Oct. 31, 2013

By Drew Tucker, communications assistant

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University has reached her $30 million silent phase goal of the “Our Times, This Place: Next Century Campaign, Campbellsville University” campaign.

Dr. Joseph Owens, chair of the CU Board of Trustees, made the announcement to those attending the annual President's Club dinner Oct. 21 in the Winters Dining Hall.

The university's campaign goal is $61.1 million and will go public in 2014; an internal goal of “30 by 13” was set to reach $30 million before the end of 2013. It was met two and a half months in advance of the end of the year.

“Thank you dedicated staff, faculty and coaches,” he said. “Each of us, members of the President's Club, because of you, your love and sacrifice, we are two and half months ahead of schedule.”

He said the “30 by 13” campaign is now complete and it is “time to move forward.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for making this evening possible. To each of you - you are a friend,” Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of CU, said. “Thank you for your support of this university.”

Carter said during FIRST CLASS, Eric Gilbert, pastor of 3trees Church in Russell Springs, Ky., led some 30 young people “to surrender their hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“We live in a broken world - too much evil - too many bad people,” he said. “We need to create an army to build bridges and not break them apart.”

Dr. Joseph Owens, chair of the CU Board of Trustees, announces the $30 million by the end of 2013 campaign is two and half months ahead of schedule. (Campbellsville University Photo by Drew Tucker)

He said CU is 107 years old, and the future is bright. “I'm excited about the future. There's a plan, prayers and players, and the plan is Vision 2025.”

He said CU is moving from its silent phase into the public phase, and prayed that CU may mold and craft young people's lives that come to CU.

“The players are you - we need you,” he said. “We need to find a way to make this $61.1 million goal a reality.”

“We're called to renew our minds and to produce servant leaders,” he said. “We need the local church and this Christian university to come together so that the next generation of young people can come here.”

Carter thanked the President's Club members and introduced the Rev. Joel Carwile, the guest speaker for the evening who is pastor of Valley View Church in Louisville, Ky.

Carwile said CU has changed a lot since 1906 when it was founded as Russell Creek Academy. “We know if we don't change we become stagnant,” he said.

He said CU has over 3,600 students.

“Students are coming to this place and falling in love,” he said.

He said his is one life that has been changed since coming to CU, and while the world focuses on itself, CU is about serving others.

“We're going to continue to do great things,” he said. “This President's Club is givers - sacrificial givers.”

He quoted Benjamin Franklin, “Tell me and I forget, teach me, and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

“That's the duty of the Campbellsville experience,” he said.

He said though this silent phase for the “30 by 13” campaign is over, “We're going to ask for more, more, more - because it's worth it.”

Carwile said he wants the students at CU to change the world where “kids get saved and take Jesus Christ back to their continents.”

“We ask you help to grow boys into men of God and girls into women of God,” he said.

He told the President's Club members when he was sending out information for a master's degree program, he looked all over the state and found Campbellsville University.

“Because you gave, I was able to come here,” he said.

He quoted Winston Churchill who said, “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.”

He said that almost half the world's population is 25 or under, which is about three billion people, and Generation Y [youth born between 1984 and 2002] are now the largest generation in American history, passing up the Baby Boomers.

“Unless you are prepared to give up something valuable you will never be able to truly change at all, because you'll forever be in the control of things you can't give up,” he quoted Andy Law.

“The Holy Spirit is going to ask us to give up something,” Carwile said. “There comes a time when we have to give up for the greater good.”

The Rev. Joel Carwile, guest speaker and pastor of Valley View Church in Louisville, Ky., speaks to the President's Club members about giving. (Campbellsville University Photo by Drew Tucker)

“You have sacrificed; from World War II to Vietnam,” he said. “I need to ask you one last time: will you invest?

“We need a new wellness center and other buildings. The only way that happens is through us. I want you to make dreams come true.”

He quoted David Brainerd, “God, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.”

“If you give, God will bless that business and investment,” Carwile said.

He spoke about “our dash;” the dash between everyone's birth and death year.

“It represents all that time we had on Earth,” he said. “Would you be pleased by what a person said about your dash?”

A total of 20 new members were inducted into the President's Club. A total of 385 members represented the President's Club for 2012-2013.

New members for the President's Club for 2012-2013 are: Todd Adams of Campbellsville, Ky.; Anchor Baptist Church of Lexington, Ky.; John and Robin Ball of Lancaster, Ky.; Robert and Shirley Buckner of Campbellsville, Ky.;

Butler Woodcrafters, Inc. of Chase City, Va.; Alan and Regina Cain of Alachua, Fl.; Campbellsville Downtown Business Association, represented by Doug and Kathleen Tucker of Campbellsville, Ky.; Robert and Ginger Colvin of Campbellsville, Ky.;

Todd Cordell of Elizabethtown, Ky.; Ben and Regina Cox of Campbellsville, Ky.; Jim Davis of Hebron, Ky.; Leon and Virginia Davis of Magnolia, Ky.; Brian and Miranda Denney of Campbellsville, Ky.; Chad and Jessica Floyd of Campbellsville, Ky.;

Alan Haven of Shelbyville, Ky.; David and Betty Hayes of Campbellsville, Ky.; Randy Herron of Campbellsville, Ky.; Tonya Kessler of Campbellsville, Ky.; Jason and Tara Lawson of Campbellsville, Ky.;

Leesburg United Methodist Church of Leesburg, Oh.; Darrell and Suesan Locke of Hodgenville, Ky.; Calen McKinney of Campbellsville, Ky.; William and Carole Ramage of Jamestown, Ky.;

Fred and Martha Stein of Glendale, Ky.; David A. Stumbo of Bowling Green, Ky.; Tri-County Car Club Inc. of Campbellsville, Ky.; Samuel and Mary Varnado of Somserset, Ky.; Jimmie and Tina Wooley of Campbellsville, Ky.; and Christopher and Laura Zoeller of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Benji Kelly, vice president for development, was the host for the event. The invocation was by Ron Rafferty, a CU Board of Trustee member. The benediction was by the Rev. Dave Walters, vice president for admissions and student services. Music was presented by CU Sound, directed by the Rev. John Rausch, director and CU's head men's and women's bowling coach.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.