Aug. 6, 2025

Dear colleagues, 

Thank you for the many kind words of support and affirmation that I have received since being named interim president in April. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working alongside each of you to provide a meaningful educational experience focused on our Christ-centered mission for our undergraduate and graduate students in the year ahead!  

This spring was a very special time for our campus community—not only in our typical end-of-year activities and the joys of Commencement—but also in our collective expressions of appreciation for President Kim Phipps and Kelly Phipps for their 25+ years of leadership at Messiah. It was a privilege to celebrate and experience such heartfelt recognition of Kim and Kelly with all of you. We remain thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness to Messiah University and for all that He will continue to do in the life of our campus community.

As we prepare for the start of the fall semester, I’d like to share with you updates on enrollment, giving, facility projects, summer programming and other related campus news.

Invitation to Community Day

Messiah will continue its annual Community Day tradition on Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 9-10:15 a.m. in the Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts. All employees are invited to attend this commemoration of the new academic year featuring a retrospective video, special music, corporate worship and prayer. It is also a privilege for me this year to deliver Messiah’s annual State of the University address. Community Day is a great way to reconnect with current and returning colleagues and meet new incoming community members. I am looking forward to celebrating a memorable launch to the year ahead with all of you!

Light refreshments and new Messiah t-shirts will be available immediately following the event in front of the High Center. Other than Dispatch (and we are so thankful for these colleagues and their good work!),  all offices and departments will close from 8:45-11 a.m. to allow employees to enjoy the Community Day experience. If you have any questions, please contact Karin Bisbee, executive coordinator for the president’s office and board of trustees.

Enrollment snapshot

Fall 2025 undergraduate enrollment:

We are pleased to report strong undergraduate enrollment following a successful spring recruitment season. Our first-year student deposits currently exceed budget projections, with most territory managers meeting or surpassing their individual goals. These results reflect record application numbers and a strong 32% yield rate, a 3% increase over last year. While we anticipate some natural summer melt between Welcome Week and fall snapshot day, we project finishing approximately 40 students above the goal of 580 students!  Transfer student enrollment remains steady and aligned with last year’s successful numbers, with several deposits still pending finalization. We are also excited to share that this fall’s incoming class represents our highest percentage of students from underrepresented ethnic and cultural populations—26% of first-year students and 36% of transfer students, creating an overall representation of 27% for the incoming fall class. 

Aug. 1, 2025

 

Fall 2025 

% to goal 

Goal 

Fall 2024* 

Prior 4-year average 

First-year students

Applications 

2,462 

103% 

2,400 

2,456 

2,428 

Acceptances 

1,996 

105% 

1,900 

1,938 

1,907 

Active deposits 

635 

109% 

580 

570 

582 

Domestic students of color (FY)

Applications 

730 

122% 

600 

668 

639 

Acceptances 

544 

115% 

475 

483 

456 

Active deposits 

166 

114% 

145 

125 

127 

Fall transfer students

Applications 

239 

82% 

290 

248 

254 

Acceptances 

160 

76% 

210 

173 

162 

Active deposits 

85 

106% 

80 

83 

76 

Dual enrollment:

Dual enrollment continues to be an effective and significant student recruitment strategy for Messiah. Sixty-seven of our incoming first-year students participated in Messiah’s dual enrollment program—representing nearly 11% of the incoming first-year class. Additionally, we had our strongest summer to date, enrolling 82 high school students in dual enrollment courses. Looking ahead, we have already registered more than 320 dual-enrolled students for this fall semester, which is tracking well ahead of last year’s pace. Two additional special interest tracks, Engineers for Tomorrow and Business Leaders for Tomorrow, will join the Educators for Tomorrow program, which was successfully launched last fall. By providing in-demand general education courses, as well as opportunities for students to explore specific disciplines in greater depth, dual enrollment continues to serve as an essential pre-college connection point with high-achieving high school students.   

Fall 2026 undergraduate admissions:

Our fall 2026 undergraduate application is now live! Students will begin receiving admission decisions in early September. We have scheduled a comprehensive series of fall recruitment events, including: 

  • Open Houses: Oct. 3 (coordinated with Homecoming) and Nov. 1 
  • Spotlight Days: Oct. 13 and Nov. 14 

These events represent excellent opportunities for campus-wide engagement with prospective students and families. We encourage all faculty and staff to share these dates and www.messiah.edu/visit with any students, families or community members who might be interested. 

