Campbellsville University

« Back to Recent News

'Safety, sensitivity, and security': first chapel service of Campbellsville University's 2020 fall semester broadcast virtually

by Scarlett Birge, student news writer, Office of University Communications

Campbellsville, KY (09/16/2020) — Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of Campbellsville University, said the 115th year of CU is a quest for "safety, sensitivity and security," amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carter's virtual address for the first chapel of the semester was Sept. 9 in Ransdell Chapel on Campbellsville University's Facebook Live. The Sept. 9 chapel can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkmHPeSj12s.

"We all need each other during this time," he said. Carter said the last six months had appeared to put us all "in a state of slumber" while being shut down and doing everything to contain the virus. Carter said urging everyone on campus to be responsible means that "we all wake up out of this state of slumber."

Citing Romans 13:11, Carter used the story of Paul addressing the relationship that Roman Christians had with the authorities to represent the ability to "wake up from our slumber because the day of knowing our salvation is near now than ever before."

"We need to awaken from this change that we've been in our subconsciousness. We've got to be about taking care of one another," he said.

He said, "None of us have ever experienced a worldwide pandemic before, but we're living through it."

Carter said about the pandemic: "A virus is neither dead nor alive. It's almost something out of a zombie movie." Despite there being a pandemic, he said, "We're moving through it."

Carter took a moment to mention the creation of the university in 1906. "It is by the grace of God that we all gather at Campbellsville University today," Carter said, "The goodness, the graciousness, the care, the compassion that we experience is because people before us help to pray that into existence and then they took action."

Focusing on the aspect of safety as he mentioned earlier, Carter said, "The whole market of the year is going to be that everything we do has got to be around keeping people safe." He said Dave Walters, CU's Healthy at Work Officer, was highly qualified for the position.

"He speaks with great authority and personal experience of having lived through several intense weeks of the virus and still recuperating from the virus," Carter said, "David is staying on top of every case that we have had."

Carter spoke of the racial unrest occurring in the country. "There were a series of historical patterns that were put into place in America, and primarily in the American south, that have now led to a series of circumstances that have evolved," he said, "but they were part of a sense of institutional racism."

"We have a hard time understanding white privilege," Carter said while recalling his first time at college in 1973 when he was made aware of such after the murder of a man during a race riot.

"Why does this happen just because someone has a different color skin?" Carter said, showing the book "Strive for Freedom" by Martin Luther King Jr. He said reading it changed his life. "We've got to develop a sensitivity. We've got to be able to have empathy," he said.

"We've got to be able to live out and truly be a people of grace. By having a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will have peace that passes all understanding," Carter said.

Dr. Donna Hedgepath, provost and vice president for academic affairs, opened the chapel with prayer and said the chapel opening is "an opening unlike any other."

New faculty members were introduced as follows with their names, pictures and titles in a PowerPoint: Dr. Brittany Daulton, assistant professor of psychology; Erin Milburn, instructor in English; Fabio Moreira, instructor in pastoral ministries;

Sharon Blair, practical nursing program coordinator; Nancy New, instructor in English; and Tonia Walker, associate degree nursing program coordinator.

Saulo DeAlmeida, instructor in music, cello and jazz, and Dr. Dennis Santos, assistant professor of music (woodwind specialist), from the School of Music, performed at the beginning of chapel.

Although the public isn't allowed to attend chapel during the pandemic, each week's service can be seen live at 10 a.m. at http://www.facebook.com/campbellsvilleuniversity or www.wlcutv.com, as well as on Comcast channel 10 and digital channel 15.1 on TV.

All services may be found archived on the WLCU YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA4XbLolySSd7ntgt9WpXIGTjPtH2dOrB.

The chapel schedule for the rest of the semester includes: Sept. 16, "Campus Revival" with Dr. Shane Garrison, vice president for enrollment services and professor of educational ministries;

Sept. 23, the Rev. Daniel Corrie Shull, pastor of Burnett Avenue Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.; Sept. 30 - Outdoor Week with Trent Creason, director of student activities at Campbellsville University;

Oct. 7 - "Dialogue on Race" by Dr. Robert Blythe, pastor of First Baptist Church, Richmond, Ky., who is also the mayor of Richmond; Oct. 14 - Chris Singleton, motivational speaker and former baseball player for the Chicago Cubs; Oct. 21- "CU Heritage Day" with the Rev. Dwayne Gibson, pastor at Parkway Baptist Church, Hodgenville, Ky.;

Oct. 28 - Student preachers arranged by Dr. Scott Wigginton, professor of pastoral ministries/associate director of marriage and family therapy at Campbellsville University;

Nov. 4 - International Education Week, arranged by Center for Global Engagement; Nov. 11 - Campbellsville University Jazz Band; Nov. 18 - "Thanksgiving Worship Service," the Rev. Matt Smyzer, pastor of Beargrass Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville and member of the CU Board of Trustees; Nov. 25 - No chapel, Thanksgiving Week; Dec. 2 - "CU Family Christmas" (Chapel Committee).

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 11,900 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The university has Kentucky based off-campus centers in Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset, Hodgenville and Liberty with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville. Out-of-state centers include two in California at Los Angeles and Lathrop, located in the San Francisco Bay region. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.

Campbellsville University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award certificates, associate, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the status of Campbellsville University.

Media Attachments

Dr. Michael V. Carter, president, references “Stride Toward Freedom” by Martin Luther King Jr. at the first chapel service of the fall semester Sept. 9. (Campbellsville University Photo by Whitley Howlett)

Copyright © 2024 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out