His aides follow him everywhere, guarding his precious moments, even at his alma mater, where he’s scheduled an hour for videotaping and an interview.

When he arrives on campus on an August afternoon, the heat index has climbed to 112; he has already spoken to a chamber of commerce, attended a luncheon and has a full afternoon scheduled.

For his formal photograph, we select a wingback chair in the lobby of the Chapel, and when he sits down he laughingly discovers that the chair reclines.

He’s on his home turf, among friends, feeling comfortable and relaxed.

Halfway through the interview, his feet hit the floor, he rests his arms on his knees, leans forward and speaks with intensity – because now we’re talking about Tim Scott’s faith. 

The Faith Factor

“Politics is my mission field,” said Scott. “I don’t do it well all the time, but I am an ambassador for the Lord’s love all the time.” And Scott knows sometimes that love has to be tough. He is serious about the teaching about Christians and government authorities found in Romans 13.

“As a country, I want to correct where we’re wrong and emphasize where we’re right,” said Scott. “My goal is to be a public servant who seeks divine wisdom from the Lord.”

Scott, a Lowcountry native, was attending Presbyterian College on a small football scholarship when he gave his life to the Lord. “I decided that the Lord wanted me to do something with my life besides play football,” said Scott. He received a Christian Leadership Scholarship from Charleston Southern and Morris Street Baptist Church which allowed him to enroll at CSU.

Scott describes his time at Charleston Southern as a time where he was back at home, surrounded by people who loved him and were committed to the Lord. “One of the things that happened during my four years at CSU was the ability to learn how to think, how to process, how to plan, to uncover my potential,” he said. “The Lord’s Word, the Bible itself, is an opportunity to excavate, to dig into it and bring out the pearls and the jewels that are important for what He has called you to do. And you discover that on this campus in a way that is very meaningful, and I believe it was part of the foundation that serves me today,” he said.  

He credits his professors, especially Dr. Gerald Hasty of the political science department, with showing him that our country needs politicians with strong character. “At that point I can’t pretend I was thinking about going to Congress, but I was thinking about finding ways to serve the country. I always felt like the Lord had given me a promise that if I would do all that I could do with what I had that he would expand it and make it something valuable.”

Keeping it Real

Life in the public eye in Washington, D.C., can be brutal. The pull of power can be enticing. Scott meets with his prayer partner when he is in Charleston. “Having that prayer partner is critically important to staying true,” he said.

“I recently read a book by Tim Keller called Counterfeit Gods,” said Scott. “I believe all men have an idol. It is either the Supreme God, or we are making an idol of something which is less than the Supreme God.”

Scott credits spending time with people, scriptures and prayer with keep him grounded. “Coming home is good too,” he said. “The more time I spend with God, the less I am like myself – which is a good thing.

“It’s so important to have a relationship with Jesus that’s alive,” said Scott. “Your relationship can’t just be what you experienced last week, or last year. I always want to feel my best days of faith are still ahead, that my heart is aching for what makes God’s heart ache. Right now I am more in love with Jesus and desperate for His wisdom and presence than I’ve been in a long time.”

The Mentor

Scott credits the late John Moniz, who owned a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Northwoods Mall, with turning his life around and pointing a directionless high school student toward a life of purpose. These days, Scott serves as a mentor to several people.

He is passionate about helping others realize their potential and is a frequent speaker on the topic.

“We all have the power of influence,” said Scott. Three things shape what we do when we mentor others.

“You have to maximize the purpose – to realize the specific purpose you are called to fulfill,” said Scott. He cites Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” “This doesn’t necessarily mean material prosperity, but it is based on God’s plan for you,” said Scott. “Understanding His purpose allows you to fulfill His plan.”

Scott is a planner, and he wants others to plan as well. “I like to say I’m with the GOP – goals on paper,” Scott joked. “To maximize your experience here on earth, you have to plan.”

Scott stressed that mentors have to understand their potential. “You have to understand God’s purpose to understand your potential,” he said. He likes to use the example of a mother’s purpose. Her purpose isn’t to be a friend to her children, but to parent her children. Over time the relationship changes, but her initial purpose is to parent.

