Oct. 13, 2014
For Immediate Release
By Linda Waggener, marketing and media relations coordinator
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Over 30 people gathered in Frankfort recently for Campbellsville University's Campaign for the Commonwealth luncheon and focus on the need to support Christian higher education.
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LeAnn Straley, a 2011 graduate, is now working |
“This campaign is vital in the life of the university,” Dr. Michael V. Carter, CU president, said. “With over half of our incoming freshman continuing to be first generation college students, we are very excited to provide new opportunities for those families. This capital campaign is the vehicle making sure that each and every student who wants a Christ centered education at CU will have that.”
He said, “Every day in major news serious questions arise about how college can be made more affordable and Campbellsville University is committed to reducing the cost of a college education - on average students who have graduated from CU have the lowest debt of any university in the state.”
He said that to truly understand why CU must make sure students can attend, one only needs to listen to their stories.
“Campbellsville University was the last place I applied,” said Haley Carman, CU School of Education senior from Berea and graduate of Madison Southern High School. “I came to campus on a Preview Day undecided, until I heard a prayer by Dr. Frank Cheatham. As soon as his prayer ended, I knew CU was where I needed to be.”
For Carman it was the “unapologetically Christian spiritual nurturing” that made the final difference in where she'd go to college. Growing up, she'd been active in the Berea Baptist church family and through the youth group she said she came to feel that a Christian atmosphere was a necessary part of her continuing education. Carman will graduate in May and is doing her student teaching at Campbellsville Elementary School in first and third grades.
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| Taylor Ohlmann, CU School of Education sophomore from Louisville, spoke at the Frankfort Campaign for the Commonwealth luncheon. (Campbellsville University Photo by Linda Waggener) |
On the other hand, CU was the only school Taylor Ohlmann visited and applied to. The CU sophomore from Louisville had heard about CU in middle school and said, “I knew I wanted to go to CU where everything is centered around Christ.” She hopes to teach in an inner-city school and, “shine the light of Christ there as CU has done for me, preparing me for service.”
Ohlmann said CU alumna Bonnie Abner had been a mentor to her and always passed the Campbellsvillian magazines on to her. Ohlmann is a School of Education sophomore double majoring in Spanish education and works as a counselor in the CU Office of Admissions.
Benji Kelly, Vice President of development, said this campaign is about changing lives and creating Christian servant leaders, a mission which has not changed over 107 years of Christian higher education in Campbellsville.
“The need for the capital campaign, Our Time This Place, evolved from CU's Vision 2025,” Kelly said, “which documents goals for CU to achieve before the year 2025. Fundraising for CU makes education affordable along with aid, grant and endowment scholarships. He said it is the campaign that has allowed CU to expand its faculty, hiring some 54 new faculty members since beginning the campaign, allowing CU to keep the student-to-faculty ratio low.
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| Dr. Michael V. Carter, Campbellsville University president, spoke at the Frankfort Campaign for the Commonwealth luncheon recently. The event was held at the Kentucky State Chamber of Commerce. (Campbellsville University Photo by Linda Waggener) |
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Haley Carman, CU School of Education senior from |
“On average,” Kelly said, “each class will have about 13 students, and the teacher will know you by name. At CU you are not a number; you're a person, and you're valued on our campus.”
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| Lindsey Hammers, right, CU admissions counselor for Louisville and Frankfort, and CU student Taylor Ohlmann attended the Frankfort Campaign for the Commonwealth luncheon and went on to Louisville Male High School for their college presentation night event. (Campbellsville University Photo by Linda Waggener) |
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate programs, 17 master's degrees and five postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.