“To have a heart for the nations, one must first have a heart for the lost.”

This is what Kevin King ’90 shared with me, as he sat next to his wife, J*, in the office of their Brownstone apartment building in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It is a singular sentence that serves as an effective summary of what they shared over the two interviews I had with them. Among the whos, whats, whys, wheres, and hows that the Kings shared regarding International Project’s 30-year history, it is evident that “a heart for the lost” has driven every decision.

A Campus Love Story

Kevin and J met as students at 91łÔąĎ in 1989 while running on the cross country team. J, a freshman, chose to study at Cairn because she had desired to be a missionary since she was a young teen. Kevin was a more recent believer, and in his senior year, he was looking to attend seminary after graduation to become a pastor. The two began dating shortly before Kevin graduated and continued while he earned his Master of Divinity from Missio Seminary in Philadelphia. Over the course of those three years of biblical study, it became clear: Kevin and J were both called to be full-time missionaries, and they were called to do so together. The day after J’s last class at the University, they were married on campus in a pond-side ceremony off of Pine street—the last ceremony to be held there, as construction of the president’s residence began immediately after.

An Unmet Need and a Timely Mission

Kevin and J both had a strong desire to be missionaries among an unreached people group. They began praying and asking God where he would have them serve in the 10/40 window. It was during this same time that a friend invited them to see the ministry potential in New York City. What they found shocked them: Over 90,000 international students, 100,000 West African Muslims in one neighborhood, 80,000 Bangladeshi Muslims in another neighborhood, and 60,000 Arab Muslims in yet another neighborhood. Rather than living among one unreached people group across the ocean, the Kings realized the potential to live among the dozens of unreached people groups that were already converging in NYC. While, thankfully, many missions organizations have recognized and are participating in this diaspora ministry in the US, that was not the case in the early ’90s. The Kings had a vision for a new kind of missions that didn’t follow the typical playbook of crossing saltwater. Rather than moving halfway across the world to establish themselves in an entirely new culture, the Kings wanted to minister to the stranger next door. To be full-time financially supported missionaries who stayed stateside was nearly unheard of, which made it difficult to find an organization to support their work. They prayed and patiently waited for God to bring them to an organization that would support them—and that’s exactly what he did. The Kings found stateside missionary support from WorldTeam, giving them the opportunity to lay the foundation for what would become International Project.

For the first 10 years, they focused their efforts on campus ministry. English conversation groups, discovery Bible studies, and invitations to leave cafeteria food behind in exchange for a home-cooked meal were the order of the day. They built relationships with international students, shared the gospel, and discipled those who could then return home to share that same message with their families and communities. They were amazed at what God was doing. Over a five-year period, they saw seven house churches start in other countries as students returned home to make disciples.

As they continued to build relationships and establish themselves in the city, they expanded their focus to more broadly cover diaspora, including international students but also immigrants, refugees, and diplomats. Their vision with immigrants and refugees was the same as that on campus: To see the gospel spread through these new diaspora believers and see the gospel carried through relational lines to start churches in closed countries. Through International Project teams, they have seen churches begin in Iran, West Africa, and Bangladesh.

A Sending Agency of Their Very Own

For years, Kevin and J were International Project—two supported missionaries with a heart for internationals living in New York City. They were eager to add more missionaries to their team, but that process was slow-going. They started to host missionary trainings while they waited for full-time team members. The Equip Missionary Training Program, a one-year program focused on training cross-cultural church planters to start simple multiplying churches, is something they began in 2010 and continue to do today. Missions organizations from all over the country would send their new missionaries to the Kings for training—but then they would leave, continuing on their journey to do missions across the globe. The Kings came to the realization that as long as they were missionaries sent by a larger agency, they would never have the focused support they needed for their unique missions strategy of reaching diaspora communities in the US. They needed all of the resources “in house” to recruit, train, and retain a team of missionaries committed to their same mission.

In 2012, International Project officially became a sending organization. This move brought renewed focus to their diaspora ministry and streamlined their ability to serve these communities in the ways in which they felt the Lord leading.

This decision opened the door for incredible opportunity and growth, but it also came with considerable challenges. Training, mobilization, HR, finances, and pastoral care are just a few of the time-consuming and weighty responsibilities that must smoothly run behind the scenes in order for missionaries to be well-supported to do their jobs well. The Kings’ schedules were already full with the ground work of missions, so in order to succeed as an independent ministry, they needed a lot more help. But where the workload increased, God provided the workers. International Project grew from just Kevin and J to about 40 missionaries in an eight-year period. In addition to these missionary workers, they have a ten-person operations and mobilization team to support this work.

