acu today winter/spring 2016

A C U T O D A YA b i l e n e C h r i s t i a n U n i v e r s i t y

Songbird Jeannette Lipfords career

as voice coach comes full circle and helps Mary Poppins

soar at Homecoming

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wice a year, the Texas Supreme Court hits the road, most often to visit an esteemed law school so the public has an opportunity to sit in on proceedings typically held in a building on the state Capitol grounds in Austin.

It was a high honor for ACUs Hunter Welcome Center to be the host site for oral arguments in two cases in mid-November, and a homecoming on two fronts. Jeffrey S. Boyd (83), one of nine justices on the court, was proud to show off his alma mater to colleagues. It also was fitting for the court to learn more about the legendary Jack Pope (34), who was among the longest-serving justices in Texas history.

ACU rolled out the purple carpet, as Justice Jeffrey Brown described our hospitality, which included displays with fascinating artifacts from Popes life and legal career. ACUs legacy in producing public servants is second to none, and our Pope Fellow Program bears the name of one of the most important and brilliant jurists Texas has ever known.

The health of Judge Pope, age 102, did not allow him to be present with us this fall. But if had been able to attend, he would be thrilled to revisit one of the three defining influences of his life, as he described them in 2005 for the universitys Centennial: My faith, my precious wife, my Abilene Christian education.

ACU made me, Pope went on to say about a university to which he felt he owed a great debt. He donated his professional papers to Brown Library and sold his historic family ranch so proceeds would benefit ACU and give them enough money to help others get the same education I did.

This fall, Pope would have seen one of our biggest freshman classes in years with record ethnic diversity, new degree programs being created, and construction work on three new science buildings. He would have heard about the growth of online graduate programs through ACU Dallas and our first team championship since returning to the Southland Conference and NCAA Division I membership.

He would have found an Abilene Christian where all students are welcome, where faculty and staff build quality interpersonal relationships with students from around the globe, where we prepare graduates to make a real difference in the world, and where we celebrate alumni who model lives of selfless servant-leadership.

Youll read about all that and more in this issue of ACU Today. I am thankful for your continued investment in our Vision in Action

projects to construct academic buildings and stadiums that are changing the face of ACU and helping us build community among people of faith who share Justice Boyds and Justice Popes enthusiasm and gratitude. Your generosity in dollars and students empowers our work and makes our mission possible.

DR. PHIL SCHUBERT (91), PresidentThe mission of ACU is to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.

ACU Today is published twice a year by the Office of University Marketing at Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas.

STAFFEditor and Graphic Designer: Ron Hadfield (79)Assistant Editor: Robin (Ward 82) SaylorAssociate Editor: Katie (Noah 06) GibsonSports Editor: Lance Fleming (92)Contributing Writers This Issue: Paul A. Anthony (04), Grant Boone (91), Isabel

Brindle, Sarah Carlson (06), Judy Chambers, Katie (Noah 06) Gibson, Rendi (Young 83) Hahn, Dr. Mark Hamilton (90 M.Div.), Kari Hatfield, Chris Macaluso, Deana (Hamby 93) Nall, Adam Nettina (M.A. 17)

Contributing Photographers This Issue: Josh Barrett, Shawn Best, Brian Blaylock, Jonathan Bloom, Steve Butman, Richard Carson, Lindsey (Hoskins 03) Cotton, Jeremy Enlow, Gerald Ewing, Jason Flynn, Lisa Helfert, Rachael Hubbard, Jason Jones, Jeremiah Karr, Sean Kilpatrick, David Leeson (78), Kim Leeson, G. Newman Lowrance Antony Matula, Carissa Martus (07), Clark Potts (53), Gary Rhodes (07), Debbie Riggs, Dr. Nil Santana (M.A. 00), Kevin Tavares, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, U-M Photography, Paul White (68), Dr. Steven Ward (92), Tim Yates, Rick Yeatts

Contributing Graphic Designers / Illustrators This Issue: Greg Golden (87), Bobby Gombert (93), Nancy Halliday, Holly Harrell, Todd Mullins, Amy Willis

Proofreaders: Paul A. Anthony (04), Vicki Britten, Amber (Gilbert 99) Bunton, Rendi (Young 83) Hahn, Scott Kilmer (01), Bettye (McKinzie 48) Shipp

ADVISORY COMMITTEEAdministration: Suzanne Allmon (79), Dr. Gary D. McCaleb (64), Dr. Robert RhodesAdvancement: Jim Orr, J.D. (86); Billie Currey, J.D. (70), Sarah Carlson (06) Alumni Relations: Craig Fisher (92), Jama (Fry 97) Cadle, Samantha (Bickett 01) AdkinsMarketing: Jason Groves (00) Student Life: Chris Riley, J.D. (00), Prentice Ashford (13)Ex-officio: Dr. Phil Schubert (91)

CORRESPONDENCEACU Today: [email protected] Alumni Association: [email protected] Changes: ACU Box 29132, Abilene, Texas

79699-9132, 325-674-2620

ON THE WEBAbilene Christian University: acu.eduACU Today Blog: acu.edu/acutoday Address changes:

acu.edu/alumni/whatsnew/update.htmlACU Advancement Office (Exceptional Fund,

Gift Records): acu.edu/giveACU Alumni Website: acu.edu/alumniFind Us on Facebook: facebook.com/abilenechristian facebook.com/acusportsFollow Us on Twitter: twitter.com/acuedu twitter.com/acusportsFollow Us on Instagram: instagram.com/acuedu

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2 Horizons 8 Holy Lands / Biblical Research at ACU 16 Mitchell Headlines Alumni Award Winners 22 Vision in Action Update 28 2015 Outlive Your Live Award: Jack White 34 Flock Management: ElderLink 32 ACU 101 38 #ACU 40 The Bookcase 42 Hilltop View 46 Academic News 50 Campus News 54 Wildcat Sports 59 Your Gifts at Work 60 EXperiences 80 Second Glance

OUR PROMISE

ACU is a vibrant, innovative, Christ-centered community that engages students in authentic spiritual and intellectual growth, equipping them to make a real difference in the world

ThisISSUE

A house sparrow rests on the wing tip of a bronze angel at the Jacobs Dream sculpture site. (Photograph by Rendi Hahn)

ON THE COVERJeannette (Scruggs 50) Lipfords portrayal of the Bird Woman in Mary Poppins, the 2015 Homecoming Musical, brought the house down for audiences in the Abilene Civic Center. See story on page 80. (Photograph by Paul White)

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ACUs NFL pedigree on display in late-season game

Four Wildcats were on the same field when Cleveland traveled to Kansas City to play a Dec. 27, 2015, game in Arrowhead Stadium, where Browns wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (14), running back Daryl Richardson (14) and running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery (78) visited running back Charcandrick West (14) in a game between the AFC rivals. West helped the resurgent Chiefs to the playoffs, leading the team in rushing after an injury early in the season to Jamaal Charles.

Wildcat football greats Richardson, Gabriel, West and Montgomery pause

for a portrait following a Chiefs-Browns game in Kansas City.

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Handing down history, from one legend to another

One of the most poignant moments of the April 10, 2015, dedication of new Elmer Gray Stadium was a ceremonial baton relay reuniting notable coaches and student-athletes who have represented the Wildcats in track and field. The only media representative honored was Bill F. Hart (52), the Texas sportswriting icon who for years chronicled athletics at his alma mater for the Abilene Reporter-News. Steadied by his wife, Linda, Bill stood and handed the baton to 11-time world-record-holder and 1988 Olympic pole vaulter Billy Olson (78), whom Hart wrote about many times during a career spanning five decades for Texas newspapers in Abilene, San Angelo, Lubbock and Temple. Both men are members of the ACU Sports Hall of Fame and Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame. Hart died at age 83, 12 days after the Gray Stadium ceremony. See his obituary on page 78.


H O R I Z O N S

Wildcat Week welcomes freshmen to campus

Sporting a new name and a new format, Wildcat Week previously known as Welcome Week is still a fun and sacred time for new students at ACU to get to know each other and their university. The Office of Student Life organizes Wildcat Week, which allows students to build friendships with future classmates while experiencing the traditions of ACU, learning what it truly means to be a Wildcat, according to acu.edu/wildcat-week. Students enjoyed some traditional activities, such as intramural football and volleyball, but also ventured downtown to watch a movie at the historic Paramount Theatre and enjoy a street party, among other experiences from Tuesday through Saturday of the week before classes began Aug. 24, 2015.

