100 Years of Yellow Jackets

By Bella Agnello

James Phipps ‘68

Sometimes the works of the Lord are not easy to see until long after they have occurred. 

Phipps graduated from Cedarville University in 1968. Shortly after he graduated with a degree in English and Speech, he joined Cedarville University faculty the following fall semester and served as chair of the Communications department for 36 years. He led efforts to grow the department while also teaching classes on journalism, broadcasting and storytelling. 

As a student, Dr. James Phipps participated in many extracurricular activities, having a participation roster of about 18 clubs and organizations by the time he graduated. He also found a passion for teaching, which turned out to be exactly what he did after graduation. 

Known by some as the “Statue of Liberty Prof,” Phipps played key roles in the lives of his students and encouraged them to reach heights they never thought to achieve. 

“We had a lot of people transfer into the department because they had hit a wall and needed some place to succeed,” Phipps said. “And the Lord blessed us to see a lot of them do just that.”

Phipps contributed to the village of Cedarville and the surrounding communities, interim pastoring at five churches and holding the position of mayor of Cedarville for 16 years.

“When you look back, you see how the Lord set things up to use in the future, and without him nothing would happen,” Phipps said. “He prepared everything for us, and that is one of the things I hope to tell people with my story.”  

Johanna Johnson ‘95

Johanna Johnson has learned to make her degree work for her after graduating from Cedarville University. She earned a degree in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Theater and was not quite sure what to do with it at first. 

“It was one of those things where I didn’t quite know where I wanted to go with my degree,” Johnson said. “Communication was a good umbrella degree, but I didn’t know where exactly it would take me.”

Johnson dreamed of doing voiceover work for Disney and tried to make that a reality a few years after graduating. She soon moved back home to Chicago. 

After marrying her college sweetheart, Eric, and having two kids, Keoni and Naiah, Johnson found ways to incorporate what she learned at Cedarville into her job as theater director for her kids’ school. 

“I was grateful to be able to use the skills and knowledge that I had gotten from Cedarville and apply them in what I was doing in that moment,” Johnson said. 

Johnson and her family moved to Orlando, Florida three years ago, seeking better education and job opportunities after the pandemic. Once they settled in, Johnson began the job hunt once again. She revived her Disney dream by applying and getting a position as a third shift Concierge at Disney Hotel. After a year and a half she applied to a different position in the company and began pushing for more leadership positions. 

Currently Johnson works for Disney as Character Captain at Epcot. She works on shows for the theme park and directly with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters. She may not have started out with a plan to use her degree, but Johnson used the skills she learned in different positions to achieve her goals and get closer to her dream job. 

At Disney, Johnson hopes to spread the gospel to her coworkers and people she interacts with. 

“Disney is a very dark place,” Johnson said. “I just hope that I can be a light for the people I work with and show them through my actions that something is different in my life; and that difference is Jesus.” 

Craig Vinson ‘07

Professor Craig Vinson graduated from Cedarville University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism. Seventeen years later, Vinson returned this year as a professor and the general manager of Resound Radio.

Vinson transferred to Cedarville his sophomore year and immediately plugged himself into U99.5 FM, now Resound Radio, which he continued to be involved in until he graduated.

When the opportunity arose for him to come back as a professor, Vinson quickly sent in his application.

“It was a no-brainer to come back and give back to the program that made me and inspire that next generation of media students,” Vinson said.

Vinson reflects on his time as a student at Cedarville and is excited for what God holds for him as a professor.

“As a student, it was formative for my spiritual life,” Vinson said. “Now coming back, it is important for me to give back. It’s true what everyone says about Cedarville: it’s a family. Our alumni will help current students in any way possible, even if they’ve never met them at all. I’ve seen it, and I’ve lived it.”

Brennah Osborn ‘26

Brennah Osborn is a junior Primary Education major at Cedarville University. She is also a resident assistant in Willetts and participates in discipleship groups each year at Cedarville.

“I have made so many great relationships in discipleship groups,” Osborn said. “Those groups have carried me through each year of school. Meeting weekly with different aged women makes you feel loved and allows you to retrace the blessings of the Lord together.”

Osborn continues to be grateful for the emphasis Cedarville’s student culture puts on Christ-centered conversations.

“Gospel conversations are prioritized here, and that’s not something the university is mandating,” Osborn said. “Freshman year, I was blown away by the amount of people who want to have rich gospel conversations when they’re hanging out with friends. I’m leaving Cedarville in the next couple years with the idea that the conversations that matter are the ones that are about Jesus.”

Dan Farrell ‘90

In 1990, Dan Farrell graduated from Cedarville University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. After working at Tyndale House Publishers, and currently working at Crossway as the senior vice president of creative, Farrell is grateful for Cedarville’s Bible minor requirement.

“It’s funny, when I was there I thought my mechanical engineering degree was really important and the Bible minor was a nice addition,” Farrell said. “Looking back, I see God’s providence in that I use my Bible minor more than my mechanical engineering major because I’ve worked at publishing houses that publish Bibles for the last 18 years or so.”

Farrell came to Cedarville as a relatively young Christian and left with a profound understanding of how to live as Christ lived.

“As the years have gone by, I’ve grown to appreciate Cedarville more and more, not just in academics,” Farrell said. “It was a harbor in life to be discipled and deepen my walk with the Lord in a space that was less hectic than the world. It prepared me well for life to come.”

Bella Agnello is a junior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major with a concentration in Journalism. She enjoys thrifting, listening to records and reading classic Russian literature in her spare time.