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Arthur marks selected for young alumnus award

This year’s Young Alumnus Award winner has sung on stages from Wichita to Berlin and inhabited characters such as the Cat in the Hat, Jesus’ disciple Simon Zealotes and Ernest Green of the Little Rock Nine.

Arthur W. Marks, New York, will be honored in a special convocation during the day Feb. 11. That evening, he will give a concert at 7:30 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public. A freewill offering will be taken to support the African-American Alumni Association Scholarship Fund and to help cover expenses for Marks and his accompanist, Laura Bergquist.

Marks is a native of Kansas City, Kan., the son of Zelma L. Marks and William J. McNeal, both of Kansas City, and an honors graduate of Harmon High School there. He graduated from Bethel in 1993 with a bachelor of arts degree and a double major in music and social work.

After graduating, Marks was a social worker with Hospice Inc. in Wichita. He also served as minister of music at Hillside Christian Church. While in the Wichita area, Marks ran a successful voice studio connected with the Maize School District, teaching students from Wichita and surrounding communities. He was musical director for several choral groups in Wichita, including Stage One Singers, Emerald City Chorus and Music Theatre for Young People.

Marks made his professional singing debut in 1992 with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with the Baltimore, Des Moines and Wichita Symphony Orchestras, the Vivaldi Travelling Virtuoso Orchestra from New York City and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He has performed on stages and classical venues in Rome, London, Berlin, Leipzig, Paris and Vienna. Last spring, Marks was the tenor soloist for the annual Masterworks concert at Bethel, performing in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”

University professor impressed with Bethel

It’s not every day that a well-regarded medievalist and university professor offers his time, free, to teach a class at a small liberal arts college in Kansas.

On the other hand, this one’s name is on a major structure at that same college.

Actually, it’s his father’s name. Joseph W. Goering — whom everyone in Moundridge has always known as “Butch” — is named for his late father, the Moundridge banker and businessman Joe W. Goering (the younger Goering isn’t “Junior” because the “W.” in each name stands for something different). And Joe W. Goering Field, Bethel’s football and soccer field completed in 2005, is named in honor of the gift that Lovella Goering and her children gave in their husband and father’s memory.

As a history and English major at the University of Kansas, 1965-69, Joe Goering met Paula Waxse, a nursing student from Oswego. They married and went to Yale University for graduate work — where Joe earned a master’s degree in arts and religion at Yale Divinity School — and then to Toronto. Goering completed his Ph.D. in medieval studies at the University of Toronto in 1977 and has been teaching there ever since.

As a professor of history, Goering teaches both undergraduate and graduate students. His specialty is medieval history, and Toronto has the largest graduate program in medieval studies in the world.

A number of factors played into Goering’s presence on campus for Bethel’s January 2008 interterm....

Eleven athletes receive academic All-America honors

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has named 11 Bethel students as Daktronics All-America Scholar-Athletes for 2007-08, representing football, volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer.

“We have never before had this many student-athletes receive this award for just the fall sports,” said Chad Schilling, Bethel sports information director. “And this is the most ever for volleyball and football.” Five volleyball players and four football players were named Scholar-Athletes.

Bethel web site wins award

The Bethel College Web site won a bronze award for Excellence in Multimedia for Region VI (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming) of CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) during its annual conference Jan. 12-15.

The entries — which included a short summary of desired goals and realized outcomes — were judged by communication professionals outside of the district. Criteria included comparison to the college Web site’s previous design and function and to other higher education sites.

Bethel was competing against those from four-year colleges and masters-level universities throughout Region VI. The Bethel Web site address is www.bethelks.edu.

Grandparents day coming

Bethel’s 25th annual Grandparents Day is scheduled for Friday, April 25. Members of the Student Alumni Association (SAA) plan and host the event. Morning activities include time to visit with students over coffee and rolls, attend classes and convocation, enjoy a talent show and eat lunch with students. Additional optional activities are offered in the afternoon.

By Feb. 22, parents and grandparent are asked to e-mail the following to dlin@bethelks.edu: (1) name of current Bethel student, (2) name(s) and address(es) of the student’s grandparent(s) and great grandparent(s) who would appreciate receiving invitations.

If needed, family may also e-mail a request that grandparents NOT receive an invitation due to health or travel concerns (they may be on the invitation list from the past).

For more information, contact SAA advisor and director of alumni relations Dave Linscheid, (316) 284-5252, dlin@bethelks.edu. Thank you.

Summer camps for students of all ages

Bethel will again offer camps for students of all ages this summer, including the following:

  • Summer Science Institute, June 1-6
  • Girls’ Basketball Camp, June 2-5
  • Uncle Carl’s Camps at Kauffman Museum, June 2-6, June 16-18, June 30-July 3, July 6-11
  • Summer Music Camp, June 8-14
  • Levels I and II Football Camps, June 9-11
  • Levels I and II Boys’ Basketball Camp, June 9-13
  • Level III Football Camp, June 12-14
  • Broadway at Bethel, June 15-22
  • Football 7-on-7 Passing Tournament, June 28
  • Cross Country Camp, Aug. 4-9

Marty Ward tennis reunion at the U.S. Open

Former players, fans and supporters of the “Marty Ward BC tennis era” are invited to gather at the U.S. Open over Labor Day weekend 2008. Ward, now of Corpus Christi, Texas, and his wife, Carol (Schmidt) Ward ’78, will be there.

When Ward was approached with the idea, his response was, “A tennis reunion at the U.S. Open sounds great to me. I’m pumped!”

Those wanting more information should contact Angela (Brodhagen) Bontrager ’00, Wichita, (316) 288-8103, angelaterryb@hotmail.com.

Ward coached men’s and women’s tennis from 1985 to 1999, establishing one of the most dominant tennis programs in the history of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. He was inducted into the Bethel College Hall of Fame in 2003.