said Burk raising her voice. “Is that we were Jews. Out of those 6 million, one and a half million were children. One and a half! You take a child and throw him in an oven? How can anybody do that? How can you be so evil?”

“He was such an evil man,” said Burk of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler who ordered the extermination of 11 million people. “And he managed to make thousands and thousands and thousands of people as evil as he was.”

“And I beg of you, to please remember this and remember that the Holocaust happened,” she told audience. “You can’t allow anybody to tell you, ‘No, it didn’t happen.’ or ‘It was exaggerated.’

And there are people who do that,” she said. “People of prominence do that, and it can’t be allowed. You have to stop it.

You have to stop it. Because look what’s happening with antiSemitism here in America.”

Burk’s story begins in Brussels, Belgium, where she was born in 1939.

At the beginning of the 1940s, rumors were circulating in Brussels that Jews were disappearing. “Most Jewish families ignored that particular thing,” she told the audience. “My father did not. So, in his wisdom, he got the help of the Resistance — the Underground.”

The Underground gave her father information about places where he could hide his family. “Now you have to understand that he did not want us to be together,” she said. Her father reasoned that if one member of the family was taken while they were all together, then all of them would be taken. The best chance for each member’s survival was to split the family up.

Through the Resistance, Burk’s father found a woman who could take her in. Burk at the time was a small child. “And that was the last time I saw my father,” said the tearful Burk.

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“Between the ages of 3, 4 and 5, I was alone with this woman,” she said. She referred to the woman as “This Lady” because she never knew her name. It wasn’t until Burk turned 65 that she found out who she was. “This woman never mistreated me,” said Burk.

“I have to say that. She never mistreated me, but she also never loved me. I wasn’t hers. And you know, it leaves such scars. Scars that will never leave. I’m 80 now and it still hurts. It will never go away.”

For the two years of her life that she spent hiding in the woman’s house, she was never allowed to play outside for fear that the Nazis would find her. “The reason I couldn’t be seen was, all the neighbors knew she didn’t have a little girl,” explained Burk. “So, if someone had seen me, it would have been the death of her and me. Because someone would have snitched.”

She recalled once being told by the woman to run and hide in the outhouse. “The reason was the Nazis were parading down the street,” explained Burk. She crawled to the furthest corner of the outhouse because a piece of wood was missing, and she could see the soldiers marching. In her child’s mind, she thought if she could see them, they could see her, so she stayed huddled in that corner of the outhouse until she was told to come out.

Her brother was sent away to live in a Christian home for boys.

That left Burk’s sister who had osteomyelitis — “Which is an infection of the bones,” Burk explained. She had on a body cast which made it difficult to move her. Burk’s parents were waiting on an ambulance to take her sister to a hospital where she could safely stay. But unfortunately, Burk said someone “snitched” to the Gestapo. “So, one morning at 5 o’clock, they broke down our door and they came in and took my father and put him in the truck,” she said.

“If I had been home when they did that, I wouldn’t be here today.

Because as soon as you got to the concentration camp, and I was that young, I would have been exterminated right away.”

The Gestapo was going to take her mother as well, but her mother told them, “You can shoot me right here, but I can’t leave my daughter and she cannot be moved.” The blankets were pulled off her sister to reveal the body cast and the Gestapo told her mother that they would be back for her at a later time. By some miracle, said Burk, a Catholic hospital sent an ambulance to collect her sister. She was taken to the hospital and placed in the isolation ward for her own safety. “The Nazis never went into the isolation ward. They were afraid of contracting a disease,” she explained.

Burk’s mother was able to hide out in another location where she worked and passed as a Christian woman. Since her mother was “very pretty and very fair,” she passed as a Christian woman and worked in a nursing home as a nurse’s aide out in the country. “In the two years that I was gone from her, she only visited me one time. It was very dangerous because in the country, there was a group of men called the Brown Shirts. And the Brown Shirts were the snitchers.” If they heard a Jew was being hidden or if a family was hiding in the forest, they would tell the Gestapo. “So, for my mother, even though my mother passed as a Christian woman, she didn’t take any more chances. She only went once and that was it.”

