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March 2003
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Dear Huntington
College friends and family,
It
has been an emotional roller-coaster week at Huntington College.
Over
the weekend, we rejoiced with our track athletes as four members
of the Forester squad competed at the NAIA National Indoor Track
and Field Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee. John Ngure,
who went into the men's 5000 meter run seeded 18th overall, ran an
impressive 14:52.58 in the final -- good enough for third place
and his ninth All-American honor. Erin Abbey, seeded 15th going
into the women's long jump, leaped to ninth place with a jump of
17-06.25. Melissa Bortner, a hurdler ranked 21st in the nation,
finished 12th overall. Natalie Guenin, seeded 20th in the women's
5000 meter run, finished 12th overall with a time of 18:40.21.
We
also celebrated the men's basketball victory over Taylor
University in the Mid-Central Conference final. The 53-52 win
earned the Foresters their second consecutive MCC title and a
berth in the NAIA National Basketball Tournament to be held this
week in Branson, Missouri. This is the team's third trip to the
national tournament in four years. Huntington College Radio (105.5
FM and www.hcradio.net) will bring local fans live
play-by-play action from Branson beginning Thursday morning.
The
week certainly began on an emotional high. Then tragedy struck our
campus. Monday afternoon, HC senior Katie Kobelski passed away
after becoming ill during choir rehearsal. Emergency personnel
summoned to the scene did everything possible to save Katie's
life, but were unable to resuscitate her. A tearful memorial
service was held during chapel on Tuesday morning. Katie was a
vibrant member of our campus community, was well-loved by many
friends, and will be dearly missed.
I
ask for your prayers for Katie's mom, Nancy; her roommate, Colleen
Sargent; and the members of our Concert Choir who are scheduled to
depart on their Spring Tour at the end of the week. May God grant
them comfort in this time of grief.
Many
thanks for your prayers, your support, and your partnership with
Huntington College.
Sincerely,
G. Blair Dowden
President
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Admissions
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Presidential Scholars
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Sixty-one individuals were awarded a Presidential Scholarship of
$5,000 on the second annual Huntington College Presidential
Scholar Celebration Day. The Presidential Scholarship at
Huntington College is the highest honor bestowed on an incoming
student and can follow the student through his/her academic years
at Huntington. Academic criteria for the distinguished award
requires a 3.6 grade point average (GPA) and either a 1250 SAT or
28 ACT score. The 2003-04 Presidential Scholar students at
Huntington College, who represented eight states, averaged a 3.9
GPA on a 4.0 scale with a 1300 SAT and a 30 ACT score. Several
National Merit Scholars were included in the group. During the
Presidential Scholar Luncheon, each recipient was introduced and
recognized with a certificate presented by President G. Blair
Dowden.
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Fall
2003 Enrollment
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Academic
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Art
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Professor
Rebecca Coffman and Professor
Elizabeth Frey-Davis are two of 14 contemporary Christian
artists from around the United States whose works will be featured
in an art exhibit in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The First Presbyterian
Gallery will present an invitational exhibition entitled,
"Through A Glass, Darkly," on March 14- April 27.
An opening reception and gallery talk is scheduled for March 21 at
5:00 p.m. The exhibition focuses on expanding our knowledge of
God, our surroundings, and ourselves, and celebrates the mystery
and beauty of life.
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Education
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Professor Susan Burson, instructor of education, is collaborating
with the eighth grade science teachers at Riverview Middle School.
She provides mentoring and guidance to middle school students as
they prepare for a Science Conference on April 12 at Huntington
College’s Science Hall. HC education majors who are enrolled in
ED 386, Science Methods and Materials, serve as mentors to small
groups of eighth graders who plan and implement scientific
investigations which will be presented at the Conference. This
project involves 192 eighth graders and their families.
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Forester
Lecture
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Dr.
Alvin Plantinga, professor of philosophy at the University of
Notre Dame and one of the most highly respected Christian
philosophers in the country, presented a Forester Lecture,
“Evolution Versus Atheism," on March 6. The following day,
a special convocation was held in which Dr. Plantinga and Dr. Steve Gollmer, associate professor of physics at Cedarville
University, presented “Creation and Evolution: Two Christian
Views.” At the convocation, Dr. Plantinga and Dr. Gollmer each
described his own view regarding creation and evolution and
explained its strengths and weaknesses.
