“Back then, classes and the campus as a whole were a lot smaller,” laughs Serrino, “but I really like this new campus and all of the buildings that are being added. It’s exciting to see all of the changes.”

Serrino, whose father owned a dairy farm, recalls taking the family car and delivering milk on her way to school at the old campus each morning before class. Dr. Penick, Dr. Watters and Mrs. Summar were just a few of her teachers. Union students of today know those as names that grace a main academic building, a student apartment complex, and the library.

It is that important foundation and heritage of godly professors striving for academic excellence, however, that Union recognizes as part of the university’s core values: a desire to be excellence-driven, Christ centered, people-focused and future-directed. This focus, particularly over the last five years, has allowed Union to rapidly accelerate a growing national reputation in Christian higher education.

“Things are happening at Union”
Just last year named in U.S. News & World Report’s Top Ten among Southern regional colleges, Union has quickly accumulated a long list of growing recognitions in both regional and national reviews.

“It’s almost an understatement to say that we’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,” says George Guthrie, department chair of Christian studies and Benjamin W. Perry Associate Professor of Bible. “It’s very evident to me, though, just from looking back six or seven years ago. At national professional meetings, people would ask where Union was located. Now people are saying ‘Union – there’s a university where a lot of things are happening.’”

With the addition of ten new majors, six centers for academic leadership and development, and more than 20 renovations and new buildings being completed, one can’t help but catch the excitement and the momentum that has hit the campus.

“There seems to be an overall spirit pervading the campus that important work is being done here,” says Joseph Blass, university professor of music, who currently holds the title as the longest reigning faculty member at Union (he joined the university in 1959). “There’s a spirit of being excited about the future – a spirit that Union is becoming an institution of great significance, not just in Madison County and West Tennessee, but comparable to more significant schools outside our area.”

Gary Grisham, ’75, president of Union Planters Bank in Jackson, who just completed a term as president of Union’s Alumni Association, says expectation is the crucial factor for the sudden growth and success of the university.

“The new administration raised everyone’s expectations – the university’s purpose, its reputation – everyone has simply expected more. Union is at its current status because the administration said this is how good we want to be, how good we expect to be, and how good we actually are,” says Grisham.

The Integration of Faith and Learning
When you talk to various faculty, staff and administration about the progress that Union has made, two terms are repeated again and again: ownership and vision. Much credit for instilling these two elements is given to Union President David S. Dockery.

“Dr. Dockery shows a great deal of sensitivity for the history and heritage of the university,” says Charles Baldwin, O.P. and Evalyn Hammons University Professor of Pre-medical Studies. “He has galvanized such an alignment of purpose among the faculty, board, alumni and students – I’ve never seen this kind of focus of purpose since being at Union or any other institution.”
That focus is directed toward one main priority: the integration of faith and learning in everything that is done throughout the campus.

“For the first time in 20 years since I’ve been here, we’ve reached this dream of mine to be a ‘real’ Christian university and ‘real’ academic university, together as one,” says Carrol Griffin, assistant vice president for enrollment management and director of admissions and retention. “Since Dr. Dockery came and started talking the talk – we’re now taking these Christ-like principles and imparting them to students in a practical way, that they can use in their daily life.”

“With this heightened emphasis on integration of life, students are able to learn how to combine their academic abilities with a profound commitment to Jesus Christ,” agrees Guthrie. “Life isn’t fragmented into different pieces, with your spiritual life here, your social life over here, and your academic life over there. You’re a whole person with many different parts that have to work together. That’s why integration of faith and learning has to be the driving force behind everything we do.”

Guthrie says it’s that philosophy that has attracted students far and wide to Union University’s campus.

In 1995, the Jackson campus enrollment was 1,973. Today it has grown to almost 2200 (as of fall 2000) with an additional 315 graduate and professional students studying at the Germantown campus.

Geographically, the university continues to increase its diversity with 42 states and 27 countries now represented as opposed to 32 and 11, respectively, in 1995. The quality of students has also improved: 16 percent of the freshman class of 2000 had a 30 ACT or above, an increase of more than 7 percentage points from 1995. A dozen National Merit Finalists now call Union home; five years ago, there were none.

