Matthews & the music department

In the celebration of Eastern’s centennial, the university has reflected on its origins and distant history. It is prudent to reflect on the recent history of Eastern, particularly the many changes it has undergone under the tenth and current President, Ronald Matthews. From changes in the university’s official position on LGBTQIA+ relationships, additional sports teams, structural renovations, navigating pandemic-related difficulties and financial struggles into stability, President Matthews’ tenure has been marked by significant growth and change.

But Eastern, in turn, has changed him. Eastern became an environment that challenged what he believed was possible for Christian communities. “I love Eastern. Eastern changed my life, as it changes most of ours, really. We have the energy of diversity and unity, because if we have homogeneity, that’s not unity. It’s sameness. Eastern has always been that unusual Christian community that had and respected diversity and that was willing to take risks that transcended [its] reputation. That was amazing to me. I’d never seen a Christian community disagree so agreeably.”

This ability to “disagree so agreeably,” is vital in a community as theologically varied as Eastern. “When I came to Eastern, I found some of the language that was presumed to be shared by everybody at my former school, couldn’t necessarily be shared here. Some students were not Christians. Some Christians were really intelligently schooled in the scriptures; others just liked to worship God.”

“For me, what I appreciated was that it felt more like the world in the best sense of the word. I didn’t feel I was pulling away into some monastic circle. I felt that this was the real world. It gave me an opportunity, actually and candidly, to feel more human, more complete as a person because I didn’t have to be ‘something’ for the common good. I could be me for the common good. That was amazingly liberating, inviting, and rewarding.”

President Matthews first joined Eastern’s community as a professor in the music department, an experience that would prove to be formative for his style of leadership as university president. The music department and the arts hold a special place in his heart. Though he is often busy with his responsibilities as president, Matthews still makes time to perform with the music department, including a recent chapel wherein he collaborated with Turning Point to perform some of his original pieces.

“We had such a beautiful, tight community in music. There was this laughter all the time. There was honesty, painfully at times; there were tears. It made it feel so like family that as students and faculty, we were almost waiting for the shoe to drop. It was like, ‘How can this be so good?’ We would hang out, pray, and sing together. Having the music faculty sing—oh my goodness—that’s like glory, you know?”

What many may not know is how instrumental Matthews was in forming the music department. Matthews and his team were literally “building it from nothing.” Previously, Matthews had worked as a touring musician and a worship and performance coordinator in church settings.

“After the seminary had found an original Mozart manuscript, in 1990, I was brought in as a consultant about starting music majors—there had been a twenty-year hiatus—and so that was really my first exposure to the educational model. I came in 1992 to start the music majors program.” 

“The first year was just writing curricula and getting it submitted to the state. [Ours] was so different. We taught from the present day backward. There were no textbooks that did that, so we had to prepare everything.” Matthews and his team were disinclined from traditional approaches, such as starting with medieval music history. “It’s like, how many hundreds of years is that away from popular culture? Right? So we tried to really integrate the academy and the street.”

The music department has seen incredible growth over its thirty-year history. However, it too was hit in the round of financial struggles, low enrollment, and layoffs. “It was incredible to watch it become something. The painful part was that something started to go towards nothing. The surprising thing was when I was on sabbatical—that was 2015-2016—there was a giant reorganization and it ended up that the fine performing arts and music lost 60% of the full-time faculty while I was away,” Matthews said. It was not long after this that Matthews was approached about interviewing for the presidential position.

“It was so weird. When I think about it, it seemed like the Lord waited until I reached what was my climactic professional failure. Then the board says, ‘Now we want you to take over the whole institution.’ It’s like, ‘Do you know what you’re asking?’”

Matthews points to the ways the Lord has been faithful in leading the university into growth since then. “Now, of course, the arts are flourishing. Academics are flourishing. Athletics are flourishing. Athletics and the arts are together with band, cheer, and dance. It’s just so amazing. It’s all God and great people. I mean, our faculty and staff are unbelievable. They’re just so, so great. If you include this, please give them a shout-out.”

It is evident that his time in the music department, the spiritual and practical insights he gained and the value of Eastern’s special community continue to temper business practicalities to inform his leadership. Matthews’ legacy is still being written, but his impact has resonated throughout the music department and, now, beyond.