By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Several members of the Louisiana Christian University Class of 2024 encouraged their classmates to be a light for Christ during the college’s 169th Commencement, May 4, inside Guinn Auditorium on campus.
The school conferred 195 degrees (146 undergraduate and 49 graduate) during two separate but identical ceremonies to accommodate the graduates and their guests, who received the messages from these graduates about their LCU journeys.
“Saturday was the living testimony of what we do at Louisiana Christian University,” Acting President David Jeffreys told the Baptist Message. “Our graduates have been equipped and prepared to fulfill the Great Commission as they go and serve Him in all walks of life. Our students shared some incredible testimonies of how God has used the LCU family to impact their lives. They will be missed but will now forever be Wildcats.”
In her speech, Noel Schonhoff told the crowd that LCU gave her the confidence and motivation for a fresh start in life. Most importantly, she said, she found Christ during a Fellowship of Christian Athletes retreat.
“Up until I attended school at LCU, I may have attended church five times,” she said. “Little did I know that I would say “Yes” to giving my life to Christ just three days later. Once I dedicated my life to him everything changed.”
Devin Briscoe said LCU helped reshape his academic and athletic goals, but especially his perspective on life.
When he arrived on campus during August 2020, he faced uncertainty in the aftermath of the global pandemic. However, Briscoe said God was his focal point in a new environment.
“What I learned is that life’s challenges are opportunities for growth, and no matter how hard it is, I know God is always on my side, and there’s nothing He cannot do,” he said. “The tools and life lessons I acquired at LCU are not just for my personal benefit, they are resources I will carry forward to make positive impact in my community and beyond. As I said, in my next chapter of my journey I do so with the gratitude for the experiences, friendships and faith that have shaped me into who I am today, a proud LCU graduate ready to embrace whatever challenges and triumphs lie ahead.”
Laura Aime, who served as Student Government Association president for the 2023-2024 academic year, said she appreciated how her professors challenged her to think critically and offered ample encouragement.
“Many of my professors pray before every exam and point us towards Christ and encourage reliance on him continually,” she said. “Through my time here I’ve seen again and again the importance of relying on and trusting in God and in His plan for my life.
“As Romans 15:13 declares, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,’” she continued. “Class of 2024, as we graduate and move on to our next steps, I encourage each of you to always remember this verse. Place your hope in Christ and be confident in and rely on Him. My time at LCU truly helped me to remember to focus on this and to trust in Him continually.”
Victoria Watson shared how her fellow classmates and professors helped her get through some dark days, including when her cousin, Christopher, passed two days before end-of-semester exams began during her sophomore year.
“If it weren’t for my LCU family, I wouldn’t have made it through that finals week,” she said. “My LCU family prayed with me while I cried and even found ways to make me laugh during these hard times. I will always be thankful to everyone here who showed me grace and patience as I battled grief and uncertainty.”
In a prayer he led, LCU Board of Trustees member Craig Beeman asked God to use the graduates to transform lives in America and beyond. Beeman, a 1993 alum, is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Winnsboro.
“We look over this vast host of graduates and we say to you, thank you,” he prayed. “Thank you for the professors who care beyond the classroom. Thank you for the faculty and administrators who strive to keep the standards of education high at this institution. Thank you for every person who works at this institution who has poured into the lives of these graduates.
“And Father, thank You for these graduates who put hard work and effort into all they did to be able to sit here today, late nights of study and stress that maybe some had not encountered ever in their lives,” he continued. “And yet they sit here victorious. Bless them, God, as they venture forth into this world. May they never forget that what they have learned in and outside of the classroom, whether they came from around the corner or around the world, help them to know as they leave that each one of them has great value and worth to You and to this world. Father, make it easy for them to carry the light of Your love into the lives of those who need it. Help them to know that their presence as a Christian, wherever they are, has the opportunity to make every situation better. Father, empower them, enable them, guide their paths and bless them to do what you’ve called them to do in their respective fields of study.”
