The UNWavering Podcast
Co-hosted by Monte Abeler (’12) and Cassie Plantage (’07) of the UNW Alumni Office, The UNWavering Podcast brings you fun, thoughtful conversations with the people who shape University of Northwestern – St. Paul. No matter how you're connected to Northwestern—alum, student, parent, staff, faculty, or friend—this podcast is created to keep you connected to the heart of the UNW community. Join us as we highlight the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.
The UNWavering Podcast
Compete with Purpose | Dr. Matt Hill '89
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Dr. Matt Hill, Director of Athletics at the University of Northwestern, joins the podcast for a conversation on competing with purpose. Matt is a 1989 Northwestern grad himself, and he's now entering his 27th year leading UNW Athletics — a tenure that's included the department's move from the NAIA to NCAA Division III, national tournament runs in basketball, baseball, and volleyball, and the transformation of the university's outdoor athletic spaces into the first-class sports complex Eagle athletes compete on today.
In this conversation, Matt shares how his time at Northwestern shaped the person he's become, what continues to motivate him nearly three decades into his role, and what it really means to "Compete with Purpose" — and how that mission plays out in action, day in and day out.
At its core, UNW Athletics is passionate about winning — but even more passionate about developing young men and women into God-honoring leaders who are ready to make an impact in their homes, churches, communities, and workplaces.
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💬 Know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of UNW doing amazing things out in the world? Let us know at alumni@unwsp.edu.
Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Unwavering Podcast. Uh my name is Monty.
SPEAKER_01And this is Cassie.
SPEAKER_03And uh today we have the opportunity to have Matt Hill, UNW's director of athletics, joining us. But before we do, Cassie, would you say that you are a purposeful person?
SPEAKER_01I'd like to think so. I I do things on purpose.
SPEAKER_03Like on purpose. On purpose.
SPEAKER_01Like what? I read on purpose for sure. I read a lot throughout the year. Audio and physical books, shout out audiobooks. Um, but I find that any hobby you have can be used for a purpose. So I like to connect with people about what they're reading and it turns into conversations about life and current events. So it's awesome.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Are you are you purposeful?
SPEAKER_03I I would say I'm purpose driven. Yes. It ties with it. Actually, and this will be a good segue into our guest. Um, but a good example of that is when I played baseball here way back in the day, it feels like um we rewrote our mission statement as a baseball team that through baseball, we would practice true brotherhood, we would persevere through trial, we would celebrate success, and we and it kind of goes on from there. But I loved that baseball was the channel that we already all loved and that we could say, hey, it's okay that we all love baseball. Great. Now, how can we take our love for baseball and add purpose to it that connects with a deeper sense of who we are becoming? So that's just one example. I love doing that with our family and our kids and with my wife. But living with purpose is good. I think we would both agree. And for you listening, I imagine this is not a surprise to you as well. Um, but in athletics, there is a slogan, compete with purpose, and uh, we're excited to unpack that today with Matt Hill.
SPEAKER_00Join as we highlight the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern. This is the Unwavering Podcast.
SPEAKER_03It includes national tournament runs in basketball, baseball, and volleyball, and it includes the transformation of the university's outdoor athletic spaces into the first-class sports complex that Eagle athletes compete on today. Beyond Northwestern, Matt has served in leadership roles with the NCAA, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, the UMAC, and the NCCAA, the National Christian College Athletic Association. And in 2024, he was inducted into the NCCAA Hall of Fame. As a student, Matt Lettered in football, wrestling, cross-country, and track, he and his wife Miriam live in New Brighton and have three adult children. Would you please welcome Dr. Matt Hill to the Unwavering Podcast? Thank you very much. Glad to be here. Yeah, we're excited to have you. This is gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_01Well, Matt, our opening question for you is do you ever wish that you were athletic?
SPEAKER_04I'm just Well, there's a big difference between being on a team and actually playing Cassie. So yes, I let her in many sports, but uh the person on the bench also let her some of those sports, just so you know.
SPEAKER_01So we're so glad for what you do here. Um really, what is the Lord teaching you in this season?
