Faculty

Trevecca Welcomes New Director of Student Life
Faculty

Trevecca Welcomes New Director of Student Life

Photo by Alayna Simons (Editor-in-Chief) By Alayna Simons Editor-in-Chief After a national search, Natalie Specht has officially filled the position of director of student life. In July and August, more than 40 people applied from different backgrounds, and Megan McGhee, assistant dean of student life, says that it is a miracle that they found someone within two months of the job being vacant. “It’s unusual. I just feel like the Lord went before us and provided us with the candidate that we needed for this season. We’re really fortunate and we’re so thankful for her,” said McGhee. Specht moved from California to Tennessee a little over a year ago. She attended California Baptist University for her bachelor’s degree and received her master’s in spiritual formation an...
New Sodexo general manager joins Trevecca
Faculty

New Sodexo general manager joins Trevecca

By Emily Gibson Staff Writer Andrew Bullard On Thanksgiving Day, 2001, Andrew Bullard took off work to spend the weekend with his family. When he returned on Sunday, his workplace, which was also his home at the time, was padlocked, and everything he owned was in a box on the loading dock.   “In that moment, I became unemployed and homeless during one of the worst economic times in American history,” said Bullard.  Today, Bullard spends his days overseeing all food service management on Trevecca’s campus as the Sodexo general manager. He took the position in mid-February and has spent the past weeks getting to know his staff, the students and coming up with strategies to improve the student dining experience.   Bullard was 15-years-old when he st...
Exercise science professor awarded teaching excellence award
Events, Faculty, Sports

Exercise science professor awarded teaching excellence award

By Lauren Steinbrook Staff Writer Photo courtesy to Trevecca Marketing Aaron Hall chuckles a little when he recalls that his application to work at Trevecca first ended up in the department chair’s junk email. “It was a God thing for me to come here. I never thought about teaching, and I didn’t know anything about Trevecca,” said Hall, associate professor of exercise science. “My application went into Dr. Patterson’s junk mail, so it was by chance she found my application…I wouldn’t be here without God.”  Hall is this year’s recipient of Trevecca’s Teaching Excellence Award. On March 2, Tom Middendorf, university provost, presented Hall with the annual award given to a faculty member. “He is known for deeply investing in the lives of students,” said Middendorf durin...
Security guard talks Denver Broncos and professional football on podcast
Campus News, Faculty

Security guard talks Denver Broncos and professional football on podcast

By Wes Sharpe Staff Writer Photo courtesy of Isaiah Henderson Isaiah Henderson has been serving and protecting the Trevecca community for over a year as a member of the security team. But when he’s not on campus patrolling, he spends his time podcasting about his favorite NFL team, the Denver Broncos. “I started off podcasting doing an online ministry and had the tools set up. I had the idea to launch this podcast with [Jonny Baki], and we have been doing it for a little over two years now,” said Henderson. The podcast is called “Nothing Rhymes Podcast,” which he co-hosts with his best friend, Johnny Baki. Both friends are huge fans of the Denver Broncos and decided to share their passion with the world. “This podcast has made it possible for us to create new friends who...
Campus officials work to prepare for potential emergency
Campus News, Faculty

Campus officials work to prepare for potential emergency

By Abigail Allen Staff Writer Trevecca’s faculty and administration participated in active shooter training over the summer in response to the reality of mass shooting incidents. Roughly 500 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive also reported that the number of mass shooting incidents in the U.S. has increased by 46 percent from 2019 to 2020. Lena Hegi Welch, dean of the school of arts and social sciences, was among those who participated in the training. “They took us into different classrooms on campus and talked about how a teacher in each classroom could protect students,” said Welch. “It heightened my awareness of what to do if I were on campus with an active shooter.” The training was designed to suppor...
New director of leadership and community engagement joins Trevecca
Campus News, Faculty

New director of leadership and community engagement joins Trevecca

By Claudia Villeda Online media editor New faculty member Justin Jose joined Trevecca this semester as director of leadership and community engagement.  The director of leadership and community engagement is a reimagined role from the previous community engagement and reconciliation position held, said Megan McGhee, associate dean of student life.  “When Dr. Brodrick Thomas left Trevecca last year, we had just reimagined his role to be what this role is now. So there are elements of what Dr. Thomas did when he was on campus, but there are some new aspects to it as well,” said McGhee. There are four main aspects of this position: serving as sponsor for the diversity committee, working with community engagement initiatives, leadership development and overseeing ...
Faculty, Features

Nykolaus Reed, the 2022 recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award

by Claudia Villeda Nykolaus Reed, assistant professor of biology, is this year’s recipient of the Trevecca Teaching Excellence Award.  The Teaching Excellence Convocation was held on March 3 with an address from the 2021 recipient, Timothy Gaines, associate professor of religion.  The Teaching Excellence Award is presented by the Conference of Chairpersons, composed of academic deans and department chairs. Students, faculty and academic chairs nominate a faculty member for this award.  Reed arrived at Trevecca in the fall of 2012. He began as an adjunct professor of life science. He taught the general education course for two semesters.  “I was working as a research fellow at Vanderbilt and a buddy of mine, Dr. David Vaught, had told me that Trevecca was...
Trevecca faculty feeling impact of pandemic fatigue spring semester
Faculty

Trevecca faculty feeling impact of pandemic fatigue spring semester

By Grace Beckner Professor Buzard takes time out of class to remind students how to be counted as present if they are quarantined For the past 10 years Dr. Amanda Grieme Bradley, associate professor of psychology and chair of the social and behavioral sciences department, got her joy as a professor and person from the relationships she was able to build at Trevecca. But over the past two years this joy has been depleted.  She says there are layers to the factors impacting her as a professor navigating a world of Covid-19. “I get so much joy out of relationships with students and time in the classroom, teaching has always been very relational and very reciprocal for me,” Grieme Bradley said. “Now I’m not having coffee with students, I’m not chatting with them in t...
Morgan Morris finishes first year as new director of student life
Faculty

Morgan Morris finishes first year as new director of student life

By Abigail Allen Morgan Morris is about to wrap up her first year at Trevecca Nazarene University in a position within the center for student developments that is just as new to the university as she is. Originally the dean of community life took on the responsibilities of both dean and director. Now that Morris has stepped into this new position, she has assumed the responsibilities of director.  Before starting her new role as the director of student life, Morris could never have imagined the community she would become a part of at Trevecca.  “My college experience was incredibly formative for me, and I wanted to be a part of that work in the lives of students,” said Morris.  Morris developed her passion for students at John Brown University, where she ...
New faculty member joins Trevecca team to promote listening and reconciliation
Campus News, Faculty

New faculty member joins Trevecca team to promote listening and reconciliation

By Miriam Rixon Photo provided by Trevecca Marketing Promoting diversity training for students, assisting campus leaders in creating diversity initiatives and serving as an advisor on diversity issues to faculty, staff and students will be some of Terrance Schofield's responsibilities. But first, he wants to get to know the campus community. Schofield, who was hired over the summer to fill the newly established role of associate provost for mission excellence and reconciliation, is spending time better understanding the campus community and its needs around diversity. Schofield went on to what he calls his "listening tour" as he first stepped into his new role. This looked like speaking to students, faculty and other organizations at Trevecca, which has so far included...