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���ϳԹ��� will expand student vocational formation through the Vocations in Faith Fellows Program, supported by a $49,228 grant from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) through the NetVUE initiative.

The grant supports the Fellows Program, housed in the Clemmer-Long Center for Vocation and Purpose. The program is designed to help students explore calling and leadership through immersive experiences in faith-based communities and service organizations.

“The initiative reflects Lenoir-Rhyne’s broader institutional strategy to integrate vocation and experiential learning across the student experience,” said Loury Ollison Floyd, Ph.D., assistant provost for academic operations

Through the Fellows Program, undergraduate students will engage in vocational discernment that connects classroom learning with real-world experience in congregations and nonprofit organizations. The program helps students better understand vocation not as a single career path but as an ongoing process shaped by community, service and reflection.

“Students will be engaged both in congregational life and in nonprofit settings closely connected to those congregations, developing leadership skills across both ministry and nonprofit contexts,” said Debbie Tonnesen ’88, M.A. ’24, director of the Clemmer-Long Center for Vocation and Purpose.

Regional partnerships are central to the program’s design, with congregations in Hickory, Taylorsville and Morganton already engaged to support the initiative. Several local clergy members provided letters of support during the grant application process and are expected to play active roles in hosting and mentoring students.

The presence of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) in Hickory also strengthens the program’s ability to expand and deepen community partnerships by building on existing relationships developed through academic programs and internship experiences.

“Having LTSS involved will give us even more opportunities to strengthen and expand our community partnerships and this grant allows us to grow those relationships in a more intentional way,” Tonnesen said.

For students, the Fellows Program creates a structured yet flexible pathway for exploring vocation through hands-on experience, mentoring and reflection. University leaders say the goal is to help students connect their academic work with a deeper understanding of purpose and leadership and they invite faculty and staff to take part in identifying candidates for the program and supporting participants in their academic work.

“This is about helping students discover who they are and how they can make a difference in the world,” Floyd said. “It’s about giving them the space and the experiences to connect their learning, their faith and their sense of purpose in a way that will stay with them long after they leave Lenoir-Rhyne.”