LeTourneau University NOW! Fall 2018 by LeTourneau University

Our Fall 2018 Open House for Engineering, Aviation and Computer Science attracted a group so large that we had to move our welcome from the Allen Family Student Center to the Solheim gymnasium! This Saturday event gave visiting students and their families a day to experience LeTourneau University firsthand, as they seek Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s direction in their college search.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

A college education is not a neutral enterprise. Through the eyes of every professor, students learn how to take account of the world. At LeTourneau University, we understand that a college education is nothing less than Christian spiritual formation.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

FEATURES 8 12 16 20 28 38 44 48 52

Cultivating Christian Virtue As Spiritual Formation Spiritual Formation in Campus Community Spiritual Formation is Discovering our Calling in the Life and Mission of God

DEPARTMENTS

6 From the President 24 News and Notes 32 Class Notes 50 Faith & Work

College Education as Spiritual Formation Physics As a Foundation for Faith Students Reflect on Spiritual Formation at LETU Sharing God’s Testimonies of Faithfulness Spiritual Formation in Sports LETU Stats Fall 2018

“BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME; BEHOLD NOW IS THE DAY OF OUR SALVATION.” – II COR. 6:2

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Isn’t the world better because of LeTourneau

University and its graduates?

During a recent business trip to New York City,

I had the opportunity to interact with several

DALE A. LUNSFORD, PH.D.

of fellow university and college presidents.

JANET RAGLAND

were a fresh reminder about the profound

JEREMIAH SHEPHERD

University. It prompted me to reflect on how different the world would look without LeTourneau University and its graduates working and serving throughout the

KATE GRONEWALD JENNA PACE MARK ROEDEL

better because of LeTourneau graduates?

ENCORE MULTIMEDIA

foundations and was joined by a small group

Although my trip was brief, our conversations calling and transformative work at LeTourneau

world. Wouldn’t we all agree that our workplaces, communities and churches are As our community continually reflects on how we prepare students to positively impact our world, prospective students are weighing their options for a college

home. Since we understand the importance of a LeTourneau University degree,

we host multiple events each year where prospective students interact with our

campus community as part of their college evaluation process. This evaluation process for many students spans multiple years and includes the all-important

campus visit. In fact, just this fall, we welcomed more than 1,000 prospective students and family members to campus.

As I enter my 12th year as President at LeTourneau University, one of the great

privileges I have is to welcome guests to campus, like at the events mentioned

above. It’s a time for me to connect with prospective students and their families and share the two most transformative moments in my life. Those moments

include coming to my faith in Jesus Christ and the opportunity to be the first in my

family to attend and graduate from college. My faith and my higher education truly

shaped life’s course for me and my family and provided a unique foundation to

participate in God’s redeeming work.

PUBLISHER

EDITOR IN CHIEF

CREATIVE DIRECTOR / PHOTOGRAPHY

COPY EDITORS

GRAPHIC DESIGN

GAIL RITCHEY CLASS NOTES

NIEMAN PRINTING PRINTING

PATRICK MAYS, PH.D. KRISTY MORGAN, PH.D. STEVEN D. MASON, PH.D. KELLY LIEBENGOOD, PH.D. VIKTOR ROUDKOVSKI, PH.D. TERRY ZEITLOW, PH.D. BILL PEEL, D.MIN. MATT KINNEY JANET RAGLAND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS CONTACT INFORMATION: WEB: www.letu.edu Email: NOW@letu.edu ADMISSIONS OFFICE PHONE: 800-759-8811

LeTourneau University is a place where learning and work are informed by faith.

ALUMNI OFFICE PHONE: 800-259-5388

personal finance website WalletHub released their 2019’s Best College & Univer-

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE PHONE: 800-259-LETU

This is what we share with our community and prospective students. In October,

sity Rankings. It comes as no surprise that LeTourneau was ranked #8 in the state

of Texas and mentioned in the same conversation as Rice, UT Austin, Baylor and SMU. At LeTourneau, we have all come to expect this value.

Yes, it is true. The rankings, graduate placement rates, strong return on investment and numerous other statistics speak to the quality of the educational experience.

As wonderful as it is to receive such accolades, it is the spiritual formation that

remains core to the comprehensive preparation of our students. There are many

fine institutions across our country and beyond where students can receive an ex-

cellent education and earn a degree. However, very few institutions are committed

to the development of the whole person, and that begins with an unwavering com-

mitment to the spiritual development of our students and university community.

LeTourneau University is the premier Christian polytechnic university in the nation offering more than 140 undergraduate and graduate degree programs across a range of academic disciplines and delivery models. Students are enrolled in programs on ground at LETU’s residential campus in Longview, Texas, as well as in hybrid and fully online options at educational centers in the Dallas and Houston areas. Academic majors include aviation, business, communication, computer science, criminal justice, education, engineering, health care administration, human services, kinesiology, the liberal arts, nursing, psychology, the sciences and theology. NOW is published by LeTourneau University, 2100 South Mobberly, Longview, Texas 75607 • Sent free upon request to Editor, P.O. Box 8001, Longview, Texas 75607 • Postmaster: Send address changes to: NOW, P.O. Box 8001, Longview, Texas 75607 • Email us at NOW@letu.edu

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

C U LT I V A T I N G C H R I S T I A N

VIRTUE A S S P I R I T UA L F O R M AT I O N By Patrick Mays, Ph.D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

P H I L I P P I AN S 2 :5 - 1 1 REA D S :

“

In your relationships with one another,

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6

Who, being in very nature God, did not

consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9

Therefore God exalted him to the highest

place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PAT RIC K MAYS, PH . D.

2 P E T E R 1 :3- 7 READ S :

“

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our

knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Christian spiritual formation is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ, to have the same mindset as Jesus and to assume certain characteristics of an intentionally godly life—goodness, selfcontrol, perseverance, mutual affection, love.

C OMING F ULL C IR CL E Becoming the new campus pastor this

year has been the fulfillment of a 20-year journey for me.

Growing up a Longview kid, my family lived on 14th Street just east of the

LETU campus. My dad worked at the LeTourneau manufacturing plant.

I learned to swim at the old, round

outdoor swimming pool that used to sit on the campus. I used to beg my

mom to drive me through the campus

because, as a kid, I was fascinated by

the barracks.

After graduating from Pine Tree High

School, I got my undergraduate degree

rom the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, through the formation of the

early church until today, Christian

disciples have recognized the need to be intentional in cultivating Christian virtue.

The witness of Scripture and voices in

the history of the Christian church have

called followers of Christ to corporate worship, private devotion and service

to others. These activities of the head, heart and hands help the transformed life cultivate Christian virtue, which

is one of the goals of the LeTourneau

University educational community.

Christian spiritual formation is the pro-

cess of being transformed into the image of Christ, to have the same mindset

as Jesus (see Philippians 2:5-11) and to assume certain characteristics of

an intentionally godly life—goodness, self-control, perseverance, mutual

affection, love (see 2 Peter 1:3-7). This

commitment to Christian spiritual development in our students is an essential

Spiritual Life is central to the educational

experience of each LeTourneau student.

Wilmore, Kentucky to get my Master of

of students.

Theology degree, majoring in missions.

The chapel program is the most

and Alabama then moved back to

core emphasis on Christian spiritual

Intercultural studies.

students, faculty and staff gather for

For nearly two decades, my family and I

in the Christian spiritual formation

visible expression of LeTourneau’s

formation. Several times each week,

corporate worship, singing, praying and hearing the Word of God together as a

community through laughter, tears, joy and praise.

Life Groups, small discipleship groups

led by faculty and staff, enable students

to share the ups and downs of spiritual

growth in a more intimate setting.

Also, each dorm floor has a Spiritual

Life Assistant (formerly called chaplain

interns). SLAs are students who provide

spiritual leadership by leading weekly

floor devotionals and initiating spiritual

conversations.

LeTourneau University was conceived as

Additionally, LeTourneau Student Minis-

one as it grew through the years; it will continue to be one into the future.

Therefore, the spiritual formation pro-

gram administered through the Office of

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

girl, then I went to Asbury University in

LeTourneau University is intentional

element of LeTourneau University’s DNA. a Christ-centered institution; it remained

in secondary education at University

of Texas at Tyler, I married a Longview

tries (LSM) enables students to put their

faith into action through service activities including Sunday Evening Prayer &

Praise, an Over the Fence Ministry,

Spring Break Outreach trips, Habitat for Humanity, and Kidz Club.

