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News Briefs

Anderson addresses marriage equality

The heart of the marriage equality debate lies in the definition of marriage, said Ryan T. Anderson during the “True Marriage Equality: Man and Woman” lecture at Union in February.

Anderson is a writer and researcher for The Heritage Foundation who has become a national voice in the public debate about marriage equality.

“If we want to draw a line that’s based on principle – a line that reflects the truth – we have to know what marriage is,” Anderson said.

Speaking to about 200 lecture attendees, Anderson noted that the U.S. government does not ban any consenting adult relationship – including homosexual relationships. Businesses can offer marriage-like benefits to same-sex couples if employers choose to provide these options, and houses of worship are allowed to conduct same-sex union ceremonies if religious bodies choose to host these events.

If the government redefines marriage to include homosexual unions, Anderson said all U.S. citizens would be coerced to treat same-sex relationships as marital relationships, regardless of religious beliefs or moral convictions.

“There (would) be no institution left in public life that would uphold even as an ideal the fact that every child deserves a mother and a father,” Anderson added. “It would change the marriage institution away from the needs of children and much more toward the desires of adults.”

Anderson encouraged Christians to proclaim the truth about marriage in the political, intellectual and cultural realms.

“In redefining marriage, the state will teach a lie about what marriage is,” Anderson said. “We each have to bear witness to the truth in whatever way our vocation requires of us. Live out the truth of marriage in your own life, and then advocate for it and teach it in whatever setting your life takes you.”

Union arboretum enhances learning opportunities

Union's Arboretum Union has launched an arboretum project as a service to the community and as a way to continue beautifying the campus.

Mark Bolyard, professor of biology, described an arboretum as “kind of a fancy name for a collection of labeled trees,” but said the labels on the Union trees have been intentionally developed to showcase Scripture verses and significant quotes from great thinkers and writers in the Christian intellectual tradition.

“Not only is this a good way to identify the trees that we have, but also a platform for adding more,” Bolyard said. “This is our attempt to continue making the campus more attractive.”

The arboretum will provide Union students with a collection of trees to identify, and it will also be a local draw for students in the community who have leaf projects of their own.

The Union arboretum becomes the fifth certified arboretum in the area. Union is also in the process of developing a “virtual metaarboretum,” which will catalog all the local arboreta’s trees is one searchable online database.

There are two ways to support the arboretum: adopt a campus tree, and make a pledge to the “Friends of the Union University Arboretum” program. More information is available from the Office of University Relations at (731) 661-5050.

For more information about the arboretum, visit uu.edu/arboretum.

Union filed suit to block abortifacient mandate

Union University has joined other faith-based institutions in filing a federal lawsuit that challenges an order to provide abortion-causing drugs as part of employee health care plans.

The suit was filed in early April in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The University seeks a judgment declaring that the abortifacient mandate of the new Affordable Care Act violates Union’s rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedures Act.

A grandfather clause had allowed Union to offer its plan without providing abortifacients. That clause was rescinded because of unrelated changes in the cost and the terms of the plan.

“Causing the death of the embryo conflicts with Union University’s beliefs based on Scripture,” the Union lawsuit states. “Therefore, Union University has religious-based objection to drugs and devices that kill the embryo and to education and counseling related to the use of these abortion-causing drugs and devices.”

The lawsuit also says the “mandate forces Union University to choose between its sincerely held religious beliefs and the government-imposed adverse consequences” of non-compliance.

Union University provides employee health insurance through the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, a consortium of 34 public and private institutions.

Poe, Aldridge honored at Awards Day

Hal Poe accepts the Faculty Member of the Year Award Union University presented more than 70 awards to students, faculty and staff May 9 at the annual Awards Day chapel service, chronologically the first event associated with spring graduation.

The Carla D. Sanderson Faculty of the Year Award went to Hal Poe, the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture. Steven Aldridge, Union’s sports information director, was awarded with the Gary L. Carter Staff of the Year Award.

The Fred DeLay Memorial Award, for a senior who is an outstanding athlete, a person of high academic standing, unquestionable loyalty and good character, was presented to Dionna Linn.

The John C. Moore Award for excellence in academics and athletics was presented to Allison Martin and Derek Roof.

There were 46 recognitions connected to the outstanding student in each major area of study. View a complete list of the winners.

