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Welcome and Introduction. Thanks to the worship team. To Tami Anderson for her leadership. Welcome to new faculty and staff. Welcome to student leaders. Introduction of the Vice Presidents. Introduction of Sharon. Introduction of the trustees. Well, here we are, the beginning of another year. The beginning of my eighth year as president. As I have said in a number of places: I am rested and full of energy. I have regrouped. I have had a chance for renewal and recharging. And I have never been more hopeful about the future of this institution—that we are on target and moving in the right direction. This is the team, folks. We are it. And we are all basically pulling in the same direction. You realize how exceptional that is for an academic institution. We carry the charge for this university. We are the ones who will realize the vision. We are about some very good and important work here. And we gather as a team for that work. We are a Christian community. What a privilege. What an honor to be in community for this work. What a privilege it is to be your president. I want to talk about two things this morning.
But before we look to the future, let me talk about the State of the University as I see it right now. My overall assessment is this: we are flourishing. Things are going very well indeed. We have a clear and distinctive vision. We have an exceptional team, getting stronger every year. We have focus. The demand for what we have to offer is very strong. Our challenges are real: the question of cost, affordability, and access is sweeping the nation right now. We can’t stick our heads in the sand. We must have a clear understanding of our costs, defend our costs but not be defensive. We face the challenge of articulating a compelling case for our Christian purpose to a secular city and world that is indifferent and sometimes hostile to our purpose. But remember, our vision does not allow us to circle the wagons. We have to engage. And so this is a challenge. So, our posture is one of strength and confidence, but we can never become complacent, arrogant, or cocky; we must always be attentive, informed, always looking forward. Here are some things that I might highlight. Let me say there are so many people to thank here, so many players doing outstanding jobs.
Let me say a word about diversity. Here is an important piece of information from enrollment: new ethnic minority students are projected at just under 13%, up from 9.6% last year, a very respectable percentage for our kind of institution. This means we are making progress. We have launched a diversity initiative, and I want you to know we are in this for the long haul. Three years ago I said, if we were going to really be about engaging the culture and changing the world, we had to be at the table of racial reconciliation in our city and beyond. Since that time much has happened:
I think we are making progress. We are committed to three things: increasing our ethnic diversity among students and faculty and staff; improving our campus culture; building bridges with the racial and ethnic communities in our own city. We can beat ourselves up for not doing enough, and we can do all of this from the wrong motives of guilt. But let’s stay the course. You will get leadership for this initiative from me, from Les, and from the rest of the Cabinet. It’s all about committing for the long haul. It’s all about building relationships. It’s all about building bridges. We must continue to carry on a conversation about what this means for us. Ultimately, we do this so that all of God’s children might flourish. And so, out of all these things that are happening, what a great “state of the university.” We’re in great shape. How can I affirm enough the amazing things that are going on, the incredible accomplishments by you, our team? Why do we need to write a Blueprint for Excellence? I’ve got a lot of reasons, but let me sketch out this plan and what I want to see us do over the next year. I have asked Marj Johnson to be the point person to keep us organized and on strategic task. Here is my premise for this moment in time: We have to define and declare our excellence and we have to deliver on our promises. We are in a moment in time in higher education where this is necessary. We do this because it is the right thing to do, because our vision demands of us excellence. We are not looking for a wish list here. We are looking for some good hard-nosed thinking about how to achieve excellence. Let me begin with a personal note. All of this comes out of my thinking since about March of last spring. I have been working with the Cabinet all summer on fleshing out this initiative. I have been president for 71/2 years. I have been at SPU for ten years. We have accomplished much of the CP21. I realized I had a big question looming out there for me: where are we going for the next ten years? Where am I going? I needed a renewed vision, new clarity. If I needed a renewed sense of direction, I suspect many of you did as well. I ran into a quote from Elizabeth O’Connor from her book Cry Pain, Cry Hope: “We are probably intended to embark upon a new work, or a new dimension of an old work, every seven years. This suggests the Jubilee cycle which incorporated the understanding that the seventh year, like the seventh day, marked the completion of a work, and that even the spent land would need a period of rest before being able to yield new fruits.” We have to embark on a new work or a new dimension of an old work. This is our seven year, Jubilee recommitment. A deep clarifying. Here is what came out of all that reflection for me: I want to see us achieve even greater influence and impact in the world, in our community, and for the church. I have this deep yearning. Maybe it’s my stage in life. Maybe it’s that I can taste it in what we have already done. How can I have greater influence in my circles for the gospel? How can we as an institution have greater influence? How can our English Department have greater influence? As never before in
my lifetime, our value is in question. The question of costs in higher
education
is sweeping the nation right now. Reauthorization
for the Higher Education Act is before Congress this year—and you
will hear a great deal about costs. A few weeks ago I ran into an article entitled “Is Yale a Waste of Money?” by William Baldwin, editor of Forbes (August 11, 2003). An astonishing statement by the editor of this prominent business magazine, a publication, I must add, written and edited by college graduates.