Opportunities to Expand

Campus ministry is still a significant part of International Project’s strategic plan to reach unreached people groups in NYC and, by extension, around the world. They have an average of 15 different discovery Bible studies every week across two college campuses. But the campus ministry team, led by J, is only one of eight teams that International Project now sends out. They have five teams in New York City: the campus team, two teams reaching Arabs, a team reaching South Asian Muslims, and a team reaching South Asian Hindus. They have also expanded their ministry footprint past NYC. They have a team reaching the Hindu population in Dallas, TX, and they have two teams in Rome and Central Asia to minister to the immigrant and refugee populations entering Europe.

In addition to the missionary teams, International Project also runs two thrift stores and community center in Brooklyn, staffed with another 35 employees. Both of these locations offer practical resources to the community while serving a greater, spiritual purpose. They provide a no-cost public space for ministry to happen. They offer specially designed groups and programs for immigrants and refugees, as well as a wider number of services to the broader community such as food distribution and various communal groups like kitting and art groups. Physical space in New York City is costly, but this ministry platform has proven to be a worthy investment in the extension of International Project’s presence and impact in the city.

Serving as International Project President, Kevin works with all of these teams—setting organizational vision and goals and providing training and support to the workers. For a time during their ministry expansion, Kevin was running most of the internal operations of International Project, which pulled him away from the direct ministry. But now a 10-person operations team has taken up the majority of this work, allowing Kevin to lead the organization while continuing to do the work of ministry that he desires to spend his time on—missionary training, dinner table conversations, and walking side by side with those who need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Challenges to the Mission

International Project has had many causes for celebration in its three decades of operation—both in terms of organizational growth and its participation in the spread of the gospel throughout the world. They have also faced significant challenges. Attrition is one of these challenges. This challenge is not unique to International Project but one which all missions organizations face: Missionaries leave. The work is hard, expectations are not met, family dynamics change priorities, and the list goes on. What makes attrition for International Project especially difficult is their location. Choosing to minister in a city means choosing to live in a small apartment with a lot more noise, a lot more trash, and a lot more people—all at a lot higher of a cost.

“Reaching unreached people groups used to mean going to live in a jungle or a village,” said Kevin. “While these situations still exist, that paradigm of missions has quickly changed because the majority of people—including the unreached—now live in cities. The new sacrifice of missions is being willing to be stacked on top of each other.”

Politics have also proven to be a continuing challenge to International Project’s mission. The Kings believe that God, who sovereignly rules over all things, is “divinely orchestrating global migration.” But too often, the politics of immigration cloud the conversation of gospel ministry to the foreigner among us—occasionally resulting in angry emails from those who conflate International Project’s mission to minister to the foreigner with their endorsement of any particular border policy. International Project’s focus is not on lobbying immigration policies but effectively building relationships and sharing the gospel with those God has brought to their neighborhoods, no matter what policies are in place. As Kevin said, “This is an opportunity to reach the nations, regardless of politics. Our focus is not on one’s government status in the country but one’s spiritual status in the Kingdom of God.”

A Continuing Work

It is hard to tell the story of International Project apart from the Kings. In many ways, it is their story. It has been 32 years since their pond-side wedding on Cairn’s campus, and for 30 of those years, they have worked side-by-side in a ministry that they built from the ground up. It’s a story they get to share, a legacy that deserves to be celebrated. But at the same time, we recognize that this is, ultimately, God’s story. Lord willing, International Project will continue to reach unreached people groups around the world long after the Kings are gone. And even if International Project, the 503c, were to end before the Lord’s return, the International Project—the Great Commission of bringing the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth—would continue, because the Lord has said it to be so.

If you are interested in serving with International Project, visit .

*Identity hidden due to the sensitive nature of her ministry work.

What Does the FAFSA Do?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a governmental resource for college students seeking any form of student aid. These include grants, scholarships and forms of work study without repayment. This form is free to all students, making it easy to begin filling one out within a few clicks.
FAFSA is used by an average of 17 million students each year, all from different cultural and financial backgrounds. Upon completing the form, your information is shared with schools of your choice, allowing them to work with FAFSA’s information to create a potential offer of aid.

For the sake of preventing fraud and misuse of the form, the US Department of Education actively flags potentially dubious activity within FAFSA forms. This is a .gov website, meaning you don’t need to worry when submitting your personal information.

