[Skip to Content]

Bethel ranks high in U.S. News and Forbes.com listings

Bethel College made the first tier in its category in the annual ranking of top colleges and universities by staff of “U.S. News & World Report,” and continues as the only liberal arts college in Kansas to be ranked in a Forbes.com analysis of top colleges and universities in the United States.

In the “U.S. News” survey of America’s Best Colleges released Aug. 17, Bethel appears in the first tier of Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, tying with six others, including Goshen (Ind.) College, at No. 137. A national liberal arts college is one that emphasizes undergraduate education and awards at least half its degrees in the arts and sciences.

For the third straight year, Bethel is the only private, liberal arts college in Kansas and one of only three institutions of higher education in the state to be ranked in a Forbes.com analysis of top colleges and universities in the United States.

Along with Bethel, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University made Forbes’ annual ranking of the nation’s 610 best colleges, released Aug. 11.

Bethel junior receives first Champions of Character award

Cameron Voth, Goessel, has been named Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Champions of Character Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2009-10. Voth, the first recipient of the newly established award, received the award at the KCAC Sport Management Conference Aug. 10 at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina.

After two years at Bethel, Voth, a member of the Thresher golf team and a junior this year, has a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.697. He was named to the Dean’s List or Honor Roll in all four semesters.

Voth is a regular participant in the weekly late-night campus Bible study. He is active in the Student Alumni Association and works as a student assistant in the Office of Alumni Relations. He is a member of the Bethel College Concert Choir as well as the small men’s ensemble Open Road.

Bethel admissions counselors on the road

Admissions staff members will, once again, be on the road this fall, traveling to represent Bethel at College Planning Conferences (college fairs), visit high schools and make other contacts with prospective students and their parents.

Alumni should encourage high school and potential college transfer students to visit with Bethel representatives at any of the following fairs in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. Parents and other family members are welcome to attend, as well.

Sept. 12

  • 1-4 p.m., Expo Square at Central Park Hall, Tulsa, Okla.

Sept. 13

  • 1-2:30 p.m., Renfro Center, Tonkawa, Okla.
  • 6:30-8:30 p.m., Union High School, Tulsa, Okla.

Sept. 15

  • 6-8 p.m., University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond

Sept. 19

  • 1-3:30 p.m., Fonner Park, Grand Island, Neb.

Sept. 20

  • 9:15-10:55 a.m., Hutchinson High School
  • 1:30-3 p.m., Great Bend High School

Sept. 21

  • 9:50-11:11 a.m., Russell High School
  • 2-3:05 p.m., Hays High School

Sept. 22

  • 9:15-10:45 a.m., Smith Center High School
  • 2:30-4 p.m., Norton High School

Sept. 23

  • 9-10:30 a.m., Colby Community College

Oct. 4

  • 1:30-3 p.m., Dodge City High School
  • 7-8 p.m., Scott City High School

Oct. 5

  • 8:45-10:15 a.m., Garden City High School
  • 1:30-2:45 p.m., Seward County Community College, Liberal
  • 6-7 p.m., Ulysses High School

Oct. 6

  • 1-2:15 p.m., Pratt Community College
  • 6:30-8:30 p.m., Monarch High School, Louisville, Colo.

Oct. 7

  • 1-3 p.m., Kansas Expo Center, Topeka
  • 6:30-8:30 p.m., John F. Kennedy High School, Denver

Oct. 9

  • 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colo.

Oct. 10

  • 12-3 p.m., Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center

Oct. 11

  • 6-8 p.m., Olathe East High School

Oct. 12

  • 9-10:30 a.m., Highland Community College
  • 7-8:30 p.m., Kansas City Kansas Community College

Oct. 13

  • 1-2:30 p.m., Osawatomie High School
  • 6:30-9 p.m., Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village

Oct. 14

  • 5-6:30 p.m., Free State High School, Lawrence

Oct. 17

  • 1-4 p.m., Southeast Community College, Lincoln, Neb.

