Installation Address
“Creating a Soulful University”
August 27, 2025
Dr. Andy Tooley
President, King University
Bristol, TN
Good morning trustees, friends, faculty, and staff. I am thrilled you all can join me for this year’s Convocation in which we publicly celebrate my installation as King University’s 24th president. The message I am here to share with you this morning is delivered in service of King, looking towards a vision of the future that I believe we can achieve together. I want to extend an extra note of gratitude to those students who are able to join us this morning. What we discuss and do here this morning is for you and for future generations of students. Thank you for joining us.
We stand at a pivotal moment in our institution’s history. King University’s legacy of faithful service and academic rigor has given us much to be grateful for, as we consider the challenges of the present and begin to prepare for others that we perceive along the road ahead. Having completed one year as King’s president, I am here to say that I believe there are tremendous opportunities in front of us, and I feel honored and blessed to be part of King University’s story. The next chapter of that story, I’m going to call it, is a comeback. And everybody, I think, loves a comeback story.
At least part of the appeal of the comeback story is that most of us, at some time, will need one ourselves. Whether we are an athlete suddenly faced with an injury, or a professional experiencing a setback on our vocational journey, or a person forced to deal with the unexpected loss of a relationship, we will all likely at some point need to gather our courage, our resilience, and our determination to forge ahead for our own comeback. We take inspiration from those who have gone from trial to triumph in the spotlight, like gymnast and Olympic gold medalist, Simone Biles, and we enjoy movies that tell those tales, like the recent released Brad Pitt film, F1. And as a Dallas Cowboys fan, every season since 1996 I have been waiting for that comeback!
But organizations and institutions have their own stories, and for many reasons, a comeback may be needed. The corporate sector is rife with big-name examples of successful turnarounds, from Apple, to Marvel, to Harley-Davidson. Though academic institutions don’t have quite the same spotlight on us, there are plenty of examples of strategic recovery, innovation, and growth creating institutional comebacks in our own sector as well. The inspirational legacy of King University, the fantastic faculty and staff that are so committed to our students, the many alumni and friends who support and promote it, and our historic relationships in the region afford us a strong foundation on which to do our own work of building and innovating. Like the examples listed, I expect that King’s comeback will not be merely a return to a previous state, but rather our meeting of the many opportunities before us.
Central to King’s story, however, will be another kind of comeback, specifically, the return of a university model that has become scarce in the American educational ecosystem. In his 1994 book entitled The Soul of the American University historian George Marsden argues that the vast majority of Americans receive a college education which separates a student’s process of learning from their faith commitments. The result of this separation having played out amidst colleges and universities across that country, Marsden argues, has left American universities soulless. One no longer can expect that young people would, through their college education, be instructed and formed in the ways of Christian virtue. The ancient ideals undergirding education that have been refined in the fires of the European Enlightenments, which brought Athens and Jerusalem, reason and faith, together, has been abandoned. The shared conviction that students should be morally formed to become intellectually and emotionally courageous, resilient, honest and compassionate was lost. Others in more recent years have argued that colleges and universities have moved even further away from this ideal by removing even the cultivation of virtue from their curricula. Consider just three titles of dozens that have appeared in the last couple of years: Excellence without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education (about Harvard); The Moral Collapse of the University; and finally, Education’s End: Why our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. We at King affirm, alongside our brothers and sisters at Christian colleges and universities around the country, that the “possession of a moral compass is crucial for the development of persons and the stability of society. It is a foundation for virtuous leadership, sound moral decision making, living a good life, and working for the common good.”
Looking toward this next year together, I want to call us all to refocus our efforts and energies to meet the opportunities before us, in a manner that affirms the centrality of the soul, as Marsden put it, to this American university. What I offer you this morning is a vision for the journey ahead of King, a vision that I will articulate through a series of institutional and community commitments. I have chosen the wording of commitments, rather than goals or objectives, because although these commitments will of course generate and be measured by a range of objectives, I want to emphasize that success at King will not be accomplished by hitting a stationary target but rather that it will come out of our consistent and faithful practice.
The first commitment is to strengthening the institutionalization of our Christian identity. I have appreciated the fact that King is simply and profoundly Christian. It affirms an intellectually rich and rigorous faith. It is committed to the historic creeds and confessions of the early church and with them possesses a fundamental understanding of the imperfect nature of human beings and the redemptive power of grace embedded in the gospel of Jesus Christ to forgive and transform. I want to strengthen that core Christian identity by broadening and deepening its institutional expression. Across the institution, our shared Christian faith ought to guide our aspirations and ambitions as a community. It ought to shape our interactions with and commitments to each other. This type of approach is referred to as a Christ-animated approach, which stands in contrast to a Christ-added approach that merely adds on Christian language or pockets of Christian ideas. Our Christ-animated approach will be seen in, for example:
- A board of trustees who are committed Christians and leaders in their industries
- Institutional leaders who consistently link performance with character
- Faculty who approach their academic disciplines with a creative and active integration of faith and learning.
