From the Editor

Posted by admin on Feb 7, 2006 in From the Editor | 0 comments

Mars’ Hill is of this latter type, and the masthead at the bottom of this page contains both our vision statement and the mission by which we navigate. This vision is three fold: to inform and entertain, to raise awareness of issues, and to provide a forum for the purposeful, constructive discussion of these issues, “in accordance with the Responsibilities of Membership, Statement of Faith, and Core Values of the university.” I have received a number of questions about my last editorial, including requests for an explanation as to how it was “in line” with our mission statement. Newspapers that print strong opinions should be able to provide rationale for printing such opinions, and these questions provide a welcome opportunity for Mars’ Hill to reiterate its commitment to the our university’s core values. In the editorial, I mentioned the value of servant leadership, one of the core values to which Mars’
Hill is committed. The core value document available online describes such leadership as “building a team spirit through shared and open decision-making.”

The practice of servant leadership (or failure thereof) is tied to another core value, our calling to have a “transformational impact on culture.” Our document states that, “By appealing to what is good, fair, honest, merciful, worthy and just, we point our culture to the importance of upholding Biblical principles.” This core value applies to administrators, who are called to “ensure that management policies… reflect the values of uprightness, fairness, compassion, justice, and professionalism.” It also applies to students (and student newspapers) who are to “consider the impact of Christian faith on their own lives” and “their university student culture.”

Mars’ Hill has attempted to embody this value every time an article or opinion is printed that questions the way this university is run. The motivation has never been to malign or destroy, but to have a positive, transformational impact on our culture by appealing to what is good, fair, honest, merciful, worthy and just. We have sought to raise awareness of the changes that are necessary if TWU is to foster the biblical culture of compassion and consultation described in its core documents.

This semester has been a scary one for TWU. We’ve been in the Vancouver Sun twice. Numerous groups on and off campus have questioned the ability of our leaders to lead. And many are unsure of what will happen when the next president steps in to office.

But within all this uncertainty is the promise of hope and renewal, the anticipation of a new vision that will take TWU to new heights. We could be the world’s premier faith based institution, renowned for our solid academics and the transformational impact that this has on our culture, both within the academy and in all the various marketplaces of life. For our part here at Mars’ Hill, we want to enable students to have this impact too. Our bias, as a student owned and student operated newspaper, is to make sure the student voice is heard.

I will continue to push for student representation and student influence because, as the Editor-in-Chief of Mars’ Hill, I am mandated to do so. I will continue to strongly encourage our administration to practice the servant leadership that is required of them; knowing that I do so out of allegiance to the students, to the school, and to the biblical foundations upon which this school is built.