The People's President

The

People’s President

Nineteen Years at Abilene Christian University With Dr. Royce Money: 1991-2010

D

r. Royce L. Money’s inaugural address, shaped by input from students, was “People With a Purpose,” and it set the tone for a 19-year presidency featuring some of the most dramatic changes and success stories in Abilene Christian University history.

A lifetime of ministry, teaching, writing and church relations prepared Royce and his wife, Pam, for this role of servant leadership at their alma mater. Likely the only university president and first lady licensed as marriage and family therapists, the Moneys formed an effective team to help ACU overcome challenges and capitalize on unprecedented opportunities for growth.

ACU’s Board of Trustees initially gave Royce three charges: balance the budget, increase enrollment and enhance the image of the university. All three were achieved with great success, a process fostered by Royce’s adept team-building skills and ability to rally the university community to common goals.

Royce’s alma mater today enjoys record enrollment, world-leader status in adapting mobile-learning technology to academia, one of the highest performing endowments in higher education, and the respect of colleagues everywhere.

The academic and spiritual quality of ACU students has increased during Royce’s presidency. An unprecedented number of prospective students are being attracted to ACU, a place promising to be “a vibrant, innovative, Christ-centered community that engages students in authentic spiritual and intellectual growth, equipping them to make a real difference in the world.”

Thanks to Royce and Pam Money, ACU is becoming the place its 21st-Century Vision espouses: the premier university for the education of Christ-centered, global leaders.

T h e People’s President

Bud and Marian Money and their two sons, Royce and Lee

ROYCE’S Roots Despite his four academic degrees, various major roles on Abilene Christian’s faculty and in its administration, and ministry jobs across the nation, ACU’s 10th president has never forgotten his roots.

Royce Lynn Money was born July 13, 1942, and spent his early years in Temple, Texas, with his parents, Bud and Marian Money, and his younger brother, Lee. Born when Royce was 7 years old, Lee was severely mentally and physically disabled. His challenges changed the Moneys’ lives forever.

Lee was able to attend church and, for a time, school, but lived with his parents and required close attention, particularly from his mother.

From the beginning, Marian insisted that Lee not be moved to an institution; even when in 1996 she moved to a nursing home in Temple, she kept him with her. Royce made frequent visits to his brother and aging parents after the move, taking them to lunch at Luby’s and spending time together.

Royce and others close to him say that living with Lee helped develop Royce’s sense of compassion, and gave him insight into the lives of disabled people and their families. Although his parents tried to give Royce a separate life – allowing him to play sports, take piano lessons and have other opportunities – he also helped care for his brother, and loved him deeply. After Bud (2000) and Marian (2003) passed away, Royce became Lee’s legal guardian and moved him to the Abilene State School, where Lee lived until his death in August 2008.

Royce’s ministry roles with youth, families and in the pulpit spanned congregations in Texas, Maryland, Alabama and Missouri, and gave him and Pam insight into the people-building skills that would serve them during their ACU years.

“They have been prepared for this ministry by God for their entire lives,” says their youngest daughter, Jennifer (Money) Crisp. “God has used them in a very powerful way to do kingdom work during their time as the president and first lady.”

T h e People’s President

Royce and Pam Royce Long before he became ACU’s 10th president, Royce was part of an effective team – Royce and Pam – both licensed marriage and family therapists, and people of God. The couple met at ACU, when Pamela Joy Handy was a freshman and Royce a sophomore. Part of Royce’s motivation for staying on after his graduation in 1964 was to be near Pam – who had promised her father she wouldn’t get married until after she earned a degree.

She graduated from ACU Jan. 21, 1965, and the wedding was two days later.

Pam has played a unique and effective role as ACU’s first lady, accompanying her husband at myriad events and supporting him in the relentless schedule of travel and meetings, while also continuing her career as a marriage and family therapist in Abilene.

Before her husband became president, she partnered with him in congregational ministries across the nation while the couple reared two daughters, Alison and Jennifer. Her particular ministry at ACU has involved counseling young women who needed a maternal influence: someone to walk with and mentor them.

