Spring Run Church of the Brethren: District Youth Volleyball Tournament

Spring Run Church of the Brethren is once again hosting the annual Middle Pennsylvania District Youth Volleyball Tournament at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., on Saturday, March 15. The district Youth Cabinet also is sponsoring a Soup Kitchen and Service Trip to Washington, D.C., on April 2-5 for senior high youth. Cost is $140 if registered by March 14 and $150 after March 14. For more information go to www.midpacob.org.

Source: 3/11/2014 Newsline

Students at Church of the Brethren-related colleges are doing services projects.

Foregoing “fun in the sun” spring breaks, several groups of students at Church of the Brethren-related colleges are doing services projects instead.

• At Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., 21 students in the Habitat for Humanity club will take on the construction of an entire house in Albany, Ga., and other students will organize the affiliate’s ReStore location. The college’s Hillel chapter for Jewish students is traveling to the Dominican Republic to work on the “My Roof” project that focuses on building shelters for people who don’t have adequate, safe housing, and will volunteer at a health clinic and a school. Juniata’s Christian Ministry Board is traveling to North Fort Myers, Fla., to volunteer on a demonstration farm working with Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization. The college’s Community Service Board is going to Apopka, Fla., to work with immigrant families in collaboration with a local organization called Hope CommUnity Center.

• At Bridgewater (Va.) College, 18 students and 2 staff members will spend spring break volunteering with Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge Spring Break 2013. The group, accompanied by college chaplain Robbie Miller and Stacie Horrell, assistant director of student activities, will leave for Sumter, S.C., on March 10 to work in partnership with the Sumter Habitat for Humanity helping to build several houses. To raise money for the trip, they held a chili cook-off and sponsored a faculty/staff car wash. This is the 21st year that Bridgewater College students have used spring break to work on various Habitat projects.

• At McPherson (Kan.) College, a group of students is planning to serve for a week at a Brethren Disaster Ministries project site in Holton, Ind., in late March. Tom Hurst, director of Service for the college, is organizing the trip with help from Western Plains District.

Source: 3/8/2013 Newsline

Juniata College Rreceives $1 Million Grant

Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., has received a $1 million research grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to implement and integrate a Genomics Leadership Initiative into the curriculum. It combines and expands Juniata's existing teaching and research in genomics with a developing curriculum designed to provide a solid foundation in the ethical, legal, and societal issues surrounding discoveries in genomics. Juniata is one of 47 colleges and universities nationwide to receive more than $50 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Source:5/31/2012 Newsline

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

Juniata College president Tom Kepple to retire.

Photo by: courtesy of Juniata College

Thomas R. Kepple, under whose presidency the campus of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., was transformed by an ambitious building plan and the most successful capital campaign in the college's history, plans to retire May 31, 2013. Kepple was named president July 1, 1998, and will have finished his 15th year leading Juniata by 2013.

Kepple came to Juniata from the University of the South, where he specialized in overseeing large-scale construction and renovation projects and longterm strategic planning. In the 15 years he led Juniata, the college's central campus has been reimagined, renovated, and in some cases rebuilt to consolidate arts, sports, and classroom instruction around a central quadrangle. Among the transformative changes:

• Construction of the 88,000-square-foot William J. Von Liebig Center for Science.

• Construction of the renovated and improved Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts.

• Renovation of historic LEED-certified Founders Hall, the 1879 building that was Juniata's first campus building.

• Closing of 18th Street, which established a central quad and central walkway that links almost all of the main buildings on campus.

• Creation of a new multimillion-dollar Raystown Field Station, transforming the original field station into a major instructional site for the environmental science program.

Kepple points to Juniata's student accomplishments as his personal touchstone, including a marked uptick in national and international awards received by Juniata students. Juniata's athletic teams also have been successful during Kepple's tenure, earning six of Juniata's seven national championships in the past 15 years.

The completion in 2005 of Juniata's largest capital campaign, the Uncommon Outcomes Campaign, raised more than $103 million, making it the largest capital campaign in Juniata's history. Last year, Kepple also initiated the "Changing Lives to Change the World" endowment initiative, which is focused on raising Juniata's endowment to more than $100 million.

Academic programs have been significantly expanded, including reinstating a theater department and reconfiguring an existing computer science program into a more widely specialized information technology program. Additionally, renovation of the college's former science center into Brumbaugh Academic Center transformed one wing into Dale Hall, a wing designed to generate collaboration and synergy between the business, IT, and communication departments.

The college's business department introduced a major program in entrepreneurial instruction, much of it focused on the Juniata Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Bob and Eileen Sill Business Incubator.

Juniata also embarked on two major initiatives to diversify the college's student body demographically and geographically. First, the college started a Global Engagement Initiative that established a Global Community Living Community, international student clubs, introduction of more international courses into the college's core curriculum, an international language outreach program and helped establish international student exchanges. Secondly, the enrollment office made a concentrated effort to expand its recruiting of domestic minorities. Today about 12 percent of the student body represent minority groups.

Many of Juniata's innovative academic programs and improvements to the college's infrastructure have made news on a national scale, which subsequently has helped raise the college's national profile. The Princeton Review noted in 2010 that "Juniata College has catapulted from regional to national status in the last decade."