“As you mature, you understand God’s purpose for you more – it leads to more illumination,” he said. “Missing this notion of purpose lets us drift, and we don’t maximize our potential.”

Scott is realistic about the problems facing our government and leaders. “I see the problems of our nation and our survival,” said Scott. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, when my life is in His hands, I am safe as I can be.”

The freshman congressman from South Carolina is right where he wants to be.

Three days later the phone call came, asking if she was interested.

It’s a warm, sunny late spring afternoon, a lot like the day she interviewed for the job, and Hulsey is sitting behind her desk in the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing at Charleston Southern as eager and excited as the day she started, July 1, 2007.

There is a framed poster above her head with a pencil sketch of young girl and a childlike scrawl in the upper right-hand corner that reads: When I grow up I’m gonna be a nurse.

“It reminds me constantly that this is what I always wanted to do,” she explained. “It’s interesting the students who come in that have that same feeling in themselves. I can’t tell you how many people see that the minute they walk in and make a comment.”

Hulsey remembers first seeing the poster while she was in middle school and thinking “that’s me.” When her grandmother passed away more than a decade ago, Hulsey found a note she had written to her as a child that said when she grew up she wanted to be a nurse.

“I’ve known I wanted to be a nurse since I was about four years old,” said Hulsey.

This is Tara Hulsey’s passion, her calling, for as long as she can remember. She thanks her grandfather, a minister, for showing her the meaning of service. “Growing up with my grandparents and being with him a lot when he was ministering to other people, I just believed it was what I was meant to do, and I was called to do it.” She said. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

She attended Willington Academy High School, a modest, private school in Orangeburg. Born in Georgetown, Hulsey would move and eventually be one of two dozen in her high school graduating class.

After being accepted to Clemson University, Hulsey packed up her framed photo and moved on campus to begin work on her four-year degree in nursing. After graduating, Hulsey spent one year as a nurse at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, then moved south and was hired at MUSC where she worked and later earned her master’s degree from the College of Nursing.

After working with and around research at MUSC, Hulsey decided it was time to earn her doctorate. She enrolled at the University of South Carolina where she traveled to-and-from one day a week, every Wednesday for four semesters, attending classes from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Hulsey was with MUSC’s College of Nursing for nine years when Charleston Southern recruited her to succeed Dr. Marian Larisey as dean of the Derry Patterson Wingo School of Nursing.

“I was in a place where I couldn’t grow a lot,” Hulsey said. “It was not nearly as exciting as coming to a place where I can grow and feel like I can make a big difference in people’s lives that were coming into nursing.”

When the call did come, Hulsey knew it was God-inspired. She relished the idea of working in a Christian environment. “I really wanted to be able to live my life with Christ all the time, and not in segments, because in the secular academic world it’s very different,” she said.

She can’t resist a smile when the conversation shifts from personal to professional. This is Hulsey’s opportunity to brag about her team.

“It’s not a ‘me’ effort, it’s the team,” said Hulsey. “The team has done great work. I am really proud of them. The successes of the program, at least since I have been here, are not my successes, but the success of the faculty and the students.”

One of Hulsey’s first initiatives was a grant application to support a national initiative for quality and safety – only 15 colleges in the country would be selected. If the CSU School of Nursing was selected the initiative would bring national recognition for the program and allow the School of Nursing to serve as a consultant school for other schools across the United States.

“If I could bring that, what a great kick-off to show the potential of what we could be and what we have here,” said Hulsey.

The University won. The students won. The faculty won. Hulsey smiled and pushed forward.

She led the charge to grow the new undergraduate health promotion , transition the RN-BSN program to an online format, and add a master of science in nursing online graduate program. The program added new technology, the iStan simulator, to leverage CSU nursing students in education.

Record numbers of prenursing students enrolled this past year, and with the national nursing shortage, the opportunity has created more interest. This is attributed to the dedication of our faculty, our involvement in national and cutting-edge initiatives, the past support of donors and the overall high quality of our program.

This past winter, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to expand enrollments in the University’s nursing program. With School of Nursing completing the first phase of the planned expansion, Hulsey said, “The partners in the community are stepping up and saying, ‘we’ll give you the dedicated spaces, the clinical spaces that you need.’”

