GREENEVILLE – With generous community support, Tusculum University has doubled what it received in 2025 to support scholarships for its Discipleship Living-Learning Center.
Student Ana Kotynski gives her remarks.
Tusculum collected $75,000 in pre-event ticket sales and on-site donations during the Christian Leadership Dinner Thursday, May 7. The funds will provide $2,000 scholarships for students who reside in the center and who serve as dorm chaplains in three traditional residence halls in the 2026-2027 academic year.
The possibility remains for the total raised to climb further with donations from others who wanted more time to consider making a gift. Those who are still interested in contributing can visit www.tusculum.edu/giving and select the Christian Leadership Institute from the drop-down menu.
“We are extraordinarily grateful to the community for joining us in fulfilling the Great Commission and bringing our students closer to God,” said Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president. “As a Christian institution, Tusculum is focused on not only providing our students with an outstanding education but also enriching their faith so they have success in their chosen profession and lead lives rooted in a strong relationship with Jesus. These outstanding donation results enable us to achieve our goal of creating additional disciples to spread the Good News.”
Dr. Hummel said some young adults can become disconnected from their faith during their college years or view their upbringing as simply following their parents’ direction. Some can go to college and find hostility toward their beliefs.
“At Tusculum University, our students are able to grow in their faith,” he said. “They’re also able to discover their faith. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to be the president at Tusculum University and to have seen a number of students who have given their lives to Christ and have been baptized. I think there is a hunger among college-aged students for Christ that hasn’t been there for a long time.”
Honoring Jeff and Lisa Idell
Dr. Scott Hummel, right, presents a lantern to Jeff, left, and Lisa Idell as part of their selection for the Christian Leadership Award.
Early in the event, which brought 224 people to Pioneer Arena, Dr. Hummel presented the Christian Leadership Award to Jeff and Lisa Idell. Jeff serves as CEO of Idell Construction, which has undertaken many residential and commercial projects in Greene County. That includes Pioneer Park, where the Tusculum Pioneers and the Greeneville Flyboys play baseball. He has also been extensively involved in the community, serving as president of AIDNET and on the local and national boards of Isaiah 117 House.
Jeff and Lisa have been major leaders in Young Life in Greene County, another faith-based organization. He is a deacon at First Baptist Church, and she has been extensively involved in church activities through the years. She served as a stay-at-home mother for the couple’s two sons, Josh and Jordan.
Prior to the Idells receiving an award, the audience watched a 10-minute tribute video, which included comments from the couple as well as remarks from family members and other individuals about Jeff and Lisa’s positive impact on them and the community. The video is available at https://youtu.be/d_tARxkhCA0.
Details about the center
The rest of the event highlighted the Discipleship Living-Learning Center and the students who are part of it.
Dr. Scott Hummel addresses the audience.
The center, which falls under the Christian Leadership Institute, provides one university-owned house for males and another for females. A grant from the Tweed Family Foundation has provided the funds to conduct a light renovation of a third university house. That will also be designated for males based on the current numbers of students projected to live in the center in the fall. Tusculum has provided housing for 17 students in the center during the academic year that is ending now, but the addition of the third house will provide space for about 35 students.
Through Bible studies, mentorship and ministry engagement, the center provides a Christ-centered environment where first- and second-year students are discipled, strengthened in their faith and formed for lives of service and leadership. Also living with them are peer mentors – older students who work one-on-one with the others living in the house to support them and build community within the house.
There will be a connection between the house and the Idells. As a result of the strong fundraising amount raised May 7, Tusculum will be able to name the female house after the couple. The university will hold a ceremony at a future date.
The perspectives of university leaders
As he reflected on the last year, the Rev. E.J. Swatsell, director of spiritual life and special projects, who ministers to the students in the center, had warm memories.
Dr. David Cook discusses the Discipleship Living-Learning Center and the new dorm chaplains.
“It has really been an honor to walk with them through this year,” he said. “They have been very patient with us as we have navigated the first year of this program. They come from many different backgrounds and have had different experiences in their Christian testimony. They all love Jesus, and I am glad to be a part of that. In our discipleship and study times, they have challenged me with their questions because they are not babes in the woods in their walk with Jesus. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Dr. David Cook, provost and vice president of academic affairs, who often led Bible study sessions in the fall, had similar thoughts.
