Several months ago, a student paused before class to ask Julie Larson, Ph.D., how she was feeling about her upcoming retirement. She laughed.
“I’m too busy to be sad,” she said.
But with the passage of time, the tears began to catch up. After what she’s described as a “marvelous 40 years of teaching” in the communication department she helped to found, Larson is retiring from The Master’s University this month.
She described her career with a hint of wonder: “It’s a dream come true, and a fulfillment of my passion ever since I became a believer.”
The dream started during her last semester as an English student at the University of Southern California.
“I was sitting in the back row, just listening, and I said, ‘God, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to teach Christians at a Christian school how to think critically in order that they might be able to better evangelize for you.’”
Larson’s singular mission statement never changed. It brought her to TMU in 1983, where she was first tasked with teaching general education spoken communication courses. The school only had about 250 students, and the previous communication degree — an interdisciplinary program helmed by a single faculty member — had been discontinued.
But in 1985, Larson was hired full-time — the same year that Dr. John MacArthur came to head the college, which soon saw its enrollment numbers double and triple. Students began to ask for the resurrection of the communication major. Larson finally took the query up to Dr. John Stead, then vice president of academic affairs.
“What should I tell the students?” she asked.
She remembers that Stead remained quiet in thought for several minutes.
“Finally, he turns around, looks at me and says, ‘Well, the fastest way for us to do that is if you started it. Do you want to?’”
Larson, fresh off of earning a master’s degree in rhetoric and literature, didn’t have to think long. “I thought, ‘If he has enough confidence in me to start a program, then I’m going to give it a try.’”
Larson still calls Stead “one of the greatest mentors of my entire life.” With his support, she went on to develop the communication department from scratch. When the first students joined in 1986, there were three emphases: speech, writing, and electronic media.
Since then, the department has bounded from one milestone to the next, adding new emphases, faculty, and resources. Larson has worked with several department chairs in her tenure, even briefly chairing herself. But through the program’s expansion, she has vigilantly held to the national accreditation standards, a benchmark for student learning outcomes.
Larson is dedicated to preserving what she believes to be the crucial, classical foundation of academics: speech, writing, and critical thinking. Core courses she taught included heavy-hitters like Rhetorical Criticism, Argumentation and Debate, and Interpersonal Communication.
Pupils entering a Larson class for the first time often had to find their bearings when they encountered the intellectual demands of her coursework. Prof. Peter Shickle, assistant professor of communication at TMU, remembers sitting under her instruction as a TMC student two decades ago.
“She holds you to a higher level,” Shickle said. “She wants you to think for yourself. And I think that’s why her classes can seem to be a struggle, because people are not always used to being pushed that way.”
The fruits of Larson’s academic rigor are evident in the dozens of students who have transitioned from her classrooms into graduate schools and law programs across the country.
As she retires, Larson believes it is most important for the program to remain a training ground for the essentials: teaching students “how to write well, how to think critically, how to do research and cite sources accurately, how to deliver a good speech, and how to understand concepts and ideas.”
It’s that passion for helping young men and women communicate for Christ, semester after semester, that is perhaps Larson’s greatest legacy.
Shickle said simply, “I would not be where I am today without her.”
The Master's University Men's Gold Jonathan Larson shot a 1-over 73 in the second round of the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships, giving him a two-day total of 5-over 149 to make the cut in Dalton, Ga.
With a birdie on the final hole, Jonathan Larson won the The Master's University Spring Invitational and lifted The Master's men's team to an 11-stroke victory at the Crystalaire Country Club in Llano, Calif. Tuesday.
Jonathan Larson started the final round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men's Golf Championships tied for ninth, but a 9-over 81 dropped him to T27 on the final day of competition.
Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
Beginning Monday, March 17, at 6 a.m., Jet will be hosting “Jet into Work,” on 88.5-FM, The SoCal Sound which will lend a fun and upbeat start to listeners’ mornings.
Opera America, a nonprofit that supports opera in the United States, recently announced the 2025 recipients of two of its prestigious distinctions: the 2025 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize and the Discovery Grants from its Opera Grants for Women Composers program.
The Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees will hold a business meeting Wednesday, March 12, beginning at 5 p.m. The board will first meet in closed session at 3 p.m.
On Saturday, March 22, College of the Canyons will hold Discover Day, an event that will give new and potential students the opportunity to explore program offerings and opportunities.
When a cyber-attack hit a local elementary school district in 2024, Hsiawen Hull, executive director of infrastructure and information security at College of the Canyons, pitched in to help them recover and guide their decisions to improve their security posture.
The regular meeting of the William S. Hart Union High School District Governing Board of Trustees will be held Wednesday, March 19, beginning with a closed session at 6:15 p.m., followed by an open session at 7 p.m.
Join the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce for a Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting at Beyond Harmony Medical Spa & Luxury Aesthetics, Wednesday, March 26 at 4 p.m.
The Small Business Development Center and city of Santa Clarita will host two Enhancing Your Digital Footprint series webinars, noon-1 p.m. Wednesdays, March 19 and 26.
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, has introduced a legislation package which includes the Victim and Witness Protection Act (AB 535), Small Business Retail Theft Grants (AB 949), Police Pension Tax Exemption (AB 814) and protecting funding for crime victims (VOCA Funding Act) in the state budget.
On Wednesday, April 2 6-8:30 p.m., Serata Italiana, the renowned Italian language and culture club, will host an exclusive event at Total Wine & More featuring real estate expert Natalie Blancardi and a virtual introduction to Italian attorney Antonello Pierro.
The city of Santa Clarita Film Office has released the list of eight productions filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, March 17 to Saturday, March 22.
The track teams of The Master's University maintained their strong start to the 2025 outdoor season at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Classic on Saturday. March 15 in San Diego. Five standards were added and 11 top-10 marks in school history were achieved.
The Master's University men's basketball team's season ended Saturday night, March 15 as the Southern Oregon Raiders defeated the Mustangs 76-71 in The MacArthur Center.
Old Town Newhall has earned its title as Santa Clarita’s Premier Arts and Entertainment District and has also become well-known as a hub for prime dining and shopping.
The Master's University women's basketball team's season came to an end with its first round loss in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament on Saturday, March 15.
Braden Van Groningen collected 24 kills as The Master's University men's volleyball team came back to defeat the OUAZ Spirit 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13 Saturday afternoon, March 15 in The MacArthur Center.
After the January wildfires, the county began a review to assess our evacuation policies and emergency alert systems. The state has also commissioned a review of our preparedness efforts, immediate response to the fires and the recovery time frame of the incident.
Island Pacific Santa Clarita is gearing up for a celebration of National Lumpia Day with a lumpia-eating contest on Saturday, March 15, from 3-6:30 p.m.
After a successful pilot program in the Saugus Union School District, School Day Café has expanded the use of a new, eco-friendly serving tray option across all Santa Clarita Valley elementary schools.
In support of “Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life,” the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency is developing a Water Use Efficiency Strategic Plan to establish a comprehensive water conservation strategy.
The Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children’s Cancer invites the community to join the annual "Walk 4 MHF Help Kids Fight Cancer" to help raise awareness and support local families affected by childhood cancer.
The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society has announced that the St. Francis Dam Tour scheduled for Saturday, March 15 has been postponed until Saturday, April 26.
The city of Santa Clarita is enhancing local roadways with the upcoming 2024-2025 Citywide Major Thoroughfare Median Refurbishment Project on Plum Canyon Road.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.