Pineville, LA (8/22/2024) – Louisiana Christian University held its annual Freshmen Convocation Chapel on Tuesday welcoming its incoming Class of 2028. Classes for the fall semester began Monday.
LCU Acting President Dr. David Jeffreys offered the message to a packed auditorium, reminiscing on his own freshman experience at what was then known as Louisiana College.
“In the fall of 1988, I was sitting in the same spot as you,” he said. “I had been to my classes for a couple of days, and the reality of the coursework was terrifying. I was an OK student in high school, but I had looked at my syllabi and was asking myself, ‘Can I do this?’”
He said the Lord truly worked in his life at LC and provided exactly what he needed to be successful in and out of the classroom.
“God has a calling on your life, and He will always provide for you,” he said.
A relatively new tradition at LCU is naming a senior classman as ‘president for a day.’ This year’s BCM President Will Dunham is this year’s choice, and he challenged this year’s entering class to be intentional and leave the worry to the Lord.
“I am not the same person I was when I came here in the fall of 2021,” Dunham said. “The friends you make here will get you through your highest highs and your lowest lows. Choose those friends wisely.”
He offered that there would be times of great anxiety and said that he struggled with this as a student, as well. It is important to put your trust in the Lord, pray and seek his Word daily.
In addition to new students, the university also welcomes four new faculty members for the 2024-25 academic year.
- Amy Chandler, assistant professor of education
- Dr. Amelia D. Davis, Dean of Nursing
- Dr. Ashar Ghulam, assistant professor of mathematics
- Michael Williams, assistant professor of art
“These new professors are first and foremost a nurse, educator, mathematician and artist,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Henry Robertson. “They practice their profession. Then they enter the classroom to teach, train and uplift students to a higher level of performance. By attending this university, students will reap an enormous transformational education that will continue to benefit them their entire lives.”
Chandler joins the faculty after having been a public classroom and homeschool teacher. She earned a B.S. in Education and a master’s degree from Louisiana College. She participated in Classical Conversations and other innovative ways of educating children. Her mathematics instruction has proven path-breaking, and she will give LCU students a great advantage in this challenging area of instruction.
Her approach to teaching comes from a strong Christian worldview, which she said “gives us hope, peace, and direction on any day, in any situation.”
LCU’s new dean of Nursing, Davis, has more than 18 years of nursing experience and 14 years dedicated to nursing education. Davis began her nursing career after earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing Education from Alcorn State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Nursing Education and Administration from William Carey University.
She has held several leadership positions, including Regional Dean of Nursing at Unitek Learning and Interim Director of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In her role at NCAT, she also served as the coordinator of Simulation and Clinical Learning, where she played a vital role in enhancing nursing education through innovative simulation strategies.
Ghulam is an internationally known mathematics scholar who returns to the United States after a long career teaching at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan. He earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Louisiana State University, where he served as a Fulbright scholar.
He also won the LSU Fulbright scholarship for international students for three years (2010-2013). His research centers on Riemann Hilbert problems and boundary value problems involving mathematical physics and measure theory. He has presented findings at conferences he organized in Pakistan, the United States, and other international locations.
Williams returns to campus as an assistant professor of Art. He earned his undergraduate degree in art from Louisiana College in 2019, and his Master of Fine Arts from Mississippi College.
He has taught high school art in Rapides Parish, specializing in ceramics. He has been recognized as a Merit Award Winner of the Tom Peyton Memorial Art Festival of First United Methodist Church in Alexandria. His sculpture award and 1st and 2nd place prizes at Mississippi College distinguished him as one of the best new artists in the region. His heart for students and love of hard work and beauty sets the LCU art department on a bright course.
“These new faculty are a testament to the ability of LCU to attract the best and brightest talent for our students,” Robertson said.
Source: LCU
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