[Skip to Content]

Golfers teach and learn at camp for inner-city kids

A few hours of golf can produce a lasting impact, and not only in terms of scores or sunburn.

For the second year in a row, Bethel golf coach Gregg Dick took several of his seasoned and incoming freshman golfers to Kids Across America, a camp on Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri. KAA is a Christian sports camp for inner city children and youth -- around 6,300 come to the organization’s facilities in Missouri each summer from nearly 500 cities across the United States.

Dick and his players -- one senior, one junior, one sophomore and four incoming freshmen -- spent June 5-8 at the camp, which included 2 1/2 days of working with the young campers. “In that time, we worked with around 100 campers, teaching golf skills, listening and talking to them about their stories, struggles and outlook on life in general,” Dick said. “Only one of these guys was on our trip last year, so it was a new experience for most of them.”

Student tests calling to ministry through summer program

Bethel junior Nathaniel Yoder, Kalona, Iowa, is exploring congregational ministry this summer through the Ministry Inquiry Program (MIP). A member of Kalona Mennonite Church, Nate is serving in his home congregation with pastor Scott Swartzendruber.

MIP is a joint program of Mennonite Church USA and the MC USA-affiliated colleges to help college-age young adults consider pastoral ministry as a vocation. Bethel has had at least one student in MIP every year since the program’s inception -- at Bethel -- in 1987.

MIP allows students to experience ministry first-hand under the supervision of an experienced pastor. They also receive up to $2,000 in scholarship funds to be applied to tuition, and the host congregation supplies housing and pays other living expenses during the 11-week term. Students do not have to be Mennonite to participate although they are placed in Mennonite congregations.

Social work department receives grant

The Bethel College Social Work program is the recipient of a grant from the National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education of the Council on Social Work Education. The $5,000 grant will provide resources to support the development and enhancement of gerontological content in the social work curriculum over a period of three years, beginning in fall 2008. The grant will be matched by in-kind services and other resources from the social work program valued at $2,500, for a total program value of $7,500.

In addition to curriculum development, the three-year plan includes resources for faculty development, for establishing a gerontology advisory group of social work professionals from the local area whose practice is primarily with older adults, and for developing additional gerontological field experiences for social work students. The grant activities will be implemented by social work professors Larry Friesen, program director, and Ada Schmidt-Tieszen, coordinator of field education.

The summer issue of the online magazine “Mennonite Life” includes an interview with four black graduates of the Class of 1969: Bill Price, Edina, Minn.; George Rogers and Earl White, both of Newton; and the late Mike Burnett. The article is titled “Friends for Life: Four African-American Men and Bethel College.”

Bethel alumna Ardie Goering ’80, Albuquerque, N.M., conducted the interview and wrote the piece. In it, the four reflect on the elements that brought them to Bethel and helped to make them “friends for life.” Their stories illuminate both the good intentions and the broken promises of integration on a Mennonite college campus.

Annual report highlights giving to Bethel

Each June 30 -- at the close of the fiscal year -- the Bethel advancement team turns its attention to creating the Annual Report, detailing the dollars and donors who contributed to another successful year at the college. Once completed, the Annual Report is mailed to every household that made a charitable gift to Bethel.

The Annual Report helps to keep donors in the know regarding college finances. It includes such items as lists of donors by club level, young alumni donors, percentage of giving by graduating class, and a graph showing the Bethel budget for each of the previous five years.

Donors who receive the Annual Report this year will notice a minor change under the heading of Young Alumni Donors Club. In previous years, “young alumni” were classified as those within 10 years of their graduation date. Beginning this year, to more closely align the definition of young alumnus with Alumni Awards Committee criteria the definition has been changed to those within 20 years of graduation (the Young Alumnus Award goes to an alumnus under age 40). Congratulations to those donors who just became young again! You can look forward to seeing your names listed.

Gifts to the college may be made online or mailed to the Development Office, 300 East 27th Street, North Newton, KS 67117.

