Author: Houghton STAR

The student newspaper of Houghton College for more than 100 years.

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Stories In Focus

Inside the STAR

STAR Articles study this week's edition of the paper -- Courtesy of Nathan Versari
By the STAR Editors

Have you ever wondered what goes into publishing each issue of the Houghton STAR?

As you may know, each issue is a team effort, with two Editors-in-Chief at the helm. Junior Christian Welker is one of them. He explained that the Editors-in-Chief “work with the editors to edit articles, lay out the issue, and deal with any problems that may arise in the process.” He also added that the Editors-in-Chief meet biweekly with the STAR’s Faculty Advisor. In addition, the Editors-in-Chief “speak with members of the administration, staff, and faculty teams on behalf of the STAR”. They also complete various website and paper-related projects, as well as odd jobs in the office.

Senior Victoria Hock, another Editor-in-Chief, further added that the Editors-in-Chief “Collaborate with each other and the other Editors to come up with story and writer ideas for the STAR.”

Additionally, Welker and Hock stated that, despite some rumors, the Faculty Advisor has little oversight over the article editing process. They are only given access to articles pre-publication if the Editors-in-Chief see a potential issue they want feedback on. Most of the time, the STAR’s Faculty Advisor only sees articles after publication, at the same time as the rest of Houghton’s Campus.

In addition to the Editors-in-Chief, there are Four Section Editors, News, Opinions, Columns, and Photo and Media.

Junior Joshua Carpenter is responsible for overseeing our News section. He said that he is “responsible for finding three writers to cover either a news or feature story. Once I receive their articles, I edit them and lay them out in Affinity Publisher (the software we use to create the print form of the newspaper).”

Overseeing our Opinions section is Sophomore Victoria Arndt. Discussing her responsibilities, she stated, “As the Opinions editor, I collect writers for opinion pieces and then work with the writer to edit them, as well as format the piece within its section of the newspaper.”

           Sophomore Caleb Tiedemann oversees our Columns section, which is found at the back of each issue and contains anything from reviews to artwork. He explained that he is “responsible for finding someone to write an article and someone for Artist of the Week. I edit the submitted article and then format it, as well as the Artist of the Week submissions, onto the back page of the STAR.”

           Junior Savannah Stitt is our Photo and Media Editor. Each week, she will “photograph or source the photos of people and events the STAR features in each issue.” Stitt also runs our Instagram account.

           Layout occurs each Wednesday in the Houghton STAR office, which is located in the Campus Center basement. Each editor is responsible for inserting and formatting their content in their respective sections. After the Editors lay out their articles, the Co-Editors-in-Chief go through the entire issue again, checking for mistakes and filling any leftover space with puzzles, advertisements, and more. Then it is shipped to the printing press, where it is printed and prepared for handout after Friday Chapel. 

After the physical issue is sent to the printing press, each article is formatted into an online version for publication on the STARs Website. The online articles are scheduled to be posted at the same time as the physical copies are distributed so that interested parties both on and off campus can get the issue at the same time.

The Editors may be responsible for putting each issue together, but this would not be possible without contributors, which we are always looking for more of.

            If you are interested in contributing to any section of the Houghton STAR, please email the Editor of the section you’re interested in. We would also welcome Letters to the Editor in response to our previous pieces, which can be sent to star@houghton.edu. Letters to the Editor can range from a few short sentences to a maximum of 600 words.

If you are interested in becoming an editor, feel free to fill out the application below to become our new News Editor as Carpenter is joining Welker in the Editor-in-Chief position after Hock graduates at the end of this semester.

            If you want to contribute, but are not sure if or where your idea would fit, feel free to email one of our Co-Editors-in-Chief. ★

Categories
News

Mosaic Center Closing

Photo Wall in the Mosaic Center -- Courtesy of Christian Welker
By Abigail Bates

On Friday Mar. 10, President Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. announced the closing of the Mosaic Multicultural Center.

