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A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

6:00 P.M. EST April 20, 2011 | JACKSON, Tenn. (UMNS)

More than 150 Lambuth University students gather in prayer to support their school during an April 14 Board of Trustees meeting. Web-only photos courtesy of Lambuth University.

Nick Nelson’s dreams were coming true when he won a bishop’s scholarship last year from The United Methodist Church's Memphis Annual (regional) Conference for full tuition at Lambuth University.

The small, welcoming western Tennessee campus was near his home and family; he was forming close bonds with his professors and the 18-year-old was really learning how to live out his call to ministry in The United Methodist Church.

Then came some shocking news: Lambuth was closing its doors.

“It really tears me apart that I am either going to have to go back home to live or go somewhere five, six or nine hours away. From every perspective Lambuth was just the perfect place for me,” he said.

Nelson is one of more than 400 students who will be looking for another college after June 30, when the 168-year-old United Methodist-related university ceases operation.

In December 2010, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools denied reaccreditation of the university, and, in February, denied Lambuth’s appeal of its decision. Without approval by a federally recognized accrediting agency like the Southern Association, a college's students cannot receive federal financial aid.

Students cheer in support of Lambuth University during a morning “We Are Lambuth” rally and sit-in.

The school successfully sued to seek an injunction delaying the agency’s decision but the legal battles, coupled with years of financial hardship, led Lambuth’s board of trustees to decide April 14 that the struggling school could not continue.

“There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth when the students heard the news,” said the Rev. Steven Fonville, who has been chaplain at the university for the last four years. Students, staff and faculty had been praying for a miracle, he said.

Fonville said for the past two summers, faculty and staff have gone as long as six weeks to two-and-a-half months without pay trying to give the school an opportunity to find funding.

The final graduating class will receive their diplomas April 30. Seniors Amanda Hartmann and Maria Ghianni will be in that final commencement.

“It’s a hard decision to make peace with,” said Hartmann. Her mother graduated from Lambuth in 1978, and she was the one person Hartmann dreaded calling after the students heard the news.

“I knew she would be strong for me … we just grew a lot in our relationship with each other since we shared the Lambuth bond,” she said.

“It is a weird and slightly eerie feeling, and I am incredibly sad that this 168-year-old school is ending its history at the end of this semester,” said Ghianni. “June 30th will be a sad day. But I also feel honored to have been a part of the great tradition of LU, and I am proud to be a part of the last senior class.”

‘The place I needed to be’

Dakota Bone, 18, is grateful to have had at least a year at Lambuth.

Led by the Lambuth mascot, a costumed Malissa Ann Gallogly, students march in support of the university.

“From the time I came on campus I knew this was the place I needed to be,” he said. He is pursuing a degree in organ music, and his plans are to serve in a United Methodist church someday as the organist and choir director.

He will be touring Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn. – 150 miles away – hoping to find another campus that will feel like family.

Martin Methodist is also a United Methodist-related higher education institution and is one of the schools who has pledged to a “teach-out” agreement with Lambuth.

“These are specific agreements with other colleges or universities that provide avenues for students to transfer easily, to maximize the acceptance of their credits earned, keep them on track for their expected graduation date and keep their educational costs similar to what they are paying at Lambuth,” said Bill Seymour, president of Lambuth.

Ted Brown, president of Martin Methodist, said he had been in conversation with Seymour for several months.

“This whole process has been painful for me personally and for our management team. We all have a great respect for Lambuth – for its history, its connection to the church and for all the faculty and staff who have been so dedicated to Lambuth's success,” said Brown. “We want to be helpful given the circumstances – including the ‘teach-out agreement’ that is under consideration – but we certainly do this with genuine regret.”

Backup plan

Nelson’s backup plan is to go to the University of Memphis since it is close to home but he doesn’t like the idea of a big school. He is looking at other Christian schools, including Martin Methodist, but hates the idea of being so far from home.

The gate leading to the front lawn of Varnell-Jones Hall on the Lambuth campus shows the deep feelings of students for their university.

“Going to another small Christian school is out of the question, because if my scholarship won’t transfer I’m really up a creek, because other schools are so expensive. I don’t really have a lot of options.

“I am just really so sad,” Nelson said. “I really wonder how much the average United Methodist knows about this. To me (Lambuth) is clearly The United Methodist Church in Tennessee. It has a really great campus, a rich long history. Just the whole situation is so disheartening.”

Hartmann hopes the campus will always be used for education.

 “Being on campus was like being in the Kingdom of God every day because here people are encouraged to grow in their faith – not just to do that blindly but to ask questions to understand and really struggle with the big questions in life,” Hartmann said.

“Lambuth will continue to live on in all the people that have ever walked through its doors. But it is still very sad.” 

* Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.