Pam’s work through the years has often been behind the scenes, but no one who knows the Moneys doubts her vital role in Royce’s presidency – indeed, in his entire life.

She is universally known as warm, welcoming and wise, and has given much of her life and energy to the university her husband has led for the past two decades.

T h e People’s President

ACU’S Academic AMBASSADOR Royce returned to ACU in 1981 as a professor in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy. He had earned his M.Div. from the university in 1967, as well as a Ph.D. in religion from Baylor University in 1975, which supplemented his experience in the world of ministry and counseling. (He also was working on a master’s degree in human development and family from the University of Nebraska, which he earned in 1982.)

He taught alongside Dr. Paul Faulkner and Dr. Tom Milholland for several years before moving to the College of Biblical Studies to direct the new Doctor of Ministry program. He served in that capacity for two years before being named executive assistant to the president, then provost, and finally president. Despite his gift for administration, which he has used well for more than two decades, Royce loves being in the classroom and plans to teach again after his retirement. He and Pam will teach in the university’s Study Abroad program in 2010-11.

“Royce is obviously moving into a different era of his career,” says Dr. Ian Fair, professor emeritus of New Testament. “Somebody said one time, ‘You always ruin a good faculty member by making him an administrator; you always ruin a good administrator by making him the president,’” Fair adds, with a laugh. “It’s nice to see Royce going back to faculty now, where he can really do what he does so well: relate to people.”

For the past two decades, Royce has championed the growth of Abilene Christian’s academic reputation. Success stories abound, including the innovative Learning Commons; the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning; a new College of Education and Human Services; international education centers in England, Uruguay and Germany; international accreditations for numerous programs; and the mobile-learning initiative, which has helped position ACU as a world leader in educational technology use and development.

T h e People’s President

Inauguration The announcement of Royce as president-elect came at an auspicious time – during his daughter Alison’s 1991 graduation from ACU. He had been onstage during the ceremony in his capacity as provost, then attended a press conference afterward with his wife and daughters.

“The whole day was about our family,” says Alison, “because you don’t do your education on your own; it’s a family thing, and it was a family thing that we go to ACU. It was a good marker for our family; it just made that day all the more special.”

Royce was formally inaugurated Feb. 23, 1992. His address, “People With a Purpose,” picked up on a theme he has insisted on throughout his tenure at ACU – that the university’s mission is “kingdom work.”

Weeks before, he worked on the speech with the help of a group of students in the College of Business Administration, inviting them to refine ideas for the biggest moment of his academic life. A passage included this: “As a Christian university, ACU is not for sale.

Not to the right or to the left. Not to sectarian spirits who set themselves up as standards of orthodoxy or to any spirits who would have us sell our religious birthright. We will not sell out to any special interest group. We will not sell out to materialism, to secularism, to racial prejudice or any other form of injustice. We will not compromise. We will maintain our integrity with balance and will practice charity toward all. This posture is true to our religious heritage and true to biblical teaching. We will continue to teach students the significance and meaning of a life of service to their fellow human beings and ultimately to their Creator.”

They were words that resonated that day with the large crowd in Moody Coliseum, and would mark his eventful presidency for the next 19 years – the second longest in ACU history.

T h e People’s President

ACU’s eighth, ninth and 10th presidents: Drs. John C. Stevens, William J. Teague and Royce Money

THE Right Right THING TO DO When ACU was founded in 1906, all its students – and indeed the students of most Church of Christ-affiliated schools at that time – were white. Nearly 60 years later, as the civil rights movement swept the nation, Bible professor Dr. Carl Spain gave a stirring speech at the 1960 Bible Lectureship on the subject of integration at ACU. Following his speech, and subsequent changes in ACU’s admissions policy, the first African-American student, Washington D. Harris, enrolled in the Graduate School in Spring 1962. In Fall 1962, students Billy Curl and Larry Bonner, both African-Americans, transferred to ACU from Southwestern Christian College. The students enjoyed their time at Abilene Christian, but total integration was slow in coming.

