Meet Tyler Richards – GHD
Why did you choose to come to UJ?
I chose UJ for a variety of reasons. The first being football. I wanted an opportunity to play football at the next level and UJ gave me that opportunity. Another being the faith life. Faith is an important aspect and part of my identity, of who I am as a person, so being in a place that supported faith and gave outlets to students to practice was a must for me. A third being the coaching staff. Brian Mistro, Kirstie Dobson, and Gerado Magaña, were three influential people for my decision to attend this amazing college. All three of these people welcomed me with open arms, made me feel like family, loved me, and held me accountable which is something I could not get anywhere else. A final bonus was the small class size. I liked the idea of having a relationship with my professors in order to make my education personal.
Are you involved in anything on campus?
Football, Campus Ministries, Worship Design, The Tyler’s, Foundations, Football Bible Study, Foundational Bible Study (an all freshman bible study lead by me and Tyler Dean that help to make faith personal with the freshman who are looking to join campus ministry) and I participated in Student Senate my Freshman year but stepped down to focus more on campus ministry and football.
Why did you choose those activities?
I love football so I decided to go to place that was committed not only to making great football players, but great people as well. I liked the fact that this program was dedicated to making good people to send out to the world after school. I joined campus ministry because I love Jesus, and it was placed on my heart coming to college to find a good christian community. Campus Ministries gave me the opportunity to find a good community, as well as a group that will hold me accountable in my faith walk.
Is there a particular person or event that stands out as a memory you’ll hold on to?
The Paint Bucket Game from 2024. The game fell on my birthday and throughout the week Coach Mistro did an amazing job portraying the importance of this game and lighting a fire within our program to go and win. The game itself was exciting, putting up 28 unanswered points to take home the bucket and the celebrations that ensued after will be memories I have to last a lifetime.
On the Campus Ministry side of things, Praise and Prayer Night stands out to me in a big way. This is a night that is a candle lit evening that serves the purpose to allow students to spend some intentional personal time with God. After navigating the different stations including letting go of sin, writing letters of gratitude, and finding your favorite bible verse to share with others, I felt renewed and it is an event I will remember for the rest of my life.
What would you say to someone considering coming to UJ?
Take the leap of faith and do it. When you hear “this is a family” it’s not just a marketing pitch or an angle, it’s the truth. There is such a good support group in this place from coaches, to teachers, to staff that actually care about you and your story. This is a place that will hold you accountable and wants to see you succeed not just as a student but as a person. If you are looking for a smaller college atmosphere that cares about you this is the place. The college wants people grow in their education, their spiritual life, their athletic life, and as people, so they will not let you do college without support.
Why should someone choose UJ on Giving Hearts Day?
This is a college that is dedicated to creating the leaders of tomorrow. To create a better tomorrow you need to produce a higher quality of scholar and human being overall. This is a university dedicated to producing high quality human beings, and in order to keep producing quality people we need quality facilities. With your generous donations the betterment of UJ will continue to develop, and alongside of that the production of well rounded individuals will follow.