Ground breaking for the new science building is scheduled for this fall with a projected completion date by 2004.
The building will be done in three phases, with the initial portion housing Biology and Chemistry departments.

Keeping Union Accessible
Academic excellence is not the only draw for attending Union, however. With the costs of college education continuing to soar, Union has stayed committed to keeping a quality education within financial reach of students. During the last decade, more than $89 million was given to qualified students; this year alone Union will provide $12.5 million to students in need-based and merit scholarship awards.

“Eighty percent of our students receive some type of financial aid through scholarships, loans and grants,” says Don Morris, assistant vice president and director of financial aid. “A lot of people are sold on Union – so it’s important to help them as much as possible once they get here.” Part of that help comes from generous supporters like Union alumni and friends of the university.

“Union receives generous annual gifts from several sources, including foundations, businesses, churches, and the Tennessee Baptist Convention,” explains Bob Alsobrook, vice president of institutional advancement. He points out that giving from individuals, including alumni, trustees, faculty and staff, friends and parents of students totaled more than $3.1 million in 2000 as compared to slightly more than $800,000 received in 1995. “There’s definitely a momentum of increased gift support from individuals achieved during the past five years. What’s also exciting is that each year more and more alumni and friends are joining in the vision of building a future for Union by making gifts to the University.”

Overall, the amount of total giving to the university for the past five years has sharply increased – from less than $4 million in 1995 to more than $7.5 million in 2000, with the number of donors growing from a little over 1500 to almost 2800 annually. The number of gifts of $100,000 or more has also steadily risen, from only four in 1995 to ten this past year. “Our alumni are potentially our biggest support group,” says Grisham, “and it’s been great to see that increase in level of participation from our alumni. I hope we can see more.”

Building Lives and Careers
Another way Union is helping students is through the Office of Career Services. No longer just a job placement service, director Lynn Gnaegy and her staff work with students as early as their freshman year, finding majors that are right for them and internships which help them work toward their individual goals for professional achievement. In addition, a software program is available that helps students to discover the career that fits.

Graduates can still take advantage of the services that are provided, through access to the career services website, and a resume service used by the university that connects them to more than 1,000 potential employers.

“Five years ago, the only thing that was done was placing people in jobs, and much in the way of part-time jobs. Job coaching wasn’t done and students weren’t taught how to look for a job,” says Gnaegy. “Now, job-looking and seeking has completely changed with the technology available.” Gnaegy predicts that in another 5-10 years, career fairs will even be held online.
According to Gnaegy, more than 85% of the students and graduates that use Career Services find positions through her office soon after graduation. And there’s a payoff.

“As Union graduates find these excellent positions in companies nationwide, a trend is beginning to develop where they call us when they need a position filled, which is resulting in people all over the country calling for our graduates,” says Gnaegy.

National Reputation, Local Community Leader
While Union’s reputation slowly expands at a national level, the university has stayed committed to serving locally as well.

“Union is considered one of our most important corporate citizens,” says Charles Farmer, mayor of Jackson. “You’d have to be blind not to see the growth – it’s been phenomenal. Union has certainly enhanced Jackson’s reputation, just as the university’s own reputation is spreading throughout the country.”

Gary Taylor, chairman of Union’s Board of Trustees and a local businessman, believes Union has played a significant role in the development of the city.

“With the general expansion and growth of Jackson, Union has helped with adding and creating new jobs and generating a higher pay wage scale,” explains Taylor. More specifically, “Union has brought the institution and community together with elements such as the introduction of Lifeway Christian Bookstore, and the national and world leaders who are brought in to speak at various events such as the Union Forums and Scholarship Banquets.”

Taylor also says that the relationships of various departments on campus contribute in a large way toward community involvement. “Both the Christian studies department and the business school have developed relationships within the community through their interaction with churches and businesses. This has allowed Union to play a very large and significant role in the development of Jackson.”