SPEAKER_04Reflecting back on uh my many years in Northwestern, I've been at Northwestern over half my life. So over half my life I've walked around Northwestern's campus, thought about that last year actually. Wow. And um I think the Lord is teaching me to rely and trust in Him more than I ever have. And you'd think, wow, you know, you're you're up there in your age a little bit, and uh but I think through life circumstances that just have occurred in the last three or four years, uh the Lord's just been teaching me, like, through cancer for f in family, situations of uh mental health, other things in my family, the Lord's just been teaching me, like, do you really trust me for the future? Don't be anxious about anything but in everything through prayer and supplication. Rely on me. Trust in me. I will take care of you. And I think even more so recently, the Lord's just saying, Um, you know, uh be faithful to me because I'm faithful to you. And don't worry about those things. I am in control. Hebrews 12.1, I love that verse. It's really been it hit me. I think I have to read scripture now too, Cass. Just kind of sorry to go off tangent a little bit. But as I read scripture recently, words pop out that have never popped out before. So I've read Hebrews 12.1. I have a a poster of it because it's kind of an athletic verse, you know, and and run the race that uh I have set before you. I didn't stop to read the word that I have set before you. It's not you go out and run a 5K and just find 3.1 miles and end up 5K. It's like I have the I have marked the road race for you, run that race. And so it's to me, it's like being faithful to trust the Lord to run that race that he's mapped out ahead of time. Different versions or verses, uh different versions of the scripture say it differently. But I have set it out before you. I just didn't say run, I have mapped it out. That brings a lot of relief in me knowing this time, seasons of of things is just trust the Lord. He's mapped the race out, you run it. It's my job is to run it.
SPEAKER_01That's really good.
SPEAKER_03That's a really good word. Thanks for sharing that with us. Yeah. Well, that's something that the Lord's teaching you now more than ever before. Um, but let's go back to the beginning and actually let's go way back to the beginning of your Northwestern story. So, how did you end up here in the first place? Aaron Powell What does way back mean, Monty?
SPEAKER_04Are you saying that really old? Is that what that is that kind of like saying like we're gonna turn we're gonna go back to turn the calendar back, the you know, the hourglass back to the right. I think there should be maybe there should be a way for each decade.
SPEAKER_03So let's let's go way, way, way, way back. There you go. I love that.
SPEAKER_04It's kind of like a baseball hitting a home run, you know. Way, way, way. Uh so uh so interesting story, and I'll share it with you because I think it really molds where I am today. I grew up in uh Des Moines, Iowa, very middle to lower middle class. I've shared a story a lot with with recruits when they come because my story I think is somewhat unique and to where I am today. Uh we were on food stamps, government cheese. Um my dad um lost his job many times, blue-collar father, step stepfather, mom worked at Firestone at time when she was single. Mom at one time, my parents were divorced, um, she made barely minimum wage. So um I didn't know any differently, but we didn't have any money. And none of my friends had any money either, so I didn't know any differently. We always had food, we were always taken care of, but we just didn't have any excess money. Um no one in my family had ever gone to college before. Um, not my extended family or my older sisters. And so I just wasn't planning on college. I guess there wasn't even my radar screen runs in high school. And my track coach and my junior said, You should what college do you think about going to? I said, I don't I don't know, coach. I'm not really thinking about it. He goes, You shouldn't need to think about going to college. And you should think about running track in college. That might be your way to get into college. I thought, oh, well, okay. Um I said, I don't have any money. He goes, that's okay. So I went, did some research, and fast forward I I applied. I did what everybody's a smart, broke high school kid would do. I applied to the cheapest school I could find in Iowa, University of Northern Iowa. I got- I should say least expensive, not cheap, it's a good school, but I applied and I got accepted and I was gonna run track University of Northern Iowa. It was by far the least expensive. And a friend of mine who was going Northwestern invited me to come visit him. I'm not super smart, kid from Iowa, once again public school. I thought, wait a minute, if he can afford to go to Northwestern, and he's as broke as I am, maybe I can. Came to visit, loved it. I remember running around the dorms, playing intermedial, playing basketball in the old Riley gym, and uh and I had a blast. Like I thought this is what college life was like, this is what I want to, you know, it was like a camp experience. Went home and thought, then the depression hit when I saw what it was gonna cost to go to school. And this was in, you know, this was in night the middle eighties, so it wasn't super expensive to go to Northwestern back then, but it's still expensive comparatively. And so um got the phone call from admissions office, and I said, you know what, it was a guy named Ralph Anderson was his name, and Ralph was the admissions director. And he Ralph is a good old Iowa guy, and he said, Ah, we need more Iowa guys up here, Matt. I said, Ralph, I can't afford to go to Northwestern. He goes, Ah, pray about it and let and while you're doing that, I'll get back to you. Day goes by, phone rings, it's out, it's Ralph. Matt, I got a scholarship for you. I got a st I got a step scholarship for you. Fifteen hundred dollars. That's a lot of money back. It's still a lot of money today, but back then that was like a lottery win. Ran the numbers a little bit, talked to my folks, called Ralph back. Hey Ralph, yeah, I can't come. I can't make it. It's it's I still can't make the numbers work, Ralph, and I can't go in s huge debt, you know. So ah no, okay, I'll call you back, I'll call you back. Next day, Ralph calls back. I got a second step scholarship for you. You can't say no now. I said, Ralph, I can't say no, I'm coming. And it and so I came. I uh I came to Northwestern. I absolutely loved my experience. I know we'll probably talk more about it later. But that Ralph Anderson not giving up on me changed in my entire trajectory, I think, of where I am today.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's insane. Not just Ralph, but like your coach from high school who got you on the journey from the beginning, your friend that you came and visited, and then Ralph's perseverance and persistence. Like your life would be so different without those three people. Completely. Yeah, they poured into me. Well, so you did eventually land here. So reflecting on your time here, how did how did Northwestern shape or be a part of shaping you as a person and the person you became, whether you were a student athlete or your other experiences here?
