OBU President Emeritus Urges Union Graduates to Stand for Moral, Ethical Integrity
Today’s society needs “a new breed of thinkers and doers” that will stand for moral and ethical integrity, said the president emeritus of Oklahoma Baptist University to graduates of Union University.
Like the age in which Daniel lived, today’s world is one of major change and transition, continued Bob Agee, who is also a former Union University administrator and a 1960 graduate of Union. At Union’s commencement service on Dec. 17 at West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn., Agee used Daniel and his three friends in Babylon as example for graduates to imitate as they navigate such a world.
“They were willing to become a counter culture, to represent a totally different perspective in the midst of a major cultural and social revolution,” Agee said, according to Union. “And they made a difference.”
The former administrator told graduates that they should be willing to take risks to hold high standards of morality, pursue their work with excellence and live for divine approval.
“The world is working overtime to convince you that God’s way is irrelevant and out of date,” Agee continued. “It takes a tremendous step of faith to commit yourself to the notion that God’s way is better than the world’s way, and work at living that with conviction and consistency.”
During the commencement service, 250 Union University students were awarded their degrees. Agee, who currently serves as the executive director of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools and director for the master in Christian studies degree program at Union, was presented the annual Robert E. Craig Service Award – an award named after the university’s 13th president, who led the university for more than two decades and was responsible for reestablishing Union with the churches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
“[Agee] is recognized as a leader among leaders in the field of Christian higher education,” said Union University President David Dockery, who presented Agee with the award. “He is a great friend of Union University and a special friend to this administration, and we thank God for him.”
According to Union, Agee served as vice president for religious affairs, professor of practical studies in the religion department and as special assistant to the president for institutional planning at Union before taking the helm at OBU in 1982. He served as OBU president for 16 years, and in 1998 was selected as the executive director of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools.