The success of the School of Nursing, and the college, has been built on the vision of integrating faith in learning, leading and serving, an initiative that Hulsey and the faculty have embraced, in the classroom and the community at large.

Hulsey said the faculty conducted a curriculum mapping of all the courses in the program. The team reviewed the course objectives and descriptions and responded with program objectives that reflect a Christian worldview.

“At first we thought, ‘OK, we’re doing that. We role model, we say a prayer before students take a test.’ But that’s really not what faith integration is,” said Hulsey. “Nursing is a service. It’s a service to God. We serve Him through the people that we serve. If we can reach more people that can help our profession from a Christian perspective, it’s what I think we should be doing.”

The past four years have been a steady stream of success for the School of Nursing, making the program one of the most competitive and successful in the country. With the only traditional, four-year bachelor of science in nursing program in the Lowcountry, CSU nursing students have compiled a four-year average pass rate of 97 percent on the national exam required to receive a license to practice (NCLEX-RN). The 2007-2011 pass rate of 97 percent is the highest 4-year average of all accredited BSN programs in South Carolina.

But the work is not done says Hulsey. “I feel like we have not accomplished all the initiatives that we as a faculty have set out to accomplish. We are still expanding. I see more opportunities for us that will be in response to healthcare reform, that I feel the school needs to be poised to do and be a part of, seeing that through has not happened yet. And, our impact on this university, we’re not done yet, and I want to make sure we get to that point.”

When she arrived in 2007, Hulsey had a clear vision for the School of Nursing program: To be nationally recognized as one of the top Christian nursing programs in the country.

“I’m already starting to see it,” she said.

Dr. Jacqueline Fish, chair of the criminal justice department and director of graduate studies in criminal justice, was part of a six-member certified training team in Advanced Forensics Investigations for Hazardous Events who traveled to Arlington to prepare law enforcement agencies for examination and collection of forensic evidence in a contaminated environment including biological, chemical and explosives.

“We have to treat this as a crime scene, whether it is or not, collect the evidence and get out safely,” she said.

Handling the evidence and getting it safely to a lab for analysis is part of the education process, but safety is also a key concern. Most agencies are unaware of the dangers.

“They don’t think about the inhalation of anthrax,” said Fish. “Take 9-11, everything those people were breathing in is now killing people, and CSIs just don’t have that awareness.”

The training is provided by the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT) at Louisiana State University and is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This was the first time the training was provided for a Super Bowl game.

Preparing for the course is no small feat. The training equipment was hauled from Louisiana to Texas in a 53-foot tractor trailer, including state-of-the-art technology.

“We hope they never use these skills,” said Fish.

Fish was part of the original development team that organized the training.

She also co-authored a new book titled Practical Crime Scene Investigations for Hot Zones. The book is published by CRC Press.

The fast-track model enrolled the first cohort in January 2011.

Charleston Southern offers the MEd in administration and supervision degree at both the elementary and secondary levels. Successful completion of all program requirements leads to South Carolina certification as a principal and supervisor.

The new fast-track master of education in educational administration:

• Is an accelerated program with innovative scheduling of courses to meet the needs of classroom teachers and coaches
• Leads to certificate advancement to bachelor’s degree plus 18 hours after Summer II in the first year of the program
• Is a 16-month course of study completed through online, weekend and face-to-face instruction
• Is a cohort model that supports collaborative learning
• Is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

For more information, contact Dr. Trudy Morris, director of graduate studies, at gmorris@csuniv.edu or 843-863-7914.

Brain Framing is a book of ideas for thinking about thinking in the classroom. The book helps teachers engage brains in three ways: framing student learning into more personalized experiences that utilize new research on the brain, the body and the spirit; creating brain-friendly classroom environments that link sensory and cognitive experiences in ways that reduce stress for the teacher and the student, and organizing content into meaningful pieces that fit into the unique frames of students’ brains.

Brain Framing is available online at www.LorenzEducationalPress.com.

University officials report that with an increase in resident students, as many as 50 upperclassmen are housed at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel, located on the campus.

To complement the freshmen class’s summer reading assignment of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, the campus ministries department sponsored a three-day Love Awakening Festival. Featuring speakers and worship music, the festival culminated with the Go Center, where 12 service organizations were on hand to share mission opportunities for students.

