�۶�ֱ�� alumnus serves others through YMCA career

“The sociology, psychology and history classes were critical to my career, because working in communities I have learned that if you don’t understand the history of the community, you can’t understand the people.”

A 1985 alumnus of �۶�ֱ�� University has devoted his career to serving others through the YMCA. Since 1990, Stan Law has worked in various roles with the Y accepting jobs with increasing responsibilities. Now, he is president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina in Winston-Salem. The third largest Y in the state with a $35 million dollar budget, the association has 16 branches and provides programs for more than 150,000 adults and children. Law is the first African American to hold this position in the organization’s 128-year history.

Law started his Y career in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C., and has been in Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Birmingham, Ala. The Y’s mission aligned perfectly with his own desire to help people, a passion he embraced as a fifth-grader when he noticed other kids in his class picking on a twin brother and sister who wore the same clothes every day.

Bothered by what he observed, Law asked his parents why the twins didn’t have more clothes. His father showed him some of the run-down houses near their neighborhood and explained that sometimes, because of choices or circumstances, people don’t have enough money to pay the bills and buy clothes. “We came back home and my dad asked me if I had any more questions,” Law recalled. “I said, ‘Dad when I grow up, I want to help people like that.’ I never considered doing anything else but helping people.”

He majored in social science and played tennis at �۶�ֱ��. He liked the size of the University and the campus atmosphere felt right. “I needed an environment where there were not too many distractions,” Law said. “At GWU, I could balance playing tennis with my studies. The sociology, psychology and history classes were critical to my career, because working in communities I have learned that if you don’t understand the history of the community, you can’t understand the people.”

Law believes the classes in �۶�ֱ��’s liberal arts core curriculum prepared him for the various responsibilities in his daily schedule. “The diversity of skills that a liberal arts college teaches you has certainly helped me lead the YMCA,” Law assessed. “I average seven to eight meetings a day. One meeting, I could be helping to design a building; the next minute, I could be in a conversation trying to help counsel a kid. The next, I could be trying to set up a partnership with another organization.”

The math and economics courses he took also provided him a foundation to expand his management skills. “I have been blessed to have all these opportunities with the Y, and I learned early on that in a leadership position you don’t have to know everything, you have to know a little bit about everything,” Law reflected. “You have to lean on those who are specialists in a particular area.”

What’s more, Law’s position requires him to be a skilled communicator, despite identifying as an introvert. He connects with people using a method demonstrated by Dr. Tony Eastman, GWU professor emeritus of history. “Dr. Eastman was absolutely amazing,” Law affirmed. “He was a storyteller. I had him for several 8 a.m. classes that were an hour and 15 minutes. You were on the edge of your seat the entire time. He told stories and never opened a textbook. I learned that I liked history, and as a natural extreme introvert, my communication style is telling stories. They are my stories, and I am comfortable speaking about them in public. I have made a lot of presentations in my career, and those that go best are the ones about my experiences versus just stating a bunch of facts.”

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�۶�ֱ�� alumnus seeks to help his students appreciate historical events

“The classes I took at �۶�ֱ�� were incredibly challenging and prepared me for the workforce. I graduated college with everything I needed to have a career in education.”

In Sam Vining’s history class, students learn more than important dates. The 2016 alumnus of �۶�ֱ�� University wants them to understand how the past relates to what’s happening around them today. “I hope to give my students an appreciation for other people, regardless of their background,” he shared. “I hope that students can begin to learn how complicated history is, and thus find appreciation for other people and their own historical backgrounds.”

Vining teaches ninth grade at Polk County High School in Columbus, N.C. He was recently named the James Madison Fellowship winner for the state of North Carolina. The award is presented to a high school American History teacher and includes attending a summer institute in Washington, D.C., and receiving a $24,000 scholarship to pursue a master’s degree.

“The Fellowship is an incredible way for me to grow as a professional and to help improve my knowledge of content associated with American history,” Vining explained. “To be selected is a tremendous honor, and all credit is due to my professors, Dr. David Yelton, Dr. Joseph Moore, Ms. Donna Schronce, and Dr. Timothy Vanderburg, my mentors, and my friends who helped to shape who I am today. When applying for the Fellowship, the classes I had at GWU helped me to formulate good answers to difficult essay prompts.”

Vining, a native of Tryon, N.C., chose �۶�ֱ�� because of its Christian principles. He also liked the sense of community he felt on campus. During his four years, he met people who helped him become a better person and developed his skills as an educator. “I always felt supported, challenged, and full of joy while around my �۶�ֱ�� family,” Vining affirmed. “The classes I took at �۶�ֱ�� were incredibly challenging and prepared me for the workforce. I graduated college with everything I needed to have a career in education.”

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“It was at �۶�ֱ�� that I met people who wept over the lostness of the world.”

While a student at �۶�ֱ�� University in the late 1990s, Tim Chilton discovered his heart for ministry. Now, he and his wife, Holly, are nurses who serve with a non-profit in Taiwan.

“It was at �۶�ֱ�� that I met people who wept over the lostness of the world,” reflected Chilton, a 1997 alumnus. “During that time, the Lord opened my eyes more to how big the world is and how much of it does not know Jesus.”

As a freshman, he took a mission trip to Puerto Rico, and realized his passion for helping others. Between his junior and senior years at GWU, he worked in Africa. A history major, he minored in Christian history and thought. His �۶�ֱ�� religion professors challenged him to examine his beliefs and make them his own. “I really had to think through more about what I believe,” he observed. “As you confront atheism, ancestor worship or Buddhism, you need to know why you believe what you believe.”

He also appreciated the close-knit atmosphere on the GWU campus. “The staff and faculty were so friendly, and they truly cared about me,” Chilton affirmed. “I ate in professors’ homes, and I had prayer time with janitors. Some of my classmates were like ‘iron sharpening iron’ (Proverbs 27:17) trying to help me in my walk with Christ.”

After graduation, Chilton stayed at �۶�ֱ�� and worked as an admissions counselor. By the end of his second year, he was ready for a new challenge. He had job interviews in Ohio and Wyoming, but then a friend emailed him information about teaching in China.

He had never thought about living and working in China, but this was a chance for him to serve overseas and follow his passion for ministry. He taught a year in China, came back to teach in North Carolina for a year, and then spent another year teaching in China.

At the end of that year—still thinking about ways he could serve around the world—he decided to pursue a nursing degree and worked as a nurse for nine years. In 2015, he and his wife and four children moved to Asia and later transferred to Taiwan, where they help international workers obtain healthcare and are also involved in local ministry.

“Our job is trying to keep our workers healthy, so that they can keep spreading the love of Jesus,” Chilton related. “While doing our job, we are also trying to reach into the community by building relationships with folks and either sharing the gospel with them or encouraging them in their current walk with the Lord.”

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