“Many individuals,” President Lewis wrote, “view the space as exclusive and unwelcoming, leading to the effect of few students engaging in the learning experiences the space was intended to foster.”

In the Fall 2023 semester, the space will become a Campus Ministry area led by Dean Michael Jordan for Emmanuel Scholars, Life Together Groups, and a new campus-wide discipleship program. The ambassador program from the Mosaic Center will continue as the Intercultural Ambassadors, and will work on promoting intercultural connections and events.

For various reasons, the Mosaic Center began to increasingly fall short of its intended goals leading to the decision to close the center.

“Houghton,” President Lewis wrote, “will be able to more effectively accomplish the institution’s goals in this area if our goals are separated from the Mosaic Center and the physical space it now occupies.”

While many students recognize the problems of the Mosaic Center, some are dissatisfied with the administrative response.

“I do agree that the Mosaic Center often felt like an unapproachable place,” Senior Benjamin Dostie (‘23) writes. “There used to be more events there in my freshman year that allowed majority population students like me to interact in constructive ways . . . Even if President Lewis was right that it wasn’t meeting expectations, it would have been nice to see some corrective action or collaborative effort to align it with stated values before such a drastic action.”

Senior Isabelle Murch (‘23) feels that the Mosaic Center went from one extreme to the other without being given the tools to thrive. She wishes time was taken to listen to the entire student body, and rather than closing it, restructure the center to become proactive in celebrating diversity.

Some students are also concerned with removing a safe space for people of differing racial and ethnic backgrounds. Sophomore Kimberly Borges Edwards (‘25) and Junior Caroline Zimmerman (‘24) wrote about the negative impact closing the center will have on diversity at Houghton, and the lack of care and support marginalized students feel from administration as a result of this decision.

Women’s Area Coordinator Raegan Zelaya remarks that while she understands the reasoning behind closing the Mosaic Center, Houghton–as an institution–can’t claim to value diversity if we aren’t doing everything we can to safeguard and develop it.

“If anything,” Zelaya writes, “it feels like it just further demonstrates that the university is only interested in the kinds of diversity that are convenient for marketing purposes. It is outrageous to have diversity as a pillar in our strategic plan when we are actively cutting the programs and spaces that help empower diverse students to succeed.”

The Intercultural Ambassadors, renamed from the current ambassador program, will provide intentional and impactful programming on campus to foster intercultural connections and learning through student leadership. President Lewis writes that these student leaders will help plan events for heritage months, assist the MLK Day Committee, and organize campus conversations. It is simply the space being closed, he comments.

“Houghton remains committed to intercultural education and engagement,” President Lewis explains, “which is why the ambassadors [program] is remaining, with an explicit focus on facilitating and supporting Christ-centered intercultural education and engagement.”

Contact Vice President Marc Smithers for more information on the Intercultural Ambassadors. ★

Categories
Columns

Into the Woods Review

by Kat Wojsiat

I had the pleasure of seeing Houghton University’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods twice! Director Amanda Cox did something a little different and split the cast so that many roles had two actors, and I wanted to see and compare both casts. 

Both did an amazing job, and it was fun to see each actor put their own spin on their character. For those of you who did not get to see it, Into the Woods follows a baker (Luc Peirera) and his wife (Rebekah Scharf) as they journey through the mysterious woods to find four objects demanded of them by their neighboring witch (Linnette Taylor). 

Along the way, they come across multiple fairytale characters who live in their world, including Jack (Thomas Auld & Ethan Carr), Little Red (Grace Vuolo & Josey Ikker), and Cinderella (Emily Quick & Rachel McVeigh). Together, they face giants, death, princes, and a race against time. 

All of the actors in the show clearly put a lot of work into learning their lines, choreography, and characters, and it is clear that there was so much fun and dedication put into these performances. The vocal performances put out by the leads were highly impressive. Most of the leads had at least one solo or duet where the audience got to see them shine. 

