BLUEFIELD, VA. – Dr. Steve Peterson, the new leader at the helm of Bluefield University, is marking 100+ days in new his role.
“It’s been 100 days and it just seems like a few weeks ago it was like 14 days, so it’s sort of like drinking from a fire hose. There’s so much to be, to do and it’s such an exciting time and we got into the full swing of the semester and so now we’re almost to the end here,” said Peterson.
“I’ve found is the community has been very welcoming.”
The president of the 102-year-old university stopped by WVVA @ Noon to discuss the successes and goals of the institution so far.
“This fall, we’ve reached an enrollment goal of 1,039 students, so we’ve been celebrating that, and so there’s a lot of things like that going on where we’ve got some momentum moving into this next academic year,” said Peterson
Born in Pennsylvania, his educational aspirations brought him to Virginia where he earned his Bachelors of Science in Religion from Liberty University.
He would launch his educational career at LU holding a variety of positions including VP of Admissions.
Following his stint in Lynchburg, as Vice President for Online & Digital Learning, he would guide Houston Christian University through its digital curriculum before returning to the Two Virginias as BU’s president.
“[This] is an opportunity to reinvent the university to meet the needs of our students,” said Peterson noting the student body is made up of Bluefield Rams from all over the globe and locally.
“We want to reach back out into the community around here, into Tazewell, into Bland County and Mercer counties and let students know that it’s an opportunity for you to come and study local here at a university that offers high-quality academics.”
In addition to leading the university, the youngest of his children attends the school.
“Not only am I president of the university, but I’m a parent of one of our students there, so my youngest daughter, Mia, is a freshman there, and she’s loving it.”
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