She never saw her sister or brother in those two years she lived with the woman.

“And of course, my father,” she added, who was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. “I’m convinced to this day that my father would have had a place to go, but for him it was too late,” she said.

In 1944, Belgium was liberated by the British and her mother come to collect her. “The happiest day of my life,” said Burk. The following day they picked up her sister. Her brother, who was 12 years older than her, was able to find his way home to them.

“Then we were all waiting for my father,” she said. Her mother made inquiries about him. “And we kept waiting for my father.

The one inquiry we didn’t want to get,” said Burk breaking into tears, “the inquiry we didn’t want to get was, that my father was not coming home. He had been exterminated in Auschwitz. His sole crime he committed was being a Jew.” Though poorer than they were before World War II, the family was able to return to their house. Then, when Burk was 10, her mother died of cancer. Her sister took care of her for two years before Burk was sent to live with relatives in New York City.

They had received a letter after a relative saw a photo and Burk’s maiden name “Jeannine Rafalowicz” in a Jewish newspaper called The Forward.

Her father had three sisters who emigrated to America before WWII. One of them wanted to sponsor Burk and her sister to come to America. Her sister was engaged but decided that it was probably in Burk’s best interest to live in the U.S. where she would have a better life. “I did not want to come,” said Burk. “I did not want to come because that would mean I would leave my family again. I had left my family the first time and now they are asking me to leave my family again?”

“That became the happy time of my life,” she said. “But the scars, ladies and gentlemen, will always be there.” The Burks were married for 42 years until Maurice’s death.

“When I first came to New Orleans, I belonged to a club called the New American Social Club. And it was made up of all survivors,” said Burk. In total, the club had 50 members who were Holocaust survivors. “There’s three of us left. And the three of us are child survivors.”

Burk wants to make sure that hate and anti-Semitism don’t spread and is looking to younger people to make sure that it doesn’t. “I can’t do it by myself anymore. I’m kind of old,” she said. “And I won’t be around forever. It’s up to you guys.”

She never expected Jews praying in a synagogue in the U.S. to be gunned down. “Never in a million years would I have expected that to happen here,” said Burk. “And it did twice.” A mass shooting happened Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation, in Pittsburgh, Penn., where 11 people died, and two others injured along with four police officers.

Another took place April 27, 2019 at Chabad of Poway in California where one person was killed, and three others injured.

“Just because someone is Jewish doesn’t make them a bad person,” she said. “Just because you’re Baptist, does that make you a bad person? I mean, it’s ridiculous that you judge somebody by a religion.” She told the crowd that it’s what’s on the inside that makes a person. “You can’t judge by outward things. You have to judge what’s inside. And everybody possesses good. And you just have to let it come out.”

She left Belgium on her 12th birthday, flying on a plane for 18 hours. “I knew no English and I didn’t know who I was coming to,” said Burk. She only thought of where she could hide on the plane, that way, when it returned to Brussels, she’d be on it. The family she lived with were named the Savages. But her time with them was not a happy one.

“They had an older daughter, and eventually I became Cinderella.”

Burk was tasked all the chores around the house. To get out of that house, Burk married young and had two sons. She eventually divorced and raised her sons on her own for six years until she met her late husband, Maurice Burk, who was from New Orleans.

“And January of ‘71, we were married in New Orleans,” she said.

“And that was when God said, ‘Okay, now it’s your turn.’ He sent me this wonderful, wonderful man.” Maurice brought Jeannine and her two sons to live with him and his family of four children in New Orleans.

She became emotional talking about Maurice. “This man — I know that God sent him to me. There’s no question in my mind.

Because I think that God saw that it was enough already.”