- Distinctly Christian academic centers and institutes.
- Chapel services where students can worship and a chaplain’s office that offers discipling and mentorship
- Required courses in Christian theology and biblical studies
- Infusing Christian moral and intellectual virtues into every part of our academic curriculum and cocurricular activities.
At an institution with a Christian identity, we aim to embody the Fruit of the Spirit, as explained in Galatians 5, which means seeking to do everything with integrity and accountability, with honor and with joy.
Secondly, King will be an institution committed to comprehensive and sustainable excellence. We want our university to be characterized by academic and operational excellence. “Good enough” is not good enough. We need to hold high standards for ourselves, and in order to do this we first need to establish those standards and then determine the strategic steps needed in order to reach them. I want to share a story with you that I shared with our faculty and staff last week which, I think, illustrates the task in front of us at King.
When I was in graduate school in Chicago, I agreed to help a retired school teacher paint houses over the summer. He gave me some instructions and then put me to work. Towards the end of the first day, after I had completed one room and was about to complete another, he stopped in to check on me. He brought me into the first room I had completed and asked me how I thought I had done. I told him I thought I had done a pretty good job—I was trying to be humble because I actually thought I had done an excellent job. He then brought me into the second room and asked me how I thought I had done. I told him this room was more difficult for me and I probably needed to go back over a few places. He then patiently asked me why I thought the first room was easier than the second room. Well, I said, because there was more light coming in from the windows in the first room and it made it easier to see the lines I was cutting in between the ceiling and the wall with the paintbrush. Okay, he said. Remember when I mentioned that the spotlight could be helpful to you? He asked me to go into the van and bring it back. When I returned with the spotlight he had me turn it on in the second room. Suddenly the lines I was cutting in between the ceiling and the wall looked like a roller coaster. I was embarrassed and told him I needed to go back over the entire room. He then took me to the first room and asked me to shine the spotlight there. While my lines were much better, it was clear that I needed to redo some of that room as well.
I think this story connects to many of our experiences at King. Some of us already know what excellence in our area looks like, and we have a good idea about how to go about achieving it. It’s up to us to demonstrate excellence through our consistent work, but it also falls upon us to patiently assist others in recognizing those standards and charting some steps to meet them, where we are able. Secondly, this story demonstrates the need for ongoing training and professional development. There are some of us who have a strong work ethic and a sense of what excellence is but, like me when I was painting those rooms, do not realize all that is required in order to get there. We need modeling and mentoring in order to realize what we are missing. Finally, it is worth noting that it was only in the light that I realized the real nature and quality of my work. We all need our work to be held up to the light – of Christ and of our own peers—so that we may see ourselves and our contributions truly.
As a community living in the light of Christ, our commitment to excellence should be an extension first and foremost of our faith and our desire to be good stewards of God’s creation. Our original and primary accountability is to our Lord, as Colossians 3:23 emphasizes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human beings.” This accountability has derivative, practical implications for our obligations to serve the common good. King’s pursuit of excellence, as we will discuss in a moment, should naturally and intentionally flow to our neighbors. A Soulful university, then, will seek to infuse a faithful excellence throughout the institution, for God and neighbor. In service of this commitment to excellence, we will see:
- Discerning institutional leaders who are strategic in their goalsetting and timely in their accomplishment. A team that is committed to sustaining a successful financial model which links strategy, revenue, and expenses for immediate and long-term financial success.
- First-rate teachers who care about scholarship and first-rate scholars who care about teaching.
- Coaches who understand and are committed to whole-person formation, shaping and supporting our student-athletes as they become persons of both character and skill.
- An academic curriculum that develops curious, lifelong learners, with a desire to love God and neighbor both more and better.
- Strategic investment in our infrastructure and facilities to enhance the campus culture for our students and employees.
The third commitment is to be a student-first campus that seeks the holistic development of our students, through quality education and transformational experiences.
Becoming a student-first campus begins with a relentless focus on supporting students through the selection and completion of their degree. At King we know that an education is strengthened by a supportive institution, and so we marshal the resources of the university to provide students academic and personal support, especially during the critical period of their first year. We want our support services to be aligned with the central goal of helping students achieve academic success. We are in the process of creating a Roadways to Success Initiative that would assign, for instance, an academic advisor, financial aid counselor, and a career counselor to students, in order to support them in every stage of their academic journey at King, from orientation to graduation.
The need for a holistic education that produces well-rounded whole persons not simply walking resumes is clear. In his book Going Infinite, author Michael Lewis details the extraordinary rise and spectacular fall of cryptocurrency CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. What became very clear to anyone who read the book or followed Sam’s career was that he was incredibly intellectually gifted. His ability to solve complicated puzzles and problems amazed all who knew him. Yet in telling his story, Lewis revealed that Sam Bankman-Fried was ultimately undone by a central weakness, his failure to cultivate wisdom alongside his intellectual brilliance.
