Cedarville, It's Time to Step Up.

If you’ve come to this blog post looking for answers, please realize that you will not find them here. Neither will you find gossip or slander of those making the decisions we are all wondering about. Rather, you will discover conglomerations of concerns, pleas for truth, and paths to action.

The recent changes at Cedarville, most recently the unexpected resignation of Dr. Carl Ruby, confuse and concern me.  A great number of students share my sentiment, for I cannot think of any Cedarville staff member more present and personally involved in students’ lives than Dr. Ruby. What staff member at any university would choose to stay up all night making cinnamon rolls just to provide a happy tradition and morning pick-me-up for students to look forward to? Such token memories of Dr. Ruby, together with the deep impact of programs and speakers he has brought to Cedarville, provide only a faint glimmer of the joy and dedication in his heart to Christ and to the students of Cedarville.

Although I have held only a handful of personal conversations with Dr. Ruby, tears come to my eyes when I imagine this incredible man of God packing his things and preparing to leave the place where he has invested years of his life. I fear for a university who tells men like Carl Ruby, who has served as a Christ-like model for the past twenty-five years, that they are neither wanted nor needed. I will not pretend to know the details behind his resignation, but neither will I pretend that asking such questions is unimportant. The deafening silence from administration causes students, faculty, and staff to assume the worst. Over the last four years, professors at this very university have taught me critical thinking skills that now push me to beg for answers. However, these answers will not come easily. They will only come if the student body as a whole cares just as much as I do. Are you listening?

The larger issue at stake is as follows. What is happening to Cedarville? Dr. Ruby’s apparent dismissal brings a new facet to the uncomfortable events that took place last semester involving the White Papers, Dr. Pahl’s dismissal, Dr. Brown’s resignation, and the proposed rejection or cancellation of certain programs that would engage critical thinking in light of Christ’s atonement (theology, philosophy). I now address current students and alumni of Cedarville:   We have nothing to lose for asking questions.   Faculty and staff risk their jobs for speaking out of turn and asking too many difficult policy questions. It is our place to challenge our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been charged with the immense responsibility of steering this university in the right direction. It is time to grow up and act like the young Christian adults we have become, and not shrug our shoulders and say, “Someone else should do it.” As the heart and soul of Cedarville University, we students must think critically, act humbly, and speak enthusiastically in favor of making Christ the center of Cedarville. Defend Dr. Ruby as you would defend a brother, and encourage others not to bow to pressure or cynicism but to stand up for what is right. It only takes a minute to express your concerns in writing to those in leadership. In fact, they have encouraged us to do so. Students, step up.

Contact information for the trustees and other members of administration can be found here. Take a minute to send an e-mail or two, or seventeen.  Ask about Dr. Ruby, the direction of the university, the philosophy major, or whatever other concerns you have. Don’t just Facebook your frustrations. Don’t just tweet ambiguous questions. Bring it to the source. Together, we may actually get some answers.