In preparation for the opening of classes in August 2025, Luther Classical College of Casper, Wyoming, has announced three faculty hires. Dr. Gene Edward Veith, Jr., will serve as adjunct professor of humanities. Rev. Roger Mullet will serve as adjunct instructor of theology. Dr. William Lipke will serve as professor of music. “LCC is blessed to have a talented group of faithful Lutherans join our faculty,” says Dr. Ryan MacPherson, academic dean.

Veith has authored over twenty-five books addressing the importance of a Lutheran liberal arts education and how to examine modern and postmodern worldviews on the basis of Holy Scripture. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas. He previously taught literature at Concordia University Wisconsin and Patrick Henry College, where he also served as provost. Now in retirement, Veith continues to serve on the board of directors for the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education. “Literature always raises spiritual issues that I can unpack with the help of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions,” remarks Veith. “This is so when the authors are consciously exploring religious themes and also when they are not, since their absence also can be understood in terms of the authors’ worldview that falls far short of the fullness of the Biblical worldview.”

Mullet earned an M.Div. and STM from Concordia Theological Seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2018, where he also has pursued additional graduate studies in the areas of Old Testament studies and Hebrew. He currently serves as pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Wyoming, where he will continue to serve while commuting twice per week to teach at LCC. “The classical model of education is by nature interdisciplinary,” notes Mullet, who desires that “students may see that theology is not merely learned and believed but also lived and breathed in every aspect of life as members of Christ’s church on earth.” Mullet is especially interested in the ways that theology,  philosophy, and linguistics together equip a person to evaluate competing worldviews.

Lipke has enjoyed a long career as a performing musician, conductor, and college professor. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Skilled in piano, organ, and harpsichord, he also has taught music history and music theory, most recently at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. For ten years, he conducted the San Luis Valley Symphony. Presently he alternates Sundays playing organ for two Lutheran congregations. Lipke delights in mentoring students in “flex ensembles,” whereby existing music is arranged optimally to be showcased by the group’s talents for particular instruments. He celebrates “the paradigmatic marriage of text and music” that characterizes the hymns of Paul Gerhardt, the cantatas of Bach, and other masterpieces, such as Handel’s “Messiah.”

“My educational philosophy,” explains Lipke, “is to meet students where they are, to present relevant material in an engaging manner, then help them process the material so as to equip them for lifelong service in the church and to the world.” While Lipke is eager to support the Parish Music Track at LCC, he also recognizes the broad relevance of music for students in other tracks. “Beyond training church workers, I would help students explore, understand, and in some cases perform, the great works of Western Culture.”

Lipke will join LCC’s staff as Director of Admissions starting in May 2024, with plans to shift toward teaching when classes begin in August 2025. As the college opens, the trio of recent faculty hires will be joined in their teaching endeavors by two college administrators who also have teaching responsibilities: President Harold Ristau, the Walter C. Dissen Chair of Confessional Lutheranism, and Dean Ryan MacPherson, professor of humanities. Additional staff will be added as needed to cover the full curriculum.