To be a student-first campus, King must not only serve the development of students’ technical capacities, but their capacities for wise discernment as well. I like to frame the education we offer at King as both In-time Education and Timeless Education. We provide our students with the timely knowledge, skills, and abilities that will prepare them for the specific demands of their chosen professions. We also train them in ways of thinking critically and creatively, informing and integrating their faith in these practices, that will instill in them a love of lifelong learning and serve as a guide throughout their entire lives. We want a King education to prepare our graduates from their first job to their last job.
Fourthly, We commit ourselves to cultivating Institutional Resilience.
Resilience, whether individual or institutional, indicates how we respond to adversity. Resilience is not merely getting back up after getting knocked down, as Rocky Balboa did against Apollo Creed. It is the strategic, passionate pursuit of a solution to a problem, even when the tenacity of that problem tempts us to give up. Resilient institutions, after trying two or three approaches to a tenacious problem, persevere to look for that breakthrough in the fourth or fifth attempt. Resilience closely resembles “grit”, and for our purposes this morning I am going to combine them. For King to be a resilient university, we must have grit. We must season our passion with perseverance, and we must bring both of them to the pursuit of our strategic short and long-term goals.
As a resilient institution we will pursue, for instance:
- Enrollment strategies that are adapted to new demographic and market realities
- An engaged alumni network, who are invested in the health and success of the institution
- Innovative course instruction, which integrates new and best practices with student engagement that is responsive to ever-changing social and technological realities
- Strong athletic programs that are supported in their efforts to equip athletes for both competition and character
- Supportive partners in the region and beyond, who inspire, inform, and enable new program development, such as the upcoming launch of our new Center for Entrepreneurship, with advising from Dr. Daniel Cohen at Wake Forest University
Our fifth commitment is to become a Best Christian Workplace, to cultivate an environment where employees can thrive. This commitment is yet another extension of our stewardship of God’s gifts. A caring university is one in which a community recognizes, values and honors one another as human beings who are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. We have already begun our efforts to be a great employer by creating a new Director of Employees Relations office through which a campus-wide survey was administered last spring. I am happy to share that 99% of our employees completed the survey, which is one of the highest participation rates that the administering organization has ever seen at a university.
A Best Christian Workplace survey evaluates how well the entire ecosystem of the institution functions in the following goal areas:
Fantastic Teams—do we have cohesive teams that collaborate and engage in effective dialogue, for instance
Life-Giving Work—are employees devoted to our mission and believe they are making a meaningful and purposeful contribution?
Outstanding Talent—do we have competent employees with high character?
Uplifting Growth—are employees getting insightful interaction and investment from their supervisors and coaches?
Rewarding Compensation—are we providing equitable compensation, rewarding high-performers, and making our employees feel valued in their contributions?
Inspirational Leadership—do we have inspirational leaders throughout our organization who have a vibrant relationship with Christ?
Sustainable Strategy—do we have an intentional strategy to serve our constituencies and meet the short and long-term goals of the university?
and Healthy Communication—do we promote a climate of transparent, accountable, and honorable communication? Do we value feedback and constructive criticism?
At King, we aspire to be an institution that fosters a culture of thriving for all our employees and are excited that the results of the Best Christian Workplaces survey are helping provide us the beginnings of a roadmap for that work.
Finally, King University is committed to engaging with, and dedicated to, the flourishing of its community.
Bristol has been home to King for more than 150 years. There have been many instances of cooperation and collaboration between the city and the university during that time, and there have been many individual faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have significantly invested in and cared for the local community. But I do think our institutional track record has, at times, been uneven. I believe we can do better.
We commit to serving our neighbors in Bristol and the Tri-city region with radical hospitality, and innovative partnerships that seek the overall economic development of the community. Our goal is to help make Bristol an even more attractive home for our students, employees, and citizens. To do this, we will need to engage community constituents, and to listen well to their stories, their needs, and their aspirations.
As part of these efforts we want to share the stories of success and possibility at King, to welcome our neighbors into the lives of our students and employees on campus. I see many opportunities for mutually enrichment and thriving, and can’t wait to see all of you on campus in the months ahead.
Conclusion: Looking Expectantly Ahead
As we look expectantly ahead, I believe these six commitments,
- To strengthen our Christian identity
- To be an institution committed to comprehensive and sustainable excellence
- To be a student-first campus that seeks the holistic development of our students
- To be institutionally resilient
- To become a Best Christian Workplace for our employees
- And to be a university dedicated to the flourishing of its community
will allow King University to meet both the challenges and opportunities in front of us and also, I am confident, to create new possibilities that we have not imagined yet. I told you at the start of this address that this would be a comeback story, but the truth is that I see so much more ahead of us at King. Together with your help we will go “further up and further in,” reaching new heights even as we stand firmly rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this way, we will faithfully serve our students and our community in excellence and with integrity on our way to becoming a Soulful University. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside you all as King University’s 24th President, and am so excited for the journey ahead. Thank you.