Bethany Jenkins Joins Veritas Forum, Named Senior Fellow at King’s

On July 31st, Bethany Jenkins transitioned from director of the Office of Vocational and Career Development (OVCD) at The King’s College to senior fellow in order to serve as vice president of forums at The Veritas Forum. Since beginning her role as director of OVCD in 2014, Jenkins has held thoughtful, innovative workshops and countless personal meetings to support students in discerning vocations and seeking job placement.

Under her tenure at the College, Jenkins secured the office’s first-ever grant to support career exploration in business. Notably, 98% of the Class of 2016 are employed or in grad school, which is 16% higher than the national average. (Read the full 2016 Graduate Report.)

Dr. Mark Hijleh, vice president for Academic Affairs, said, “It has been an honor to work with Bethany on the Academic Affairs team these past three years. Her energy, enthusiasm, deep Christian commitment, broad experience across several industries, and insight into career networking here in New York City have been invaluable to our students—and, with her as a senior fellow at King’s, we anticipate that many of those advantages will continue for them in valuable ways. I am deeply grateful for how Bethany has moved our Career Development programs forward in the full context of students’ academic, personal, professional, and spiritual lives. We wish her all the very best at the Veritas Forum!”

“Although I’m sad to say goodbye to my amazing team at King’s, I’m thrilled to serve them as a senior fellow. King’s has been an invaluable place for me to learn how to inspire and love this generation of college students. At Veritas, I’ll put that learning to work by engaging with college students and faculty across the country to help them ask life’s hardest questions from a Christian perspective,” Jenkins said.

Lucinda Sweazey (BUS ‘15), who has served as Assistant Director of the Office since 2015, will assume the role of interim director of the newly renamed Office of Career Development. By housing Career Development under Student Development, the new department name reflects a shift toward higher education best practices.

For the past two years, Sweazey has built out the operations and logistics of the department, managing and executing over 10 company visits with students and 30 events with industry professionals coming to campus to speak. She launched the College’s first-ever Internship Fair in 2016. Executive Vice President Tim Gibson said, “Lucinda is not only familiar with what has made Career Development so successful to date, but is in the perfect position to build on those successes.”

President Gregory Alan Thornbury, Ph.D., said, “The King’s College has become a more radiant place thanks to Bethany’s presence with us. Her warmth and perspicacity helped students develop fortitude and discernment in pursuing their callings. I give my congratulations to Bethany for her appointment at the Veritas Forum and look forward to continuing with her to advance the work of Jesus in ministry to students, and through them, the world.”