“I saw students grow in confidence in their faith,” he said. “I saw friendships form that were rooted in something deeper than convenience or proximity. And I saw young men and women begin to take real ownership of their spiritual lives. That’s what this is about: not just housing, not just programming, but spiritual transformation.”
Thoughts from students
Ana Kotynski, one of the female students, shared her experience in the center. She is a freshman sport science pre-physical therapy/occupational therapy major who made a last-minute decision to come to Tusculum. She had thought about other ways to spend the year but said God led her to the university. She heard about the center and knew she wanted to be part of it.
“Living in this house with like-minded women has been a great blessing,” Kotynski said. “I have grown friendships, grown in my faith and learned to live alongside these girls. This house has truly felt like a home away from home. And we love doing things together. We’ve had movie nights, study sessions for finals and crafts, and we even planted a mini-garden. When it snowed the day before we left for winter break, a few of us went outside to play in the snow and spend time together. We also love to celebrate each other’s birthdays. We support each other through assignments, studying – especially during finals week – and in our faith.”
She said students in the center have engaged in Bible studies and attended Sunday night church services together. She has fond memories of serving in a soup kitchen in Kingsport, preparing food and spending time with children. She also mentioned the group packing 50 shoeboxes in support of Operation Christmas Child, a project run by Samaritan’s Purse.
“Because this was the first year for the Discipleship Living-Learning Center, none of us knew exactly what to expect,” Kotynski said. “However, I believe this program has great potential for changing lives through Jesus, growing in fellowship with one another and learning how to disciple our peers on campus. I am excited to see the program grow and flourish as it continues into this next year, and I am so looking forward to being a part of it.”
The Rev. E.J. Swatsell, standing, leads the panel discussion with, left to right, Rio Little, Danielle Dugger, Noah Brown and Nour Nabi.
Swatsell presided over a panel discussion with other students in the center – Noah Brown, Danielle Dugger, Rio Little and Nour Nabi.
“I wanted something where I could really have a foundation and be rooted in Christ,” said Nabi, who is from Northern Virginia and is in the business administration program at Tusculum. “I wanted to know what it feels like to have brothers and sisters who are going to grow with me and help me out. Coming here and realizing that this was a place where I could do that was the biggest thing for me.”
Brown, a freshman from Johnson County in Tennessee who is also pursuing the pre-physical therapy/occupational therapy degree, said one of his favorite memories of this year came early in the spring semester when all of the male students were sitting together in their house.
“I think we were watching a movie or something,” he said. “And we just started talking about God and how He’s impacted our life over this last semester and how we could see the change in each and every one of us, how helpful God has been to us and how He’s teaching us how to go and where to go.”
Dugger, who is seeking a degree in special education, referenced the visit to the soup kitchen, where she ended up assisting with the children. She said she has always had a soft heart for children, especially those with special needs. One of the girls with whom she visited had never spoken during visits to the soup kitchen. As Dugger played with her, the girl suddenly started talking – to the surprise of everyone.
“I knew right then that I was doing what the Lord wanted me to do, and the center was bringing me closer to it” Dugger said. “I just felt God’s calling to help these special needs children was completely fulfilled.”
Little believes dorm chaplains in the residence halls, in addition to students living in the center, are a great idea.
“Having a dorm chaplain in a freshman dorm is a valuable asset to students who want to discuss their spiritual lives,” he said. “Providing a dorm chaplain to the living spaces is one of the essential assets of being a Christian university.”
Dr. Cook seconded Little’s perspective about the dorm chaplains, who will be selected from students currently living in the center.
“Their role will be simple but powerful,” he said “They will lead weekly Bible studies, they will pray with and for students, they will serve as spiritual mentors and they will be a consistent, visible presence of Christ in the everyday life of our campus. From the very beginning, our goal has never been just to disciple students. Our goal has been to create disciple-makers – students who are poured into and then go out and pour into others.”
More information about campus ministries is available at https://site.tusculum.edu/campus-ministries/. To discuss supporting the center and other initiatives with the institute, please email Swatsell at eswatsell@tusculum.edu. More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.