SPEAKER_04Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, you know, I think um Doug Huffman was my coach, my cross-country coach. And I don't know if Doug's been on this podcast or not, but he has. I think he has. Yeah, I think I've actually I remember that one. And uh he was great. Doug was just influential and and integrating the faith into our sport and just into life, and he really poured into people. He really cared about us more than he really cared about the sport, if you will. And uh I appreciated that. That started that was the fall of my freshman year, so I started off on a really good foot, if you will. Had great roommates who are still great friends to this day. But I think having integrating faith into my classroom experience was something completely new. And it just it just made me think, wow, there's so much more out there about what God's involved with in every aspect of life than just church on Sunday. And uh I it weaved friends to our friendships. There's times in the dorms we'd sit in the end lounge and debate theological topics which I'd never done before, uh, which was actually kind of fun, to be honest with you. We'd ribbed the guy who believed in infant baptism and we'd ribbed the guy who believed in subversion, and we said, you know, what why don't we have why don't we dunk us why don't we dunk an infant and see what happens? You know what I mean? Stuff like that. We just had these funny conversations, but they really some of my best friends to this day are still my Northwestern friends. And I had a lot of good high school friends. They don't kinda hold a candle necessarily, most of them do my Northwestern friends. Wow. Just those deep relations. And then, of course, through teammates and experiences and wins and losses and highs and lows and different coaches I had, um, you know, was a a piece of making me who I am, I guess, and shaping me and challenging me to be a man of God and not just be somebody who absorbs things but also gives back.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's good. The people, coaches, classes, the whole the whole experience that athletics really shaped you and and what you mentioned there, faith integrated into life. I love that you chose the word integrated. Aaron Powell, you know what?
SPEAKER_04When people ask me what kind of school institution I work at, I don't but I don't work at a faith-based institution. They're like, wait, uh wait a minute. Isn't Northwestern a Christian school? I said, I work at a faith-integrated institution. Faith-based is one thing. Faith integrated is something different. And I that's what I love about Northwestern. I'm getting off a little bit here, but I love the fact that I tell people this is a faith-integrated institution, not a faith-based. And uh I think I I experienced that as a student athlete.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's not just faith isn't just a one piece of it. It's integrated through it all. It's also faith-based, like the foundation of it is faith-founded and it's faith integrated. Sometimes there's love stories integrated into your Northwestern story, too. Did you meet your wife here? Did you meet Miriam?
SPEAKER_04I did not meet her here. We're both Northwestern alums. We actually met in Iowa. Uh Miriam's a couple years younger than me, and she was, I was going to graduate school and she was at Northwestern, but we went to the same church and we played on the church softball team. I'd love to say it was because of my great left field prowess out there, all the home runs I didn't hit that she really liked and all those things. But we noticed each other from afar, and then uh were both involved in uh the young adults' ministry a little bit and uh got to know each other at a great church in Iowa. I really loved that church, that molded me too. Got to know each other, and then I stayed, I went to Drake University at the time, and she was at Northwestern. And so we had to kind of separate there after we met a little bit, but um, obviously to this day, we've been married 31 years, so it must have worked out okay. Um But uh yeah, it was great to see have her experience Northwestern after I had already experienced it, uh, and and see her interaction and what she loved. What's faithful about Northwest about Miriam and her Northwestern journey, she really we really didn't have her major, but she wanted to come here so bad that she came for a year and a at that time a trimester. And then she realized, okay, I do need to transfer because I don't have my major, but she wanted to come into Northwestern so bad, had such a great reputation in Des Moines and at the church we went to that uh she came up here with one of her best friends and went here for a year and a semester before she ended up transferring for the degree that she needed.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Ross Powell Well, and for anybody who's listening that knows Miriam, um, you know that she bleeds purple just as much as any of us. So for sure.
