Pedersen Residential College
Named after long-time DBU donors and friends Dr. Herb and Barbara Pedersen (Dr. Pedersen also served on the Board of Trustees), the University’s first Residential College was established to cultivate deeper growth in servant leadership through special programming that focuses on intensive academic, spiritual, and professional development. “The motto of Pedersen Residential College is to serve and to be served by. Our desire is to learn how to serve the Lord, one another, our campus family, and the community locally and globally,” says Chris Holloway, who serves as founding director of the new living-learning community housed at Ford Village.
The college’s interdisciplinary program mixes students of various majors throughout each of its eight houses, split evenly between men and women,
with each house led by a junior, senior, or graduate student mentor. House mentors are committed to doing life with residents and, in conjunction with the director, select the curriculum for their housemates to walk through together. Mentors meet one-on-one with residents twice a month, and then the whole house comes together over breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a late-night snack for group discussion and reflection.“In a world that is going crazy and is so fast-paced, the students make it a priority to gather together and slow down each week to be with one another,” says Holloway.
Each house also has one faculty/staff sponsor who adds enrichment to the mentoring experience and helps bridge the gap between academic and social life. House mentors meet regularly to have dinner together, pray, and talk through ways to best serve residents as well as one another.
"In a world that is going crazy and is so fast-paced, the students make it a priority to gather together and slow down each week to be with one another"
In addition to the monthly house meal, an even larger Family Gathering brings all eight houses together for dinner and the opportunity to hear insightful messages on academic, spiritual, and professional topics shared by special guest speakers. Other events engage the entire campus community through hosting charcuterie nights, roundnet tournaments, a Ford Village Fall Food Fair, and other activities.
“Whether it’s approving curriculum, cooking meals, or playing spike ball, my life is lived with intentionality in investing in college students,” says Holloway, whose genuine heart for student ministry and infectious joy is well known throughout the DBU community.
“I have the privilege to live among the students, and this opportunity provides meaningful times of instruction, conversation, and fun. I wish I had a Ford Village when I was an upperclassmen student. I wake up each day and am in awe that the Lord has called me to do this work. I see students entering community in ways that help them draw closer to the Lord and each other, and I see them being refined in their skills and receiving instruction and guidance to better prepare them for their future.”
