Dear Friends,

The demise of the Christian liberal arts institution has been tremendously overstated. Houghton University remains strong and exceptionally well-positioned to prepare students for fruitful living today and for generations to come. This is good news for Houghton students and their families, and for the communities, ministries, organizations, and corporations where Houghton graduates will serve. The need for graduates of Christian liberal arts and sciences universities has never been greater.

Like Houghton alumni, I continue to personally experience the benefits of an undergraduate experience grounded in the liberal arts. I began my undergraduate experience as a jazz studies-saxophone major, with dreams of traveling and performing on stages all over the world—the next Kirk Whalum or Branford Marsalis. That dream was not to be. In my sophomore year, I changed my major for the first time. I would change it once or twice more before earning my degree. Throughout my undergraduate experience, I never imagined I would ultimately find my vocational calling in education—first in K-12 schools and eventually in higher education.

While none of my undergraduate majors align with where and how God would eventually call me to serve, my undergraduate liberal arts curriculum provided the broad-based, interdisciplinary foundation I would draw from throughout my career as a thinker, a learner, a leader, and a problem solver, in areas as diverse as curriculum, finance, statistics, writing, management, and politics. Central to my passionate advocacy for Houghton’s Christ-centeredliberal arts and sciences core is that it not only prepares graduates for a particular job or career—but even more importantly—it equips them for living life to the fullest, as faithful, God-honoring scholar-servants.

For some Houghton graduates, their undergraduate degrees will align perfectly with their vocational callings. Some graduates will have career trajectories that look more like mine, with an undergraduate degree in a field seemingly unrelated to their vocation. Most Houghton graduates will experience enormous change throughout the course of their careers. Thankfully, they will have had the gift of a Christian liberal arts and sciences education—where regardless of their major—they were educated through a decidedly Christian worldview to think and work across disciplines, to serve selflessly, and to lead fearlessly. Challenges and opportunities will await them, but they will be well-prepared.

This issue of Houghton Magazine is a celebration of Houghton’s longstanding commitment to the Christian liberal arts. With this issue, we reflect on Houghton’s rich history of equipping faithful scholar servants through the Christian liberal arts and celebrate the ways God is using this vine of God’s own planting to prepare a new generation of scholar-servants.

Yours in Jesus Christ our Lord,

Wayne D. Lewis, Jr.