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President’s
Update
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February 2001
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As
you look through the items printed in this month’s edition of
the President’s Update, I am confident you will
understand more fully why Huntington College was listed for the
sixth consecutive year among the top liberal arts colleges in the
Midwest by US News and World Report.
US News first organizes colleges and universities by category and then ranks
schools within each group. Rankings are based on a wide range of
criteria, including academic reputation, graduation and retention
rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources
and alumni giving.
Note
first the caliber of our students.
Building on a tradition of demonstrated excellence,
Huntington College communication students took five first-place
awards, one second-place award, and one third-place award,
sweeping seven of the eight award categories pertaining to radio
and television production in the Student Achievement Competition of
the National Religious Broadcasters.
These students serve as examples this month of the many
students who are achieving recognition for their academic work at
Huntington College. In
addition, HC students achieved records in athletics and
contributed of their time in service oriented activities in the
Huntington community.
Even
the new students we hope to enter our doors in the fall 2001 are
excelling in academics. This
class of recruits tops previous classes for average SAT and ACT
scores, as well as grade point average.
We
also applaud the research, writing and professional leadership and
service of our faculty. Having
our students learn from such gifted individuals makes the
Huntington College experience a truly valuable one.
Finally,
this month I want to recognize the many alumni and friends who are
giving of their financial resources to support Huntington College.
A new state-of–the-art science facility will soon be
opened and additional student scholarships will be endowed because
of faithful giving to The Campaign for Huntington College.
I
am thankful for the people and programs that make Huntington
College an exceptional institution of academic leadership and
spiritual maturity. But
above all, I am grateful for our Lord’s blessing upon us in
these days. I am
reminded, and I want to remind you, of the following passage from
the Psalms: “Unless
the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand
guard in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
Sincerely,
G. Blair Dowden
President
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Admissions
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Outlook
Positive
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The chart above summarizes the number of
prospective students who have applied and been accepted to
Huntington College. The bars represent year-to-date comparisons
over the past five years.
The quality of students applying to Huntington College continues to
rise. The 554
students who have been accepted (compared to 456 last year) have
an average ACT score of 24.58, SAT score of 1110, and grade point
average of 3.53.
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Teen
Happening
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Eighty-one high
school Canadians and their twenty-one leaders were on campus for
the annual Teen Happening youth conference.
This was the first time the event, organized by the United
Brethren Church of Canada, was held on the HC campus.
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Academic
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American
Studies
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LeAnn Mason,
Jeremy Ruefner and Alison
Young are participating in the Council for Christian Colleges
and Universities (CCCU) American Studies Program in Washington, DC
this semester.
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Art
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Mr.
Richard Todd Burns,
an adjunct professor, is covering for Rebecca Coffman’s classes
during her sabbatical this semester.
Todd is a ceramist with a BFA from Utah State University
and a Masters of Fine Arts from Indiana University (IU).
He has teaching experience as an adjunct at IU, Utah State,
and the Interlochen Arts Academy (MI) in ceramics.
He has exhibited his own art work throughout the nation.
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Communications
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Alison
Young won second place in the Al Sanders Scholarship
Essay contest sponsored by the National Religious Broadcasters for
her essay, “All That Glitters Is Not Gold, or Oscar’s Trash
Can: Ethical and Moral Content in Films and It’s Impact on
Society.” She
received an academic scholarship in the
amount
of $1,500 at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in
Dallas.
Huntington College communication students
also earned several top awards in the National Religious
Broadcasters Student Achievement Competition. The annual contest
recognizes outstanding achievement in radio and television
production by college students from across the nation.
Josh Bean placed first in the Studio
Production category with his entry titled, "The Vision."
Bean produces this monthly program in the studios of
Huntington College. Created in a video magazine format, “The
Vision” airs nationally on The Dish Network via Angel One.
Bean also placed third in the Video Public Service
Announcement category with his entry titled "Armor of
God." This
60-second short dramatic clip demonstrates the power of prayer.
Justin Clifton and Christine Slagel
placed first in the Music Video category with their entry,
"Hands and Feet." The video was produced
with footage they shot during a Huntington College student mission
trip to the Dominican Republic.
Both Justin and Chris have pledged to donate the $125
first-place cash award to the Dominican orphanage they served.
