Students showcase range of research at Union’s 23rd annual Scholarship Symposium
April 2, 2026 - Union University held its 23rd annual Scholarship Symposium March 31, bringing undergraduate and graduate students to the Carl Grant Events Center and classrooms across campus to present collaborative research projects completed during the academic year. “The Scholarship Symposium allows students to show the results of their hard work and gives them experience in presenting their research,” said Suzanne Barham, academic affairs and accreditation specialist and symposium coordinator. “Since each of the research projects involves a faculty ... READ MORE
Union to break ground on new chapel April 10
April 1, 2026 - Union University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new chapel April 10 at 2 p.m. The freestanding chapel will be located on the eastern edge of campus next to the existing G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel in the Penick Academic Complex. It will be clearly visible from the heavily trafficked Highway 45 Bypass. Demolition on the current chapel will begin once the spring semester concludes. Construction is expected to take about a year and a half, with plans for the new chapel to open during the spring semester of 2028. “F... READ MORE
Gutierrez wins Union’s top academic scholarship
March 26, 2026 - Bronson Gutierrez, a high school senior from Canyon Lake, Texas, has received the 2026 Founders’ Scholarship from Union University. This is Union’s highest academic scholarship, covering full tuition, room, meals, and student service fees for four years. The scholarship was awarded following Union’s Scholars of Excellence event, an annual competition that invites the university’s most outstanding prospective students to campus for a weekend of interviews, discussions, and academic engagement. “I just got the picture that if... READ MORE
Stewart affirms Bible’s reliability at 14th annual Bible Conference
March 26, 2026 - Christians have no reason to worry about the accuracy or preservation of New Testament texts, argued Robert Stewart at the Ryan Center’s 14th annual Bible Conference, held March 20–21 at Union University. “The New Testament is the most evidenced ancient book of all time,” said Stewart, professor emeritus of philosophy and theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the 2026 plenary speaker. This year’s conference, entitled “Contending Earnestly: Becoming Faithful Stewards of the Word of God,” centered on apologetics, wi... READ MORE
Green urges courage and conviction in preserving Baptist and evangelical identity
March 24, 2026 - The health and faithfulness of Baptist institutions, Brad Green argued, depends on leaders willing to hold together both their Baptist identity and their broader evangelical convictions, even when institutions drift, battles are lost and the culture pushes back. Green, professor of theological studies at Union University, made that case March 19 in Union’s 10th annual David and Lanese Dockery Lectures on Baptist Thought and Heritage. Weaving together personal memoir and intellectual history, Green traced the historical and institut... READ MORE
Union to host NITOC debate tournament for 4th time
March 23, 2026 - Union University will host a national speech and debate tournament for home-schooled students May 17-23 that is expected to draw about 600 competitors along with their families. This year marks the fourth time that Stoa, a national junior high and high school speech and debate league for privately educated Christian home-schooling families, has held the National Invitational Tournament of Champions on Union’s campus. Union also hosted NITOC in 2017, 2021 and 2024. The tournament is one of the largest high school forensics national c... READ MORE
A ‘mighty evangelist’: Union mourns loss of alumnus Steve Gaines
March 20, 2026 - Ray Van Neste was a young professor at Union when he had lunch with Steve Gaines one day. Years before, when Van Neste was an undergraduate student at Union, Gaines had been his pastor at West Jackson Baptist Church and had officiated at Van Neste’s wedding with his wife Tammie. The two had maintained a friendship and had enjoyed lunch together when Gaines was returning Van Neste to his office in Jennings Hall. Van Neste was about to get out of the car when Gaines stopped him. “This doesn’t happen very often,” Gaines told him, “but ... READ MORE
Hoskins stresses importance of multicultural missions at annual Powell Lecture
March 17, 2026 - Multicultural missionary teams are the future, Ben Hoskins argued at the sixth annual W.D. Powell Missions Lecture in Union University’s Harvey Auditorium March 10. “We're seeing the landscape changing,” said Hoskins, Union’s current missionary-in-residence and an East Asian cluster leader for the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. “With the maturing of the global church, we're seeing a shift in what global missions looks like. And the global church is now very much joining us in the Great Commission.” Hoski... READ MORE
UAB infectious disease expert James to deliver Scholar-in-Residence Lectures at Union
March 16, 2026 - Dr. Scott James, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will deliver the annual Scholar-in-Residence Lectures at Union University March 23-26. James leads a research laboratory focused on antiviral screening and drug development. He serves nationally through leadership roles on the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties and with the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. In addition, James is an author of children’s books and family devotionals, in... READ MORE
8th annual Night of Worship set for March 15
March 3, 2026 - Union University’s music department will present the eighth annual Night of Worship March 15 at West Jackson Baptist Church. The event is entitled “My Testimony” and features classic gospel hymns, popular contemporary songs and Scripture reading, led by Union music students, that speak to what God has done and his faithfulness for the future. The service will begin at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public and will also be livestreamed at youtube.com/live/TQlM22cAQbk.... READ MORE