September 2014

Bethel College once again has made the Washington Monthly Best Baccalaureate Colleges list, remaining in its position of No. 3.

Washington Monthly groups institutions into four areas as defined by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, including baccalaureate colleges, which, according to Carnegie, comprise schools that focus on undergraduate education but offer fewer than half of their degrees in the liberal arts.

The rankings measure institutions based on three criteria, slightly altered from previous years: service, research and social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students).

This fall, the Obama administration releases its plan to rate America’s colleges and universities, scheduled to go into effect in time for the 2015-16 school year. These will include measures of access, affordability and outcome -- similar metrics to those used by Washington Monthly for years.

For more of this article, visit http://www.bethelks.edu/news-events/news/post/5052/.

Many of the favorites attendees have enjoyed during the years will be at Fall Fest 2014, including Taste of Newton, entertainment on The Green, a variety of food for sale and the Children’s Park. Fall Fest runs from Oct. 16–19.

However, there are new activities and events this year, including:

• There still will be entertainment at Broadway and Main, but fewer groups will perform at Sixth and Main streets during Taste of Newton, which is from 6–9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16. The Alumni Relations Office decided to divide the groups, with most performing every other year (except for Bethel groups). With so many groups interested in performing, this will give each group more time to perform.
• The social work department will have its 40th anniversary celebration, starting with a symposium Friday afternoon, Oct. 17. All alumni, community social workers and others interested in the program are invited.
• The musical Man of La Mancha will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19.
• There will be eight class reunions Saturday, Oct. 18, in Will Academic Center for the classes of 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004. If you belong to those classes, watch your mailbox for more information in the coming weeks.
• The Bethel College Academy of Performing Arts’ Dart for Art fun run is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, starting at the Joe W. Goering Field.
• Students will perform Saturday, Oct. 18, on the new Prairie Sky Stage on the northwest end of the Fine Arts Center.
• Pieces of the old Thresher Gym floor will be for sale at the Athletic Booster Club booth to raise money for new bleachers for the gym.
• The Flannelbacks, comprised of Bethel students Chase Stucky, Matt Graber, Tim Regier and Braden Unruh, will perform from 9:30–10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Entertainment Tent on the Green.

There also will be a number of sporting events to watch Saturday, Oct. 18, including a cross country invitational meet at 10 a.m. on the cross country course along Kansas Highway 15 just north of Mennonite Central Committee offices; junior varsity volleyball from 12:30–2 p.m. and varsity volleyball from 2–3:30 p.m. in Thresher Gym; and women’s soccer from 1–2:30 p.m., men’s soccer from 3:30–5 p.m. and the homecoming football game vs. Southwestern College at 7 p.m., all at the Joe W. Goering Field.

Watch your mailboxes for the Fall Fest flier or view online.

Alumni and friends of Bethel are invited to play in the 24th annual Fall Thresher Golf Classic Saturday, Sept. 13, at Sand Creek Station Golf Course, Newton.

The tournament is a fundraiser through the Alumni Association, supporting student-centered activities and events, such as a Student/Alumni Career Night, Student Alumni Association Holiday Feast, Young Alumnus Award convocation, annual Grandparents Day and the popular Mudslam Volleyball Tournament.

It also supports the broader work of the association through the Alumni Council and Office of Alumni Relations, which seek to connect alumni to the college and with each other through events on and off campus, communication, and other projects and activities.

The deadline to register is Thursday, Sept. 4. Players who sign up and pay by Tuesday, Sept. 2, receive a discount. For more information, visit the Bethel College website.

All golfers are welcome!

The annual Bethel College Corporation meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in Schultz Student Center. Corporation business includes a state-of-the-college report, update from the Alumni Association and election of a corporation representative to the Bethel College Board of Directors.

All those who have given $100 or more to Bethel during their lifetimes are eligible to vote in the corporation election. Voters must be present at the meeting or cast a proxy ballot in writing by letter at Advancement Office, Bethel College, 300 E. 27th St., North Newton, KS 67117 or email clbeth@bethelks.edu by Wednesday, Sept. 24.

George Rogers III, Newton, will be recommended for a second six-year term to the board. A 1969 graduate of Bethel, Rogers earned advanced degrees from Wichita State University and the University of Arkansas. He served as a coach, tenured faculty member, director of athletics and dean of students at Bethel from 1969–98. Rogers’ extensive board memberships include Prairie View, Mirror Inc., Meadowlark Homestead, the Newton/North Newton Planning Commission and the USD 373-Newton School Board, for which he served as chair.

Rogers, now retired, is married to Rita (Guhr) ’72, a nurse. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Serving together may be one of the best ways for people to learn to know and appreciate each other.

So service was an important part of Bethel Bridge, a beginning-of-the-year program Bethel College designed to help new students feel at home.

Bethel Bridge was inaugurated Aug. 18–19. On Aug. 18, the official first day of the semester, instead of classes, all students attended the annual opening-of-school convocation and then went to seminars geared to particular needs (e.g., transfer students; major areas).