Clifton also teamed up with Heather Wiltse
to produce the first-place winner in the Radio Drama category.
Their entry, "Criminals on the Cross," is a
twenty-minute dramatic radio play offering a unique look at the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
James Hogg and Jonathan “Jonny”
Rice placed first in the Radio Public Service Announcement
category with their entry titled "Link Institute."
This 60-second PSA features a creative look at the youth
ministry research center based at Huntington College. Robert
Johnston placed third in this same category with his public
service announcement titled "Open Door."
This PSA featured the community service opportunities
citizens can have by volunteering to serve with the Open Door
charitable organization.
Sharra Sieminski placed first in the
Radio News category with her entry titled "Kids Kampus
2." Her
investigative reporting style takes the listener inside this
community outreach center operated by Pathfinder Services,
highlighting the helpful services offered to unwed mothers of
Huntington County.
Brad Richardson and Ryan Howe
took second place in the Video Field Production category with
their dramatic story, "Critical Measures.”
This thirty-minute short film pits good cop against bad cop
as a distraught woman considers suicide.
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Computer
Club
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The Computer Club offered two introductory workshops:
“An Introduction to the Internet” and “Building Your
Own Web Page.” Funds
raised from this workshop went to support the computer club
activities.
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Education
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Dr.
Terrell Peace and Dr.
Stephen Holtrop represented the Education Department at the
Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) in Indianapolis on
January 24. The ISPB
voted unanimously to grant state accreditation to Huntington
College for another five years.
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History
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Dr. Paul Michelson
has been awarded the Nicolae Balcescu History Prize by the
Romanian Academy for his book, Romanian Politics, 1859-1872: From Prince Cuza to Prince Carol (1998).
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Music
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Philosophy
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Dr. John Sanders
participated in a networking workshop at Gordon College sponsored
by the CCCU Initiative Grant Program on January 10-12.
The grant provided for five scholars to work on the issue
of divine will and knowledge and their relationship to historical
time.
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Thornhill
Nature Preserve
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Thornhill
Nature Preserve hosted a demonstration on the art of fly tying on
Thursday, January 25. Jerry
Drake, a representative of the Fort Wayne Federation of Flyfishers,
was the speaker.
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Advancement
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Capital Campaign. The
campaign total, through the end of January, now exceeds
$35 million. We continue to
be amazed at how God is working in bringing
committed donors to this campaign.
We recently received a $250,000 plus estate gift
that will go toward The Campaign for Huntington College.
Regional campaigns in
Lansing and Huntington are continuing.
Plans are being made to launch the Fort
Wayne regional campaign in the next month. This will be followed by regional
campaigns in Adrian/Blissfield (MI) and Chambersburg (PA).
Campaign Phonathon. The Campaign Phonathon has raised approximately $150,000 to
date. The second
phase of the Phonathon will begin near the end of February. An additional 4,000 potential campaign donors will be
called.
Endowment
for Teaching, Learning, and Service.
A series of endowment gifts have recently been received by
Huntington College. These
funds will be invested and the earnings will be used to fund
student scholarships. Recent
gifts include:
- a $10,000 endowed scholarship from a retired
executive from Warren.
- a $25,000 annuity established by an alumnus
from Adams County.
- a deferred payment gift annuity established
by a Florida alumnus
as part of a $66,000 campaign pledge.
- a $2,000 addition to an endowed scholarship
from an alumnus in Adams County.
- a $2,000 endowed scholarship addition from an
alumnus of the Huntington area.
- a $10,000 scholarship endowment from an
anonymous alumnus.
As of
January 31, 2001, a total of $8.9 million has been pledged to the
“Endowment for Teaching, Learning, and Service” portion of the
Campaign for Huntington College. For details, see
www.huntington.edu/campaign.
Science Building.
Concrete is being poured into the second floor of the new
science building. Extreme
cold weather conditions hampered progress in December and January.
The building is expected to open on schedule in the fall
2002.
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Board of Trustees
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January
Meeting
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Finance Committee Recommendations:
·
The Board appointed Professor Jim O’ Donnell to a two-year
term on the Investment Committee with the term to expire October
2002.
·
The Board approved tuition, fees, room, and board rates for 2001-02 of
$15,030 (tuition & fees) and $5,450 (room & board).
