By Linda Waggener, marketing and media relations coordinator

Dave Walters, CU vice president for admissions and student services, challenged freshmen to listen for God's call on their lives in Sunday night's CU Service of Dedication of the Class of 2017. (Campbellsville University photo by Linda Waggener)

The Campbellsville University class of 2017 officially began their first semester in a service of dedication in Ransdell Chapel Sunday night, Aug. 25. Jon Hansford, director of First Year Experience (FYE) welcomed Vice Presidents Frank Cheatham and Dave Walters, the freshman class who will graduate in 2017, mentors, instructors, guests and the family and friends in addition to those who were able to watch online.

Walters, vice president for admissions and student services, gave the charge and the blessing to some 600 freshmen class members. He said, “Listen for God's call on your life as you go through the next four years here at Campbellsville University. Walters said, “God knows every one of you by name. Listen as you go through your daily work of being college students — in the classroom, on the ball field, or in the band room, be open to hearing the voice of God calling you to specific places of service.”

Jacqueline Nelson president of the student government association told the incoming freshmen to take a deep breath and relax. She said, “Your what-if worries can be answered by all the students who've gone before you and are here to answer every concern as you get started in your freshman year.”

Campbellsville University's Lamp of Learning was officially passed from Nelson to Abby Harnack, freshman president's scholar from Bowling Green, Ky. The Lamp of Learning signifies a stable light for both the spiritual and the scholastic path of life. The lamp is a symbol for students as Christian servant leaders, ones who not only will walk in the light, but ones that will choose to light the path for others.

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.

A smiling Leigh Ann Sadler, in back, takes a moment before the Campbellsville University Sunday night service of dedication to chat with her daughter Hannah, right, and her new friend Jaclyn White, from Paducah.