Watch Awards Day Chapel

Lady Bulldogs win NCCAA national championship

NCCAA National Champion Lady Bulldogs The Union Lady Bulldogs added another national championship trophy to their collection this spring, beating Lee (Tenn.) University 73- 64 to take the National Christian College Athletic Association national title in Winona Lake, Ind.

Union guard LaTesa McLaughlin, a senior from Millington, Tenn., was named Most Outstanding Player in the championship tournament. Amy Philamlee, a junior guard from Jonesboro, Ark., scored a game-high 24 points in the championship win over Lee and was named an all-tournament player along with McLaughlin.

Head Coach Mark Campbell was named NCCAA National Coach of the Year. Campbell has a career record of 481-66 (.879) in his 15 seasons at Union and has led his Lady Bulldogs to at least a third-place finish in national tournaments 11 times—including each of the last 10 seasons.

The Lady Bulldogs won NAIA national championships in 1998, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010.

Following the NCCAA title, a campus wide celebration was staged in DeLay Gymnasium.

Union strengthens church connections

Todd Brady Union University is refocusing its strong traditional efforts to serve pastors and congregations.

Todd Brady, Union’s vice president for university ministries, leads the new Office of University Ministries, which combines ministry to the campus and ministry on behalf of the campus.

“In a day where we see more and more institutions disconnecting from churches, Union wants to do the very opposite,” Brady said. “Union wants to strengthen its connections with the churches.”

Brady said that ministry to the churches includes providing students and faculty members to preach in churches. In addition, Union offers experts to speak at conferences or special events that churches host on a variety of topics, including religious liberty, faith and science, pastoral ministry, marriage and family, church leadership, evangelism, Christian apologetics, biblical interpretation and many others.

The Office of University Ministries also has resumed publication of The Union Pulpit, a printed booklet that presents sermons preached in Union’s chapel services and other Union-related events.

Brady said the change communicates not only Union’s commitment to churches now, but it emphasizes to students the importance of them being committed and faithful church members while they attend Union and after they leave.

Richard Bray, pastor of First Baptist Church in Waverly, Tenn., cited the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies as a valuable resource to help area pastors and churches. He also expressed appreciation for Union’s efforts in providing opportunities for fellowship through the West Tennessee Ministers Conference, which he serves as vice president this year.

“The thing I’ve always liked about Union is they’ve worked to maintain contact and maintain relationships with pastors,” Bray said. “Union is firmly committed to supporting churches in the area.”

Fully online M.Ed. program underway

student studying on iPad The School of Education now offers a Master of Education degree fully online.

The degree program will also continue in a traditional classroom format.

Coursework in the online program is designed for the classroom teacher and focuses on enhancing a teacher’s professional knowledge, practical abilities and skills as classroom relater, according to Eric Marvin, director of online instructional innovations for the School of Education and director of the Thomas R. Rosebrough Center for Educational Practice.

“The online M.Ed. is truly a 21st century degree, as it is intentional in situating iPads as learning tools, not as the focus of study,” Marvin said.

The degree program includes an iPad with enrollment, meaning that all students will be able to use mobile technology in their coursework. One of the key methods for iPad use in the program calls for students to use the mobile technology to capture video of themselves using specific practices in their classroom.

“This is not an iPad degree,” Marvin said. “It is a degree to help teachers become more effective at teaching and learning.”

The students can then share the video with their professor and classmates to obtain constructive feedback, based on what was taught in the course.

More information about how to apply is available at uu.edu/med.

Student ministers in Nicaragua

Hannah McKnight

Senior nursing major Hannah McKnight saw the work at Las Conchitas in a MedFest medical clinic as much more than an opportunity to practice her nursing skills. It produced opportunities to share the gospel message with hundreds of Nicaraguans.

“Free medical care draws in huge crowds of people, providing an exciting chance to share why we are really there, which is to share the love of God with the Nicaraguan people,” McKnight said.

MedFest began in 1996 when a group of dentists, pharmacists and physicians joined with Way of the Cross Ministries in Texas to provide free health evaluations and treatments in Mexico, said David McKnight, Hannah’s father.

A doctor in Murfreesboro, Tenn., David McKnight had participated in a mission trip with Way of the Cross earlier that year to distribute food and spread the gospel across the border. After learning about the need for medical care among the villages, he gathered a group of mission-minded doctors that summer to help launch MedFest. The team continued to return to Mexico each year, treating as many patients as they could see in seven days.