This represents an increase of 5.5%.
The increase is needed to be able to sustain
high quality
academic programs, recruit and retain quality faculty and
staff, meet rising
facilities and utility costs, and support financial aid for
students.
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The Board approved a pool of funds within the 2001-02 budget to
provide for an increase of 3.0% in employee salaries beginning
July 1, 2001. Overall,
total compensation will increase by about 5% due to the increasing
costs of employee benefit plans.
Academic Programs Recommendations
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The Board approved a sabbatical leave for Dr. Steve Lee, Spring
2002; J-term 2003. Dr.
Lee plans to pursue additional studies at the Institute for Family
Studies at John Brown University in preparation for the addition
of a Family Studies major at Huntington College.
With the proposed sabbatical study, Dr. Lee should be able
to seek status as a Certified Family Life Educator with the
National Council of Family Relations.
·
The Board approved the following promotions: Dr. Del Doughty,
Assistant to Associate Professor of English; Dr. Patrick
Eggleton, Assistant to Associate Professor of Mathematics; Dr.
Terrell Peace, Associate to Full Professor of Education.
Resolutions passed:
- Appreciation
was expressed to the Andersen Foundation for their
contribution of more than $3
million dollars since 1968, enabling Huntington College to
remain financially viable and free from government assistance.
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Appreciation was expressed to Mr. Jerry Gressley and the entire
maintenance staff for their expertise and Christ-like service at
Huntington College.
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Student Development
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Joe Mertz Center
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Huntington
College’s Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service (JMC) has had a
busy season:
- Fall workday involved over 90 students,
staff, and faculty in a variety of projects in the community.
Over 250 hours of service were donated.
- A blood drive was sponsored by the JMC.
89 units of blood were donated.
- The JMC will sponsor spring break
service/mission trips to Ecuador and Florida. In addition to these trips, students will be working
in Philadelphia, Jamaica, and Appalachia.
- Five students and staff participated in Light
the Night Leukemia Walk.
The group raised $500 for the Leukemia Society of
America.
- New students, advisors, and mentors spent an
afternoon during orientation serving members and organizations
throughout Huntington County.
Over 850 hours of volunteer service were donated.
- A drama/puppet ministry was launched through
the JMC.
- Money was raised for the Fort Wayne Rescue
Mission to provide Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless.
- In cooperation with Love, Inc. of Huntington
County, several residence floors and the women’s basketball
team sponsored six families in Huntington, providing gifts and
food for Christmas. The
homeless shelter, Huntington House, was also helped through
this effort.
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Residence Hall Programs
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The Meadows and Miller Hall Council planned a retreat for the two
residence halls the first weekend of second semester.
About 35 students attended the overnight retreat.
Dr. Gary Newton and his wife, Joy, were the
resource people for the retreat.
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Student Activities Board
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The Student Activities Board (SAB) planned a "North of the
Border" weekend for several Canadian guests from Southern
Ontario. Activities
included a movie, an ice skating party, and a basketball game.
SAB also co-sponsored an event with the theatre department.
The theatre department performed the play "The
Taffetas" in the HUB and SAB provided the funds for the
dessert.
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Leadership Class
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Student development and campus ministries staff are teaching a
required leadership class this semester for newly selected
resident assistants (RAs) and campus ministry coordinators (CMCs).
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Athletics
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Men’s Basketball
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The 2000 - 2001 Men’s Mid Central Conference (MCC) Basketball
Standings:
#4
Marian
10 –
2
19
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2
#19 Saint Francis
8 –
4 19
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11
Bethel
6 –
6 18
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12
HUNTINGTON
6 –
6 14
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15
Taylor
6 –
6 16
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15
Indiana Wesleyan
6 –
6 16
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8
Grace
4 –
8 11
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19
Goshen
2 –
10
7 –
20
During the month of January, David
Porter was chosen as MCC Player of the Week for two
consecutive weeks. During
the week of January 22, Porter collected 47 points, 18 rebounds, 4
assists, 6 blocked shots, and 2 steals.
Porter leads the HC team this year in scoring (28 points
per game in the conference), rebounding (8 per game in
conference), and blocked shots, with 34 on the season.
The
Foresters men’s basketball team cruised to a 95-77 victory over
Grace College on February 6.