In Fall 2009, as president, Royce helped organize the first of two conferences uniting ACU officials with African-American church leaders to discuss the question of reconciliation. In Fall 2000, at SWCC’s 50th anniversary celebration, Royce made a public apology for the racial discrimination practiced in years past by ACU. SWCC board chair Dr. Fred Gray, a civil rights attorney who had represented Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., accepted the apology. Royce reprised the speech at ACU’s 2000 Bible Lectureship.

“As we look to the future, we pledge to walk together with you as those in the body of Christ should always do,” Royce said.

“ACU is dedicated to building up all of the kingdom of God through service and leadership. May God help us in word and deed to be truly ‘one in Christ.’”

The words were not hollow. Royce created ACU’s Office of Multicultural Enrichment and helped foster a campus environment where students from every cultural background could feel at home.

Curl, now a minister in Los Angeles, is a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. By Fall 2009, 21 percent of ACU students were persons of color. Abilene Christian welcomes students each year from more than 40 nations and provinces, making Royce’s alma mater a crossroads of the world.

T h e People’s President

Centennial The 2005-06 school year marked a major milestone for ACU – the 100th anniversary of its founding by A.B. Barret as Childers Classical Institute. The university devoted the Centennial year to celebrating its heritage and looking forward to what the future might hold.

Numerous major events took center stage, including a special art exhibition downtown at the Grace Museum; academic conferences; a pops concert with music and theatre alumni performing at the Civic Center with the Abilene Philharmonic; and large celebrations at Homecoming, Sing Song weekend and on ACU’s birthday. A major speaker series brought sports broadcasting legend Pat Summerall, “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts, MSNBC anchor Lester Holt, and best-selling authors John Maxwell and Kathleen Norris, among others, to campus. The university’s Centennial Vision, developed in the mid-1990s and comprising several key goals for the future, led to creation of the 21st-Century Vision, a strategic plan to help guide the university forward.

The Centennial year saw the production of a coffee-table book, The ACU Century, to document university history, and the Centennial Historical Timeline, originally displayed in the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building’s Hall of Servants and now reprised in the Hunter Welcome Center. ACU alumnus and best-selling Christian author Max Lucado spoke at the Centennial Graduation Celebration in May. The event-filled school year also marked the last time Lectureship (now known as Summit) would be in February; it moved from February to September in 2006. ACU’s birthday celebration in September 2006 included the dedication of the new Jacob’s Dream sculpture site.

Alumni and other friends rallied to give to the Centennial Campaign, “Called to Faith and Excellence,” providing more than $156 million to increase student scholarships, strengthen the endowment and construct the 57,000-square-foot Hunter Welcome Center as a new front door to campus, among other projects.

Royce presided over all the Centennial events and initiatives with the same leadership, grace, humor and humility he has shown in every other aspect of his tenure as president.

T h e People’s President

Royce and Students Royce Royce Money has always been committed to listening to students.

He guided many Bible majors through their time at ACU while teaching in the College of Biblical Studies and directing the Doctor of Ministry program in the Graduate School of Theology. Arriving late to a meeting during his term as provost, he explained that he had stayed after class to counsel a student, adding, “We must always have time to talk to our students. They are the reason we are here.”

For several years in the mid-1990s, Royce switched places with a student for one day. He attended classes – including a women’s step aerobics class – and enjoyed spending time with students as “one of them” for a day. He also allowed the Students’ Association to put him on the “hot seat,” letting them ask tough questions he had to answer.

He makes a point of walking around campus, going to the Campus Center, eating lunch in the Bean and getting coffee in the Learning Commons, teaching a Wednesday night Bible class with Pam in The Den at Barret Hall, playing disc golf, and attending chapel – taking the time to frequent places where students are known to congregate.

