A Letter to Students
Dear Warner University students,
I could not possibly be more excited to start another school year with you. After seeing and getting to be a part of what God did on our campus last year, I am enthusiastic about the upcoming year. Many of our returning students’ lives were radically changed last year, and we have some amazing new students joining us this fall.
I want you to know something as we start the year together: I want you to know that I realize there are approximately 5,000 other colleges and universities in the United States and that, out of all of them, you chose Warner. I do not take that reality lightly. You have honored us with your choice, and you have entrusted Warner University’s faculty and staff with an important task—helping to prepare you for your vocational and academic future. While I admit that I am more than a little biased, I believe you have made the best choice—and I want you to know that both your present and your future are important to us.
Our faculty and staff have also made the choice to be at Warner. They are talented people who have impressive résumés and could be working for other organizations—but they, like you, have chosen Warner. They have chosen Warner because it is not only allowed but expected of them to anchor all that they do in a genuine love for Christ and the truth he has given us in Scripture. For you, that means you are surrounded by people who genuinely love you, pray for you, want the best for you, will walk through challenging times with you, and will celebrate your achievements with you.
So let me summarize all of this with one important word: intentionality. You have intentionally chosen Warner, our faculty and staff have intentionally chosen Warner, and we are intentional about providing for you the things that we believe Jesus Christ wants us to provide for you: a commitment to helping you be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be, a commitment to sharing the love of Jesus with you, and a commitment to an education grounded not in cultural trends or whims but in the time-tested truth of Scripture and God’s unfailing love.
My own undergraduate experience at a small Christian college, a lot like Warner, changed my life and set the course for my future, so it has always been important for me to ensure that the students I work with have a college experience as rich and as meaningful as mine was. I made lifelong friends—some of them schoolmates, some of them professors—and I learned a lot about the subjects I studied. But one of the most important things I learned was that the knowledge and skills I gained from all of my studies were not intended just for me. Rather, my intellectual growth and vocational abilities were intended for a higher purpose. That lesson was one of the most important gifts that I received from attending a small Christian college, and it is a gift that I hope you receive from Warner.
I hope you will start the upcoming school year knowing that our faculty and staff care not only about you receiving a diploma and a way to earn a living, but also about you making a difference with what you learn. That perspective will enrich your time at Warner and help you be immeasurably more successful.
Thankful for you,
Gentry Sutton, D.Ed.Min.
President, Warner University
