3 minute read
Filled with gratitude
It is amazing to me that I have had the privilege of leading Walla Walla University for eighteen years. Looking back, I am filled with gratitude, scores of “thank yous!” rising in my heart. Allow me to try to express a few of them.
Walking these years with WWU's amazing students has been a great privilege. Their buoyancy and commitment to this place and its mission have inspired and blessed me. Weekly habits of eating with students in the cafeteria, meeting with ASWWU leaders, and attending vespers and “working the room” at its close have nourished my commitment to the mission of WWU.
If space allowed, I could go on to describe the wonderful support and friendship I have experienced from the successive senior leadership team members (with weekly Cabinet meetings, each including a generous segment of shared prayer time, being absolutely essential), from WWU's faculty and staff, from the chairs and members of the Board of Trustees, and from loyal alumni and generous donors. No president could wish for better support. Thank you!
Two individuals have been especially key to any success I have experienced. The first is Dr. D. Malcolm Maxwell, a New Testament scholar who served Walla Walla College for eighteen years as professor in the Walla Walla College School of Theology, dean of the School of Theology, and vice president for Academic Administration, and then went on to serve as the president of Pacific Union College for eighteen years. I had the privilege of sharing in thirteen of those years, beginning when he hired me as a twentyseven-year-old assistant professor in PUC's religion department. His interest in me and my family, his support of my graduate education, and his modeling and mentoring have all proved valuable and formative. Dr. Maxwell advised me as I contemplated the invitation to become president of Walla Walla College and I looked forward to many years of drawing on his wisdom. Unfortunately, he died about a year into my presidency, in October of 2007, robbing me of his continuing guidance and friendship. I can imagine an initial conversation with him in a better world, one beginning with his question, “Well, John, how long did you serve as WWU's president?” I shall reply, “Eighteen years!”
The second, and the towering figure in my life and work, is an amazing, energetic, resourceful 4'11" woman, Pam Aalborg McVay. She has been the wind beneath my wings. She has joined wholeheartedly in every stage of my career. From pastoring in the Bible Belt to presiding over Walla Walla University, she has twinned her efforts with mine, adding value, grace, hospitality, and prayer all along the way. She had no personal history, as my family did, with Walla Walla College. But from day one, the place and its people became her passion. She has poured her life's energies into the university and has buoyed me up whenever my own energies have flagged.
If you are reading this page, it means that you love WWU and have fostered its institutional life and mission in important ways. We have likely had a chance to meet at an Alumni Weekend, a regional alumni gathering, or at a church service or camp meeting. Thank you for your support. And thank you for praying for WWU and the success of its mission in serving the risen and returning Jesus.