Kepple and James Lakso, Juniata provost, also oversaw a faculty turnover of nearly 60 percent during the Kepple presidency. As a result the college dramatically expanded successful academic programs in theater, environmental science (now Juniata's fastest growing major), and information technology. Juniata also added faculty in digital media, art, and instrumental music. The college also added or hired new faculty to bolster the institution's established strengths in the sciences, business, religion, peace and conflict studies, and history.

President Kepple is founding chair of the Tuition Plan Consortium, vice chair of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's higher education transition team, founding chair of the new Landmark NCAA Division III athletic conference, and has chaired the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the New York Times/Chronicle of Higher Education President's Cabinet, NCAA Division III Presidents Advisory Committee, Brethren Colleges Abroad, Princeton Review (Advisory Board), He was awarded the Westminster College Outstanding Alumni Citation in October 2000. In 2011 he was awarded the honorary degree doctor of humane letters from Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.

-- John Wall of the Juniata College staff provided this release.

Source:4/19/2012 Newsline

"Empty Bowls" Dinner

Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, Pa., on April 13 hosted an “Empty Bowls” dinner featuring hundreds of bowls created by the Juniata College art department. The dinner raised money for various Huntingdon County food banks. According to a release from the college, participants got “not only soup and bread, but also a hand-made ceramic soup bowl from the college's renowned pottery program.” Sponsors included the Mud Junkies, the college's ceramics club, the Art Alliance, PAX-O, the college's peace studies club, and the Catholic Council. A 4-H group and a Girl Scout troop also created bowls for the event. The release noted this is the sixth year Juniata has been involved in Empty Bowls, a nationwide event designed to focus attention on world hunger.

Source:4/19/2012 Newsline

Juniata College Film Wins Prize

“The thing to remember about zombies is that they're brain-dead hulks prone to staggering around aimlessly,” reports a release from Juniata College, “so it's doubly amazing that a group of Juniata College filmmakers were able to enliven the living dead long enough to complete a movie that won the college a $12,000 prize.” Juniata earned first place recognition for "Showtime," a zombie film created for "Show Us Your ETC," a contest sponsored by ETC Inc. (Electronic Theatre Controls). The company specializes in theater lighting. For first prize the firm bestowed a theatrical lighting board on Juniata's film team, which will control lighting and effects lighting in the Suzanne von Liebig Theatre. The equipment is worth more than $12,000. "This was filmed right before finals in December so many people on campus were walking around like zombies anyway," says Gus Redmond, a sophomore from Bethesda, Md., who originated the project when he discovered the online contest on the ETC website.

Source:4/19/2012 Newsline

Juniata College: "Acting Together on the World Stage"

Several Juniata College professors and a documentary film producer will discuss how theatrical performances and dramatic rituals can become a tool for peace and resistance in regions afflicted by violence, poverty and oppression. The panel discussion takes place after screening of the documentary "Acting Together on the World Stage" at 7 p.m. April 25 in Neff Lecture Hall on the Juniata campus in Huntingdon, Pa. The film and panel discussion is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Baker Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and moderated by Celia Cook-Huffman, the Burkholder Professor of Conflict Resolution.

Source:4/19/2012 Newsline

2012 Senator Paul Simon Award

Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., is one of five institutions to receive the 2012 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from the National Association of International Educators. A release reports that Juniata will be profiled in the upcoming NAFSA publication, "Internationalizing the Campus 2012: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities." Members of Juniata's international office will accept the award at a Capitol Hill event during International Education Week in November. Juniata programs and initiatives that were recognized by the association include establishing a Global Engagement Initiative that led to the formation of an intercultural learning assessment committee and the Global Village Living and Learning Community, and the dedication of faculty and staff to provide students with transformative international experiences such as teaching and advising international students and traveling to international campuses for study-abroad or summer programs.

Source:4/5/2012 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

Kepple to Retire as President of Juniata College

After serving 14 years at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., president Tom Kepple will retire following the 2012-13 school year, according to an announcement on the school’s website. A presidential search committee has started the search for his replacement and hired search consultant R. Stanton Hales of Academic-Search, Inc. The committee also has provided students, faculty, administrators, and the community with opportunities to voice their opinions and say what they want to see in the next president. For periodic updates on Juniata’s presidential search see www.juniata.edu/president/search.

Source:3/22/2012 Newsline

Brethren students and chaplains meet from East and Midwest colleges.

What does it mean to be Brethren today? About 20 Brethren students and the campus chaplains from Bridgewater (Va.) College, Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., and Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., explored that question as they met April 1-3 at Grand Vue State Park in Moundsville, W.Va.

The idea of a joint retreat for Church of the Brethren colleges in the East and Midwest grew out of student brainstorming and gradually materialized over the past year. The West Virginia spot, just south of Wheeling, was chosen as a central point for the colleges attending.

Students led informal discussions on topics including peace, justice, simplicity, sustainability, and community during the weekend. Each of the three college groups also planned and led a worship service. Free time offered opportunities for hiking, disc golf, games, and further conversation. Juniata chaplain Dave Witkovsky contributed his culinary abilities in the kitchen for on-site meals.

The retreat ended with a mountaintop closing circle and hopes of doing another such gathering in the future. The schools are among six colleges/universities affiliated with the Church of the Brethren, stretching from eastern Pennsylvania to California. According to "Church of the Brethren Yearbook" statistics, they enroll a combined total of more than 300 Brethren students.

-- Walt Wiltschek is campus pastor at Manchester College.

Source: 5/5/2011 Newsline