COLUMNS Spring 2020 37

HonorsSTUDENTS Students HONORS Student Government Association Senior Awards Makayla Anderson, Abigail Constant, Jada Ford Josh Hargrave, Tyler Jacks, Abigail Jones Asha Meilstrup American Southwest Conference Scholar Athlete Medal of Honor MySherie Johnson and Caleb Nunez Central Louisiana Ad Club Scholarship Award Amanda Johnston Thilo Steinschulte Scholarship Award Sarah Brooks Grady Harper Scholarship Award Madeline Slawson Outstanding Junior in Business Administration Briley Johnston

Outstanding Upper-class Student in History & Political Science Joshua Hargrave, Quinn Sipsy

Alpha Tau Gamma Omega “Dedrick Cole” Scholarship Sevanah M. Howard

Media and Communication Senior Excellence Award Haleigh Lachney, Maycee Lachney

Psychology Student of the Year Makayla Anderson

Media & Communication Outstanding Freshman Journalist Award Aaron Quartemont

Ann McAllister Excellence in Social Work Award Megan Mahler

Media & Communication Outstanding Freshman Production Award Brandon Brown

Ann McAllister Excellence in Social Work Scholarship Ashley Parish Social Work Student of the Year Award Jordyn Merchant, Courtney Cook George Amos English Scholarship Delaina Coyle

Outstanding Graduating Senior in Business Administration Joshua Spurgeon

Mary Kate Bailes Freshman Essay Award Hollen Meyers

ACBSP Student Leadership Award Erin Higgins

Ada Osborne Scholarship Caroline Pierrotti

Central Louisiana Chapter of Society of Louisiana CPAs Scholarship Dylan Fuselier, Briley Johnston, Anthony Work

Ellander Ridge Scholarship Breland Morris

Avis L. Trahan Outstanding Elementary Education Student Helena Murdock

Convergence Media Senior Leadership Award Chloe Warren Berthelot

Mayme Hamlett English Scholarship Eden Sliman

Outstanding Media and Communication “And Then Some” Award MySherie Johnson Oscar Hoffmeyer Endowed Scholarship in Journalism Kylei Cornelison Ethel Holloman Memorial Journalism Scholarship Alena Noakes Fred Kendrick Memorial Journalism Scholarship Jerry Clark Fred Lollar Scholarship in Public Relations Emmi Cougle Ortis Journalism Scholarship Joel Thompson

Pierre Valmont Blanchard Award for Vocal Achievement Nathaniel Kimball Bob Brian Church Music Endowed Scholarship Kyle Dupre Sue McGahey Elgin Endowed Scholarship Nathaniel Gardner Richard Hill Endowed Scholarship Sarah McCollough Gloria Joy Moore Scholarship Danielle Lanham Music Service Award Sarah Kelly Outstanding First Year Chemistry Award Harrison Bieber The Monroe Hilburn Award Asha Meilstrup Jarrell Memorial Award Asha Meilstrup J. F. Richie Memorial Award Annie Logan Hansel B. O’Quinn Award Ragan Delrie

Avis L. Trahan Outstanding Secondary Education Student Baylee Stewart

English Faculty Scholarship Baylee Stewart

Richardson-Burton Endowed Scholarship in Convergence Media Charlie Pamplin

Carol Anne O’Quinn Award Allison Mayes

Ivey Gravette Scholarship in English Amber Hale

L. E. Beatrice McKenzie May Scholarship Award Paige Kimball

Carson Scholarship in English Jada Ford

Richardson-Burton Endowed Scholarship in Communication Studies Victoria Anderson

Rocky Vidrine Memorial Award for the Outstanding Freshman in Pre-Med Harrison Bieber

Education Achievement Award Nathaniel Kimball

Inez Parker English Education Scholarship Hannah Milstead

Richardson-Burton Endowed Scholarship in Theatre Hannah Wagner

Courage in Nursing Award Katie McKee

Delta Kappa Gamma Award Rebecca Prosperie

Alpha Mu Gamma Outstanding Member Eden Sliman

Frank & Helen Bennett Endowed Scholarship in Theatre Samantha O’Banion

Division of Nursing Award Cody Crews

Outstanding Graduating Senior in Exercise Science Isaac Smith

Alpha Mu Gamma Senior Grace Miller

Zondervan Greek Award Drake Barnhill

Jean I. Livley Excellence in Leadership Senior Nursing Award Autumn Crews

Health & Physical Education Merit Award Allie Liles

Wildcat Debate Top Novice Award Trinity Baugh

Courtney Butler Scholarship Natonio McGhee

Wildcat Debate “And Then Some” Award Jada Ford

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Zondervan Hebrew Award Drake Barnhill Zondervan TheologyAward Nathaniel Gardner Christian Studies Award Shea Smith

