The Lytle Center’s annual Abiding in Christ Dinner will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Sept. 16 in the Hunter Welcome Center.

The Lytle Center was established in 2015 through a generous donor gift to support character and leadership development across the community. As part of the College of Business Administration, the Center focuses on helping students develop in both character and spiritual leadership. 

Dr. Dennis Marquardt, director of the Lytle Center and associate professor of management, said the dinner is part of the Lytle Center’s efforts to provide spiritual formation opportunities for faculty and staff.

“If we aren’t strong in our faith, then it’s difficult to try to encourage students to have a strong faith too,” he said.

This year’s dinner will feature Lyle Wells, president of Integrus Leadership. Wells is a former educator, pastor and Div. I athlete who has been nationally recognized as a leadership strategist. Marquardt said Wells will encourage faculty and staff to think more collaboratively.

“Lyle Wells is going to try to help us think about what it would be like if we all get on the same page, rely on one another, trust one another, and do some really cool things together,” he said.

Nicole Reed, administrative coordinator at the Lytle Center, said Wells also emphasizes the importance of being humble.

“His big thing is about not allowing yourself, when you get in a leadership role, to not put yourself on a pedestal,” she said. “Remember who put you there and to be able to point the students to Christ, as well.”

Reed is most looking forward to the sense of unity the dinner brings.

“[We] all come together for the common goal of the students,” she said. 

Marquardt said he hopes students recognize that events like this are not just for faculty and staff, but ultimately benefit them as well. He said that as faculty invest in their own spiritual growth, they are better equipped to support students in theirs.

“As a student, I would’ve wanted to know that faculty are really investing in their own spiritual growth,” he said. “It’s all about encouraging us so that we can then be an encouragement to students.”

Information about tickets can be found here.