Lindsey Wilson College

LWC Trustee Appreciation & Endowed Scholarship Luncheon held for the first time in three years

Trustee Luncheon Fall 22Pictured: LWC Christian ministries graduate Rev. Matthew Abel ’17 provides the keynote address on Friday, Oct. 28, at Lindsey Wilson College's Trustee Appreciation & Endowed Scholarship Recognition Luncheon. Abel, an Elizabethtown, Kentucky, native currently serves as Associate Pastor and Youth Minister at Florence United Methodist Church in Florence, Kentucky. Looking on is LWC trustee Jim Fugitte who served as emcee for the event. 

COLUMBIA, KY. – The importance of generosity and the extraordinary opportunity found at a small college on a “humble hill” were the recurrent themes heard on Friday, October 28, 2022 at Lindsey Wilson College's Trustee Appreciation & Endowed Scholarship Recognition Luncheon.

LWC education senior Dana Watts from Russell Springs, Kentucky, provided the student perspective for the event. 

The keynote speaker, 2017 Christian ministries graduate Rev. Matthew Abel, reflected on his time at LWC and the transformation he experienced as a student learning to be a leader in the Methodist church.  

“I knew the first day that I set foot on the A.P. White Campus that I had found my college home,” said Abel, an Elizabethtown, Kentucky, native who is currently serving as Associate Pastor and Youth Minister at Florence United Methodist Church in Florence, Kentucky. “Lindsey is where I met my incredible wife, it’s where I met some of my best friends, and it's where I fell back in love with Jesus Christ and began pursuing a call to the ministry.”

Abel and his wife, Carolyn, established the Abel Endowment for Campus Ministry. He says he learned the importance of giving back as a student after experiencing the benevolence and generosity of the trustees, alumni and friends of LWC. 

“Seeing the example of your generosity and what it did for our lives ignited in us a willingness and a desire to give back to this college, this community and to students for generations to come,” Abel said. 

President William T. Luckey Jr., echoed Abel’s sentiments when he told the more than 250 guests in attendance how the College has experienced record-setting enrollment and retention; the largest-ever graduating class; and a notable year in gift income in the past year. 

“Total gift income from all alumni and friends surpassed $4.46 million, the third-largest total in college history,” said Luckey who is serving his 25th year as president of LWC. “Our unrestricted giving, which we use to help provide scholarships for students and support the operating budget, came in at $1,873,000 – the highest ever .”

The other record-setting accomplishments cited by Luckey include:

  • The record-setting total enrollment of 3,097 students for the 2022-23 academic year.
  • The fall-to-fall retention rate increase of 17 percentage points.  
  • The 632 graduates of the Class of 2022 – the largest-ever graduating class in the 119-year history of the College. 
  • The most-ever estate gifts in a single year of $1.28 million.  

Abel summarized his experience at LWC by giving credit to the College community. 

“It’s thanks to the dedication of the faculty and staff to the LWC motto, every student, every day, that empowers leaders to leave from this humble hill in Columbia to go to the far corners of the globe and make a difference wherever they go.”

More: 

• To give now to Lindsey Wilson College, go to: www.lindsey.edu/giving.

• Click here to see a photo blog from the 2022 LWC Trustee Appreciation & Endowed Scholarship Recognition Luncheon on Oct. 28.

• Click here to go back to www.lindsey.edu

For more information about endowed scholarships, estate planning and other giving opportunities, email alumni@lindsey.edu or call 270-384-8400.