Divinity degree and later, my Master of

I worked in youth ministry in Louisiana Kentucky to get my Ph.D., majoring in

traveled around the U.S. and the world

pursuing ministry opportunities. From

1999 to 2003, I was an academic mis-

sionary in secular universities in Prague, Czech Republic before returning to

Longview in 2003 as a theology faculty

member at LETU, where I launched

LETU’s Christian ministries major. I was

happy and thrilled. I loved it. Interacting

with students and teaching in the classroom has always been amazing to me.

And in my role as campus pastor, I am still faculty and still teach in the classroom. I teach one class this semester

on contemporary world missions. At 57, I’ve been a youth minister,

camping minister and missionary. I’ve

worked with college students in a variety

of situations across denominations.

Throughout my life, my education and

life experience abroad equipped me to

help students develop ministry across

cultural barriers and engage with popular

culture with a missional focus. My goal is for students to be globally minded.

I’ve worked with The Seed Company in Bible translation efforts in Nigeria,

enabling students to travel with me and

participate in translation projects. Some

of my students on campus didn’t even have to travel to gain hands-on expe-

rience online in back-checking Bible translations for accuracy and clarity.

When I was working on my doctorate at

Asbury in 1997, the position of chaplain at LETU was advertised, and I applied

Since we had brought in six candidates

white guys over 50.” I pulled off my

one, I began to think maybe what we

that he had just described me. We both

already knows LETU. I was announced

was saying. My goal is to bring in more

in a national search and had not found

needed to consider was an insider who in February, but the role didn’t feel real

until the students arrived in August. I’m loving the position. I feel it is a great fit

ball cap and pointed out to the student laughed, but I understood what he

women, more people of color to speak

to students. As a university, we need to

put people in front of our students who

for me, and others are telling me the

are role models from a variety of different

Now, I’m meeting with the big group

As campus pastor, I also have personal

same thing, so I feel affirmed.

of students in chapel, so I’ve got over

1,000 people on my brain, to make

vocational callings.

discipleship interactions with spiritual

life assistants, helping them with leading

chapel vital to their lives. Chapel needs

devotionals with training, encourage-

needs. I constantly think about, what

devotions and meet one-on-one with all

the forefront of my mind. You’ve got a

a month. They are on the front lines of

I was asked repeatedly over the past

always aware of students for whom the

vidual students, yet, if a student wants

of campus pastor but was totally happy

things I studied when I did my doctorate

can’t know all the students on campus

for it but wasn’t selected then. I think it

is interesting now that I was first asked

to consider the campus pastor position

in 2017, exactly 20 years after I originally

sought the job.

to address their spiritual and pragmatic

can we do to make it vital? That is on

lot of students from churches, but I’m

two years about considering the role

Christian life is periphery. One of the

to be faculty. I wasn’t interested, yet

was reaching unchurched young adults.

the repeated questions planted a seed.

When I was at a national youth workers

convention last November, one that I routinely attend, I felt a refreshing in my heart to pursue this role of

campus pastor.

My role now is being both a disciple and

an apologist for Christianity. That shapes who I bring to speak in chapel. One

ment and prayer. The SLAs lead floor

the students on their floor at least once

personal spiritual interaction with indi-

to come directly to me, they can. I just

on a personal level, but I can invest my

time in 25 to 40 students who have daily

and weekly interaction with students where they live. ■

student recently told me he didn’t want to always hear from “old, bald-headed

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

SPIRITUAL

FORMATION IN CAMPUS COMMUNITY By Kristy Morgan, Ph.D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

K R I ST Y M ORGAN , PH .D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

ver the past few years, Eugene

But my true desire is to ensure that

recorded in “The Message Bible”

munity in which students can take their

Peterson’s version of Romans 12

LETU fosters and encourages a com-

has been my prayer for LETU students.

ordinary lives, place them before God,

of how Paul instructs the church to

knowing that in doing this, their hearts

The first verse will give you a glimpse become spiritually mature.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday,

ordinary life—your sleeping, eating,

going-to-work, and walking-around life

—and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

As Vice President for Student Affairs

at LETU, I have a role in shaping many

aspects of a student’s sleeping, eating,

words and role modeling from other students that have endured similar

hardships and survived. They provide

the opportunity to live life with other

and embrace what God does with them,

students and staff who take seriously

and minds will be transformed to reflect

and embrace what God does with them.

Spiritual formation is enhanced in the

with painful pasts, and some experience

the heart and mind of God.

the call to place their lives before God,

Many of our students come to campus

context of community. The campus and

difficult circumstances while in college

ties designed to support and nurture the

and what He may be doing in their lives.

residence halls are intentional communi-

spiritual formation of students. These

communities provide safety and security, friendship, the opportunity to be known

and belong, and activities to nurture mind, body and soul.

that cause them to question who God is

The college years are a time of major developmental challenges and significant relational transitions. Add to that the

pressure that students feel to determine the course for the rest of their lives, and

one can see quickly that college is a

going-to-work, and walking-around life

These communities also provide the

if I am the campus Cruise Director, and

and resolve conflicts in low-risk environ-

LETU strives to be a healing community

They provide safe spaces to experience

can be expressed, and where students

on campus. I am often asked by parents I am pleased when students refer to

Student Life as the people who make the “fun stuff” happen on campus.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

opportunity for students to experience

ments with supportive staff and peers. hardships and receive encouraging

stressful time for many students.

in which the pains and fears of students

will find relational connections that help them heal from those pains and fears.

These connections may be found in a

mentoring relationship with a supervisor,

a counseling session with a therapist,

a small-group Bible study, a conversation with a faculty member, or discus-

sions over dinner with friends. In all of

these connections, our goal is to point

students to the deep love and power of

Christ to redeem even the most difficult parts of their lives.

Spiritual formation is a Spirit-led work in

which our hearts and minds are trans-

formed to reflect the heart and mind of

Christ. We know that many students make the decision to attend LETU

based on a particular program they want

to study or an occupational outcome

they hope to attain. But we also know that the most profound outcome of

their LETU experience will likely be the

spiritual formation that occurs through participation in the LETU community.

We count it a blessing to live and work

alongside students as we all learn to

embrace what God does for us. As Paul instructed the church in Romans, it is

the best thing we can do for Him. â&#x2013;

In all of these connections, our goal is to point students to the deep love and power of Christ to redeem even the most difficult parts of their lives. NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

S P I R I T UA L F O R M AT I O N I S DISCOVERING OUR

CALLING IN THE LIFE AND THE MISSION OF GOD By Kelly Liebengood, Ph.D., and Viktor Roudkovski, Ph.D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

KE LLY LIE BE NGOOD, P H. D.

V I KTO R R OU D KOV S KI, PH .D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

OUR MISSION

he School of Theology and

Vocation exists because LETU is

intentional about being a Christian

university. We seek to be a place where students, faculty and staff deepen

their commitment to teaching, learning,

and living in the light of what God has

revealed about Himself and the world in

Jesus Christ.

We have an exciting mission. Not only

do we prepare our theology majors to

interpret the Bible and lead communities into deeper expressions of Christian

discipleship in a variety of ministry

contexts, we also equip students from every major to help them explore their

Christian calling (or vocation) and how

it is connected to their studies and their

career aspirations. We work with faculty across campus to encourage reflection

on the ways Christian faith informs our academic disciplines and the ways

our shared and intersecting work as

professors is mutually enriching both for faculty and for students.

JOINING GOD’S MISSION Perhaps the biggest challenge we

face today is the fact that we live in a

world filled with many different ways of

explaining who we are, what we are here for, and what a meaningful life looks like.

We have more than one story competing for our allegiance. As we seek to edu-

cate this next generation of leaders, the question is not whether some story will

shape their lives, but rather which story

will shape their understanding of who they are and what their lives are for?

This is where our unique approach to spiritual formation comes in.

Scottish theologian and ethicist Alasdair MacIntyre wrote, “You can only answer the question of what am I to do, if you

answer the prior question of what story

do I find myself a part of.” The choices

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

we make about our lives depend on our

conception of what story we think we belong to.

The foundational aim of our spiritual formation curriculum at LETU is to

shape our students to ask the kinds of

questions that enable them to faithfully

partner with God in what He is doing in

this world, to help them see how they fit into God’s bigger story. An intentional

Christian education does not encourage

students to ask how God fits into

their academic disciplines and career

aspirations, but rather prepares them

to wrestle with how they (and their aca-

demic discipline) fit into God’s mission.

TH E T HE OLOGY AND VOCAT ION C ORE So how do we help our students under-

stand their place in this big, universal

story of God’s love? Each student who studies at LETU takes our 12-hour

theology and vocation core of classes.

