President Emeritus Derek Halvorson speaks at his celebration dinner back in March 2023.
Derek Halvorson shook the Covenant community last spring when he announced a major transition by leaving his role as president of Covenant College. His plan was to become the founding director of the school’s new Brock-Barnes Center for Leadership, which left more questions than it did answers.
Halvorson chose to move his office downtown to work on the new leadership center. He doesn’t want to be “hovering” while the board searches for the new president, he said. Halvorson was inspired by former President Frank Brock, who stepped down from the role, moved his office downtown, and became the first executive director of the Covenant College Foundation.
While you may still see him at soccer games or in the Great Hall, Halvorson will spend most of his time in his new downtown office.
“My office setup is phase one of a sneaky Covenant invasion of downtown Chattanooga,” Halvorson said.
His new location will help him build an easy interface between business and community leaders in the Chattanooga area. Since Covenant hasn’t had a downtown presence in over a decade, Halvorson hopes the leadership center can be the college’s new outpost in the city.
The leadership center will facilitate more learning opportunities for Covenant students. Departments could hold special classes where business leaders from Chattanooga share their knowledge and expertise.
“Chattanooga is a dynamic city; anything we can do to strengthen the college’s connection to the city will be good for Covenant,” Halvorson said.
While it is currently just the one office, Halvorson will fundraise to expand their facilities and accommodate events.
One of these events will be the Spring 2024 Brock Forum for Authentic Leadership. This forum will bring together Christian business people to share with student leaders and faculty how their faith impacts their work. These Christian workers have taken the theory of Covenant College’s motto, “In All Things Christ Preeminent,” and made it a practice.
He also plans to launch an Executive in Residence Program by inviting Christians from executive leadership roles in business and government to campus for short-term residencies.
“I think it's valuable for students to meet believers who have served in these roles to help them see the different challenges they have faced, and how their faith has informed the way they approach different situations,” Halvorson said. This would enable students to learn what it is like to be in the trenches as Christian leaders.
Seeing a need for good leadership in business, government and the church, Halvorson shared his vision. “I would love for the Brock-Barnes Center to equip and inspire students to respond faithfully and with excellence to the calling of servant leadership.”
He hopes the leadership center will expand the school’s fundraising reach to untapped donors by showcasing how Covenant College students can succeed in the real world as Christian leaders.
Halvorson’s work on a day-to-day basis includes planning for the new programs, preparing for fundraising, and building a website for the Brock-Barnes Center for Leadership. While he is currently the only one at his office, Halvorson is pulling together a committee to plan as a team.
“It's been fun to work on building something new that will be a real blessing to the college and to students,” Halvorson said.