Nursing Association for Students Recognition Award Garrett Biggs Donies & Magee Scholarship Recipient Jada Ford COLUMNS Spring 2020 39

THANK YOU,

2020 DONORS Your gifts are vital to the College’s vision of Preparing Graduates Transforming Lives.

-Dr. Brewer

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

-Matthew 6:20-21.

Storing up treasures in heaven is an admonition coming from Jesus. Surely, we can trust his financial advice. But how do we assess the return on such an investment? Can that be known in this life? The answer is yes, at least partially.

Your continuing support of the students God entrusts to us reflects where your heart is, and that place is in the collective future of students as they leave to impact this world. Such treasure that we will know in heaven will be the culminated impact of every student you have helped through your generosity.

There are few earthly investments that yield eternal returns. However, you have found a way to do that, and the Louisiana College Family is grateful for your generosity.

Polly Broussard Martin (’49) taught at Terrebonne High School until her retirement in 1980. She has written four books during her lifetime, the latest being “A Glimpse of Divinity- Science and God” which was published in May 2017. Polly and her late husband Danny (’49) are both highly respected and loved in and around Houma. One of the schools in Houma was named for Danny, who was the son of a pioneer minister to this area. Polly was a resident of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home before coming to LC. Polly still resides in Houma.

T.W. (’54) and Iris Terral (’61) were honored by the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge by dedicating the new Adoniram Judson, Jr. Missions and Ministry Annex to them.

T.W. and Iris have been impacting the Kingdom work in the Baton Rouge are for six decades. Bro. Terral is the former pastor of Lanier Baptist Church in Baton Rouge and was instrumental in starting the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary extension center inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Dr. George Dewey Dunn (’56) & Bobbie Sue Richardson Dunn (’57) are retired and live in Nashville. They continue serving on volunteer medical mission trips. They served with the Baptist Medical Center founded in Acension, Paraguay, from June 21-30 of 2019. Dr. Dunn has retired from the V.A. Hospital - Vanderbilt after 55 years of medical practice taking care of veterans.

Jerome Wayne Malek (’60) resides in San Antonio, TX, where he is retired and a member of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio. Jerome has had 3 anthems published

by Paraclete Music Press.

Paul Powell (’63) resides in Jena after his retirement.

He recently donated his personal hymnal and hymnology collection of 400+ volumes to the LC library in memory of fellow alumnus, B.B. McKinney.

Wayne (’69) and Sandra Arnold Gadman (’69) reside in Roanoke, VA, where Wayne is Minister of Pastoral Care with FBC of Roanoke. Wayne and Sandra were the 1st husband wife duo of LC to graduate together in the spring commencement of 1969 under the presidency of Dr. G. Earl Guinn. Wayne and Sandra have served in ministry for 50+ years in Texas, Louisiana and presently Roanoke, VA. COLUMNS Spring 2020

Vicky Sue Hall Krombach (’71) resides in Lake Como, Florida, where she taught 37 years with the Putnam County Florida School District, retiring in 2008. She is a Florida Master Gardner and an exhibiting mixed media artist.

Dr. Johnette McKown (’71) has just marked her 10th anniversary as president of McLennan Community College in Waco, TX. Johnette and husband Stan (’71) make their home in Waco.

Cynthia Atkinson Brennan (’72) is retired and makes her home in Fort Worth, TX, where she is a member of First Christian Church.