The city of Abilene closed Cypress Street downtown for the Class of 2019 to enjoy a party catered by food trucks.

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Dr. Richard Beck (89), professor and chair of psychology, spoke to freshmen

at the Candlelight Devotional in Beauchamp Amphitheatre on Tuesday night (Aug. 18, 2015) of Wildcat Week.

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For ACU biblical scholars

like Dr. Mark Hamilton, stepping back in time

is the key to better understanding Gods plans for

our future


r. Mark Hamiltons life could be described as a series of choices few others would have made.

As a 7-year-old, he pored over his mothers old history textbooks from college.

As an Abilene Christian University graduate student studying abroad in Jerusalem, he and a classmate, Samjung Kang, had their first date at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

And on the way back to their groups hotel, passing the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, he turned to her and said that he hoped one day to come back and study there.

I guess we have an unusual story, Hamilton (90 M.Div.) says now, reflecting on more than 25 years as an Old Testament scholar and the husband of Dr. Samjung Kang-Hamilton (88 M.R.E.). Ive lived in it so long, I dont really think of it as unusual.

Last year, Hamiltons journey to nearly opposite sides of the globe on a two-semester sabbatical Jerusalem in the fall and Seoul in the spring was another chapter in a life of scholarship that has influenced numerous ACU Bible, theology and divinity students.

And it was the fulfillment of a dream born as an ACU graduate student and expressed to his future

wife as they walked the streets of Jerusalem in 1987 that he might someday be invited to study at the Albright Institute, one of the worlds most famous and important places for research on the Ancient Near East.

As the institutes Seymour Gitin Professor, Hamilton in Fall 2014 continued his ongoing research on the concept of kingship in ancient Israel and Judah. He wrote his Harvard University Ph.D. dissertation on the subject and is returning to it in an upcoming book.

The Albright Institute, founded as the American School of Oriental Research in 1900, is named for the famed archaeologist and biblical scholar William F. Albright. It played a significant role in uncovering the Dead Sea Scrolls in the early 1950s and each year sponsors about 20 visiting Fellows from around the world whose studies involve the history of the Ancient Near East, whether that be history, archaeology or biblical studies.

While there, they have access to AIARs library, as well as significant historical and literary collections from nearby sites, including a Dominican monastery whose library Hamilton said he found particularly useful.

I guess to some people it sounds very boring, sitting around in the library all day, Hamilton said, but to me it was really a godsend to be

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Dr. Mark Hamilton pauses while exploring Old Jerusalem in Fall 2014 during his

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During the course of his 26-year career doing biblical research and traveling to the Middle East, professor emeritus of Bible Dr. Bill J. Humble (48) collected ancient oil lamps dating back to 440 B.C. Humble (pictured above) donated to the university his impressive collection, which fills two large display cases in the Hall of Servants of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building, where Humble taught in the College of Biblical Studies.

Every sentence that came out of his mouth was a sound bite I took to heart. DR. ROB HOMSHER, ON THE INFLUENCE OF HIS ACU PROFESSOR, DR. MARK HAMILTON

JEREMY ENLOW

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able to be there to think and work.Library work was only a part of

the trip, however. The visiting Fellows received guided tours of major archaeological excavations such as Tel-Megiddo, the famed Armageddon of Revelation and, because it sits at a major crossroads, the site of major battles for centuries from Pharaoh

Thutmose IIIs campaign against the Hittites in the 15th

century BCE to the Allied offensive against the

Ottomans in 1918. Standing on

the mound, atop thousands of years of buried history, Hamilton could

see in the distance Nazareth, where Jesus

was raised. Nearby were unearthed stables that may

have belonged to Solomon or Ahab, two legendary kings

of ancient Israel.Another tour took the Fellows

to Lachish, the second-largest city in ancient Judah and the site of a brutal Assyrian siege in the empires ultimately aborted attempt to overthrow Jerusalem. Recent excavations have unearthed royal architecture from the Judaic monarchy, with implications that Hamilton said he has included in his forthcoming book.

Ive really been more interested in Israelite political thoughts and religion, and how those interact, he said, and how those changed over time.

The fellowship was something of a homecoming for Hamilton. In 1987, in the process of earning two masters degrees from ACU, the Arkansas native and Freed-Hardeman University graduate was one of 15 students to spend a semester in Jerusalem as part of a study abroad program led by Dr. Wendell (45) and Betty (Billingsley 45) Broom.

Among his classmates on the trip was Kang, an Oklahoma Christian graduate from the tiny Korean island of Jeju. The couple got to know each other, and eventually Hamilton asked Kang on a date. He took her to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the place where church tradition holds Jesus was buried. Then they got some pizza.

They were married in 1989, shortly before moving to New

England for ministry and doctoral work, first she at Columbia University, then he at Harvard University.

We honeymooned, finished class, graduated and moved to Connecticut, all in August, Hamilton recalled. Then Samjung started her doctoral program at Columbia. Nobody told us it was a bad idea, so we did it.

Kang-Hamilton now has two doctorates from Columbia and is an adjunct professor of religious education and childrens

ministry at Abilene Christian.The couple moved to Abilene

in 2000, when Hamilton joined the faculty in ACUs College of Biblical Studies. Since then, hes become a world-class scholar, who also is a devoted churchman and an excellent teacher, said Dr. Ken Cukrowski (84), dean of the college.

Along the way, Hamilton has influenced students to dive deeper into the same historical world that

fascinated him from his earliest memories the world that produced the Bible.

Dr. Rob Homsher (03) said Hamilton is a key reason why he became a scholar whose work is helping to reshape assumptions about how Canaanite civilization developed in the centuries before the arrival of the Israelites in the historical record.

Every sentence that came out of his mouth was a sound bite I took to heart, Homsher said, CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

The Hamiltons revisited in 2015 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the hallowed site of some of Jesus most important moments on earth and their first date.

scholarshipn the Hall of

Servants, which runs down the middle of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building, stand several columns of bricks rescued from the wreckage of the original Administration Building from ACUs original North First Street campus.

On one of the bricks is a plaque dedicated to Bible faculty past, present and future.

The first time I saw that, that really stuck to me, said Dr. Mark Hamilton (90 M.Div.). As faculty in the College of Biblical Studies, we have a tremendous opportunity, we have a tremendous calling, we have a tremendous responsibility to serve as scholars and teachers and church people. Its sobering but its also exciting.

For nearly 110 years, ACUs Bible faculty have sought to bring together academic scholarship and ministry, forging a single discipline where many see a stark divide.

In the 1920s, president Jesse P. Sewell brought George Klingman to campus to serve as head of the Bible program and tasked him with setting up the first graduate program in Bible among colleges affiliated with Churches of Christ. In short order, Klingman brought in William Webb Freeman, one of the most learned people in the Stone-Campbell Movement. The initiative was short-lived, ended by financial difficulties and the distrust many in Churches of Christ had at the time for biblical scholarship.

Nevertheless, the pattern was set. After World War II, as ACU

exploded in growth, so too did the Bible department, under the leadership of Charles Roberson and his student and successor, Dr. Paul Southern (30). Rather than shying away from the latest scholarship, Roberson engaged it and encouraged his students to do likewise. As a result, Southern in 1948 became the second ACU professor to earn a doctorate, followed in short order by fellow Bible faculty Drs. Frank Pack, JW Roberts (42), Woodrow Wilson, J.D. Thomas (43) and LeMoine Lewis (36).

This generation of Bible faculty laid the groundwork for some of the most well-known biblical scholars the university has ever produced.

Lewis influence was especially notable, according to an academic history of the college written by Dr. James Thompson (64), professor emeritus of New

Testament and scholar-in-residence. The Harvard graduate and beloved church history professor encouraged his students to follow him to the elite divinity school, and several did, including Drs. Everett Ferguson (53) and Abraham Malherbe (54).

Ferguson returned to his alma mater in 1962, and throughout a more than 40-year career has become an internationally renowned church historian recognized for his work in translating Gregory of Nyssas Life of Moses, who served as president of the North American Patristics Society, and published more than a dozen books. He also served as editor of the 18-volume Studies in Early Christianity and the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity.

