bY KArissa Ryan

Your Alumni Editor

Sometimes the biggest impact can be made

by those who are working behind the scenes.

Colleen Smith, director of academic excellence

and quality assurance at Cornerstone, is

just such a person.

Smith is a GRTS alumna of 1994. She visited

multiple seminaries, including one in Dallas,

before deciding on GRTS. She said she has

“no regrets; I can’t think of any place I would

rather have gone.”

“Faith Canoyer was the only other female

student’s name. There might have been a few

others. I was only there during class hoursbut

we were the only two in the classroom of

new students at the beginning of the year.”

Smith especially remembers her time in

Joe Crawford’s Systematic Theology II class.

She said Crawford would sometimes throw

little pieces of chalk at students who were falling

asleep. But his greatest impact was through

his teachings on the doctrine of salvation.

“We were studying the doctrine of soteriology,

and Easter was approaching. I think

that was the most memorable Easter I ever

had,” she said.

“It was like letting the honey drip onto

your lips. It was like he was preaching while

he was teaching.”

“I bawled through [Philosophical Ethics]”

she said, laughingly. “There were all

these terms, and each time he said one term, I

would quickly write it down, but by that time

he would already have moved on to something

else.”

Michael Wittmer, associate professor of

systematic and historical theology, was a

classmate of Smith’s at the time, and helped

tutor her through this class.

Smith is also one of three full-time staff

members who founded Cornerstone’s Professional

and Graduate Studies (PGS), originally

known as Adult Continuing Education

(ACE) until graduate studies were included.

Today PGS has its own building. In 1993, they

were in what is now the Advancement office,

located in the Seminary building.

“We had no furniture. We were finally able

to get three classroom tables and some chairs.

We put our telephones on there and just started

answering phones,” Smith said.

Some of the preliminary work also included

assembling their own promotional materials.

“We had a view book with different pages

about our program,” she said. “In order to put

it together, we had to lay all this stuff out on

the floor and we crawled along on our knees

putting these together for students.”

Keith DeBoer, director of student services

in PGS, first worked with Smith in Student

Development, and later in PGS as well, for a

total of nearly 17 years together. Both he and

Smith marvel at where God brought PGS

since it began.

The first cohort was started Nov. 1, 1993 and

had eleven students. By the end of 2010, there

were 1,038 students in cohorts all over the state.

“I have enjoyed working with Colleen and

she has always been a wonderful colleague

and good friend,” DeBoer said.

Smith said she’s had stories from professors

of students coming to Christ through the

PGS classes.

“The students have to honor Cornerstone’s

background, but they don’t have to be Christians,

so we get a few students who are either

not fully committed or have not made a commitment

to Christ.,” she said.”We are very

firm that our faculty is firm and grounded in

Christ.”

Smith said once during a group presentation,

a group shared more than their research.

“One of the students that was going to do the

reporting said, ‘I just want to let you know that

we have a new sister in Christ.’ Those are the

times that let you know that you’re making a

difference for Christ, even though you are sitting

here pushing papers at your desk.”

When asked what kept her at Cornerstone,

she said “I only see my biological family three,

four times a year, so for me, this has been my

family. Whenever I meet with [students] in a

small group setting, I’m just amazed by the

spiritual depth… it ultimately comes down to

the people with you, and it’s about seeking the

glory of God and the kingdom of God.”