THE PARENT GUIDE Perspective From Top Academics

There is no shortage of options when you’re trying to help your child choose where to pursue higher education. The real challenge is finding the right place — the college or university where your student will thrive.

Our Parent Guide serves as a handy guidebook, providing some nice-to-know specifics about Olivet Nazarene University.

success imagined

Developing academic, emotional, spiritual and social students is the goal of Olivet as a higherlearning institution. This complete educational experience or success happens not in one area of the classroom but throughout the campus and in the community. To achieve this type of success, students must become involved and engaged. They must lean and jump in as well as take risks and seek opportunities. These actions enhance education, develop competence, define character and create leadership opportunities for a diverse and ever-changing world. As your student dreams beyond the high school graduation stage, imagine for a moment what a successful transition to higher education looks like. Dreams can become a reality with intentionality, hard work and seizing opportunities. Let’s intellectually and constructively imagine life for your student. Imagine having effective organization skills. What works for one student may not work for another, so trial and error is OK. Once an organizational system is found, stay organized and balance responsibilities. Get in a routine of keeping close tabs on due dates for assignments and projects to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Having a planner system dedicated to schoolwork can be useful and assist in planning ahead so that you have enough time to study for quizzes and exams and complete larger projects.

Imagine success with time management skills that can help you stay on top of your workload without feeling overwhelmed or defeated. Time management will allow you the ability to complete as many assignments as possible with the least amount of stress. You don’t have to study all day, but chip away at assignments — even if it’s only 20 minutes. Remember to organize your thoughts, make an outline and review vocabulary terms to maximize your writing sessions.

Imagine the ability to work with others by collaborating with classmates and peers. This actually prepares you for the realities of the real world and the workplace. It’s not always easy working in groups, but working on your collaboration skills can make the process go more smoothly.

Adversity is inevitable, but figuring out ways to effectively work against it helps to get the job completed.

Imagine making friends within your degree program so that you will have support and accountability — whether it’s studying for tests or swapping stories about the highs and lows of college life. You’ll have someone to rely on for help when needed and possibly make coursework more enjoyable when you have someone you can relate to — and maybe, just maybe, you will find someone that will be a friend for life. Imagine a curiosity to learn more, gaining more knowledge and skills. Be thirsty and curious to learn as much as possible. Try new things and ask questions whenever you can. Take risks and step outside your comfort zone to do as much as possible to grow and learn. Imagine being intentional in having a positive mindset. It’s OK to feel a bit nervous before starting school and even during the school year, but if you give too much attention to those negative thoughts, they can overwhelm you, preventing you from reaching your potential. Negative thought patterns can increase stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health problems. Reframing your worries and negative thoughts and embracing a more positive mindset can increase resilience and help you bring your best effort to your education.

Imagine confidence in yourself. Believe in yourself and say to yourself, “I’ve got this!” and “I can do this!” You don’t have to be perfect to have a successful college experience. You have to believe that you can persevere with determination and confidence that you have what it takes to earn your degree. You do belong here, and be sure to convince yourself of that. Imagine a community that is diverse and rich with fascinating classmates, where differences are honored as well as embraced, and our humanity is celebrated in unity. Being open to getting to know people as individuals will break down barriers and debunk misconceptions. This can help our students become better global Kingdom citizens, where we all experience a little bit of Heaven here on Earth.

Finally, imagine praying for the success of your college experience as you face obstacles and work to overcome them. When you embrace the importance of prayer in your life, you can overcome anything and be successful. Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight”(NIV). Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Unlock the key to successful college living by praying, planning and participating at Olivet. Can you imagine that?

Dr. Cynthia V. Taylor ’08 M.A. is a licensed professional counselor. She specializes in mood disorders, anxiety, self-esteem, grief and adjustment issues. In 2013, Dr. Taylor was asked to lead Olivet’s Multiethnic Student Services as the executive director. In this role, she gives leadership to events and activities that highlight cultural uniqueness while encouraging unity in the Body of Christ. Dr. Taylor is married to Dr. Joel

D. Taylor, who pastors two churches in the Chicagoland area. She takes pride in being a mother of two adult children, a mother-in-love and a grandmother of one.

deep faith

AND THE FINEST SCHOLARSHIP

Politics can be brutal. Battles between Democrats and Republicans can be every bit as contentious as the Packers’ defensive line going up against the Bears’ offensive line or as intense as Ariarne Titmus competing against Katie Ledecky in the 2021 Olympics. And yet, Olivet is consistently sending young women and men into politics dedicated to advancing God’s Kingdom and bringing a little Biblical justice to the battlefield of Washington, D.C., and beyond. Consider these four examples. Daryl went to Mexico to work with a large human rights organization that frees young women and girls from human trafficking. Scott started a nonprofit that created a local currency (a food token) to feed the hungry in D.C. and Baltimore. Natalie works for a nonprofit that advances democracy and good governance throughout Africa and Asia. Amanda is studying law at Wake Forest, where she has a goal of using her law degree to serve communities facing socioeconomic barriers.

