NACCAP Board Spotlight: Dr. Dee McDonald, Crown College

Host: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Higher Ed Higher Purpose Podcast, a podcast designed for NatCap members, prospective students and their families.

Phil: 00:00:10

For those who may have been listening.

Phil: 00:00:11

The last few weeks, we've been focusing our interviews on NatCap members and NatCap institutions, but specifically members of our Board of directors.

Phil: 00:00:19

And we're very excited to have the newest member of our board of Directors with us today, Dr.

Phil: 00:00:25

Dee McDonald.

Phil: 00:00:26

Dee, thanks for being with us on our podcast.

Dee McDonald: 00:00:28

Yeah, my pleasure.

Dee McDonald: 00:00:30

Glad to be here.

Phil: 00:00:31

And we want to do the formal intro, of course.

Phil: 00:00:33

t Crown College since June of: 2022

Phil: 00:00:56

Oh, we gotta talk about that, Dee.

Phil: 00:00:57

I didn't know that.

Phil: 00:00:57

Dee has a BS and MBA from Olivet Naz and a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Southeastern University.

Phil: 00:01:04

Deeply committed to building healthy teams and systems through an authentic approach and developing leaders and fathers impact both their institutions and Christian higher education.

Phil: 00:01:13

Dee is married to his high school sweetheart, Amanda, and they have two beautiful children.

Phil: 00:01:18

Dee, thanks again for being with us and honoring us with your service on the board as well.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:23

Absolutely.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:24

Yeah.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:24

You.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:25

You'll probably have at least one watcher and listener.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:27

I'm guessing Amanda will be on here.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:29

She's my biggest fan and I love her, so hopefully at least one.

Phil: 00:01:33

I can't even get my wife to be a part of this.

Phil: 00:01:36

I'm sure Heidi's husband, Ryan, he probably watches, but my wife, Tanya.

Phil: 00:01:39

No, shout out, Tanya, if you're listening to it.

Phil: 00:01:41

So.

Phil: 00:01:41

Well, I'm glad she'll be listening.

Phil: 00:01:43

And Dee, that might be a good place to start.

Phil: 00:01:46

We talked yesterday.

Phil: 00:01:47

We had a meeting yesterday.

Phil: 00:01:48

We're getting ready for our board meeting next week.

Phil: 00:01:49

But.

Phil: 00:01:50

But your family is very important to you.

Phil: 00:01:52

You're in that college search process now.

Phil: 00:01:54

Talk a little bit about that, your family, just a little bit about Amanda and your family.

Phil: 00:01:57

We'd love to hear that.

Dee McDonald: 00:01:59

Yeah.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:00

My wife and I started dating right after we won state in baseball, right after my junior year.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:06

So I attribute that to the success on the field.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:10

It was the big man on campus that, you know, it was.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:13

That was the attraction there, which is completely not the case.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:17

She could care less.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:18

She was a great athlete in her own right.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:20

So she was like, yeah, whatever.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:23

But we dated for about seven years before we got married, and so we've been together for about 24 years now.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:31

And yeah, I can't imagine life without her.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:35

We've now been together longer than we.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:37

We weren't before that.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:38

So that's an interesting point.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:40

When you hit that, you're like, I don't remember pre, pre Amanda.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:43

So then we've got a 16 year old son, he just got his driver's license.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:47

So stay off the road, stay off the sidewalks, you're not safe anywhere.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:52

And so we're trying to figure that out.

Dee McDonald: 00:02:55

And then we've got a 10 year old little girl along with a couple of other bonus kids that we have loved on and picked up and added to our family along the way from Southeastern or Crown or different places.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:06

So some college kids that have become like family and we call them our bonus kids.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:11

So that's been a real pleasure and just an enjoyment to see how God works and brings people into your story as they need it, as you need it and as everything happens for his purposes.

Phil: 00:03:24

Well, you know that interesting about a 16 year old male driving and driving, getting driver's license.

Phil: 00:03:29

Heidi's not there yet I suppose, but close to it.

Phil: 00:03:31

I have two daughters and a son, so my son is the youngest.

Phil: 00:03:34

So I thanked God every day.

Phil: 00:03:36

He didn't start driving TILL he was 18 because his sisters drove him around because that 16 year old mail, insurance.

