Dearest Sattler Stakeholders,

Here is Presidential Newsletter #4. Onward to power, love, and sound minds (2 Tim 1:7).

Sattler Commencement 2024

• It is a joy to announce that we successfully graduated our third class at our 2024 Commencement on May 18, 2024, where Dr. George Kalantzis delivered the convocation address. I often recommend his book titled Caesar and the Lamb. 
• We awarded 21 bachelor’s degrees and 11 certificates. 

Summer Happenings

• In lieu of high school week we piloted a new event called Discover Boston. This summer camp gave teens the opportunity to spend two days exploring one of America’s oldest cities—a city of beautiful architecture, prestigious museums, vibrant culture, and historic landmarks. If you are interested in signing up for next summer, keep an eye out next spring for a registration link! 
• As of August 1, Sattler’s applications for fall 2025 are open! If you know of any students who are interested in attending, please encourage them to apply early so our admissions team can engage with them.

Announcing the Class of 2028

• We are thrilled to have welcomed the class of 2028. This class of 22 students comes from 11 states plus 6 international countries. The class is evenly split between male and female, and their average age is 22. 
• Each year, we kick off the academic year by traveling to Toah Nipi Retreat Center on the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. There, our staff, faculty, and student leadership welcome our new students, encouraging them to bond with one another and even climb Mt. Monadnock together. 

Convocation

• We open each academic year with a convocation ceremony. Dr. Benjamin Harris delivered the faculty remarks and Conrad Stoltzfus (Sattler Class of 2025) welcomed the new students as the student body president. One new student was intimidated by the faculty regalia but was encouraged that at least one faculty member was caught flapping around like a penguin—confirming that while we appreciate pomp and circumstance, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
• Notably, this is Sattler’s first year of Entrustment T̶u̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶. To my knowledge, we are the only college in the country who does not accept state/federal funds while also not charging students tuition.
• Here is our 2024-2025 Academic Year Course Catalog in case you are interested in seeing the courses being offered this year.

Podcast Episodes

• In My Element: Reshaping a Life for Eternal Impact with a Class of 2023 alum
• The Founding and Future of Sattler College with Finny Kuruvilla
• We are excited to begin Season 2 of the Sattler Podcast this fall—try not to lose sleep in anticipation of the first episode.

Events

• You are invited to our 2024 Fall Open House on October 18 and 19. Don’t miss this opportunity to visit our campus, participate in student life, and tour the city of Boston! 

Known Alumni Highlights

• Bryant Miller (Class of 2022) recently published a paper as second author in Nature Chemistry. His research involved further development of his capstone project on HECT ubiquitin ligases in the Cole Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Nature is one of the premier peer reviewed journals in biomedical research, making this a phenomenal achievement for Bryant and the Cole lab.
• Joy Weiler (Class of 2022) spent part of her summer at a hospital in Zambia as part of a global health team with fellow medical students from Penn State College of Medicine.
• Jeremy Weaver (Class of 2024) was accepted into the JD program at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law with the prestigious Dean’s Merit Scholarship, covering the full cost of tuition! Read more about his journey here. 
• We recently released many capstone videos highlighting projects by our Class of 2024. You can watch them here.

Strong Retention Numbers

• We updated our retention data and think the numbers speak for themselves.
• Compared to the national average data, we have done more than 10% better than the national average for 1-year retention of full-time students, and a bit better than the national average on the 6-year graduation rate. Our 5-year graduation rate (~71%) for the two graduating classes represented in our data is actually better than the national average for 4-year private non-profit institutions (~68%). Compared to the national average for private non-profit colleges only, however, we are trailing very slightly. Compared locally, our 4-year graduation rate is on par with or better than the other private Christian colleges around us. 
• Since 2022, however, our retention numbers are really phenomenal, and they outshine most schools. This is a testament to all of the Sattler staff making such a welcome environment that almost everyone has stayed with us.

5-Pearl Friday

• We plan to revive a former tradition by offering a weekly email with tea time pearls and other highlights at Sattler. Look for the first one next Friday!

Comings and Goings

• The beloved Clark Wray will be transitioning to a fractional Chief Information Officer role and beginning another full-time position in the Boston area. During the first week of the semester, we celebrated and honored Clark’s service to Sattler College from 2018-2024.
• Dr. Edwin Imasuen will be joining Sattler on September 3 as our Chief Administrative Officer. Dr. Imasuen comes to us from North Carolina, where he served as Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness at Halifax Community College.
• I am also thrilled to announce that Jose Diaz has joined Sattler College as our Greek professor. Mr. Diaz specializes in communicative Greek instruction and aims to develop lifelong readers of the Scriptures in the original languages. I am confident that his passion for the Scriptures and the Greek language will have a lasting impact on our community.

Yours for Christ,