How did these four young adults begin to make a difference in politics? They got it. Each of these young women and men immersed themselves in Christian higher education and caught wind of a different way — the way of Jesus. Christian higher education captured their hearts, transformed their minds and captivated their imaginations. Each wanted to make a difference for Christ in the world. They asked how God might use them for His purposes in this world. Why Christian higher education? Allow me to answer that question with a question: What if you could get a degree plus? What if you could not only get the finest scholarship, but you could also have the space to determine God’s direction for your life? What if you could discover how God might use you to transform the world for Christ?

This is what Olivet offers you: the opportunity to discover and lean into the path God has for you. What if faith and scholarship could shape an entire university’s curriculum? One crucial question about higher education in today’s postmodern world: Which worldview is shaping higher education? Education is not neutral, according to

many educational theorists. Some type of perspective or ideology shapes all educational inquiry. In Christian higher education, Jesus Christ and His Kingdom are preeminent. Christian faith shapes higher education at Olivet. Classes begin with prayer, and the Christian faith is integrated into each discipline — from accounting to zoology. Who you become is closely connected to the paradigm that shapes your education. A Biblical or some other perspective will shape the person you will be and the way you will live for decades to come. At Olivet, you’ll have the opportunity to deepen your faith, build your perspective and develop a servant’s heart.

What type of person would you like to be when you graduate? So much of the answer to that question falls upon 18-to22-year-olds’ shoulders. In Christian higher education, you are nurtured — in community and with Godly mentors — into becoming a disciple of Jesus who follows His Spirit into a broken and dying world. At Olivet, you can catch a glimpse of the way of Jesus, or what Duke University ethicist Dr. Stanley Hauerwas calls the “in-breaking Kingdom of God.” You will be challenged to become a part of His reconciling work. You will join other late teens and 20-somethings being shaped into young women and men who will not only see things differently in their future vocations but also be passionate about Biblical justice where there is no justice and healing where there is great suffering. Christian higher education nurtures students into becoming Kingdom people — reconciling agents — who ask, “How can I live with open palms, seeking to share the blessings that God has given me with those who are hurting?” At its finest, Christian higher education deepens students’ insights and equips them with the skills to engage the culture for Christ. Students are challenged to be countercultural in so many ways and then inspired to transform the culture for Christ. In so doing, students begin to live out of the center of God’s will for their lives.

At a Christian college, you can not only discover your purpose, but you can also wrestle with connecting that purpose to the world’s needs. Frederick Buechner, writer and theologian, eloquently stated, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Christian higher education prepares students to be agents of reconciliation by nurturing their hearts and minds to become salt and light in a broken and dying world. Dr. John Bernbaum, founding president of Russian-American Christian University, captured this insight: “Christian higher education ought not be an effort in cocoon-building, seeking to hide us from the harsh realities of the present world. Rather, Christian higher education should be an effort in raising up peacemakers, those whose task is a harvest of righteousness.” The letters “B.A.” or “B.S.” will be attached to your name for decades to come. The experience of being saturated in a Christian environment for four years can deepen you into becoming a transforming influence in your job, a listening ear to those who are suffering and a willing servant committed to bringing God’s Kingdom to this world. Much of higher education today is dedicated to self-interest, having a good time or strategizing to monetize your skill sets. What if your education could transform you so that you could become the person God knit you together to be when you were in your mother’s womb? Daryl, Scott, Natalie and Amanda found their callings at Olivet. Now, it’s your turn. Are you open to the transformative possibilities of a Christian higher education?

