[Skip to Content]

Thank you!

Bethel’s fiscal year ended June 30, and the Development Office thanks the many donors who helped the college reach its financial goals.

“Gifts to the Bethel College Fund from alumni and friends helped Bethel reach its current fund goal of over $1 million,” said Sondra Bandy Koontz, vice president for advancement. “Thank you for your support of Bethel College students. Many of you stretched your giving to help. The campus community is deeply grateful.”

Bethel welcomes gifts of any amount year-round.

The college is grateful for its loyal support base of alumni and friends. Again, thank you. You did it!

Technology staff complete campus projects this summer

Information and Media Services (IMS) staff members have been busy upgrading the college’s information technology this summer:

  • installation of a new, enterprise-class, managed wireless network throughout the dorms, for improved student networking and Internet access
  • an upgrade of the campus Internet/KAN-ED data connection, which will almost quadruple existing Internet capacity
  • installation of a new edge router and firewall, to support a secure Virtual Private Network connection to the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas offices, the college cooperative in McPherson that manages data and other technology services
  • virtualization of campus computing resources, which allowed IMS to reduce by more than half the number of servers on campus
  • an upgrade from Office 2003 to Office 2007 software, for improved word processing, accounting, e-mail and calendar management.

“IMS works hard to provide the best possible technology support to Bethel students and employees, and to stay on top of the latest technology developments,” said Tim Buller, team leader for IMS. “If you’re on campus, stop by our offices on the main floor of the old Science Hall and we’ll be happy to fill you in on our current projects!”

Share your cute kid’s photo with 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 invite you to share photos of youngsters wearing apparel that shows the college name and colors or logo for display in the coming months, including at Fall Festival.

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!

Museum program and trip to focus on Lincoln

Join friends of Kauffman Museum on a four-day “Land of Lincoln and Twain” bus tour to Illinois celebrating the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth. There are a few remaining seats available on the motor coach.

Highlights of the Sept. 15-18 trip include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, New Salem, Lincoln’s Tomb, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, the Old State Capitol, Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, and a Mississippi riverboat dinner cruise. Cost for the all-inclusive tour is $499 for museum members, $529 for non-members.

In conjunction with the tour, Merrill Raber, Newton, and Bethel professor emeritus of history Jim Juhnke ’62, Wichita, will present “Lincoln: Myth and Reality,” a Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum program at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 16. Raber will look at Lincoln’s connections to Kansas. Juhnke will discuss Lincoln’s impact at a crucial time in American history. The program is free and open to the public.

For more information about either event, please contact Andi Schmidt Andres, asa@bethelks.edu, (316) 283-1612.

Play golf for Bethel Sept. 19

Alumni and friends of Bethel are invited to play in the 18th annual Fall Thresher Golf Classic Saturday, Sept. 19, at Hesston (Kan.) Golf Park. For a brochure, contact the Office of Alumni Relations, (316) 284-5251, alumni@bethelks.edu, or print a copy from the link at www.bethelks.edu/alumni/events/golf.php in mid-August. Register and pay by Aug. 28 and receive a $10 discount.

More photos needed: images of BC residence life

A calculus study group takes a break in 1986. Students sunbathe on the roof of Goerz House in 1946. These and other photos illustrating the best moments of Bethel dorm life will be exhibited at Fall Festival, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center.

More photos are needed, representing recent as well as earlier times. Loan your original or copied photos or even whole scrapbooks for this one-day display. If you wish, write a caption or story to accompany your photo(s).

Contact Rachel Pannabecker at Kauffman Museum, (316) 283-1612, rpannabe@bethelks.edu, no later than Friday, Sept. 25. This and other special features of Fall Fest 2009 serve to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the college in 2012.

New events at this year’s fall fest

Plan now to attend this year’s Fall Festival activities, Oct. 1-4. New events or those with changes in time or location are listed below. Some are part of five years of features celebrating the college’s 125th anniversary in 2012.

Thursday, October 1

  • 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., special photo exhibit, “Considering the Commonplace: Prairie towns through the lens of Bob Regier,” Kauffman Museum

Friday, October 2

  • 7:30 p.m., play, “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder, Fine Arts Center
  • 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., special photo exhibit, Kauffman Museum

Saturday, October 3

  • 9-10 a.m., Low German program, “Wie Kjenne Noch Plautdietsch,” Fine Arts Center
  • 9-10 a.m., illustrated program by Bob Regier ’52, “Mainstreets and backroads: Celebrating the ordinary,” Kauffman Museum
  • 9 a.m.-2 p.m., antique car display by Wichita Horseless Carriage Club, The Green
  • 9 a.m.-4 p.m., special photo exhibit, “Images of BC residence life,” Fine Arts Center
  • 9 a.m.-4 p.m., art exhibit by David Long with reception 2-2:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center
  • 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Mennonite Central Committee school kit project, The Green
  • 9 a.m.-5 p.m., special photo exhibit, Kauffman Museum
  • 10-11 a.m., Radar Ray and the Creekbusters, The Green
  • 10-11 a.m., Business and Economics Department coffee (back again this year), Schultz Student Center
  • 10-11:30 a.m., class reunions: 1994 and 1999, various locations
  • 11 a.m.-Noon, Newton Community Children’s Choir and four handbell choirs, Memorial Hall
  • 11 a.m.-Noon, Sound of the Heartland Chorus, The Green
  • 11 a.m.-Noon, Corry Academy of Irish Dancing, Centennial Plaza
  • 11 a.m-1 p.m., alumni soccer game, Joe W. Goering Field
  • 1-2:30 p.m., audiovisual presentation by Bob Kreider ’39, “1935--When Bethel was young,” Fine Arts Center
  • 1-3:30 p.m., jazz by Bethel College, Newton High School and Hesston High School students, The Green
  • 2:30-4 p.m., class reunions: 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, various locations
  • 3:30 p.m., play, “Our Town, ” Fine Arts Center

Sunday, October 4

  • 1:30-4:30 p.m., special photo exhibit, Kauffman Museum
  • 2 p.m., play, “Our Town,” Fine Arts Center
  • 7:30 p.m., audiovisual presentation by Bob Kreider ’39, “1935--When Bethel was young”