The two leading scorers in the MCC - HC’s David
Porter and Grace’s Matt
Ebernethy - each finished the game with 24 points.
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Women’s Basketball
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The 2000 – 2001 Women’s MCC Basketball Standings:
Conference
Overall
#17 Bethel
10 – 2
23
– 6
#6 St. Francis
9 – 3
25 – 5
Marian
7 – 5
14 – 9
Goshen
5 – 7
16 – 10
Grace
3 – 9
9
– 18
Indiana Wesleyan
2 – 10
9 – 21
The
Foresters women’s basketball team fell to Bethel by the final
score of 68-37. Michelle
Bauer led HC in scoring with 9 points, followed by 5 from Crissy
Collins.
In
the latest match-up with Taylor University, the Foresters lost by
the final score of 70-47. Michelle
Bauer was the lone bright spot on the offense as she collected
20 points on 6-7 shooting, including 3-3 from three-point range.
The Foresters are now 10-14 on the season, 2-10 in the MCC.
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Track and Field
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HC track
and field athletes competed in the 5th Annual Lewis
Open/Invitational. Sarah
Lightcap finished in 5th place in the 400 Meter Dash and
teammate Aimee Sullivan finished in 8th place.
Melissa Roth finished in 5th place in the 600 Meter
Run. Jenny Cook
finished in 2nd place in the 800 Meter Run and teammate Brooke
Welch finished in 5th place. Danielle Vohs captured 1st place and Nicole Jacob
placed 6th in the 1,000 Meter Run.
Other top 5 finishes included Julie Lowe in the
3,000 Meter Run (2nd place), Rachelle Smith in the 200
Meter Intermediate Hurdles (5th place), Renee Porter in the
High Jump (2nd place), Rachelle Smith in the Pole Vault
(4th place) and Erin Abbey (4th place) in the Long Jump.
Men’s results included a 5th place finish
for Cameron Norris in the 1,000 Meter Run, a 3rd place
finish in the High Jump and a 5th place finish in the Triple Jump
for Gary Skeel, and a 2nd place finish for Billy Kurtz
in the Shot Put.
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Other
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New Bookstore Manager
New Catering Manager and Catering Coordinator
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Mrs. Melissa
Blackmer is the new Barnes and Noble bookstore manager.
She
has a Bachelor of Arts in Management
and Development from Spring Arbor College
(MI) and has experience in store
management.
Our new catering manager is Ms.
Kristy McCormick. Kristy
brings very strong
organizational and communication skills to the job from the
catering coordinator position that she has held at HC for the past
several years.
Mrs. Mary Etta
Daniels is the new Catering Coordinator.
Mrs. Daniels comes to HC from the Huntington Bureau of
Motor Vehicles where she has worked for the past 10 years, most
recently as Assistant Branch Manager.
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Web Site
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Huntington College’s web site has won the Silver Award of Excellence
from Visual Xtreme Design Services.
Sites are judged based on ease of navigation, content,
graphic quality, page layout and design, and the use of the latest
web technologies. For
details, see http://www.huntington.edu/news.
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Merillat Centre Events
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February
1-28. Photography
by Robert Hill exhibit in the Robert E. Wilson Gallery.
Artist's reception is Friday, February 2, 6-8 p.m.
Chamber music will be provided by classical guitarist
Michael Brennan, and the Huntington College Guitar Ensemble.
March 1 -
March 3, 8 p.m. Huntington College Theater presents Antigone,
a classical Greek tragedy, directed by Joe Ricke.
March
3-31. 11th Annual Student
Art Exhibit. Juried
exhibit of work created by Huntington College students during the
current school year. Awards
reception is Saturday, March 10, 6-8 p.m. in the Robert E. Wilson
Gallery.
Sunday,
March 11, 3 p.m. Band Fest 2001 Concert. A
well-honored tradition at Huntington College, this year's concert
will be conducted by Major Duane DeVoe (US Marine Corps, retired)
and feature several special guests, including German saxophonist
Michael Johner and composer John Richard (Class of 1996) who has
written a piece for this concert.
The concert is free; donations are welcomed.
Note:
Tickets for Merillat Centre events may be purchased by calling the
box office at 260-359-4261.
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