These four classes give every student the opportunity to think deeply about

how spiritual life, academics, and work

are interconnected. In these courses,

students gain the skills to articulate how their academic disciplines participate in

God’s mission of redemption and recon-

ciliation of the world. They also become aware of the ways their academic fields and professions can contribute to the

TH E STO RY OF GO D’ S MI S S ION What is God’s mission? When we look

at the Bible as a whole, from Genesis to

Revelation, we see that it is one big sto-

enjoy this love (John 17:24-26). For this reason the Father sends the Son into

the world, to show God’s love to a world that has been estranged from His love

because of rebellion (John 3:16; Romans

5.1-12). The Spirit pours into our hearts the love that God has shown to us in

Jesus Christ (Romans 5:5), and then

sends us out to love the world the way

Jesus does (Acts 2:33). This becomes

one of the ways God loves the world— by making Christ-like followers who

become instruments of God’s redemp-

tion and reconciliation in their broken and

rebellious neighborhoods and communities where they live and work.

have gained through the faculty spiritual

formation, and continuing spiritual inte-

gration environment at LETU, helps me to share with the students what God is

doing here now, and how he is preparing them for a career serving Him, even if it is at a secular company.”

Dr. Sherry Chance is in her second year

iation, which is the very heart of God’s

was invaluable to her as a new LETU

mission for the world.

Business at LETU. She said the commuthey discussed core values of their faith

professor, enabling her to meet and

build friendships with other new faculty

from across campus. “We all represent

Studies have shown that the single

learn that the Father has loved the Son

work,” he said. “But the perspective I

nity that was built among new faculty as

the agents of restoration and reconcil-

God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

from eternity and wants the world to

his work. “I know God loves me, I was

just never sure He cared much about my

to develop a vision of how they can be

world. This allows our students to begin

FACULT Y F ORMAT ION: M IS SION CRIT ICAL

When we dig deeper into this story, we

premier national laboratory, he had nat-

urally compartmentalized his faith and

as the associate dean for the School of

And at the center of this universal story

is God—but not just any god; rather, the

mation process at LETU as outstanding,

saying that in his previous 26 years at a

ongoing rebellion and brokenness of the

ry—a story not just about spiritual things, but about the whole world, all of reality.

One of our engineering professors John

Tixier described the faculty spiritual for-

most important factor in safeguarding the mission and integrity of a place

different areas of campus,” she said.

“It was refreshing—a reminder of who we are and why we are here, and it gave us time for reflection on how to take this beyond doing a devotional in class.”

like LeTourneau University is hiring and

nurturing teacher-scholars who seek

to be lifelong learners of faith integra-

tion. One of the tasks of the School of

Theology and Vocation is to work with

faculty across campus to better under-

OUR PRAYE R Each Wednesday, just before lunch, our

School of Theology and Vocation faculty

gather to pray for our university. At the

stand how our Christian commitments

core of what we pray each week is that

specific academic disciplines.

of Theology and Vocation helps us all

undergird, inform, critique, and orient our As important as it is to ensure that

faculty maintain certain doctrinal and

behavioral standards, it is a matter of

institutional life and death that we do all

we can to safeguard our explicitly Christian identity by cultivating a deep, and

ongoing commitment to the complex

the work that comes out of the School

grow in the grace and knowledge of

Jesus Christ, that we foster delight in

God and His love for us, and that across

campus we are encouraged to embrace

our calling to participate in God’s holistic mission of redemption and reconciliation in this world. ■

challenges of faithfully participating with what God is doing in this complex and (and at times) confusing world.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

COLLEGE

EDUCATION A S S P I R I T UA L F O R M AT I O N By Steven D. Mason, Ph.D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

ST E VE N D. MASON, P H. D.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

What makes a Christian university

distinct from a secular one is fundamentally the view that education is, at best,

incomplete unless considered in light of

the life, death, resurrection, ascension

of Jesus, and the grand story of his kingdom. The Bible says, “Through

Him all things were made; without Him

nothing was made that has been made.”

John 1:3; “For from Him and through

Him and to Him are all things.” Romans

11:36; and “He is before all things, and

in Him all things hold together.” Colos-

sians 1:17.

Holding these truths out to the side as

a sort of infringement upon teaching and learning is no less a distinct philosophy

of education.

In “Teaching Christianity,” Augustine

writes that the good educator will always

move one to action by speaking “so as to teach, to delight, to sway.” The best pro-

fessors teach with a contagious passion. Susan Felch, an English professor at

Calvin College, argues in her essay

“Doubt and the Hermeneutics of Delight” that while doubt is esteemed in higher

education for its place in engendering

mature and neutral critical thinking,

orking in leadership at LeTour-

neau University affords me the

opportunity to greet dozens of

prospective college students and their

parents who are wrestling with choosing the right college.

Several important questions bear on that

decision. I try to help by asking them to

ased neutrality with respect to life and learning does not exist because every

institution and every professor functions by a philosophy (or set of philosophies)

about how the world works, what human beings are for, how to flourish, and

how/if to account for the material and

immaterial world.

consider the most important question:

An attempt to “leave faith and religion

education as spiritual formation?”

practically impossible, but it inherently

“Have you thought about a college

In 1975, Wheaton College professor

Arthur Holmes wrote “The Idea of a

Christian College,” outlining the purposes

and aims of a Christian college that make it distinct from other institutions.

What Holmes and other leading thinkers recognize is that a college education,

no matter if it is distinctly Christian or not, is not a neutral enterprise. Unbi-

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

at the door” of the classroom is not only takes a side.

What we find at a typical university is a

“multi-versity” where the arts, sciences,

humanities, technology and professional

fields have no center of gravity relating to one another or faith, since “to each

his own.” This is not a neutral statement

about God’s world, his ways and his vision for humanity’s vocation.

“…we [should] consider delight as an alternative to doubt, that we turn to

delight to shape the geography of our classrooms and our own scholarly

project. Faith may wend its way across

the landscape of doubt or the landscape

of delight, but delight provides us with the richer aesthetic and moral topog-

raphy through which to chart our course

as scholars and teachers.”

If delight is the most compelling

attribute to strong teaching, it is critical

that these mentors are passionate about the right things.

In this way, a college education is spiri-

tual formation for what is being practiced both inside and outside the classroom.

James K.A. Smith calls our patterns of

learning and living “liturgies” in “Desiring

the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview and

Cultural Formation.”

He writes, “Liturgies—whether ‘sacred’

or ‘secular’—shape and constitute

hiring of our faculty. It is not easy to find

individuals who are leaders in their field

our identities by forming our most

and are also called to LeTourneau as

basic attunement to the world. In short,

cipleship. We look for Christian people

and what defines us is what we love.

over malleable students.

fundamental desires and our most

liturgies make us certain kinds of people,

“They do this because we are the sorts of animals whose orientation to the

world is shaped from the body up more than from the head down. Liturgies aim

our love to different ends precisely by

training our hearts through our bodies.”

Sending our kids off to college is a

weighty decision because, through the

eyes of every professor and the liturgies of their institutions, our students are

learning not only how to take account

of our world but, even more importantly, who and what to love.

I am convinced, therefore, that there is nothing more important to maintaining

our culture and mission as an institution

than hiring the right faculty and creating time and space for them to develop as

Christian teacher-scholars.

Faculty hiring is always a collective

their place of academic ministry and dis-

worth emulating because they hold sway

And in turn, we work hard to create

opportunities for our faculty to grow as

Christian scholars, teachers, and academicians since that is a life-long pursuit.

I enjoy the workshops and campus

colloquiums and seminars we have on campus to share with one another our insights on the integration of faith and

learning from the perspective of our own

discipline. For, if we desire our students to think deeply and live courageously

as a Christian in this world, especially in their field of choice, it starts with a

compelling Christian faculty member. At LeTourneau we understand that a

college education is nothing less than

spiritual formation. So, it is through the

grace of God alone, and in humility, that we follow in the footsteps of Paul the

Apostle as he writes in Philippians 4:9 to claim, “Whatever you have learned

effort using collective wisdom, and I am

or received or heard from me, or seen in

a hand in the recruiting, vetting, and

peace will be with you.” ■

thankful to all on our campus who have

me—put it into practice. And the God of

What makes a Christian university distinct from a secular one is fundamentally the view that education is, at best, incomplete unless considered in light of the life, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, and the grand story of his kingdom.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

U.S. News Ranks LETU 28th in Top Tier of 2019 College Rankings LeTourneau University ranked 28th in the top tier of the national 2019 U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of “America’s Best Colleges” in its category of “Best Regional Universities in the Western Region.” This year marks the 25th year the university has

ranked in the top tier of its classification. Among “Great Schools Great Prices” ranking

of schools that provide a Best Value for regional universities in the West, LETU was ranked 12th. Among “Best Colleges for Veterans,” LETU was ranked 17th. LETU was also

recognized among “A-plus Schools for B-students.” These universities provide opportunity for students accepted for their spirit and hard work. LETU’s engineering program ranked among the top 50 engineering programs in the nation and was in the top two best

engineering schools in the state of Texas, among similar schools with programs whose

highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s degree. LETU was ranked 45th in the country.