The campus has a fresh, new look too. The University has completed the first phase of a $15 million project to renovate the residence halls. Legacy Lane, a new brick paving project that enhances the Reflection Pond at the center of campus, was completed over the summer.

Kassandra’s self-assurance is fueled by 19 years of overcoming multiple health issues along with the strength and support of a strong, loving family.

“We were all so excited about having a baby sister,” recalls Barbara, who is 14 years older than Kassandra and admits she is more like a second mother than a sister. “I worked at a flea market, and when I finished working I would spend all my money on baby gifts for my unborn sister.”

But the months of anticipation turned tragic when Kassandra was born with a congenital heart defect requiring surgery. The doctors offered little hope for her survival and told her mother that if she did survive, she would not be “a normal child.” “My mother did not accept that,” Kassandra said. “She knew God had other plans for me. I am where I am today because of her and her faith in God.”

Barbara recalls the first time she saw Kassandra after the operation. “One memory I will always have is seeing my baby sister after her surgery – this little, itty, bitty body just covered up with cables and monitors and machines. It was difficult to even see her; it was very traumatic.”

During the weeks that followed, Mrs. Gonzalez never left the hospital. She slept in the waiting room or the lobby, wherever she could find a place.  

Nineteen years have passed since that time. During those years Mrs. Gonzalez advocated, almost on a daily basis, for her youngest daughter, fighting for surgeries and the things she needed.

“Everyone has to learn to cope with who they are at some point in time. That time for me was a long time ago,” Kassandra says as she recalls her eye surgery and 14 years of occupational, speech and physical therapy. She revisits the emotional scars from her parents’ divorce and her peers’ painful taunts about her physical disabilities.  

She struggled academically due to her school absences caused by health issues. Then the summer before her senior year they moved to Mt. Pleasant, S.C. She managed to stay focused on the future by applying to several colleges but became discouraged when they suggested she attend community college first.

When she received her acceptance to Charleston Southern, with the stipulation of participating in the Bridge Program, she was ecstatic. “I didn’t choose Charleston Southern; Charleston Southern chose me,” she said. “When we went to visit the school, it was such a beautiful place. It just felt like that was where I was meant to be.”

There are still obstacles, some known, others unknown. When asked what her biggest obstacle will be at CSU, she answers without hesitation, “Math!” Besides her academic concerns, Kassandra also faces ear surgery and years down the road she will also need to have major leg surgery. And then there are the very real financial concerns. But her enthusiasm will not be doused.

“College is a journey, and I want to be in full gear and do my best,” she said, because God gave me the opportunity to be saved for a greater purpose.”

“I went on a mission trip to Ghana, and it changed my life,” confessed Hobson. “Seeing the poverty there woke me up to the poverty in the United States and what children are dealing with. That inspired me and drove me for the next couple of years at CSU.”

The college education and life experience Hobson enjoyed in and out of the classroom at Charleston Southern shaped her life. In class, instructors tested her knowledge; a world away, serving in Ghana, the Lord tested her faith and developed her passion for childhood education.

After graduating with a degree in childhood education in 2008, Hobson spent two years teaching elementary school in Knightsville and Summerville. The experience was another eye-opening lesson on poverty.

“I had students who lived in poverty, and I had students who were wealthy,” she remembers. “To see the difference in what they came to school knowing, as well as their childhood and what they were experiencing, it really impressed upon my heart. I wanted to be part of giving children a better childhood, especially when it was beyond their control.”

During her first year of teaching, Hobson began researching graduate schools. The top three were the Teachers College (at Columbia University) in New York, Stanford and Harvard, the latter offering a graduate education program in risk and prevention, a “perfect” next step.

She idled until Christmas 2008. The holiday vacation created time and space for her to again think about her future. “The day before I went back to school (as a teacher), I saw that the application was due the next day,” she said.

After drafting a list of all the programs she liked, Hobson said, “I went back to the risk and prevention program and thought, ‘I want this one.’” She telephoned Harvard and asked the program director for an extension, hoping to get approval for late admission. The college agreed.

Hobson’s application included a letter of purpose. She used the opportunity to share the experiences that charted a new course for her career and life.

