BU Give Back Gala 2020

WELCOME Friends of Bethel, welcome to the 2020 Give Back Gala! My thanks to you and J.C.Watts for experimenting on a virtual and physical format for the Gala! He surely is wired for adaptability, as a prominent leader of Congress, in business, launching a news channel, headlining major college athletics and large-scale ministry. We gather to “Give Back.” But what did you “get” from Bethel? First, our economic impact is $73M annually, supports 700 jobs and with other private schools across Indiana, we spend $2.8B on goods and services. Alumni in Indiana alone pay $100M each year in state taxes, which fund VFKRROV ƃUVW UHVSRQGHUV DQG VDIHW\ QHWV IRU WKRVH LQ QHHG ,I %HWKHO ZHUHQŠW KHUH RXU economic fabric would fray. We GIVE BACK for that! Second, Bethel alumni serve. Studies show that Christian school students volunteer more, take more coursework about community and donate more income than students at public universities. This public service extends even further when their ODERUV DUH H[SUHVVHG WKURXJK $PHULFDŠV FKXUFK DQG SDUD FKXUFK RUJDQL]DWLRQV ZKLFK provide $1.2B in free services each year to their neighborhoods —from marriage FRXQVHOLQJ WR GUXJ UHKDE RU FOHDQ XS SURMHFWV ,I %HWKHO ZHUHQŠW KHUH $PHULFDŠV safety net structures would collapse. We GIVE BACK for that! Third, America cannot achieve her potential on laws alone. Her moral center is enlarged by Bethel graduates, equipped for a supernatural mission. Polls show we have the highest road rage, workplace incivility, and race tensions in 25 years. To solve that, Bethel could not merely persuade bad people to become nice; instead, we create an ecosystem for students to encounter God. He then changes our nature, DQG IXHOV WKH PRUDO XSOL̃ WR HYHU\ FRPPXQLW\ RXU JUDGXDWHV RFFXS\ We GIVE BACK for that! So, this Gala is a way for our Friends of Bethel to say, “We believe in that!” The UHPHG\ IRU RXU QDWLRQŠV SDLQ LV Ũ ULJKW KHUH <RXU ƃQDQFLDO JL̃V NHHS VWXGHQWV in seats for this cause. J.C. will help us remember just how much a focused life, supercharged by God, can accomplish. Enjoy the evening, Gregg A. Chenoweth, Ph.D. President, Bethel University