JEREMY TYUS - BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
SOUTHEASTERN TRANSFORMs CHEERLEADER INTO BUSINESS LEADER

Even before Jeremy Tyus enrolled at Southeastern, he was interested in leadership. At Polk Community College in Winter Haven, Florida, Tyus was the captain of the cheerleading squad, a member of student government and frequented leadership seminars.

But with chords of love, God pulled Tyus into Southeastern’s community and ministered to him about Christian leadership. Tyus enrolled at Southeastern the same semester—fall 2003—that the university launched its business leadership major. The major equips business students to manage and lead an organization ethically and morally. It prepares students to lead private firms, churches, other types of non-profits or business projects. After taking the same core courses as other business students, leadership majors study more business management to satisfy half of their remaining requirements and practical ministry to meet their other requirements.

Tyus, who became the university’s first business leadership graduate in April 2005, liked everything about the major: how the courses were conducted, the books he read and discussed, and the way it shaped his life and thoughts about leadership. The format of his Leadership, Followership and Teamwork class with Professor of Business Dr. Ed Plastow reminded Tyus of leadership seminars he has attended. Tyus described the class as having an intimate setting in which the students sat in a circle with Dr. Plastow and discussed leading and serving. Tyus refers to his Organizational Behavior/Leadership Styles class with Religion Instructor Reverend Samuel Hemby as the most informative class he has taken. It taught Tyus that by possessing good character, a person can be a leader without having a leadership position. “People tend to think leadership is about the limelight,” said Tyus, “and it’s so not.”

Tyus became a Southeastern student soon after his faith in Christ began to deepen. The business leadership major has helped build his faith further. For instance, prior to his leadership studies at Southeastern, Tyus saw good character as a means to personal gain. Now he sees it as a means of obeying Christ—loving God and loving others as ourselves.

Tyus’ new conception of leadership is beginning to shine in his life. As the most senior male cheerleader of Southeastern’s cheerleading squad, he gives less-experienced cheerleaders feedback on cheering moves. Tyus also got to flex his new leadership muscles last summer during an internship with Mentium Events, a Duluth, Georgia-based firm that runs youth baseball tournaments. Tyus served as a worker at some events and as a manager at others. As a manager, he had to make sure tournaments started on time, coordinate the work of umpires and maintain order on the field. But most importantly, says Tyus, he pursued his goal of practicing Christianity on the job to the same degree that he professes it on Sundays.

“We can,” said Tyus, “be Christians at church and Christians at work.”