The medical team treats a variety of health problems each year, including hypertension, parasites and skin infections, Hannah said. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was age 10, Hannah acts as a consultant for the clinic’s diabetic patients as well.

“Going on trips like this gives me a great opportunity to apply what I have learned in school and practice my nursing skills in real-life settings,” Hannah said. “Medical missions are very important to me, and it is absolutely something that I hope to continue after graduation.”

Union students, faculty and staff participate yearly in GO trips. For more information about those opportunities, visit uu.edu/events/go.

Germantown student is family physician and MCS candidate

Buffy Cook works as a board-certified family physician. But he says he’s felt God’s call to go another direction.

Cook is enrolled in the Master of Christian Studies program on the Union University Germantown campus, balancing his practice with the pursuit of theological training to prepare for the pastorate.

Ken Easley, professor of biblical studies, said Cook flourished in his classes, as he exhibited a passion for Christ and God’s Word. Although Cook never imagined God would lead him to shepherd a church, he began to sense a need to preach in January 2013. By November, he had accepted a call as a full-time pastor at Crossway Baptist Church in Brighton, Tenn.

Currently balancing work as both a physician and pastor with MCS classes, Cook hopes to graduate from Union in 2015.

“Becoming a pastor excites me and terrifies me at the same moment,” Cook said. “While it is a great privilege, it is also a huge responsibility, as I know I will be held to a stricter accountability than other people. But it excites me to lead a group of people to be more mature in their faith, to grow a church and to lead people to God’s kingdom.”

Renewing interest in the Psalms

In the first centuries of the church, the Psalms played a key role in worship.

“Today, the Psalms typically play a very small role,” said Ray Van Neste, professor of biblical studies and director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies. “It’s my interest and desire to try to address this issue and stir up renewed interest.”

In April, Van Neste teamed with Union’s Department of Music to stage Psalmfest II: An Evening of Worship with the Psalms. The event featured a mixture of singing, chanting and reading of the Psalms, engaging both choir and congregation.

Van Neste said the Apostle Paul encouraged Christians in the New Testament to sing the Psalms, making this part of worship an important element of Christianity.

“My hope is that this Psalmfest gives people a good opportunity to experience the singing and reading of the Psalms in worship, because many of us have never seen this done before,” Van Neste said. “We want a chance to not just say things about the Psalms, but to say the Psalms; to not just sing about the Psalms, but to sing the Psalms; to not just listen to something about the Psalms, but to actually listen to the Psalms themselves.”

Scholarship Symposium highlights undergraduate research

More than 280 students and more than 50 faculty members presented research findings as part of Union University’s 11th annual Scholarship Symposium on April 29.

“The Scholarship Symposium has become an important part of life at Union University for our students,” said Hunter Baker, Union’s dean of instruction who oversees the program. “Students benefit tremendously by carrying out research projects. Whether they become professional researchers or not, knowledge of investigative methods will serve them well for the rest of their lives.”

Students each year prepare a wide variety of presentations for a critical audience based on original research. A few examples from 2014:

Engineering students Alex Charles, Zac Baker and Kenneth Mayo built and tested a drone to be used for aerial photography. Their design had to incorporate the weight of a camera and yet provide for enough range to capture usable photographs. Their goal was to make aerial photography at Union more efficient and more affordable. Their faculty advisers were Professor of Engineering Don Van and Associate Professor of Engineering Randal Schwindt.

Tyler Jones presented research designed to apply green chemistry principles to standard laboratory textbooks. The aim is to reduce hazardous waste disposal within the process of chemistry education. His faculty adviser was Professor of Chemistry Sally Henrie.

Colby Benefield traced Madison County’s Civil War history, from the initial capture of Jackson by Union forces in 1862 to the 1863 evacuation of the town. His faculty adviser was Professor of History David Thomas.

Christine Ryan compared the Greco-Roman and New Testament views of childhood. She examined the Pauline household codes found in Colossians and Ephesians alongside the Greco-Roman cultures and suggested how the study could be applied to 21st century living. Her faculty adviser was Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy C. Ben Mitchell.

The Union University Research Program sponsors the Scholarship Symposium each year.

The Union University Magazine
Summer 2014