Campbellsville University

Eastridge couple calls CU a ‘magical place’; Bowling Green event is Tuesday

Eastridge couple calls CU a ‘magical place’; Bowling Green event is Tuesday

By Joan C. McKinney | 09/16/2014

Mike Eastridge, second from left, listens to Chris Withers, CU's campaign consultant, at a recent CU Board of Trustees meeting. From left are trustees Dr. Joel Carwile, Eastridge, Paul Osborne and Shirley Whitehouse. (Campbellsville University Photo by Joan C. McKinney)

 Mike Eastridge, second from left, listens to Chris Withers, CU’s campaign consultant, at a recent CU Board of Trustees meeting. From left are trustees Dr. Joel Carwile, Eastridge, Paul Osborne and Shirley Whitehouse. (Campbellsville University Photo by Joan C. McKinney)

For Immediate Release

By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - To Mike and Phyllis Eastridge of Bowling Green, Campbellsville University is a “magical place that affects each one of us that have had the opportunity to be a part of this great mission.”

Eastridge, who is retired as vice president for operations from Warren RECC, and his wife, who is retired from Morris Advertising, are planning to attend a Campaign for the Commonwealth event Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. CDT at Mariah's.

CU's Campaign for the Commonwealth is a fundraising campaign with a goal of $61.1 million that will help with new residence halls, salaries, creating new programs, new buildings for programs and improving the campus.

Events are being held in the fall in Frankfort, Paducah and Florence as well as Bowling Green this fall. An event was Sept. 9 in Owensboro and spring events included ones in Danville/Stanford, Louisville, Lexington, Elizabethtown and Somerset.

Over $33 million has been raised in the campaign so far.

“My wife and I have a great relationship with many of the staff members at CU, and we feel like we are a part of the CU family,” Eastridge said.

“We have been fortunate enough to support the university at the President's Club level for many years and were a part of the fundraising for the Ransdell Chapel.”

The couple has made a five-year pledge to the new capital campaign named “Our Time This Place - Next Century Campaign for Campbellsville University.”

“As we strive to provide a quality education at an affordable price, it is critical that we have a successful campaign,” Eastridge said.

He invites everyone to attend the event at Mariah's to “be a part of the mission of CU by participating in this fundraising effort.

Eastridge has been a member of the CU Board of Trustees 15 years and attended CU from fall 1968 through the spring of 1970.

In supporting CU both as a trustee and alumnus, Eastridge said he and his wife tell people “CU is a Christ-centered institution that strives to employ employees that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, students receive a quality education in a Christian setting.”

He said many students from all over the world have the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ for the first time.

“This campaign is going to be so important in the life of the university,” Dr. Michael V. Carter, CU president, said. He said the various events “represents our attempt to begin to reach out, in a personal way, across the Commonwealth as we continue in our capital campaign.”

Carter said the campaign is a road map for CU to provide the resources needed for scholarship assistance and facility improvements and to add new and additional programs in a way that's relevant and meaningful.

“CU's educational program has also been strengthened with the addition of new programs. “It's going to help our students get into professional and graduate schools like never before,” Carter said.

“This campaign becomes that vehicle for us to be able to provide for these types of opportunities for the next generation,” he said.

Carter said there has never been a better time for the need of Christian higher education than now. Carter said, since 1906, Campbellsville University has answered that question by teaching Christian higher education to servant leaders - and therefore teaching them to be a “good person.”

He said the university has taught Christ's teachings, and the university hasn't deviated from that in her 108 years of teaching.

Benji Kelly, vice president for development, said, “It's an exciting time at CU, and a lot of wonderful things are happening. CU is on the move with changing lives.”

He said supporters can do three things - pray for CU, send students and give financial support.

Kelly said the previous campaign funds have allowed for the hiring of about 40 new faculty members as well as new academic programs and buildings including the Ransdell Chapel. He said the endowment has grown and must continue to assure long-term support for CU.

He said 19 scholarships have been endowed, and over 5,200 supporters donated in the last campaign with 3,200 of them first-time givers.

Carter is finishing his 15th year as president of Campbellsville University, and he said there were a record 1,100 students living on the main campus in fall 2013.

“Campbellsville University is an amazing place, and I'm extremely honored to be serving here,” he said.

“We work hard at Campbellsville to offer different programs where Christ is lifted up and is the center of the university. We take students and love them. Lives are being changed on our campus,” he said.

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.