THE RECORD Online

Spring 2002

Rich Stephens Honored

Although he officially retired from Greenville College in 1993, President Emeritus
W. Richard Stephens remained so active in Christian liberal arts education that friends and colleagues recently recognized all of his contributions.

During the annual meeting of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities Feb. 3-5 in Washington, D.C., Stephens was presented a valuable Waterford crystal – and listened to the praise of his colleagues – for his work with the CCCU’s Presidents’ Fellows’ Institute, a training workshop for new Christian college and university presidents.

“I felt good because it was another way my college, Greenville College, was recognized,” he said.

Stephens, who became GC president in 1977 and helped found the CCCU 26 years ago, assumed the directorship of the PFI in 1996. As part of the institute, ten fledgling presidents gather every summer in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colo., for a week-long workshop where they “go over topics important to their roles as presidents,” said Stephens. Those roles include developing a mission, raising money, guiding a budget and working with faculty, students and the institution’s board, he said.

As PFI director, Stephens has also coordinated the assignment of veteran presidents as mentors to the new presidents.

At the annual meeting, it was announced Stephens was stepping down as PFI director. But he said he continues to be active with the CCCU, still serving on the Racial Harmony Council as well as a dean training program and a senior-level leadership development program. When requested, he provides assessments of other institutions’ boards, which is coordinated through the CCCU.

Most of Stephens’ activities, including his work with the PFI, fall under the auspices of the CCCU’s Executive Leadership Development Institute, which current GC Vice President for Academic Affairs help organize.

Stephens said his participation in the CCCU “has been a wonderful thing, to see it grow and mature.”

Last updated: March 19, 2002