Ferguson wrote his Life of Moses translation in 1974 with classmate and former ACU


I at

George Klingman, founding Bible department dean at ACU in 1906-08 and again in 1917-23, was no stranger to exploring the Middle East.


colleague Malherbe, who became a world-renowned scholar of the New Testament, especially the letters of Paul, after he left ACU for Dartmouth College in 1969 and ended up at Yale University shortly after. While still a graduate student at Harvard, Malherbe in 1957 co-founded Restoration Quarterly, the first academic journal to explicitly serve Churches of Christ.

The 1950s also produced future ACU faculty members and scholars Drs. John Willis (55) and Dr. Tony Ash (59 M.A.), joined in the

faculty ranks by Dr. Thomas Olbricht. With Ferguson and Malherbe, this group of professors from the 1960s and early 1970s influenced numerous scholars and ministers, said Thompson, himself a protege of Malherbe.

In my opinion, the 1960s were the glory days of ACU biblical scholarship, said Thompson, who retired in 2014 as the Onstead Chair for Biblical Studies and is a recognized authority on the ethics of Paul.

Along with Ferguson, Willis became ACUs most notable scholar after Malherbes departure, publishing prolifically on the Old Testament throughout his career, which is in its 45th year.

In recent decades, under the leadership of its deans Dr. Ian Fair (68) and Dr. Jack Reese (73) and now Dr. Ken Cukrowski (84), who studied under Malherbe at Yale the College of Biblical Studies

has again produced a plethora of faculty members who are recognized as significant scholars in their fields. Among them: Dr. Doug Foster, professor of church history and director of the Center for Restoration Studies, has long been recognized as one of the leading voices of the Stone-Campbell Movement, representing Churches of Christ around the globe at interfaith gatherings, and co-editing the Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement and The Stone-Campbell Movement: A Global History. He began teaching at ACU in 1991. Dr. Jeff Childers (89), Carmichael-Walling Chair for New Testament and Early Christianity, is one of only a

handful of Syriac scholars in the world, publishing English translations of the four gospels as

preserved in the ancient Middle Eastern language. He joined the faculty in 1996. Dr. Fred Aquino (89), professor of theology, is a philosopher and theologian who has co-edited the Oxford Handbook on Epistemology of Theology and written several works on the Catholic theologian John Henry Newman since joining ACU in 1998. Dr. James Thompson, who is editor of Restoration Quarterly

and author of numerous books and commentaries. His The Church According to Paul was named 2015 Book of the Year by the Academy of Parish Clergy. Newer faculty members hired in the past 10 years include Dr. Vic McCracken (99 M.Div.), assistant professor of theology and ethics, who recently edited the book Christian Faith and Social Justice: Five Views; and Dr. Curt Niccum (92 M.Div.), a textual research specialist who has edited a portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls and contributed to the International Project of the Text of Acts.

Hamilton, meanwhile, in 2009 took the lead in publishing a massive one-volume commentary on the Bible. The Transforming Word runs more than 1,100 pages, with entries from 52 contributors compiled during seven years of work.

It was a huge job, Hamilton said. If I had known everything in the beginning that I knew at the end, I wouldnt have done it. You hope its of use to people, and that people find value in it.

As an unapologetically academic work that nevertheless seeks to be a source of healing for all who read the Bible, The Transforming Word was written by men and women whose interest in the Bible ... connects to an active faith.

In that way, it perhaps serves as a testament to the decades of scholarship and ministry that led to its creation.

You see a high level of commitment in the College of Biblical Studies, Hamilton said. People who could be doing this somewhere else are doing it here because they believe in the mission.

Willis

Thompson, Childers

ACU Bible faculty in 1965, pictured in front of Hardin Administration Building, included some of the Stone-Campbell Movements most noted biblical scholars and authors. Altogether, the men in this group photo also had preached for 606 years.

adding that early in his college career, Hamilton had forwarded an email describing an opportunity to participate in an excavation at Tel-Megiddo the next summer. That was a major life-changing experience for me that would not have occurred if not for him.

As an ACU-connected scholar doing research in the Middle East, Homsher follows not just in Hamiltons footsteps but in those of Dr. John Willis (55), the renowned ACU professor of Old Testament who has frequently visited Israel.

As his career has developed, Homsher has begun showing how the mud bricks used in ancient construction and excavated today can help shed light on technological advances in a society. Although archaeologists for generations had thought ancient Canaanite culture grew more sophisticated because of ideas exported from the north, Homshers research has joined others in calling that assumption into question and arguing the process may have been gradual and internal instead.

Now as a faculty member himself serving as college Fellow in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard Homsher said he seeks to connect the ancient with the living.

Nothing is new, he said. None of our 21st-century problems are new to us. They are in a way, but weve always faced environmental changes. Weve always asked questions about what is just. People have always discussed science and religion.

In much the same way, Hamilton

and Kang-Hamilton have sought to make the often-difficult questions surrounding biblical studies and theology easier to grasp for their students.

Each May, they team-teach a class called Teaching Scripture in Contemporary Contexts a subject born of discussions in their living room about the need for ministry students to be able to apply academic

concepts in concrete situations.He talks about dead people,

Kang-Hamilton said with a laugh, and I talk about living people.

They had time to reflect on their partnership in Jerusalem last fall, while Hamilton studied at the Albright Institute. Kang-Hamilton joined him for a portion of the time including their 25th anniversary, which they spent revisiting the site of their first date.

Together they sat at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, reflecting on their journey together.

That was the beginning of our commitment, she said. After 25 years, we came back with gratitude.

With the end of the semester, the couple spent a month in Abilene

before flying out again, this time to Seoul, where she taught classes

at Korea Christian University and he did the same at

three Seoul-area colleges.The contrast was

stark. Jerusalems tension was replaced by Seouls bustle. From months of quiet study and reflection at the Albright Institute, the couple was thrust into the packed subways of

a 25-million-strong metropolis.

Often, Hamilton and Kang-Hamilton taught

students from elsewhere in Asia, future ministers who

upon graduation would return to refugee camps and communities of deep poverty. The experience, Hamilton said, struck home the point that theology and ministry cannot be separated.

Doing ministry and doing theology is not just the work of the privileged, he said. Its the work that really matters for suffering people.


Whether its Bible or church history or

whatever the field is, were trying to serve God with our

minds and our hearts, so we can serve better with

our hands and our feet. DR. MARK HAMILTON

Homsher

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That sort of holistic approach is what drew them to ACU in the first place, he said.

The reason we do scholarship is because were people of faith seeking greater understanding, he said. Whether its Bible or church history or whatever the field is, were trying to serve God with our minds and our hearts, so we can serve better with our hands and our feet. Scholarship and service are all of a piece. Theres no conflict between them.

After spending the better part of nine months on the other side of the globe, Hamilton and Kang-Hamilton returned to Abilene in June.

For the boy who loved learning about other cultures so much that he pulled his mothers history textbooks off the shelves, for the student who told his girlfriend on a date that

he wanted to study at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, for the professor who stands on a hill in the middle of a valley and imagines the chariots of Thutmose III overrunning their Hittite foe, it was the experience of a lifetime.

I guess I was a pretty nerdy second-grader, he says with characteristic understatement. Ive never outgrown that.


Dr. Mark Hamilton retraces steps of ancient people at the Byzantine-era Negev city of Avdat, an archeological site in the desert south of Jerusalem. The movie Jesus Christ Superstar was largely filmed there in 1972 and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.

One of the current research projects of Dr. Curt Niccum (92 M.Div.) is an assessment of an

Ethiopic version of the Novum Testamentum Graece Editio Critica Maior one of two rare

prayer books from the 1600s (seen below) donated to Brown Librarys Milliken Special Collections by Nelson Coates (84). They are

written in Geez, an ancient priestly language.

JEREMY ENLOW

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utobiography is a tricky business, especially for professors. Not many car chases or scaling of mountains for those of us who teach Old Testament history. Creating space for careful thought requires the cultivation of routine, and routine is the bitter enemy of exciting autobiography.

Fall 2014 was a welcome change of pace for me, as Paul Anthony describes so well in the printed edition of ACU Today. I served as the Seymour Gitin Professor at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research (aiar.org) in East Jerusalem.