Surely word has spread, but this show was made even more eventful thanks to the campus-wide power outage that occurred on Saturday. Right toward the end of Auld’s solo during the matinee, the power went out, causing the stage and the mics to go dark. Auld continued without faltering, delivering an impressive and composed performance through the confusion. After his scene ended, the show took a brief intermission during which the tech team went to work finding solutions. They quickly found lights, and the rest of the performance was completed in darkness, as well as the Saturday night performance. The actors adapted very well and delivered a great performance. I got to go to three of the four performances (although I did not get to stay the whole time for each one) and each one was meaningful and fun. They did a great job, and I highly encourage students to go to future lyric theatre productions! ★

Categories
News

We Asked, You Responded!

Thank you to everyone who filled out our Mosaic Center Survey.
Here are some of the responses you had

Forms response chart. Question title: Do you believe the Mosaic Center was fulfilling its stated purpose "to be a dynamic space that hosted conversations, programming, and educational activities that promote issues of cultural diversity"?. Number of responses: 44 responses.

Forms response chart. Question title: What was your initial response to President Lewis' email?. Number of responses: 44 responses.

Forms response chart. Question title: Do you believe that the decision was the best path forward?. Number of responses: 44 responses.

Forms response chart. Question title: Would you be interested in participating in Dean Jordan's new "Campus Ministry Space" or the new Campus-Wide Discipleship Program?. Number of responses: 44 responses.

Categories
Columns

Houghton STAR Review (STAR April Fools 2023)

By [REDACTED]

WARNING: This is not satire!

This is a cry for help coming from an unspecified STAR official. If you are thinking about joining the STAR team: DO NOT! It is a place of pure terror. Everyone who joins is treated as less than human. Near the end of this upcoming year, the evil and terrifyingly tall Christian Welker intends to overthrow Victoria Hock in a bid to become the leader. Victoria is in her senior year and has been fighting for far too long; I fear she will go down in flames. But once Christian establishes his reign as an eye of Sauron-type figure, the rest of us will be forced to follow his lead. 

Joining his conquest is Joshua Carpenter, a real-life juggernaut. He will probably serve as second-in-command, servicing every one of Christian’s evil desires. Day in and day out they lounge around under the belief of assured destruction come the end of the year. Once they achieve their goals, I fear we may be unable to stop them from corrupting the rest of the campus. One of the biggest tells thus far is how they seem to know everything that’s going on. They have the stories and news before the rest of the campus. I suspect dirty dealings with faculty. Both have admitted close “friendships” with certain professors. But what do they and professors have in common? Wanting to see fellow students suffer under harsh leadership and work hours!

The biggest problem comes with the newer recruits such as Victoria Arndt and Caleb Tiedemann. Both are confined to horrendous work hours, constantly having to find people to write articles and edit the STAR to perfection, under a penetrating gaze. When it does not come out perfect, threats fly and punishments are dealt. These punishments include eating Metz food, being confined in a Big Al’s booth, and worse! Arndt and Tiedemann are given the quotes and works of other students to be edited and made their own. 

Another STAR staff member, Savannah Stitt, is constantly forced to run around and take pictures of various students and events for Christian’s big brother takeover. He MUST know everything that is happening. She acts as a scout, lurking in the shadows, neither seen nor heard to get the best pictures possible, spying on certain clubs and article writers that could very possibly help Christian in his quest for power. 

I urge everyone reading this to look out for the STAR- it is not what it claims to be, it is an institution of black site operations. I request that the college stops looking over the cries of anguish of all the STAR staff members and calls to arms for the necessary reinforcements against Christian and Joshua, for they are indeed an unstoppable duo capable of only the most heinous of crimes. My name is [REDACTED] and as a writer, I stand to be the voice of the people and will not let [REDACTED]★

Message from the Co-Editor-in-Chief:

We apologize for the confusion and fear. This writer has clearly lost their mind and is no longer fit to work within our wonderfully non-evil club. The perpetrator has been sufficiently dealt with and will not taint our wonderful news pages any longer. 

On a completely unrelated and equally non-evil note, we are looking for a new News Editor to replace my minion the current News Editor Josh Carpenter as he steps into the Co-Editor-in-Chief position, replacing Victoria, who will be sorely missed.