LETU Announces Fall 2018 Enrollment of 3,175, Up Nearly 6%

LETU Achieves 100% Pass Rate on National Nurse Testing

LeTourneau University’s total Fall 2018 enrollment is 3,175, a 5.7% increase over last year. Led by significant increases in

students from East Texas, LETU’s enrollment is up over 16% in two years. Fall 2018 enrollment also reflects that LETU

attracted 94 international students from nearly 35 countries. Enrollment numbers are official after the 12th class day.

LeTourneau University nursing graduates who have

graduated during these past three years—which were

the first three years of the LETU nursing program—have achieved a 100% pass rate on the National Council

Licensure Examination (NCLEX). NCLEX pass rates are

monitored by the Texas State Board of Nursing and are

viewed as a measure of how well nurses are prepared to provide safe, quality care for health care consumers.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

LETU Awards 2018 Selby Award for Excellence in Teaching LeTourneau University awarded the Robert H. Selby Teaching Scholar Award for exemplifying the highest standards of teaching excellence to English professor Dr. Stan Coppinger. Recipients are nominated and selected

by faculty vote. The Selby Award is the highest recognition the university

offers for effectiveness in teaching, dedication to LeTourneau University and Christian education. Those who receive it are known for their helpfulness to students, spiritual leadership, scholarship and professional development.

LETU Registrar Presents Session at National Conference in D.C.

LETU Hosts Free Constitution Exhibit Sept. 7 - Oct. 7

LeTourneau University’s Humanities and Social Sciences

presented a free, month-long exhibit titled “The Blessings of Liberty: The U.S. Constitution” in September and October

on the university’s main campus. The event drew hundreds LeTourneau University Registrar Texas Ruegg presented a

of visitors from within the community.

session on work-life balance to the entire leadership group of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Leadership Meeting in Washington,

D.C. More than 70 colleges and universities from all over the country were represented at the national AACRAO meeting.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

LETU Students Present Biomedical Research in Atlanta Two LETU biomedical engineering students Brooke Hayley, at left,

and Natalie Dottle, at right, recently presented their scientific research at the annual conference of

Biomedical Engineering Society in Atlanta, Georgia.

LETU Welcomes New MissionariesIn-Residence for 2018-2019

LETU Education Professors Present at Tale Conference

Missionaries-in-Residence Steve and Becky Cochrane will

LeTourneau University education professors Kathy Stephens

serve LETU for the 2018-2019 academic year. The couple

and Julie Teel-Borders presented on â&#x20AC;&#x153;How to Teach

The Cochranes served in full-time Christian camping

Elementary English Language Learners Using Informational

both attended and met at LETU, marrying in Speer Chapel. ministry for three years, completed their undergraduate

degrees in biblical studies, then joined Avant Ministries to serve in Mali, West Africa.

Interdisciplinary-Based Lessons Designed for Upper-

Textsâ&#x20AC;? at the annual conference of the Texas Association of Literacy Education, held at West Texas A&M University in

Canyon. Their session provided participants with a lesson template, along with multiple examples of information

text-based lessons and resources for upper-elementary

students. More than 500 educators and literacy advocates attended the conference.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

LETU Fine Arts Director, Singers to Perform at Carnegie Hall June 10, 2019 LeTourneau University Director of Fine Arts Dr. Jim Taylor will conduct a festival concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 10, 2019, featuring the

LeTourneau Singers and Longview Civic Chorus. He will premier his new 20-

minute composition for choir and orchestra, titled Cambridge Songs Suite No. 2. Fundraising events will be held throughout the next several months to raise

funding to help students with costs of travel. An online raffle for a chance to win

a trip to New York City, including airfare, hotel accommodations, a concert ticket

to the Carnegie Hall performance and $100 spending cash is being conducted at

moveup.letu.edu/carnegiehall. Each raffle ticket will provide one chance to win. Only 200 tickets will be raffled. Others can pledge support at the same website.

LETU Graduate Nicole Mosley Wins 2018 Student Teacher of the Year LeTourneau University teacher education graduate Nicole Mosley of

Little Elm, Texas, has been notified she was selected as the 2018 Student

Teacher of the Year by the Texas Directors of Field Experiences. Her award was presented at the 2018 Fall Teacher Education Conference of the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education at an awards dinner, Sunday, Oct. 21, in San Antonio. Mosley graduated with her interdisciplinary studies degree in Early Childhood through 6th grade in May 2018 and is teaching

first grade at Elliott Elementary in Frisco Independent School District, north of

Dallas. Mosley used virtual reality to take her 6th graders on a virtual field trip to Egypt where they explored the pyramids and ancient artifacts. LETU has won student teacher of the year five times, in the past eight years.

LETU Theater Group Presents “Cinderella” LETU’s Department of Fine Arts presented a 70-minute, comedic adaptation

of “Cinderella” as the first full-length theater production by LeTourneau theater students in the university’s new theater production course, taught by Kaitlin De Graffenried. The show is part of a new Fine Arts initiative at LeTourneau University headed by LETU Fine Arts Director Dr. Jim Taylor.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Physics as a Foundation for Faith By Edward Hamilton, Ph.D., LETU Professor of Physics

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Faculty Feature: Edward Hamilton, Ph.D.

f we look at the experience of Israel,

extending into the period of the early

church, we find frequent concern with

the faithfulness of God to his people.

Under the Abrahamic covenant, God had promised to preserve and bless

Israel. The cycle of sin and repentance

didn’t erase that covenant, but instead

further emphasized the obligations that

Israel needed to uphold to continue to be blessed. But as the Davidic mon-

archy unraveled and Israel was taken

into exile, it became harder to believe

Galatians, Romans, and Hebrews, we

can feel the apostolic church wrestling with anxiety over the sudden identity

shift in God’s community, from an ethnic nation-state to a voluntary gathering of

believers. Is God allowed to change the

rules of the game like this? Has God

been unfaithful to the original covenant

promises made to Israel?

Several years ago, my LeTourneau

University colleague Dr. Steve Ball

pointed me to a powerful passage in the book of Jeremiah where these problems

that the covenant wasn’t collapsing into

are addressed.

A similar problem reappears after the

sages that receive special attention from

a state of permanent failure.

resurrection of Christ. In epistles like

Chapter 31 is a source of several pasNew Testament authors. In verse 31,

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

we find the promise of a New Covenant,

one that is different than the old conditional covenant that Israel lost due to

sin. Is there any risk that this covenant

will also fail? Here are God’s answers (quoting from the NIV):

by “decrees, natural laws that govern

the periods of their recurrence.

Divine promises come from the same

source as natural laws. If those natural

laws remain authoritative, we know that

Second, we can trust God because the

heavens and earth have secrets that are

unknown to us, indeed, many secrets that are permanently unknowable to

us by their very nature. We will never

fully understand all of nature, and this

appreciation paradoxically forces us into

This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is His name: “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.” This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.

understanding ourselves as dependent

on God’s sovereignty.

There is a charming quote attributed to the British mathematician Sir Horace

Lamb, the discoverer of Lamb Waves

(guided acoustic waves that occur in

geological or atmospheric layers), in a

1932 speech:

“I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven, there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is

quantum electrodynamics, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluids. And

about the former I am rather optimistic.” He had spent his life studying fluid

turbulence. The extent to which nature

humbles us by revealing the limits of our

understanding is a reminder of the frailty

of human intellect, and a reassurance that the heavens will “never be mea-

sured,” nor will the “foundations of the

earth” be completely “searched out.”

When I was in graduate school, one of

my professors expressed the idea that it is a remarkable miracle that we live in a

universe that is just complicated enough to be permanently interesting.

It would have been easy for God to make

a universe governed by simple or trivial laws, nothing beyond first semester

physics, but one without the richness

and complexity of chaotic dynamics or the mysterious of quantum reality.

There are two answers here. Both could

be paraphrased, quite fairly, as “We can

trust God, because…physics!”

First, we can trust God because all of

nature is a witness to the reliability of His

promises. The sun, the moon, the stars,

and the tides are all on set cycles—completely reliable cycles that are governed

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

God’s promises are backed by an equal level of authority. We can trust God

because the orderliness of astronomical

processes, governed by what we now

understand as the Newtonian theory of

mechanics, is a powerful and universally

accessible item on God’s personal

curriculum vitae.

