Warner President David Hoag will depart to lead large Christian college association

David A. Hoag, the president of Warner University in Lake Wales for the past eight years, is leaving for an international education role.

Hoag, 60, has been named president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C. He starts the new position on Sept. 1.

“While this decision was difficult, (wife) Joanna and I have developed deep connections within the Warner community,” Hoag said in a news release. “I am honored to have led this institution over the past eight years and excited to embrace the Lord’s will in this new challenge.”

Founded in 1976, the CCCU oversees more than 185 institutions worldwide, most of them in the United States and Canada, according to its website. Warner is one of the member schools, along with Southeastern University in Lakeland.

Hoag said he feels as if he has been preparing to lead the national organization for his entire life. In his resignation letter, he referred to the biblical passage of Ecclesiastes 3:1, which states, “To everything there is a season.”

Hoag earned his bachelor’s degree from Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, a member of the CCCU. After receiving a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky, he returned to Asbury to take a fundraising position and stayed at the school for nine years.

He later spent 13 years at Greenville University in Southern Illinois, becoming a senior vice president, before taking the same role at Trinity International University in Chicago. Both are members of the CCCU.

“During all my collegiate years, the faculty and staff that made a big difference in my life were shaped by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities — faith integration and faculty development,” Hoag said. “And so it's really an honor to be able to lead the 185 schools.”

Hoag is the third president of Warner University, founded in 1968. The school has approximately 1,000 students , both at its Lake Wales campus and in online programs. The student population has grown to the point that some students have resided the past two years at Legoland Beach Retreat in Winter Haven.

Warner is building a residence hall on campus that will add 198 beds on campus, Hoag said. Warner’s water treatment plant serves 3,500 residents of southeast Polk County, and the school is constructing a new facility, using a $2.3 million state allocation .

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In reviewing his accomplishments at Warner, Hoag mentioned the expansion of academic programs, with an emphasis on agriculture, social work and education. The school has also bolstered its sports program , adding women’s lacrosse and flag football, powerlifting and electronic sports.

“But most of all, I would say it's the spiritual formation that takes place within the lives of the students,” Hoag said. “That's probably been one of the most rewarding things, for students to either grow in their faith or commit to Jesus as a part of their journey.”

Hoag said that he and has wife, Joanna, have hosted thousands of Warner students at their Winter Haven home for dinner, school activities or events.

Hoag led Warner through a difficult period beginning in 2018, when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the main accrediting organization for Florida institutions, placed Warner on monitoring over questions about its finances. The association then continued the school’s accreditation while placing the school on probation .

The association lifted the probation in 2021 , the same year that the university’s trustees voted to give Hoag a five-year contract extension.

Hoag becomes the third leader of a college or university in Polk County to leave this year, following Randy K. Avent at Florida Polytechnic University and Anne B. Kerr at Florida Southern College.

Warner’s board of trustees is expected to appoint an interim president at its meeting Friday and plans to conduct a national search for its next president.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Warner President David Hoag will depart to lead large Christian college association