“A Roadmap for Life at a Pre-professional College”

Presidential Convocation Address

August 14, 2026

Our words matter.  The phrases of our vocabulary and the terms we use to communicate an idea, a concept, an experience, a place, a person or a group of people – the specific words we use – have significance. Our words translate the thoughts and concepts in our head to either an oral or written communication that enables us to connect with others.  Our words also shape how others perceive and understand what we describe.

There are words in our English language that I am exceedingly fond of using.  Grouped together, you know them as adjectives.  Adjectives make a difference in communicating because they provide the color to help us paint the picture describing a place, an idea, an experience, or a person.

For example, we could say that Flowers Hall is an old building.  While, yes, old is an adequate adjective to describe this building, it doesn’t fully capture the majesty of this space.  A better way to describe Flowers Hall would be to say that it is a historic landmark and an iconic cathedral of higher education, with vibrant stained-glass windows illuminating brilliant rays of light into this ornate Chapel, and this 117-year old edifice is structurally equipped with a slightly-tilted steeple soaring high above Old Cloverdale, serving as a symbol of aspiration, tradition, faith and learning.  Sounds better than an ‘old building’, right?

The words and phrases we use can have a different meaning or land differently depending on your audience’s age or stage in life or cultural context.    If I said the phrase “no cap”, some of the older generation in the room might have interpreted that to mean someone not wearing a hat or a bottle without a lid on it.  Students, I suspect you heard something different since “no cap” is your generation’s slang for “I’m not lying. I’m being serious.”  Our words not only matter but the context in which we use them matters, too.

Over the last two years, in my time as President of Huntingdon, I have often used a hyphenated compound adjective to describe Huntingdon. You’ve probably heard me say that Huntingdon is one of the South’s premier pre-professional colleges.  Pre-professional – it’s one of my favorite adjectives to define the Huntingdon experience.

I’ve come to realize, though, that depending on your age or the role you play at the college that this word could have some different meanings or connotations to you.

So today I want to tell you what I mean when I call Huntingdon a pre-professional college—and I hope it invites all of us to think more deeply about how we can fully live into that description.

To me, a pre-professional college is a place where knowledge and theory meet practical application in the classroom. It’s a space where students engage in responsibilities beyond the classroom on teams, in organizations, in leadership groups, in internships, and in service opportunities designed to equip them with skills needed to assume responsibilities beyond Huntingdon in workplaces and communities that require trust, attention to detail, and collaboration with others.

It’s a place where a student can grow in their ability to connect with people who are different from them and prepare to go forth to lead a life of character, integrity, personal excellence, and yes, success.

Perhaps in describing a pre-professional college, it is also important to note what it is not.  A pre-professional college is not simply a job training program designed to help you do one single job.  A Huntingdon degree will prepare you for a wide range of professional paths.

A pre-professional college experience also does not limit you to a life in one career field.  Many of you may have chosen Huntingdon because of our reputation and long-standing track record of preparing students to go into health and science professions, careers in law or law enforcement, education, ministry, business, and accounting.

But in a professional life that will likely span 50 years or more for you, many of you will pivot into new careers in your life – perhaps more than once.

And even if you remain in the same field, that field will not remain the same. Every profession changes. Industries evolve. Standards shift.  Rules and regulations are revised. New technologies emerge. Better and more efficient ways of doing the work will be discovered. Part of what a pre-professional college does is prepare you not simply to learn once, but to keep learning for the rest of your life.

A professional does not finish learning when they earn a degree. The mark of a true professional is that they developed the discipline, curiosity, and adaptability to keep learning as their field changes around them. A pre-professional college experience enables you to transition into other opportunities to answer new callings or to maintain relevance in your field because you’ve built a diversified portfolio of skills, networks, habits and an adaptive mindset.

A pre-professional college is also not a retreat from the liberal arts.  In fact, a pre-professional degree embraces the liberal arts values of critical thinking, advancing your oral and written communication talents, and opening your mind to consider new topics of interest and fields of study.

And while we’re defining terms, let me be sure that we are all on the same page with what the term liberal arts means.  It does not mean liberal, as in politically liberal.  A former college president in Alabama recently said he was once asked if his school offers any conservative arts programs. Let me be clear that there is a place at Huntingdon for conservative-minded and liberal-leaning political viewpoints. The essence of the liberal arts is broad-based learning to give you a competitive advantage making it easier for you to transport your skills and your wisdom from one profession to another in a global economy that’s constantly changing.

And all of that still ties in beautifully with the words etched in stone on the front of this old building – enter to grow in wisdom, go forth to apply wisdom in service.

Now that I have attempted to define a pre-professional college, how should students live into that experience?  I’d like to offer you a roadmap today of how you can maximize your time at one of the South’s premier pre-professional colleges.  Here are ten suggestions.

First, recognize that every class is preparing you for life as a professional. Yes, every class, especially the ones at 8 a.m., and even the one you may be tempted to dismiss because they seem unrelated to your future plans.

Some of you may be wondering how a religion class is supposed to help you make a lot of money. That’s a fair question. An answer is that not everything valuable in life is measured by a paycheck. A religion class may not teach you how to read financial statements or understand profit and loss margins, but it may teach you how to ask better questions.  It may shape the moral and intellectual values of your future business or corporation and help you make sound and ethical decisions in the business world. And when you do acquire a lot of money one day, and I hope all of you do, maybe a religion course will have helped you know how you can use some of your wealth to advance the common good.  You can find these professional development takeaways in every class at Huntingdon.