Kathy Hegwood Overturf (’80) will be returning to West Monroe after serving 5 years as Director of Alumni Relations at LC. Kathy and husband, David are looking forward to spending more time with the grand girls.

Jeff Young (’80) Assistant Professor of Media Production and his radio team at KZLC-LP Pineville received the 2019 Best of Pineville Award in the radio broadcaster category by the Pineville Award Program.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Dr. Cecil R. Taylor (’66) retired a second time in the spring of 2019 after six years as Professor of Religion at Wiley College, Marshall, TX. He spent 26 years pastoring Baptist churches in Louisiana, Texas, Kansas and Missouri followed by 24 years as Dean and Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Mobile, Mobile, AL, retiring in 2013. He and his wife, Reeda Acuff (’74) make their home in Marshall, TX. Cecil now spends his time studying, preaching, serving interim pastorates and writing for The Biblical Illustrator. Reeda works part-time as an RN in Pathway Rehabilitation Hospital in Bossier City, LA, and spends the rest of her time playing tennis and entertaining three granddaughters who live near Longview.

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Larry (’71) and Janet Moore Curtis (’71) are retired and reside in Hot Springs Village, AR, where they are members of Balboa Baptist Church.

Mike Johnson (’81) has been reelected to the State of Louisiana House of Representatives, District 27, without opposition. Mike is married to the former Sheila Thompson (’81).

Steven Ward (’82) resides in Sunriver, OR, where he is Vice President for Product Design and Development for Mechanix Wear, Inc. Dr. Timothy Letzring (’87) has been appointed Senior Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Central Florida.

Chris Gatlin (’93) was named Principal of Holy Savior Menard in Alexandria.

Dr. Jonathan Hunter (’95) was reelected as the Rapides Parish coroner without opposition.

Brenda Gremillion Lemoine (’95 & ’98) lives in Broussard and works with Amgen Pharmaceuticals as a senior sales representative.

Nathan Ray Coleman (’98) lives in Joplin, MO, where he is an attorney with Coleman & Conrad, LLC. He is a member of Christ Church of Oronogo. He ran cross country during his time as a student at LC. COLUMNS Spring 2020 41

John Parker (’99) was named an ABCA regional Coach of the Year after his Ouachita Christian Eagles won the Division Four State Championship in baseball in 2019. He is the Athletic Diretor of OCS and they won the Division Four State Championship in football also. Congratulations!

Dr. Joseph L. Odenwald (’05) was named the eighth President of Southwest Michigan College in Dowagiac, MI effective January 1, 2020.

Steven C. Jones (’10) was named Head Football Coach at El Dorado High School, El Dorado, AR. He was Head Coach at his alma mater, Junction City for the two years prior, where they won the 2018 Class AA State Championship in Arkansas.

Ben McLaughlin (’10) was named Offensive Coordinator at Alexandria Senior High. He will join the coaching staff of fellow alum and Head Football Coach, Thomas Bachman (’08).

Kellie (’11) & Kristen (’11) Fuselier performed their “In The Name” CD Release Concert in the Guinn Auditorium on August 29th. These artists now live in Nashville, TN. Laura Beth Norman (’12 & ’15) was awarded an Ed.D from the University of Louisiana Lafayette. She received the Doctor of Educational Leadership with a focus on Higher Education Administration in December 2019. The title of her dissertation was “The Revolving Door of Teacher Turnover: Examining the Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, School Culture and Teacher Retention.” She currently serves as Coordinator of Learning Assistance Programs in the Learning Center at ULL. John Kade Simmons (’12) lives in Maysville, GA. He is the worship pastor at Hopewell Baptist Church in Gainesville, GA. Darin Moore (’13) is the Head Football Coach at Pineville High School.

Bryan Sampson (’13) was featured in The Faces of Downtown St. Pete June 19, 2019. Bryan is owner and operator of Sampson Auto Spa in St. Petersburg, FL. Dr. Kara Parikh (’14) is a resident in Neurosurgery with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

Caitlin Ann Chelette (’15) works as a Digital Media Manager with Kinetix Solutions in Alexandria. She lives in Pineville and is a member of The Gathering Place West.