Most importantly, a completed FAFSA form is often required by many schools before you can receive school-granted scholarships. Schools use the information provided by FAFSA to determine an individual student’s financial eligibility.

What You Need to Have On Hand

You will need to submit several important personal documents, some of which you may need extra time to acquire. The official Student Financial Aid website provides this list of potentially necessary documents for the upcoming 2025-26 school year:

• Tax returns
• Records of child support received
• Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts
• Net worth of investments, businesses, and farms
• Your parent’s SSN (if you are a dependent student)

Whether or not some of these documents are needed for your form depends on various factors, so it helps to have them handy, either for the current form or for later years.

As shown in the list of resources above, dependent students will need to provide the personal information of their parents. Some of this can be completed by the parents themselves on their own accounts, so long as you provide them with access on your form.

Update Annually

Your family’s financial situation may change during your years of study. Because of this, your eligibility for aid is assessed annually, and you will need to fill out a new FAFSA each year. Without an updated FAFSA, you will not be able to receive any amount of financial aid.

While your first time filling out the FAFSA may be more time-consuming than you expect, the process will be streamlined for later years since you will be largely updating only information that has seen changes since the last submission. Even if you decide to transfer schools at a later point, you can simply change the school listed on your FAFSA and carry over existing information.

Be Proactive and Submit Early

While the FAFSA form is free to submit, there are crucial deadlines involved. There is a unique deadline for your school or schools of interest, your state of legal residency, and the federal government. While the federal deadline is typically later than the other two, it is beneficial to get on top of filling out the form as soon as possible.

And in case you’re waiting for there to be a catch, don’t worry! By submitting your FAFSA form, you are not committing to every loan, scholarship, or grant that you are potentially offered. You will be able to accept or refuse any of the grants, scholarships, or loans included in your letter.

Here we go . . .

Filling out the FAFSA is straightforward, but you will need to keep the following steps in mind:
1. Create a .
2. Gather all important documents (see list from before) and ensure they are up to date.
3. Determine your dependency status.
4. Fill out the FAFSA (and have your parent fill out their part, if applicable).

The FAFSA form for the 2026–27 year opens on October 1, 2025. Complete it with confidence at .

On Monday, September 29, 2025, Dr. Todd J. Williams, president and CEO of 91łÔąĎ, and Dr. Adam J. Porcella, senior vice president and provost, were invited to testify before the U.S. Religious Liberty Commission.

The hearing was held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. The hearing included a tribute to Charlie Kirk and then shifted to a focus on religious liberty in education, bringing in the perspectives of public school faculty and faith leaders.

Dr. Williams testified as a guest on the third panel, “Religious Liberty in Education: Protecting the Religious Identity and Autonomy of Faith-Based Schools,” highlighting the vital role faith-based institutions of higher education play in preserving religious freedom.

The Religious Liberty Commission was by President Trump under Executive Order 14291 and is tasked with producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, increasing awareness of and celebrating America’s peaceful religious pluralism, highlighting current threats to religious liberty, and developing strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations.

“It was a privilege to testify today to the president’s Religious Liberty Commission,” said Dr. Williams. “There are many good people doing good work to not only defend religious liberty but shape the conversation on the value of it for a free society.”

91łÔąĎ is proud of Dr. Williams’ and Dr. Porcella’s leadership and contributions to a national dialogue on religious liberty. A recording of the event will be made available at

will be held as a follow-up to the September 8 hearing with President Trump. The hearing will include two parts: A Tribute to Charlie Kirk as a Man of Faith, and An Exploration of Religious Liberty in Education: Public School Faculty Perspectives and Faith Leader Perspectives. Dr. Williams and Dr. Porcella are invited to speak during the latter part of this event, which has an objective to “understand the historic landscape of religious liberty in the educational setting, recognize present threats to religious liberty in education, and identify opportunities to secure religious liberty in this context for the future.” As guests on the third panel, “Religious Liberty in Education: Protecting the Religious Identity and Autonomy of Faith-Based Schools,” Dr. Williams and Dr. Porcella will highlight the vital role faith-based institutions of higher education play in preserving religious freedom.

The Religious Liberty Commission will gather again on Monday, September 29, 2025, at 9 am. Those interested in watching the proceedings can watch it live at .

About the Religious Liberty Commission
The Religious Liberty Commission was by President Trump under Executive Order 14291 and is tasked with producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, increasing awareness of and celebrating America’s peaceful religious pluralism, highlighting current threats to religious liberty, and developing strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations.