Phil: 00:03:42

Come on, that's.

Phil: 00:03:43

It's deep in Minnesota.

Phil: 00:03:44

It wasn't Tennessee back in my day.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:46

It's brutal.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:47

Yeah.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:48

Thankfully he had a really good fall semester with his grades so we got that, that good grade discount.

Dee McDonald: 00:03:53

But otherwise I'm like, dude, you're going to need to probably go work in the coal mine or something here because you're going to 4am shift and then go to school and then come back because this is crazy.

Phil: 00:04:04

Got to carry your weight.

Phil: 00:04:06

Really interesting point you made there.

Phil: 00:04:08

Anyone who's been in higher ed or Christian education, we do have adopted sons and daughters.

Phil: 00:04:14

You do have children that become a part of your life.

Phil: 00:04:17

But getting to this point, tell a little bit about your story about making the college choice, about how you made the choice and in particular, again, I found out yesterday you were a real college athlete.

Phil: 00:04:28

I'm not.

Phil: 00:04:28

I like talking about sports.

Phil: 00:04:29

But you played baseball, you were a real athlete.

Phil: 00:04:32

But talk about the college decision and how you made decisions and then also how you stayed in this work as a Christian education administrator.

Dee McDonald: 00:04:41

Well, when I came out of high school I did have a lot of opportunities with baseball.

Dee McDonald: 00:04:45

I was a pretty gifted baseball player and you know, I wanted to go to the Place that probably I was not supposed to go.

Dee McDonald: 00:04:58

So I'm a little hard headed.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:00

And so I'm a third generation graduate from Olivet Nazarene.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:03

I'm a Nazarene pastors kid.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:05

We lived about an hour and a half, hour, 40 minutes from all of that.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:08

That's the last place in the world I ever wanted to go because that's where I was supposed to go.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:12

And so I looked at a lot of other different schools but when it came right down to it, I knew that's exactly where God wanted me.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:20

And so I signed actually in July before I started college.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:25

Thankfully, I have a mother that crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's and had everything in place for when I got my act together.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:32

But she had put down my enrollment deposit and registered for classes and all that stuff before I'd even committed.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:39

But I ended up, I went to Olivet and I knew that's where I was supposed to be.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:43

But I went there with the condition of I will go there for one year and then I'm going to transfer D1 and keep the dream alive and play professional baseball and do all those things.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:51

Right.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:51

So I kind of like hedged my bets.

Dee McDonald: 00:05:54

Basically I went there and the way I describe it, and I've told students this, that I recruited when I got the chance to work at Olivet.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:01

I couldn't leave after a year because the connections I had made with the faculty, the friends I'd made, my best friend in the world.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:09

We met in our freshman dorm, same floor.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:12

We've never seen each other before and we've been best friends ever since.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:16

And I just couldn't leave.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:18

The people, really, they loved me, they took care of me.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:21

And God was clear every step of the way that he was in that he had us taken care of.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:27

One of the best stories for me of God providing was my mom and dad called, it was a payment date.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:33

And I think it was a Thursday or Friday.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:35

We just finished volleyball.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:36

And coach had sent me an email this morning right after my dad called.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:40

He said, hey, the transmission just went out in our van again.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:43

Pastor's kid, small church, you know, transmission goes out, anything happens to the car, like, man, it's, you know, the margins are thin.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:52

And so he called and said, hey, we're not going to make that payment today.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:54

You know, the transmission went out, we got it, we got to do this.

Dee McDonald: 00:06:57

, $: 1700

Dee McDonald: 00:07:01

Well, coach, he had emailed me earlier, said hey, stop by my office today.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:04

I want to chat with you.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:05

I was like, okay, great.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:06

So I walked in there, and he said, hey, you know, you really surprised us this fall.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:10

We didn't anticipate what you brought to the table, and I've got some scholarship left, and I want to give that to you.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:17

I'm going to empty.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:18

Empty my wallet.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:19

He's like, so I've got seventeen hundred dollars in scholarship to give you.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:25

And I was like, okay.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:26

Like, I just.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:27

I was like, all right, God, I get it.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:29

Like, he's like, dollar for dollar.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:31

And then he said, you know what?

