Core classes: every student has to take them and they always seem to bog down schedules. Where some professors fail to make a connection with students, others engage them from day one.

Dr. Don Rinehart, Professor Emeritus of Religion, has been building up both the professor-student relationship, as well as his department, for over forty years. His legacy at Ashland, though, dates back further than the fall day in September of 1969 when he began instructing here.

Graduating from Ashland College, Don Rinehart headed off to Tucson, Arizona with his education degree to assist at the middle school level while coaching baseball and basketball. “When I graduated, I knew I would teach and coach all my life,” said Rinehart. After a few years of teaching, however, he soon discovered a pull in a different direction. “I just felt the call to seminary; I really didn’t know what it was beyond that,” stated Rinehart. “I knew I was supposed to come back.”

Rinehart would return to Ashland, graduate from Ashland Theological Seminary, and join the Smithville Brethren Church. Four years later, the president of Ashland College, Dr. Glenn Clayton, would bring Don Rinehart back to instruct at the college.

Over his thirty-nine years of full-time teaching, Rinehart has been a professor, Chair of the Religion Department, as well as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He has helped build the Religious Studies department as well as courses that help shape the major on an intellectual level.

But no matter what his position in the school, Rinehart has always had a passion for connecting with students. “It’s really nice when a teacher is open about their experiences because it totally changes the atmosphere of the classroom,” said Jeni Dodd, a Junior Middle Grades Education major. “Everyone felt really comfortable in his class, regardless of [their] religious views.”

Dr. David Aune, Chair of the Religion Department, believes whole-heartedly in Rinehart’s values. “I think people come to college thinking that you’ve got these professors that are so brilliant and up there and almost inaccessible,” stated Aune. “Don’s the kind of person that breaks that down very quickly to say, ‘We really care about you.’”

Rinehart, who retired from full-time teaching in 2007, still instructs two courses of Exploring the Bible each semester. “I love this arrangement. I get to do what I love doing, that’s teaching,” declared Rinehart. And after a full career devoted to the school and department, he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I don’t have all of the other stuff that goes with department meetings and college meetings. I could teach more, but I’m really content with the two classes.”

Dr. Rinehart’s reach is not limited to the classroom and the passages of the Bible his students encounter. Through the years, he has developed a vast amount of connections with different people and places through the university or the Brethren Church. One of these connections has lead to the development of the AU in Germany Program.

“Years ago, he and [his wife] traveled in Germany looking for an opportunity for students to connect with a particular location, take AU classes, but have an experience internationally,” noted Aune. The four-week program created by Rinehart begins with a week in Ashland followed by three weeks in Germany. During these three weeks, students participate in classes, as well as, traveling to notable sites and cities. “I feel like I’ve been in his debt in a lot of ways, because he has started a lot of very valuable and important things and we have been trying to keep them going.”

Rinehart’s unparalleled devotion to his students and to the university over the years has not gone unnoticed. Students passing between the Chapel and the Library will see the Center for Religious Studies named after Don Rinehart. Alum Jack Miller was one of Rinehart’s students and, like many, recognized his dedication to his students, and helped permanently establish Rinehart’s legacy at Ashland University.

Dr. Peter Slade, Associate Professor of Religion, colleague and friend of Rinehart, believes that naming the Center for Religious Studies is reflective of what the department strives for. “The significance for us of calling it the Rinehart Center is it says we are still about the business of challenging students to think more deeply about their faith and that that is done in an environment that is encouraging of faith,” said Slade. “We are studying these important things in an environment where we care about students and their own spiritual development. That’s really where we see the legacy of Don Rinehart.”

Senior Jennifer Holderman remembers her course as a freshman in Rinehart’s Exploring the Bible as encouraging. “He seemed to be dedicated to not only helping us learn, but to also keep his classroom an open space where we were free to share our thoughts and opinions on Religion without being judged,” recalled Holderman. “He did not preach to us, but rather he made sure we [understood] the material and [gave] us the opportunity to stretch ourselves, no matter where we were with our knowledge of the Bible.”

Rinehart believes connecting with students regardless of their background is the most intriguing part of his job. “I really enjoy Exploring the Bible, because it’s primarily freshmen and sophomores that are in there,” declared Rinehart. “Sometimes, they have a background in the Bible; sometimes, you get students that have absolutely no background. I just really enjoy having an opportunity to try to introduce students to the Bible for the first time.”

His impact goes beyond the engraved sign that stands outside the Center for Religious Studies or the hallways inside lined with photographs taken by Rinehart himself. “He has influenced this University in such a positive way and is able to leave behind a tradition that, hopefully, will be known, as he is, to be warm and welcoming to all students,” said Holderman. Dr. Aune agrees stating he is an “example of what Ashland can and should be, in terms of the care for individuals and the desire to see people flourish… I think he represents what’s best about the Christian faith.”

When it comes to breaking down preconceived notions of the professor-student relationship and offering a welcoming learning environment, Dr. Don Rinehart has helped shape generations of students at Ashland. The impact, however, is mutual for Rinehart: “I can’t think of having spent the last 40 years of my life doing anything that would have given me greater satisfaction and sense of fulfillment than teaching here in the religion department.”