A standing ovation and thunderous applause affirmed Bob Kuhn as Trinity Western University’s fourth President at an Inauguration Ceremony held at TWU on Thursday, November 6, 2014. Over 1000 students, alumni, faculty, staff, and special guests attended the event, at which Board of Governor’s Chair Lorne Jacobson presided.
Jacobson presented Kuhn with the President’s Medallion and invited representatives, including President Emeritus R. Neil Snider, Ph.D., TWU Alumni Association President Aaron Fedora, and University Siy:am Patricia Victor to pray for the newly installed President.
In his inaugural charge, Board Member Matthew St. John called upon President Kuhn to continue shepherding the University with integrity and ingenuity. “You have been leading us with skill,” he said. “Lead us, and we will follow.”
"I consider it a privilege to be able to serve this most extraordinary University,” Kuhn said. “I accept the challenges that seem to go with the role, recognizing that the course ahead is uncharted. I do so not because I am qualified for the job in my own strength, but because I believe that I have been called to serve here.”
Special guests attended from throughout Canada and the US, including Langley City Mayor Ted Schaffer and the Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese, and Presidents or representatives from Kings University, Simon Fraser University, Ambrose University, Tyndale University College and Seminary, and Columbia Bible Institute.
Under the direction of Joel Tranquilla, DMA, TWU’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture’s Director of Choral Activities, and accompanied by Suzanne Klukas, the choir performed Soli Deo Gloria.
Kuhn thanked his family, particularly his wife, Renae, whom he called his “greatest earthly blessing.”
Kuhn’s address included a promise to lead with passion and persistence. “I promise to fully give you the passion I have for this place,” he said. “It is a passion to see the lives of young people transformed as mine was. It is a passion to see the University’s mission fulfilled: developing godly Christian leaders. It is a passion to build a culture of trust; a community of hope."