Cedarville Stories

Met by Christ in Her Overwhelming Despair Gerry Walquist would never wish on anyone what happened to her on December 30, 2013, but she also knows she wouldn’t be who she is today if not for that tragic day. On the day before New Year’s Eve nearly eight years ago, an intruder, out of jail one month, broke into the vacation rental that Gerry, husband Brett, and children Rachel and Thomas enjoyed dur...

Passing Along a Love for God’s Word How can the civil, ritual, and communal law of a nation that existed 3,000 years ago be stimulating and applicable to today? That was the question Dr. Chris Miller, Senior Professor of Biblical Studies, had when he was first challenged to take a class on the book of Leviticus when he was a young guy studying at Word of Life Bible Institute. Little did Chris know...

God Is Writing Their Stories Graduation day is drawing near for seniors Nicole Hackett and Tessa Landrum. Nicole, a professional writing and information design major, and Tessa, a communication major, have benefitted not only from the great coursework, but also from the experience of working in Cedarville University Public Relations. Nicole and Tessa are strong writers who have consistently told s...

Free to Explore New Horizons If you ever want to get lost in the lava tubes around Mount Saint Helens in Washington or enjoy a bottle of gourmet root beer on your deck on a beautiful summer night, then Matt Dearden might be your guy. Cedarville’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions is a strategic, fun-loving guy with an adventurous spirit.   Matt likes to explore new interests and test his limits...

Education Leader With a Missionary’s Heart Dr. Kevin Jones came to Cedarville University in the summer of 2020, in the middle of a pandemic. But a worldwide health crisis has not dampened the enthusiasm of the new dean of the School of Education or affected his ability to inspire, encourage, and cast vision. In fact, he is encouraging the School of Education toward new heights. To describe Kevin a...

Like Father, Like Son Like father, like son. For Pete and Chris Reese, no truer words have been spoken. Pete still holds records for shooting (7th all-time) and rebounding (8th all-time) as a star forward/center with the Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team. He graduated in 1960. Chris was a standout forward and a sure shot from the charity stripe. During the 1987-88 season, he knocked down 45 fre...

Fighting COVID Coast to Coast For Rachel Hartley, a 2015 B.S.N. and 2020 M.S.N. Cedarville alumna, the battle against COVID has taken her from East Coast to West Coast, from a small community hospital in the Caribbean, to a bustling suburban hospital in Ohio, from one surge at the beginning of the pandemic, to another one almost a year later. In the midst of caring for patients at Mercy Health - S...

No Neutral Facts For the last 55 years, Dr. Murray Murdoch has faithfully taught, coached, and inspired students, faculty, staff, and the leadership of Cedarville University. Murray has many legacies: men’s tennis coach who led his teams to 563 victories over 29 years; fearless advocate for biblical justice and racial equality; distinguished professor of history and former chair of the Department...

God Is Not Done With the Coach Would anyone guess that legendary Cedarville University basketball coach Don Callan, for whom Callan Athletic Center is named, was named to his alma mater’s athletic hall of fame for . . . football? Or that he came to Cedarville — think about this for a second — 60 years ago. He told then-president Dr. James T. Jeremiah he was here to stay, and Don has been true to h...

Creative to Reflect His Creator When you listen to Jim Stevenson’s story, it’s easy to wonder, “Is there anything this guy can’t do?” His first career move was a straightaway into the fast-paced and frenetic world of NASCAR, then Indy Car, racing, where he secured sponsorships from big-name companies and corporations. Jim is also a singer-songwriter who recorded albums and performed 40-50 gigs a y...

Survivor Committed to Blessing Kids With Cancer She was a newlywed by six weeks, and she was on track to earn her Doctor of Pharmacy degree by 2019. But for Julia Gardner, the hopes and dreams associated with her six-week-old marriage to husband Michael, a 2014 Cedarville alumnus, and her future career were put suddenly on hold. On the day before she was scheduled to begin the professional pharmac...

Ordinary Guy Serves Legislators, NHL Stars  Politicians. Goalies. College Students. The Lord has used Brian Hanson to disciple, evangelize, encourage, challenge, and pray for them all. But if you ask Brian, it’s not because he possesses a special talent or speaking gift. In fact, he would shy away from taking any credit at all. For 23 years, Brian and his wife, Mandi, were involved in youth minist...