SPEAKER_01We love her.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um well I'm hoping to one day be the director of athletics when you're so how does one become the director of athletics? What was your journey like?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's funny you ask that, Cassie, because kids will say to me, I want to be an athletic director someday. What path do I need to do to get there? And I said, I don't know. And they're like, well, that's not really very helpful. I said, I apologize for that, but there's no particular major a person needs. There's no particular training that you get to become an athletic director, like you do an accountant or something. But what my path journey, how I got it, and that's why I tell students is first of all, I feel I'm I'm not trying to push any major, but a finance major is a really good major. It's a great utility major. You can do anything with a finance major. So I say if you're not sure about a major, think about finance, because there's a lot of numbers that actually happen in being an athletic director and overseeing a budget of your different various sports.
SPEAKER_01I'm out then.
SPEAKER_04You've got to spend the money. There's still checks in the checkbook, Cassie. Oh, I can do that.
SPEAKER_01All right, continue.
SPEAKER_04I would this is the path that I would say, and this is what really molded me, and I want to give props to somebody. When I came as a freshman at Northwestern, I had to work because you guys heard my story. I got hired in the athletic department right away by a guy named Dennis Schrader. Dennis Schrader was the sports information director at the time, assistant baseball, assistant football, assistant basketball, full-time professor. And um but he hired me and a guy named Billy Ani to be his work study. We I had so much fun doing that job. And this was back when the internet didn't exist and cell phones didn't exist, and we drugged the fields and we did the press releases on typewriters and we we did stats games on paper and pencil. But Dennis treated us like his kids. And Dennis's son, Jeff, and his actually daughter, Chris, were really good friends of mine. Chris was a classmate of mine. Jeff was a couple years older than mine, of me. But they absorbed me as one of their own. They invited me over on Sundays for for what he would call wiener water soup, which is a funny story. But it really wasn't. His wife was an outstanding cook, but I'd go over to his house in Fridley and we'd watch Vikings games, and he invited me in to his own family. And I thought that was unbelievably cool. And so I worked for Dennis for my four years here, and then I I left. I graduated, and um I went on to work for an airline for two years and realized that's not where God was calling me to be. I didn't have a college degree to doing doing what I was doing for that reason, but it paid the bills back in the day. Went back to graduate school and um became a coach and a teacher in Iowa. And after four years, I get a phone call and it's Dennis saying, Hey, I'm retiring from Northwestern, better 25 years, would you be interested in my job as sports information director? And talked to Miriam. I I really loved my job in Iowa. I was really involved in our church, I was coaching, but I felt a tug to come. So I came in, I interviewed, Dennis interviewed me, Joe Smith was the guy who interviewed me, and Dave Hulsonsgaard and Wally Parrish. I remember my interview committee. And uh those guys interviewed me, I went home, Joe offered me the job, and I I lamented over it because I loved my family's all in Iowa. I had a sister whose health was failing and felt like I should be around, she had she was a single mom, and I I end up saying, I'm not coming. Praise the Lord, Joe Smith wouldn't take no for an answer. Joe called me back and said, Okay, Matt, I'll tell you what, you and Miriam come up to North come up to Northwestern. I'll pay for it, I'll get your hotel, you guys, I'll pay off for all your food, but I want you to just bring Miriam up here with you, and then if you say no at that point in time, I'll leave you alone. Drive back up here a week later, go back home and we're driving, it's dead silent in the car. We because we had a really good time. And then look over at Miriam, she looks at me and she's like, We gotta go, don't we? And I was like, We gotta go. We gotta go. Went back, sold our house, moved up to Minnesota in 1999, came as a sports information director, head track coach, and assistant AD, three titles. And a year, less than a year later, Joe Smith became the vice president of advancement and I became the athletic director. So you have twenty si technically twenty-seven and a half twenty-six and a half years. I've been the AD in six years, six months, but I wasn't the AD. But the rest is history. The rest is history, and it's you know. I'm so glad that the Lord tugged me to come up here because my life has been completely different being up here. And I really I don't I don't I've never dreaded driving to Northwestern from my house. As a matter of fact, Miriam many times will say, Hey, Matt, supper's we live a mile away. Four stop signs away. Two stop signs are on Northwestern's campus. I cannot use the excuse of bad traffic or I got caught up at the red light because she knows. She'll say, I'm serving supper. If you want it warm, you come home now. Don't stop and talk to Dave Heb. Don't stop and talk to anybody to Billy or anybody else. Go out the back door, get in a car, and come home if you want warm supper. Because I love being here. And I and and I, you know, it's kind of a double-edged sword because I love being here. Sometimes I need to I need to be at home and do other things, obviously. But I've never looked at this as a job. I've just looked at it as a as a calling.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What? So you love your job, but what what keeps motivating you? What do you love about it?
