Jo Ann Harris, center, receives the staff Servant Leadership Award from Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of Campbellsville University, and Dave Walters, vice president for admissions and student services, at Honors and Awards Day. (Campbellsville University Photo by Ashley Zsedenyi)
Campbellsville University faculty members Joe Foster, second from left, and Chrys Hines receive the Servant Leadership Award from Dr. Michael V. Carter, president, far left, and Dr. Frank Cheatham, vice president for academic affairs, at Honors and Awards Day. (Campbellsville University Photo by Memo Quintana)
Laura Clark of Bowling Green, Ky., third from left, and Andre’ Tomaz of Brazil, receive Servant Leadership Awards at Campbellsville University’s Honors and Awards Day. From left are: Dave Walters, vice president for admissions and student services; Dr. Michael V. Carter, president; Clark; Tomaz; and Josh Anderson, dean of students. (Campbellsville University Photo by Ashley Zsedenyi)
CU Honors Servant Leadership Recipients
By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Campbellsville University honored two students, Laura Clark of Bowling Green, Ky., and André Tomaz of Brazil as the 2009 recipients of the Barney II and Moore Foundation Servant Leadership Award during Honors and Awards Day and again at a luncheon in their honor following the awards ceremony.
Also, faculty and staff members Joe Foster, assistant professor of business and economics; Chrys Hines, instructor in business; and Jo Ann Harris, secretary of the physical plant, were honored as the Faculty and Staff Servant Leadership Award winners.
Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of the university, said, at the luncheon in their honor, that CU appreciates the way the recipients live their lives.
“This is a great opportunity to say ‘thank you’ and this is what CU is about,” Carter said.
Josh Anderson, dean of students, helped get the initial gift from the Barney II and Moore Foundation. The students, faculty and staff are recognized for their skills as leaders through the Servant Leadership Program.
Anderson told the recipients they “give to us more than we give to you.”
Clark is majoring in educational ministries. She has served CU as a resident assistant, a FIRST CLASS mentor, on the Baptist Campus Ministry Council, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and as an Office of Admissions Intern.
She has received the Baptist Leadership Award, been on the dean’s list and the president’s list and represented the Office of Admissions in the Valentine Pageant.
She has also been involved with the Honor’s Program, the college ministry at Campbellsville Baptist Church and worked with audio/visual technology for the Worship Arts Conference.
Clark said she defines a servant leader as “as an individual who expresses the humility of Christ by placing others as a priority above him or herself and who strives to serve the community and others while moving others to do the same.”
After graduation, Clark wants to work in children’s ministry and partner with families through Sunday school and church programs.
She donated a portion of her Servant Leadership Award money to the Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child organization.
Clark is the daughter of David and Theresa Clark of Bowling Green. She is a 2006 graduate of Greenwood High School and attends Covenant Ministries Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
Tomaz, who has also lived in Romania, is majoring in marketing. He has served as the Baptist Campus Ministry missions coordinator, student council president and vice president and worship leader in high school, on the Praise Team and with the children’s ministry at Campbellsville Baptist Church, and a photographer for the Campbellsville University Office of Communications.
He has also been involved with Oasis, Creative Ministries and Discipleship-Now.
Tomaz defines a “servant leader as requiring commitment and time to dive deep into the lives of others and lead by example and to be prepared and willing to sacrifice self interest for the benefit of others.”
After graduation, Tomaz intends to serve God no matter where he is because he knows there will be people who need Jesus and need to see the love He has for them.
He will be donating a portion of his Servant Leadership Award money to Mission Arlington in Arlington, Texas.
He is the son of Gerson and Sonia Tomaz. He graduated from Bucharest Christian Academy in 2006. He attends Campbellsville Baptist Church.
The faculty Servant Leadership Awards were a tie, according to Dr. Frank Cheatham, vice president for academic affairs, who presented the awards.
He said Joe Foster and Chrys Hines were very deserving of the awards.
Foster is completing 25 years of “outstanding service” to CU and his students, Cheatham said.
He said Foster has 355 students this year and estimates he has taught 7,000 during his years at CU. “He is always willing to go the extra mile to assist students in and out of class,” he said.
He gave some student comments about Foster below:
“Instructor uses real-life examples to relate to course discussion. Very helpful to students if assistance is needed. Spends many hours in office helping students. I have learned a lot from this class. Mr. Foster has been an excellent and caring instructor. He has a genuine concern for the students that they understand the material covered.”
Foster is married to Margie Foster, who has worked at CU in the university’s bookstore. They have two children: Joe Foster and Dr. Lisa Foster.
Hines has served as sponsor for Phi Beta Lambda since 2001. “Her commitment to this organization has been outstanding,” Cheatham said.
She has attended eight spring statewide competitions with the students, and each of the eight years some of CU’s students have qualified for national competition by finishing first or second in their category.
Hines has attended six national competitions with Phi Beta Lambda students. One of her students won the national competition in public speaking at a 2004 national competition in Dallas, Texas.
A number of other students have finished in the top ten – some as high as second in the nation. Three students qualified to attend the national competition this summer in California.
Hines is working on her doctorate at Nova Southeastern University.
Hines and her husband, Donnie, have three children: Kacey McNear, who has a daughter; Jared Hines, who is married to Lindsay Hines, swim and women’s golf coach at CU, who has a son; and Stephen Hines and the late Andrew Agee.
Harris has worked in the physical plant at CU since 2002. She was introduced and presented the award by Dave Walters, vice president for admissions and student services.
“Jo Ann is one of those behind the scenes person that are very important to any institution,” Walters said, “and yet she is a front line person when it comes to problems with facilities.”
Walters said most of her calls and e-mails are relate to “can you get this fixed?”, and she sometimes even “receives the blame undeservedly when things don’t work properly.”
He said the essence of the Servant Leadership Award is that an individual “exemplifies a spirit of service, and Jo Ann truly exhibits a servant spirit and attitude.”
Walters said she does it without reservation and expectation of anything in return. “Even today she had to be ‘encouraged’ by her supervisor to be at this ceremony because she felt she needed to stay at the office and take care of several things,” he said.
Her colleagues shared the following: “She’s always ready to whatever is asked of her. Always pleasant. Goes beyond what needs to be done.”
Her supervisor, David Peirce, said she is a pleasure to work with, and she knows the language. She knows the difference between Freon and a flange.”
Harris is married to John Harris, and they have two children: Randy and Zeke. She is a 1985 graduate of Campbellsville University.
Campbellsville University is most appreciative to the Barney II and Moore Foundations, particularly William Reichardt, president of the Barney II Foundation, and Martin Moore, president of the Moore Foundation, for their initiative to help those of us in Christian higher education take our students to the highest form of leadership – servant hood in Christ’s name, according to Carter.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America’s Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.