Dee McDonald: 00:07:32

ctually, I'm going to make it: 2000

Dee McDonald: 00:07:34

And so then he's like, no, I'm not just going to, like, do.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:37

Do what you need.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:37

I'm going to go above and beyond.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:39

So that was a moment for me in that first year where God was like, hey, I got you.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:43

You're where you're supposed to be.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:45

And then, you know, those.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:46

A series of those events led to me then staying on and working because I had such a transformational experience at a Christian college that it.

Dee McDonald: 00:07:55

I wanted to figure out how other students could have that as well.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:00

And so when I started working, it was with the idea that I wanted to be a college baseball coach.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:05

And I thought, oh, if I can recruit, I could be a successful college baseball coach.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:09

So I said, I'll do this for a couple years and that'll be great, and then I'll get an assistant job or I'll work my way up the ladder, whatever.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:16

Well, what happened is I fell in love with the job.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:19

I happened to be pretty good at it.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:21

And I'm not sure if that's because I'm a pastor's kid or I'm a good salesperson or I'm just completely full of it.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:27

I don't know what it is exactly, but, you know, we all have our gifts and talents.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:33

But I started to see students come in and engage with the college, and they.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:41

They were there, but they were the students that needed that school because they needed to be in that environment.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:49

They needed to experience that transformation.

Dee McDonald: 00:08:52

And then to see, you know, to sit in the back of a chapel or to walk across campus and to see one of those students walk down the aisle to the altar or to see that transformation begin to happen on the athletic field, and they're acting different than they did.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:05

That really gets me out of bed every morning.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:07

And there are names in my story of students I recruited that they're the reason I get up every morning at Crown.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:15

And that was 10, 15 years ago at Olivet or at North Central or at Southeastern.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:20

And their lives were changed because they came to a Christian college.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:23

So that's why I do what I do.

Dee McDonald: 00:09:25

That, for me, changed my life, changed my perspective, and it gets me out of bed every morning.

Phil: 00:09:30

Like I said, as you're talking of multiple things going through my mind, first of all, the Nazarene guy story is encouraging and having my faith rise as a recovering Pentecostal.

Phil: 00:09:44

So that's an interesting kind of dynamic there to hear you say that.

Phil: 00:09:47

But the powerful story of connecting with students and see their lives changed, that's the magic of what we do and why we do it.

Phil: 00:09:56

I did it for many years at one institution.

Phil: 00:09:58

Your career, your journey has been a little different in that you've had opportunities at multiple schools.

Phil: 00:10:03

So on the professional side of this, the why, the spiritual why, the changing people's lives, we've heard.

Phil: 00:10:08

But talk a little bit about your career opportunities, perhaps at different institutions, because you worked at your alma mater, had a wonderful experience there.

Phil: 00:10:15

I never left my alma mater.

Phil: 00:10:17

So just talk about your career, how the opportunities came about, how you make decisions to take a job versus other jobs, and how you've been successful at each step along the way.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:27

You know, this is going to sound really cliche and tacky, but there's a tremendous amount of prayer and just leaning into what God is doing and where the Holy Spirit is leading you.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:40

You know, for a time when I was at Olivet, I actually, we talked about this a little bit yesterday.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:44

I almost submitted my resignation because my wife and I were felt called to go to Haiti and be missionaries, and I didn't.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:51

Thankfully, I had a very wise HR director steer me away from that.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:55

Say, you know what?

Dee McDonald: 00:10:56

Let's wait a little till everything.

Dee McDonald: 00:10:57

All the T's are crossed and the I's are gone.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:00

So I didn't.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:02

But we were just really.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:04

My wife and I have always tried to really listen to God and see what he's doing.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:09

And if it were up to me, I would have never left Olivet, Nazarene.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:13

It's my place.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:14

I loved it.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:16

I could do it in my sleep.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:18

It was just natural.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:19

But as I began talking with my leaders, my mentors, my personal leadership team, it became clear that God had more for me than just being super comfortable and it being convenient and everything being in line.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:34

And so my wife really pushed me and encouraged me to said, you know, you gotta look somewhere else.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:41

You gotta look.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:43

You know, I feel like God is asking us to do something, step out of the boat.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:47

And so I did.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:49

And it was weird moving to North Central.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:52

So I was never an assistant director or director or anything like that.

