It is my honour to offer a greeting and best wishes from the Trinity Western University Board of Governors. As our academic year drew to a close this past weekend, we celebrated our 2020 graduating class, albeit virtually. Under normal circumstances, this celebration would happen before a grand assembly of administration, faculty, staff, family and friends. Even as we anticipate celebrating these graduates in-person in November, I’m sure I speak on behalf of all of us in saying that we all long to gather together as a vibrant Biblical community to congratulate and inspire our graduates as they embark upon the next leg of their life journey. However, due to the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all made the commitment to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, along with our health care infrastructure, by sacrificing even our most important social norms.
We were made by our Creator to value and live in community, and to seek relationship, but for a time we must find new ways to experience life in effective isolation. For some, that has meant that once-in-a-lifetime occasions have passed without the usual gatherings to support a critically ill patient, to mourn a death, to celebrate a birth or special birthday, a wedding, or a graduation.
We have each been challenged to invent new and creative ways to compensate or substitute for our traditional conventions. The virtual 2020 graduation celebration was a remarkable and genuine effort to communicate the pride and joy we all feel for the accomplishments of our 2020 graduating class. Let me add on behalf of the entire Board of Governors our love and best wishes for the 2020 graduates. And to all our TWU students, we celebrate and congratulate you for your hard work and accomplishments, and for the open and gracious way in which you have accepted the unconventional manner in which this academic year was required to conclude.
I also want to acknowledge and thank all of the administration, faculty and staff of our university who pivoted overnight to envision, enable and execute a radically new delivery model for a world-class education that preserved the unique attributes of the TWU commitment to instill character and competence in our students. Only because of this immense effort, skill and commitment to our students and our TWU mission were we able to maintain the enviable academic standards our University has become known for; and this in the midst of navigating a tidal wave of change at our institution, at the same time as each member of our team undoubtedly had to deal with their own personal situations arising from the pandemic. A heart-felt “thank you” and “well done”!
As a Board of Governors, we want to especially acknowledge the leadership and dedication of President Mark Husbands, who has risen to every challenge from the COVID-19 disruption, while also dealing with all of the usual transition issues attendant to his first year in office and relocation of his family. He has set a standard for professionalism. His commitment to proactively addressing the total implications from this global shutdown on TWU has inspired all of the leadership team and members of the Board of Governors.
The days ahead will be challenging, both in terms of resolving the daunting medical challenge of COVID-19, and repairing the economic devastation resulting from the global shutdown, the magnitude of which the world has not yet begun to understand. The impact on every aspect of life, from employment to business to government to health care to charitable works will be profound. The implications for education will be complicated and varied, and the impact on privately funded higher educational institutions will be especially severe.
But the need for Christian thought and leadership, of the nature and quality offered by TWU faculty and students, has never been greater as we seek solutions to these daunting global challenges. As over 30,000 TWU alumni are already doing around the world, we must contribute not only our best critical thinking, but we must also demonstrate and share the hope that we have in Christ, and in His redemptive work which can bring light and life to a struggling population, now perhaps more aware than ever before of the precarious nature of life and of the need for a relationship with Him that overcomes physical isolation.
Please join the members of the TWU Board of Governors in prayer for our graduates, our administration, faculty and staff, our students (both current and prospective), and our supportive community and donors. We all need God’s protection and direction for our lives, and His strength and wisdom to deal with the challenges ahead. And we pray for a special blessing for TWU as we seek to honour God by continuing to operate with excellence and integrity.
We draw our comfort and assurance from the words of Jesus: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”. John 16:33.
Sincerely yours, on behalf of TWU’s Board of Governors,
Lorne H. Jacobson (’77)
Chair, Board of Governors