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seriously considered it – decided to pay his first visit to Biola.
With Green and another close college friend, Whittier resident Mike
Leahy, Corey explored the quiet nighttime campus. After ducking into the
small prayer chapel, they settled into a pew and lifted their voices to God.
“We prayed the Lord would do great things in our lives for our
generation,” Corey said. “It wasn’t, ‘Lord, give me this job.’ It was, ‘Lord,
do something in my life.’”
By that time Corey’s name was being submitted to the search
committee by a Christian college provost who had come to know him over
the recent years. So with some encouragement, Corey decided to submit
his application to Biola’s search consultants. He began to craft a series of
essays detailing his background and his possible role at the University.
“As I allowed myself to get into this process, I became increasingly
excited that this is a school where God has done great things,” Corey said.
“It has a great heart and heritage. The core convictions really link to my
own core convictions. But again, I was in the passenger seat, I was not in
the driver’s seat.”
By spring, Corey had landed on the short list of candidates for the
position.
“The way (he) wrote, the way he expressed his faith, the way he
articulated his view of the world and his excitement about what he might
do as Biola’s president – from the very start there was agreement that
there was something very special (about him),” said Ken Bascom, who cochaired
the Search Advisory Committee, a group of faculty and staff
members charged with providing recommendations to the Presidential
Search Team.
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After extensive reference checks, lengthy discussions and a pair of
in-depth interviews, Corey had the overwhelming support of both the
search team and committee. Corey’s depth of experience, knowledge and
character – and his eloquence in expressing that depth – clearly set him
apart, said Bascom, senior director of facilities planning and
construction.
“The ability to stand before a public audience and represent Biola in
the world of ideas with grace and with power, I think that’s a very
important trait for our president,” Bascom said. “There’s nobody else who
gets to speak as the sole representative of the University, and I think he’s
equipped to do that.”
From the faculty standpoint, committee members were impressed
by Corey’s wide academic experience as a dean, professor and Fulbright
scholar, said Todd Lewis, a committee member and chair of the
Department of Communication Studies. And whereas some of Biola’s
past presidents could be classified primarily as pastors or missionaries or
academics, Corey’s background included some of each area, Lewis said.
“To have somebody who had all of those, that was pretty remarkable,”
he said.
On April 30, University leaders unveiled Corey to the Biola
community as the final candidate. A whirlwind visit to Biola’s campus a
week later would help to determine the Board of Trustees’ final decision.
Over four jam-packed days, Corey spoke in chapels, dined with
students, toured the campus and led a devotional with the Board. In hour
after hour of question-and-answer sessions, Corey put his voice and
mind to a test of endurance, as curious staff and faculty members
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