Message from the President

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

AS I CONSIDER THE MILESTONES ACHIEVED AT CBU OVER THE PAST YEAR, I CELEBRATE THE GENEROSITY AND KINDNESS OF OUR LANCER FRIENDS AND AM GRATEFUL FOR THE LORD’S CONTINUED BLESSINGS.

California Baptist University began in 1950 as a small campus with 42 students and is now a top Christian University in Southern California, offering 157 associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs (combined). More importantly, CBU has an established reputation for excellence and integrity which means our graduates are highly regarded and sought after by employers throughout the Inland Empire and beyond.

Faculty, friends, and family honored 2,838 students during spring and summer commencement ceremonies, we held our first hooding ceremony for Doctor of Social Work graduates, and fall 2022 enrollment reached a new record (11,496). CBU Lancer Athletics passed several milestones this past year, including being granted active status as a Division I institution by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. Thanks, in part, to a generous donor, the newly constructed CBU Soccer Stadium, featuring lighted competition fields, a practice field, and a 300-meter practice track for the cross country/ track program, is complete. A new clubhouse for the baseball and softball programs, including locker rooms, a sports medicine area, physical therapy space, offices, a conference room, upgraded concessions, and balconies overlooking both fields, is expected to be complete by Summer 2024.

In other school news, CBU’s music and theatre programs have merged to create the Shelby and Ferne Collinsworth School of Performing Arts. This unified school of performing artists is committed to developing excellence in the next generation of actors, musicians, educators, producers, technicians, and worship facilitators. . There are so many good things happening at California Baptist University; I invite you to visit our website for regular updates (calbaptist.edu). Much of CBU’s success is possible because of faithful friends whose generosity reached a historic level in FY22, led by the most significant estate gift in University history. As well, an anonymous donor committed over $1M to Lancer Athletics, and a generous local family gave $5.5M, which was partially matched as part of our $40M Endowment Challenge, creating a new $19M endowment fund.

It continues to be my honor and pleasure to serve the CBU community, and I am eager to see all the good things we will accomplish together over the next year.

May the Lord continue to bless!

Ronald L. Ellis, Ph.D. President

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