Dr. Stephen Dill, chair, EdD in Educational Leadership

Dr. Stephen Dill has joined the School of Education faculty as chair of the EdD in Educational Leadership. Dr. Dill brings to the position more than four decades of leadership experience in Christian education, including 25 years as head of school and assistant headmaster at Delaware County Christian School, followed by nearly a decade of executive leadership at the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). He most recently served as executive director of the ACSI Education Foundation, where he led strategic initiatives in research, innovation, and leadership development. 

Dr. Dill holds an EdD in Educational Leadership from Temple University, an MA in Educational Leadership from Villanova University, and a BA in Social Science from Wheaton College. He has conducted over 100 professional workshops on topics including school improvement, accreditation, governance, finance, development, and strategic planning. He also brings extensive higher education experience, having taught graduate-level courses in educational leadership, finance, and governance at institutions such as Eastern University, Columbia International University, Grace College and Seminary, and 91łÔąĎ.

Christian Finnigan, chair, Politics, Philosophy, and History

Christian joins the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences as an associate professor and chair of Politics, Philosophy, and History. He previously served as assistant professor of history and politics at Colorado Christian University. He has also taught at several other institutions (Davenant Hall, Patrick Henry College, Sacred Heart University, and Yale University) and served as an Emo F.J. Van Halsema fellow at the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin University, as a visiting assistant in research at Yale, and as a fellow at the Centennial Institute.

Christian also brings to the University experience in politics and ministry. His political work includes serving as director of ballot access and delegate selection for the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. Fred Thompson, as a White House Intern, and with the American Conservative Union. His work in ministry includes serving as a pastoral apprentice at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA; working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes; and as a ministerial candidate in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)­, preaching in churches throughout the United States, England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Christian holds a BA from Randolph-Macon College, an MA from University College London, an MLitt from the University of St Andrews, an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary, a ThM from Erskine Theological Seminary, and a JD from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He is currently completing a PhD at McGill University and, as part of his doctoral work, has undertaken additional studies at the University of Cambridge, Yale University, and the University of Virginia. He has presented papers at academic conferences internationally, including the Sixteenth Century Society, the Society for Reformation Studies, and the Southern Political Science Association. More recently, he published a chapter, “The Emergence of Liberty and History’s Theo-Political Problem,” in Generation to Generation: Writings in Honor of Douglas F. Kelly (Mentor, 2023).

Isaiah Cramer, part-time faculty

Isaiah Cramer is a part-time faculty member who will be teaching in the School of Divinity and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He received his BS in Bible and MDiv from 91łÔąĎ; MA in Hebraic Roots from Jerusalem University College; and is currently a PhD candidate at Columbia International University. His dissertation focuses on the exegetical impact of later canonical revelation on the book of Zephaniah. 

Janelle Curtis-Beaman, part-time faculty

Janelle Curtis-Beaman is a part-time faculty member teaching in the School of Business and Technology. Janelle holds a BA in Communication from Messiah University and an MA in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. Janelle began her career as a corporate trainer, working with businesses to improve their communication skills for the purpose of successful sales, management, and customer service. She uses this industry expertise, along with adjunct experience at Messiah University and Delaware Valley University, to serve businesses and non-profit organizations in the area. 

Amy Dunlap, part-time faculty

Amy Dunlap is a part-time faculty member in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. After receiving her BS in Bible and BS in Education (Secondary English Education) from Cairn in 2007, she began teaching at Esperanza Academy in North Philadelphia. She transitioned to teaching part-time at Cairn in 2014 after obtaining her MA in English from Westchester and a certification in teaching writing from the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project. Her passion is American literature and creative writing courses. In 2021, she transitioned to Cairn’s online programs and began teaching for Veritas Scholars Academy as well. This fall she rejoins the faculty in a part-time role in Cairn Online. 

John Stange, part-time faculty

John Stange is a part-time faculty member for the Digital Media & Communications program in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and for the School of Divinity. He holds a BS in Bible, BS in Education, and a MS in Christian Counseling from 91łÔąĎ.

John has served in pastoral ministry for over 30 years. He is the lead pastor of Core Creek Community Church in Langhorne, PA. He has a background in radio broadcasting and has always enjoyed creating various forms of media. He is the author of multiple books, including Dwell on These Things (Penguin Random House, 2021). John hosts two online platforms: BibleStudyHeadquarters.com and PlatformLaunchers.com. His podcasts in particular have been downloaded millions of times by listeners throughout the world.