His answer seems to be that we are a waste. The question is not so much cost, really, it is value. Is a college education worth it? Is our vision worth it? Is SPU a waste of money? And so the question of this initiative is this: Do we believe in our vision? Do we really believe we can make a difference? Do we believe we are a player in the kingdom? Do we really believe we can make an impact? I think our vision will take excellence. It will take courage to make some decisions about priorities. What are the core disciplines or programs on which we want to stake the reputation of the institution? Where are we now in a leadership position in Christian higher education? Where can we have impact and influence with new investment and focus? These are the questions of The Blueprint for Excellence. Two things as I end my comments: First, why? Why seek excellence. Why do we want to have impact and influence? Because the gospel calls us to be a light in the world. Think about the issues our world is facing.
I was at a Roundtable luncheon on Monday and heard Bob Herbold make an impassioned plea to change our schools. He was on the Microsoft founding team, highly influential. He is on the President’s task for to determine the connection between jobs in technology and education. He made the statement from a sweeping study that “performance on standardized tests for math and science is directly related to national economic growth.” And America is falling behind dramatically. In Singapore 68% of its students are receiving science and engineering degrees. In China 58%. In the U. S. 17%. His blame was on our schools. Do we have something to say about this? Can we have some influence and impact on this situation, to reform our schools, to train for science literacy, to train for science education? These are the reasons we care about excellence. This is why we care about engaging the culture and changing the world. This is why we seek to have greater impact and influence. Finally, none of this will happen—a Blueprint, excellence, or impact and influence—unless we are a strong community. We must come together as a team. None of this will happen unless the real leaders on this campus step up, join in. Excellence will not happen in an adversarial culture. We did the right thing when we put the pursuit of grace-filled community in our mission statement. Excellence will not happen if we are splintered as a community. Excellence will not happen if we have divided and different visions for our work. I am going to speak on this text next Tuesday, but reflect with me as we conclude on Philippians 2:1-4. “If then our common life in Christ yields anything to stir the heart, any consolation of love, any participation in the Spirit, any warmth of affection or compassion, fill up my cup of happiness by thinking and feeling alike, with the same love for one another and a common attitude of mind. Leave no room for selfish ambition and vanity, but humbly reckon others better than yourselves. Look to each other’s interests and not merely to your own.” 2: 14. “Do everything without grumbling or argument. Show yourselves innocent and above reproach, faultless children of God [so that] in a crooked and depraved generation you [will] shine like stars in a dark world and proffer [model] the word of life.” This is the growing edge for me as a leader. This is the growing edge for the SPU community. Let’s come together. How can we really be a team?? Come together around our vision so that we can be effective instruments of God’s love and grace in the world? So, my thesis this morning: we are flourishing! Indeed. We have been pursuing excellence. You can see it all over the place. But we have a lot of work ahead. Let us define excellence, let us declare our excellence (tell our story), and then let us deliver on our promises of excellence. That’s the deal. God bless each one of you as you begin this year.
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