Matt Blackledge, Air Force Reserves, leads worship at a prayer night on Calvary’s campus.
Vets and Reservists use Military Tuition Assistance to study Scripture and get marketable degrees.
Sgt Jonathan Haggard USMC (ret) served in the Marine Corps for eight years before coming to Calvary University to pursue his bachelor’s degree. He was searching for a local university to use his GI Bill and chose Calvary because it was close, “and the fact that it wasn’t just a Bible college,” but offered a range of widely marketable degrees in business, education, performance arts.
Haggard is studying Business Administration and Organizational Leadership, building off of the skills he acquired during his military tenure. Leadership training was one of the reasons Haggard joined the Marine Corps. He referenced the Marine concept of JJDIDTIEBUCKLE, an acronym for Judgement Justice Dependability Integrity Decisiveness Tact Initiative Endurance Bearing Unselfishness Courage Knowledge Loyalty Enthusiasm. “Those are leadership traits Marines are supposed to have. And I would say they all fit into Christian values.” Haggard’s time in the military was “training to be a leader. And as Christians, we’re called to leadership.”
Matthew Blackledge joined the Air Force Reserves three years ago, and currently pursues a master’s degree in Bible and Theology through the Air Force’s Military Tuition Assistance (TA). “I knew I wanted to go to a place to study the Bible, that’s always been my passion. And also, I had a goal to not go into debt at college. That was a big deal.” Calvary’s commitment to biblical education, keeping costs low, and working with TA met all of Blackledge’s criteria. Now that he’s here, he said, “I actually think I want to keep going and go all the way to PhD. Because when I’m 70, I want teach. I want to tell the story of the Bible.”
Calvary is proud to partner with veterans and enlisted soldiers to provide quality education, equipping them to live and serve, in the church and in the world, according to the biblical worldview.
Calvary University is approved by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs for the training of veterans.
Calvary University is a member of the DoD Voluntary Education Partnership.
