“Rachel Hunka will be a strong campus pastor serving the needs of Malone students, in part because she already knows and loves them,” said President Gregory Miller, Ph.D. “This past semester, in her interim role as co-lead of our Pastoral Care Team, she has shown the capacity to lead and coach student leaders while implementing changes to promote spiritual growth in our student body. Her passion is for people to know and love Jesus — a love she demonstrates daily. Her academic studies, particularly from her doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary, have prepared her exceptionally well to foster student spiritual life on our campus. She has a long familiarity with Malone through prior service in the Office of Spiritual Formation, the Department of Bible, Theology, and Ministry, and through her ministry alongside her husband, Pastor Corey Hunka ’12 at Third Street Church in Canton. I am particularly joyful at the excitement our students have expressed about her service in this role.”

Throughout her career, Hunka has demonstrated a deep commitment to Kingdom diversity and reconciliation. As the Founder and Director of The Absurd Conference, she has successfully cast vision for ministries focused on faith and justice, building partnerships across cultural and denominational lines. Her previous roles, including General Manager of The ONE Center for Leadership, further highlight her ability to integrate rigorous leadership training with intentional spiritual formation.

“I’m looking forward to coming home to Malone once again,” said Hunka. “I am so thankful to Dr. Miller and every student, faculty, and staff member who took part in the interview process and chose to welcome me in. I have deep reverence for this role, and don’t take lightly what’s being entrusted to me. God has great things in store for our students, and I look forward to being one small piece of helping them step into the fullness of who God created them to be.”

Hunka’s extensive experience also includes freelance work with Stadia Church Planting and the RiverTree Movement, where she coached women leaders and developed curriculum designed to strengthen leadership pipelines.  It will be Malone’s gain that she brings both her robust skillset and her heart for the Gospel to this new role. 

The Missional Innovation Hub at ����Vlog is a integrated resource, collaboration, and incubation center drawing on the expertise of the Malone and greater Canton communities as well as national partners to provide a place for individuals, churches, denominations, networks, missionally minded business leaders, and nonprofits.

“As an institution deeply committed to the integration of faith, learning, and service, the launch of the Missional Innovation Hub at ����Vlog is a strategic step forward in equipping individuals and communities to imagine and embody new expressions of the Gospel in our time,” said Christina Schnyders, Ph.D., LPCC-S, provost at Malone. “This new campus center will serve as both a catalyst and a collaborator—resourcing churches, nonprofits, and students alike to pursue holistic flourishing, faithful innovation, and Christ’s redemptive presence in the world.” 

The Missional Innovation Hub offers services including: 

• Incubation and Consultation that facilitates experimentation of new ideas for church and community flourishing.
• Spiritual direction, coaching, leadership development, and training support through the process of learning “the dance between contemplation and action”
• Research and thought leadership in subject areas including, but not limited to, theology, mission, culture, ecclesiology, sociology, and social work
• Events including seminars, workshops, cohorts, and conferences so that participants can benefit from conversation and equipping

“The Missional Innovation Hub is an integral way for Malone to bring the ‘Malone’ way to the larger community,” said Drew Meziere, Th.D., assistant professor of theology and member of the Missional Innovation Hub steering team. 

To celebrate the opening of the new center, ����Vlog hosted a launch party with about 50 in attendance on April 23. To learn more, visit Missional Innovation Hub.

“We had heard that Elg was struggling to pay her bills and wanted to love on her in any way we could,” said Myers. “She was very active with our congregation, attending every service.  We wanted to help her stay at Malone and stay in the life of our church family. The funds we raised then allowed her to devote her other sponsorship money to help her sister, Jothy, join her as a student in the fall of 2022.”

Myers and his staff, congregation, and other supporters established the Malone Student Scholarship Fund which will provide between $1,000 and $5,000 annually to students with financial need who are attendees of Cross-Pointe Church. 

