Three decades. Thousands of students. Time invested well. Dr. Brian Morley, professor of philosophy and apologetics, is among many professors recently let go as a part of significant changes at TMU.

“30 wonderful years,” Morley said. “Working with students and my colleagues has been the greatest blessing and privilege of my life, second only to being married to my wife, Donna.”

On Friday, March 1, the selected professors were informed of the decision privately by both the dean and provost. To comply with the employee handbook, the administration either had to renew their contracts or let them go.

“Though I was surprised at being cut, I haven’t been the least bit worried. In fact, Donna and I have taken it as God’s grace,” Morley said. “The need (and prayer request) is for wisdom as far as direction. The main challenge in life is that there are just too many great things to do and not enough time.”

Todd Kostjuk, chief financial officer and vice president of administration for TMU, explained that many higher education institutions have had a decline in traditional enrollment due to the rise in alternative options, such as online programs.

“What we’re doing is looking to increase student enrollment,” Kostjuk said. “So, it’s unfortunate we had to make these decisions, but we’re making these decisions with a long-term view at the health of the organization going forward.”

According to Kostjuk, TMU had to acknowledge the larger amount of resources that were given to traditional students and compare it to the declining number of traditional enrollments.

As a result, there had to be a rearrangement of resources and funds to support the position TMU is in currently and the position it needs to be in to reach the desired goals.

“I want the students to know is these are very difficult decisions. We love these people, and we’re going to trust God’s providence to take care of them,” Kostjuk said. “But we’re called as an administration to be good stewards with the financial resources we had. And we feel like, for us, this is a stewardship principle, an issue that we had to deal with in terms of financial management.”

According to Kostjuk, he is also one of the professors let go. Despite this, he is currently working two different jobs within the university—chief financial officer and vice president of administration. Moving forward, he has decided to volunteer as a professor.

“I mean, we’re asking everybody to carry a little extra to help this institution financially going forward,” Kostjuk said. “So, if we’re going to ask other people to carry extra, then we would lead by example and do it ourselves.”

A total of 14 positions are affected by the decision. However, some professors, such as Morley, are not simply being let go but being repositioned.

“I’ll keep teaching online philosophy, theology, and other classes, and chairing the online degree in Biblical Studies.” Morley said, “Also, one of the greatest opportunities I’ve had comes from the school’s decision to develop several special emphases within our online Master’s in Biblical Studies, directed by Dr. Varner: Biblical languages, missions, music and worship, women’s ministries, and theology. I’m developing the theology emphasis.”

According to Kostjuk, the HR director will be available to help professors find new positions.

“I think that the school is working as hard as they can to make sure their students are taken care of and that they’re making wise decisions,” said Gracie Brackett, a sophomore. “Even if that does result in lay-offs, I think they’re doing what they believe is best.”

The administration will use the monetary savings to invest in new initiatives meant to attract more students going forward, Kostjuk said. The administration would like to have 1200 full-time students in the next five years.

“So, we need to invest capital to do that,” Kostjuk said. “You will have to hire a chair of the new major or the faculty, and there are startup costs involved. It’s got to take some capital. And so we’re reframing (the budget) for that.”

There are three major changes planned for the university. First, there are plans to add new majors and athletic programs to the school’s list.

According to Kostjuk, the administration would also like to have a coffee shop for students in the trophy room, due to it being an under-utilized space. Kostjuk said, “The coffee shop’s goal is that it will pay for itself. We want to make it hip and nice and a place where a lot of students who come and hang out and have good coffee.”

They also intend to remodel the space by the Vider Administration building, near the gazebo.

“We’re really looking at repurposing that space to make it more of a hangout space. Maybe do some new hardscape in there, but make it a place where students would come and hang out and enjoy the space.” Kostjuk continued, “So we really want to do things where it builds community within the school.”

As these changes happen around campus, Dr. Morley offers some wise advice about his situation that can apply to students as well.

“I’ve found that life doesn’t turn out the way you expect. But despite unwelcome surprises and challenges, it turns out better. Better, not for comfort and security, but for the deeper values of personal growth and knowing God.” Morley continued, “Those unexpected events are, however, only opportunities. Whether they help us or hurt us depends on our response. And the right response sets us up for the next adventure.” 

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Hail to the Chief played Monday morning as Dr. Stead was saluted by students in his political studies class. The professor has been here for 49 years, was the academic provost, and is currently on TMU’s board of directors. He grew up in California, attended John MacArthur’s father’s church, and received his Ph.D. from USC. 

“I’ve primarily been in academics my whole time here, mainly in the classroom, which I enjoy still the most. I’ve also been in administration to some degree, off and on, since ‘78. The difference is when I was even up to being provost here, which is the highest academic position in the university, it is primarily concerned with academics, not encompassing the entire school.”

President John MacArthur’s position for the past few years has been to create and uphold the vision and direction of TMU. This includes raising funds to support this vision.  

“So far, it’s been very gratifying. I’m very at peace with dealing with faculty, academic issues, those kinds of things,” said Dr. Stead. “I’ve done it for so long, but now what I have to do is think about myself in terms of being responsible for everything on this campus. That’s a lot.”

His current goal as interim president is to make sure the next president will have an easy transition into the role.  