SPEAKER_04You know, great question. People. I'm a hundred percent here because of people. I love students. I went I left my job and went into education because I wanted to teach and coach, because I love being around students. They're a blast. Even the ones that really are knuckleheads at times, I was too. You know, I was too. So I I realize that. I know that my journey wasn't perfectly straight. And uh so I I can feel with them when they're struggling in life. I came from a broken home, and so I feel I can I can do that. I've had about everything bad in the family that's happened, my family has been part of that. I've I've been lived through that. And so I have a heart for students because people had a heart for me. Way back, I was gonna tell you this was gonna come back around, Monty, when Dennis Schrader took me in as a kind of a father figure or as a mentor, when Billy Annie was a best friend of mine, when my coach Doug Huffman poured into me. I felt like that all came into culmination like that's what you need to do, man. That's what you need to do, that's your calling. And you'll be 100% happy and joyful if you follow that calling. And so to me, it's people, it's not only students, it's the staff. I love my staff. I love Northwestern staff. Miriam and I try and get involved in other things outside of athletics because we want to be a part of the bigger picture of Northwestern. But I laugh. A lot of times I'll go in the weight room and just laugh with people or or walk around campus and see people because I really get joy and energy from other people. And students keep you young, they keep you on your toes, uh, they challenge you in your faith. Uh, and I think that's awesome. And that's really why I've been here for 27 years going on, number 28 now, and hopefully many more. We'll see.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. Thanks for sharing that passion. That's that's deep. That's driving you, right? The people. You've also, in your time here, had a chance to lead a department which is filled with amazing people. And the tagline is pretty well known in Northwestern athletics, compete with purpose. So I'd be curious to learn a little bit from you, maybe just at a high-level view, where did the tagline come from? How did it come to be?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So compete with purpose uh came about 15 years ago. We were trying to define who we were as the athletic department. I think we knew in our minds, but not on paper, if you will. So when people would ask us, what do you what's your values and what do you live by, we didn't we couldn't share that with them with one complete tagline. So we came up with Compete with Purpose, the coaches, we spent about a year on this whole process. We came up with three core values that fall into compete with purpose because we didn't want people to come here thinking that we're here for a trophy. Yes, we are, and we're recruiting you to win a trophy, but that's not the ultimate goal. If the scoreboard doesn't have us winning, but we did everything else right, we feel like that's a victory for the Lord, if you will. So we really wanted to define compete with purpose, three core values. I'll keep this quick for you, Monty. Uh the first core value is place Christ first, second core value is invest in relationships, and the third core value is pursue your best. And we feel like if we do those three things, we are competing for Christ to glorify him. And it basically it all culminates in Colossians 3 17. Then the first word is really key. Whatever you do, whether in words or actions on the field, off the field, in the classroom, in the workplace. Place, do it all for the glory of God, giving thanks to Him. And so when we do that, we feel like that is compete with purpose. That's our ultimate benchmark, that's our success, what we we gauge ourselves on as success if we're doing those three things. That's really good.
SPEAKER_03Let's go back through those three things again. So it was put Christ first. Place Christ first. And then it was the relationships. Invest in relationships.
