Olivet The Magazine | Summer ’24

Dear Friends,

A significant portion of our assignment as the editorial team of Olivet The Magazine is to discover and illuminate stories from all corners of the Olivet Nazarene University community. It is our delight and happy privilege to broadcast these good-newsmiracle moments from across the Olivet experience. We all have a deep need to belong, and the great news is we belong to something so much greater than ourselves - both as the people of God and members of the Olivet family.

And speaking of stories and belonging … recently, we connected with a young alumnus from the ONU class of 2020 - the class that ended their college experience at a distance and beneath the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic. The difficulty and disappointment of those days, with a closed campus and canceled year-end activities, was a tremendous burden for these young women and men as their four years on campus came to an unceremonious end. Our hearts grieved for them and the loss of a proper send-off.

Roll the tape forward four years, as this young alumnus came back to campus for his brother's graduation this past May in Centennial Chapel, with all the pomp and circumstance associated with an Olivet Commencement weekend. We were thrilled when he shared that during the address from Dr. Teresa Woodruff '85 at the undergraduate Commencement ceremony, he reconnected with Olivet in a fresh new way. As Dr. Woodruff pointed to her Olivet experience as the basis for so much of her success in life, she remarked that "The faculty and academic staff of Olivet Nazarene University are the best in the nation, and they care for each of you." She went on to say, "May you rise and shine and give God the glory. May you let your light shine brightly in this world that so urgently needs you. Congratulations, graduates!" And in that moment, for this young man, something wonderful happened in his heart and mind as the connection to his alma mater was somehow renewed and even strengthened. Again, our young friend needed to be reminded that he belongs to something great.

Often, so much of our engagement with our experience as a university student is in the past tense, filled with memories of friendships, challenges, growth, traditions and a myriad of emotions and experiences. But within the pages of this issue and during these coming weeks and months, we encourage you to encounter Olivet in the present tense. Our hope is that something wonderful will happen in your mind and heart as well, and that you will reenter the Olivet story with a keen awareness of what God is doing in and through the people of Olivet today. We hope that you will have a deep sense of knowing that you belong to something great.

And speaking of stories and belonging … roll the tape forward one more time to Orientation weekend in Centennial Chapel this past June, just five short weeks after Commencement, as LaMorris Crawford '06/'12 M.O.L. prayed this prayer for a record class of incoming students and their parents: "Holy Spirit, we invite You in this place. You will not be grieved. You will not be offended. We give You complete reign and authority."

May it be so for all of us!

Blessings,
The Editorial Team