Meet our New Faculty!
Rebekah Ash
Assistant Professor
Division of Management in the School of Business
Madison Avery
Instructor
Division of Communication in the School of Fine Arts & Communication
Matthew Bedics
Assistant Professor
Division of Natural Science in the College of Arts & Science
Esdras O. Borges
Instructor
Division of English Language & Literature in the College of Arts & Science and the Division of Biblical Studies and Theology in the School of Theology and Global Leadership
Christopher Enloe
Assistant Professor
Division of Music in the School of Fine Arts & Communication
Rebecca Garcia
Assistant Professor
Division of Natural Science in the College of Arts & Science
Marcia Jackson
Assistant Professor
Division of Health Sciences in the School of Health Professions
Kendra Jeffcott
Instructor
Division of Management in the School of Business
Beth Ann Labadorf
Assistant Professor
Division of Communication in the School of Fine Arts & Communication
McKenna McCann
Assistant Professor
Division of Nursing in the School of Health Professions
Shauna Nanney
Assistant Professor
Division of Nursing in the School of Health Professions
Kirby Rose
Assistant Professor
Division of Health Sciences in the School of Health Professions
David Schwingle
Associate Professor
Division of Communication in the School of Fine Arts & Communication
Jeremy Tufts
Assistant Professor
Division of Art + Design in the School of Fine Arts & Communication
Jeremy Weaver
Assistant Professor
Division of Management in the School of Business
Sharon Wilkie
Associate Professor
Division of Teacher Education in the School of Education and Human Services
Jonathan Poppe
Assistant Professor
Division of Art + Design
School of Fine Arts & Communication
The New Reach Week
This fall, BJU will combine three campus ministry events into one weeklong conference. Global Opportunities Week will merge with the Summer Ministry Conference and the Community Outreach Fair to become REACH Week, which will be held Sept. 23–26. REACH stands for:
Renew my commitment to the Gospel
Emphasize the power of the Gospel
Act on my belief in the Gospel
Care for people who need the Gospel
Help ministries advance the Gospel
Dozens of representatives from missionary agencies, Christian camps, and several other organizations will be on campus to talk with students about ministry and missions opportunities during their college years and after. Classes will not meet on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Instead students will attend special seminars about soul-winning and connecting academic majors with ministry opportunities through local churches and other ministries.
In addition, other campus events are being kept to a minimum during REACH Week to allow students to focus on exploring ministry opportunities. Rather than locating ministry organization displays only in the Davis Room, they will be in various locations around campus to make it more convenient for students to engage with the representatives as they go about their week rather than having to go out of their way. “BJU has always been a place where ministry is highly valued and emphasized,” says Mark Vowels, director of the Center for Global Opportunities (CGO). “We aspire for all BJU graduates to have a heart for ministry, whatever their career path. The goal for REACH Week is to strengthen that priority in the hearts of our students.” Some of the events of the week include
- Meals in the dining common on Tuesday and Wednesday with special camp food and international food themes
- A Ministry Fair at the Activity Center on Tuesday evening
- Workshops throughout the day on Wednesday, such as “Your Major/Your Ministry”
- Prayer Hours in the CGO on Monday and Tuesday afternoon
- The annual Community Outreach Fair at Palmetto Green on Wednesday afternoon
- Praise Stories evening event in Stratton Hall
- A morning Prayer Rally in front of Rodeheaver Auditorium
- Mission Team and Study Abroad information meetings
Featured Events at Homecoming 2024
From reunions to tours to concerts to the State of the University address, registration for Homecoming is steadily picking up pace! Don’t forget that the early bird special for the premiere event — the Alumni Dinner — will close in two weeks on August 31.
Last year, the Homecoming Concert was one of the most successful events of the weekend! This year’s concert is anticipated to grow in attendance not only due to the excellent line up of performances but also the addition of alumni voices in two pieces concluding the concert. If you are a former member of a BJU choir and would like to participate in this collaborative choral performance, click here to sign up.
Saturday morning of Homecoming is full of family-friendly activities, including a brand-new teen-focused event called the EDUcamp Extreme Expo! This new event will give teens a small taste of several amazing EDUcamp options and will include fun games, three full EDUcamp scholarship giveaways and lots of free EDUcamp merch. Every teen that attends will receive a guaranteed $200 EDUcamp scholarship for the summer of 2025.
Bruins Barbeque Bash — a delicious crowd favorite — is back this year with a great addition of a discounted ticket provided by SCOPE — BJU’s School of Continuing, Online and Professional Education.