Sy Gitin was the longtime director of the Albright and one of

the most illustrious archaeologists of the past generation, known especially for his excavations at Ekron, the northernmost city of the Philistines. It was an honor to receive a senior fellowship bearing his name. The Albright Institute, in turn, is named for the great Syro-Palestinian archaeologist William F. Albright, whose influence has been felt far and wide for many decades. It was a tremendous privilege.

What does the holder of a fellowship at a research institute like the Albright do for four-and-a-half months?

I lived at the Albright Institute, which is just a couple of hundred yards north of the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The current massive walls of Jerusalem were built by Suleiman

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Dr. Mark Hamilton walks across the ruins at Avdat, a Byzantine-era city in the Negev,

a desert area south of Jerusalem.


the Magnificent in the early 1500s, but its still possible to see at their base portions of earlier ramparts built back through the centuries to Herod the Great and even, in a few places, the Hasmoneans of the second century B.C. The space within the wall is a jigsaw puzzle of buildings old and new, with streets often near where the Romans put them centuries ago. The new city extends for many miles in every direction, but in our neighborhood, one could still see glimpses of what Jerusalem was like a few centuries ago.

In our research center, several Albright Fellows lived in dormitory-like conditions private rooms with a bathroom down the hall a situation conducive for work as well as building new friendships. These fine colleagues, men and women, came from the U.S., Britain, Hungary, China and Malaysia, and universities such as Wesleyan, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Harvard, Miami (Ohio), British School in Athens, and Northeast Normal University in Jilin, China.

They worked on projects ranging from Mycenaean pottery to Iron Age Israelite seals to Middle Kingdom Egyptian texts. Each day, we discussed our work and other interests. Each semester the Albright represents a great community of young and not-so-young scholars from those writing Ph.D. dissertations to more senior scholars who genuinely enjoyed each others company and learned from each other.

My objective was to write and read, all day, every day. The Albright has a fine library of its own, particularly for the archaeology of Palestine/Israel, but three blocks away is Ecole Biblique et archaeologique franaise (ebaf.edu), one of the half-dozen best theological libraries in the world, a Dominican house of study

renowned for its scholarship. My project is a book Im writing on the idea of God as king. Its a theme Ive been working on for several years and hope to finish in the next year or so.

This topic has fascinated me for a long time because it is so central to the teachings of the Bible. Gods kingship is rooted in a story of defending the weak from the strong. It centers around Zion, a place emanating complex ideas. And its story is performed in worship as well as other aspects of life. Many biblical texts address this theme. Whats more, the idea of Gods kingship has a curious interplay with ideas of human kingship, and thus human power and the accumulation and use of power. As the Bible developed over time, the close connection between human and divine kingship, which was taken for granted throughout all ancient Near Eastern cultures, became more loose and conditional. Eventually, the tradition simply turned the human king into a divine one: the messiah.

That long, complex history is the basis of my book.

I also had many wonderful opportunities to tour. This was an exciting thing to do because all of the Albright Fellows are scholars and most are archaeologists (with a few of us biblical people thrown in to liven things up!). We had the privilege of touring ongoing excavations usually led by each sites primary excavator or his or her most senior assistant. This is not a run-of-the-mill, touristy sort of excursion.

During these trips we examined the current and past digs at Lachish, Megiddo, Shechem, Ashkelon and Ashdod, among very famous sites. Some less famous but still interesting places were the Nabataean sites of Mamshit and Avdat in the south. The Nabataeans


Dr. Mark Hamilton stands on the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem, looking south

from the Jewish Quarter.


were an Arab tribe that controlled much of southern Israel and northern Arabia until the Romans annexed their kingdom in the second century A.D. Their king, Aretas, is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:32.

Perhaps the most instructive tours were ongoing digs around Jerusalem itself, particularly in the City of David just south of the current city walls. Excavations there have found more than a dozen layers of the city, from the Turks back to the Canaanites. For example, some of these recent excavations have shown the importance of the city during the Davidic monarchy, when 21 consecutive kings, from David to Zedekiah, reigned over the House of Judah for about 400 years.

This fascinating semester reminded me that the work of scholars is something that happens in community. A given individual can be an expert on a very small set of things, but he or she will need to learn about other things from other people. No one gets to be an island. All of us depend on a much wider community of people who are interested in our work.

Scholarship serves several publics, not just the guild of people who learn all the same languages and historical evidence, but a much larger group of people who benefit from their work. There are many roles to play.

As a professor of Bible, I am grateful to be part of a community of professors, students, alumni and friends who care about the Bible in its original settings and all the others in which it has brought life to people through the centuries.

Who needs car chases and mountain peaks when you can have that?

Hamilton is ACUs Robert and Kay Onstead Professor of Old Testament.

Dr. Mark Hamilton tours a Byzantine church in Mamshit,

in the southern Negev.


Dr. Mark Hamilton explores a Byzantine-era building in the Negev city of Avdat.

BELOWThe view from inside a tomb in Avdat.


Many of Dr. Mark Hamiltons hours were devoted to reading and writing in the Albright Institutes library.

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The Hamiltons walk along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem.


EliseMitchell 2015 OU TSTANDING ALUMNA OF THE YE AR

ACU trustee Elise (Smith 83) Mitchell is a motorcycle enthusiast who enjoys the open road.

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eep within the corporate culture of Mitchell Communications Group lies a running joke: If CEO Elise (Smith 83) Mitchell walks into your office and says, Ive got a crazy idea, your best bet is to run from the building.

When Mitchell gets ideas, amazing things happen, and they happen quickly. Companies are born. Global networks are established. Success is redefined. People are touched, encouraged and celebrated. Leadership stories are written. Basically, if youre going to be part of Mitchells vision, hang on. Its going to be one amazing ride.

Mitchells own leadership story is something instilled in her from birth, cultivated during her time as a student at ACU and lived out in her work at her award-winning company. She continues to write it every day.

I believe leaders are given opportunities to make things happen and do good for others, Mitchell said. Were in that position all the time. I want my leadership legacy to be one that reflects Gods blessings and love for others.

Mitchell started Mitchell Communications Group a public relations agency based in Fayetteville, Ark. in 1995, and the companys client list soon grew to include the corporate giants headquartered in northwest Arkansas: Walmart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. Others, such as Procter & Gamble, Sams Club and Hilton Hotels, eventually came on board as clients. As the company grew, Mitchell expanded its offices into New York and Chicago. Today, Mitchell Communications Group is known as a leading force within the public relations field. The agency was named 2011 Small PR Agency of the Year in the PRWeek annual awards program, and in 2013, Mitchell was selected PR Professional of the Year in the same competition. Most recently, the company became part of Dentsu Aegis Network, a global organization functioning in 124 countries that helps clients establish consumer relationships through marketing and communications strategies. Mitchell is currently working to build a PR capability for Dentsu Aegis.

Although typical days dont really exist for Mitchell, she can be found in one of her companys offices in Fayetteville, New York or Chicago. As she works with teams on client business or plans, strategies and future-oriented activities on behalf of the agency, a list of questions stays at the forefront of her thoughts: Where are we growing next? Where is the market headed? Which trends are on the horizon? With an eye out for other PR agencies the company could buy and add to its portfolio, Mitchell also interacts with other CEOs from within the Dentsu Aegis Network.

I like to stay close to other leaders and figure out ways to collaborate, she said. We learn from each other, and thats one of the

Abilene Christians 109-year history is distinguished by the accomplishments of graduates who take to heart the universitys mission, using their God-given talents as servant-leaders around the world.

Outstanding Alumnus of the YearProvides timely recognition of the lifetime achievement of an individual who has brought honor to ACU through personal and professional excellence and service to the university, the church or the community.

Young Alumnus of the YearRecognizes professional achievement and/or distinguished service to the university. To be eligible, a recipient must not have reached 40 years of age at the time of nomination.

Distinguished Alumni CitationRecognizes distinctive personal or professional achievement that has merited the honor and praise of peers and colleagues.

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powerful advantages of being in a global network. Were able to learn from and share with other global leaders. Thats one of the things I enjoy the most.

Eager to share her experiences and wisdom, Mitchell is writing a book to be published this fall by McGraw-Hill to address a common problem faced by todays business leaders: how to be a destination-focused, goal-oriented leader while not missing the ride of your life along the way.

