Five months after the departure of former university chaplain Cyrus Eaton, the Office of Student Life is still not close to finding his replacement.

Dr. Ryan Richardson, vice president for student life, said that while the chaplain search committee has looked through resumes and conducted interviews with potential candidates, the committee decided to pause and reconsider the spiritual needs of students.

“We just felt like as a committee that the decision of who’s going to come and help steward this process of spiritual care on our campus is too important to rush,” Richardson said.

Describing it as a “season of discernment,” Richardson said the university may make changes to the position, including shifting the chaplain’s job title to “minister” or something similar. Despite the potential change to the title, Richardson said the role’s core priorities will remain the same. 

“We have to have ministers in that space who are able to navigate the gospel message without getting enamored by political divisiveness,” Richardson said. “In other words, people who are able to help our students see that the gospel transcends anything that might take our attention off of Jesus.”

Eaton spent more than five years in the position and served as the university’s first chaplain, coordinating Chapel and mentoring students. He left the role in November to take a job as next gen pastor at Ethos Church in Nashville, but his time in the role still shapes students’ attitudes toward the job.

Isabelle Brenning, sophomore marketing major from Parker, Colorado, said she thinks it is difficult to find someone who can live up to the expectations set by Eaton during his time as chaplain.

“Everybody knew him because he was so involved,” Brenning said. “He just loved the students – the way that he was able to connect with them on a personal level.

She said hiring someone who already knows about the campus culture but also loves it would be beneficial.

“When I think of a chaplain,” Brenning said, “I think of somebody that just loves the Lord and loves his people because that’s what one of God’s commandments is: to love God and love people.”

Ty Szydlowski, freshman agribusiness major from Argyle, said students need someone they want to listen to and who can deeply connect with them. That could be accomplished by hiring an alum.

“Someone could walk up on stage and say some really good stuff, but those kids have no idea what kind of person that actually is,” Szydlowski said.

He said he hopes to see a chaplain who can tell students, “I’ve been in your shoes.” 

“So having a constant and stable kind of person to be there and give those talks and draw from their experiences to be able to relate to the students,” he said.

Richardson said the search will continue in the summer and believes the role will be filled by the start of the fall 2024 semester.