Oct. 18

  • 1-2:30 p.m., St. Mary’s-Colgan High School, Pittsburg
  • 6:30-7:30 p.m., Parsons High School

Oct. 19

  • 9-10:30 a.m., Independence Community College
  • 1-2:30 p.m., Allen Community College, Iola
  • 7-8:30 p.m., Emporia High School

Oct. 20

  • 1:30-2:30 p.m., Oskaloosa High School
  • 7-8:30 p.m., Leavenworth High School

Oct. 25

  • 9-10:30 a.m., Marysville High School
  • 1-2 p.m., Concordia High School
  • 7-8 p.m., Salina South High School

Oct. 26

  • 9-10:30 p.m., Chapman High School
  • 1:30-2:30 p.m., Junction City High School

Oct. 31

  • 1-4 p.m., University of Nebraska-Omaha

Nov. 1

  • 1-2:30 p.m., Winfield High School
  • 7-8 p.m., McPherson High School

Nov. 2

  • 9-2:30 p.m., Wichita Futures Fair, Century II

Nov. 3

  • 9-11 a.m., Newton High School
  • 1:15-2:30 p.m., Butler Community College, El Dorado

Counselors are also scheduling visits elsewhere. Call (316) 284-5229 or e-mail admissions@bethelks.edu for more information.

The Bison: American Icon at Kauffman Museum

Sept. 1 through Oct. 20, Kauffman Museum will host “The Bison: American Icon,” a traveling exhibition designed and constructed by museum staff and the local firm Flint Hills Design -- owned by Joel Gaeddert ’06 -- for NEH on the Road, a program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The museum is the only Kansas venue in a five-year tour throughout the United States.

“The Bison” was developed from a permanent exhibit at the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Mont. Former Russell curator Anne Morand, now at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, will present “To the Brink of Extinction: Telling the Bison Story,” as a Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum program Sept. 12 at 3:30 p.m.

Kauffman Museum will also host a “Bison Bash” Saturday, Sept 25, from 2-4 p.m. Free activities for all ages include a guided gallery walk at 3 p.m.

The museum is also offering two bus trips in conjunction with “The Bison” on Thursday, Sept. 21, and Tuesday, Sept. 30. Participants will follow the Kansas Prairie Trail Scenic Byway to see bison up close and get a glimpse of what the prairie was like when bison roamed freely, Native Americans waited for the huge herds, and European explorers first ventured to the middle of the continent. Stops include Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, Coronado Heights near Lindsborg, Kanopolis State Park and Mushroom Rock State Park. A campfire buffalo meal at noon and supper at the Main Street Deli in McPherson are included in the tour fee.

Seats are still available on both trips (more on the second trip than the first). Each tour has the same itinerary. Cost is $85 for museum members and $100 for non-members. For more information contact Andi Schmidt Andres via e-mail or at (316) 283-1612.

Play golf and attend a home football game Sept. 18

Alumni and friends of Bethel are invited to play in the 19th annual Fall Thresher Golf Classic on Saturday, Sept. 18, at Sand Creek Station Golf Course, Newton, then attend a Thresher football game in North Newton that evening. Those who golf will receive a discount coupon for $2 off the admission price to the 7 p.m. game against Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, Okla.

For a registration form, contact the alumni office, (316) 284-5251, alumni@bethelks.edu, or print one from online. In addition to the $2 discount on the game, receive a $10 discount on the $85 fee to golf when registering with payment by Monday, Sept. 6.

Bethel College corporation meeting Sept. 24

The annual Bethel College Corporation meeting is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Schultz Student Center. Corporation business includes a state of the college report and the election of a corporation representative to the Bethel College Board of Directors. All those who have given $100 or more to Bethel during their lifetime are eligible to vote in the corporation election. Voters must be present at the meeting or cast a proxy ballot in writing by letter (Advancement Office, Bethel College, 300 E. 27th St., North Newton, KS 67117) or e-mail by Wednesday, Sept. 22.

Suzanne Wedel will be recommended for appointment to the board. Wedel graduated from Bethel in 1976 with degrees in biology and political science. She earned an M.D. degree and completed her internship and residency at the University of Kansas and did a fellowship in critical care medicine at the University of Maryland shock trauma program.

Wedel is a board-certified physician in both critical care medicine and internal medicine. Since 1989, she has served as the medical director and chief executive officer of Boston MedFlight, a nonprofit critical care transport service. During her tenure, Boston MedFlight has become a nationally recognized leader in critical care transport research and quality benchmarking throughout the transport industry.

Wedel was a founding member of the Board of Regents for the American College of Critical Care Medicine. She currently serves as secretary for the Association of Critical Care Transport. She is a fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Physicians and a faculty member in the Department of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine.