Old Science Hall auction coming in August

Alumni and friends of Bethel will have an opportunity to purchase a memory from the Old Science Hall on Saturday, Aug. 9. An auction of antique furniture and equipment will begin at 9:34 a.m. Wade Brubacher ’70, North Newton, will be the auctioneer and the Bethel College Women’s Association will serve rolls and coffee and a lunch menu.

Among the more than 100 items to be auctioned are old oak lab stools, oak desks and library tables, an antique hall tree, bookcases and a South Bend 9-inch No. 5 bench lathe (metal lathe) with an original company bulletin dated 1934. All proceeds from the sale will go to the maintenance endowment for the new Academic Center and nursing facility. Come join in on the fun and the memories.

Mark your calendar for Summer and Fall golf

Each year the Golf Committee of the Alumni Council plans golf tournaments to raise money for Bethel through the Alumni Association.

Two tournaments are planned for 2008, a summer tourney at Galloway Creek Golf Course -- formerly Henderson (Neb.) Municipal Golf Course -- on Aug. 9 and a fall event at Hesston (Kan.) Municipal Golf Park on Sept. 13 (this year the fall tournament will be held the second rather than third week of September).

Fliers will soon be mailed to past participants. All golfers are welcome. Gift receipts are sent for the amount above the cost of goods and services received. For more information, contact the alumni office at (316) 284-5251, alumni@bethelks.edu.

Museum offers bus tour to Nebraska in September

Join Kauffman Museum director Rachel Pannabecker and curator of education Andi Schmidt Andres on a tour to Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 2-4. Stops include three sites with new facilities: Homestead National Monument outside Beatrice, the International Quilt Study Center’s new LEED-certified building and Spring Creek Audubon Center. Additional sites will be the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, the home of William Jennings Bryan, the Historic Haymarket District, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia headquarters, the Museum of Nebraska History and the Nebraska State Capitol.

Tour participants will savor Nebraska food favorites such as runzas (if you don’t know what they are, you’ll need to come along to find out!) and ice cream at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dairy Store. Cost for museum members is $399 and includes all fees, travel, meals, lodging and gratuities. For more information or to register using a credit card contact Andi Schmidt Andres at asa@bethelks.edu or (316) 283-1612.

Fall Fest planners seek wedding photos, ad building memorabilia

To celebrate the 120th “birthday” of the Bethel College Administration Building at this year’s Fall Festival, planners will display memorabilia associated with the historic building. Memorabilia will include a model of the Ad Building, photographs of the structure, wedding photos of couples married in the chapel, souvenirs, postcards and other items featuring the building. The items will be exhibited 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center.

Alumni and friends of the college are invited to lend wedding photos taken in the Chapel and items depicting the Ad Building for this one-day display. Contact Rachel Pannabecker at Kauffman Museum, (316) 283-1612, rpannabe@bethelks.edu, no later than Friday, Sept. 25.

This and other features of Fall Fest 2008 serve as a kick-off to five years of special observances to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the college in 2012.

BDH/BC NAA to celebrate centennial at Fall Fest

The Bethel Deaconess Hospital/Bethel College Nursing Alumni Association is planning a centennial celebration for the Bethel Deaconess Hospital (BDH) School of Nursing (1908-1974) at its annual meeting Friday, Oct. 3, at 4 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium in the Fine Arts Center.

This year’s Outstanding Nursing Alumnus Award recipient, Arlene Hett ’69, Hillsboro, will be honored at the event. A special speaker will help celebrate the 100-year anniversary. The business meeting follows and will include recognition of nursing anniversary classes. The annual meeting concludes with a reception in the art gallery area outside Krehbiel Auditorium.

Nursing alumni will receive invitations in the mail with a registration deadline of Sept. 23. Contact the Department of Nursing at 300 E. 27th St., North Newton, KS 67117, (316) 284-5308, to register.

At 7 p.m., the festivities will continue with an open house at the historic Warkentin House, 211 East First Street in Newton, which was once the deaconesses’ home. Alumni can enjoy photos and displays from the BDH School of Nursing while reminiscing with classmates. There are no reservations required for the open house and no charge, but donations will be accepted.