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February was a wonderful month here at Biola University, filled with a lot of celebration.
Right now, I’m standing in the new facility of the Biola University Center for Christian
Thought. What an appropriately beautiful space this is for all the God-honoring, scholarly
collaboration that’s going to take place right here. We dedicated the center on February
6th, and the inaugural semester is now underway, with our first eight research fellows - joined
by scholars Nicholas Wolterstorff and Alvin Plantinga - currently exploring the topic,
“Christian Scholarship in the 21st Century: Prospects and Perils.”
I couldn’t be more grateful for this center getting underway. I truly thank God for his
provision through the generosity of the John Templeton Foundation, whose $3 million gift
will fund the first three years of this center’s important work.
I began the month of February in Washington, D.C.
I was at a conference of Christian college presidents.
While I was in Washington, I had the opportunity to meet with one of our alumni, Senator John
Thune, who many of you may know, a 1983 graduate and former basketball player at Biola.
I also spent some time with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, and a representative from Senator
Dianne Feinstein’s office.
I was there because several government issues have emerged recently, which will certainly
have implications for us at Biola, as well as for Christian higher education. I spoke
of these while in Washington there on the Hill.
One is college affordability - an issue that is close to our heart here, and one that I
know matters to so many of our students and their families. Therefore it matters to us.
In his State of the Union Address on Jan. 24th, President Obama placed the national
spotlight on the need for college affordability.
At the same time, I want you to know that Biola University has been working to address
the issue of affordability. We're striving to reduce students’ debt and financial sacrifice.
In each of the past few years, our tuition increases have been kept to historically low
rates, and a university-wide task force has been
established to identify ways to limit costs without compromising quality.
Our University Plan identifies affordability as one of the priorities in the years to come.
I also applaud the work of many teams helping us as well as the lobbying efforts to protect
state and federal financial aid. We are monitoring at the state and federal levels any legislation
that may cut back on student funding.
The other prominent issue is the controversy which has been mounting over federal regulations
that would require religious employers to offer full contraception coverage — including
the so-called morning-after pill and week-after pill—in their insurance plans.
As president of Biola University, I will continue to stand with other leaders, including Christian
college presidents, against government intrusion on religious freedom. Additionally, Biola
University will continue to affirm the biblical teaching on the sanctity of human life and
our position that life begins at conception.
The Year of the Arts at Biola burst into full bloom this past month, and among the many
highlights thus far in the semester was a visit from poet and cultural critic, Dana
Gioia. As the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the current Professor
of Poetry and Public Culture at USC, Mr. Gioia gave three sterling messages on the value
of the arts for people of faith - addresses that will not soon be forgotten.
Biola’s Conservatory of Music staged the opera “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” the
powerful and true story of 16 Carmelite nuns who were martyred during the Reign of Terror
in France. What a tremendous accomplishment by our gifted vocalists and musicians, led
by Jeanne Robison and Marlin Owen. I sat beside a well known artist who wept during the final
scene. Powerful.
We also enjoyed the rare privilege of the museum-quality exhibit in our art gallery
of Twentieth Century British Art, generously provided by our visionary in residence, Mrs.
Roberta Ahmanson.
Biola also hosted a significant conference this month: the annual Student Congress on
Racial Reconciliation.
This was the 16th annual national SCORR conference.
The theme this year was “A House of Prayer for All Peoples,” drawing from Isaiah 56.
The SCORR conference defined what “all peoples” means for us today. They said, “For our
times, 'all peoples' encompasses the ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, the immigrant,
the urban, suburban and rural community, the global and international community.” The
conference addressed the question, “How might our Christian colleges and universities
reflect this house of God as a house for all peoples?”
This is an especially relevant theme as we observed Black History Month at Biola through
a number of events, including messages by Mark Whitlock and Ricky Temple in our chapel.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Biola’s 104th birthday.
Biola celebrated with Spirit Week from February 19th-25th. We had a Tweet Hunt, in which students
turned to Twitter for scavenger hunt clues.
I’ll be having lunch with one of the winners later this semester.
There were special chapels and festivities all week, culminating in a tailgate birthday
party before the basketball game on Biola’s birthday: February 25.
God has been good for all of time, and in these last 104 years, he has shown his goodness
to Biola.
Before I sign off, let me introduce this month’s Fifty@50 category.
I began this as I turned 50 a couple of months ago, every month just sharing the top 50 of
different categories that people have given me advice on.
In January we shared with you a list of 50 films.
This month, we’re sharing a list of “Fifty Poems to Stir My Soul.”
My task is to read all 50 of these poems.
I would love to hear your take on them as you make your way through the list, if you
choose to do so.
Leave me a comment on Facebook, or Tweet your thoughts to me. Be sure not to miss the poem
by Dana Gioia, who was with us just a few weeks ago.
So thanks for joining in for these last few minutes to get a little bit of a snapshot
of what is happening here at Biola University. Lots of exciting things going on! I so appreciate
your support, your praying for us, your standing with us, your being a part of this community.
So stay tuned -- the best is yet to come.