SPEAKER_04And then the last one, pursue your best do your best. Yep. So place Christ first. When the Israelites would go to battle, they put the Ark of the Covenant first. They placed, they didn't put, they didn't move, it wasn't accidental. They placed the Ark of Covenant first. The Ark of the Covenant was God, if you will, of representation of God. And then they'd go to battle. If we place Christ first, and place is a really important word. We place milk in the refrigerator for a reason. We place our car keys on the counter so we know where they are. If you place Christ first, you're intentionally putting him somewhere. Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's like your uh what you shared at the beginning. Set Christ first. If you place something somewhere, you you do it for a reason. You you place your you know your cup of water right here so you can reach it. We place Christ first for a reason. We invest in relationships, officials, opponents, your teammates, your RA, your professors, you your parents. Invest. Invest as a investment is a word that pays dividends. So if you invest in something, you're gonna get dividends in return. That return is your is your long-term, faithful, encouraging relationships that you have somebody. And then pursue your best. We have a weight room for a reason. We have a strength conditioning coach for a reason. We have nice fields for a reason. We we're not an intramural program. We're an NCAA varsity program. We feel like our testimony will be stronger if we compete and we compete at a high level. People will show interest in that, and then it gives us a chance to share our testimony and have a platform for Christ. So we do want to pursue our best. We we don't shy away from trophies and winning awards because that's what we're called to do, is to be the best we can be. And whatever we do, in words or actions, do it all to glorify Christ. Aaron Ross Powell So how does this play out with specific sports or with specific coaches that you've seen? Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. So they so coaches will sometimes have their own necessarily like Beth, our volleyball coach, has trail. Uh basketball has Avadah as their kind of core uh their uh driving principles, but we all come back to these three principles, all of us do. And so, you know, it's daily devotions with our teams, it's missions, trips with our teams, it's outreach, you know. If you Alicia Dumontso, our softball coach, is unbelievable with outreach and having uh um an outreach off of campus with our our neighbors right here uh the in the uh uh adult living situations. And and so we it needs to be practiced. It can't just be words on paper. So our coaches put these things into real uh real experiences. You know, we pray with teams after the game. You know, there's been times that there's a birthday for an opponent and they'll sing happy birthday to them. I don't think Michigan sings happy birthday to a Michigan state football player. But we might. We might do it to one of our opponents. You know, it it it's it's not a battle, it's a game. I tell people all the time, oh we're gonna go to war. You're not going to war. You're not gonna lose any limbs, you're not gonna fire a gun and kill somebody. You're going to compete. So let's look at that. You're going to compete and you uh you want your opponent to be at the best they can be because you want to beat the best opponent you can be. So I I want to change that mindset that this isn't an adversarial contest. Yeah, it's not always 100% super friendly because there's competition involved. But this isn't our this isn't our enemy across the line from us. This is our opponent. And if we believe in investing relationships, then that's something that we need to do. Certainly a win. You can knock them off their feet in the football field, you can hit a home run off that pitcher, but you're doing it to compete the best you can be. And I think that has a residue with people when they leave. We'll occasionally get an email or a letter from some from an opponent who says, you know what, you made a big difference to me. I've got a beautiful letter sometime you need to read from a tennis player in Florida who we prayed for two years in a row. We actually played them in Florida twice, and they remembered us and they said, When you prayed for us last time for healing for my sister, I think it was, and we went home and she got healed, we remembered the prayer that you had on the tennis court at the net. And that gives me chills thinking about that. There are student athletes lead these things. Much of it's led by them, not not say by coaches.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's yeah, you're you're hearing it for you listening, you're hearing it, what m it means to compete with purpose. Like the the support matters. Like Northwestern wants to win and pursue excellence on the on the field or on the court. But there is a greater purpose that has been prioritized even above winning. And as an alum that play baseball, as I shared at the beginning of this, I can testify this through experience, just as much as Matt is testifying it through his vision casting and leadership. Um, that baseball changed my life. Like I I grew as a man playing baseball here just as much as any other part of my experience. And you know, our coach would share that maybe playing baseball, we might be the only Bible that our opponent ever reads, which was something that we came back to. So, how do we represent ourselves on the field? How do we challenge each other as teammates to get better and even to win a starting job? Like all of it is wrapped up in this compete with purpose. Well, Matt, what's your hope for Eagle athletes, including like people like myself, during their time here as students, and then what's your hope for them as they become alumni?