That universe would satisfy the first of

Jeremiah’s promises above, but not the second. It would also have been easy to create a universe so complicated

that we would have no hope of under-

standing any of it, any more than an

insect could understand an automobile.

That would satisfy the second condition of Jeremiah 31, but not the first.

Faculty Feature: Edward Hamilton, Ph.D.

The fact that we live in a universe that is just complicated enough to conceal a

storehouse of deep mysteries, but still simple enough to slowly yield them to

our exploration, is a remarkable gift.

It implies to us that, by the original divine plan, we were meant to be explorers

and discoverers of this creation, but that this process of discovery would never be complete. But we also understand

that this is also our position relative to

God, the maker of creation. We can feel

confident that we were meant to know

God, but also that our knowledge will be a continual adventure of wonderful new

discoveries without end. â&#x2013;

Dr. Edward Hamilton is an associate professor of physics at LeTourneau

University. A native of Michigan, he

found his love for science began early, before high school, as he enjoyed

reading his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s old chemistry

textbooks. Despite scholarships

to graduate programs in chemistry,

Hamilton instead chose to earn

his master and doctoral degrees in

physics at the University of Colorado,

doing research in topics like the

behavior of light interacting with

molecules while studying the funda-

mental physical laws of the universe.

WE CAN TRUST GOD, BECAUSE... PHYSICS! NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Memorials Thomas Harrison (’48 IE) died May 26, 2018, at the age of 93, in Pekin, Illinois. He was

a Ham Radio Operator for 22 years and a

private pilot who owned six airplanes. He is

survived by his wife, Glenda; son, Timothy,

and wife Kay; daughter, Elizabeth; daughter,

Linda, and husband, Charles; two grandchildren; and two

great grandchildren.

Ron McCune (’54 MES) died Apr. 22,

2018 in Longview, Texas. He is survived by his son, Doug, and wife, Lee Ann;

daughter, Kelly, and husband David; and two granddaughters. Ron had a 35-year

career working for LeTourneau Inc. and was R. G. LeTourneau’s personal assistant until LeTourneau’s death in 1969.

The loss of a loved one, friend or colleague often inspires us to ensure that their memory lives on. Many people find that supporting LETU is an ideal way to honor someone who has passed away. Gifts made “in memoriam” offer lasting honor to a loved one while providing family and friends with the satisfaction of knowing they have helped others. If you would like to give a memoriam to LETU, please call 1-800-259-5388 or donate online at www.letu/give. The family will be notified of your generosity when a memoriam is made.

Richard K. Maughlin (’57 WE/IS) died June

19, 2017, in Seadrift, Texas, and was buried

in Arlington National Cemetery. He served in

the U.S. Navy for 34 years and was promoted to Rear Admiral Upper Half and served as

Commanding Officer of 5 Reserve Commands.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Evelyn. He is

survived by his wife, Dollie; daughter, Melanie; daughter, Marcie,

James J. Kibelbeck (’69 ME) died March 2,

2018, in Telford, Tennessee. He is survived by his wife, Miriam; son, Justin; son, Seth and

wife Christy; and four grandchildren.

and husband, Clay; son, Mike; stepchildren: Allen, and wife,

Yvette; Kristin, and husband, Andy; Robyn, and husband, Mark; Austin, and wife, Tara; and 18 grandchildren.

James L. Hammock (’69 ME) died at the age of 97, Aug. 10, 2018 in Longview, Texas. He

Edward LaVelle, Sr. (’66 MT) died

Star and a Purple Heart during WWII and was

July 13, 2018, in Staley North Carolina.

employed by LeTourneau for many years after

daughter, Mechelle, and husband, Ash;

Sue Carol Speegle; son, James Hammock Jr.; 10 grandchildren;

He is survived by his wife, Patricia;

son, Edward “Ren,” and wife, Julie; son,

Christian, and wife, Nikki; sister, Martha Spray, and husband,

“Bo”; and six grandchildren.

was a decorated veteran earning a Bronze

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

his graduation. He is survived by his daughter,

and many great-grandchildren.

Katie L. Landrum (’02 BBA) died March 27, in Tyler, Texas.

She was employed in medical systems and training for hospitals. She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Willie; son, Justin;

and many other family members.

Erik Benson (’10 BME) died May 20, 2018, in Easton,

Pennsylvania, after a two-year battle with leukemia. He is

survived by his parents, Craig Benson and Sharon Trimble;

and his brother, Mark.

Thomas “Jake” Hefner (’14 AFMI) died

suddenly on April 15, 2018, in Bovina, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Amanda (Ratliff)

Hefner (’15 AAST); infant son, T. Rex; parents,

Tommy and Jill Hefner; sister, Callie; and many other family members.

Births Jonathan Wenrich (’12 AFFS) and wife, Frank Batham (’10 HIPL) and wife, Alita,

Laura, announce the birth of their first child,

announce the birth of daughter, Claire Rose,

Sloane Juliet, born Apr. 4, 2018. Jonathan is

home by siblings, Eva (5) and Amos (2). Frank

rate Pilot for Centrex, Portland, Oregon.

born Jan. 22, 2018. She was welcomed

the Director of Strategic Partnerships/Corpo-

is the Lead Pastor at Providence Vineyard

Church, Scio, Oregon.

Joshua (’13 CSBS) and Anna (Crawford) (’13 PSYS) Carl announce the

Jonathan (’12 AAAS) and Summer (Brown) (’12 PSCD) Richards an-

nounce the birth of daughter Anastasia

birth of Isaiah William, born June 10

2018 in Olathe, Kansas. He is wel-

comed home by his sister, Rose (2).

Joy, born Sept. 24, 2018 at home in

Longview, Texas. She joins siblings, Elizabeth (5), Alexander (2), and

Catherine (1). Jonathan has recently taken a job with Komatsu

as Motor Assembly Technician.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Amanda (Ratliff) Hefner (’15 AAST) and late husband, Thomas “Jake”

Class Notes

Hefner (’14 AFMI) announce the birth

of Thomas Rex (T. Rex), born on July 10, 2018. Amanda is owner of Hefner Flying Service, Hereford, Texas.

Thomas Chandler Jr. (’62 IE) has recently published his memoirs in a book titled,

“From Farm Boy to Global Ambassador” Thomas (‘14 ME) and Sarah (Hall)

(’15 ISBS) Arnold announce the birth of their first child, Henry, born November

1, 2017 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

relating to his time at LETU and how God

used him to spread the Good News to people in 32 nations. He is now retired. He and his

wife, Clare, live in San Jose, California.

Thomas works for Zeeco, Inc., Broken

Arrow, Oklahoma, as a CFD Engineer and Sarah is the South

Central Regional Coordinator for Adventure Mamas Initiative,

Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Glenn Butts (’80 ATBS/BUBS) was awarded the Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” Award by the Federal Aviation

Administration in May, 2018. The award recognizes pilots who have practiced safe flight operations continuously for 50 or

more years during the course of their aviation careers. Glenn

and his wife, Sheila (’87 BUBS), live in West Bend, Wisconsin.

Weddings

Lowell Tench (’81 WT) reports that his wife, Brenda, died Jan.

28, 2018 from Huntington’s disease. They were married for 34

years and had a daughter, Elizabeth Tench. Lowell is the owner

Ken Cowin (’75 BI/MI) was married to artist

of Lowel’s Tire in Clarkesville, Georgia.

and musician, DiAnne Booth, July 11, 2018, in a newly restored historic pioneer cabin in Fort Lupton, Colorado. They will live in

Brighton, Colorado. Ken is retired.

Gregg Sweeten (’82 BUAT) has retired

from Professor of Aviation Maintenance

Technology, Southwestern Illinois College,

Granite City, Illinois, where he taught for the

Luke Stephens (’18 CVE) and Eva

DiFrancesco (’18 NURS) were married Sept.

past 30 years. He and his wife, Cheryl, now live in Kimberling City, Missouri.

2, 2018, in Niagara Falls, New York. The

couple will live in Montgomery, Alabama,

where Luke works for Weatherford Architects

as a Structural Engineer, and Eva works at Baptist South Hospital.

Kenneth Saxe (’84 BUBS) is the Vice

President of IT Services at Doceo Office

Solutions, in York, Pennsylvania, when the

company acquired the business and clients of Ken and his wife, Elaine, who owned Saxe &

Rebecca Dye (’16 MTL) married Jeremy Shelton July 23, after

graduating from LETU and they live in Wylie, Texas. Rebecca is

a teacher at Richardson Classical Academy, Richardson, Texas.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Associates, Inc.

Brian Lastor (’95 BBM) an inside sales account manager with

ASG Technologies, in Arlington, Texas.