After a forklift accident derailed his military ambitions, Williams eventually enrolled in what was then the Philadelphia College of Bible, now 91łÔąĎ. He continued to graduate school at Temple University but ultimately returned to his alma mater, serving first as a professor and then climbing the administrative ranks.

As president of the University, he now works to keep higher education mission-focused and cost-effective while expanding the university’s academic and post-graduate offerings.

Where were you born, and where did you grow up, Todd?

I was born in Trenton, NJ, and when I was three or four, we moved to Middletown, PA, near Three Mile Island, just south of Harrisburg and north of Elizabethtown. That’s where I grew up.

What did your mom and dad do?

My dad had been in the Navy right out of high school. He loved that and struggled to find his way afterward. He retired as a civilian Personnel Clerk for the Navy depot.

My mom did many different things to make ends meet and ended up as a Bookkeeper for a lumberyard on the West Shore in Lemoyne.

Where were you in the pecking order?

I’m the oldest. I have twin brothers who are two years younger than me.

What memories stay with you from growing up in Middletown?

It was a great place to grow up. We lived in a typical suburban development there, where the farms had given way to ranch houses. I used to hang out at the Star Barn, just north of our development. I’d fish in the pond and feed Mr. Hoffer’s horses.

We were outside all the time and had lots of friends running around the neighborhood, riding bikes, playing sports nonstop. I graduated from high school with people I went to kindergarten with.

Were you particularly good at any one sport?

I enjoyed all of them. I played baseball and soccer as a kid and then tried football in middle school and high school. I joined the Middletown High School soccer team when they started one, and for my last two years of high school, we were 0-18. They won the state championship years later, but we were the pioneers, and we lost a lot.

Is there one game that stands out in your mind?

Yeah, I took a pitch to the head, and I went down. It was at that moment that I realized not every blow is fatal. You can get hit and knocked down. You just get right back up and keep going. That’s a defining moment for me.

But when I started working with horses, all the other stuff fell away, including sports. I’d been going to a camp for two years where they had these three-day pack trips, and at 16, when I was old enough to work there, I did.

That first summer, I was general staff, but every time we got a break, I went to the barn and cleaned the horse stalls. The guy running the horse program eventually took me under his wing. I learned to train horses, teach horsemanship, and lead pack trips. It was a game-changer for me.

What drew you to horses? You connected with them in a way that most men never do.

As a kid, I watched old cowboy movies with my dad, who was from the Hopalong Cassidy generation. But there wasn’t a lot of stability in my life as a teenager. My parents loved and took care of us, but they didn’t always have a great marriage, and when I was in ninth grade, they separated.

Ultimately, as a result of their personal faith as Christians and other work, they got back together. But the separation broke the chain of things. I had to move out of the neighborhood I grew up in. I was struggling, and the camp came along just at the right time.

The first time I worked with a horse, I saw a lot of myself in there, in terms of the yielding of will and learning to trust and respond to authority. I learned more about myself when I learned about horses.

In my role now as a university president, there’s not a day that I don’t draw on that.

What about music? Was music a part of your life back then?

My dad was in the drum and bugle corps, and I wanted to be like him, so I played the trumpet in elementary school and sang. Even while traveling 40 miles every weekend to work at the camp, I managed to be involved in musicals, plays, and the chorus in high school.

What about college? Did you go to college right away?

I was a pretty good student, and I was in a college prep program in high school. My teachers had me reading Solzhenitsyn, Buckley, Kirk, and Burke very early on. One took me to see Tom Sowell and Walter Williams give a lecture in Philadelphia.

But no one in my family in any generation had gone to college, and I didn’t see how I’d pull it off. I thought I’d join the military, and they’d pay for me to go to law school, and then I’d get into politics. I was one of those Reagan teenagers.

But right after high school, I was run over by a forklift that busted up my left leg and shattered my ankle, and that was the end of my military dreams. That’s one of my biggest regrets, never getting to serve.

But I  was eventually running the horse program at Camp Hebron, and that’s how I met my wife. She showed up as a Nurse. I was sick a lot that summer.

After we were married, she said, “Let’s go to college. I’ll work. I’m a nurse. I can get us through.”

Where did you go?

I’m presiding at 91łÔąĎ, my alma mater. At the time, it was the Philadelphia College of Bible.

Why did you choose 91łÔąĎ?

