Like tow of his predecessors, Marston and Richardson, W. Richard Stephens is an alumnus of Greenville College. In his student days, he was a standout in both academics and athletics. His record in the 220-yard dash still stands. After graduation in 1953, he returned to Greenville in 1957 as baseball and junior-varsity basketball. He also served as an associate professor in education.

Four years later, he moved on to further his education, eventually to teach at Indiana State University and Indiana University, where he directed doctoral studies in history and philosophy of education. He returned to Greenville in 1971, having been appointed vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. Six years later, following the resignation of Orley Herron, Stephens was chosen as interim president.

On November 11, 1977, the Board of Trustees dropped the "interim" title and made it official: W. Richard Stephens would become the eighth president of Greenville College. He would wait nearly a year, however, for the inauguration ceremony, which took place on October 21, 1978.

The inauguration attracted dignitaries from more that eighty institutions, as well as four previous presidents, Leslie Marston, H.J. Long, Glenn Richardson, and Orley Herron. Speakers praised Stephens for his qualifications and leadership skills. "We value your competence and your statesman-like approach to the task," said Lawrence Schoenhals of the Association of Free Methodist Educational Institutions. Referring to the presence of four past presidents, Orley Herron told his successor, "I should be an encouragement to you that the four of us have survived and lived to tell about it."

In his inaugural address, Stephens quoted from Psalm 46: "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." Comparing that river to the college, he said, "In its search for truth, and its quest to help its students apply the truths to the deep personal and social needs of our present age, this river called Greenville College will be linked with pride to its roots and the resident home of the spirit of truth himself."

Tough Times for the Small College
The Reagan years proved a formidable challenge to President Stephens's leadership. The early '80s were hard times for small colleges in general, with a combination of declining enrollment, rising cost of education, and cutbacks in both federal and state financial aid.

Children born between 1965 and 1980 have been called the "baby busters," as opposed to the baby boomers before them. The nation's birthrate declined during that period, which meant that the number of college-age Americans would inevitably begin to drop in the 1980s. Enrollment at Greenville reflected this trend.

In 1980-81, 859 students attended Greenville; in 1982-83 the figure had fallen to 756. Two factors were at work: fewer students and less money. In 1980-81, 325 GC students received Illinois State Scholarship Commission grants; two years later, only 216 obtained these grants. The fall semester of 1982 saw 140 fully admitted students fail to enroll.

Responding to these tough times, the board of trustees vowed to "conserve the basic strengths, mission, and people" while reducing personnel costs by $150,000. But there were still reasons to be encouraged. The college's operating budget was in the black, the endowment was increasing, and more than two thousand new donors had been gained in the previous five years.

In the early 1980s, President Stephens testified on four different occasions before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education. He urged Congress not to eliminate or reduce such programs as National Direct Student Loans, Guaranteed Student Loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and others. Drastic cuts were made, however, and Greenville College felt the impact.

The financial picture brightened a bit in 1985 when the Higher Education Act of 1980 was due for renewal. The updated version restored some forms of aid that had been eliminated in 1980.

The 1987-88 school year saw an 18 percent increase in new student enrollment at Greenville, while total enrollment jumped 12 percent. Tom Morgan, dean of admissions, cited three reasons: 1) more financial aid, 2) the new Contemporary Christian Music major, which began that year, and 3) the intercollegiate football program, which also originated in 1987. Compared to the lean, mean Reagan years, the future looked encouraging. The 1990-91 enrollment figure was the third largest in school history, with 852 full-time and part-time students.

Academic Excellence
Every ten years, Greenville College undergoes an academic test. It must reapply for accreditation with the North Central Association of College and Secondary Schools. As noted in Chapter 2, GC had first been fully accredited in 1947, thanks in large measure to the efforts of Dean Alvin Quall and President H.J. Long. Since then, full accreditation has been granted in each decade. But it is by no means a foregone conclusion. Schools must continue to work hard to maintain their standards of excellence to ensure that accreditation is renewed.

As academic dean and later as president, Stephens labored to improve the quality of education at Greenville. Some programs that were initiated under his leadership were the Individually Tailored Education Plan (ITEP), Cooperative Education, the GC-Kaskaskia College "K-Plan," and the GED for adults who have not completed high school, to name a few. New majors were developed: Contemporary Christian Music, Pastoral Ministries, Youth Ministries, Computer Science, and a nursing program (in cooperation with the Mennonite College of Nursing in Bloomington, Illinois).

With its limited resources, Greenville has long maintained a reputation for academic excellence. AS early as 1955, GC was beginning to attract national attention for the quality of its faculty, curriculum, and environment for learning. A 1955 survey by Mademoiselle magazine recognized GC as one of "137 top small schools." Greenville was picked for "providing excellent surroundings for study with a wholesome ideological environment." Another survey in 1963 rated Greenville's library facilities among the top 5 percent in the nation, in relation to the size of the school.

That tradition of academic excellence has continued under Stephen's leadership. In 1973, a national articulation study rated Greenville fourth. Articulation indicates how well the courses are interrelated to preparing students to mover from simple to more complex material. Another study in 1987 found Greenville to be in the top 7 percent of schools nationwide in the quality of its academic workplace.

In 1989 Greenville was granted the Merck Innovation Award in Undergraduate Science Education. GC was one of the ten winners chosen from 1982 private college and university applications for the award.

President Stephens once stated that the mission of Greenville College is summed up in Colossians 1:28: "Him we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone in all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ."