Letter from the President

Bryan Stevenson excelled at Eastern in the classroom, on the musical stage, on the soccer field and in the public square of student government. He continued to excel at the Harvard Law School. Upon graduation from Harvard, he declined offers from the most prestigious firms in America, choosing instead to honor a call he heard while at Eastern. As Bryan explains it, the Lord used the words of Professors Tony Campolo and Betsy Morgan to call him to works of justice. Bryan responded by establishing the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, where he has spent more than two decades as a legal advocate for that state's poorest people.

Steve Clemens, like Bryan, was a gifted Eastern graduate who also excelled at Harvard Law. Responding to a different call, he soon became one of the youngest attorneys ever invited to partnership in his major New York firm. Steve now combines that successful legal practice with philanthropic and church service.

Like a number of good colleges and universities, Eastern is committed to the integration of faith and learning. However, Eastern takes that commitment an important step further by also integrating justice into the curriculum and student life. Graduates like Bryan and Steve convince me that Eastern's distinctive approach to learning and formation is strong and good.

Our students can be found studying cosmology in the Templeton Honors College, analyzing a troubled urban neighborhood in the Campolo School for Social Change, conducting an economic development project in Senegal in the School of Leadership and Development, or engaging in one of the many other undergraduate and graduate programs of the University. If you visit, you will also find the students active in campus governance, involved in extracurricular activities, and dedicated to times of worship. The exceptional professors mentoring those students hold degrees from prestigious universities, have hundreds of scholarly publications in print, and lead active lives of faith and service.

Please come and see for yourself what an exciting place Eastern is - a place where important callings are heard.

David Black
President