A Vanguard Lion for Life

Vanguard University Faculty of the Year 2013 recipient Barbi Rouse has announced her retirement for May 2014. Her career at Vanguard has been comprised of 36 years but her legacy began at Southern California Bible College (now Vanguard) in 1970.

She currently holds the position of Director of Learning Skills, which was bestowed upon her 35 years ago. Since then, she has gained faculty status, led seminars to teach life skills, and in 2001 took sole responsibility for the curriculum that goes into the Cornerstone course that every freshman must take, Humanities 101.

Her credibility is comprised of receiving her undergraduate degree and secondary teaching credentials in English from Vanguard University. She put that education to use in a middle school 7th grade classroom for 3 years prior to working at Vanguard. In 1982, she went on to earn her Master’s Degree from Pepperdine University.

Rouse has been connected to Vanguard for 43 years now. Her closest friends, including her two sisters, all graduated from there. She was on the Vanguard Cheerleading squad for three years, and during that time, her squad won a national competition. She was active in Vanguard’s theater productions, even after graduation, and also helped coach the cheerleading squad for years post graduation.

Rouse’s fondest memories of Vanguard are the growth marks in her faith with Christ, meeting her husband Glenn Rouse (of 39 years now), the life long friendships she made while she studied at Vanguard, and her relationships with fellow faculty members. She thoroughly enjoyed being able to send her daughter, Erinn Kelly, to Vanguard as well.

As a faculty member, she reflected on the teachers she had when she was a student at VU saying, “being loved and cared for, and having teachers that were truly invested in the lives of the students made me want to do the same”. Her attitude towards her students now echoes how she was treated when she was a student herself.

“The mentoring was priceless!” she said about her teachers from Vanguard. With regard to her students, she says that she loves “encouraging them, praying for them, and celebrating their life accomplishments even well after they leave Vanguard.”

The honor of being nominated as Faculty of the Year in 2013 humbled her. When she received the award during a chapel service, she said that she could barely walk to the front to accept the award. Her dedication to the school and legacy she built has not only affected Vanguard but also the communities her students eventually reached out to.

Her future plans involve her continuing to mentor young women with the Lord’s leading. She is preparing for her final “graduation,” as she calls it, and is ready for the emotional transition she will go through as she leaves Vanguard one last time.