“While attending Charleston Southern University I had the opportunity to participate in two teaching mission trips to Ghana, West Africa,” she wrote. “My heart ached as I saw the conditions around me. … My 25 day stay in a third world country was moving beyond expectations, and I knew I had been changed forever. This trip was overwhelming because it made me aware of the suffering and need that exists throughout the world. … My time at CSU not only led to a degree but also taught me the importance and joy of serving others.”

With the application process complete Hobson said, “I began praying about it,” as she waited for a reply … and waited … and waited for what seemed a lifetime.

“I was checking (online) during my breaks at school,” Hobson remembers. “It was on a Friday; I had already checked that day. It was midnight. I was about to go to bed. So I checked one more time and there was a letter. All I read was congratulations. I was shocked.”

Hobson said she began to cry. With tears of joy rolling down her cheeks she called home, forgetting it was midnight. “I started calling everybody and woke them up,” she said. “I called my roommate right away. I called my mom and dad and woke them up.”

Last August Hobson and her father packed up a U-Haul and headed for Massachusetts. Destination: Harvard. It was Amanda’s first real experience living away from home.

In the fall she experienced Fenway Park (Yankees vs. Red Sox). A couple months later, snow. Not your typical brush with snow that sprinkles the South once every four or five years, “snow that sticks to the ground,” she described. But before she knew it, spring was melting the snow and she was accepting her master’s degree from Harvard University.

Just weeks after completing the program at Harvard, Hobson was back on the move. This time, New York City, to begin work at the Harlem Children’s Zone.

HCZ is an inner-city education project designed to help children in a “sustained way,” through high school, college and into the job market. The New York Times described the $48 million government program as, “one of the most ambitious social service experiments of our time.”

In two years Hobson has gone from Summerville, South Carolina, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fort Dorchester to Fenway and now, Harvard to Harlem.

The new music and worship leadership major starting this fall will prepare worship leaders for current trends in worship and equip them with the tools to handle future change. “We want to prepare our graduates to facilitate an environment for worship. We also want to make their jobs easier by providing knowledge of the wide range of tools and techniques available for their use,” said Dr. Jim Colman, vice president for academic affairs.

The degree includes three core areas of emphasis: music, worship and Christian studies. The modern worship leader needs a solid musical foundation to lead worship teams, direct choirs and to create new music for worship. Vocal instruction will focus on establishing healthy technique while singing in a modern style. In addition, students choose either keyboard or guitar study to complement their voice training.

In the worship studies core, students will explore the rich heritage of music in worship and develop strategies for meeting the worship needs of multigenerational churches. Classes in worship technology, commercial music theory and arranging are included. An internship with a local church and a senior worship project will confirm the student’s calling and preparation.

The Christian studies core includes classes in Old and New Testament, theology, Christian leadership and evangelism. Growing churches require ministry team members to be thoroughly trained in sound Christian doctrine. This biblical foundation is designed to support worship planning, team ministry and church mission.

Allen S. Hendricks, Horton Endowed Chair of Church Music, leads the music and worship leadership program. “It’s exciting to see students exploring the rich biblical and historical foundations of worship while developing relevant and transformational worship experiences,” said Hendricks, who has more than 25 years of local church music and worship ministry experience. “I am personally driven to be a catalyst for students seeking God’s direction for their future and the future of music and worship in the church.”

For more information, visit: Charlestonsouthern.edu/worshipleadership.

The master of education in elementary education is not a new program at CSU—it is just being offered in a different way. The 13-month course of study is completed through online, weekend and face-to-face instruction using a cohort model that supports collaborative learning.

“ Elementary teachers are typically young with lots of activities going on in and outside of the classroom,” said Dr. Trudy Morris, director of graduate studies in education. “This accelerated program will help teachers advance to a bachelor’s degree plus 18 hours after Summer II in the first year of the program and a master’s degree by Summer II of the second year.” she said. “This leads to an advance in salary and helps young educators develop a professional identity.”

The fast-track master’s program also offers content courses that build competency in language arts and mathematics and focuses on National Board of Professional Teaching Standards to prepare candidates for National Board certification. The School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

For more information, go to charlestonsouthern.edu/academics/graduate.