Stephen Casey (’03 HIPL/BI) has launched his new Austinbased company, Datapoint Media Group, which he says will

revolutionize the way radio stations track listening patterns with real-time data and geo-tracking to get immediate, accurate

Eric Swanson (’95 MT) was promoted to product safety and

marketing data on which to base advertising rates. Alumni,

global/cross cultural environment at LETU has kept him open

Joshua Wilfong (’15 CIS) and Chelsea McFarland (’16 CIS)

LETU’s emphasis on drive, attention to detail and curiosity

computer science majors.

standards engineer at Kalmar Solutions, LLC. He says the

to a positive worldview as he deals with global customers.

Samuel Mills (’17 CSNS), Andrew Heaton (’16 CSNS),

all participated in this project as part of the capstone course for

helps him in his daily quest to find the applicable standards

and regulations to aid his company in building a world-class

product for global customers. Eric has been with the company

Brenda Williams (’01 BBA) is a new senior vice president and

over 17 years. He and his wife, Tahsa, live in Olathe, Kansas,

senior compliance officer/project manager at Austin Bank, in

Audrey (14), Asher (6), and Tatym (5).

two grandsons.

with their children: Annabeth (20), David (18), Jonathan (17),

Bullard, Texas. She and her husband, Terry, have one son and

Richard Hall (’97 BBM), after producing video and media for

Gary Ratliff (’03 BBM) was named Police Chief in League

own production company, East Texas Productions, in Tyler,

position. Michael Kramm (’03 BBA) who previously held the

many years for a media and news company, has started his

Texas, with his son, Michael. In addition to his business, he is currently serving on the Graphic Arts Advisory Committee at

City, Texas. He is the third LETU graduate who has held that position, was promoted to Assistant City Manager.

Angelina College.

Matt Smith (’07 BBA) has joined the Austin-

based art consultancy firm, Eaton Fine Art, as

Daniel Orozco (’98 BBM) is a

a sales representative for Texas, Oklahoma

missionary with Denton Bible Church,

and Louisiana. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Denton, Texas, as part of their Foreign Field Staff. He and his wife, Marie,

along with their children, are serving

at the International Baptist Church of Nice, Nice, France.

Michael DeGroat (’08 IBBS) is executive director of Worldview

Academy. Worldview is a national ministry that trains Christians how to think and live with a biblical worldview enabling them

Jerry Ashworth (’00, BBA) is the new CEO at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston, Texas.

Charles Mayes (’00 BBA) has retired from a U.S. government

job and now lives in Richmond, Texas, with his wife, Josephine.

to be bold servant leaders full of grace and truth. LETU hosts a

Worldview Leadership Camp for 13-18-year-old students every

summer. www.worldview.org. Michael and his wife, Melissa, live in Garland, Texas.

Charles “Chip” Stuhr (’09 MBA) is Stemco’s new director of

aftermarket sales covering the United States, Canada, Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean. He lives in

Garland, Texas.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Tammy Faber (’11 MBA) was named

Regina Myrick (‘13BUBS) is the owner,

Houston, on August 24. She is the vice

& “Love in Color” Photography, based

to the 2018 Top 30 Influential Women of

lead photographer of RM Photography

president of operations for Fort Bend

in Asheville, North Carolina. She and

Services, Inc., a woman certified owned

her husband, Aaron, live in Fairview,

business, and is responsible for running all facets of the business.

North Carolina.

She and her husband, Scott Poynor, live in Richland, Texas.

Drew Story (’11 PSE-4) was selected as

a congressional Science and Engineering Fellow for the 2018-2019 year by the

Burton Rhodes (’13 MJT) has been promoted to chief

engineer of McNair Aerospace Center at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.

American Chemical Society to serve on

Capitol Hill as part of the broader Science

and Technology Policy Fellowships program

of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellows provide policy-makers with information on science-

related issues. Drew earned a Ph.D. in chemical environmental

engineering from the University of California-Riverside, in 2018.

Alex (Ott) Solis (’13 BYBS) graduated Summa Cum Laude

and Beta Sigma Kappa from Southern College of Optometry, Memphis, Tennessee, with a Doctor of Optometry degree in

May 2018. She also received the Outstanding Clinician Award

for overall exemplary clinical performance, the National Board

of Examiners in Optometry Part II Highest Score Award, and

the Southwest Contact Lens Society Award. She is currently

Elizabeth Spencer Berthiaume (’12 HIPL)

graduated from Texas A&M School of Law

April 27, with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. She and her husband, Nathan (’13 MJT),

doing her residency at Memphis VA Medical Center and has recently received her Texas license approval to practice in

Texas. Her husband, Robert Soliz (’13 AAAS), is an A&P

mechanic for Hospital Wing. They live in Memphis, Tennessee.

live in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kasey (McKinney) Harlinski (’14 ACCT) is an audit supervisor

Jennifer “Jenni” Nelson (’12 HSBS)

is a palliative care nurse volunteering

for Gollob Morgan Peddy, P.C. She and her husband, Jacob

(’14 MGT), live in Tyler, Texas.

in Cameroon, Africa, with Mercy Ships

onboard the Africa Mercy Hospital Ship. She said that her time at LETU was

important for laying the foundation for

who she is as a nurse. LETU’s mission statement of “Every Workplace, Every Nation” resounds to remind her that no

matter where she is working, whether in Missouri or Cameroon, that she is serving the Kingdom of God.

Daniel (’15 MBA) and Emily (Aitken)(’12 PSYS) Greene

recently moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Emily is pursuing

her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience Psychology at The Ohio

State University. Her research study is on neurodegenerative

diseases and decision-making. Daniel is the owner of Gauge Performance LLC.

Robin Mathew (’15 MJNG) was recently promoted to field

engineer with Rosen USA, Houston, Texas.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Eyes in the Sky and Ears on the Airwaves

Jamie Cutting (’16 ME) has recently taken the position of

building automation system programmer, with Ingersoll Rand/

Trane. He and his wife, Maureen, and children Katherine (16), Taylor (15), Dustin (11), Matthew (9) and Sophie (7), live in Earlville, New York.

Courtney Matulis (’17 MAE1-BS), one of three honorees for

Texas Clinical Teacher of the Year at the 2017 Consortium of

State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education, is a first-year math teacher at Gilmer High School, Gilmer, Texas.

LETU alumni J.D. Claridge and Phil Burks lived in the

same residence hall as Flooders 27 years apart. They have partnered on a new project to help save lives:

FIRST iZ™, a commercial drone system that uses an

Patrick Van Tholen (’18 BSME) is a design engineer at

Hi-Cone in Itasaca, Illinois.

xCraft drone system dispatched by Genesis PULSE® technology to give first responders a bird’s eye view

on what they are facing before they arrive. Claridge is founder and CEO of xCraft in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,

Tiffany McGee (’09 MBA) was a 1995 Horatio Alger National Scholar and

recently attended a scholar’s alumni event

which manufactures drones. Burks is founder and CEO

of The Genesis Group in Tyler, Texas, which provides first responder technology.

in Washington, D.C. Fellow alumni and

national leaders of the association met for

dinner at the Smithsonian African-American

Museum of History and Culture and were later treated to a

performance by Reba McIntire at the Kennedy Center. Tiffany is pictured with retired astronaut, Bernard A. Harris. After

leaving LETU, she earned a Master of Education degree at

Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas and now teaches

at Sherman ISD, Sherman, Texas.

Luke Freitag (’14-’16 MTAS) is working, as an engineer for

Inspiracom, Pharr, Texas.

Brian Brody (’02 BBM) Has recently moved to Mesquite,

Texas with his wife, Deborah. He is the owner of B & W Video Services LLC, Winona, Texas.

LETU alumnus Stephen Casey, pictured at right, is chief

executive officer of a new, start-up technology company Datapoint Media Group that plans to revolutionize the

way radio ratings and advertising rates are determined. He took this new technology company to the 2018 Na-

tional Radio Show in Orlando, Florida, recently. Pictured

with Casey is his company vice president Stan Mak, a

former vice president of a Christian radio broadcasting

company. Casey’s new product, the “Audion” app, is

soon to be released on the Apple Store and Google Store.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

STUDENTS REFLECT ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION AT LETU

JOSH RAIES “When I came to LeTourneau University, I came with a sense

“The emphasis we place on spiritual formation is vital to what

from Midland, Texas, who plays baseball on the YellowJacket

of life, the faculty and staff seek to cultivate an environment

of calling from God,” said Josh Raies, senior kinesiology major Baseball team and serves as the student body president.