Click the button below for more information about the whole weekend or to register for the Homecoming Concert, the EDUcamp Extreme Expo or the BBQ Bash! If you have other questions, feel free to email Alumni Relations at [email protected].
See you at Homecoming 2024!
From the US Air Force to Togo, West Africa
How do you prepare to be the chief of surgery over a hospital in a third-world country? Today’s BJU Alumni story features Dr. Thomas Kendall, who serves as hospital administrator and chief of surgery at L’Hôpital Baptiste Biblique (HBB), ABWE’s mission hospital in southern Togo, West Africa. In addition to homeschooling their children, Tom’s wife, Melissa [Washer] Kendall, serves in the Guest House ministry and facilitates a weekly children’s Bible club with the unreached Islamic community.
While in Greenville, South Carolina to drop off his daughter for her first year as a student at BJU, Tom stopped by to chat with the Alumni Relations Department. Listen at the link below as Tom shares how BJU prepared him for his unique position and why it’s important to him and his wife to bring their daughter back to their alma mater for her college education.
BJU GOES TO CAMP
Serving others is fundamental to the BJU experience. This summer, the Alumni Relations Department partnered with Student Life and the Center for Global Opportunities to visit several partner ministries to express appreciation to students and alumni serving. Dr. Crockett sent students a hand-signed thank-you note and gift, and the team from BJU hand-delivered as many notes and gifts as possible over the course of the week.
In addition to personally delivering some of these gifts from Dr. Crockett, the traveling team was able to connect with over 130 current students and 100 alumni at nine different ministries and camps over the span of seven days. While the staff members intended to be an encouragement to those serving in these partner ministries, they returned with renewed gratitude for the BJU community after witnessing students and alumni actively involved in the work of the Gospel through summer ministry.
Next summer, a similar trip is already being planned to visit more BJU students and alumni at camps and summer ministries throughout the U.S.A.
Serving others is fundamental to the BJU experience. This summer, the Alumni Relations Department partnered with Student Life and the Center for Global Opportunities to visit several partner ministries to express appreciation to students and alumni serving. Dr. Crockett sent students a hand-signed thank-you note and gift, and the team from BJU hand-delivered as many notes and gifts as possible over the course of the week.
In addition to personally delivering some of these gifts from Dr. Crockett, the traveling team was able to connect with over 130 current students and 100 alumni at nine different ministries and camps over the span of seven days. While the staff members intended to be an encouragement to those serving in these partner ministries, they returned with renewed gratitude for the BJU community after witnessing students and alumni actively involved in the work of the Gospel through summer ministry.
Next summer, a similar trip is already being planned to visit more BJU students and alumni at camps and summer ministries throughout the U.S.A.
Employment Opportunities
BJU Faculty Positions
BJA Positions
Alumni Updates
Future Bruins
Chi, Joonkyung and Jennifer (Paputsa) ’17, Elijah Jedidiah, June 28, 2024
Dion, Jeremy ’10 and Caroline (Largent) ’09, Charlotte Rose, June 9, 2024
Lobach, Andrew ’16 and Abbie (Rysta) ’16, Camden Rysta, June 11, 2024
Seibert, Michael ’17 and Ana Kate (Barker), Natalie Marie, June 18, 2024
Sicko, Jared ’13 and Meredith (Butler) ’14, Cora Elizabeth, July 3, 2024
Marriages
Cuddington: Mackenna Lapierre and Dylan ’18, July 20, 2024
Deaths
Barton, Joyce (McDaniel) FE, July 31, 2024
Hodges, Melodi ’93, July 26, 2024
Sala, Harold ’58, August 6, 2024
*FE indicates a long-time former employee of BJU.
*RFS indicates a Retired Faculty or Staff of BJU.
Class Notes
Beth Ann Labadorf ’17, communication faculty at BJU, completed a PhD in communication from Purdue University in June. The title of her dissertation is Smartphones, Habits, and Health: Testing Habit Theory to Target Perceived Behavioral Control within the Theory of Planned Behavior. Labadorf utilized her dissertation to explore health communication and communication theory in the context of smartphone use and habit change.
Paul Pillsbury ’06 recently started a new role as the Director of Business Administration and Finance with the Greenville Triumph professional soccer team in Greenville, SC.
Andrew Snavely ’09 finished a decade of bivocational ministry at Grace Baptist Church, Queens, NY (nycgrace.org) and has now assumed a senior pastor role at a different Grace Baptist, this time in Highland Falls, NY (gracebaptistny.org).
Leighton Upton ’14 received his Doctor of Education from the University of Tennessee with a major in Educational Leadership in May 2024.
