BMA of Arkansas Departmental Reports: Central Baptist College

As we celebrate our 70^th anniversary, this monumental milestone reflects God’s goodness that has been affirmed through His churches since the first classes convened on the campus on Sept. 15, 1952. Thank you for your consistent support of the ministry of Central Baptist College! We praise God for your prayers and generosity each year because they are the foundation for what God does in the lives of our students, faculty and staff. You are making a difference — you are contributing to the “transformation of lives” through the gospel of Christ to all who encounter Central Baptist College.

We believe all truth comes from God, and we share this Christ-centered worldview unashamedly. This worldview sees God as the source of truth for all disciplines, be it mathematics, science, history or any other subject. Therefore, the student receives a deeper, more thorough education when the professor is not limited by mandates prohibiting discussions of faith.

70^th Anniversary

We commemorated our 70^th Anniversary on Sept. 15, 2022 with a campus-wide celebration. Many of you were able to join us. We kicked off the day at 11 a.m. with a complementary catered catfish and chicken buffet under two big tents in front of the Story Library. Over 300 community leaders, pastors, employees and friends of CBC gathered in the beautiful weather before moving into the Story Library for a program. The lunch event was capped by the unveiling of a huge anniversary cake, complete with sparklers, prepared by Chef Don Bingham. The new Mustang mascot also made a surprise grand entrance. Later in the evening, students, employees and fans gathered for “Meet the Mustangs,” an annual event to highlight each player from all 16 athletic teams.

Mustang Athletics

Central Baptist College competes in 16 different sports in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) and American Midwest Conference (AMC). The Athletic Department connects many non-Christian student-athletes, many who are from other countries, to the gospel every year and fosters a sense of Mustang pride. By joining the Mustang Club, the Athletic Department booster club, you support the effort of transforming lives through spiritual, academic and athletic excellence. Join the Mustang Club and follow the Mustangs on social media or text and e-mail alerts at cbcmustangs.com.

CBC Day in the Churches

The College’s special emphasis day, CBC Day, began on Sept. 11, 2022. CBC Day contributions go directly into the CBC Annual Fund that supports, among many other things, the ministry grant, academic and performance scholarships, spiritual life programs and the development of new academic programs. If your church has participated, or is scheduled to participate, we thank you! We are humbly asking you to set aside a Sunday this fall or in the spring, to devote a specific part of the morning worship service to a special called time of prayer. We are also available to share on a Sunday night or during a mid-week service. We gladly welcome invitations to participate at ministerial events and BMA of Arkansas events such as WMA and Brotherhood meetings. For more information, contact Director of Church Relations Duffy Guyton at dguyton@cbc.edu or (501) 269-6784 or go to cbc.edu/alumnifriends/cbcday. 

Mustang in the Making

Legacy Program

We have a strong desire to collaborate with alumni and friends of the college to help celebrate their children or grandchildren’s milestone birthdays until they graduate high school. This is a great way to introduce them to CBC and show them a little extra attention as they grow up. To learn more or to sign up, visit cbc.edu/mustangsinthemaking or contact Jessica Faulkner at jfaulkner@cbc.edu or (501) 205-8800.

Prospective Students

In addition to your crucial financial support, we also need your students. CBC was founded 70 years ago to serve primarily the BMA of Arkansas. We strive to offer academic excellence blended with Christian faith to both traditional and nontraditional students in your churches. However, we can’t recruit them if we don’t know who they are. Please consider sending us prospective college student lists or providing a point of contact that will help our admissions team develop relationships with your students. You can also encourage your students to visit cbc.edu/visit to schedule a personal campus visit experience. 

Be a Mustang Ambassador

You can also be a volunteer recruiter as a Mustang Ambassador. Mustang Ambassadorsare helping the college create a network of alumni and friends to help tell CBC’s story. Sign up at cbc.edu/ambassador or contact Mary Catherine Harvison at mharvison@cbc.edu or call (501) 205-8889. In addition to the Mustang Ambassador Program, you can request that CBC Admissions Department representative visit your church or youth event by emailing admissions@cbc.edu or call (501) 329-6873. You can also refer a student to our admissions team online at cbc.edu/referral and we will contact the referred student. 

Our Greatest Need Right Now

We are asking you all to fervently pray for CBC. In late January 2022, CBC was hit by a cyber-attack. Even though security protocols were in place, our computer network was hacked by an unknown entity. The Cyber Security Team at the Little Rock FBI Field Office was contacted immediately, and the CBC Information Technology (IT) personnel remained in contact with them. Within a matter of hours, CBC contracted with an information technology solutions company to form an Incident Response Team (IRT) to preserve and protect data that had not been accessed, to determine what data may have been stolen and to restore data that may have been encrypted.

CBC administration was in contact with the insurance company to review coverage for such an incident. The attorney for the insurance company was consulted on a regular basis with the IRT and the CBC administration, plus an attorney assumed oversight of all messaging to students and employees, meeting via phone call daily with the CBC President and Vice President for Finance. At the advice of the attorney, CBC also contracted with an experienced and proven cyber negotiation company to deal directly with the hackers. Their job was to negotiate with the hackers to determine what data they had in their possession, gather proof of such data, and delay any further data leaks/attacks while the IRT and CBC Team worked around the clock to recover and restore all data. 

Over the next five weeks, our entire network would remain inaccessible to faculty, staff and students while the IRT helped CBC strengthen and fortify the network to prevent any such future incidents. During this time, all instruction (teaching of classes) was done online via Zoom technology and continued without significant interruption.

No ransom was paid to the hackers, thanks to the swift response by CBC’s administration and IT department and the work of the FBI, IRT and Brotherhood Mutual Insurance. It took five weeks, but all data was recovered, and the network restored in subsequent weeks with critical systems brought online first. 

The cyber incident brought all activities to a halt for five weeks. Valuable time was lost in recruiting of new students, both in the PACE, online and traditional programs, resulting in a significant loss of revenue for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The loss of revenue, initially estimated at $450,000, may reach $1 million now that final enrollment numbers are in.

CBC is calling on the churches of the BMA of Arkansas, the owners of CBC, to assist them in this most challenging time. We are confident that, with all of the precautions and upgrades to the system, this devastation will not occur again. God’s Word edifies us in II Cor. 9:15, “thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.”We must rest in knowing that the Heavenly Father’s grace, mercy and provisions are indescribable and beyond description.

However, we need you now more than ever. I am boldly calling on the churches of the BMAA, alumni and friends of CBC to give generously, and in some cases sacrificially. We have a critical and emergent financial need brought on by these evil players. If ever there is a personification of John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” this is it. They operate with a single goal and that is to extort money and bring harm to institutions like CBC. If you will agree to help with this need, mark your special offering “cyber.” Thank you for praying and providing for CBC in this most needed time!

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for Central Baptist College. We love our churches of the BMA of Ark. We cannot carry out our mission without you.