Changing lives to change the world — a motto that has become second nature for Alabama Baptists when they think of the University of Mobile (UM), but it is one that Mark Foley continues to stress as he nears his 10th anniversary as UM president.
“The University of Mobile was built on faith, the faith of men and women who believed a Christian college could indeed change lives,” Foley told messengers attending the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Mobile Nov. 13.
The state’s youngest Baptist college at 46 years old, UM leaders want the school to produce confident and competent Christian men and women, he said. “We want them to know how to think and to know what they believe and why they believe it.
“We also want them to have the courage to live and work in the world while holding on to what they believe,” Foley said. “We want them to use their skills to change the world around them.”
According to the Book of Reports, “emphasis continues on developing the 880-acre campus to provide the facilities and programs to attract students and produce outstanding graduates.”
New residence halls have been built, and the residential capacity has been increased by 67 percent. Next the university plans to focus on a student center “that will serve as a central hub of campus activities,” according to the Book of Reports.
Later, as 200 people gathered in the fellowship hall of Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, for the annual Alumni & Friends Luncheon, Foley said the old, traditional ways of reaching and involving people won’t work with the younger generation known as “millennials.”
“The changing environment is defined by the millennials, a group of young men and women born between 1980 and 2000, who are the most numerous and influential sociological wave of persons since the baby boomers took the stage,” he said. Foley said the millennials are technologically sophisticated and savvy, stable and responsible, endorse conventional core values, confident and thrive in a secure environment.
“The opportunity exists right now to reach the emerging generation. They must be reached within their generational culture, their set of values and their methods of engagement,” he added.
“We’re going after these students, and we will do so by God’s Spirit as He leads us and empowers us,” Foley said, adding that UM is aiming to increase enrollment from 1,577 this year to 1,700 next fall.
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