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Election Year Assembly:
Former Louisiana Gov.
Bobby Jindal speaks at
CIU
There’s little doubt about it: former
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal believes
in the American dream. It’s that belief
that led him to endorse Florida Senator
Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential
election, and that brought him to speak
in an assembly at Columbia International
University two days before the South
Carolina Republican Presidential Primary.
Jindal described his parents’ immigration
to America from India, and how
their desire to work hard made them
successful in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“They came halfway across the world,”
Jindal said of his parents. “They weren’t
coming to a place, they were coming to
an idea. They were coming to the idea of
freedom and opportunity.”
In addition to a political message,
Jindal also addressed the need for
spiritual revival in the United States,
and took time to answer questions
from his audience, which ranged from
immigration reform to the federal debt.
While some CIU students didn’t fully
agree with Jindal’s political opinions,
many appreciated that CIU brought
in a speaker to inform students about
political issues. Former Texas governor
Rick Perry also visited CIU in April 2015.
Graduate student David
Craft says that even
though some students are
uncomfortable with the
introduction of politically-
oriented assemblies, “It has
at the very least initiated a
plethora of conversation.”
“Either way, this ultimately
serves as an opportunity for
us to sharpen one another
and pour back into our
nation,” Craft added.
CIU
News
Celebrating Reconciliation through Theological
Education
Columbia International University and Allen University in Columbia celebrated the lives
of two professors who worked toward reconciliation through theological education.
The February event on the CIU campus honored Dr. William “Bill” Larkin of CIU and Dr.
Gregory Grooms of Allen University. The revered professors touched countless lives in
their own spheres of influence, but also worked together for the good of the Kingdom
of God beyond their institutions and denominations. Larkin died in 2014 and Grooms
passed away in 2015. The widows of the two professors received plaques in honor of
their husbands’ ministries.
Allen University is a Christian liberal arts institution under the auspices of the African
Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. CIU students and alumni who are AME Church
members joined with several CIU faculty members to plan the event.
The keynote speaker was former CIU Provost Dr. Junias Venugopal, who knew and
worked with both Larkin and Grooms. Today, Venugopal is provost and dean of
education at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He challenged believers to carry on the
professors’ legacy and desire to see the church the way Jesus sees His Church: as one
family.
CIU Alumni Couple Celebrates
101st Birthdays
Columbia International University alumni Will and
Colene Norton have reached milestones that few
can match. Not only has the couple been married
for 76 years, they are both turned 101 years old in
February.
The Nortons met at CIU (then Columbia Bible College) in 1936. After
graduating from CIU and getting married in 1939, they began a long
career together of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Gov. Bobby Jindal speaking
to a CIU Assembly.
The CIU Ambassador Choir
and the Allen University Choir
combine their talents at the event
held in CIU’s Hoke Auditorium.
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CIU Today
Summer 2016
CIU NEWS