The legacy of a leader is best told through the lives they’ve touched, and at Northwest Nazarene University, President Joel Pearsall’s impact is evident in the heartfelt words of those who have worked alongside him. In this collection of letters, current and former Student Government Association (SGA) presidents reflect on the transformative influence Joel and Nikki Pearsall have had on the NNU community. From their unwavering humility and genuine care, to their Christ-like leadership, these stories illustrate a legacy of service, love and connection that has shaped the University, and its students, for the better.
Ben Wikoff
Class of 2025
Current Student Government Association President
Dear Joel Pearsall,
Your impact on the student body at NNU has been nothing short of extraordinary. Many students here could fill pages and pages thanking you and expressing gratitude for the blessings you have poured out on them. The stories that are shared about you reflect your unique value and connection with students. I often hear about the time you stood in as an honorary parent for the scarfing ceremony, how fun it is that you have hosted some of our favorite late-night trivia events and how surprised students are about your insistence to be called by your first name!
These actions send such a clear message about your deep love for NNU, a love that is above and beyond the typical call for a university president. Speaking of love, I would not be doing my job as a student if I did not mention our gratefulness for Nikki’s cookies and the prayers that you both pray over us. You and Nikki truly model Jesus’ love in practical ways. Additionally, your willingness to be present with students has enriched student life and served as a great model for a life lived through the love of Jesus.
I am looking forward to seeing how you and Nikki will continue to bless people as you move on from this role. You have left big shoes to fill and a legacy of relationship, humility and love that has influenced current students and will continue to shape many students to come.
With much gratefulness,
Ben Wikoff
Colton Six
Class of 2024
Former SGA President
The charge was a simple one, though to call the words spoken with such poignance as such would make him who spoke them laugh in his deep unpresuming chuckle. It was one of many phrases that could, and did, land in my brain, cling to my ears and be written on my office wall amidst a sea of doodles and frivolities. Yet Joel’s precision in diction blessed my memory with these words above the many that were worthy:
“Do what is in front of you well.”
Over the course of my numerous opportunities to sit down and chat with Joel as the SGA president, his mentorship was never hard to find. Friends would sometimes ask how those meetings were conducted, and I would laugh and reply that about the first half of any of those was Joel inquiring about my family, my activities, my buddies, my plans and my vision of the future. Nothing was below his reach, nor his remembrance. Business was sorted, eventually, but neither of us walked away from those meetings desperate for a breath of genuine human caring.
He had a way of bestowing that feeling upon anyone who landed in his purview, which, as his title suggests, was thousands.
To wander aimless the path of legacy is a bid for the glory days to cast a tall shadow. May Joel receive every bit of the recognition he is due for casting it off of himself for so many years. At long last he cannot but humor it. Yet I think even now he would revoke needless reflection on what has been and embolden us to be urgently present in the here and now.
His own charge, beautiful in its brevity: to do life at NNU without Joel, what is in front of us now, well.
Nate Lundberg
Class of 2018
Former SGA President
Joel and Nikki,
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all that you have done for the NNU community. Leading alongside the both of you was such an honor and something that I think back on with wonderful, joy-filled memories. The biggest compliment I can pay you both is not how you governed or directed the college while I was a student, frankly I don’t (and won’t) remember judicial proceedings or important directives that you gave, but how you treated people and lifted them up. You both were never too busy to have a conversation with a student, support NNU sports and just overall show how much you cared about people, NNU and its community.
College is such an interesting life transition. It’s full of changes, struggles, highs, lows and quite literally everything in between. In that transition, you two were such a helpful presence and resource and I can’t thank you enough for that. Now as you make a transition of your own, I hope and pray that you feel that same support from NNU that you have given it. Your changes will look substantially different than the ones your college students go through, but I hope instilled in you is a reassurance of both a job well done, and a deep sense that we have your back and are there for you as well.
The bottom line for me is this: you cared about me. And sure, you more than exceeded in other aspects of your day-to-day job and role, but that salient care and commitment to NNU’s people is what will be remembered forever.