“The university was appealing because of its highly regarded academics, because of the prospect of receiving a Christian education, and because of an opportunity to play collegiate

baseball, but there was something much deeper in my pull to LETU,” he said. “I felt a peace coming to LeTourneau. I knew that my time here would be pivotal in my development as a professional, as a man, and most importantly as a follower of Christ.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

makes LeTourneau inherently unique,” he said. “In every facet where students live in light of Christ’s finished work on the

cross. We are taught what it means to truly live on mission

through a life of meaningful service to others, so the Gospel can be proclaimed in every work place and every nation.”

LEANNE GROSS “The biggest area that helped me in my spiritual walk was my

“An upperclassman introduced me to my life group, and that

Gilmer, Texas. “There are a group of girls that I became friends

year, I was a bit timid and scared, but my resident assistant

community,” said Leanne Gross, a senior education major from with on my floor in Davis Hall, and these six girls became my close sisters in Christ. We all have taken time to just pour

into each other and encourage each other when rough days

happen. Looking back, I could not imagine not having these girls in my life.

became a huge blessing in my life,” she said. “During my first was amazing. She was extroverted, and I was a shy student. She helped me integrate into the community. She also saw

that I loved working with kids, so she helped me become a

part of the Kidz Club, an off-campus ministry that meets every Saturday. She was always there to listen.”

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

STUDENTS REFLECT ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION AT LETU

CAMERON GREGORY “College provides such a unique opportunity to begin ‘adulting’

Gregory spent last summer interning as a worship team

Gregory, materials joining engineering senior from Houston,

on week-long, construction-based mission trips.

before you become a fully established adult,” said Cameron Texas. Active in his home church, playing keyboards and leading the youth worship team, he said he expected to grow academically in his field of engineering, but found

growing academically in his faith along with engineering was equally transforming.

“At this point now, I can definitely say that an academic look at Scripture has made a huge impact on my life,” he said.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

member for 10 weeks in Alaska facilitating high school groups “I got to see the tangible impact of God’s presence as prayers were answered, people’s lives were altered, and God’s

Kingdom was built,” he said. “I could talk about my summer

for a long time. The experience was an opportunity that I got through LETU!”

ELLA FULCHER “Being at LETU and having the friendships I have has been a

“As an SLA, we are called to show the love of Christ to others

path and follow His will,” said Ella Fulcher, a sophomore

to those around us,” she said. “I have been challenged to

huge blessing, as they have encouraged me to follow God’s

psychology major from Glenmoore, Pennsylvania. “God knew

I needed strong friends that had my back to help me strive for God’s excellence.”

by leading floor devotions and making ourselves available constantly seek and grow more in my walk with God and

encourage others to do the same. It has taught me more on how to love on people and show them the love of God.”

Fulcher said she enjoys the opportunity she has in leadership to connect with girls on her residence hall floor and be an encourager as a new Spiritual Life Assistant.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

STUDENTS REFLECT ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION AT LETU

BRENDON MOORE “When I came as a freshman, I had no idea, since spiritual

process. It has its ups and downs. In many ways I am still on

theology and literature double major from Rockwall, Texas.

of love, right relationship, and peace with the world.

things were far from my mind,” said Brendon Moore, junior

“My professors saw something in me and got me to look at

the world as bigger than myself. I had put God in a box, but he

doesn’t fit in my box. I got to know him here.” Today Moore is a floor chaplain, doing for others what others have done for him. “I had to grow from pride and greed to love and humility,” he said. “I am learning how to serve well. It is not an immediate

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

this journey. God is calling us to be with him and share his life “Life is bigger than me. God is bigger than me. And he is calling me into his redemptive story,” he said.

GINA DELAGARZA “My faith became personally mine at LeTourneau,” said Gina

“There’s a push to dig deeper,” she said. “I want to read

“When you’re growing up, you have faith because your parents

groups, and the community we have created helps make faith

De La Garza, junior accounting major from McAllen, Texas.

take you to church. They make you go. Here, I learned to make my faith my own.

and study my Bible. I lead worship here. We have chapel life

a priority. God is so present. From the faculty and staff to the janitors, it’s who they are, not just something on paper.”

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Testimonies SHARING GOD’S

OF FAITHFULNESS By Terry Zeitlow, Ph.D.

nyone who knows me, knows I

from West Texas who started giving to

Tourneau University! But I know

father and father supported the work

bleed blue and gold! I love Le-

when I say that, I am not alone. So many others share that same love, appreciation and passion for this institution.

I have the great privilege in my work

of meeting with many people. It is an

unbelievable joy and incredible honor.

Some of these people are alumni; some are friends of the university from our

LeTourneau in 1980 because his grandof R.G. LeTourneau. His only personal “touch” with the school came one fall

afternoon in the 1990’s when he got off Interstate 20, drove to campus, sat on a bench in the middle of campus and

visited with students for about an hour. Tears came to his eyes as he shared his experience.

local community, some are past parents

Testimonies! Stories! They are powerful!

But when I meet with these folks, I am

impact. In fact, we all live them! It is

and current parents. You get the picture! always struck by the impact the university has had on them personally.

We have all heard them and felt their important that we pass them along. Scripture encourages us to do so.

No two stories are the same. I’ve heard

Throughout the early chapters of the

neau as students for various reasons but

repeatedly reminding the children of

from alumni who struggled at LeTour-

look back now and are grateful for their

experiences. There are parents who are pinching themselves over the fact there

is a Christian university like this for their child to attend. There is the gentleman

book of Deuteronomy, we see the Lord Israel of the importance of passing on

God’s testimony of faithfulness in their lives. God’s instruction was to those

“whose eyes had seen firsthand all that the Lord had done” (Deut. 11:2-7).

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

The stories that take place here at

others can benefit. A very gifted Tom

greater story. We know that because

I encourage you to attend an upcoming

LeTourneau are really a part of God’s LeTourneau University is His University. Always has been; always will be!

Bevan serves as the Executive Director. seminar or contact Tom to explore

possibilities of building your legacy story.

We are placing an emphasis in our

Of course, I close with a story. I recently

a better job of sharing stories. Our sto-

what I considered a very generous gift

Alumni and Development work on doing

met with a young couple who had given

neau. Know you are making a difference in the lives of those who attend here. You can be looking for the story of

Spencer Nelson, 1993 graduate of

LeTourneau, coming soon with year-end

giving information. Spencer’s story came to us through one of our Development Prayer partners, who are a team of

LEGACY PLANNING IS REALLY STORY TELLING. IT IS INDIVIDUALS AND COUPLES SHARING THEIR STORY OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND ALLOWING THAT STORY TO CREATE A LEGACY SO OTHERS CAN BENEFIT. ries, past and present, are too important.

for 22-year-olds. We had a wonderful

helps affirm to our faithful donors that

turned to their donation. I asked them,

Sharing stories of our current students the gifts they provide are making a difference and having an impact.

visit together, and then the conversation “What prompted you to make such a gift at such a young age?”

Another critical way we are creating

Their response was inspiring. “We know

stories is with the start of The LeTour-

also know we didn’t pay the full amount

opportunities for people to share their neau University Foundation. To better

serve the long-term endowment needs

of the university, the investment strategy of those endowment funds, and better

serve those exploring estate and legacy

gifts, this Foundation is being launched. Legacy planning is really story telling. It is individuals and couples sharing their story of God’s faithfulness and

allowing that story to create a legacy so

our education was expensive, but we

ourselves. We had scholarships awarded that people had left to the university. Our

parents helped us some and we also borrowed to make the difference possible.

But we felt a need to give back because

others had helped us, and we would not

have the nice jobs we have today without the education we received!”

I think their story of gratitude is beautiful. I thank you who contribute to LeTour-

people committed to pray for those who

financially support LeTourneau University. What’s your story? As always, if you

haven’t been back to LETU in a while, I encourage you to come back. My

invitation to personally give you a tour of this beautiful campus and treat you

to either our Corner Café or Bodacious

for lunch or dinner is an open invitation. Call me at 903.736.6910 or email me at TerryZeitlow@letu.edu; I look forward

to hearing your LeTourneau story! And

thank you for making current LeTourneau University students’ stories possible by giving back to your alma mater! ■

By Matt Kinney, Sports Information Director

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

LETU ATHLETICS

“

THE COACHES HERE AT LETOURNEAU ARE GREAT EXAMPLES OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP WE HAVE COACHES WHO NOT ONLY TRAIN YOU BUT CAN SEAMLESSLY TRANSITION INTO SPIRITUAL MENTORSHIP ”

hen Bridey Davis stepped foot on the LeTourneau

“The coaches here at LeTourneau are great examples of spir-

Texas, native was a wide-eyed freshman looking to

train you but can seamlessly transition into spiritual mentorship,

University campus four years ago, the Boerne,

adjust to college life as an NCAA Division III student-athlete in women’s soccer.

itual leadership,” Davis said. “We have coaches who not only

showing us what it means to be excellent in what we do while

supporting and encouraging each other in a Christ-like manner.”

