North Greenville University

Dr. Gene Fant, President

Mission: Equipping transformational leaders for church & society Core Values

• Christ-Centered • Biblically Faithful • Academically Excellent • Mission-Focused

Theme Word: Accelerate!

In the academic year 2020–2021, the university’s theme word was Accelerate! echoing the words of Philippians 3:13-15: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This theme built on the previous year’s theme, Refine, which took on a meaning of finetuning our work in alignment with our Christ-first mission but also of the kind that occurs within the fires of the refiner, as with the crucible of the global pandemic. We seek to bring all things under the Lordship of Christ, including our mission of equipping transformational leaders for church andsociety, keeping Him at the forefront of everything we do, from academics to personnel recruitment, from campus ministries to athletics and cultural activities.

Despite the pandemic, the university had an outstanding year. In March, the university hosted our regional accreditor (SACSCOC™) for our decennial review, which had beenpostponed from 2020. We anticipate receiving full reaffirmation in December at the annual meeting of the body. While our financial audit is being finalized, we finished the year very strongly, well into the black; we continue to have no long-term, interest-bearing debt, which allows our tuition costs to be less than many other similar institutions. Our traditional academic programs were able to meet face-to-face for the entire year with only minor exceptions. All athletic competitions were postponed until the spring semester when we carried out a vigorous calendar of activities. Student-athletes excelled as never before in the classroom, with high rates of academic achievement and progress toward graduation. We launched a new university website (www.ngu.edu) and overhauled our marketing approaches, which already have paid dividends. Several buildings, including Neves Hall (Student Services and Academic Classrooms) and Craft-Hemphill (College of Christian Studies), were renovated. Because Fuge camps were not held in 2020, we were able to remodel and update several dormitory and classroom facilities.

Looking ahead to 2021–2022, because of the persistence of the COVID-19 outbreak, our Response Team continues to lead the community in developing and recommending safety protocols, which were highly effective over the past year. We will continue to monitor developments carefully, but fall plans include a complete resumption of academic, athletic, fine arts, and ministry programming.

During the year, the university added a new leadership role of in-house counsel, a lawyer who is leadingus in reviewing ourhandbooks,policies,andpracticesto protecttheinstitution’sreputation against legal risks. Additionally, following a national search, the university also hired a new chief financial officer (Senior Vice President for Finance), who is experienced in financial management and non-profit accounting. These two hires complete our goal of comprehensive protection against an increasingly hostile culture, with senior-level leadership in spiritual formation, finance, and legal all combining with our other leadership areas. It should be noted that the university is partnering with Alliance Defending Freedom, the Religious Liberty Institute, the International Alliance for Christian Education, and other external entities to vigorously defend our mission, along with operationalizing the university’s Statement on Human Flourishing, which was formally approved by the Board of Trustees in 2020.

The university continues to hold a campus revival, Ignite, to open our year’s sessions, as well as a Global Missions Conference in the fall semester, and we have a Worldview Week that allows students to consider important issues from a biblically faithful perspective. We consecrate our new academic year each fall with a public reading of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. And we have an annual marketplace ministry emphasis, bringing national and regional leaders to campus who canaddresshow to integratefaithandbusiness, aswellasleadership. Evenwith the pandemic, we saw students come to faith in Christ and discern callings to church-related vocations.

For over seventy years now, North Greenville University has been a part of the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s network of ministry partnership entities. We are grateful for our partnerships and friendships, which have been incredibly encouraging during a year that has been complicated and sometimes discouraging. We value the support, accountability, and prayers of the Convention and look forward to being partners in God’s redemptive work in our state, our nation, and our world!

Prayer Requests • Pray for us to have wisdom and discernment as we navigate an increasingly hostile culture and weaponized legal and financial context. • Pray for our faculty and staff as we continue to perform the ministry of intellectual discipleship, particularly as students pose questions and struggle with their spiritual formation and mental health in the wake of the pandemic. • Pray for our students as they discover God’s design for their lives and discern God’s calling for their lives. • Pray that God will allow us to be an irenic place of solace for those in our surrounding communities, as they see our love for Him and for our fellow persons is lived out in our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.