I'd Be Lying...

So, do we know why Raymond is leaving? I thought he'd be entrenched up on the mountain there forever.

This is pissing me off as well. And granted I'm part of a particularly skeptical and distrustful group. But one of the few parts of Covenant I was never distrustful of was Scott Raymond.

Scott leaving is certainly a blow to the college. I'm not so sure it's part of a broader trend of Covenant being "Wheatonized", though.

I've maintained a pretty close relationship to the college over the years and have been able to see things going on behind the scenes as well. The past few year's financial difficulties, the Department of Education audit and it's ramifications and the changeover of personnel have made things difficult and have certainly frayed nerves. That said, Covenant sorely needed some change in personnel. There were a lot of people working there who were, frankly, incompetant and needed to go (I'm not including Scott in this). Many of them are gone now, but not all. That's a good thing for the college. There was too much of an attitude that a Covenant job was a job for life. That's generally not a healthy attitude to have.

It does seem that there are more people distrustful of each other at the college now. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I know that the faculty doesn't seem to really trust Administration, the Board or the Students, which I think is related to a lot of changes that have been going on. But then again, no faculty of any college is ever ready for change. That seems to be a motivating factor for a lot of people becoming involved in academia.

Anyway, all that to say that Covenant remains a unique place with a unique purpose and the folks who are there now, while not the same as those who were there years ago, are still committed to "In all things . . . Christ pre-eminant." Even if they do accidentally leave it off some of the recent printed stuff.

Ed, thanks for commenting, and (I just had to say it) bringing the Thunder.

But I would sa, my concern is that I might have a different view of what it actually means to "In things..." have "Christ pre-eminant." My feeling is that this administration has a different view than those in the past, one that I would feel DOESN'T, at least in a few notable situations & in certain aspects of their vision (or lack thereof), doesn't actually have Christ pre-eminent, but other things, the rep of the college, money, and running a tight academic institution.

And I'd agree that there were some folks that needed to go who were, well, less than competent. But there's a way to do things, a method and a process that's close to the gospel. Soul-less corporate HR is NOT the way to do things. I'm not talking about being a "Christian Company" or college either, I'm just talking about being a Christian.

I know I'm young and idealistic and all that jazz, I just think some things come first.

..."the rep of the college, money, and running a tight academic institution."

These are pretty heavy assumptions. Have you ever talked to Dr. Nielson about his philosophy for the school's direction or are you simply making a judgement based on what you perceive? I'm really just asking out of curiosity. I've had the priveledge to sit down face to face with the man, and from what he told about his vision for the school, it is all about Christ. He even addressed that in his first appearance to the student body in chapel.

(from one West Coaster to another)

But do you all remember what one of the student speakers said during our (2002) graduation weekend? It was either Senior Night or Graduation itself...he quoted the Harvard founding statement (their vision statement) and pointed out how far they've fallen from that vision. Here's the vision statement: "Let every scholar be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, ‘therefore, [we] lay Christ at the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning." Where has Harvard gone? Down the path of pleasing most of the people most of the time, instead of the path of doing things the right way, the Scriptural way, not counting the cost of righteousness and obedience.

It's amazing to me that even when I was a student there, Covenant was so desirous of placing on some list of Good Colleges and Universities in the South.

And I was saddened to learn this weekend that Covenant now takes chapel attendance through the honors system. I was not a chapel hater in my day, and I rather enjoyed being forced to sit in the auditorium with the entire student body once a day! And if the Chapel Enforcers lower their standards that way, then the Enforced will live up to the expecations placed on them...which is lower than it was in my day, and which enhances the laziness factor of Covenant students. I hate that Covenant is turning into just another college with Bible verses tacked on, instead of them making the effort to truly make it "in ALL things Christ pre-eminent." To do things the hard way and apply grace as much as possible, and to work hard to be a community, not a corporate Dilbert place ... that is hard work! As Graham said, "Grace is messy." Well, there goes Covenant, and they have yet to get any of my alumni financial giving because of that very thing. Maybe I should tell them that's why they never get money from me...

What is more telling: said philosophy or actions?

Seems to me that no one has questioned the fact that Dr. Nielson is a true Christian and wants to make Cov't the best Christian college he can. Being the business man as he obviously is, it seems that he believes the way for Cov't to be the best it can, it primarily needs to look Christian, be bigger and gain prestige. The way one accomplishes this is mainly to enforce rules to the letter, increase acedemic standards (not necessarily the rigour), get more people to give money and run the college like an effecient machine. That's his idea of a quality Christian college.

I do not think anyone is doubting the new administration's good Christianly intentions, I think the people complaining are complaining that by judging by the decisions made by the administration, community is a priority placed behind business and prestige. This is what the actions suggest, if they do not outright yell.

Chapel to me always seemed like the "Bible verses tacked on" part. It was like a gauge for whether the college was "Christian" or not.

For my part, I would be glad to see the Chapel program reduced to voluntary or eliminated altogether. I think it would make it easier for Covenant to chart its way through the difficult waters of what it means to be Christian as an educational institution. Students should be finding their spiritual identity in their congregations, not in their educational institutions.

Things like Chapel, Day of Prayer, and other church-like-but-school-sponsored activities are the "Bible verses tacked on" for the school. I'm not saying some good can't come out of those activities, but they're certainly not essential to how Christians should institutionally educate or be educated, and can actually be harmful in some ways as some students begin to find their primary means of spiritual support and edification through... a school, and they cloud the more difficult and important issues of how to be a Christian educator/student. It isn't by singing a hymn before class.