Networking is His Gift and His Ministry 1993 alumnus Bill Montgomery is Mr. Connections. The chief sales officer for 104.9 The River (WCVO-FM) in Gahanna, Ohio, and Cedarville adjunct broadcast and digital media professor loves to connect people who can help one another. It’s his gift, and it’s his ministry. Bill saw the power of connections when he was a student at Cedarville. Professors would br...

God Made a Way When There was No Way A severe traumatic brain injury, five spinal fractures, rib fractures, skull fractures, cranial nerve damage that affects her vision, and a lung contusion. “People don’t just survive accidents like that,” commented 2019 nursing alumna Olivia Ancil.     A vehicle traveling 70 mph in a 35-mph zone careened into Olivia and her boyfriend, Alex Arent, as they walked...

Eternal Intentionality The Cedarville Stories podcast reaches back to the beginning of the show in September 2019 for this rebroadcast with Chuck Clevenger. Chuck is a Renaissance Man. He taught concert piano and watercolor art at Cedarville for 33 years. He runs his own art business. He is a curriculum developer, having led the creation of Cedarville’s flagship general education course, Introduct...

Mission to the (United) Nations In this holiday rebroadcast, we get reacquainted with a remarkable young man we first met on the Cedarville Stories podcast back in January of this year. Rufus Mathew grew up in Bahrain and never heard of Cedarville University. So how did he end up on the other side of the globe at this school in the cornfields? After all, Bahrain and Cedarville are a mere 7,000 mil...

Anticipating the Blessed Hope Cedarville 1989 alumna Donna VanLiere has experienced tremendous success as a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her 21 titles, many of them Christmas-themed, have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and six have become made-for-television movies, among them The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing . And although she loves writing and views it as...

Openhanded When You’re Losing Your Grip For 2014 alumna Ali (Stein) Christian, she had a carefully thought out plan in mind when she graduated from Cedarville University. But in just a few short years, Ali has learned the value of holding your hopes and dreams with open hands. In 2019, Ali was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. It was a shock for Ali and her husband, 2014 alumnus Ben, as the...

Embracing Today Pat Estepp , head coach of the Cedarville men’s basketball team, admits feeling like a turtle on a fencepost: How did I get here? But Pat has learned not to linger on questions like that, but to enjoy God’s blessings for the days that He has given.  The Lord has given Pat much to enjoy in his 13 years at Cedarville: six 20-win seasons over 13 years; five national tournament appeara...

Thankful for Biblical Community Long-lasting friendships, godly mentors, and faculty helping him grow as a student and a believer in Jesus Christ. That’s what inspired and motivated Derrick Green, assistant professor of communication and chair of the department of communications, when he was a student at Cedarville, and it makes him passionate about investing in students now. Cedarville was not on...

Remembering Dr. Michael Firmin On October 27, Dr. Michael Firmin, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, went home to be with the Lord, just 12 days after recording this podcast.   Dr. Firmin joined the faculty of Cedarville University in 1998. In addition to teaching, he served as a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and preaching pastor at Berea Bible Church in Springfield, Ohio. He was...

Steadfast Love Through Many Trials For Beth Delaney, life has been a process of learning what she can control, and what she can’t. And finding the balance between the two, and learning to be dependent on Jesus through it all, has given her a resilient faith and a steadfast love for the Lord. Dr. Delaney, Associate Professor of Nursing, grew up in nearby Xenia. Her father became addicted to pain me...

Making Music for Nearly 50 Years Lyle and Connie Anderson are an amazing couple, and the way they’ve made music at Cedarville University has made an eternal difference in the lives of hundreds of students. Dr. Lyle Anderson, Senior Professor of Music, and his wife, Connie, Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Director of the Keyboard Pedagogy Program, have a combined 97 years teaching at Ceda...

Grateful for a Painful Trial Professor of Social Work George Huff has seen his share of trials: the difficulties of families struggling with life challenges, the suffering of abuse victims trying to recover and find hope. But one of the greatest trials George encountered was his own.  On July 21, 2014, George was riding home from Cedarville on his bicycle when he was sideswiped by a truck and cata...

Making Disciples for Hard Places When Assistant Professor of Missions and Theology Dr. Matt Bennett was a kid, a missionary from the Middle East would visit his family’s church every couple of years. She was taking Bibles into places without the Scriptures, which he thought was amazing. “I prayed after those services, ‘Lord, I love what You’re doing to make Your name known in hard places, but don’...