Blog

Let Me Be Frank After three decades of service at GWU, Dr. Frank Bonner will retire as president in January 2019. He offers these blog entries as reflections on his experience and thoughts about the future of Christian higher education

Messages to Gardner-Webb Students

The following is a transcript of President Emeritus Frank Bonner\u27s messages to the Gardner-Webb student body from 2014-2018

Retirement Announcement

The following is the press release announcing the retirement of Dr. Frank Bonner, President Emeritus

Gardner-Webb Presents the 2011 Advent Devotional Book

Dear Gardner-Webb Family and Friends, It is my pleasure to bring you Christmas greetings, and to present Gardner-Webb University’s 2011 Advent Devotional Book. The season of Advent is a very special time for Christians, a time to anticipate the coming of Emmanuel and the emergence of His grace in our lives.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2962/thumbnail.jp

Gardner-Webb University Presents 2013 Advent Devotional Book

Dear Gardner-Webb Family and Friends, It is my pleasure to bring you Christmas greetings, and to present the 2013 Advent Devotional Book. The season of Advent is a very special time for Christians, a time to anticipate the coming of Emmanuel and the emergence of His grace in our lives. But Advent is also important corporately, for the Church and for our University, because it is in Christ’s appearance among us that we find our true identity.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2513/thumbnail.jp

Gardner-Webb University Presents the 2012 Advent Devotional Book

Dear Friends, Christmas greetings from Gardner-Webb! It is my privilege to present the 2012 Advent Devotional Book. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian best known for his imprisonment and eventual execution for resisting the Nazis’ genocidal regime, once wrote, “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes…and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.”https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2723/thumbnail.jp

True North: A Message from Dr. Frank Bonner

In his very fine book entitled “College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What it Means for Students,” Jeffrey J. Selingo suggests that “American higher education is broken” (p. x). The titles alone of some recent books on higher education might lead one to agree: Richard Arum, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses;” Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman, “Why Does College Cost so Much?;” and Derek Bok, “Our Underachieving Colleges.”https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2612/thumbnail.jp

College Presidents: Losing Sleep for the Wrong Reasons — Dr. Frank Bonner, GWU President

College and university presidents may be losing sleep for the wrong reasons. Economic challenges are all too familiar. If you are a public institution president, you are probably dealing with significant cutbacks of state funding, along with almost all of the worries of private college presidents — endowment return, maintaining enrollment in the face of spiraling costs for our students, pressure to hold down tuition increases, our own increasing expenses, and economic stresses on our donors.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2830/thumbnail.jp

President’s Letter to GWU Students – March 7, 2012

Dear Students, As I’m sure you’re aware, two of our students were robbed at gunpoint last night in their residence hall. I am very proud of the victims for their courage in immediately alerting University Police, and I am also proud of the student body’s prompt and careful response to the text message alerts and internet notifications. We are blessed that none of you are hurt.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2909/thumbnail.jp