At Life U, we love our faculty and staff. And to celebrate them, I am excited to kick off our 2026 Employee Appreciation Week. During the first week of March, daily activities are scheduled to celebrate the backbone of our University and the great work they all do. Faculty and staff, please submit entries to these activities by Friday, February 27, and earn 20 to Life credit.

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Over the weekend, our community lost a remarkable leader with the passing of Dr. Guy Riekeman, our former president, chancellor and chancellor emeritus. His influence reaches far beyond this campus. Across the chiropractic profession, Guy was a visionary voice – someone whose passion, clarity and conviction inspired countless chiropractors to think bigger, lead boldly and serve with heart.

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For chiropractic students across the nation, National Board exams can be a source of anxiety and stress as they seek to master the material necessary to succeed. Though National Boards may not be the event D.C. students most look forward to on their calendars, they represent a major step forward for the chiropractic profession, allowing Chiropractic to be differentiated as a separate entity from medical licensure but still credible and upholding uniform high standards for chiropractors.

Prior to the first exams administered in 1965 by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE), chiropractic candidates took the same basic science exams as medical doctor candidates. Each state created its own exam, so testing was not standard and did not uniformly uphold the highest standards.

To better serve the public, the NBCE was created, and today, all 50 states and the District of Columbia accept or require National Board exams as part of chiropractic licensure.

The National Board exams, as they are administered today, have 4 separate parts. Life University has an overall 2025 NBCE Pass rate of 86.5 percent, but our students particularly excel in the practical exam portion, Part IV, with a 93.3 percent pass rate. That exceeds the national average by over 7 percent.

We are so proud to support our students as they find success in National Boards and beyond, as we celebrate and recognize their hard work to prove their knowledge and abilities as chiropractors.

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If you’ve ever watched an antiques or ancestry show, you’ve noticed that the stories that go along with family heirlooms and traditions aren’t always historically accurate. They’re often truer in spirit, though, and that’s the case with the Running Eagles name that Life University athletes proudly wear.

The story of Running Eagle, a warrior of the indigenous Blackfeet people, is one of which we strive to be worthy. Pi’tamaka (PIH tah mah kah), was a woman who walked the warrior’s path. She earned the name Running Eagle and became a legend for defending and protecting her people and their way of life.

Running Eagle was a hero. As Joseph Campbell, the foremost expert on myth and legend, said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Our Running Eagles are also heroes, defending and protecting Lasting Purpose, committed to giving, doing, loving and serving their way toward a better world.

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As we celebrate Black History Month, it is an excellent time to recognize and reflect on the strides made to support diversity in the chiropractic profession, as well as acknowledge opportunities for growth in this area.

At a basic level, the U.S. Census reports 14 percent of the total nationwide population is of black descent, yet Black chiropractors only account for roughly 2 percent of licensed chiropractors.This is a disparity that Life University hopes to address, because not only do we value the contributions of all in the chiropractic community, but we also but we also recognize that patient trust and comfort are strengthened when the profession reflects the communities it serves.

As of Fall 2024, black students make up 15 percent of our D.C. student roster, a number we hope will increase as we continue our efforts to support our inclusive and diverse community. Life University is a proud supporter of the American Black Chiropractic Association, as evidenced by our active student chapter, the Student American Black Chiropractic Association (SABCA).

In early February, we held a Black History Month Celebration where we explored the stories, culture and impact celebrated during Black History Month through trivia, bingo and more games. And we are also looking forward to SABCA’s Annual Black History Month Gala.

It is a joy to have the chance to honor and support the efforts of black chiropractors and others to build a chiropractic community that is diverse, inclusive and equipped to care for a underserved patient population.

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Now that the quarter is well underway, our new students have gotten a sense of the pace of our academic calendar. As our returning students know, the pace is fast and most of your time is spent in class. That’s why I hope you’re making time to discover all the student clubs and organizations that can enrich your experience and expand your horizons before and after graduation.

If you’d love to sing, there’s the Voices of Life gospel choir. If you like to connect with students across campus, there’s the Campus Activities Board. If you’d like to get an insider view of chiropractic, there are clubs for just about every kind of technique. If you’re an exceptionally committed student, you may want to apply to serve as Student Ambassador or Student LIFEforce member. There are also activities like murder mystery dinners and game nights and if you like to de-stress through physical activities, there are classes in the Fitness Center, as well as our new pickleball courts

There are also multiple avenues to making your studies more robust through Academic Learning Center programs and services.

In other words, Life U is what you make it…and we’re here to help. Visit the Student Advocacy Desk near the Library soon and discover your path to a better Life.

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As we begin a new quarter and a new year, I’m reminded of our philosophy of health here at Life University, which recognizes that within each of us is a spark of the creative power of the universe. Nothing shapes our lives more than that inner spark.

The great American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” That’s the message I’d like each of us to carry forward into this new quarter: That who we are matters as much as what we do. In the words of Peter Drucker, champion of organizational excellence, "The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

That’s what we mean when we say, “Rise from within.” It’s both a reminder and a challenge to be all we can be in this new year.

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I’m going to start with something that’s going to sound like a joke: What does Life University have in common with improv? I know that I’ve just set myself up for a LOT of punch lines, so please bear with me. I saw an educator’s take on improving the student experience using the rules of improv.

And, like our value set here at Life, all of them involved having a love for people … and being open to relationships and possibilities for creation and growth. I was especially struck by the final rule, which is “Help others shine.” Why? Because, here at Life U, we begin with the assumption that each of us is designed to fully express an inner light or spark of life – and that people will naturally shine unless they’re overwhelmed by interference from trauma, toxins, or toxic thinking.

So, here’s the punchline: Both improv and Life U understand that our purpose is to help others shine…by focusing their inner light so that they can shine as brightly as possible. We don’t always get it right, but we come a lot closer the higher we set our sights.

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