news at welch college   Welch College in Gallatin, Tennessee, has been the official college of the Free Will Baptist Denomination since 1942. To find out more information about the school, visit www.Welch.edu.

Slater Honored With Legislative Award

William Slater, dean of adult and online studies at Welch College, has been awarded the 2024 Harold Bradley Legislative Leadership Award by the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA), according to Welch President Matt Pinson. The award is presented to state legislators who have shown distinguished support for higher education.

“Serving in the Tennessee legislature is a great honor,” Slater said. “I am humbled to be recognized for the work accomplished for the benefit of students enrolled in independent colleges and universities in our state. TICUA member institutions, like Welch College, provide important educational choices and opportunities for our citizens. It is a joy to be a voice for them in the General Assembly.”

Slater serves part-time as the representative for District 35 in the Tennessee State House of Representatives. In addition to holding this position, he has been broadly active in the civic and community life of Sumner County and is a proponent for the advancement of higher education.

“We at Welch are so thankful for what William Slater has brought to us as dean of adult and online studies at Welch College,” Pinson said. “He does such an excellent job in his role here, and we’re so thankful to have him representing our interests as vice-chairman of the education committee in the Tennessee House. He’s so deserving of this award.”

The award honoring Slater’s commitment to higher education was presented at the TICUA Annual Meeting Tuesday, February 20, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sandy Goodfellow With the Lord

Mr. Joseph “Sandy” Goodfellow, Welch College’s former director of plant operations, passed from this life January 4, 2024, after a year-long battle with Leukemia.

Goodfellow retired in 2019 after nearly forty years of service to Welch College. A fixture on the campus, he came to Welch as a student nearly five decades ago, and for most of the time since, he dedicated his career to seeing that the campus of Welch College ran smoothly and safely.
President J. Matthew Pinson offered the following remarks:

Mr. Goodfellow is an example of our institutional purpose statement: Welch college exists to “fulfill the traditional Protestant vision of the sacredness of Divine vocation.” That word vocation, from the Latin word vocatio, means calling, a divine calling from God to a particular task. Mr. Goodfellow exemplified that for us here at Welch.

I witnessed firsthand his service to Welch over 17 years. It was marked by diligence, hard work, and dedication. Many were the late nights and early mornings when a transformer went out, the phone system malfunctioned, or the server had problems. There was never a question in my mind that Sandy Goodfellow would be right there, always reliable, to make sure the plant operations of Welch College continued to run without a hitch.

It’s because he knew this was necessary for this ministry to do what God called us to do with excellence as we changed lives for service to the Kingdom. Mr. Goodfellow saw his service to Welch as just that — changing lives for Kingdom service.

I think Mr. Goodfellow could have retired earlier. But I always sensed he felt it important for him to stay through the transition to the Gallatin campus and make sure everything went smoothly. I deeply appreciate him for doing that. Indeed, his wisdom and expertise proved invaluable again and again as we worked through the sale of our old campus, the construction of the new one, and the transition from the West End campus. Many were the consultants, realtors, contractors, and inspectors with whom Mr. Goodfellow worked professionally and excellently and made such a good impression on for Welch College.

Mr. Goodfellow’s dedicated service to this college for almost four decades is the result of his character qualities of honesty, integrity, and hard work, which resulted from his deep faith and dedication to serve God. This was seen in his love for his wife Dari and his family.

Mr. Goodfellow kept us going on the old campus, he was in the center of the construction and transition to the new campus, and the campus of Welch College will always bear his mark. Part of him will always remain here until our Lord returns.

Celebrations of Goodfellow's life were held in Arizona and Tennessee.