Fast forward to her senior year, and Davis is still a student-ath-

Davis was one of five undergraduates who traveled to Kenya last

spiritually in ways she could not have imagined.

professor Karen Rispin. The Wheels Team seeks to help enable

lete for the YellowJackets, but in a different sport, and growing Following her successful first season on the YellowJacket

women’s soccer team, Davis struggled to make it through her

summer as part of the LETU Wheels Team, led by former biology disabled children in less-resourced countries by providing them with properly fitted wheelchairs to increase mobility.

sophomore year. Challenges both on and off the field forced

“The Wheels project was a huge answer to prayer because I

no longer fit her priorities, so Davis talked to her soccer coach,

to take me there,” she said. “The trip shaped my idea about

her to reassess her ambitions. She realized women’s soccer

John Antonisse, who suggested she compete on the new LETU cross country team.

Now in her second season as a cross country runner, Davis is

the only senior on the squad, and the role has opened an avenue for her to mentor underclassmen.

When not competing in athletics, Davis is active as the founder of the LETU Pro Life Club and serving as a student volunteer

coordinator for Expectant Heart Pregnancy Resource Center in Longview. What started as a small group of 8-10 students has grown to a list of 50 students who regularly attend events and

didn’t expect to be able to go, but God opened so many doors mission work and my career in general.” Davis credits it with

helping her find what she believes is her calling in life, and she now plans to attend graduate school to study occupational

therapy after graduating with her undergraduate degree from LETU in May 2019.

“What we did in Kenya was occupational therapy related,” she said. “I learned a lot from the patients and the occupational

therapists, being able to see how the therapists interacted with patients and how they exemplified Christ-like love and support while meeting physical needs.” ■

volunteer as part of the LETU Pro Life Club.

Davis says witnessing the Christ-like attitudes of her LETU coaches has helped her overcome what she calls a “false sense” of her own spiritual maturity.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

The Blessing of Work to Our Spiritual Lives By Bill Peel, D.Min., Executive Director of the Center for Faith and Work

s a young businessman, R.G. LeTourneau came

face to face with a decision that would shape his life.

Wanting to be all in for God, he sought advice from

By sheer force of time, the workplace has an overwhelmingly

strong shaping influence on human hearts and character.

Workplace values and challenges on Monday can whittle away

his pastor. He told his pastor that God had taken him out of

at the thin influence of a few hours of worship on Sunday.

promised God that he would do anything God wanted him

under the heat of economic pressure and competition.

spiritual bankruptcy during a recent revival and that he had to do from that moment on.

“But how can I know what He wants me to do?” LeTourneau said. “I know a layman can’t serve Him like a preacher can, but tell me, does He want me to serve as a missionary?”

His pastor knelt and prayed with him. As they arose from their

knees, God spoke to the young LeTourneau through the words

of his pastor.

“You know, Brother LeTourneau,” his pastor said, “God needs businessmen as well as preachers and missionaries.”

Those words guided his life ever since that day. Was his pastor recommending a life of second-class citizen-

Commitments and good intentions can evaporate quickly

LeTourneau’s pastor knew that the workplace is one of the most important places God calls us to serve others and grow our

personal faith. Rather than wilt LeTourneau’s faith, God used the

challenges of the workplace to form LeTourneau into a giant of faith and give him a foretaste of flourishing in God’s kingdom.

American scholar and author Eugene Peterson paraphrased

James’s encouraging words and reminds us that the largest

challenges present the biggest opportunity for spiritual growth: Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges

come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true

colors.… Let it do its work so you become mature and

ship in God’s kingdom, a place where LeTourneau’s spiritual

well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-4 MSG)

At LeTourneau University, we believe work is a gift of God. But

are where godly character is tried, tested, proven, and matured.

life would shrivel up for lack of exercise? Absolutely not!

because we live in a fallen world full of broken human beings,

the workplace is full of challenges that press against our faith.

For most Christians, the relentless challenges of the workplace

When men and women become aware of God’s interest and

personal presence in their work, the pressures of work create

opportunity for spiritual growth.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

“

If I had a religion that limped along during the week, and maybe worked only on Sunday, or while you’re in church, I don’t think I’d be very sold on it. I think I’d turn it in on a new model that worked seven days a week, that would work That growth happens when the reality of the most powerful,

life-altering, culture-changing force in the world—the gospel of

Jesus Christ—dawns in our hearts at work.

It is Christ, not workplace values, that inexorably mold our char-

acter. Grace replaces resentment. Integrity replaces duplicity.

when I was at church, in my home, or out at the plant. — R.G. LETOURNEAU

Generosity replaces possessiveness. Love replaces hate. The

desire to serve replaces the craving for power. Rest replaces frantic striving. Humility replaces prideful self-absorption.

Corporate worship, Bible studies, quiet times, and discipleship

groups all create capacity for our spiritual development, but real formation occurs when the power of the gospel confronts our

worldly attitudes in the everyday transactions of life and work. LeTourneau University birthed the Center for Faith & Work to

champion R.G. LeTourneau’s legacy of work shaped by faith in Christ.

Rather than wilting our faith, the workplace can become

a place of dynamic growth, spiritual influence, and human flourishing when we bring the power of the gospel to bear

on the daily challenges work brings.

Resources designed to help individuals, businesses, and

churches bring the transforming power of Christ into the

workplace are available at CenterForFaithAndWork.com. ■

“

I’m prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is in the workplace. — EUGENE PETERSON

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Join us for Homecoming & Family Weekend 2019! Celebrating LETU Engineering, Dr. Bill Graff,

20 years of Gilbert Hall, and the Class of 1969! Plus returning favorites:

• The Academy of Engineering and Engineering Technology Induction Ceremony

• Golden Jackets Luncheon (alumni from classes 50+ years out) • Hootenanny Tailgate

• 54th Presentation of Hootenanny

• Breakfast hosted by the LETU Sting Flight Team • Picnic-at-the-Pond (featuring Bodacious BBQ!)

• Rope Pull, Cardboard & Duct Tape Boat Races, & Catamelon • Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet

All LETU alumni, families, & friends are

invited to join us! Watch for a full brochure to arrive in your mailbox after the first of the year. Contact the Office of Alumni &

Parents Relations with questions anytime – alumni@letu.edu or parents@letu.edu.

NOW Magazine | Fall 2018

Join Us In Greece!

arsha and I invite you to join us as we tour Greece

and follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Our

Itinerary

tour guides, Dr. David and Elizabeth Sparks, will trace

Paul’s journeys and lead us as a community to a deeper under-

DAYS 1 & 2

Arrival

DAY 3

Veria and Vergina

nities that the pivotal events of the early church will come alive

DAY 4

Philippi and Neapolis (modern day Kavala)

personally looking forward to seeing the beauty of this part of

DAY 5

Thessaloniki

deep roots of our faith permeating the area.

DAY 6

Athens

As we travel together, Dr. Sparks will be sharing insights with

DAY 7

Athens: Free Day

message and how his message of Jesus Christ continues

DAY 8

Corinth and Canal

standing of God’s work throughout the history of the Church.

We’ll explore the great cities of Greece. It is in these commuas we explore the Scriptures in their original settings. I am

the world and know that beauty will only be enhanced by the

us about how the first century context shaped Paul’s gospel

today to inspire and encourage those who want to follow him.

Elizabeth Iliadou-Sparks is a native of Berea and will give us an insider’s view of her homeland, taking us off the beaten path

to provide an unusually rich and gracious experience of Greek

4 Day Cruise:

culture and cuisine.

DAY 9

Mykonos

Please consider joining us for this life-changing opportunity.

DAY 10

Ephesus, Turkey and Patmos, Greece

DAY 11

Rhodes

Dr. Dale and Marsha Lunsford

DAY 12

Heraklion (Crete) and Santorini

Longview, TX

DAY 13

Piraeus (Athens)

I know you will not regret it. In Christ,

President and First Lady, LeTourneau University

Dr. Dale and Marsha Lunsford

Find out detailed information and reserve your place at www.letu.edu/Greece!

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT NO. 178

NOW Magazine P.O. Box 8001 Longview, TX 75607

Relationships Matter.

Almost every LeTourneau University student learns about LETU through a relationship with one of our alumni, a friend, a family member, a youth pastor or other person in their lives. One of the greatest donations YOU can make to LeTourneau University is to tell others about us. Recycle this magazine by sharing it with others.

We are blessed to have you in our LETU family!