Year: 2015

“When we refer to ‘the biblical approach to economics’ or the biblical response to politics’ or ‘biblical womanhood,’ we’re using the Bible as a weapon disguised as an adjective,” writes author Rachel Held Evans in her book, Faith Unraveled: How A Girl Who Knew All The Answers Learned To Ask The Questions. Evans, following the release of her third book, Searching for Sunday, recently traveled from her hometown in Dayton, Tennessee to Eastern University (EU) in St. Davids, PA to deliver two lectures on October 29 and 30. Three Houghton students, Annetta Snell ’18, Mary Cronin ’17, and Melissa Bell ’17 trekked to the Philadelphia suburb to attend. The trio was hosted by sophomore Resident Assistant Alyssa Welty.

Held Evan’s invitation was prompted by the university’s ongoing conversation regarding human sexuality and gender, according to Amy Perez, EU’s Director of Advising and First-Year Programs. Perez added that she pushed for this year’s freshman class to read Faith Unraveled, which details Held Evans’ encounter with doubts regarding conservative evangelicalism. This struggle resonates with many Christians in their thirties or younger. Welty said that when she read Faith Unraveled, she “felt right at home.” Describing herself as a Christian often “stuck at the crossroads,” she stated that she felt privileged to hear Held Evans speak.

The Thursday evening lecture was titled “The Misuse of Power in Gender Relations”, and focused on patriarchal movements within evangelicalism that have silenced movements. During her lecture, Held Evans described an occurrence in her childhood, when she was told it was too bad she was a girl, as she could have been a good preacher. Held Evans deconstructed this and other claims, focusing on biblical heroines like Ruth and Deborah who “broke rules”. She also focused on Proverbs chapter 31, which is used by many evangelicals to define “biblical womanhood,” of which, according to Held Evans, there is no such thing.

The second lecture on Friday morning was attended by community members as well as the entire EU class of 2019. This lecture focused on Held Evan’s broader experience with doubt, and asked the question of whether doubt is good for a Christian, or the first step down a slippery slope. Bell said after hearing the lecture, “Held Evans emphasized that it was okay to doubt. Her writing and lectures really resonated with me, because as a theology major I am presented with different thoughts on God and theology all the time. It was comforting to hear from one of my role models that doubting is not just allowed, but beneficial to my spiritual growth.”

Snell, a longtime fan of Held Evans’ work, first “stumbled onto” her writing in high school. Snell said she held doubts similar to Evans,’ and found it “incredible to find

someone who was honest and brave enough to talk about her journey, welcoming other people to join her in conversation about life and Christianity.” Snell would encourage all who have the chance to read her books or her blog (rachelheldevans.com). “Just do it,” she urges.

From March 16-30 of 2016 a group of 15-18 students will travel to Vienna, one of the Western world’s oldest and most historically influential cities. Dr. Peter Meilaender, who has traveled to Vienna several times and speaks fluent German, stated that he is excited to lead students through the Innenstadt (the oldest and most central part of Vienna which was once occupied by the Roman Empire). He said, “The old part of the city is really very compact, so you could walk across it on foot in under an hour. Around every corner there’s some new, remarkable building…there are churches everywhere.” The compact nature of the central city will provide a good opportunity to see its most crucial landmarks within a relatively constricted amount of time.

The timeframe of the trip will allow students to experience Vienna during one of its most significant festivals: Holy Week, leading up to Easter Sunday. The vast number of Baroque churches will be filled with thousands of people celebrating the Resurrection, which will provide insight into the importance that many European cities still place on these religious holidays. Dr. Meilaender stated, “A high Catholic mass in a great cathedral on a major festival is an experience not to be missed.”

Students will certainly be getting a great deal out of the two credits which the course requires. In addition to staying in one of the West’s most beautiful cities for two weeks, students will be studying the art, history, literature, and architecture which make Vienna so unique. The crux of the course will focus on the period leading up to World War One, which was extremely tumultuous for all of Europe. However, Dr. Meilaender said that out of this culture breakdown arose an “outburst in creativity” which accounts for much of the artistic traditions that came from Vienna during this time. Artists such as Gustav Klimt, most famous for his painting “The Kiss,” lived and worked in the city during the early 1900s, and are upheld as the originators of the modern style of art.

While in Vienna, students will be expected to attend class for three hours in the morning  after which they will be free to roam the city for as long as they like. Vienna has a wide variety of coffee shops, museums, and churches, all of which are world renowned. Navigating the city should not prove too difficult because of its compactness and communicating with the locals should be equally promising as many people speak English. Dr. Meilaender said, “You can just wander around and constantly see amazing things, more than we could possibly fit into two weeks.” Perhaps, then, this Spring’s trip to Vienna will lead to a love for the city which will bring students back again.

Up until the second or last week of the season, all fall sports teams had a chance at post-season in the Empire 8 conference. However, only men’s soccer, seeded third and women’s soccer, seeded fourth, have qualified to compete in the Empire 8 playoffs. Today, the men’s soccer team will play Stevens Institute of Technology at Ithaca and the women’s soccer team plays Stevens at Stevens. Last weekend, Houghton hosted the Empire 8 Championships for cross country where 17 of the 21 Highlanders who competed ran their fastest races. Head Cross Country Coach Patrick Hager said, “They did all they could do. They performed their best and the results take care of themselves.”

Unfortunately, women’s field hockey, women’s volleyball, and women’s tennis didn’t make it to the playoff round,  which cut their successful seasons short. Women’s tennis were 6-7 overall and had started their season undefeated. Field Hockey finished 8-9 overall, better than last year, and were in contention until the last weekend. They needed to win their game against Washington Jefferson College and for Utica College to lose in order to get seeded fourth in their conference. Reflecting on the season, junior Kelsie Ashley said, “We had a really great season” and that “[She’s] excited to see what next year holds.” Volleyball (20-11 overall) lost a couple keys matches against Elmira and Stevens. Although they had the same conference record (5-3) as Elmira and Stevens, they were unable to make it into the playoffs. Senior Captain Hattie Burgher said, “Our team has finished in the top four of the conference for the past three years and this year we beat rivals that haven’t been beat for four or five years.” Burgher said, “Although we aren’t continuing on, I am still extremely proud of what our team has accomplished this year and years past.”

The only team that qualified for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) championship is men’s and women’s cross country. Houghton will be hosting the national championships in two weeks where both the men’s and women’s team will each have seven runners competing.

The NCCAA has put several new qualifications in place to determine whether a team can make it to the National Christian Tournament for their sport. Previously, a team had to have a .500 record, meaning they had the same number of wins and losses to qualify.  Executive director of athletics, Harold “Skip” Lord, said, “Part of the reason for applying to NCCAA was to have post season opportunities for our teams.”

Essentially, if a team finishes in first place for Empire 8 or makes it to Empire 8 playoffs and wins it, then they qualify for the NCCAA. However, if a team doesn’t satisfy any of these requirements, Houghton decided that they will determine a team’s “national caliber” through other criteria. Some of these criteria include if the team has  a 55% win loss record, if they make it to the finals of the Empire 8 conference tournament, or if the team was in the top 10 final National Christian college pool. If a team has a strong season, but doesn’t qualify for Empire 8 playoffs, they are still able to continue their season if they satisfy two of the three previous guidelines.

This is the second year Houghton has been able to compete in the Empire 8 playoffs. Athletic Director “Skip” Lord said, “This was the best overall start for the year since we made the move to NCAA.” Houghton is in its fourth year of provisional status from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) and is hoping to have full membership in NCAA next year.