Hers began when she was still in high school in southern Illinois. At the time, Mitchell planned to become a trial lawyer. But one conversation in P.E. class initiated a shift in her plans. A friend had just returned from a college visit and told Mitchell about public relations, a career she had learned about on the trip. Mitchell was intrigued and began researching the field and exploring college degrees.

The more I learned, the more I fell in love with it, she said.As graduation neared, Mitchell prepared to begin her college career

at the University of Illinois. Even though her two older brothers had gone to ACU, Mitchell wanted to stick closer to home and attend the same university with many of her high school friends. Her parents asked her to consider ACU, but her mind was made up.

They finally bribed me with a plane ticket to Abilene and said, Just go visit, she said.

During that weekend, Mitchell took in as much of the college experience as the short time frame would allow. She toured the campus, stayed in Nelson Hall and visited the then-new and state-of-the-art Don H. Morris Center, which housed the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and its public relations program. Mitchell was impressed with all of it. But more than anything, she was blown away by the people she met.

I just fell in love with the people, Mitchell said. You pick a school not just for the academics, but for the people and the opportunities you will have to get a start in life and go into the field you love. From that weekend on, Mitchell knew she was developing a passion for public relations, and that ACU was where she would grow this passion into a career. Once she arrived on campus that fall, she threw herself into classes and campus life. She carefully chose activities that were not only fun but provided her with invaluable experience. She worked at KACU, as a copy editor for the Prickly Pear student yearbook and served as Sing Song co-chair the latter a role that would prove invaluable in helping her learn how to plan special events.

Within the walls of the Morris Center, Mitchell encountered a rich academic environment with challenging coursework and top-notch professors and facilities. She grew particularly close to department chair Dr. Charlie Marler (55) and Dr. Cheryl Mann Bacon (76), who was a graduate student at the time. Although she didnt realize it then, Abilene Christian was equipping Mitchell with much more than just business know-how.

I was too young to know it then, but now I give so much credit to ACU for starting me off in the right way. Thats when I started to think about how I could intersect my faith with my work, and be someone who is able to live a godly life and hopefully bring light into the workplace. ELISE MITCHELL

Mitchell displays her alumni award certificate on Alumni Day, Feb. 15, 2015, alongside alumni relations director Craig Fisher (92) and president Dr. Phil Schubert (91).

Mitchell set her shoes aside to be photographed with her former ACU roommate, Janie (Oliver 83) Coggins, on Alumni Day, Feb. 15, 2015.


ACU helped prepare me spiritually to be a leader of faith, she said. I was too young to know it then, but now I give so much credit to ACU for starting me off in the right way. Thats when I started to think about how I could intersect my faith with my work, and be someone who is able to live a godly life and hopefully bring light into the workplace.

Building a PR agency from the ground up is tough. But even during her companys early years, Mitchell believed in finding a way to give back. As a child, she was taught by her parents to save some of her allowance to give to God, and her conviction to give has only grown since then.

Ive always wanted to be a good steward of what God has given me, she said. We have the opportunity to build a measure of wealth in our careers, so its important to foster an attitude of giving in the later years of your career, and thats when it really gets fun because you can give more.

Throughout her career, Mitchell has stayed close to ACU by serving on its Board of Trustees, as well as JMCs Visiting Committee, hiring its public relations majors as interns and its graduates as employees. Shes always been committed to giving back to the university that gave her so much, and she eventually had the opportunity to give to ACU students in a way that would benefit them for years to come.

Bacon, now JMC department chair, had dreamed for years of a student-run advertising and PR firm on campus to give students real-world experience. Mitchell, ever mindful of the ways ACU and the JMC department had invested in her as a student, loved the idea so much that she helped fund the establishment of the agency. A couple of years later, after Mitchell sold her company, she was able to permanently endow the agency. Students in ACUs Ad/PR program were so moved by Mitchells generosity that they voted to name the firm Morris & Mitchell to honor her, as well as former ACU president Dr. Don H. Morris (24) and his late grandson, JMC graduate Don T. Morris (91).

Mitchell, who first noticed Morris name on JMCs building during that weekend visit in high school, now shared this honor with him. It was almost too much for her to take in, she said. While attending the ribbon-cutting when the firm opened in Fall 2010, Mitchell was

overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the students and what this agency would mean to them as they prepared for their own careers.

Returning to work the next week, Mitchell couldnt get the experience out of her mind.

Being a giver changed me, she said. I felt empowered that my giving could change so many lives. The students were so excited about Morris & Mitchell and what it could do for them. I wanted the people in my company to feel the same way to know how it feels when your giving impacts others for good. I thought, What if we could empower the people here to give on our time, and on our dime?

So Mitchell started Ignite, a program within her company in which employees are divided into teams, and given a certain amount of money and time to go into the community and perform random acts of kindness. The teams then return to the office to share their experiences.

And sure enough, it changes us as a team and as individuals, Mitchell said. We want to share with people in the community who need us to be a light in their lives.

Mitchells philosophy of paying it forward didnt stop there. When Bacon heard about what Mitchell was doing, she started a similar program in the JMC department.

A PR professional who is ethical and effective has an obligation to the greater good, Bacon said. The Public Relations Society of America code of ethics addresses that. Elise really personifies it. She wants to do whats best for the greater good.

Bacon believes Mitchell is a model ACU graduate. She has been generous with her time and has

supported us through all the years of her career, Bacon said. I cannot think of a single thing we would ever ask of an alum that she hasnt done for us. Im deeply grateful to her for that. Every time she comes back to campus, I am so proud of her, and for who she is, even more than all of the things shes done.

To Mitchell, its all part of a fantastic ride, a concept she takes literally. Her husband is an avid motorcyclist. After getting on the back of his bike in 2008 for a trip through the Alps, she learned how to ride, too. The first day, we got on and took off, and I was absolutely hooked, she said. Its such an exhilarating experience. It was through motorcycling that I really thought more deeply about the destination and the journey of my life.

Mitchells commitments to ACU keep her returning to campus often, and to her, going back feels like coming home.

Its wonderful to come back on campus and engage with students, she said. I feel excited about the future of these young people who are learning how to build a career and build a life for themselves, but also are listening to Gods calling at the same time. The impact ACU can have really is amazing.


sk any minister or church leader if their congregation strives to help the local community, and the answer will be yes.

But for many churches, its a struggle to reach beyond their own doors to find out where help is truly needed, and how they can effectively partner with other community organizations.

Reg Cox (84), longtime minister of Lakewood (Colo.) Church of Christ, has worked hard to solve that puzzle, creating a broad network of church and other local leaders in the Denver area.

The group has tackled community problems, raising money to restore a derelict elementary school sports field and launching a program to provide shelter for homeless people during winter months. Cox is enthusiastic about the possibilities when leaders from churches, schools, local government and nonprofit organizations approach

a problem together. Churches exist for

their community, not the other way around, says Cox, who is transitioning away from full-time church work to serve as the official City Connector for Lakewood. I hope what we and others like us are doing will be a model for church leaders everywhere. We have an opportunity to link the agents of good in cities together, remove barriers to serving and establish sustainable strategies that can change the world.

Reg is forging new ground for how our churches can make an impact, says Craig Fisher (92), ACUs director of alumni relations and annual projects. His vision to connect community leaders to make a real difference, to change and improve peoples lives, is inspirational.

Cox insists he doesnt deserve all the credit. When you experience

service with other Christians and with dozens of other organizations in your city, the experience is exhilarating, he says. When we operate in silos, churches or other service-minded groups are rarely effective in creating sustainable, comprehensive or consequential change. But when we reach across to serve with others in a spirit of partnership and commitment to the common good, almost anything is possible.

Reg CoxDISTINGUISHED ALUMNI CITATIONS

Kent (03) and Amber (Carroll 06) Brantly, ACUs Young Alumni of the Year, were profiled in our

Spring-Summer 2015 issue of ACU Today; please see their story in our online version at

issuu.com/abilenechristian

By Katie Noah Gibson

JOSH BARRETT

PAUL WHITE


ts a familiar story: young professionals, fresh out of school and often carrying significant student loan debt, struggle to establish themselves in their chosen careers. Professional support and connections can be hard to find. Drs. Dave (98) and Amy (Berry 95) Fuller are helping fill that gap for ACU students and alumni in the Houston area.