“We talked with staff in Malone’s Financial Aid office and discovered that, oftentimes, it is only a few thousand dollars that is needed to keep a student enrolled,” said Myers. “That is the sweet spot and what we will provide through the scholarship fund.”

Recipients of the scholarship will need to be active in the congregation and serve one of the church’s many ministries.

“Elg has been active with our worship team, but she also is here every Saturday working with our cleaning team to take care of our facilities,” said Myers. “That kind of dedication makes us feel good about the money raised and our commitment to the scholarship fund.”

Creating the scholarship fund is consistent with the mission of the church, according to Myers. 

“A better way, a better life,” said Myers. “We want to help people live a better story with power, passion, and purpose. It is life-changing and tremendously inspiring to see how the funding has impacted this young lady’s life, and that of her sister, as we look forward to how these funds will be used to assist future students.”

For more information on the Crosse-Pointe ����Vlog Scholarship Fund, or to contribute, contact Myers at 330-492-9290; or email him at brad@cpointe.church.

While her official title may have looked different throughout her Malone journey, one thing has remained constant; Leon’s love of working with students. 

“Discipleship is my favorite aspect of ministry, and I love conversation with students. Whether it is with an individual or in a small group, there is nothing better than talking about faith and life. I strive to do my best to tackle topics about faith and general life troubleshooting,” said Leon. 

And now, with a recent appointment, Leon will be serving an even wider population of students by being a voice to those who serve them. 

“I have been newly appointed as a Commissioner on the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Campus Ministries Commission,” she said. “During the pandemic I started proposing to the CCCU campus ministry email group that we pull together best practices for serving students during that time. I think folks started to know me through that and I was nominated for the position.”

The CCCU is an international organization which seeks to impact and improve all aspects of students’ lives, “The CCCU’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.”

“There are 185 institutions around the world that make up the CCCU and Malone is a vital part of that global network. They’re concerned not just with the type of education offered to students, but also with the type of ministry that is happening, the faith integration occurring in the classroom, and the legislation across the US that impacts higher education,” said Leon. 

This multinational organization is key in Christian education to Leon because it emphasizes something intrinsic about Christian students.

“I am a big proponent of community in the sense that we are created by God to be in community. So when a community, be it small or large, works together towards a common purpose we see God at work in His fullness,” she said. “So when all of these institutions work together on this brand of education, then you have a multitude of people with their gifts and talents working on the same mission. We think in community and God works in community, so why would we not ask and share what works for different institutions to make us all stronger?”

Leon will be able to emphasize this collaborative spirit through this role. 

“I will meet monthly online with the team and touch base about trends in campus ministry, what we are seeing as student needs, and how we can support other campus ministry staff within the CCCU,” she said. “Another main goal is for the various commissioners to work together to plan the annual February CCCU conference.”

Even with a global view, Leon knows that Malone is her home and that she is now a representative for the place she loves. 

”I think of myself as a representative of Malone. I love Malone and our students, and I’m so thankful to represent our university and be part of a board that makes changes throughout the CCCU,” she said. “I think we do wonderful things as a university. I’ve been associated with Malone since 1989, so it is important to me that the place I gave my life to is well represented. On another level, I want to know what’s working well for campus ministry across the world so that we can adapt that for use here. Malone now has a voice shaping campus ministry across the globe, and we can gain from this braintrust and community as much as we can help.”

While she may not have anticipated this as a step in her career, Leon is ready for the challenge and eager to move all of Christian education in a positive and effective direction; for Malone and beyond.

“I am in my 30th year of campus ministry so I have a sense of what works and what doesn’t. This is an opportunity for 6-8 of us commissioners to find what is best for the CCCU right now,” she said. “I had no idea this was coming, but I’m very glad to be doing it. I want to grow and challenge myself as a professional and this is a significant challenge for me. I’m ready for it, and I’m so excited for what I’m going to learn and how I’m going to serve.”

