Union University is deeply grateful for our covenant partnership with the churches of the Tennessee
Baptist Convention! Your gifts through the Cooperative Program help empower our mission. Now in
our 194 th year of operation, that mission remains to provide Christ-centered education that promotes
excellence and character development in service to Church and society.
I wish you could see the many ways your prayers, support, and gifts make a difference in the lives of the
3,500 students and 800 faculty and staff members at Union. Please allow me to share a few examples of
how we live out our core values: excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused, and future-
directed. Our Women’s Cross Country Team won the Gulf South Conference Championship during fall
2016. That is a significant accomplishment in one of the toughest conferences in NCAA Division II.
Additionally, both the Men’s and the Women’s Cross Country Teams qualified for the NCAA regional
championship. On top of that, their Coach, Dr. Gary Johnson, was named Coach of the Year. And,
among the over 400 colleges and universities that compete in NCAA Division II, our men’s and
women’s teams had the highest team GPA (the men’s team GPA was 3.76 and the women’s was 3.94)!
That is excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused, and future-directed values in action.
You may have noticed that Union was moved up to the “National Universities” category in the US News
and World Report rankings. Now, let me say quickly that we don’t chase rankings at Union. Still, we are
grateful when others see the good work happening at Union and tell others about it. The National
Universities category is comprised of 310 institutions whose size, scope of academic program, and reach
make them influential throughout the country. We give thanks to God for His favor and we consider this
recognition as an even greater opportunity to bear witness to the transforming power of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. By the way, among Tennessee universities, Union is ranked behind only Vanderbilt and the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Last fall we welcomed a new class of freshman students that had an average ACT score of 26.1 (that’s
the highest average ACT score in Union’s history). And, almost 80% of them came from Tennessee and
TBC churches. We also graduated over 1,000 students this past year. Men and women who are now
faithfully living out God’s call on their lives. God is so very good to us.
Still, there is much work to do. We continue our collaboration with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
toward the realization of the TBMB’s Five Objectives. Please continue to pray for and support Union as
we equip students to be salt and light in a world that desperately needs wise and thoughtful citizens,
employees, church members, parents, ministers and ambassadors for Christ.
Faithfully,
Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, Ph.D.
President
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