Weaver, from Duncan, Oklahoma, spent her undergraduate years here at SNU pursuing a multi-disciplinary degree in English, Spanish, and philosophy, a choice she explained was an easy one. “When I was a kid and would get in trouble, my punishment was not being allowed to read. But even then, I would just read cereal boxes, the newspaper, or my mom’s magazines,” she shared. Although she ultimately chose a different path, veterinary school was once on her mind. “I wanted to become a veterinarian until I got to biology II in high school and realized everything inside the cat we were dissecting looked the same to me, and that would probably have been a problem for a vet,” she stated humorously.
After graduating from SNU with a bachelor’s degree, Weaver earned her master’s and Ph.D. from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Reflecting on her time there, she noted that Houston’s diversity made it a meaningful season of growth. “I got to know people from lots of different racial, ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds, which was pretty different from my experience growing up in Oklahoma and going to SNU. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in lots of good ways,” Weaver explained.
Weaver discovered her love for teaching college students when she had the opportunity to design and teach a course for undergraduates at Rice University. Inspired by the care and dedication her own professors showed her during her time at SNU, she has now served on campus for 20 years. Weaver wears many hats on campus. “In the fall, I teach Academic Writing: Research & Argumentation, and in the spring I teach Comp II. I am also the Director of the Honors Program, so I teach an Honors course called Cultural Responsiveness for the Helping Professions each fall as well,” she added.
In addition to teaching her courses and supporting fellow faculty members, Weaver strives to make her classroom a place where students feel safe, seen, and heard, with Christ at the center. “ I believe in a dialogic classroom – where students are free and encouraged to ask questions, and we all learn from each other through discussion. We do not all have to agree, but we all need to recognize and honor each other as made in God’s image,” she shared.
Weaver believes that pursuing truth means pursuing God. When offering advice to students who wish to study English while remaining grounded in their faith, she emphasized the importance of integration rather than division.“Understand there is no division between ‘the sacred’ and ‘the profane.’ I think God is everywhere, and we can find him everywhere – even in literature whose authors might not have known God was in their work, in our writing when we strive to share some truth of human experience, or in any subject we are learning about,” she added.
From reading whatever she could as a little girl, even the backs of cereal boxes, to a well-established professor who values relationships and delights in watching students grow, Weaver is a powerful example of Christlike discipleship. She encourages students to engage the world’s problems with both courage and compassion, much like Christ did. She wants her students to succeed and reach their goals, while also leaving room for grace through revision—offering a second (or even third) chance to learn and improve. As a professor, mother of two boys, and a follower of Christ, Weaver consistently reflects the love God calls all of us to share.
Photo by: MaK Wilkerson