The Evana Network invites people to faithful living in Jesus Christ by forming and enabling congregations to be healing and sending communities. They offer a wide range of resources and support to help churches effectively engage with their local community, including leadership development, assistance with church planting, Leader Huddles, a prayer ministry, and a variety of webinars and seminars that are aimed at equipping congregations to be effective Gospel witnesses and conduits of God’s grace.  

“We’re committed to work together for Christ’s Kingdom as Malone educates students from their churches and serves as a resource for their organization in support of their mission,” said Miller. “I know we will be stronger together as a result of this partnership.”     

To learn more about the Evana Network, visit 

The February before Cooke graduated from high school, she lost her brother—her only sibling. This devastating loss caused her to struggle in her faith. She only wanted to put her energy and identity into basketball. 

“When I moved onto campus, my personal life was in shambles,” she said. “I got involved with the wrong crowd and started to spiral out of control. After experiencing some traumatic events during my freshman year, I found myself wandering down a destructive path and was eventually kicked off the team. I was pretty angry with God and didn’t really share how poorly I was doing with my family or close friends. I needed support and felt really alone.”

Finally, one friend shared a hard truth with Cooke. 

“He told me that if I didn’t make some big decisions and changes in my life I would continue to live in pain and destruction,” she said. “So at rock bottom, I decided to finally give Jesus a try. I thought to myself, ‘If Jesus really is who all of these people say He is, then maybe He can help lead me in a different direction.’” 

And He did. 

During Cooke’s sophomore year at Malone, she lived next door to a suite of upperclassmen who would become her best friends. 

“Noelle (Harnett) Custer ’01 and and Rachel (Schmidtke) Jones ’99 took me in and showed me support and love like I’d never experienced before,” she said. “I decided to attend a fall retreat led by my RA and shared my story at that retreat. The women in the suite next to mine were there too, and when they listened to me share my heart, they showed me love and encouraged me in my walk with Jesus.”

Eventually these friends introduced her to The Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), a campus ministry organization. A few full-time CCO staff members who were assigned to minister at Malone, as well as some Residence Life staff, discipled and mentored Cooke with meals in their homes and countless hours of conversations like she was family. 

These relationships extended beyond her time at Malone.

“Let’s just say I was a little ‘rough around the edges’ sometimes,” said Cooke. “But I loved to have fun and was willing to learn and grow. I craved relationships with these mentors and our time together was very formative for me. These experiences and relationships were what inspired me to go into campus ministry.”

After Cooke graduated, she decided that she wanted to invest in the spiritual growth of college students like others had invested in her. So she came on staff with the CCO as a resident director at Waynesburg University. 

“My intention was to serve as an RD for 3 years, then shift toward another role within higher education where I wouldn’t need to raise my own salary,” she said. “I earned my MA in Higher Education from Geneva College during that time and in the end, I stayed with Waynesburg for 4 years before moving to Grove City College to serve as a resident director and volunteer assistant women’s basketball coach with the CCO.”

And for the past 15 years, still through the CCO, Cooke has been working with varsity athletes at the University of Pittsburgh. 

“I cannot imagine doing anything else vocationally at this point. I am right where I am meant to be,” she said. 

In her daily work, she meets one-on-one with students, serves as a team chaplain, and guides student leaders as they facilitate Panther Fellowship each week and lead Bible studies for their teammates.

“Our staff also support coaches and the Pitt athletic staff,” she said. “We think that even small gestures build trust over time, and we help our students to see that, too. Something simple like a thank you note from a student leader to an overlooked student trainer shows our student athletes how they can be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

The foundation Cooke received at Malone is the foundation she’s built the rest of her life, and that she tries to help her students build their lives, on. 

“I didn’t recognize it at the time, but those formative years of college and young adulthood set the trajectory for all our lives. My time at Malone helped me understand what it looks like to Love God and Love Others.”

Cooke has been married to her husband Chris for 13 years. They met through the CCO and live in Pittsburgh with their children Eliana (10) and Malachi (8) and mini goldendoodle Penny Rose. They love to travel with their kids and hope to take them to all 50 states by the time they graduate from college.