Presidential Insights

At a time when the words Christian College increasingly mean neither, there is an opportunity for Covenant College’s uncompromising commitment to providing a biblically faithful and academically excellent education to stand out while serving the Church and world.  In the marketplace of higher education, institutional missions are daily diluted in an effort to be all things to all people.  While remaining missionally faithful, Covenant will continue to deliver a whole person, formational experience that prepares graduates for their callings while maturing them in their identity in Christ, biblical frame of reference, and service that is Christ-like.

Threats abound, and yet strategic opportunities exist if we take advantage. 1) The enrollment cliff is real but unevenly distributed. There are fewer high school students, yet the Lord is bringing them to us as many families leave the West Coast, Upper Midwest, and the Northeast to move South. 2) The value proposition for higher education has increasingly become a harder sell, but the data continues to show that our graduates stand out in measurable outcomes regarding graduate school, job placement, and, most importantly, church membership and involvement counter-cultural to the prevailing behaviors of the day. 3) The current climate rife with distrust in institutions, hostile culture wars, and concerns about religious freedoms can be challenging to navigate with nuance. However, the institutions that know who they are and are unashamed at telling their story are set up to stand out in the marketplace and become ever more appealing to families searching for a college that stands for biblical truth, excellent educational outcomes, and whole-person discipleship.

We know who we are—we are a coherent, confessional, Christian college. We are a sending agency of the Presbyterian Church in America. We exist to inspire, equip, and send out our graduates to be excellent in all their callings, bearing witness to a watching world as they serve as signposts for the Church. There is incredible potential on this mountaintop ready to be unleashed. To that end, we will strategically invest in thriving majors while adding additional majors, programs, and modes of delivery to maximize the number of students inspired by Covenant’s distinctive mission who are, in turn, used by the Lord to further His Kingdom.

Mission faithfulness does not have to mean method faithfulness. We are boldly taking action now as we launch a comprehensive campaign that will allow us to make programmatic and facility improvements that will set us up for new initiatives focused on increasing our reach and strengthening our core programs and identity. Through the Lord’s mercy and in submission to His call, we seek to be a stronger, more nimble, and more faithful institution, reaching more and more students each year. I invite you to join us in praying and supporting us to that end.

Brad Voyles