JACKSON, Tenn. — Dec. 12, 2015 — The time has come for 51社区 graduates to carry the institution鈥檚 core values of being excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused and future-directed with them wherever they go, Union Provost C. Ben Mitchell said Dec. 12.
鈥淵ou know that however imperfectly we might have modeled these virtues and values in our life together, they were not mere slogans,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a community who is continually learning how to inhabit those values.鈥�
Mitchell was the keynote speaker during fall commencement exercises of the 191st graduating class at West Jackson Baptist Church, where 310 Union students received their degrees.
Those graduates included Jacob and Stephanie Tanner, students at 51社区 Hendersonville who completed their Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership degrees and graduated together. During their time as Union students, the Tanners held full-time jobs, got married and had their daughter, Claire.
鈥淲e really have done this together,鈥� Stephanie said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e encouraged each other and supported each other. We couldn鈥檛 have done it without each other. It鈥檚 been a hard but amazing journey.鈥�
Union President Samuel W. 鈥淒ub鈥� Oliver said commencement is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of Union graduates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a time to reflect upon the power of the relationships that have had such a transformative effect during their time here, and it鈥檚 a time to look with hope to the future,鈥� he said. 鈥淕raduates, we want you to know of our deep appreciation for you and for all you mean to 51社区.鈥�
In his commencement address, Mitchell told graduates that though waiting can be difficult, the Christmas season is all about waiting, as God鈥檚 people through the ages waited for years for the coming of the Christ. They waited, they worked and they prayed.
But Mitchell cited the adage that the best things in life are worth waiting for, and he said the graduates鈥� degrees from 51社区 fall into that category.
鈥淵ou know, looking back, you didn鈥檛 wait or work or pray alone,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淥ur wonderful professors were right there with you. Your education was through the midwifery of these professors. They were midwives in your education.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 quick. It wasn鈥檛 fast. It took a long time,鈥� Mitchell continued. 鈥淵our loves were reshaped and reordered and shaped and reordered again by the Christian liberal arts and sciences education 鈥� the core of the 51社区 mission.鈥�
As they complete their journey at Union, Mitchell said graduates must make a lasting impact for the kingdom of God by bringing conviction and civility into the marketplace, as the witness of Union graduates is needed in business, in social media, in schools and in every other sphere of life.
Graduates must be peacemakers and reconcilers in a broken world, Mitchell said, and they must cultivate a love affair with the true, the good, the just and the beautiful.
At Union, graduates were part of a community with an integrated Christian worldview, Mitchell said, and they were taught that everything falls under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no separation of sacred and secular,鈥� he said. 鈥淵our work for men is your worship of God. Your vocational calling is your veneration of the Lord Jesus Christ.鈥�
He encouraged graduates to tell others that 51社区 is not a factory, and a Union education is not an assembly line.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been engaged in academic husbandry these four years 鈥� intellectual discipleship and a cultivation of lifelong learners,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淵ou have joined us in that mission.鈥