OFFICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

CURRENT NEWS RELEASES

NEWS ARCHIVE

SPEAKERS' BUREAU

ATHLETIC NEWS

FINE ARTS EVENTS

CALENDAR

CAMPUS BULLETIN

ACADEME

HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

Global Vision receives Huston grant

FOR RELEASE June 30, 2005

Luke Fetters, Anna Geivett, and Connie Updike

Huntington, Ind.—The Huntington University student missions organization, Global Vision, was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Huston Foundation, a charitable trust providing help to non-profit organizations involved in religious, charitable or educational work.  Anna Geivett, a 2005 recreation management graduate of Huntington University, wrote the grant proposal for Global Vision as part of a class assignment for Grantsmanship and Fundraising, a recreation management course taught by Professor Connie Updike.

This isn’t the first time one of Updike’s students has secured funding for a local organization.  In the fall of 2004, Christi Shook, a senior not-for-profit business major who took the same class as Geivett, also received funding for her grant proposal which allowed the Upper Wabash Interpretive Services to host an Earth Day for Huntington elementary school children.

“Through the efforts of two students, Christi Shook and Anna Geivett, community members have benefited from their grant requests,” said Updike, assistant professor of recreation management.  “This is a great way for our students at Huntington University to impact their world for Christ.”

Geivett used the class assignment as an opportunity to write a real grant proposal to benefit the campus community. Geivett, who became involved with Global Vision her freshman year at Huntington, served as president of the organization for both her junior and senior years and hoped that by acquiring funding, Global Vision could be more effective on campus.

Global Vision, a student-led organization developed in 2000, promotes missions awareness among the Huntington University community.  Along with helping to coordinate the annual Missions Emphasis Week each spring, Global Vision also provides several activities each semester to promote missions awareness, such as international dinners, guest missionaries, trips, or films.

With the funding from the Huston Foundation, Global Vision will be able to employ a part-time student coordinator and also offer two trips during the 2005-2006 academic year to help students’ build their intercultural knowledge and missions awareness.

“It is a pleasure to work for Global Vision in providing programs that will both educate and get students involved in the area of cross-cultural ministry,” Geivett said. “I wanted to see Global Vision gain a heightened presence on campus in order for more students to pursue their role within the great commission.”

Geivett’s passion for cross-cultural missions has been greatly appreciated.

“Anna was able to integrate her passion for missions with a class assignment,” said Luke Fetters, assistant professor of ministry and missions and faculty sponsor of Global Vision.  “She wanted to invest this energy in something that could benefit a cause she deeply cared about.  Anna did a good job of pulling together the basic components of the grant proposal.  It’s great that we have this course on our campus and that it can be used to benefit our co-curricular programming.”

Fetters adds that this grant shows that positive results can be achieved by using class curriculum to benefit co-curricular activities.  He feels that this grant also shows what can be accomplished when students and faculty collaborate and when academic departments work together. 

 “I see interesting connections in this grant process that speak to the sort of integration of faith, life, and learning that we hope to promote here at Huntington University,” Fetters says. 

For Geivett, both Fetters and Updike were crucial in helping her create the grant proposal.  “I may have gathered the information, but Luke Fetters was the one who first invested in this organization and has mentored many students along the way,” she said.  “Without him, I am not sure I would have developed the leadership skills that encouraged me to pursue the role as president, nor would I have the passion for Global Vision.  I thank Luke for his passion and his servant leadership. And Connie Updike provided hours of instruction and support, both inside and outside the classroom.”

Geivett is one of the first students to graduate from Huntington with the recently established missions minor.  In January, she will travel to Peru, South America, where she will serve as a short-term teams coordinator for three years with Food for the Hungry.

“Global Vision helped me develop my leadership and administrative skills,” she says.  “This position is a perfect combination of those skills, my education, gifting, and passions.  As I begin this adventure, it is a privilege to represent the United Brethren Church as an endorsed missionary and Huntington University as an alum.”

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the top comprehensive colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and in 2004 was named one of the 50 best Christian places to work by Christianity Today magazine.

# # #