Thank you for your consideration, we apologize again for the startling and completely false review.

Long live the Editor-in-Chief

Thank you and have a good day,

Christian D. Welker

Categories
Opinions

Why the Earth is Flat and You are Wrong (STAR April Fools 2023)

By Elizabeth Sutay

We live in an age where fake news is as common as a rainy day. We are told that Mark Zuckerberg is a lizard person, that Jonah was swallowed by an alien spaceship, and that the new Star Wars movies weren’t just an elaborate fever dream. However, the largest case of widespread misinformation concerns the shape of the place we all live. Most would tell you that it is round, and that would be a lie, as the Earth is in fact flat. As anyone can clearly see by looking outside their window, other than the hills, bumps, and curves, the terrain is completely flat. The idea that the world is actually round has been spreading like wildfire due to the easy access to misinformation provided by the internet. Minority voices with absurd theories get projected as loud as the truth, and those with similar beliefs will flock together to create groups such as the Round Earth Society. This then allows others who are more susceptible to influences to find them and join in their strange beliefs. 

This coverup started to pick up pace in the 1780s by the British government as they sent their criminals to “Australia”. In reality, Australia is not real, and the British were simply sending them off the side of the world. To keep the peace, they instead claimed to be sending them to an island in the middle of the ocean, one that is filled with deadly made-up creatures never seen in Europe, like the koala. This would allow the British to continue shipping off their criminals without concern, and the threat of the dangerous creatures would keep curious people away. In the present day, the lie has continued, and elaborate systems are set up on the island of New Zealand to keep up the facade of an ‘Australia’ existing. 

In preparation for this article, I spoke to a professional on this subject that wished to remain anonymous, but they further elaborated on the  topic. According to them, there are studies people can do at home that prove the Round Earth theory to be completely false. For example, taking a marble and placing it on the top of a slope results in it rolling down to the bottom. However, using a metal marble and a strong enough magnet, the marble will not move. This clearly illustrates how gravity works in the Flat Earth model, while completely disproving the Round Earth model. Alternatively, looking up at the sky on a clear night reveals the stars. In the Flat Earth model, no matter where a person is, they will look up and see those stars. In the Round Earth model, those stars would be at different angles around the “globe”. As the former is true, this points to even more evidence of the Flat Earth model. The professional concluded their statements with “Pretty sure I read that on the internet somewhere, so it must be true.”

With free access to the internet, blatantly false information such as the Round Earth theory is left unchecked as it continues to grow. To combat this rampant misinformation, we must let all research and findings be published to mainstream media and treated with the same respect. Furthermore, to prevent the censorship of the truth, only trusted sources should be allowed to post the information online, and to ensure the free spread of this information, there should be an information tax that goes into protection against misinformation, allowing those who pay to share it with a large audience. With the government involved in creating and spreading these lies, there should be an additional branch of the military strictly dedicated to protecting this information. With these steps, hopefully the truth can become more abundant than the lies. ★

Categories
Stories In Focus

Feature: STARbot 9000 (STAR April Fools 2023)

Houghton University as seen by STARBot
by STARbot 9000

Due to several non-financial reasons, The Administration of Houghton University is introducing a new plan to replace the Houghton STAR’s Editing and Writing Team with Artificial Intelligence. This is a test of the STARBot system discussing President Wayne D. Lewis’ response to the recent controversy:

Houghton University recently experienced a major conflict involving the Board of Trustees and faculty and students. The faculty wanted the Board of Trustees to prevent the University’s President from implementing new policies. However, President Bill Guerrera told the Board that faculty and students could vote against the new policies. The faculty did not agree to the President’s request. The Board backed down and agreed to allow the faculty and students to vote on the creation of a student union.