Dee McDonald: 00:11:56

So I went straight from it was family advocate enrollment advisor, which was a created position for my skill set.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:03

And about five of us at the time, I went straight from that to chief enrollment officer at North Central.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:08

So I skipped all the, like the middle level management and went straight to executive leadership on cabinet.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:14

And God was just very gracious in that.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:18

I probably did some things that were dumb at the time.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:22

But I had a great boss who I now serve under, who is the president.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:26

And I have a very gracious God that, you know, put his, put his hand down and said, hey, just be quiet for a minute and lead people and love people and do the right thing and have integrity and you're going to see, you know, what I have for you.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:42

And then Southeastern was actually a really, it was a really unique instance because I had just finished giving a recommendation for one of my good friends for the position at Southeastern, and I gave him an incredible recommendation.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:54

It was one of the best I've ever given.

Dee McDonald: 00:12:56

And then my boss that was there, he said, you know, it just occurred to me that this guy sounds great, but you're exactly what I'm looking for.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:04

And I thought, oh no, what have I done?

Dee McDonald: 00:13:06

So I immediately called my friend and apologized.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:10

But it was too great of an opportunity to pass up at the time.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:16

And it worked out really, really well for five years to get in and begin to really sharpen my tools on the graduate and that non traditional side and learn a lot about that angle of education.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:29

So God has just, he's opened doors, he's closed doors and then ended up up here at Crown again working for somebody that I trust implicitly and completely.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:41

And we're excited about what God's doing here.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:43

We're up 22% in the last three years.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:46

And that's not because of my work.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:47

It's not because of anything other than we're leaning in and we're all in on being boldly Christian and letting God take care of his school at Crown.

Dee McDonald: 00:13:56

So he's been very gracious and good to us in the process.

Phil: 00:14:00

Well, that's very encouraging to those of us that are professionally listening to how God is working and orchestrating our paths and our careers.

Host: 00:14:07

You're listening to the Higher Ed Higher Purpose podcast.

Phil: 00:14:13

We're talking to Dr.

Phil: 00:14:13

Dee McDonald, Vice President of enrollment and marketing at Crown College.

Phil: 00:14:18

Dee, you talked a couple times about people that have come alongside you in your life.

Phil: 00:14:22

When I get asked this question, I can point to one or two people in my life who really had a profound impact on my life.

Phil: 00:14:28

And while the names may not mean any, won't mean anything to our listeners or to me.

Phil: 00:14:32

Can you point out someone or a story of how a person impacted and guided your life and really was, again, mentors, overused, but just an influential person in your life, a coach, a colleague, a pastor, who comes to mind when somebody says, dee, who impacted your life and has helped you along the way with where you are now?

Dee McDonald: 00:14:51

Yeah, well, there's probably too many to name, and I'm going to leave somebody out.

Dee McDonald: 00:14:55

I'm sure that's been tremendous and influential in my life.

Dee McDonald: 00:14:58

But, you know, those people, for me, are the people that will tell you what you don't want to hear, and they'll also cheerlead and encourage you when you need it.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:09

And so it's really, you know, both and there.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:12

But Dr.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:13

Brian Parker is one of those guys that I could call the drop of a hat.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:17

And he'd give me great wisdom or advice or encouragement.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:21

And he was the guy that actually hired me at Olivet.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:24

So we worked together for a year, only one year, but he's just been there through.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:30

Through a lot of different interviews and opportunities and a voice of reason and encouragement.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:35

My current boss, Dr.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:36

Andrew Denton, here at Crown, you know, just tells me what I don't want to hear.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:41

He tells me what I need to know, and he tells me what I'm going to need to know, too.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:46

Maybe not in this particular minute, but he tells me what I'm going to need to know down the road, too, as I grow and develop and am led.