I’d been on campus before, recruiting students to work for the camp. And I was reading a book by Cardinal John Henry Newman about higher education, and he believed that one of the things that had gone wrong was that a serious study of theology had been removed from the curriculum. I wanted that component in my undergraduate work. We didn’t have a lot of academic options then, so I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Bible.

When did you become religious?

In 1979, my dad, who was an alcoholic, drove his car off the road, trying to end his life, and didn’t. He ended up in a court-mandated rehab center, and a pastor who lived down the street from us went to visit him. My father became a Christian, and soon after that, the rest of the family followed.

I was 13 or so, and it was transformational for me. It was like encountering the horse. It reframed my whole understanding of myself and the world.

When I got to high school and started reading all these other books, I saw threads running together about moral authority and universal truths and principles that govern human experience and human nature. These political theorists and historians weren’t necessarily evangelical Christians, but they were talking about the same larger topics.

Looking back, who were the people who saw promise in you and opened up doors for you?

My dad and others did a lot to instill in me a sense of discipline and perseverance. There were a handful of teachers at Middletown High School who were incredible, and then there was Greg Pike, who mentored me at the camp.

When I got to college, a faculty member asked me about grad school and directed me to a group and organizational psychology program at Temple University. It was one of two programs in the country still working off the theoretical foundation laid by Kurt Lewin, a Jewish Prussian Psychologist who came to America in the ’30s.

Going to Temple was another of those epiphanal moments that sharpened my perspective on the world. I gained a psychological perspective on human dynamics, how people work together, and how systems work.

There were a couple of professors there, Sue Wheelan and Larry Kraft, who changed my life. They had polar opposite worldviews from mine, but they saw promise and let me do good work for them, and I learned a ton. Sue Wheelan took me on almost every consulting job that she went on. I became a good research methodologist and analyst.

How did you end up back at 91łÔąĎ?

I did my master’s in one summer and two semesters. When I finished, there were folks who wanted me to work at Temple as a research analyst, and folks who wanted me to come back to Cairn and teach social and behavioral sciences.

My wife reminded me that we started this because of the love of teaching I’d found at camp, so I took the position at Cairn in ’94 while I entered the doctoral program. Teaching is how I’m wired, and at a place like Cairn, you’re not just teaching the subject matter, you’re investing in students and getting involved in their lives.

It was such a great experience. But three or four years later, there was an opening for the senior vice president for undergrad and dean of undergraduate education.

The president at the time asked me about moving into administration. I said, “I feel like I’m really good in the classroom.” Another faculty member came to me and said, “If it’s not you, who’s it going to be? And can you work for them?” I went back to the president and said, “I’ll do it.”

Tell me about how you want 91łÔąĎ to be perceived by the outside world.

It would be great if people could understand that higher education students have lots of different interests and needs.

We serve evangelical young adults who come here to learn from people who share those commitments and teach from that perspective. Other Christian colleges want to serve a broader audience, and that’s not who we are, but at the same time, this isn’t a cloistered, separatist thing.

We believe in full engagement with the world and that all truth is worth pursuing. We just do it within the parameters and scaffolding of a Christian worldview.

Cairn is an academically sound, fully accredited regional university with a diverse array of academic programs and robust co-curriculars. Our fastest-growing programs throughout my presidency have been the business programs.

I think we’re showing that it’s possible to be a good neighbor and a good member of society without capitulating on our convictions.

What are you focused on? We’re halfway through the year, halfway through the third quarter.

We’re launching a new doctoral program and seeing growth in other programs. We started some pre-med programs a few years ago, and our first graduate is moving through his medical training.

We’re in the process of changing my job to allow me to explore speaking and writing and extend the reach of the university.

Higher education is a mess. Enrollments are down because there are fewer high school graduates in the populations most of us serve, and kids are questioning the value of a college education.

I’ve brought a mission-focused perspective to my presidency the entire time. People think college is like business: If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

But what happens is that schools overextend themselves with long-term debt. Then the demographics drop, and you have a problem. The Eisenhower administration pushed higher education to accommodate a population surge, but the baby boomers came and went, and many schools found themselves overextended.

I think colleges have to be true to their missions and not let that growth mentality cloud our judgment. You have to stay solvent to serve your population. I’m proud that we’re in a really good spot in terms of cash reserves. Long-term debt is less than 50 percent of net revenue. We live within our means.

What do you do with all your free time?

I love the outdoors. I started fly-fishing when I was a kid. I have a bird dog, and I do upland hunting. I took a sabbatical last year and got a couple of horses at my place in Upstate Pennsylvania, for the first time in 30 years. Three days in, one of the horses threw me twice. I got back on and rode him until he calmed down, but I’d broken four ribs, three of them in two places.