FY25 graduate enrollment:

Graduate enrollment demonstrated strong performance in meeting fiscal year targets, and our focus remains on meeting enrollment goals while growing programs in strategic areas.  

Current graduate metrics (as of June 26): 

 Graduate programs have exceeded the overall enrollment target for the year, demonstrating sustained strength year-after-year: 

  • New students: 343 students enrolled, exceeding our goal by 16 students (compared to 357 last year) 
  • Total students: 973 unduplicated students, surpassing our target by 56 students (compared to 964 last year)
  • Credit hours: 16,061.5 credit hours generated, exceeding our goal by 513.5 hours (compared to 15,991 last year) 

Giving update

FY25 giving:

I am pleased to report that Messiah ended FY25 (June 30) at our highest level of giving in 14 years and the fourth highest in our 116-year history! Thank you to our Development/Annual Giving Team for helping us finish FY25 in such a strong position!

Final Giving for FY25:

  • Total Giving: $ 9,245,984 (154% of $6 million goal)
  • Messiah Fund: $1,469,094 (147% of $1 million goal)
  • Giving and new pledges: $10,583,874 (118% of $9 million goal)

Campaign updates:

Earlier this spring, I asked a family who has been deeply generous to Messiah to consider a large gift to help us near the final goal of the Warmer Welcome Campaign, which has been sequenced into two phases. I am so grateful to share that this family responded with an incredibly kind pledge. Therefore, Executive Director of Development John Zeigler reports that we are nearing the finish line for the Warmer Welcome Phase 2 Campaign with more than $7.2 million raised of the overall $7.3 million goal (98.9%)! As noted in the facilities update below, Phase 2 includes the construction of Lehnert Plaza, but also enhancements to our softball and baseball fields, which will occur next summer. We are so grateful to our campaign co-chairs, David and Bonnie Millary and Brent and Mindy Smith, for shepherding this project over the past several years. We are delighted to be so close to completion of the fundraising for these wonderful new resources focused on improving the Falcon Fan experience!

We are also focused on completing our 40th Anniversary of Nursing Campaign later this year, which will provide much-needed equipment enhancements for both Messiah’s undergraduate nursing students and for the Macha Mission in Zambia. We are nearing 70% raised toward our $500,000 fundraising goal.

Facilities and construction news

This summer, the Division of Operations has been making progress, under the leadership of Vice President of Operations Kathie Shafer, on several new construction and renovation programs on campus:

  • Warmer Welcome Phase 2: Construction for the Lenhart Plaza that will provide a gathering place for families and fans is underway with completion scheduled by the start of the fall semester. As part of stormwater management from the Sawyer Pavilion project last year, the parking lot has been upgraded to address water issues in the area, and new lighting is also being installed. 
  • Naugle Phase 2: Contractors have been working to complete the second phase of renovations to Naugle Residence. This summer’s work has been challenging due to the extreme heat, as much of the work is to replace mechanical systems, which were located in the attic. New electric switch gear is being installed, and the fire alarm system is also being upgraded. The residence life educator’s apartment, floor lounges and restrooms also got a much-needed face lift. Work will be completed in time to welcome the incoming class of 2029!
  • Campus entrance: After several years of navigating challenges with a local sign ordinance, in early July, the University received approval to install a new Messiah University sign at the Lisburn Road roundabout entrance, featuring our university name/logo, our motto, “Christ Preeminent” and “Founded 1909.” The related sidewalk work has already been completed and new lights are being installed. Once the new sign is completed, the existing Messiah University entrance sign behind the Department of Safety building will be removed. We are in process of finalizing the new timeline with the contractor with a likely completion in late fall 2025/early winter 2026.

Summer camps and conferences

During the summer months, our teams from the Division of Operations—Conference and Event Services, Safety, Dining Services and Facility Services—host and provide hospitality to summer camps and conferences—along with the faculty, coaches, staff and administrators that lead and support their related programming. By the end of this summer, Messiah will have hosted 83 different conferences, camps, and events, both internal and external, with revenue anticipated to be more than $2 million! New groups this year included: Engage Youth Conference, Grace Reformation also largely attended by teen youth, and SOPA (Special Olympics of Pennsylvania). We once again hosted our largest conference, MJAA ( Messianic Jewish Alliance of America), during the first week of July. Thank you to all who play a part in providing a safe, hospitable and high-quality experience for our campus guests. Not only do these events contribute to the common good of our surrounding region, but they also generate important non-tuition revenue to support Messiah’s ability to carry out our institutional mission.