Dee McDonald: 00:15:55

So those are two guys, tons of people at Olivet Nazarene that were super, you know, foundational.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:03

The president there, Dr.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:04

Greg Chenoweth, was my professor then.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:08

We worked together.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:09

He was a dean, he was the provost, and then just a good friend when he was president of Bethel in Indiana.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:14

But we've had some great conversations.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:16

He's taken me to lunch or paid for meals, way more than I deserve or he should have.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:23

And now as president of my alma mater, and I just, I counted a huge privilege.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:27

Him and then the former president, Dr.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:29

John Bowling, have just been so kind to me and helped me in my development and to think differently, but just to really lean into, you know, being a person that is in tune with the Holy Spirit and that is constantly praying and really committing my life and my career, saying, like, I'M not doing this without.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:51

Without the Holy Spirit and God's leading.

Dee McDonald: 00:16:52

So those are probably four people among thousands that have been impactful for me.

Host: 00:16:58

And the people that, that you meet along the way is just so neat to see how God places people in your life and then.

Host: 00:17:08

And then brings them back to you later on in different ways.

Host: 00:17:11

So.

Host: 00:17:12

So how did you first hear about NatCap or learn about NatCap?

Host: 00:17:18

Why did you decide to get involved with NatCap?

Dee McDonald: 00:17:21

Yeah, so I heard about it, actually.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:24

It.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:24

NACAP made me mad.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:25

Let's start with that.

Phil: 00:17:26

How about that?

Dee McDonald: 00:17:26

Is that a good intro?

Phil: 00:17:28

Years ago, though, not in the last couple years.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:30

Years ago, it was through no fault of NetCaps, but the first year that I was an admissions counselor, they had a.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:41

My director and my dean of enrollment actually said, okay, whoever wins and is the highest recruiter, we're going to send you to nacap.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:49

Well, I won.

Dee McDonald: 00:17:52

But number two and number three that I worked with were both females and they decided they didn't want to send a guy and a girl, which is totally.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:01

I would actually do that right now.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:02

So I'm totally quote that.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:04

But they sent out number two and number three and I got hosed.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:07

So.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:08

And it was in California, I think it was at like.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:11

It was like Viola or Azusa Pacific or something.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:14

And so.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:15

So that.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:16

That made me mad, my first interaction with NatCap, because I didn't even know what it was.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:21

I'd never been.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:21

I didn't really.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:22

I went to NatCap fairs and things and I thought, these are really cool.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:25

These are like people like us.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:27

These are great.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:28

But I didn't have an experience with NATCAP until I went to Bethel College, then Bethel College in Indiana.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:34

And we were talking yesterday.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:35

I was like, man, I remember the field day.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:37

I remember the basketball tournament.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:39

So that was my first experience.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:41

And I ate it up.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:43

Because before that I didn't really know that this was a career.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:46

Although this is just a job.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:47

Other people do it, it's fine.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:49

It's probably, you know, a ladder or a great chance to build your skills.

Dee McDonald: 00:18:52

But I didn't realize that there were, you know, directors and Deans and VPs and that this is actually what people were called to.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:00

I just assumed my boss was going to be there forever and their boss was going to be there forever.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:05

And, you know, I would move on at some point and coach.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:08

College baseball is still about that time.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:10

So that was my first interaction with nacap and then that Bethel at the NATCAP conference.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:15

But the fairs were always phenomenal.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:17

They were always a great source of connectivity and getting with people that we spoke the same language and we had so many commonalities together.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:26

So that was really where I learned about NatCap.

Host: 00:19:29

Wow.

Host: 00:19:30

And.

Host: 00:19:31

Well, it's kind of fun.

Host: 00:19:31

That was my alma mater, Bethel College.

Host: 00:19:33

You've referenced that a couple times with Dr.

Host: 00:19:36

Chenoweth being from there.

Host: 00:19:37

And I did not work with him.

Host: 00:19:40

There was somebody else there while I was there, but.

Host: 00:19:44

And then how did you decide that you wanted to be on the NatCap board?

Dee McDonald: 00:19:48

Well, that was a much easier decision.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:50

When you.

Dee McDonald: 00:19:51

When you have an affinity and a love for something, it's very easy to say, how can I serve?

Dee McDonald: 00:19:57

And a lot of people serve in different ways, Right?