Just like the baseball to the side of your head?

Yeah, exactly. You get back up and get back on.

Your kids are out of the house, right?

I have a son in the Special Forces. My daughter is a Musician who’s working as an Administrator at a local business.

Are you a reader?

I read all the time, mostly histories and biographies. I have an Audible subscription because I spend so much time in the car. I just finished re-reading Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.

Do you have a favorite biography?

John Adams by David McCullough. Anything on Churchill is special to me.

I once saw David McCullough in Old City Philadelphia and ran down the street to catch him, just to tell him how remarkable a book that was.

Three last questions for you, Todd. What’s something big that you’ve changed your mind about over the last 20 years?

I can’t fix everything. I can’t control everything. For most of my life, I thought, “I’m smart enough, strong enough, and right enough that I can fix everything. I can fix my family, people. I can fix institutions.” That was a big thing for me to let go of.

It’s a crazy world. How do you stay hopeful and optimistic?

Being honest about history. People are talking now like this president is the worst person that ever set foot on the planet, and I’m thinking, “Did anybody read about Nero? He lit the streets of Rome with human bodies painted with red pitch.” Some real evil has visited us as human beings, and we keep plowing on. Keep things in perspective.

I also have an honest view of human nature, our propensity to do ill, and the capacity to do good. I believe in a good and gracious God, and that all that’s good in the world is by his good hand, and all that is not because of what’s gone wrong with humanity.

There’s a proverb in the Bible that says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead of you. Don’t look to the left or the right.”

You’re not distracted by what’s on either side, you’re not looking over your shoulder at the past, and you’re not trying to see the future you can’t control. You keep your eyes straight ahead of you and keep going.

Finally, Todd, what’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

My mentor in college told me, “Take your work seriously. Yourself, not so much.” I repeat it to everybody I can.

This article was orginally published under the title “Delaware County Leadership: Todd Williams, PhD, President and CEO, 91łÔąĎ” by Ken Knickerbocker on .

On Monday, August 25, the Fall 2025 semester began with Cairn students, faculty, and staff gathering together to celebrate the start of another academic year.

Continuing University tradition, the University faculty, donning their regalia, began the procession into the gymnasium. The freshman class then entered Convocation two by two, receiving a warm welcome of applause from the faculty, staff, and upperclassmen. This marks the beginning of an academic journey for over 160 new students who started their studies on campus this fall. The next time they take part in a procession into the gymnasium, it will be for their graduation.

After a time of song, Dr. Todd J. Williams, president, addressed the student body. He spoke on this year’s “One Scripture, One University” verse, a selection made by the Spiritual Life Committee ahead of the start of each academic year. This year’s verse is Deuteronomy 13:4 “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”

Dr. Williams told the students that this verse has made commands and that they perhaps can all be summarized by the final command to “hold fast”—a command included through Scripture “because we are prone to let go.” His charge to the students to, at the beginning of a new academic year, is to “pay attention to your walk and desire to follow after God.” The time spent at a Christian university should not be incidential but intentional, and one’s spiritual walk requires daily attention.

As the University closed in prayer and the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” students, faculty, and staff began the new year with renewed determination to walk after God, fear him, keep his commandments, obey his voice, and hold fast to him.

Welcome, class of 2029!

Ahead of the 2025–2026 academic year, the faculty members of 91łÔąĎ gathered to participate in the annual faculty workshop. This year, the focus of discussion was on assessment in the age of AI.

The decision to address this topic during the annual workshop follows the creation of the University Statement on AI, which was added to the 91łÔąĎ Student Handbook in 2024. With the University’s theological and pedagogical understanding of generative AI and its limits in view, the faculty directed its focus to how AI technology prompts changes in student assessment inside and outside the classroom.

The two-day workshop began with a devotional by Dr. Bryan Murawski, associate professor in the School of Divinity. This devotional was followed by two sessions, the first of which was theological considerations of new technologies hosted by Dr. Keith Plummer, dean of the School of Divinity. He presented data showing that the current generation is increasingly relying on generative AI for growing number of tasks, even as a form of companionship. 

The second session was led by Professor Charlotte Gleason, who is the chair of the humanities department in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She titled her presentation, “Thinking Differently: Practical Pedagogy in the Age of AI.” She presented better methods for student assessment, including multi-step project submissions, feedback loops from peers and the professor, and student self-reflection on the learning process—all of which deepen student learning in ways that are less tempting and more difficult to use AI for shortcuts. This presentation was followed by a seminar, which gave faculty the opportunity to workshop an assessment to deepen student learning and become more AI-resistant. 

