Four recently retired professors, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies Ray Clark, Professor of English Paul Hesselink, Professor of Sociology Jack Muller, and Professor of Computer Science Doug Sizemore, were  honored with Emeritus status. Clark, Hesselink, and Muller are continuing to teach at Covenant as adjunct faculty.

All four professors emeriti have served between 35 and 42 years on the faculty at Covenant. Jeff Hall, Vice President of Academic Affairs, explained that they all have demonstrated “a level of personal sacrifice, commitment to the heart of the [college’s] mission, and have touched the lives of thousands.”

Hall noted that instructors who have been granted Emeritus status “have given wisdom to the community” and have also served as significant figures academically. Their roles as teachers and scholars are positions that they have held for a long time.

Further, he said, for most professors, “this means serving as teacher at the college for seven or more years.” However, “this requirement could change depending upon the level of service a person gives to the college.”

And how do professors benefit from the Emeritus position? The faculty handbook notes that it is by the Emeritus title that professors receive recognition and honor for their work. They also get access to library resources, office space (whenever available), and stipends for adjunct teaching.

Individual responses to the Emeritus status have varied. Hesselink mentioned that continuing teaching as an Emeritus professor offers “renewed interaction with good students and old friends on the faculty and an opportunity to earn some money and postpone the day of tapping into the retirement accounts. It gives me something meaningful to do with my time.”

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Classy young debators strike a pose during their trip to the Commuicator Classic at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia.

Debate Society places in Communicator Classic Tournament and looks towards Christian National Tournament

Covenant College’s Debate Society proved itself again at the Communicator Classic Tournament hosted by Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, on January 21-23. Competing in the tournament for Covenant were freshmen Grace Mullaney, Ragan Brock, Susanna Griffith, and Sarah Swygard, junior Luke Granholm, and sophomore Zach Robbins. There were 25 teams and 50 individual competitors. Among these teams were groups from top tier schools like Grove City, which is ranked #1 out of 200 schools in the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

Covenant also debated against Patrick Henry, who have also placed well in national competitions and have a reputation for beating schools like Harvard University and Oxford University.

Despite such tough competition, the Covenant Debate Society placed very high. Debating in teams of two, Sarah Swygard and Luke Granholm placed 3rd overall, and Susanna Griffith and Zach Robbins placed 9th overall.

In the individual rankings, Sarah Swygard was ranked as the 7th place speaker, Susanna Griffith as the 9th place speaker, and Zach Robbins as the 10th place speaker.

The Granholm/Swygard team was only outranked by two of the Grove City teams, and they placed above the Patrick Henry team, which placed 2nd in the National Tournament last year. Covenant’s teams also consistently outranked a majority of the Grove City teams. In fact, at their last tournament at Carson-Newman, Covenant College was also offered an invitation to the Georgia State Championship from Gainesville State College.

Gainesville’s Director of Forensics was clearly impressed by the young team, saying that, “recently we had the honor to travel to a tournament at Carson-Newman, where I was very impressed with a couple of teams from your school that I judged there. We noticed that, shortly after forming your program in 2009 (that’s what I gather from your website), you had the distinction of NFA qualifiers, and the success you enjoyed at Carson-Newman speaks for itself. I just wanted to take some time to say welcome to the wonderful world of forensics, although it’s a year late and although I just found out about Covenant (in a big way) at Carson-Newman. Given the success of your program we feel that a state parliamentary debate championship in Georgia won’t truly be a state Championship without Covenant.”

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