Second, if you are on a team or in a large cohort of students, treat that involvement like a job. Your head coach or your band director is your boss. Your assistant coaches are your assistant managers. Senior players on your team are the veteran employees. Learn your role. Do your job. Show respect for the shared structure of the team. Teams teach lessons that employers value: discipline, accountability, preparation, and how to contribute to something larger and more important than yourself.

Third, treat your involvement in organizations as leadership training. Whether you are in a fraternity, a sorority, Student Government, a service club, or another student organization, you are learning how to lead meetings, build consensus, solve problems, manage conflict, and serve a community. One day, many of you will be asked to lead in churches, civic organizations, nonprofits, school boards, and community groups. Those skills do not appear overnight, and Huntingdon is a perfect training ground for you to practice them now.

Fourth, pursue internships and hands-on experiences. There are some things you can only learn by doing them. Internships, externships, shadowing experiences, and research opportunities help you discover how knowledge works in the real and demanding world. They teach you what it means to deal with real people, real deadlines, and real consequences. And sometimes they help you discover what you do not want to do, which can be just as valuable.

Fifth, be a good neighbor. Because 87 percent of our students live on campus, Huntingdon is not just the place where you take classes. For most of you, it is your neighborhood. Learn how to live well with other people. Learn patience, respect, and consideration.  Learn that other people also need sleep during exam week. Neighborliness is not a small thing.

Our residential living environment is a perfect incubator for practicing good citizenship, building community for yourself, and advancing your professional life.  I don’t know if a student at Huntingdon has ever lost an opportunity for a leadership role on campus because they couldn’t recite the quadratic formula on demand, but there are students who have missed leadership roles because of a lack of basic good citizenship and an inability to be a good neighbor.

Sixth, find mentors and form connections. Build your network before you need it. Get to know professors, your coaches, staff members, the Jackson Homies, your work study supervisors, alumni, and peers. Meet people and be intentional in staying in touch with them.  Express gratitude when doors are open for you.

Relationships matter, and we all need to surround ourselves with people who are wiser than we are, as well as those who can provide fresh and unique perspectives to us.

Seventh, ask for feedback. One of the most professional questions you can ask is, “How can I do this better?” Ask your professors, your coaches, your supervisors, and your mentors where you need to improve. Employers increasingly tell me that one of the qualities they are seeking in new hires is people who are coachable.  Are you a person who understands that you don’t know it all but you demonstrate a willing spirit to put in the steady and humble work to learn?

Eighth, develop your communication skills—oral and written—and find your own voice. Learn how to speak clearly, write effectively, listen carefully, and present yourself well. Learn how to send an email that sounds like a responsible adult wrote it. And let me add this: do not become an AI robot. AI is useful.  You need to know how to use it, when to use it and how to cite it.  But in a world where everyone could sound like an AI robot, be your authentic self.  Let your personality shine through in your communications as you express your voice that is uniquely you.

Ninth, live a life in which your character matters to you. Treat people with dignity and respect.  Conduct yourself with honesty and integrity.  Operate as if your word is your bond and your handshake is a contract.  Be known as someone who is honorable and trustworthy.

And tenth, show up. Meet deadlines. Be reliable. Be responsible. These habits sound elementary, but they are the foundation of professional credibility and courtesy. Show up when you say you will. Do the work you said you would do. Follow through. Reliability and faithfulness are two of the clearest forms of respect you can offer another person, and some of the strongest qualities you can develop while you are here.

As you can see, your pre-professional education happens at Huntingdon in the classroom, on the fields and courts of the college, in student housing, in student organization meetings, in your internships, in your conversations with mentors and advisors, in your moments of correction, and in the habits of responsibility you build and demonstrate every day.

I regularly talk to Huntingdon alumni from across the generations who point to these elements of their pre-professional Huntingdon experience, and they can directly connect their life’s journey back to them.  I hear stories of professors who inspired interest in new topics and who pushed their students to draw out the very best of them in the classroom. A young, very successful alum of the college recently told me he credits the accountability of the baseball program at Huntingdon for helping him get to where he is today.  A recent graduate who is an elementary school teacher told me that her leadership of a Huntingdon sorority prepared her to be a more collegial member of her school’s faculty.  I know countless stories of internships that have led to jobs and future professional opportunities for recent graduates.

And ask any alum of the college about their Huntingdon experience and prepare to hear a story about how a member of this faculty or staff mentored them and made a difference in their life. How Cathy Wolfe encouraged them, Charlie Goodyear motivated them, or Rhett Butler helped them discern a call to ministry.  I hear how Dr. Maureen Murphy wrote a letter of recommendation for them, how a class with Dr. Jason Borders helped them grow in their faith, or how Dr. Erin Chandler helped them with their personal statement for a graduate school application.   All of these stories start with the intentional decision of Huntingdon students to fully participate in this pre-professional experience.

To close, let me offer you one last suggestion.  Build your arsenal of adjectives. Be prepared to be more vivid in your descriptions of life’s experiences.

If Huntingdon has done its work well and you have immersed yourself into this pre-professional experience, you will leave Huntingdon ready to live a life that is not merely successful, but purposeful, principled, disciplined, joyful, magnanimous, generous, discerning, resilient, gracious and hospitable, honorable, faithful, compassionate, intellectually serious, professionally accomplished, deeply consequential, and worthy of the trust and responsibility that awaits you beyond Huntingdon.

I’m so thankful all of you are part of my Huntingdon family, and part of one of the South’s premier pre-professional colleges.

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