“That’s one of Union’s biggest strengths,” agrees Jerry Tidwell, pastor of West Jackson Baptist Church and a Union trustee. “While the university has gained some national prominence, Union has really worked hard to maintain its tie to local churches. I don’t know of another university in the country that has worked more in maintaining those important relationships – there’s an ownership there by the churches that’s different from other institutions.”

Leader among Southern Baptists
“The ideal university is one under the leadership of a man who is godly, who knows where he’s going and has a passionate heart for the coming generations,” says Bob Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. “In this day of conflicting world views, it also needs to be a university that is established firmly on a biblical worldview. This is what Union University is doing.”

As the percentage of students who classify themselves within the Southern Baptist denomination has grown to its current 74% of the student body (up from 70% in 1995), Union’s influence on Southern Baptist life also continues to grow.

“Union has a worldview that looks through God’s eyes and as a result is producing young people who will go out into the world to make a difference,” says Jim Henry, pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla. “Union relates to Southern Baptists and Tennessee Baptists without apology. I like a school that isn’t ashamed of its commitments.”

“Union has never been ashamed of its Baptist heritage, and particularly, its connection with Southern Baptist life,” says Tidwell, who served last year as the president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “For that reason, they’ve drawn from that relationship while many other Baptist universities have looked to separate themselves from Baptists as an institution. Because of that, Union has really grown in respect across the Convention.”

“Union has grown phenomenally in national reputation – both in Southern Baptist and evangelical life,” says Guthrie, who besides his duties as chair of the Christian studies department, also serves as director for the Center for Biblical Studies.

“I’m deeply impressed with what Union is doing in promoting a biblical worldview – an understanding of all of life under the Lordship of Christ,” says Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. “I have watched over the last several years as Union has achieved a pre-eminent place in education in America. It’s doing things that universities classically did but no longer do – bringing faith from a Christian perspective, and integrating it with learning. That’s a cliché many people use, but Union is really doing it, right across disciplinary lines, showing how Christian truth is at the root of all knowledge and all learning. I think it is one of the outstanding universities in America today.”

Ministry opportunities for students have also grown with the restructuring of programs like chapel services, which have seen attendance more than double in size over the last five years, as well as the addition of new programs such as LIFE Groups – a ministry started for incoming freshmen with a voluntary participation of 90% of the entering class remaining the norm. Even mission trip participation has increased, with an average of 200 students participating each spring in GO Trips as compared to less than 100 in 1995.

“The vision of campus ministries has really changed since I came here as a freshman,” says Jeanna Young, a senior psychology major from Blytheville, Ark. “We are really encouraged to look past the campus for ministry opportunities, and the whole structure is no longer oriented just toward the student body as a whole, but individual discipleship is being utilized as well, which I’ve really enjoyed.”

Vision & Values 2005 – Building a Future
As stated in Union’s most recent planning guide, Vision & Values 2005 (adopted unanimously by the Board of Trustees in April of 2000), Union’s primary purpose is to educate students, and “all activities, efforts and programs must ultimately exist to serve the long-term interests of students in the spirit of Christian servanthood.”

As Union continues to develop a grace-filled community of learning on campus, current students and returning graduates have much to look forward to for their university. A new Science Complex and an Athletic/Convocation Center will soon join the expanding and growing campus surroundings, along with renovations planned for current buildings, including an expansion of the library. New academic programs (such as digital media studies, engineering, and international business) and the addition of new graduate programs in nursing, education and intercutural studies will continue to help Union students advance in their chosen fields.

“It’s a special time to be at Union,” says Baldwin. “When I first came to Union, I believed that the best days were ahead, and I still think that’s true – we are literally laying a foundation for things to come.”

“For me personally, I’m excited to see where we’ve come and where we are going as a university,” says Taylor. “As trustees, we’ve really tried to honor God’s direction for this institution with making good, prudent decisions. As a result, I think He has provided us with some very positive results.

“We don’t lose sight of the fact that there is a divine appointment that has taken place on this campus. I see it as an enormous responsibility that we have – to make sure we recognize that our strength lies in our trusting and dependence upon God’s direction of us as individuals and together as Union University.”