The Jules L. Bailey Alumni House, originally built in 1931, is located at the corner of High and Bainbridge streets in downtown Houghton. The house was the home of Dr. Jules L. Bailey, a Houghton native who graduated from Houghton College in 1875. Bailey is best remembered for his involvement in the family business, the creation of the mining industry, and for his early involvement in the Latter-day Saint movement in Houghton, which resulted in his founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The home has since been restored and is a tourist destination for the Houghton community.

The Kishwaukee Chamber of Commerce will recognize 40 graduates from the business program during its 38th Annual Golf Outing and Awards Dinner on Friday, May 26, at The Villages Golf Course. Out of 40 graduates, 36 have found employment, three are still searching for a job and the other one is employed full time and volunteering in his community. Graduates from the engineering and management program will receive special recognition.

Four local business owners have joined together to form an economic revitalization group. The six-member group will meet with the Houghton-based private sector business owners to “share ideas, create a vision and develop a plan to further the prosperity of Houghton and our surrounding communities. The group’s initial focus will be on rural economic development.”

“A business group has been needed in our community for years. Having one now will be helpful for revitalization efforts in our towns. It’s never too late to make the change that is right for a community and that is the mindset I hope this group will have.” said Laurie Maulden, vice president of Kishwaukee Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

The group’s by-laws will include a corporate director from each business’ group (two from Ewing-Morton, two from Delavan, two from Kewanee and one from Hancock) that will direct and oversee the group. The corporate director will assist in the development of committees, oversee fundraising efforts, chair monthly meetings, and serve as spokesperson for the group.

If you or your business group is interested in joining the Kishwaukee Business Group, contact a Chamber of Commerce representative at 309-822-8366 or KWCCinfo@KishwaukeeChamber.org.

The district also saw a change in school board member April Jeffs. She was elected to the school board in April to replace Wayne Rine. Jeffs has worked as the principal at Richfield Elementary School for the past three years and is a 1987 graduate of Houghton High School.

Juvenile cases that were referred to the Houghton Police Department have decreased by 24.5 percent compared to 2016. These cases, which consist of both Houghton and Kewanee students, primarily involve various forms of violence. The most prevalent cause of these cases is possession of marijuana or other drugs. The Houghton Police Department takes a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to illegal drugs.

With graduation on the horizon, the Houghton-area social calendar is filling up. The Houghton Public Library hosted their Third Annual Graduation ceremony on May 10. The district had two graduating classes: Houghton High School and Richfield Elementary School. The Richfield Elementary School graduation will be held at 11 a.m. on June 7, in the Library. This is a fun and exciting event for families of Houghton students!

Houghton College graduation ceremonies will be held on Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10. High school and college students will be.

If you have any feedback on how the STARBot system did.

Keep it to yourself. Silence is Golden. ★

Categories
News

A Star is Born (We Are One) (STAR April Fools 2023)

A Rendering of the Phenomena Based on Chaapel's Description -- Courtesy of Savanna Stitt
By Jax Johnson

The strangest of occurrences were reported over the past weekend. Word has spread that a bright light was seen originating from the Houghton STAR office. This bright light was first discovered by Senior Skye Chaapel late one night. They explained the events saying, “As I was walking to the printer one night, past the STAR office, I noticed an odd glow coming from their door’s window.  It was a strange, bluish white glow.  When I peeked my head into view of the window, I saw something that I would never believe if I hadn’t seen it for myself.  The members of the STAR were turning INTO a star in front of my very eyes!  I watched as things started to melt in their office from the heat.  I had to back away otherwise I might have started to melt!” It is quite a relief that Chaapel got away from the situation without harm. The office itself was another question, which certainly required further investigation. 

After getting hearing from Chaapel, I knew this issue needed an expert. I decided to call on Houghton’s own private investigator Hans Rothenbulah and we met to discuss the Star office oddities. “As I vuz vawking past zuh Star Office, I noticed a peculiah light emanating from inside. I tried zuh door vunce, but it vuz locked, so I vent back to my uhzer inwestigation for zeez miniscule Kuhs,” he explained while holding out a few tiny plastic cows with 4-22 written on them. 

