Honorary degrees conferred upon 
Evans, Roush, and Hasker

FOR RELEASE May 7, 2001
HUNTINGTON, IN—Huntington College will award three honorary degrees during the 2001 commencement services on May 19.  The Doctor of Divinity degree will be awarded to Dr. Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.  The Doctor of Public Service will be awarded to HC Alumna and longtime volunteer, Polly Roush.  The Doctor of Humanities degree will be awarded to Dr. William Hasker, emeritus professor of philosophy.

Dr. Tony Evans is co-founder and serves as senior pastor of the 4,000-member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. He is founder and president of the Urban Alternative, a national organization that seeks to bring about spiritual renewal in urban America through the church. The Urban Alternative radiobroadcast, “The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans,” can be heard on over 400 stations daily throughout the U.S. and in over 40 countries worldwide. He is a speaker on the Promise Keepers’ platform, as well as regular speaker in crusades and Bible conferences in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Evans has been active in evangelism and church planting efforts through the Grand Old Gospel Fellowship in Philadelphia and the Urban Evangelical Mission.  He formerly taught in the areas of evangelism, homiletics, and black church studies in the Pastoral Ministries Department at Dallas Theological Seminary and worked as chaplain for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. He continues as chaplain with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and serves on the board of Dallas Theological Seminary, the National Religious Broadcasters and the Urban Evangelical Mission.

Dr. Evans is the first African-American to graduate with a doctoral degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and is author of several books including, Who is This King of Glory, The Battle is The Lord’s, and Are Christian Destroying America? Dr. Evans has received many honors and awards recognizing his commitment to excellence and personal integrity including honorary doctorates from Eastern College in St. Davids, Pennsylvania and Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas, and the titles of “Student of the Year” from Carver Bible College in 1972, and 1989 “Father of the Year” by Dallas Father of the Year Award Committee. He has been recognized by the Family Research Center with the Marion Pfister Anshutz Award in recognition of his “dedication to protecting, encouraging and strengthening the American family.”  

Marjorie Pauline Roush, or “Polly” as she is so fondly known, studied at Huntington College from 1940 until 1942 when World War II broke out.  She then went to work for a year in a defense plant making rip-cords for parachutes.  The following year, Polly married Ed Roush whom she had met at college and traveled with him to army camps until he was sent overseas.  In 1944, she returned to continue her studies at Huntington College where she graduated with a degree in biology in 1946.  She continued her education and received a Master’s degree in elementary education from Ball State University and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Much of Polly’s career was spent in the classroom as a biology teacher at Bloomington Laboratory High School and as a first grade teacher for eighteen years at Lancaster Elementary in Huntington County.  Her marriage to Ed Roush has also propelled her on to the campaign trail.  An energetic campaigner, Polly faithfully supported her husband’s public service, helping him to balance the competing demands of home, family, career, and nation.  Then in 1989, she transferred the skills of campaign manager into a new role as “first lady” of Huntington College when her husband was elected to serve as interim president.  Of those days, Polly remembers best the fun she had entertaining guests of the College and “keeping Ed dressed” for the occasion.

Today, Polly Roush continues to promote the College to the Huntington community as an active member of the Huntington College Foundation Board of Directors.  She also has faithfully served on the Huntington College Auxiliary for more than fifty years, serving as president for several years.  An active leader and participant in the choir, Evening Missionary Society, and Bible School at the College Park United Brethren Church, Polly Roush extends her gifts of music, hospitality, and service in the larger community.  

Polly Roush was among one hundred notable individuals who were selected to receive the Huntington College Centennial Medallion in 1997.  The medallion’s inscription, “Honoring Christ in Scholarship and Service” reflects the impact of the life and work of Polly Roush on Huntington College.

Dr. R. William Hasker, emeritus professor of Philosophy and former Chair of the Division of Humanities and Bible at Huntington College, received his Ph.D. in theology and philosophy of religion from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland.   A distinguished scholar, Dr. Hasker has published numerous works.  His latest books are Middle Knowledge Theory and Applications, which he edited with two colleagues in 2000, and The Emergent Self, published in 1999.  Other works include Reason and Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, and God, Time, and Knowledge.  His articles have appeared in Supplement to the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and in the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy.

During his career, he has been an active member of many professional associations. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Society of Christian Philosophers where he also served two previous terms.  In addition, he is a past president of the Indiana Philosophical Association (1973-74) and has participated in the American Philosophical Association and the Society for the Philosophy of Religion.

Dr. Hasker became the editor of the journal Faith and Philosophy in 2000, having previously served as an advisory editor and a member of the Board of Editorial Consultants from 1987-2000.  From 1985-94, he served as editor for the Christian Scholar’s Review.  He was also the co-organizer for the Conference on the Philosophy of the Mind at the University of Notre Dame in 1994.

He has received numerous recognitions for his scholarly pursuits.  In 1997-98, he was on sabbatical from Huntington College with the Pew Evangelical Scholars Program.  Other credits for his scholarly work include Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame (1989-90), Chinese-Western Symposium on Philosophy and Religious Studies at Peking University (1994-96; 1998), and the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute in Philosophy and Religion (1986).

Huntington College’s 103^rd commencement exercises will be held Saturday, May 19^th beginning at 3:00 p.m. on the Alumni Plaza, weather permitting.  Dr. Tony Evans, will present the 2001 commencement address on the subject, “The Kingdom Agenda.” The public is cordially invited to attend this event.