Amy, a graduate of ACUs marriage and family therapy program, co-founded Fuller Life Family Institute

in 2012 to meet a pair of related needs: access to high-quality therapy for low-income residents of Houston, and a place for newly minted therapists to earn their practice hours for licensure.

ACU prepared me well academically, Amy says, but I didnt have much professional support afterward, when I was working to earn my hours

for licensure. Now Dave and I both try to mentor and provide support for younger people in our professions.

That support takes a slightly different form for Dave, a physician-scientist specializing in head and neck cancer research. An assistant professor of radiation oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, he supervises a research lab with frequent opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Its really rewarding, Dave says of the mentoring work he does in the lab. You have these enthusiastic kids who are exploring a career, and if you can give them a positive early experience, thats huge. His ACU interns have earned a stellar reputation, often outperforming students from Ivy League universities.

Amy and Dave are a remarkable couple, says Carri (Teague 88) Hill, ACUs university relations manager in Houston. They have such a heart of service, and they believe in passing on what theyve received. They are inspiring.

Both Fullers frequently attend ACU events around the Houston area, building and maintaining connections with young alumni.

Its tough getting started professionally nowadays, Dave says. People from ACU went out of their way to be helpful to Amy and me because we had that connection. So we feel compelled to do the same thing for other people.

Now thats a story worth repeating.

hen Abel Alvarez (82) first came to ACU, he wasnt sure hed be able to stay. The son of Mexican immigrants, he was the first of his siblings to attend formal school (starting at age 10, in McAllen, Texas). At ACU, Alvarez received scholarships and grants to help pay for his education, but he was barely able to make ends meet.

I took all kinds of odd jobs on campus, Alvarez says. I mowed lawns, washed cars, but I still owed the school $600.

Through his work on campus, Abel had befriended Willie (Pritchett) Witt, wife of Dr. Paul Witt (22), longtime chair of ACUs chemistry department. She went to the school and paid my bill, Alvarez recalls. I was so moved by that generous gesture.

Today, Alvarez is the longtime minister of Harvey Drive Church of Christ in McAllen, where he serves a congregation of about 125 members. His work and ministry have taken several forms: preacher, counselor, community outreach activist and ACUs unofficial representative in McAllen. For 30 years, he has worked with staff members in ACUs admissions and financial aid offices to send talented students from the Valley to Abilene.

Every time I send a student there, its an investment in turning around a life, Alvarez says. An ACU education is a way for these students to defend themselves in this world. They wont have to repeat their parents cycle of poverty and despair. Its very gratifying to be a part of that.

The ACU connection also has had tremendous impact in the McAllen Independent School District, where Alvarezs wife, Diane (Palmer 82), teaches fifth grade. When Apple began partnering with K-12 school districts to integrate its technology into classrooms, Alvarez lobbied for MISD to invest in mobile devices. The districts TLC3 program (Transforming Learning in the Classroom, Campus and Community) has put more than 27,000 mobile-learning devices in the hands of all students and teachers in the district.

Abel has been an incredible ambassador for ACU and a champion of education in the Rio Grande Valley, says Kevin Campbell (00), chief enrollment officer at ACU. The students he sends here bring perspectives and life experiences that enrich our community.Many of these students have been wonderful ambassadors for ACU.

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EXCEPTIONAL | ACUs Vision to become the premier university for the education of Christ-centered global leaders means building upon areas of strength and distinctiveness, and delivering a unique, Christ-centered experience that draws students into community.

lad in his Wildcat football uniform, sophomore DeAndre Brown looks into the camera and asks a simple, direct question: Will you be a part of the team? Then, with a flash of the ACU Wildcats logo, the teaser video ends and cheers erupt in Moody Coliseum.

Shown at Chapel both the Friday and Saturday of Homecoming, the video was both a call to action and a reason to celebrate: the long-awaited on-campus football stadium is close to becoming a reality.

Being part of the team is more than donating to the final fundraising push for the stadium; it is recognizing that having a stadium will only enhance the visibility and academic standards of an already-premier university.

Imagine, as ACU director of athletics Lee De Leon often does, a sea of purple-clad fans walking across campus not driving across town to cheer on their Wildcats. Imagine Homecoming football games played at home for the first time in more than 55 years. Imagine gameday, as ACU knows it, forever changed.

The new stadium is really going to be a tipping point for an incredibly bright future for ACU athletics, De Leon said. It will become a rallying place for our students, faculty, staff and alumni, and a place where we can really

celebrate the uniqueness of ACU. Were going to build a stadium everyone can be proud to call home.

Part of the Vision in

CWildcat Stadium will bring football back on campus after 50 years

BY SARAH CARLSON


HKS ARCHITECTS


Action initiative, the venue (which will seat up to 12,000 fans) will anchor the north side of campus just as the new science facilities the Robert R. and Kay Onstead Science Center, Halbert-Walling Research Center and the Engineering and Physics Laboratories at Bennett Gymnasium anchor the south.

A lead gift from April (Bullock 89) and Mark Anthony (86) kicked off the fundraising campaign, and momentum built this fall with the unveiling of new renderings for the stadium from HKS Architects as well as the launch of the online giving site, wildcatstadium.com.

Now, the goal line is in sight: Thanks to generous donors, funds raised so far allow the university to begin construction, said Jim Orr (86), vice president for advancement. ACU will officially break ground for the stadium at a ceremony Feb. 19, 2016.

Were exceedingly grateful to the donors who have committed to helping us put our vision into action by giving to the stadium campaign, Orr said. Fundraising for this project will continue, and were confident donors at all levels will continue to make their mark on Wildcat Stadium.

The website makes it easy to give at any amount, he said, adding that donations of $100 or more will be recognized at the site. Sponsorships of seats as well as stones in the stadiums west entry, called Wildcat Way, also are available.

An on-campus stadium for ACU will be a game-changer for not only our football program but the many ways we can use it to build community among students and alumni, said president Dr. Phil Schubert (91). It will be exciting to see it become a reality, and it will be a fantastic new venue for HKS

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people in Abilene and West Texas to enjoy as well.

Don (90) and Wynn (Bradley 92) Heyen are two of the alumni who have sponsored seats in honor of their children, Abby (19) and William.

We believe in the mission of ACU, Don Heyen said, and the new stadium will be a nice addition to the campus. We wanted to do something special for our children for Christmas, so we decided to contribute to this project in honor of them.

The new renderings detail a three-level tower complete with press box, club and suite seating, concession stands, an HD video board and, pending fundraising, a south end zone complex to house all football operations and sports medicine facilities. The stadium has been a desire of ACU sports fans, staff and student-athletes since long before ACUs transition to NCAA Division I affiliation. But the stadium and Division I do complement each other, De Leon said.

The stadium shows our commitment, he said. It shows the NCAA were putting our money where our mouth is and investing our resources to provide a Division I experience for our students and our fans.

With the Division I affiliation come higher academic standards and strict progress-toward-degree guidelines for student-athletes, said Lisa Gilmore, associate athletics director for student-athlete welfare. The NCAA mandates that student-athletes only have five years to compete for four seasons of athletic eligibility and graduate, and its Academic Progress Rate measures eligibility and retention to ensure student-athletes are earning a

degree when they compete. If they leave ACU without graduating, the university may face penalties. Student-athletes who transfer to Abilene Christian are held to the same expectations.

The degree has to be the ultimate focus, Gilmore said, so recruiting is focused not only on finding talented student-athletes, but finding those who can meet ACUs academic standards for admission, fit with the Christ-centered focus of the university and ACU athletics, and also successfully complete a degree.

Because the Wildcats are in the Southland Conference and play much larger universities, often on regional

or national TV, ACU is enhancing its visibility with prospective students who are not only looking for a Division I institution but who can academically handle attending one.

In athletics, we have the unique platform to help put ACU on the map, De Leon said. Imagine if our mens basketball team makes it to March Madness, and when people fill out their brackets, they pick ACU. Imagine if our baseball team makes it to the College World Series. Imagine if our football team beats Baylor. Imagine what kind of exposure that would give ACU.

When athletics wins, De Leon said, the whole university wins.

An on-campus stadium for

ACU will be a game-changer for not only our

football program but the many ways we can

use it to build community

among students and alumni.

DR. PHIL SCHUBERT

To leave your mark on Wildcat Stadium and help us cross the goal line, visit wildcatstadium.com .

