Senior Administration

Dr. Brad Voyles
President

Brad Voyles was elected as Covenant College’s seventh president in 2023 after having served as the vice president for student development and dean of students at Covenant College since 2005. Prior to Covenant, Brad served as the dean of students at Belhaven College.

Brad earned an Ed.D. in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University, a M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary, a M.S.Ed. in educational administration from Southern Illinois University, and a B.A. in biological sciences from DePauw University. As president, Brad directs the college’s strategic plans, leads the cabinet, and reports to the board of trustees.

Brad and his wife, Kelli, have three children, Coby, Will, and Cate, all of whom attended or are attending Covenant College. The Voyles family belongs to Chattanooga Valley Presbyterian Church where Brad serves as a ruling elder.

Marc M. Erickson CFP
Vice President for Development

Marc Erickson is vice president for development at Covenant College and executive director of the Covenant College Foundation.

In his capacity as vice president for development, Marc oversees alumni relations, church relations, development, and planned giving. He has led the Covenant College Foundation since 2010. Marc holds a B.A. in business from Covenant College and has previous sales and management experience with Northwestern Mutual and BB&T Huffaker Trimble.

Marc and his wife, Greta, have three children, Grace, Wally, and Mack, and are members of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church, where Marc serves as an elder.

Stephanie Formenti
Vice President for Student Development

Stephanie Formenti oversees residence life, student life, athletics, student success, and health services. She cares deeply about the formation of students and previously served in the chapel department at Covenant for 6 years where she led discipleship initiatives. She graduated from Covenant College with a B.A. in history and then went on to earn a Masters in Theological Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary. 

Stephanie and her husband, Gustavo, have three children, Gabi, Lucas and Jonny. She is a member at New City Fellowship East Lake where her husband is a pastor.

Dr. H. Collin Messer
Vice President for Academic Affairs

A native of Laurens, South Carolina, H. Collin Messer earned his B.A. in English Literature from Emory University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his training and research focused on 20th-century American literature and the literature of the American South.  From 2006-2022 Collin taught American literature and humanities at Grove City College.  During his time at Grove City, he took on increasing levels of administrative responsibility, from chairing the English department to serving as Assistant Dean in the College’s Calderwood School of Arts and Letters.

Collin and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 27 years.  Together they have been blessed with three children, Camille (Covenant College ’21), Grace, and Mac.

Dave Gambrell
Dean of Enrollment Management

Dave Gambrell stepped into his current role of overseeing enrollment at Covenant in 2023. He has been employed at Covenant College on and off for the last 18 years, serving in various roles within athletics, admissions, and development. After graduating from Covenant College with a B.A. in psychology, he continued his studies at Covenant Seminary where he earned his M.Div. Dave served for five years as a pastor in the PCA before he and his family moved back to the mountain in 2018. 

Dave and his wife Christy have three children, Knox, Hope and Eddie. Dave is a teaching elder in the PCA and attends Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church where his family are members.

Mark Huffines, CPA
Controller

Mark Huffines joined Covenant in 2023 after spending eight years in public accounting and ten years in human resources. Prior to coming to Covenant as the college controller he worked in tax, audit, and employee benefit plans in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors.

Mark has a B.S. in accounting from University of Tennessee Chattanooga, a B.A. in religious studies from the University of Florida, and an M.A in theological studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. As the controller, Mark has primary responsibility for the external audit, tax preparation, budgeting, and forecasting, as well as the day-to-day financial operations of the college.

Mark and his wife Sarah, who has taught at Covenant since 2006, have two boys, Simon and Wendell. Mark and Sarah are members of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church where Mark serves as an ordained deacon.

Dr. Sarah Huffines
Faculty Moderator

Sarah Huffines is an associate professor of English, the director of the writing program, and the moderator of the faculty at Covenant College.

Originally from Florida, she has a B.A. in English from the University of Florida, an M.F.A. in creative writing from the Pennsylvania State University, and an Ed.D. in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University. She has been on the faculty at Covenant since 2006.

Sarah and her husband, Mark, have two sons: Simon and Wendell. They are members at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church.

Grant Lowe
Chaplain

Grant comes to Covenant from Pasadena, California, where he most recently served as the coordinator of campus ministries at Providence Christian College. His call to campus ministry follows thirteen years of pastoral ministry—ten of those serving as senior pastor of Second Congregational Church in Peabody, Massachusetts, and three as a pastor of Grace Pasadena, a PCA church plant in Pasadena, California.

Since coming to faith through reading the gospels in college, Grant has remained passionate about God’s word and its ability to transform hearts and minds. He is devoted to faithful, expository preaching and has a deep appreciation and love for the Lord’s church. Ordained as a teaching elder in the PCA, Grant most recently served on the credentials committee in the Pacific Presbytery.

Grant graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in English literature and received his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Sandi, who is also a University of Kansas graduate and holds an M.A. in church history from Gordon-Conwell, have been married twenty years and have two daughters, Henri and Flannery. Having lived all over the country, this is the Lowes’ first time to dwell in the land of sweet tea and banana pudding.