It is a big day at Covenant College

The anticipation of students, faculty, and staff on campus has been hanging in the air all week. In the fall Dr. Neilson announced that he would be stepping down as President of Covenant College this summer. The whole student body was saddened to hear this news, but also excited about what the change could bring. Who would they get to replace Dr. Neilson? What changes would be bring? and many other questions I am sure were running through everyone's mind. I know I certainly was curious about the whole process. But as the semester progressed and classes started to be more challenging everyone seemed to forget for a while the change coming on the horizon. We all went about our daily routine with little thought to who would be coming next fall. Well, not all of us, the board was working diligently to find the man that God had for the school as we enter into this new chapter. There were lots of applicants and after months of deliberation and prayer, today was the day that the new president would be announced to the student body. All of the excitement of the board being on campus this week and the mysterious e-mail sent out yesterday certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seats as they waited for Chapel today. The whole room was buzzing with chatter as you walked in, when it is typically quiet. And when the chairman of the board walked on stage the whole room listened intently. He described the process and the great features that made the man they had chosen stand out above the other applicants. The whole room applauded in a show of gratitude and love for the Neilsons who we are sad to see go. When he finally announced that Dr. J. Derek Halvorson had been selected to be the new president of the college everyone was ecsatic. Dr. Halvorson gave a wonderful short speech to express his gratitude for being selected. Overall it was a wonderful ceremony to honor two men who have and will serve the school well for the sake of The Kingdom. I am so excited to see what God has in store for Covenant over the next couple of years that I will be here.

Here is a video of the Chapel from today for whoever is interested:

And here is a short clip from Dr. Halvorson:

Hope y'all enjoy those clips and join in on both the bittersweet goodbye to the Neilsons, as well as the excitement of welcoming the Halvorson family to the Covenant community.