SPEAKER_04My hope for them as a students here is that they absorb as much as they can. And the reason why I say that one example, I took Revelation with Dr. David K. Johnson back in the day. I was just trying to get through it. I was a knucklehead freshman. I revelation was hard, it's hard enough to understand. I would love to take that class again today. I didn't absorb that class when I had. I would love that class again today. I would learn so much more. You know, I'm more mature at I hope at this point in time in my life. But um absorb what you can because it's a quick four years, three years, two years. It goes so fast. You guys know that. And life moves fast. Absorb all you can because you're going to need that when you get out of this campus. Many things I rely on, things I learned, friendships I had, challenges I had, were things I experienced on the campus that now have molded me now and shaped me now. So absorb what you can. And then when you get off campus, utilize that. Take everything God's given you and use that in the workplace, in the in your church, in your family. And Northwestern isn't it doesn't end when you walk across the stage. And you do a great job of saying this, Monty, at every graduation. Like you're part of a new family now, it's the alumni family, and you there's a lot of opportunities of things to get involved with to do, resources for you, and even support you can do for us that are still here on campus as an alum. It doesn't end when you get that diploma and walk across the stage. We certainly hope it doesn't, that you need to stay connected and you need to use look use the experiences you have to help shape the areas that you're in. And you can come back and be a part of shaping these young kids' lives too, with mentorship opportunities, volunteer opportunities. We love it when alums come back to games. It it's a highlight for me to see an alum. I met I saw an alum here yesterday I haven't seen him for 14 years. I saw him on campus. It was so much fun to see him back on campus and be a still be a part of Northwestern. I re hey, I read your websites and I've watched some live stream games and I came to a play and and uh I'm still connected Northwestern. I love hearing those things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, students for a time, eagles forever. That's right. Stay engaged. Once an eagle, always an eagle. And uh yeah, if you're interested as an alum in in finding a way back to stay engaged, reach out to Matt Hill, reach out to us in the alumna office. We would love to connect you back and even with with something that connects with the area of campus that impacted you the most too.
SPEAKER_01For sure. So, Matt, wrapping up here, this is a question we ask every guest on the Unwavering podcast. What does it mean to you to live an unwavering life?
SPEAKER_04That's a very deep question. That's a great question. And love the tagline, by the way. I think it means for me to be walk the life worthy of the calling of Christ. Ephesians 4 1 is that Christ gave his life for me. What do I give to Christ? Am I that is my life. I my life should be given back to him to serve him and to serve others. Unwavering means it being so rooted in my faith that when tough time comes, I don't leave my faith. I re I actually dig deeper into my faith. It means that uh I don't let the latest fad or the latest style or whatever of Christianity take me away from the foundational roots of really what it is. Unwavering means when the winds blow or the waves push you, you're anchored in something, some strong foundation for me. And that's obviously my foundation in Christ. And so it's really been like I said earlier, I've been learning to trust the Lord through some difficult things occurring in my family, extended families and so forth, and rely on Him to guide us through that. And I think if I didn't have an anchor down, I would drift, I would have the tendency to drift around. Yep. Oh, and to find the easiest route, probably actually. And that's not how it works, right? A tree doesn't find the easiest route, it goes as deep as it can and through droughts is where actually where it its roots go deeper. And so I need to at least tough times my roots need to be deeper, but they need to be foundational. They can't just be spreading out. And knowing me and knowing my potential life, I could drift. And so staying foundationally anchored in him, I mean I need to be in the Word, I need to be in prayer, I need to be in fellowship with the church so they don't waver. Um and I I love the fact that Northwestern is committed to being unwavering. Now I need to also in my own personal life be committed to being unwavering.
SPEAKER_03Well, Matt, this has been a fantastic conversation. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for just opening up your heart, your passion, your story, sharing more about what athletics, the vision and passion for athletics. Um I will also take this time to give athletics a shout-out because unwavering is an awesome word and tagline that we are resonating deeply with. Um being unwavering. Of course, it's been now just reinvigorated in another way on campus. But man, for you listening, let's be unwavering. Let's continue to do with this podcast to school. Our mission is all about to have an unwavering love for God's word and an unwavering love for God's world by his unwavering grace and his unwavering nature. So, Matt, thank you again for joining us. We're excited for this coming year of athletics and school. And um, we look forward to talking to you again here soon. Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Holding on to your promises, holding on to your favorites.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening. To hear more, subscribe and leave a rating wherever you listen. And if you know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of Northwestern doing amazing things out in the world, let us know at alumni at unwsp.edu, the unwavering podcast, highlighting the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.