On the second day of the workshop, Provost Adam Porcella discussed the difference between transactional and transformative learning in his presentation, titled “Discipleship in the Era of AI.” As a fitting conclusion to the workshop, the faculty joined the staff for the Fall 2025 Prayer Service—an intentional employee gathering of Scripture reading, prayer, and singing that has been held before the start of each semester since 2005. 

“As emerging AI technologies continue to reshape the world of education, we are intentional in how we engage them,” said Dr. Adam J. Porcella, senior vice president and provost. “We will leverage their benefits where appropriate, but never at the expense of the relational, formational, and distinctly human dimensions of teaching and learning. Our priority is to ensure that technology serves the mission of Christian higher education, not the other way around. 91łÔąĎ is committed to being a place where humans teach humans.”

Affordable Degree Guide provides tuition comparisons, financial aid insights, and curated degree rankings to help students find cost-effective, credible educational pathways. Cairn’s top ranking in the state of PA is a testament to our commitment to affordability. 

“Cairn has a mission to educate students to serve Christ in the church, society, and the world, and making that education affordable is one of our chief commitments as an institution,” said Tom Sherf, vice president of marketing and enrollment. “To know that we are a top-ranking school as well as leading the charge of affordable Christian online education in Pennsylvania is very encouraging. We will continue to pursue new ways to make our distinctly biblical education affordable without sacrificing the quality of our academics or compromising on our mission.”

To learn more about Cairn’s affordable and biblical online education, visit cairn.edu/online. You can also . 

One of the biggest fears and obstacles commuters face is building community. While campus events, athletic events, and clubs and organizations are advertised as opportunities for all, it’s can be hard to feel truly welcome—especially if you have to put yourself out there and show up without a personal invitation.

While finding community might be a little harder for commuters, it is readily available to you if you want it. These are our best tips for building relationships as a commuter.

Just Show Up!

This is the easiest but also the hardest part. If you’re only on campus for just enough time to attend class, it is much more difficult to connect with other students. Give people a chance to recognize you. Don’t overschedule yourself so that you always have to rush out the door after class. Do your homework in the library. Buy a coffee from The Highlands and drink it there (bonus points if you sit next to someone you recognize and start a conversation!).

You should also give yourself the chance to take advantage of the events colleges put on. For building friendships and community, these events are a college commuter essential. They are a space to make friends, find new interests, and just have a fun break in the midst of a long week of studying. At Cairn, we regularly put on events big and small. If you want to ease yourself into a quiet atmosphere, make a fancy soda at a paint n’ sip. If you are looking to blend in with a crowd at first, consider mingling at the hoedown. These events are open to all, and they are worth staying on campus for.

Get Connected on The Right Platforms

Engaging with campus life and community means plugging in. A great way to stay informed, see some faces, and get an idea of the campus culture is to follow the university on social media and other university-based platforms. These are not ends to community in themselves, but they provide regular reminders of what’s happening on campus and invite you to experience real, in-person community.

Join a Club

Student clubs and organizations give you the opportunity to spend time with other students who have similar interests. 91łÔąĎ has over 20 clubs and organizations to choose from, in addition to DIII athletics, intramural sports, and music ensembles.

Eat in the Cafeteria

Just in case you have any hesitation, know you are welcome in the cafeteria without a meal plan. Bring your packed lunch or pay the commuter rate for a one-time meal. Sharing a meal with your fellow students is 10x better than a sad car lunch!

Contribute Your Local Knowledge

This isn’t a college town—it’s your town. You know which grocery store offers the cheapest produce, which train will take you into the city, where to catch the best sunset view, and what coffee shop has the best place to study. Resident students will figure these things out eventually, but you can use this information as an invitation: Invite a friend to join you off-campus at one of your favorite spots.

Commit to Being a Part of Community

This is the hard truth: You have to work to be included. While a resident student can retreat to their dorm room and is bound to later connect with a roommate or other students at dinner in the cafeteria, no one is going to show up in your childhood bedroom and ask you if you want to go outside and throw a frisbee.

While it does take intentionality to build community outside of the classroom, it is effort that you will not regret putting out. Commuter or resident, college friendships are some of the best relationships you’ll have the chance to make in your lifetime. Don’t miss your opportunity!