Columbia International University’s 2022 Homecoming included some reminiscing from a couple of well-known alumni. And a bit of true confessions.

“I was such an awkward kid,” confessed Grammy and Dove-Award winning singer/songwriter Laura Story during her Homecoming concert that bridged CIU’s Future of Global Mission Conference and Homecoming Weekend. “Only God knew that He would do something through the life of such an ordinary kid.”

Story, who graduated from CIU in 2003, recalled the grace shown to her by New Testament Professor Dr.Kevin McWilliams who still teaches at CIU and was in the concert audience. She fought back tears recalling how after she had turned in a sub-par class assignment, McWilliams and his wife Laine, a longtime CIU staff member, worked to help her improve.

“To show you what kind of school CIU is … he and Laine invited me to their house and really showed me how to study,” Story added.

Meanwhile, Christian author and retired pastor Rob Morgan returned to his former dorm room in Memorial Residence Hall where the 1974 graduate tweeted a video from the spot where in 1971, he says, “I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It was shortly after that, that he read Psalm 139.    

“I saw you before you were born and scheduled each day of your life before you began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book,” Morgan recited. “That was the beginning of the enthusiasm that God gave me that has never gone away,” he added.

Morgan has more than 35 books in print and approximately five million copies in circulation in multiple languages. He was the featured speaker at Homecoming’s President’s Lunch where among those celebrating reunions was the Class of ’62, some of the first students to study on the Monticello Road campus after the school moved from downtown.

Ann Dye from the Class of ’62 includes among her fondest CIU memories, her marriage to Dick Dye. It was the second wedding ever held in the new Shortess Chapel, and was officiated by her father and revered CIU Professor Buck Hatch.

“It was like a big party,” Ann Dye recalled. “Isn’t that what a wedding should be?”

Other Homecoming ’22 activities included a Youth Ministry Alumni Reunion Brunch attended by nearly 80 alumni.

Homecoming 2023 will be the Grand Finale of CIU’s 100^th anniversary celebration. See all the 100^th anniversary activities at ciu.edu/100.

CIU is celebrating 100 years of its mission to “educate people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ." The university consistently ranks among the Top Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report, as well as a Best Value Regional University in the South. Apply now or request information on enrollment by contacting Admissions at (803) 807-5024 or admissions@ciu.edu.