Good news about Messiah

Here are some of the recent achievements and good news stories of members of the Messiah community. For more details visit messiah.edu/news and Messiah’s official Facebook page (the source sites for many of the below news items).

  • Messiah’s baseball team, led by Head Coach Phill Shallenberger, garnered local, regional and national media attention during its historical season, finishing in June as the National Runner-up in the program’s first visit to the NCAA Division III Championship Series, and in May winning their first Regional and Super Regional Championships in program history. Watch the national Fox News feature “NCAA baseball team stopped caring about winning to focus on Jesus – then went to the World Series” https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ncaa-baseball-team-stopped-caring-about-winning-focus-jesus-went-world-series.
  • In early June, Assistant Professor of American Religious History Devin Manzullo-Thomas was chosen through a highly competitive selection process to participate in the 2025 Enhancing Vocational Exploration Seminar offered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) through its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). The seminar, held in Indianapolis, brought together a small group of educators who seek to contribute to the growing national conversation about vocation and calling. Participants brought to the table their experiences with vocation on their own campuses, whether in teaching, research, writing, service or inter-office cooperation.
  • Amy Nicols Villeda, director of international student programs, was interviewed by Lancaster Newspapers as part of a June article examining the impact on international students and regional colleges, universities and workforces related to recent federal changes to the student visa program. Read the article.
  • Peter Powers, director of the Center for Public Humanities, and Bernardo Michael, professor of history, were interviewed for a July edition of The Spark on WITF, sharing the story of Messiah’s Hoverter Course in the Humanities, which provides tuition-free, collegiate instruction for credit to economically and educationally underserved individuals in our region. The course is made possible by the generosity of the Lawrence L. & Julia Z. Hoverter Charitable Foundation. Read a summary of or listen to the podcast.
  • Congratulations to Associate Professor of Nursing Brenda Elliott who has been selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Induction into this academy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career, in which their accomplishments are honored by their colleagues within and outside the profession. Fellows are selected based on their significant contributions and impact to advance the public’s health. Read the full story.
  • Messiah faculty and students have teamed up to launch Harrisburg Historical—a free website and mobile app designed to uncover and celebrate the diverse stories of Pennsylvania’s capital region. Through walking tours, interactive maps and multimedia storytelling, they’re making local history more accessible, immersive and personal than ever! Read the full story.

In closing

Anyone who has been part of the Messiah community knows that our university is a very special place. This year, Messiah’s baseball team, and their historical championship run, shone spotlight on that for the rest of the sports world and beyond. Below are two excerpts of emails received by President Phipps, just prior to her retirement, and Athletic Director Sarah Gustin-Hamrock from those who witnessed firsthand the way that Messiah athletes and coaches live out their mission of “pursuing athletic excellence and developing Christian character.”

President Phipps,

I am writing to recognize your baseball team and parents who visited Eastlake last week as part of the NCAA tournament. As an usher and worker for the Lake County Captains Team who host many events, your team and parents were the nicest, politest and most engaging/well-mannered group in my tenure.

 They even chose after a contest to stop over and visit, engage with our Miracle League Team/ field in the same complex. These special needs adults and children were so excited and to do it without even a request far surpasses the efforts some of our pro players make. Again that was a very poignant moment that needs to be shared. Kudos to your achievement in 2025, it was your first tournament visit and you rode the wave almost to the end.  The tournament will be held with us one last time in 2026. I do hope your team and parents have an encore left in them. Again, please share this with your team and parents. They were good stewards of your university and life in general. I appreciate the memories and even the gift they gave me in the finals. –Usher Dan M.

__________________________

Good morning, Sarah,

…I was fortunate to umpire the D3 World Series this past week in Eastlake, Ohio. It truly was my honor to work this tournament and to meet Coach Shallenberger and the rest of the Messiah baseball program. I am sure you are well aware, but the Messiah baseball program is by far the classiest program I have ever seen. Every interaction I had with the coaches and players were extremely respectful at all times. I have never seen a group of players cheer for other teams before. Seeing this group of players has restored my faith in humanity and has given me a more positive outlook for our country. The entire Messiah University community should be extremely proud of the baseball program. I wish you all the best of luck moving forward. –Brian F.

Thank you for the way that each of you contributes every day to making Messiah University a singular experience for our students. My wife, Shari, and I look forward to seeing you on Community Day and to the start of our new academic year! We pray for the Lord’s continued faithfulness and guidance in the weeks ahead.

In gratitude,

Jon C. Stuckey,

Interim president