BLUEFIELD — Bluefield College celebrated the inauguration of a new president, David W. Olive, during a Nov. 2 campus ceremony, which challenged the BC family to embrace its heritage, while imagining its future.
Hundreds of local and regional dignitaries and educators filled BC's Harman Chapel to witness the formal installation service, the culmination of a weeklong series of events designed to commemorate the induction of the school's ninth president in its 85-year history.
With vigor and passion, Olive, the son of a retired Baptist minister, shared his vision for Bluefield College during an address. He challenged the campus community, in light of his new presidency, to consider the questions, “Who are we?” and “Where are we going?”
“We are a Christ-centered college,” Olive said. “We are a college that was founded by Christians who had a heart for young people in Appalachia. And, unlike other colleges and universities that began through the mission of the Church, Bluefield College has remained faithful to its heritage, a rich heritage, as a Christian college.”
Olive — who was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Pfeiffer University in Charlotte, N.C., before assuming the Bluefield presidency — expressed appreciation to the founders of Bluefield College who “worked tirelessly” from 1919 to 1922 to see the creation of a Christian higher education institution in Bluefield. He spoke of the historical Virginia Baptist references to the school as a “lighthouse on top of the Appalachian mountains,” providing “educational and spiritual development” for young men and women of the region. He assured Virginia Baptists that Bluefield College still, today, is a “champion of historic Baptist principles.”
“Our relationship with Virginia Baptists is important to us,” said Olive. “We are deeply indebted to Virginia Baptists, and as we seek a new path today of partnership and collaboration, please know of Bluefield College's commitment to always stand alongside the work and ministry of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. That is our sentiment. That is our commitment.”
In addition to being Christ-centered, Olive said Bluefield College is student-focused and globally-minded, as demonstrated by professors through the years who have given “their very being to impact students' lives” and by alumni who share testimonies about the intellectual and spiritual growth and preparation to make a difference in the world they received on campus.
“We are blessed to have such capable and learned faculty who choose to serve here every day,” Olive said. “Our professors are actively engaged with students both in and outside the classroom. We care about students, and we work to help them succeed and reach their God-given potential.”
And, while embracing that rich heritage, Olive encouraged the BC family to “imagine the future,” a scholarly environment that, he said, can be “so seductive and personalized that students are drawn into new worlds of learning.” He challenged the college and its supporters and friends to imagine a campus with more faculty resources, bold new academic programs, and additional personnel and resources to support the school's service, mission and ministry initiatives. Imagining such a future, he added, will further demonstrate how globally-minded the school is.
“We are called to be servants,” said Olive, “and in our work here at Bluefield College, we are developing servant leaders, those who are willing to give of themselves for the good of others or their community. If you have not already felt it or are not aware of it, we are passionate about service and meeting the needs of others, both in our immediate community and around the world.”
The new president also challenged faculty, staff, alumni and friends to imagine a Bluefield College with more students studying on campus and more living on site in a new residence hall. He encouraged listeners to envision a new campus and community center for students and the public at-large, and the development of new and improved athletic facilities.
“There is too rich a heritage for us to fail now,” Olive said. “We have too vital a mission to pursue to rest or be content. We must tell our story. We reside in Virginia's highest town. From the top of East River Mountain and beyond, we must proclaim what God has given us and enabled us to do, and we need to make sure that everyone knows — everyone — about the awesome experience, a life-transforming experience, that awaits them here at Bluefield College.
“Christ-centered. Student-focused. Globally-minded. That's who we are. And, together, with hard work and God's gracious blessings and presence among us, we can only imagine — immeasurably more than we can imagine — where we are going.”