Seminary and College Commencement Ceremonies Set for May

Bethany Theological Seminary will be holding its graduation ceremony on May 5, in Richmond, Ind., just one of several Church of the Brethren-related schools that have announced May commencement ceremonies.

This will be Bethany’s 107th commencement, and 16 graduates will be recognized. The academic ceremony for conferring degrees will take place in Nicarry Chapel at 10 a.m., with admittance by ticket only. A worship service, open to the public, will be held in Nicarry Chapel at 2:30 p.m. Nadine S. Pence, a former member of the Bethany faculty and currently director of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion in Crawfordsville, Ind., will give the commencement address. Graduates Rebekah Houff, Jeanne Davies, and Andrew Duffey will speak during the afternoon worship service.

At Bridgewater (Va.) College, Robert Neff, president emeritus of Juniata College and a former general secretary of the Church of the Brethren and past faculty at Bethany Seminary, will deliver the message at a baccalaureate service at 6 p.m. on May 11 in Nininger Hall. Darla K. Deardorff, a Bridgewater alumna who is executive director of the Association of International Education Administrators and an authority on intercultural competence, will deliver the commencement address at 10 a.m. on May 12 on the campus mall.

Elizabethtown (Pa.) College holds its 109th commencement May 19, with traditional and adult learning programs celebrating graduates. There will be two ceremonies: at 11 a.m. the commencement ceremony for about 450 traditional undergraduate students held in the Dell will feature speaker Pauline Yu, president of the American Council of Learned Societies; at 4 p.m. the commencement ceremony for the 170-some Edward R. Murphy Center for Continuing Education and Distance Learning undergraduate students will hear from speaker Edward R. Murphy of the Board of Trustees, in the Leffler Chapel. This is the first time at the college that adult learners--students who have earned an undergraduate degree through the non-traditional degree program--will have a separate commencement.

At Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., James Madara, chief executive officer of the American Medical Association and a nationally known expert of epithelial cell biology and gastrointestinal disease and also a 1971 Juniata graduate, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree and deliver the commencement address at 10 a.m. on May 12. Others to receive honorary degrees from Juniata are Timothy Statton, retired president of Bechtel Power Corporation and a former member of the board of directors of Bechtel Group Inc., and Henry H. Gibbel, chairman and chief executive officer of Lititz Mutual Insurance Co.

Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., will laud Dow Chemical Co. scientist and Manchester sciences benefactor Herbert E. Chinworth with an honorary Doctor of Science degree at commencement on Sunday afternoon, May 20. Chinworth, who attended Manchester in the early ’40s, also is the speaker for the 2:30 p.m. ceremony, before the college confers more than 250 bachelor’s degrees and two Masters in Athletic Training degrees.

At McPherson (Kan.) College, the 2012 Commencement Day is scheduled for May 20. Also on the weekend of May 18-20 is McPherson’s Alumni Weekend with class reunions for 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, and 1977. At the annual Alumni Awards Luncheon, Harold and Lynda Connell (’62 and ’61), John Ferrell (’51), and Eldred Kingery (’72) will be presented the distinguished Citation of Merit.

University of La Verne, Calif., will hold its Commencement Weekend on May 25-26.

Source:5/3/2012 Newsline

2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

In addition to Bridgewater (Va.) College, two more Brethren-related colleges report being named to the 2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll: Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., and Elizabethtown (Pa.) College. The honor roll reflects all service done by colleges in the previous year, and is given by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Source:4/5/2012 Newsline

Elizabethtown College students go hungry for Food Stamp Challenge.

Students at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College are participating in a local version of a national program--Fighting Poverty with Faith Food Stamp Challenge--to create awareness and advocate on behalf of people who receive food stamps.

Under the program offered by the Chaplain's Office of the college, students can choose from one of three scenarios: eat one meal that costs essentially $1.50 or the amount in food stamps that a recipient would have to spend for one meal; exist on $4.50 worth of food stamps for an entire day's meals; or live on $31.50 worth of food stamps or the equivalent of a week's meals.

Students are invited to advocate for the hungry by writing letters to government representatives to continue or increase aid for Food Stamp Assistance. They also may write a letter to the editor of their local paper to help create awareness of the funding issue for the food stamp program. Many students have answered the question "What is it about my faith that causes me to advocate or act on behalf of the hungry?" on video, which can be viewed at www.etown.edu/offices/chaplain/food-stamps-challenge.aspx.

"By stepping into the shoes of someone who lives on food stamps, students experience the difficult decisions many families make every day," said Amy Shorner-Johnson, assistant chaplain at Elizabethtown College. "My hope for the Food Stamp Challenge is students go beyond simply being grateful for what they have, toward action and advocacy on behalf of the hungry."

As reported in the “Huffington Post” on Oct. 31, a number of congressional Democrats are participating in the Food Stamp Challenge to oppose Republican proposed cuts to the program. The number of people relying on food stamps has risen in response to the ongoing recession. According to the Post report, more than 40 million individuals and 19 million households used food stamps in 2010, as cited by the US Department of Agriculture.

-- This release was provided by Elizabeth Harvey, marketing and communications manager for Elizabethtown College (www.etown.edu). The Food Stamp Challenge was promoted as an outreach to the Brethren-related colleges by Jordan Blevins, advocacy officer and ecumenical peace coordinator for the Church of the Brethren and the National Council of Churches.

Source:11/16/2011 Newsline