The message below was shared at Point University’s Homecoming concert, which was held on October 20, 2023 and honored Dr. Eddie Groover’s life and ministry. Point is currently raising funds to name the R. Edwin Groover Learning Commons in his memory. If you knew Eddie and would like to contribute, you may do so at point.edu/give.
In a world that has overwhelmed us with pompous politicians, greed-focused business leaders, self-important academic types, and, the greatest of the oxymorons in this sentence, even celebrity pastors – somehow an authentic, Christ-like leader emerged with a dogged determination to leave the world a better place than he found it.
He felt no need to be the center of attention in every room, the star on every stage, or even the one to whom honor and recognition were given – even when such was certainly due him. What a different model of life he lived out daily!
His favorite pronouns were “we” and “our,” not “I” and “my.” His most often-told stories were about others, not self. He loved to brag on what others had accomplished, never mentioning his own accomplishments. He could be kinder to his critics than many are to their friends and family.
Somehow – perhaps, more accurately, because of God’s providence and calling in his life – he spent nearly his entire working life at Atlanta Christian College on its way to becoming Point University. He served in a variety of functions, from chief dorm resident in Roberts Hall to president. But in each of those roles, even while being involved in all sorts of complex “how do we survive beyond the next payday” issues – the burden of every small college president – he could find time to attend the funeral of an alumnus who often criticized him. And he did so with grace upon grace, to borrow from John’s description of Jesus in John 1:16.
Of course you realize that I am thinking about a good friend to many in this room – the late President Ralph Edwin Groover.
A few weeks ago I had lunch with a Point alumnus, and somehow, he asked me a question about President Groover. His question had something to do with the funeral service just a few months ago. He said, “I only met him once, but he was a very nice man.” My reply was something like, “Well, no matter how many times you might have met him, Eddie Groover was always a nice, kind man.”
I had been thinking about what I would say tonight. I had several ideas floating around in my mind – from a time Eddie rescued four upcoming graduates from an over-eager dean of students to how many times my family, Eddie’s family, and Roy McKinney ate dinner at Wingo’s on Campbellton Road, where the small KC Steak dinner was something like $1.50, and you got a small Kansas City steak, green beans, baked potato, roll, and peach cobbler. None of us made enough money back then to pick up the check for the group, but we enjoyed that fellowship greatly.
Though this graduate might not have met Eddie Groover but once, he was blessed by him every semester he attended Point. How did that happen? He was a good enough student to receive the HOPE Scholarship, and were it not for Eddie’s hard work, that likely would never have happened.
When the HOPE Scholarship first began – in 1993, I believe – private, religious colleges and universities were not included in the plan. Not only was that unjust on the part of the powers that be in the HOPE program, but it put every small, Christ-centered college in Georgia in jeopardy. State universities could charge much cheaper tuition than colleges like ACC could at the time, and then with the HOPE benefit, education was close to tuition-free for them. Remember my earlier phrase, “dogged determinism.” There wasn’t a flashy bone in Eddie’s body, but he could be doggedly determined with an on-steroids ferocity.
He spent day after day meeting with legislators, especially during the annual session. In essence, he had to wrestle Speaker of the House Tom Murphy to the ground on this issue. I’m not sure Nero himself could have been more difficult for Paul than Tom Murphy could be for those with whom he disagreed.
But . . . and I can’t remember all the details Eddie told me about this process . . . eventually, private Christian colleges and universities were approved for a private-college rate under the HOPE Scholarship. I think that happened in 1995. If you’ve been a student at ACC/Point since then and were academically qualified for the HOPE scholarship, then you owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Eddie Groover, the person who worked on that project like no other.
He got some criticism for it. I heard some of it personally. But one of my favorite personal outcomes of that reality – besides the no-telling-how-many thousands of dollars that HOPE has invested in our students – is the day a rather self-righteous young man in my theology class went off on a riff about the sin of gambling via buying lottery tickets. Being opposed to buying lottery tickets is a choice we are free to make. But I knew this kid was not only a bit self-righteous, he was also very smart. I couldn’t resist, so I said, “So, you don’t accept the HOPE Scholarship on your tuition bill each semester?” The room became rather eerily quiet. I remember telling Eddie this story. And I remember his great laugh! He would have likely been too kind to ask the question I did, but he somehow seemed to find a bit of joy in the fact that I did!
That his path and my path crossed over the course of many years will forever be viewed as a gift from God to me.
Wye Huxford 