Wedel is married to Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General Hospital. They have three children and reside in Marblehead, Mass.

Fall Festival highlights

Special programs, new entertainment and other features make for a full 40th Fall Festival.

Thursday, Oct. 7

  • 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., special exhibition “The Bison: American Icon,” Kauffman Museum
  • 6-9 p.m., meet new Bethel president Perry White and Dalene White at Taste of Newton, Broadway and Main, downtown Newton

Friday, Oct. 8

  • 7:30 p.m., musical: “Into the Woods,” Krehbiel Auditorium, Fine Arts Center

Saturday, Oct. 9

  • 9-11 a.m., nursing association meeting and reception honoring Verda Deckert ’64, Room #3, Memorial Hall
  • 9 a.m.-4 p.m., art exhibit: “Site Inspired” by Jennifer Miller ’96, Art Gallery, Fine Arts Center
  • 9 a.m.-4 p.m, see plans for the new Academic Center, Advancement booth, the Green
  • 10-10:30 a.m. and 12:30-1 p.m., “Moozie in Costume: A Live Presentation,” Room #172, Fine Arts Center
  • 10-11 a.m., Prairie Rose Rangers, Tent on the Green
  • 10-11 a.m., Bethel Experimental Learning Laboratory 40th anniversary reunion, Lemonade Stand, west of Administration Building
  • 10 a.m.-2 p.m., children’s art booth, the Green
  • 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Mojo’s on the Plaza, a space to visit with friends, Centennial Plaza
  • 10:30-11:30 a.m., Athletic Hall of Fame recognition: Jennifer (Stipp) Sevier ’99 and the 1972-73 Thresher men’s basketball team, Krehbiel Auditorium, Fine Arts Center
  • 10:30-2:30 p.m., bungee bull ride, pavement in front of Thresher Gymnasium
  • 11 a.m.-noon, Newton Community Children’s Choir and Elbiata Singers, Jolliffe Auditorium, Memorial Hall
  • 11 a.m.-noon, Five Times Harder, Tent on the Green
  • 11 a.m.-noon, “Buffalo Bill and the Wildest Town in the West (Newton!?)” by Steve Friesen ’75, Kauffman Museum
  • Noon-2 p.m., Freeman Academy and Freeman Junior College reunion, Room # 176, Fine Arts Center
  • 12:30-1 p.m., dedication of Ward Tennis Center, northeast corner of campus
  • 12:30-3 p.m., Jazzfest at Fall Fest, Tent on the Green
  • 1-2 p.m., “Doing Ethnomusicology in Northern Thailand” by Gerald Dyck ’60, Kauffman Museum
  • 1-3 p.m., social work coffee for Larry Friesen (retiring in May 2011), The Meeting Place, Administration Building
  • 1:30-3 p.m., meet Perry and Dalene White, Centennial Plaza (lobby of Schultz Student Center if rain, not the cafeteria as announced elsewhere)
  • 3:30 p.m., musical: “Into the Woods,” Krehbiel Auditorium, Fine Arts Center
  • 5-6:30 p.m., Buffalo BBQ, Centennial Plaza

Sunday, Oct. 10

  • 10 a.m., worship service at which Dr. Perry D. White will be inaugurated 14th president of Bethel College, Jolliffe Auditorium, Memorial Hall
  • 2 p.m., musical: “Into the Woods,” Krehbiel Auditorium, Fine Arts Center

Cancellation

Due to a schedule conflict, the public night sky viewing scheduled for Friday night in Mabee Observatory has been cancelled.

Share your cute kid’s photo in the bookstore

Do you have a cute photo of your baby or young child (age 10 or under) sporting Bethel clothing?

Many alumni and friends have purchased Bethel clothing for their children at Thresher Bookstore over the years. Bookstore staff members invite you to share photos of youngsters wearing apparel that shows the college name and colors or logo for display during Fall Festival and beyond.

E-mail your photo to bookstore@bethelks.edu, or mail or deliver a color copy of your picture (copies will not be returned) to Mary Enz, Thresher Bookstore, Bethel College, 300 East 27th, North Newton, KS 67117. Include the name of the child and year the picture was taken, plus parents’ and grandparents’ names, cities and states where they live (and class years, if former Bethel students).

Then, visit Thresher Bookstore at Fall Fest or any other time to view all of the cute BC kid photos!