Lane Noakes (’15) is the Head Baseball coach at Pineville High SchoolC Samantha Jo Gaudet (’17) is a teacher with the Calcasieu Parish School Board and lives in DeQuincy. She is a member of Bible Baptist of DeQuincy.

Dallon (’18) and Chloe Warren Berthelot (’20) were married in May 2019. Dallon is an 8th grade teacher at Pineville Jr. High School. They are members of Kingsville Baptist Church in Pineville.

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Louisiana College Memoriam Elva Ruth Fisher Zammit Jewel Rush Johnson Dorothy L. Spinks Dr. John R. Middleton Hilda Carpenter Vernon Beall Robert Frank Cespiva Rev. William H. lchter Clyde White, Jr. Dr. James Howard Bryant Francis Cormier Earline Sollier Higgins Juanita Kilmer Blackwell Leonard O. Garlington Marilyn R. Penton Patricia N. Sims Travis E. Boyter Diann Walker Coleman Jean Lively TW Terral Dale Windham Claudette E. McMath Robert C. Miller Rev. William A. Trotman, Jr. Dr. Ben D. Rogers Gladys Way Martin Winston O ‘Quin Dorothy Ann Pharis Wells William D. Evans James Parker, Jr. Dr. Judith Karst-Campbell Kenneth H. Mercer Carmen Neil York Donald Rankin Rev. Mary Lee Clepper Bergeron John Gaston Maillet Anna Taylor Rev. Glen Wagnon Priscilla Kathryn Dubee Crook Linda Sue Baker Welch

Class of ‘43 Class of ‘44 Class of ‘46 Class of ‘47 Class of ‘48 Class of ‘49 Class of ‘49 Class of ‘49 Class of ‘49 Class of ‘51 Class of ‘51 Class of ‘51 Class of ‘52 Class of ‘53 Class of ‘53 Class of ‘53 Class of ‘54 Class of ‘54 Class of ‘54 Class of ‘54 Class of ‘54 Class of ‘55 Class of ‘55 Class of ‘55 Class of ‘56 Class of ‘57 Class of ‘57 Class of ‘58 Class of ‘59 Class of ‘59 Class of ‘60 Class of ‘61 Class of ‘61 Class of ‘61 Class of ‘63 Class of ‘63 Class of ‘63 Class of ‘63 Class of ‘64 Class of ‘64

Coach Wayne Hensly Mary Rice Patricia Ann Williams Kuby John M. McGrew Al Roshto Dr. Thomas Milton Wilks Harvey Wayne Cook, Sr. Reginald E. Dryden Effie M. Benoit Eugene Harold Hedgecock Michael V. Talbert Charles Robert Lamkin, Jr. William “Bill” Robertson Landry Rene’ Goux Linda Schlosser Strickland Mary Louise Winder Texada Bronner Lillian Lucille Gayton Bonnie Lou Willard Hodges Tommy Martin Phillips Darrell Ivy Booth Tracy Flaherty Magee Timothy Lee Hollingsworth Monica Fontenot Anderson

Class of ‘65 Class of ‘65 Class of ‘66 Class of ‘66 Class of ‘66 Class of ‘67 Class of ‘70 Class of ‘70 Class of ‘72 Class of ‘72 Class of ‘76 Class of ‘78 Class of ‘78 Class of ‘78 Class of ‘80 Class of ‘80 Class of ‘83 Class of ‘83 Class of ‘86 Class of ‘87 Class of ‘93 Class of ‘94 Class of ‘95

Others

Nora Faye Aycock Barbara Louise Iverson Berry Dorothy Jean Blake Dr. Bob Blackburn James Dwight Carr Morgan Dunnan Ford Rae Rita Gremillion Vickie Anne Young Kelly Lacey Claire Lee Thomas Ferrel Marr Johnny Martin Dr. Gary Loy Minton Mark Gregory Schweizer Penny Lee Schaller Trahan COLUMNS Spring 2020 43

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