As to being more concerned with reputation than students, well, that's obviously bad, if true.

Ah Phil, you're such a cynic. Institutionally speaking, its all arbitrary, but you do what you can do, after all. Life is full of the submission to arbitrary authorities. I think the realization of such calls for a paradigm shift of sorts. Deconstruction is only useful insofar as it emphasizes the primacy of seeking Jesus our whole lives in everything.

That being the case, we really are winging it in most cases, but in the most poignant and meaningful of senses. It isn't called a "faith" for nothing.

My brain has been wrong, my heart has been wrong, my gut has been wrong, but my cynicism maintains a 100% accuracy ratio. ;-)

I'm not sure I followed that other part. You philosophy majors have to speak more slowly and use smaller words for me.

RE: "I think the people complaining are complaining that by judging by the decisions made by the administration, community is a priority placed behind business and prestige. This is what the actions suggest, if they do not outright yell."

Can someone elaborate for me what decisions are being referenced in this comment?

Please understand that I am not mining for gossip or bad reports. I don't want to go there. What I do want is to understand the nature of the issues which lie at the root of the cynicism embedded in this comment thread.

The tone of this thread is concerning for someone who cares about Covenant as much as I do.

Thanks,

Jeff
CC class of '85

i worked in the tuck shoppe for 13 years, and the apparent apathy of the current administration to the staff is pathetic! i didn't like some of the direction the company i worked for was moving to but had always been able to offset that with "at least it's at covenant & i can look after its welfare in all this." well, the current administration changed that attitude so much i despised going to work & was very happy to have the opportunity to leave in april. i wanted to address my dissatisfaction with the college's direction and took the opportunity to send an email to alumni director marshall rowe when they were asking alumni to give so they could meet a certain percentage to look good. i copied to chrmn of board bob avis, nielson, wallace anderson, troy duble, steve randolph. never rec'd any reply - how typical! anyway, here's the email:

Hi, Marshall!

I’m just writing this to let you know why I’m
intentionally not contributing money to the college
this year, thus not helping the college meet its goal
of 45% alumni giving for this fiscal year.

Currently I feel that administrative matters at
Covenant are not being conducted in a manner compliant with the principles as stated in the college’s Statement of Purpose. I do not feel that these principles are meant solely for classroom integration but rather are guidelines for integrating Christian principles into the whole of the college, academic and administrative. In fact, I am ashamed to be an alumnus of such an institution. At this time I find the college “Focus” as stated on the Covenant website, “To serve this end we seek to appropriate the mind of Christ as the biblical perspective from which we characterize and respond to reality” to be words only and not deeds in regard to the administrative angle.

One particular avenue in which I see Covenant giving Christian principles a back seat to general business practices would be in treating the college primarily as a superficial marketing tool, with lesser regard to those who live, learn, work, and study there than to those the college hopes to attract to come to the campus, supposedly in order to live, learn, work, and study there. If the college holds strong in its Christian principles then those that are already at the campus will continue to be the strongest marketing tool the college could hope to have, through their happiness at being there and wanting to be contributory to the same experience for others. Hopefully the PCA has not become so arrogant that superficial values are more important than those of the spirit.

But the most flagrant abuse of Christian principles to general business practices at Covenant as I see it would be in the way the staff is being treated. Having worked at the campus though not a staff member I was able to see the effect that talk of “changes” was having on the staff. I do not oppose changes, as those are reflective of growth, but in implementing changes in a Christian institution we should be setting a higher standard and not just meeting the secular standard in such practices. It seemed that assumptions were made as to who would fit in to these “changes” (which were not necessarily spelled out) and who wouldn’t and hence needed to be let go, whereas a more
Godly approach might have been to explain what the changes were that needed to come about and how individuals needed to respond to these changes in the context of their jobs, how their jobs would be different in handling these changes. Then give folks a chance to prove they can do their jobs under the new expectations, or make available some other position if they are unable to handle the changes in their current capacity. And for folks that do need to be let go be sure they are given honest reasons and that they have been given clear instruction as to what is expected of them and a chance, via a warning, if they seem to be
straying from their duties.

“…losing a job is stressful, but it turns out that
retaining your position in the wake of company layoffs is no picnic either.” A study by scientists at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health found that “people who kept working were more likely to take sick days and were twice as likely to die from heart disease compared to employees whose company didn’t downsize.” Reasons cited were overwork, more work for fewer people, and the worry of more job cuts. (Reader’s Digest June 2004, “Medical Update”, “Downsizing Your Health”, p. 54.) This same stress is sitting on the shoulders of all the staff there at Covenant, and it will not be removed by saying “how you handle these changes is up to you.” Treat the staff fairly and you will get their best; Covenant is best reflected in its people, and the staff unhappiness cannot be expected to be masked from students and visitors for long.

I am not actively promoting my viewpoint among other alumni, but should anyone ask of me I am sharing my thoughts. I would like to feel I can give to the institution of which I am an alumnus but I will need to see that this institution operates under the same unchanging Christian principles as it did when I was a student there, and of that I will not compromise.

Thank you, and let’s not lose sight of what distinguishes Covenant from other similar institutions.

Lois Newton
Class of ’75 (or ’76 if you want to be technical)

There once was a college named Covenant,
Where employees were happy and reverent.
They believed in the school,
Had humility, too,
But now everything’s totally different!