Message from the President

Say ‘Yes!’

We have a tradition at George Fox of bringing alumni back to our graduation ceremonies to share how God has been working in their lives. This year we welcomed Jael Chambers, a 2011 graduate and a member of the first Act Six cohort – a scholarship and leadership training initiative that brought urban leaders to the university, many of them first-generation college students. Act Six students were expected to be leaders on campus and, upon graduation, become “agents of change.” Jael has fulfilled the promise of that program and currently serves as executive vice president at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Jael shared a number of important lessons with our graduates, but the one that resonated most with me was his suggestion that, when presented with an opportunity – a call from God – say “yes!” The opportunity may lead to significant challenges and even unpredictable outcomes, but say “yes.” He talked about the times in his life when saying “yes” to a God-given opportunity changed the course of his life.

At the same graduation we celebrated the retirement of Neal Ninteman, one of our beloved engineering faculty members. Professor Ninteman always – I mean always – saw opportunity in the midst of challenge. He took on courses where students had struggled and chronically underperformed and turned them into some of the best on campus. He actually helped students embrace mathematics!

He led our Engineering Your Soul program as he sought to mentor engineering students and help them deepen their faith in Christ. When we considered giving up on our men’s tennis program because of its perpetual lack of success, Neal asked to take leadership of the team. In just a few short years, the program would go from 0-16 to nationally ranked, laying the foundation for four consecutive conference titles. George Fox is a great place because we have people who continually say “yes” to God and “yes” on behalf of our mission.

President Robin Baker honors retiring professor Neal Ninteman during commencement

God has always called people to lead during difficult times. He called Abram to leave his ancestral land and lead the people of God. In the same manner he called Sarah, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Ruth and millions upon millions of others to say “yes” to bring his kingdom to the world around us.

The theme of this issue is “Alumni Making a Difference.” These are stories of alumni who said “yes” to God-given opportunities. I am grateful that the story of George Fox’s alumni, students, faculty and staff is the story of people saying “yes.”

Robin Baker
President