On the morning of Aug. 19, after a special convocation on discipleship, the campus community worked to package 50,000 meals to be given to the Harvey County Food Pantry.

Matt Hein ’09, assistant director of development who wrote a successful United Way grant to support the project, reported 450 students, faculty and staff volunteered, starting with the men’s soccer team, who helped unload the truck with supplies and set up the Memorial Hall gym for the packaging.

Since service is one of Bethel’s four core values, when Bethel administrators were planning Bethel Bridge, we wanted to do a project as a way of reinforcing the importance of service, something that would involve all students, said Brad Born, vice president for academic affairs.

For more of this article, visit the Bethel College website.

The following alumni have agreed to serve on the Bethel College Alumni Association Council from 2014–2017:

• Sonia Barrera ’11, Newton
• Nathan Dick ’83, Newton
• Evan Fast ’10, Hesston
• Jeanette (Rinner) Grantstein ’75, Wichita
• Byron Rupp ’93, Andover

They join the following council members, who will also be serving during the 2014–15 school year:

• Greg Bartel ’78, Newton
• Beverly Baumgartner ’94, Newton
• Linda (Koehn) Buller ’70, Wichita, also an Alumni Association representative to the Board of Directors
• Kathy (Friesen) Campbell ’79, North Newton
• Debbie (Regier) Claassen ’85, Whitewater
• Shirley Delk ’73, Wichita
• Sarah (Duffy) Hershberger ’03, Newton
• Ted Krehbiel ’89, Hesston
• Ray Penner ’66, North Newton, also an Alumni Association representative to the Board of Directors and chair of the Board of Directors
• Delbert Peters ’75, Goessel
• Kathy (Kaufman) Preheim '89, Peabody, recorder for the council
• Nathan Regier’'90, Newton
• Monica Schmidt ’11, Newton, chair of the council and president ofthe Alumni Association
• Christy Schunn-Sebes ’92, North Newton
• Greg Shelly ’11, North Newton
• Zach Unruh ’04, Hesston
• David Weaver ’85, Hesston

This group plays a valuable role, said Dave Linscheid ’75, director of alumni relations. They give advice to alumni office staff, represent alumni when decisions are made, advocate alumni interests, listen to alumni, and promote the college and its causes.

Members serve three-year terms and are eligible to serve a second term. They greet at sports events, organize booths for Taste of Newton and Fall Festival, support the Student Alumni Association, host an annual golf tournament, participate in the phonathon, help plan class reunions and host Alumni Weekend. Some also relate to the African-American Alumni Association and Bethel Deaconess Hospital/Bethel College Nursing Alumni Association, or serve on the Awards Committee.

New members of the Alumni Council have been affirmed by the continuing members. The names of all members of the 2014–15 council will be presented at the Bethel College corporation meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. In the past, new council members were affirmed at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association during the Alumni Banquet in spring. That practice is being replaced with council affirmation and the report given at the corporation meeting.

For more information, visit the Bethel College website. If interested in joining, contact Dave Linscheid, director of alumni relations, (316) 284-5252, dlin@bethelks.edu.

The Kauffman Museum Association will have its annual members’ meeting at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at the museum.

Association President Richard Walker ’70 will introduce members of the museum board, including Vice President Rosalind Andreas ’63 and secretary Kathy Schroeder ’77, newly elected board members David Nygaard, Kathy Stucky and Pam Wedel, all of Newton, along with Matt Koontz ’98 and Peggy Souder, both of Newton, who were re-elected to second three-year terms.

After the presentation of the 2013–14 financial report by outgoing director Rachel Pannabecker ’80, members will be able to meet the newly appointed director Annette LeZotte, who will begin at the museum Sept. 8.

The meeting will conclude with a traditional Mennonite faspa.

For more information, contact Andi Schmidt Andres at the museum at asa@bethelks.edu or 316-283-1612.

Bethel College opens its newly renovated art gallery to the public with an exhibit by a well-known Wichita printmaker.

[The late] John Boyd inspired many generations of printmaking students during his long career at Wichita State University, said Gail Lutsch, Bethel professor emeritus of art. His work was playful, sometimes whimsical, and had an energetic, often painterly, style.

He was a master of the three-color monotype — among many areas of print expertise — and later in his career made distinguished digital prints.

Five Decades of Fun — The Artwork of John David Boyd opened Aug. 25 in the Fine Arts Center gallery, which underwent extensive renovation this summer and also has a new name: Robert W. Regier Art Gallery, in honor of another professor emeritus of art, Bob Regier ’52, North Newton.

There will be a public reception for the Boyd exhibit Sept. 18 from 6–8 p.m. in the gallery area.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, as part of Fall Festival, there will be a public rededication of the Fine Arts Center, including recognition of the Robert W. Regier Art Gallery as a specially named new space.

For more of this article, visit the Bethel College website.