“Challenge number one is to get off probation, that’s way upfront. A second one would be to continue to work on our campus culture, in terms of administrative relationships to faculty, staff, and students; we’ve been doing a lot of work on that in the last year. A third one would basically be continuing to gather support from our board of directors as well,” said Stead.

Our campus is currently on probation by WASC and by next year we’ll hopefully know if our accreditation will continue.  

“Our March letter was not what we expected, but we are in a review process right now. I don’t know how successful it will be, but our job then is simply to keep us trying to do those things, and they’re not very many,” said Stead. “There’s only a couple of things that we still need to work on, but all we can do is just keep working on those things. We’re in a timeframe now though and we don’t really control the timeframe, you know?”

Joshua Allen is a senior, political studies major from Honduras and has studied under Dr. Stead during his time at TMU.  

“I certainly look forward to going to a school under his leadership,” said Allen. “While it’s a bummer Dr. MacArthur had to step down, there’s not a doubt in my mind that Dr. Stead is going to use his gifts of leadership to continue driving the university in a God-honoring direction.”

The president is still publishing the Community Connection for the rest of the year but isn’t sure about continuing it next year.  

“I think it’s really important. It’s a way for the students to have a feel for what we’re thinking about up here. We always do some interviews with staff and faculty so students can kind of get a better idea of what’s going on in different departments,” said Stead.

Overall, Stead’s impact on the campus has been strong for the past 49 years and he’s adamant about continuing that presence on campus as the president.  

“Plus, I’m very concerned about the staff that they see my presence in the dining center or a building and grounds. That they can have confidence that I’m here all the time. Students can’t always walk in, but they can always come to see Alison and get an appointment with me,” said Stead.

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A TMU Freshman is challenging an established burger chain over memes.

Brett Roeloffs worked at In-N-Out before beginning school this Fall.

The meme connoisseur began in April 2018 when he was hired immediately following the interview.

“I liked it a lot,” Roeloffs says. “I was there today, and I saw all my old coworkers and friends. It was fun.”

Roeloffs began a meme page for In-N-Out associates nearly a year into working there.

“I was in my Spanish III class, and I decided to open a meme account called associate memes. The girl next to me in class was the first follower,” Roeloffs says.

According to the influencer, it was slow at first, but within the first couple of months, he was getting hundreds of followers a day.

“It’s kind of cool walking into an In-N-Out knowing one in three associates inside follow my account,” Roeloffs says.

In-N-Out has about 28,000 employees nationwide. He left Instagram with a little over 9,000 followers.

“Brett is famous for many things, but memes are his thing,” Caleb Phillips, a junior business major, says. “I think the reason for Brett’s rapid success comes from the speed and relatability with which he produces content.”

According to the In-N-Out policy, making content related to In-N-Out Burger, anything with the logo or store associates is against company policy.

It states, “In-N-Out Burger, in its sole discretion, will determine whether a particular blog or social media posting violates company policy.”

Roeloffs was continuing his daily work routine with no suspicions from anyone. He didn’t tell anyone about the page but may have hinted at it.

“Someone snitched on me. I think it was one of the lower-level managers that I was friends with. I knew if someone found out I’d get fired,” Roeloffs continues. “So, I got a call from the divisional manager, who oversees about 30 stores in the area, to set up a Starbucks meeting with me.”

Roeloffs showed up to Starbucks in high-top Nike blazers, a hoodie and some Lulu Lemon joggers.

“I wasn’t there to impress anyone with my looks—I mean, I own a meme account. He complimented my blazers though,” Roeloffs says.

His divisional manager offered to pay for the coffee but Roeloffs declined. After discussing the recent Travis Scott shoe that dropped, they began the real conversation.

Roeloffs continues, “We made small talk before he introduced the topic of me being the sole proprietor of the meme page he hated.”

The divisional manager claimed Roeloffs was posting vulgar things on the private page. The post was a photo of a tomato on the kitchen floor, and the manager expressed that it gave the company bad publicity.

“Memes pack a powerful punch. They communicate messages that evoke emotions from the reader,” Professor Frields, a professor for a social media and communication course, says. “Memes are satirical, and that makes them funny to some but harmful to others. They are dangerous because they only tell partial truths or give one perspective. Either we laugh and agree with them, or we disagree and become upset by them.”

According to Roeloffs, his purpose for the account was to build a community and bond between employees at the fast-food chain.

“The meeting was pretty unproductive because I kindly rejected his pleas to have me shut the account down,” Roeloffs says.

After reaching a position of level four associate, the divisional manager suspended his job for two weeks. Roeloffs received a call during orientation that if he didn’t delete the account, he’d be fired.

He posted expressing the account was at its end and received many DM’s concerning how he built the community and relationship between employees.

One message says, “I just wanted to tell you that when I matched with my girlfriend on a dating site, the first thing we talked about was your meme page. You’ll always be a legend to every In-N-Out associate.”

Another saying, “Thanks for all the laughs and making us relate to one another.”

According to the National Labor Relations Board, the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 2010 to protect employees. This protection also includes work-related conversations that happen on social media.

Unfortunately, a meme page does not constitute a work-related conversation, so Roeloffs could not look to them for help.

“I would really like the page to continue being a place where associates can laugh at themselves and with each other over relatable work experiences.” Roeloffs continues, “It’s been such a fun community in the past, and it continues to make me smile every day.”

Roeloffs is currently pursuing action with In-N-Out and will provide updates.