DR. DAVID VAN HEEMST ’96 M.P.C./’98 M.A. is a leading political scientist, historian, author, researcher and professor at Olivet. In a 10-year period, he authored five books, including Empowering the Poor: Why Justice Requires School Choice; Herman Dooyeweerd and Eric Voegelin: A Comparative Study; Hope in Troubled Times: A New Vision for Confronting Global Crises; Splashing in Puddles: How to Be a Father to Your Daughter; and College: What’s the Point? Embracing the Mystery of the Kingdom in a Postmodern World. In 2013, he received Olivet’s Samuel L. Mayhugh Award for Scholarly Excellence. His other Olivet awards include the Richard M. Jones Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence and the Second Mile Award.

knowledge and insight WISDOM AND DIRECTION

A group of theatre professionals from around the world sat in a small theatre with an emerging playwright from New York City. Our task was to help workshop a new script. The facilitator guided the group with wisdom — ensuring that our focus was on the story that was being told rather than on the storytellers in the room who wanted to be heard. It was this same group that was asked the question, “Are you familiar with Aristotle’s Poetics and how it applies to theatre arts?” I looked around the room, assuming everyone could also recite Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. The question was asked again: “What are the elements of a story on stage according to Aristotle?” In my mind, I repeated what professor Jerry Cohagan taught me years before at Olivet: “A tragedy is the imitation of an action. …” And then I continued with the chanting from class replaying over and over again in my mind: “plot, character, theme, diction, music, spectacle.” I looked around the room, and everyone was shaking their heads, unaware of these foundational elements. I raised my hand and answered what had been embedded in my mind. My colleagues were knowledgeable and had professional training I didn’t at that point. But I gained confidence realizing that, at Olivet, I had been given everything I needed. The difference was my liberal arts education had prioritized faith and saw theatre as a rigorous academic venture more than just an extracurricular. Olivet’s theatre program equips students by giving them well-rounded curriculum. And with faith as our priority, students have what they need to be set apart, both personally and professionally, in the world. It’s because of my Western civilization class that I was able to write a play about women who were pilots in World War II. It’s because of my music appreciation, jazz combo and literature courses that I

was able to compose a jazz adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It’s because of my scriptwriting class that I was able to hone my writing skills as a playwright. It’s because of my education at Olivet that I was able to make connections with fellow students who would later, as alumni, help me bring to life Olivet’s first original musical. And it’s because of my biology courses and the standard of professionalism that was enhanced in me at Olivet that I would be invited to meet Alan Alda and introduce him at a colloquium where he spoke on the art of communicating science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

At the colloquium, Alan discussed the content of his book If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating. In an interview with The Atlantic, he summed it up: “I could see that when scientists were in conversation, they could make science in a personal way. ... But if they did not have someone like me pulling it out of them in a personal way, there was a tendency to slip into lecture mode. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be an interesting idea to train scientists to be good communicators while we train them to be scientists?’”

This inspired an idea for ONU Theatre.

Last fall, ONU Theatre and the ONU School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics brought that idea to life. With Dr. José Manjarrés, a robotics professor, and Dr. Nicole Vander Schaaf, a biology professor, we dreamed up an experience for children to be inspired to learn more about science and technology. Our original play, Detective Holmes, was the collaboration of the three academic areas. Our lead character must solve a crime and, while doing so, she learns about DNA, fingerprinting and basic coding for robots. As a part of ONU Theatre’s New Works Program, Detective Holmes was a movement for cross-departmental projects that emphasize our strengths as a liberal arts institution and our priority to be mission-focused.

When we realize that mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, artists and theatre professionals look to the same scholar, Aristotle, for knowledge and insight, we may see how our different departments can complement one another. And when we see these same professionals looking to one Savior, Jesus Christ, for wisdom and direction, we realize that our mission is the same.

ASHLEY ELIZABETH SARVER ’15/’18 MBA is a Dove Award-nominated director and playwright. She earned the terminal Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in directing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the recipient of the 2020 Graduate Faculty Performance Award. Her thesis production explored the Aristotelian element of music to help a 21st-century audience better understand Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She composed all the jazz music for the production in addition to directing. She was also the assistant director for an industry reading of a new musical for Broadway producers at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. In 2018, professor Sarver wrote two full-length plays and one full-length musical, which originated from an Atlantic World Research Network grant that funded travel and research for writing and producing.

tiger fever

Winning Championships. Developing Champions. That’s more than just a slogan; it’s a guiding force in Tiger Athletics. Coaches strive to build character on the court as well as in the classroom.

Among the 2021–2022 season highlights: 14 Tiger teams competed for NAIA and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships; seven coaches received conference coach of the year honors; and Olivet finished 14th in the NAIA LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings. The LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup is a national ranking system established by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Ranking is based on finishes in NAIA Championships.

world travelers

A global worldview is a clear advantage of an Olivet education. Students have countless annual opportunities for world travel, including mission trips, study-abroad programs and internships.