When students enroll at Olivet Nazarene University, the faculty and staff strive to create an environment in which each individual encounters an “Education With a Christian Purpose.” The assumption is that most students will graduate and move onward to apply their academic foundation and personal faith journey elsewhere.
However, each year some young graduates accept positions at Olivet and start their careers on campus. It is a unique experience to shift one’s definition of what “life at Olivet” means from a student perspective to that of an employee. But as Jonathan Fightmaster ’15/’18 M.A. knows, perspective changes everything.
John has spent nearly his entire life within a baseball pitch of Olivet’s campus. His parents, Tony ’79 and Janine ’15 Fightmaster, raised their four boys within view of Ward Field and the Snowbarger Athletic Complex. Tony has spent most of his career at Olivet, and his and Janine’s wish for their sons was that each would enroll at Olivet for at least their freshman year — including living on campus to get the full college experience. To their delight, all of their sons attended and graduated from the University.
As a student, John majored in math education and played for four years on the varsity baseball team. He made fast friends with both his classmates and teammates, and he credits the strong community environment with making his own choice to continue at Olivet for the duration of college a relatively easy “yes.”
“Even though I changed my major about six times in the first year or so, I knew I wanted to do something with math,” John reflects. “I met some of my best friends in classes and really enjoyed the community that was created in the classroom.”
Much of John’s time was focused on baseball, but he was also committed to working equally hard on his academic pursuits and personal development — acknowledging, even at a young age, that college was meant to be just one stretch of a life full of meaning and purpose.
After graduation, John got a job as a faculty member in the Department of General Studies. Since then, he’s proven to be a true utility player in both faculty and staff positions on campus — gracefully walking alongside students for the past 10 years in the classroom as a professor; on the field for multiple seasons as an assistant baseball coach and then as the academic athletic liaison; and from his office in the Department of General Studies as he advises undecided students. This fall, John will also serve as a resident director (RD) in the University Place apartments, further expanding his reach to students.
“My entire undergrad experience shaped what I’m doing currently,” he says. “Because I’ve been at Olivet for a long time, I really know how to help students succeed — not just here, but thinking toward the future.”
John knows that not every conversation with students is going to be a home run, but having spent more than a decade of postgraduate life working at Olivet, he has built confidence both in his own leadership skills and in the Lord’s ability to do good work in all who are willing.
What may be surprising to some is John’s self-described aversion to being a leader. When he entered college, he had low self-confidence and struggled under the weight of other people’s opinions. It was in his first years after graduation, as a professor and coach and while working on his master’s degree, that John realized that through each opportunity, he was growing professionally and personally.
“I’ve never wanted to be the center of attention,” he says. “I don’t typically want to be leading the charge but would rather be the person who supports in any way I can. But there are times when you have to take charge, pivot [and] modify based on what the other people in the room need. My vision of loving people is to go out of my comfort zone to be what other people need to draw close to the Lord. Sometimes you have to be uncomfortable for relational living.”
“As a math professor, that meant helping others figure out how numbers made sense, which I truly enjoyed even when I wasn’t super confident as a young prof. Working with the athletes on eligibility, I understand the value of finding a balance between the rigors of college athletics and the demands of an academic load. In the general studies department, I get to help undecided students build their academic skill sets and help advise them on what to study. Overall, my goal is to help students embrace the importance of what they’re choosing to do in college, even if it doesn’t make sense right now.”
Whether or not John will become a true “lifer” like his dad by spending the majority of his career at the University, he and his wife, Gabrielle ’20 MOL, have found joy and purpose in embracing what life at Olivet means for them in this season. Gabrielle has also worked for years at ONU as the assistant women’s volleyball coach and as an RD. Now, she works as an assistant to the director of student life, supporting student programming on campus. The Fightmasters have a daughter, Madelyn. Even though they’re not yet sure if they’ll enforce a similar one-year “rule” to attend Olivet, John and Gabrielle are happy for Maddie to experience her own version of life at the University while they’re working and all living on campus. 
“I am confident that the Lord has called me to work with college students,” John says. “He’s put me in this place. Some students come with a strong faith because they know Olivet is a faith-based institution. But plenty of students come just for athletics, music, academics, et cetera. One special thing about Olivet is that faith is intertwined in everything we do. It’s not athletics or education and Christianity — they’re all combined. It’s awesome to play a part in all of it.”
Read the entire “The Value and Power of an Olivet Education” issue here.
