By Baptist Message staff
PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Christian University has narrowed down its list of candidates for the next president to five individuals.
According to Presidential Search Committee Chairman Tommy Kiker, the committee met Dec. 11 and chose the finalists from a list of nine semi-finalists.
“What I am most encouraged by is that I believe we are trying to pull the best fit and follow God’s direction in making this decision among a pool of excellent candidates,” Kiker, also pastor of East Leesville Baptist Church, told the Baptist Message. “Any one of these five men, I’d be proud to introduce as LCU’s next candidate.
“Pray that God would give us wisdom and make it very clear the choice He has for LCU,” he said. “There is really not a bad selection among this group. We don’t just want a good choice; We want God’s choice.”
The committee will conduct in-person interviews with the finalists in January and hope to have a final candidate by the time the board of trustees meet Feb. 25.
LCU has conducted a nationwide search for the 10th president of the nearly 120-year-old institution since June. Since then, the search committee has received applications and recommendations from alumni, community members and other parties.
More than 100 candidates showed interest, were recommended, or were contacted throughout the search and from there, 19 candidates completed the full application process before the semifinalists were chosen.
The committee members include four trustees and two LCU faculty members. The members were voted on and approved by the full board at the spring board meeting.
In addition, the search committee enlisted the firm of CarterBaldwin Executive Search, one of the top 50 executive search firms in the United States that has completed more than 200 executive placements in higher education, K-12 schools, foundations and nonprofit organizations in the last five years, many of which are faith-based or church-related organizations.
David Jeffreys has been serving as LCU’s acting president since the spring retirement of Rick Brewer, who served as the 9th president of the institution since February 2015. Jeffreys served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the university under Brewer since January 2022.
