Office of Student Services

The scope of responsibility of the Student Services division can be realized when the following are considered:

• The first contact most prospective students have with the seminary is through the Admissions office of the Student Services division.
• At least five other offices and departments of the Student Services division impact nearly every aspect of the daily lives of seminarians while they are enrolled and preparing for ministry.
• After graduation, other offices within the Student Services division help graduates locate places to serve, keep in touch with alumni through the Southwestern News magazine and host conferences for continuing education.

The spiritual, physical and emotional support of seminary students and their families has been the focus of Southwestern Seminary from the beginning. Through the early years from the founding of the seminary in 1908, responsibility for this was overseen by various offices including deans of students or the seminary chaplain.

In 1972, the seminary trustees revised the seminary’s administrative structure and created the Student Affairs division and the office of Vice President for Student Affairs. After a two-year vacancy, in 1974 trustees elected Felix Gresham to be the first occupant of that office. He had served the seminary since 1955 variously as seminary chaplain, dean of students, and director of admissions.

In 1980, trustees elected Lawrence Klempnauer to succeed Gresham. Klempnauer retired in 2002 and was succeeded by David McQuitty, who was succeeded by Rudy Gonzalez in 2004. The division’s name was changed to Student Services in 2004.

The Student Services Division is composed of the following departments and centers:

• Office of Admissions
• International Student Services
• Financial Aid
• Church Ministry and Denominational Relations
• Student Life
• The Recreation and Aerobics Center
• The Riley Center at Southwestern
• Campus Chaplain and ministry to families
• Communications
• The Naylor Student Center
• Student Housing
• AV Communications

Office of the Vice President for Student Services

Thomas White, Vice President for Student Services and Communications
Serving since 2004

In October 2006, trustees elected Thomas White as vice president for Student Services and Communications after he served in that position on an interim basis for five months. White came to the office in 2006 after serving as the director of the Riley Center at Southwestern for two years.  In the spring of 2009, Dr. White was also appointed to the position of Associate Professor of Systematic Theology.

White grew up as a country boy in South Carolina with a great spiritual legacy left by his father and grandfather, who both served as Southern Baptist pastors. Elected at age 33, White is one of the youngest men to serve as an executive administrator at Southwestern Seminary. A systematic theologian by training with a focus on the doctrine of the church, he can relate to seminary students on many levels. At one time or another, White has been a deacon, pastor, itinerant preacher, evangelism pastor, children’s minister, Royal Ambassador director, and even the owner and instructor of four karate schools in South Carolina. White holds a fourth degree black belt in Karate, and was the Middleweight World Amateur Sport Karate international champion in 1993 in addition to two state championships.

White earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Divinity degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and Bachelor of Arts and Associate of Arts degrees from Anderson (S.C.) College. He is the editor of a three-volume work titled Selected Articles of James Madison Pendleton, and a contributor and co-editor of First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty published in 2007 by Broadman & Holman Academic.

In 2007, White co-authored with President Paige Patterson a book titled Calling Out the Called. It is designed to assist those who are called to Christian service choose a place for equipping and preparation. It is also useful for pastors to give as a resource to the God-called men and women they are mentoring. This book is available for free to pastors or prospective students who contact the Admissions office.

In 2008, White served as both an editor and contributor to Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, which serves as a compilation of articles seeking to answer the question, "How does the local church - which is often influenced by a consumer-driven, numbers-oriented society - restore integrity and establish purpose?"  The articles which White contributed to this book are the introduction, an article entitled "What Makes Baptism Valid?" and "A Baptist's Theology of the Lord's Supper." 

White's latest publication, which came out in February 2009, is entitled Franchising McChurch: Feeding Our Obsession with Easy Christianity, co-authored with John Mark Yeats.  Franchising McChurch takes an honest look at the rise of consumer-minded ministries and addresses such issues as the blurry line between entertainment and evangelism, a marketing approach to ministry, the warped yardstick for measuring church success, and feel-good messages that avoid tough truths. 

Administrators reporting to the Vice President for Student Services

Kyle Walker, Director for Admissions
Serving since 2010

Anthony Moore, Director of Student Life / The RAC
Serving since 2005

Karen Stetson, Director for International Students
Serving since 1997

Dean Nichols, Campus Chaplain
Serving since 2006

Jon Wood, Director for the Riley Center at Southwestern
Serving since 2007

Jonathan Watson, Director of Student Housing
Serving since 2007

Matt Miller, Director of Photography
Serving since 2003

Dave Wright, Director of Creative Services and Web Services
Serving since 2004

Keith Collier, Director of News and Information
Serving since 2007

Adam Covington, Director of Videography and Event Production
Serving since 2006