Thank you.
Parker Akkerman
Class of 2020
Former SGA President
Dear Joel,
Northwest Nazarene University changed my life. That might sound a bit contrived, but as I reflect on my time as both a student and staff member at NNU, I can’t ignore the ways leaders like you have put me on the path I’m on today.
You officially started your tenure as president in 2016, my freshman year at NNU. I would have never thought I’d have anything in common with a university president, let alone ever consider him to be a friend of mine. You surprised me one day during chapel when you asked to sit with me. I couldn’t believe the President of the University would want to sit with me! Little did I know that was just one example of how much intention you put into the campus community.
In my senior year, I was given the opportunity to serve as President of the Student Government Association. While my role was vastly different from yours, you always shared how proud you were of our team. You took the time to let us know we were valuable as children of God, not just for our work. In that way, you made me feel just as important as the University President.
That same year, my senior year ended unexpectedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I took the alterations particularly hard. Despite the global chaos, both you and Nikki went beyond what was expected to support students with comforting words, drive-through Easter parades and a delayed in-person graduation ceremony (so many schools did not do the same for their students).
Later, I found myself back on campus, interviewing for an Admissions Counselor position. While I considered you a friend, I still spent lots of time preparing—I mean it was a job interview! Rather than asking a barrage of questions, you simply asked to hear my story. As President, you took the time to listen, love and cherish students, staff and faculty—a quality I will never forget.
I am forever grateful to have been able to serve with you.
Your friend,
Parker Akkerman
Jace Zigler
Class of 2021
Former SGA President
Dear Joel,
To describe you in one word is very difficult, but I will try anyway. When I think of you, I am reminded of your humility. C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” You have been thinking of yourself less for ten years as the President of NNU and I thank you for that. You have graced campus with leadership that is only dreamed of by most people. While holding the most prestigious position on campus you were somehow the most approachable and least intimidating faculty member. You always had time for every student who needed you.
I was one of those students who needed you and one of the lucky students who got to observe you in a time when everyone needed you, which was in March of 2020, when school was shut down. Being part of SGA I got to stay on campus a little longer to help out. For a moment, I remember selfishly thinking, “I can’t believe the year I get to be president, there isn’t going to be any school.” We met in the storm that was everyone leaving campus, and you told me, “We will figure this out and we will be back.” You always used “we.” There is power in the word “we” so much more than “I.” In that moment you snapped me out of my selfish daze and helped me realize we would be back. It would be different and difficult, and it was, but we were all in it together.
As I mentioned earlier, getting to observe you in that next year was a learning experience I never imagined I would get at college. Getting to sit in on the Board of Trustees’ meetings and see the behind-the-scenes of the decisions that would impact the future of the University. Learning from you and the other members who had more wisdom and responsibility in one finger than my little 20-year-old brain could imagine was an honor.
Thank you for thinking of yourself less for all these years. I hope in the next chapter of life you can think of you a little more, but we won’t hold you to it because we know that will be hard for you.
Your friend,
Jace
Josh D’Orazio
Class of 2019
Former SGA President
Dear Joel,
I started my college career the same year you started your role as NNU’s University President. I am grateful to be mentored by someone with your experience and love for Christ. You have been such a blessing as a leader to the campus that has shaped so many lives. You reflect NNU’s core values of Truth, Transformation, Community and Service. These values are reflected in all the places you go—the church you attend, the University gatherings, the general assembly you have served and the University community you have led. Your compassion seems to always be there; whether it’s with students you run into or trustee members, people in your community and everyone you encounter. You have given countless speeches in which you talk about NNU’s values. You know how to speak well on these topics because they are part of your daily life. Your time with NNU has been a wonderful example of the words of John Wesley that you have been imparting to NNU grads over the years: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Thank you for being an example and a leader to the NNU community and for reflecting God’s grace. The University has been blessed by your service and your commitment to each member of the community.