“I think the secret to Royce’s relationship with the students is that he’s real,” says former trustee Virginia Chambers. “He laughs and he can laugh at himself. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He is just a real person and they feel like they can identify with him. He never puts on airs of any kind and never tries to be real dignified around them.

He’s just himself, and that endears him to the students.”

Royce made a cameo appearance in Sing Song in 2010, and celebrated with the football team in the locker room when it won its first Lone Star Conference title in 35 years. Some students even wear T-shirts with his face on them – showing their pride in the president who will always take the time to listen to them.

T h e People’s President

Enrollment for Fall Semesters – total number of students 4,838 4,684 4,698 4,796 4,703 4,786 4,675 4,677 4,690 4,761 4,673 4,643 4,542 4,397 4,436 4,207 4,065 4,055 3,946

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

Undergr aduates with Financial Aid – by fiscal year 91% 92% 88% 87% 89% 89% 89% 89% 88% 86% 86% 86% 85% 81% 78% 76% 74% 72% 72% 65%

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

Endowment by Fiscal Year – numbers in millions of dollars 258.3 293.9 280.1 228.7 189.7 168.2 137.5 139.5 145.6 137 115 103.7 73.1 67.0 60.9 55.2 53.8 53.5 56.0

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Capital Gifts Among the more important projects completed and paid for by capital gifts during the Money presidency are: • ACU at DFW Campus • Adams Center for Teaching and Learning • Brown Library Acquisitions • Wally Bullington Football Practice Facility • Cecil Eager Tennis Pavilion • Duncum Center for Conflict Resolution • Education Building Renovation • Elmer Gray Stadium Renovation • Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center (including the McCaleb Conference Center, the Labyrinth and Rich Family Welcome Plaza, and Overton A. Faubus Fountain Lake) • Jacob’s Dream Sculpture Site • JMC Network Student Media News Lab (Department of Journalism and Mass Communication) • C.L. Kay Wing of Brown Library • Lunsford Foundation Trail • Moody Coliseum Renovation • Musgrave Farm • Powell Fitness Center Equipment and Expansion • Larry C. “Satch” Sanders Intramural Field • Gaines B. Stanley Sr. Theological Reading Room • Margaret L. and William J. Teague Special Events Center • Wells Softball Field • Williams Performing Arts Center • Zoe Conference Center • Zona Luce Hall Renovation Among other capital projects completed and paid for by other sources: • Barret Hall • Learning Commons in Brown Library • McGlothlin Campus Center Renovation (including Bill and Alvah Jean Hilton Food Court and the World Famous Bean cafeteria) • Sikes Hall Renovation • University Park Apartments • Women’s Soccer and Softball Fieldhouse

Major Campaigns The “Advancing the Changeless” campaign ($30 million, 1993-95), “To Lead and To Serve” campaign ($114 million, 1996-2000) and “Called to Faith and Excellence” Centennial campaign ($156 million, 2001-07) generated approximately $300 million of the $332 million in gifts received by ACU during the Money administration.

What does the future hold? Only God knows. These are challenging times for higher education in general and for Christian education in particular.

The better part of wisdom will be the ability to discern between what must change and what must not change. Nostalgic efforts to recreate the past do not serve well our students, our constituents or our world.

Changing in order to advance, while at the same time, advancing the changeless, demands the wisdom of Solomon and the persistence of Job. Even the God we serve is both ever changing and never changing. If we are to be a people with a purpose, if we are to make a difference, it is imperative that we learn what must change and what must not change.

Peter Drucker reminds us that education will need to change more in the next 30 years than it has in the last 300 years. This is no time for the faint-hearted. It is not a time for quick fixes and snappy slogans. This is a time for bold and visionary educators who know what they are doing, who know why they are doing it, who know how to do it, and who are not afraid of change. May God give us the wisdom and the power. – From “People With a Purpose,� the inaugural address of Dr. Royce Money, Feb. 23, 1992

Our Promise that engages students in authentic spiritual and intellectual growth, equipping them to make a real difference in the world.

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ACU is a vibrant, innovative, Christ-centered community