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Hello Alumni, this is Willie Mangum, Alumni Board President. Right now I am in the Manor
house on the Black Mountain campus of Montreat College. But when you watch this it’s going
to be Saturday and I will be in a board meeting. Now during that meeting the board of trustees
will be considering the future of Montreat College. One of the futures they are going
to consider is a plan to move the college forward based on the 98 year vision God gave
Dr. Anderson in 1916. The other options are going to be merger and closure. So I’m asking
you first and foremost to pray for the board of trustees. Pray for wisdom, pray for guidance,
pray for direction and clarity and pray that we won’t forget what is the vision and mission
of Montreat College.
The other thing that is going to be happening on Saturday is that there’s going to be
a proposal presented. I’m going to be presenting that proposal, but it’s not my proposal.
This is a proposal that is the fruit of a whole lot of consultation, a whole lot of
prayer, a whole lot of collaboration. I’ve worked with faculty, with staff, with students,
with other trustees, with alumni. This is something that has been building, and I’ve
been working with Dave Walters, Director of Alumni Affairs over the last four or five
days to bring all this together. Last week we met with the faculty executive committee.
They’ve been working very hard these past four or five days bringing together some plans
for programs and other initiatives that really make sense and that are based in reality;
fiscal reality; educational reality. Because we’re facing some huge challenges. The fiscal
challenges are real; we’re struggling.
The proposal that’s going to be presented came about when I was asked in a board meeting
to come to the table with a plan that makes sense and with $2 million cash. $2 million
cash gets us through one year. It keeps us afloat, it keeps us treading water. The proposal
that has been in the works is so much bigger than even this coalition of people. This is
a God sized initiative. This is something that I believe God has been working on, He’s
been revealing the pieces all along the way over the last year to year and a half. Again,
it’s not my plan...it’s really not even our plan, it’s His plan.
So I want to share with you a little bit about the structure of that plan, about some of
the components that are going to be presented. Just an overview, and again, we don’t have
all the answers (the folks that have been working on the plan) but we have some things
that are real. We have some things that absolutely must be considered and we know a general direction
that we have to go and specific questions that we are going to have to ask. So I am
going to give you a basic structure of the plan.
We’re going to start with vision. In Proverbs, “where there is no vision, the people perish”.
Now that word that is translated “vision” it means prophetic vision or revelation. So
the gist of it is, where there is no revelation of God’s plan and purpose, the people are
set adrift. They have no direction. They wonder aimlessly and eventually they perish. So we
need to find what is God’s plan, what is God’s purpose? Another scripture that we
are going to take a look at is in second Chronicles or (correction) first Chronicles, the sons
of Issachar. The sons of Issachar are men who understood the times and knew what Israel
ought to do...and that’s what we’ve got to consider. We need to understand the times
and we need to know what Montreat College ought to do. So as we make this proposal we’re
going to be considering the current educational landscape...and it’s challenging. Some folks
are saying that disruptive innovation is going to happen in higher education in the next
two, three, four or five years. Innovation that disrupts education and changes the face
of it forever. That’s going to happen to education or education can bring it...educational
entities like Montreat. So part of what we are going to being looking is how are we on
the leading edge of disruptive innovation? What can we be doing? What kinds of academic
programs can we bring to the table? So we’re going to be looking at five areas in the higher
education landscape or in the landscape in general and I’ve talked to people like Dr.
Robert Cooley, president emeritus of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. Cooley,
right now, is working in that area with a lot of high profile colleges and universities,
names that you would know, in that very specific area. Changing the paradigm to meet the challenges
for the future of higher education. So, that is what we have got to be about. As we look
at the landscape, we’ve gotta think creatively in these five areas that are either opportunity
or threat. As we look in those areas, as the sons of Issachar understood the times and
knew what to do, we’ve got to look at what makes Montreat College different. What is
the Montreat College experience? and I think you and I as alumni know that, and I think
it can be summed up in one word: transformation! Our current vision statement says that we
are releasing agents of transformation, reconciliation and renewal. Well, that’s what it is about.
So if we think in terms of how do we impact culture, how do we transform culture, how
do we transform lives? That’s the strategic intent of Montreat College. We are transforming
lives who will transform culture. And we’re doing it, I believe, from a culture of excellence.
Excellence in education, entrepreneurial collaboration, entrepreneurial innovation. The faculty are
going to bring a component to this plan, to this proposal, that looks at what are we doing
right now in our academics, what can we do in the next two, three, four years and what
can we do even in the future? So as we look at new programs that we’re going to introduce
it’s going to be in those areas... where we’re transforming lives to transform culture.
And if we really want to capture our culture for Christ, then we’ve got to look in, what’s
called the seven spheres or seven mountains of cultural influence. Oz Guiness (correction)
Oz Hillman is the gentleman in Atlanta who’s carrying this banner forward. It started with
people like Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham and Francis Schaeffer. But, our reformed heritage
has always believed that there are spheres of influence. The seven mountains are things
like business, family, religion, education, arts and entertainment, media and those kinds
of things. So, what are we doing in our academics that is collaborative, and that is innovative
that meets, that operates in one of those seven spheres of influence and how does that
move our vision of transforming lives to transform culture? How does it move that forward? So,
we’re going to be looking at all those things. Now I mentioned earlier that $2 million keeps
us afloat. We’ve also been talking with potential giving partners. Folks who can and
will bring transformational gifts to bear on this plan for going forward and that’s
what it’s going to take quite honestly. We need that kind of financial support, those
kinds of financial resources. So as we look at these seven areas or seven spheres of cultural
influence we’ve got to think in terms of what programs do we provide academically that
challenge our students to think entrepreneurially? So that we’re not only giving them educational
experience and real world educational experience, but, so that we’re also perhaps providing
ancillary revenue opportunities for the college. And we operate right now in two realms of
revenue: tuition revenue and giving revenue. So, how can we create programs that are meeting
needs in the world right now that are going to generate revenue? So, those are the kind
of things we are going to be thinking through, that’s what we are going to be presenting
and the faculty have been looking at these things, you know, they’ve been looking very
closely and they’re coming with real world programs. They’re looking at the dollars
and cents of it all. What’s it really going to cost? What’s it really going to generate
in terms of new students and what kind of opportunity will we have to generate ancillary
revenue? So it’s a big thing, it’s a big picture. Again, we don’t have all the answers.
But one thing you have to understand and pray that the board understands is that changing
our business model so that it is sustainable but also so that Montreat College not only
survives but thrives, it isn’t a one time event, it’s a process. So on Saturday we’re
not taking one step, it’s not one event, we’re initiating a long-term process. So
pray for us. Pray for wisdom. Pray for guidance. Pray for direction. Pray for clarity of thought
as we present. But also pray about how you can be involved. Because if we decide to do
this alumni are going to have to step up. We’re really gonna have to step up. So,
thanks for your time, thanks for your prayers, and I look forward to giving you a report
sometime after Saturday.