Site work on Wildcat Stadium began Dec. 14, 2015.

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Robert R. and Kay Onstead Science Center UpdateConstruction of the front of the Robert R. and Kay Onstead Science Center, formerly the Foster Science Building, is now complete. Giant screens in the lobby display striking visuals related to the sciences that can be seen through the centers equally giant windows. At night, the light from these screens shines onto the centers front steps and The Quad, an outdoor common space dedicated in honor of Ray 49 and Kay (Dollar 49) McGlothlin. (Read more about The Quad and its dedication ceremony on page 52.) Science classes are still being held in Onstead as the Halbert-Walling Research Center is built next door. Once Halbert-Walling is complete in Fall 2016, classes will move into the new building and the remainder of Onsteads 85,000 square feet will be renovated. Onstead will house classrooms, labs and offices for the four ACU science departments biology, chemistry and biochemistry, engineering and physics, and mathematics.

Halbert-Walling Research Center UpdateThe first beams of the new Halbert-Walling Research Center, between Phillips Education Building and Nelson Hall, where Chambers Hall previously sat, were raised in early December. The 54,000-square-foot center will provide modern laboratory space for cutting-edge research, as well as space for students and faculty to collaborate and interact inside and outside the classroom.

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2 0 1 5 O U T L I V E Y O U R L I F E A W A R D

sk friends and family members to describe Dr. Jack White (71) and their responses will have a similar theme: Hes a wise and faithful servant at home, at church and at work who can always be relied upon to lend a helping hand or ear when someone needs it.

White humbly and humorously deflects such praise: I never considered myself to be as smart as some people think, he said. I think some of the things I come up with are just plain old common sense.

Nevertheless, he was flattered to receive the fifth Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award, which recognizes servant leadership by alumni and other members of the ACU community, for his life serving others in South Central Los Angeles as a minister, attorney and teacher.

He described being recognized by his alma mater during May 2015 Commencement as elevating. The honor came barely six months after his wife of 43 years, Dr. Rubin Ruby Eloise (Glover 71) White, died from colon cancer. He shows the framed certificate he received to

friends, not to brag about himself, but to brag about ACU.

I say, Look, there is a place where you dont have to be the genius of the hour, he said. You just use what you learn for the good of the people, and stand for the good of the people, and love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. I just think thats a nice idea.

ACU chose the right honoree for the Outlive Your Life Award, said Jack White II, Whites son, who attended Commencement along with other family members, including Whites daughter, Corolar (White 01) Schultz.

Its a testament to him, and its a testament to ACU because that was his foundation, White II said. Its a testament to the God we serve that a man from humble upbringing in Baton Rouge, La., who was raised by a single mother, could get an undergraduate degree from an institution like Abilene Christian, go on and get two advanced degrees, and have two children who got advanced degrees and are contributing to their communities.

That alone is outliving his life. It really shows how strong our God can be.

A POSITIVE OUTCOME Jack and Ruby met at

Southwestern Christian, a historically black college in Terrell, Texas, where they were named Mr. and Miss SWCC. They graduated with associates degrees and transferred to ACU in 1969.

Only seven years had passed since the school was integrated and its first black undergraduate students, Dr. Billy Curl (64) and Larry

Jack White4

Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life AwardFirst announced in May 2011, the Dale and Rita Brown Outlive Your Life Award recognizes individuals who have created

a lasting effect on the lives of others. The award takes its name from Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference, the 2011 book by minister Max Lucado, a 1977 ACU graduate and best-selling Christian author. In its pages, Lucado challenges readers from all walks of life to take what God has given them and help others.

This award is designed to recognize all types of servant leadership, including civic and community contributions, meeting spiritual or physical needs, producing changes with generational impact, helping redirect the course of peoples lives, and inspiring others to make an eternal difference. Recipients may be alumni or friends of the university.


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4Bonner (64), arrived. Progress was underway but slowly.

I have to say, yes, there were some people there that did not appreciate blacks at all, said White, who recalled instances of overt racism such as Ruby being told by a professor she would never receive an A grade in that class even if she earned one and that a B, for her, was good.

Yet White also recalls acts of kindness and being inspired by members of the ACU and Abilene community, such as Dr. Tony Ash (59), professor of Bible, missions and ministry; the late Dr. Clyde Austin (53), professor of psychology; and John Allen Chalk, minister at Highland Church of Christ, and his wife, Sue. They and others helped Jack and Ruby feel loved and welcomed, he said, and he doesnt carry any bitterness toward those who didnt.

I would attribute a positive outcome and positive attitude to the positive people Abilene [Christian] decided to hire, White said. Abilene was a much greater blessing because of the good people who were there than it was a curse because of the bad people who were there.

The couple graduated in May 1971

Jack with a bachelors degree in Bible and psychology, Ruby with a bachelors degree in education, graduating magna cum laude and were married that June.

The Whites moved to California, where Ruby earned a masters and doctorate in education. Jack served in ministry at several churches in the L.A. area while in law school. He earned his juris doctor and worked for many years in various departments at Edison South Utility Company, meanwhile earning his MBA, and later went back to full-time ministry. He has taught at churches and workshops across the country and serves as an elder at Upland (Calif.) Church of Christ.

White came out of retirement to teach at Sierra High School in San Bernardino, Calif. As chair of the technical subjects department for the continuation school, he oversees essentially everything from the arts to computer science to physical education. The work isnt easy, but its rewarding.

I enjoy taking a student who thinks he could never learn something and showing him how to learn, he said. I think thats my greatest calling: I teach kids how to learn. I let them see someone who

has been where they are, who is professional, and who understands what its like to be an underdog.

He may change courses again some day, he said, but it wont be to stop serving others. His son already tried to get him to relax, saying as much when they were together this fall.

I told him selfishly, I wish you wouldnt do that. Id love for you to be able to use that time and relax, White II said. He listened to me, and then he said, You know, son, I can appreciate that perspective. But I have to stand before God. And I can do this, and I need to be able to say to Him that I did with what You gave me what I could.


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Any proper introduction to Abilene Christian University the gist

of our new ACU 101 feature in each issue must include Sing Song.

The brainchild of innovator Dr. Bob Hunter (52), it was introduced as a

campus-wide Sing Song contest designed to encourage student organization

participation and demonstrate that ACU is the Singing College.

The wildly popular event has been entertaining audiences and engaging

students each February since 1957. The upcoming edition, featuring

more than 1,500 students, will be the events 60th anniversary.

Heres what you need to know.

The first Sing Song is held Feb. 14, 1957, with Hunter as director, Lewis Fulks (48) as technical

director, William J. Teague (52) as master of ceremonies and 22 vocal groups comprising

403 students. A crowd twice the capacity of 1,200-seat Sewell Auditorium shows up for free

seating; half are turned away. Galaxy and the junior class are inaugural winners.

1970 The Saturday night show is broadcast live on KTXS-TV, featuring pop music star Pat Boone as celebrity host, along with his wife and four daughters (including future Grammy winner Debby Boone). Students vote to donate more then $11,000 in ticket proceeds to a Campus Beautification Project to enhance landscaping around new buildings such as the coliseum, campus center and library.

1975 In response to students disgruntled about a canceled concert, Students Association president Kelly Utsinger (75) calls for a boycott of Sing Song. The university says if students choose not to participate, adjustments will be made in the show. They vote to participate, however, and perform to the largest audience in Sing Song history.

1976 Todays three-show format is introduced: Friday night and twice on Saturday.

1962 Sing Song relocates to

the 1,800-seat Abilene High

School auditorium and sells tickets ($1) for the first

time. They sell out in five hours, so dress rehearsal

tickets (50 cents) are created to keep up with

public demand.

1971 Sing Song is broadcast on local TV

again, with Vonda Kay Van Dyke, Miss America

1965, as celebrity guest singer on Friday and

Saturday nights. Mayor J.C. Hunter Jr. proclaims

Feb. 19 as Sing Song Day in Abilene.

1964 A second show is added to accommodate

ticket demand.

1966 Student participation grows to near 800.

1969 The first major event in new Moody Coliseum is Sing Song. The audience

is electrified by freshmen performing a Wizard of Oz act and introducing choreography by swinging their arms and marching in place.

