When Ken Stoltzfus, Ph.D., was an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in secondary education, he wasn’t planning on finding a career in social work.  “But when I got out of school, I couldn’t find a job,” he says, “so I ended up working at a rescue mission. I got really interested in things like social justice and advocating for people who had been marginalized and discriminated against. I went back and got a Master’s degree in Social Work and worked for a number of years as a clinical social worker. I always thought I might want to teach social work at college, though.”

When he came across a job posting for a Social Work teaching position at Malone, Stoltzfus pounced on the opportunity. His interview left him with a good feeling about the university’s purpose. “I was impressed that the very first thing the dean asked about was interaction with students outside the classroom,” he says. “Credentials are important, but I think it’s great that we try to look at students holistically. That was the thing that hooked me in here - the chance to not just teach in the classroom, but to get to know people in other contexts as well.”

Being a part of the Social Work department has been a positive experience for Stoltzfus.  “There’s a unique culture around the Social Work students,” he says. “They’re passionate about helping people, and they’re hard workers. They have a lot of fun, but they’re very dedicated, too. When they become passionate about an issue, they start studying it on their own, doing the research, looking for internships, things like that. They just feel called to help people.”

Calling isn’t just a word that Malone’s prospective social workers throw around, either. They take God’s role in their work seriously. “Faith fits into what we do,” Stoltzfus says. “I talk a lot about the kingdom of God, and how social work represents an opportunity to live that out. Jesus tells the disciples that they can know who he is because the lepers have been healed and the good news has been preached to the poor. I see social workers having opportunities to do that same sort of work.”