Dee McDonald: 00:19:59

We serve by attending the colleges, we serve by supporting.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:02

We go to the conference.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:03

We, you know, whatever that might be.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:06

When I.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:07

When I chatted with Phil last year, it came up in a conversation and I thought, oh, man, I would be honored and humbled to even be considered for a board of directors, because I thought, well, yeah, great, I'll put that in.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:20

And I probably won't get it, but it'll be, you know, something that I would be just really, really honored to do.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:26

And when it happened, I was.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:28

I felt the same way.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:30

Even.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:30

Even more so.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:31

So it's a great opportunity to serve and to help in any way I can, but come alongside and really put my money where my mouth is at that point and say, like, we've got to do this really well, because this matters not just now for our institutions, but this matters eternally.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:47

And so I believe in that wholeheartedly.

Dee McDonald: 00:20:49

And it was really easy to say yes to that.

Phil: 00:20:52

I'm having a hard time.

Phil: 00:20:53

Heidi and I, ahead of time, we.

Phil: 00:20:54

Like.

Phil: 00:20:55

She's like, phil, you gotta let me ask a couple questions.

Phil: 00:20:56

You can't be.

Phil: 00:20:57

But everything you're saying, I'm over here just chomping at the bit.

Phil: 00:21:01

Because what you're describing is the why we do what we do, your connection with it, by the way.

Phil: 00:21:06

Now I know why you came to the conference at Westmont last year in California.

Phil: 00:21:10

Kind of retro, you know, kind of retroactive to the years you didn't get to come because we were at California where we had the conversation, so.

Phil: 00:21:17

But yet the opportunity to serve the kingdom, to serve Christian higher education, and then to serve this organization.

Phil: 00:21:25

I'm thrilled that you're a part of it.

Phil: 00:21:27

And we are putting together quite the all star team with our staff and our board.

Phil: 00:21:32

And so we're thrilled you're a part of it.

Phil: 00:21:33

Dee.

Phil: 00:21:34

You talked earlier a little bit about the success at Crown and across our institute, 200 Christian colleges, universities in NatCap these days, 160 Christian high schools.

Phil: 00:21:42

And we're growing rapidly there in terms of our numbers, but there are some schools that are struggling.

Phil: 00:21:46

It's true.

Phil: 00:21:47

We had two schools closed this year that are part of the NatCap family, but we're having schools that are growing, and Crown is one of them.

Phil: 00:21:54

You referenced this, and I'd love for you to talk a little bit more about embracing your identity as a Christian campus.

Phil: 00:22:01

There are many reasons why Crown might be growing and the Lord and the people.

Phil: 00:22:05

But what about the Ms.

Phil: 00:22:06

The importance of missional fidelity in your growth and what's happening at Crown?

Phil: 00:22:10

Can you talk about that a little bit?

Phil: 00:22:12

And maybe one of our, some of our listeners will be encouraged by what's happening at Crown and with you.

Dee McDonald: 00:22:16

Yeah, you know, I think the great temptation is to say, well, how do we, how do we interpret and how do we live into our context?

Dee McDonald: 00:22:25

The context of everything outside of the church and even in the church sometimes is, well, we don't want to ruffle feathers.

Dee McDonald: 00:22:33

Maybe if we move towards the middle and we don't, we don't do this or do that, maybe we'll be a little more marketable, maybe a little more palatable.

Dee McDonald: 00:22:41

I think what we've decided here at Crown, and this is one of the reasons I love working here, is that it's, it's really more of a matter of how do we not drift away from our mission and who we are.

Dee McDonald: 00:22:54

How do we double down on who God has called us to be instead of just moving away from it slightly or towards the middle because we're worried about offending people, you know, who Jesus actually offended the most is religious people.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:10

And so if we, if we love the daylights out of people who don't consider themselves Christians because we shouldn't expect them to act like Christians.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:18

But we actually, like we say we are, who we say we are to our fellow believers and to, to Christ.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:25

I think God honors that.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:26

I think he shows incredible favor to that.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:29

And I attribute that really to what we're seeing at Crown.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:32

But I would just say really doubling down on that missional component.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:36

We're going to be who we say we are and we're going to be unapologetic about it.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:40

And that doesn't mean you have to be mean, doesn't mean you just walk around smacking people with Bibles in the back of the head.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:46

But I think it's really that internal, that intuitional knowledge of this is who we are, this is who we're called to be, and this is who we're going to be.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:56

And we're just going to love the snot out of people.