ACU101


The stage is set Other than its founding, no decision has had more impact on the event than Hunters suggestion to remove seats from Sections P, Q and R of the coliseum in 1971 to create a tiered area for performances. The first permanent Sing Song stage was born.

1983 Elaborate staging and concert lighting are introduced to the show, while complex choreography and costume changes become the norm for groups.

1987 Sophomores (Class of 1989) introduce the use of electric lights built into costumes as Broadway Bumblebees.

2000 Awards are created to honor two

Sing Song legends: longtime vocal

coach Jeannette (Scruggs 50) Lipford

and founder Hunter.

2007 Online ticket sales begin at

acu.edu/singsong and an audience

favorite vote is tabulated through

online voting for the first time.

2010 A Give-Back Program is introduced, with winning groups designating a charity to receive $1,000 in their name. Sing Song

trophies (to winners of Men, Women and Mixed Voices categories)

are first awarded.

2014 Student participation swells to 1,500.

2015 For the first time, the freshman class forms two groups to compete in the Mixed Voices category.

2012 Staging for Sing Song groups begins in the various gyms of the Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center, adjacent to Moody.

Watch the ACU Today blog for more Sing Song history at blogs.acu.edu/acutoday

ElderLink keeps church leaders on top of their pastoral gameB Y G R A N T B O O N E


ne of the keenest observers and trusted guides in Churches of Christ was legally blind.

But in a quarter century at ACU and from a variety of positions, including patriarch of its popular ElderLink ministry, the late Dr. Charles Siburt Jr. (68) had a way of seeing things church leaders in the midst of crises couldnt.

Driven by his own experience as a preacher and elder and his deep love for people in those roles, Siburts knack for correctly diagnosing congregational concerns and his willingness to put all involved parties on the chopping block earned him two widely used nicknames: The Church Doctor and Chainsaw Charlie. A rare eye condition limiting his vision seemed only to sharpen his insight.

He had the remarkable ability to size up a situation in a sentence or two to get to the crux, remembers ACU chancellor Dr. Royce Money (64), who in 1988 brought Siburt onto ACUs full-time Bible faculty. But it was always couched in love and concern.

Dr. John Knox (D.Min. 03), preaching minister for Granbury (Texas) Church of Christ and a former student of Siburts, was one of the countless church leaders who benefited both from his mentors gentle bedside manner and his sawtooths sting.

He could make you feel like you were the best minister God ever created, recalls Knox, yet at the same time had no tolerance for self-pity. Charlie could tell church leaders things about themselves that were very painful to hear. I quietly cringed more than once during meetings with Charlie and my leaders. But in response, those leaders would thank him and ask when he could come back. They intuitively sensed he had the health of the church in mind.

Siburts personal conversations and consultations with leadership teams helped to make him aware of unique needs and challenges faced by elders, and in 2000 he responded by launching ElderLink. Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, the program brings church leaders from across the country for a series of conferences to equip and encourage them as they shepherd their flocks.

Ministers often get a chance to do continuing education work, but a lot of times elders and lay leaders in congregations are invited to do things for which they havent really had any basic training. ElderLink really fits that bill, says Dr. Carson Reed (95 D.Min.), ACU vice president for church relations, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Theology and executive director of the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry.

Steve Watkins, a program manager for an IT company, attended his first ElderLink conference in 2011, a year after becoming a shepherd at Fairfax (Va.) Church of Christ.

Stepping into this role, I thought I understood what I was getting into, Watkins says. Its almost like getting married. All of a sudden you think, I wish someone had told me this beforehand! So many unexpected things. To go to ElderLink and hear an elder from North Carolina, one from Georgia and one from Mississippi struggling with some of the same issues, it was a relief to know its not just us in northern Virginia.

Steve Rogers, an elder at Central Church of Christ in Amarillo, Texas, and a frequent ElderLink participant, takes it a step further.

I believe the greatest challenge to church leaders is the absence of a pastoral guidance source, Rogers says. Church leaders are expected to be strong, wise and

BOBB

Y G

OM

BERT


Siburt


encouraging to their congregations, and we readily accept that responsibility. But occasionally our emotional and wisdom tanks are drained and we have limited resources for renewal.

Reed says its incredibly difficult for elders to be on the top of their game after working 50-60 hours a week, then gathering to pray and discern whats going on in their congregation or to practice pastoral care for members who also are living frenetic lives. These folks are doing that with not a lot of training or preparation, he says. They have gifts of leadership or pastoral care or teaching, but those havent necessarily been trained or developed or nurtured.

What began as a single ElderLink event in Dallas 15 years ago has grown into a series of conferences across the U.S. and several in Brazil. Nearly 9,000 have attended the more than 50 ElderLink conferences, the most recent in January in Houston.

Each years series has a theme the one for 2015-16 is Revitalizing Churches with a program of presenters and topics based on the host locations demographics and contemporary relevance. Such topics include worship practices, gender leadership, conflict resolution, spiritual formation, and reaching the Millennial generation.

Ultimately, we hope to connect church leaders with resources to help them and their churches be healthier, says assistant director of church relations Karissa Herchenroeder (06). Its exciting to not only help build a strong program with a lineup of talented speakers for each event, but also to simply create a space for leaders and their spouses to learn from and encourage one another.

For Rogers, what he has witnessed between sessions has been just as formative as what he has heard from presenters.

The overriding strength of ElderLink, Rogers says, is the sharing of experiences and the fellowship with others who have a common point of service.

Sometimes, Reed says, the best thing that happens is an elder from one church gets to sit at a lunch table with elders from three other churches, and they begin to share a few stories and say, Oh! You too! Theres a sense of camaraderie and sharing in this crazy but holy calling to help lead a church that blesses elders by simply being together with other leaders.

What church leaders wont hear at an ElderLink conference is what they should believe about any issue, regardless how hot its button. That principle is of

particular significance to ACUs faith heritage and precisely what Siburt intended.

Charlie focused his training, Money says, not on specific

issues but how to recognize the process and to recognize the

dynamics of what was happening. He would teach them how to

think spiritually and how to exercise enough self-control so as not to get

sucked into the situation and become part of the problem. If Charlie has left a lasting contribution in the shepherding resource area, I think it would be this: Instead of the quick answers, he taught them how to think spiritually and objectively.

Churches of Christ have always believed and tried to practice autonomy, says Reed, so there is a great breadth of practice on a lot of issues. Our primary task with ElderLink is not to tell leaders what to think about gender or worship practices or how to do outreach in their communities but to say, Here are the resources for you to work through to get to the answer as you seek to be faithful to what God is calling you to do in your congregational context.

That focus on helping leaders think well rather than telling them what to think has attracted the attention of other faith traditions. While ElderLink focuses primarily on congregations within Churches of Christ, the conferences are open to anyone.

Were in a season as a university negotiating what it means to be faithful to our historic roots within Churches of Christ, Reed says, even as we welcome and invite other people who are looking for Christian education and who have deep Christian commitments who come from a variety of traditions. And in reality, that journey is so dear and near to the core of what it means to be Churches of Christ that its not surprising to see it actually happening. We have a new event in Indianapolis this spring, and were consciously reaching out to Christian Churches, who are like our first cousins in the faith. We share a kind of common governance, and theyre wrestling with the same kinds of things.

The Siburt Institute is adding that April 2016 conference in Indianapolis (the 11th city to host an ElderLink event) because a group of churches in that area asked for it and agreed to partner financially. Other expenses are covered by registration fees. ElderLink determines where to stage its conferences each year both by request and when the staff senses a need.

No matter how Churches of Christ may look today from when ElderLink was launched in November 2000 or may look 15 years from now, Reed believes there

Herchenroeder

will always be a place for ElderLinks unique focus and function.

The need for strong, godly persons of character to lead churches has not changed, Reed says. I think Christianity finds itself a little more beleaguered and struggling to find its way in North American culture. I sense a growing sense of urgency on leaders to lead well for the sake of the kingdom. And so conversations on what it means to be a church on mission become more present. I think theres a deep and abiding place for ElderLink to create this space for conversations to happen. In fact, it raises for us, How could we do more? How could we come alongside elder groups and not just provide one day a year but create ongoing resources for the kinds of conversations that theyre having in their congregations?

Siburt Institute associate director Curtis King (83) believes the full impact of ElderLink may never be truly measured. One individual informed me that his father, an elder at a small rural congregation, would atte

acu today winter/spring 2016

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