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History
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The S. G.
Whittle Johnston Memorial Award in History was awarded for the
first time on February 14. Joni
Michaud became the inaugural recipient. The award was
established by a Huntington College History Department alumna in
memory of her mother. The award goes to the junior or senior
history major who submits the most outstanding work of original
scholarship to the History Department faculty during the fall
semester. Michaud’s winning entry was entitled, “The
Missionary Life of Lloyd Eby in Sierra Leone, 1944-1947,” and
was based on research completed in the Huntington College
archives.
Erinn
Caley was awarded the Ron Frank History Book Award at the
Honors Convocation held on February 14. The Ron Frank History Book
Award is made possible by the Ron Frank Memorial Endowment in
History, a fund established in 1973 to honor the memory of Ron
Frank, a Huntington College history major who passed away during
the spring semester of his senior year. Donors to the fund desire
to provide financial assistance to history majors at Huntington
College while also memorializing Ron Frank. The History Department
faculty selected this year's recipient based on her outstanding
performance in HS 487, Great Issues in American History, a seminar
required of all history majors. The recipient receives $100 worth
of books for her personal library.
Dr.
Paul Michelson, distinguished professor of history, was interviewed
by ABC News regarding unfolding events in Romania. The full story
may be viewed online at http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/romania030213_royals.html.
Also, Michelson recently gave lectures on J.R.R. Tolkien and the
Lord of the Rings at Taylor University and Grace College. He has
been invited to give two lectures this spring for diplomats in
training for Romania and Moldova at the Foreign Service Institute
in Washington D.C.
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Music
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The Huntington College Music Department held
its 24th annual Band Clinic on March 8-9, culminating in a grand
concert, BandFest 2003 – A Goldman Tribute! The concert
highlighted music by Edwin and Richard Franko Goldman in the
Midwest’s first tribute to the Goldmans.
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Theatre
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After a 15-year hiatus, Alpha Psi Omega —
Upsilon Eta Cast, has been re-activated at Huntington
College. The honor society inducted the following students on
February 13: Kathy
Thorn (president), Dan
Olson (vice president), Noah
Varness (business manager), Jed
Hutchison, Josh Scott,
Elizabeth Swart, Lynette
Lambert and Scott
Grinstead. Former advisor Randy
Neuman, current advisor Mike
Burnett, and Ella
Burnett (membership from University of Mississippi) presided.
Alpha Psi Omega is the national theatre honor society. Students
must have participated significantly in a number of different
roles (acting, directing, designing, stage managing, and tech) to
qualify, as well as hold a high GPA in both theatre and
non-theatre courses.
The Huntington College theatre department
presented Moliere’s The
Miser, a play about the confusion between love and money, on
February 27, 28, and March 1.
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Student Development
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Spring
Break
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Over 70 Huntington College students, faculty
and staff will volunteer time during spring break, March 14-23, in
an effort to help others. Dr.
Norris Friesen and 16 other individuals will travel to Belize
to work with a boy’s school by providing basic maintenance
needs. They will also help with a church plant in Belize City by
offering a Bible school. Twelve individuals will travel to Boston,
Massachusetts, to provide physical labor on various projects, work
at a shelter and evangelize. Eight individuals will provide
physical labor and work with children in Arizona. The
Jacksonville, Florida, Habitat for Humanity will welcome 28
Huntington College volunteers to help build a house in the area,
and twelve individuals will travel to Haiti to assist local
missionaries in building a new orphanage and working in mountain
gardens.
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Advancement
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Phonathon
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A goal of $75,000 was surpassed at the annual
Phonathon, held February 17-27. Thirty-six callers spent a
combined total of 601 hours completing 5,291 calls and attempting
another 1,900 calls. Total pledges equaled $96,181, surpassing
last year’s total of $73,214. One hundred and three new donors
gave a total of $4,720.
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