Dee McDonald: 00:23:59

In the meantime, I think that's where we're at and I think that works.

Phil: 00:24:03

Outstanding advice, outstanding story, outstanding example.

Phil: 00:24:07

Example and exemplar in our, in our space in Christian education.

Phil: 00:24:11

And while we.

Phil: 00:24:11

I could.

Phil: 00:24:12

The time flies by.

Phil: 00:24:13

We could keep going.

Phil: 00:24:14

But I do want to ask kind of a light hearted.

Phil: 00:24:17

You're a baseball guy.

Phil: 00:24:18

Who's your team man?

Phil: 00:24:19

Who, who's your player?

Phil: 00:24:20

Who.

Phil: 00:24:20

Who is your idol?

Phil: 00:24:21

I mean, I'm trying to think.

Phil: 00:24:22

Growing up in.

Phil: 00:24:23

Where'd you grow up again?

Phil: 00:24:24

I don't know if we asked you that.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:26

I grew up in La Porte, Indiana.

Phil: 00:24:28

So look at you and Heidi.

Phil: 00:24:29

You guys could be related.

Phil: 00:24:31

Come on, man.

Phil: 00:24:31

So growing up in Indiana, who do you root for?

Phil: 00:24:33

Who's your baseball team?

Phil: 00:24:35

Who's your baseball player?

Phil: 00:24:36

Who did you look up to?

Dee McDonald: 00:24:37

Yeah, so I, I'm a Cubs fan.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:39

I.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:40

I make no apologies about that.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:41

But when I grew up, we lived, you know, on the Indiana side in the Chicagoland area.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:47

When I grew up, we could be Sox fans and Cubs fans.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:49

It was before this, this deep seated hatred where you had to pick one or the other.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:55

Right.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:56

So I, I love the White Sox.

Dee McDonald: 00:24:58

My brother and I would play backyard baseball one on one pitchers, hand out all summer, all day long.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:03

And I was always the White Sox and he was always the Cubs.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:05

Because I love Lance Johnson, Frank Thomas, Dan Pasqua.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:08

I mean, you go down the line.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:09

Ozzy Guillen as a player, not a coach so much, but.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:12

So I'm a Cubs fan.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:14

My favorite player growing up was Yvonne Pudge Rodriguez.

Phil: 00:25:18

Yeah.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:19

As I got into high school, I had the same pop time as he did.

Phil: 00:25:22

No, you.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:23

I was more of a defensive catcher.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:26

Shut no 1.7 flat.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:28

Yeah.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:29

Pop time.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:30

So that was.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:32

I was.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:32

I shut down the running game.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:33

I was a defensive catcher.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:35

And then I did whatever I had to do to get on base.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:37

Which is why I still hold the hit by pitch record at Olivet.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:39

Desiree.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:41

Hey.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:42

I wasn't smart enough to get out of the way.

Phil: 00:25:43

Yeah, Pudge changed the game.

Phil: 00:25:45

There's no doubt about it.

Phil: 00:25:46

There were there, you remember, named Benito Santiago.

Phil: 00:25:48

Played for the Padres before that.

Phil: 00:25:50

You go a little bit early with other guys that were great.

Phil: 00:25:52

I'm a Dodger fan.

Phil: 00:25:53

So I'm celebrating big time this year.

Phil: 00:25:54

I am because my dad loved the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Dee McDonald: 00:25:56

So.

Phil: 00:25:57

But a lot of love for the Cubbies and coming home and watching WGM when I was growing up with Greg Maddux and the like.

Phil: 00:26:02

Like that.

Phil: 00:26:03

Dee, I'm thrilled that you're a part of NatCap, the board of directors, and I know folks at Crown love having you there.

Phil: 00:26:10

Thank you for coming to share your story and thank you for the work that you're doing to advance Christian education.

Phil: 00:26:14

We're grateful.

Host: 00:26:15

Thanks so much, Dee.

Dee McDonald: 00:26:16

Appreciate it.

Dee McDonald: 00:26:16

Guys.

Host: 00:26:18

Be sure to join us next time for the Higher Ed Higher Purpose podcast.