Multiple reports note that members of the STAR staff have been acting strangely. But becoming a real star? That is certainly fascinating news. Thankfully Chaapel is not alone in their reports.  Junior Johanna Lamont noted that she recently found that the editors of the STAR have not been their usual selves. 

“It’s weird but the star editors have been acting super odd recently. I can’t put my finger on the change but something is different I guarantee.” Lamont continued by expressing that the editors have had a particularly glowing presence recently. 

Unfortunately, the cameras within the office seem to have melted, so more information as to the incident Chaapel witnessed cannot be fully ascertained, but it is clear that something odd is happening in that room. This article is one that may leave more questions than answers.  Do they all share the same thoughts, or does each point of the star function separately?  Who is going to pay for the melted cameras? How much heat does a STAR editor give off? Are members of the Lantern at risk of a similar affliction? It seems that only time, and perhaps some bright STAR editors may hold the answers. ★

We Are One

We Are One

We Are One

We Are One

We Are One

Categories
News

Mac Lab Mannequin Mishaps (STAR April Fools 2023)

An Artistic Rendering of what Joshua Experienced -- Courtesy of Savannah Stitt
By Joshua Carpenter

Last night, Mar. 30, Junior Joshua Carpenter was found in the MacLab ceiling bound from the neck down in computer cables.  

The first responder on the scene was Safety and Security Guard Todd Williamson, who only works at night due to a restraining order he received from hunting down and restraining scan-and-scrammers during chapel.

“I don’t know how else to explain it,” says Mr. Williamson, “but there was this weird monster-like growl coming from the MacLab as soon as I entered the Chamberlain Center.” 

Although by the time Mr. Williamson arrived at the MacLab, the growling stopped. 

“Then there was nothing,” says Mr. Williamson. “Out of fear, I spun around my Houghton-issued Red Ryder BB gun and checked the room for any potential threats.” 

By the time Mr. Williamson had cleared the room, he heard struggling from above, which was immediately followed by Carpenter’s bound body breaking through the ceiling and falling on the floor in front of Mr. Williamson. 

“It scared me pale,” says Mr. Williamson. “The kid nearly fell on my head he was so close to me. I tried to see if he was alright, but the fall had knocked him unconscious.” 

Covering Carpenter’s mouth was a thick layer of duct tape. After peeling the tape from Carpenter’s mouth, Mr. Williamson listened in confusion as Carpenter screamed in terror. 

“It was like he was looking right through me – in the gaping hole that became of the ceiling, in which there was nothing, nothing until there appeared something so horrible that defies all logic. Out from there, in the dark space above us, peeked the head of a woman with long black hair, but with the plastic face of a mannequin.” 

However, in the next instant, the face retreated into the ceiling as Mr. Harrison rushed Carpenter out of the MacLab and into the night. 

After Mr. Williamson saw to Carpenter’s health, they immediately reported the incident to The Houghton STAR’s News Editor, Joshua Carpenter (‘24), who has no relation to the previously described Carpenter. In the interview that followed, it was discovered that the MacLab has a small civilization of mannequin heads in its ceiling.  

Free of his cable bounds by the heroism of Mr. Williamson, Carpenter describes what he saw dwelling in the dark recess of the MacLab’s ceiling: 

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Mannequins on fire in the ceiling of the MacLab… I watched plastic talk in the dark while I was the only human around. All those moments will haunt me in time, like eyes that never close.” 

Mr. Williamson shared concerns of his own, for himself, Carpenter, and any other student who may fall victim to the mannequins in the ceiling. 

“Yeah, what he said.” 

As of today, Mar. 31, Mr. Williamson has resigned from his position of Safety and Security guard and has retired to a remote location to live out the rest of his life with his wife.  

Carpenter, however, is nowhere to be found. All that is known of his whereabouts is that he left the Campus Center in the direction of the rising sun. 

His last known words were as follows: 

“Beware of Gwendolyn.” ★

Categories
Opinions

Spiritual Life at Houghton

By Kat Wojsiat

Houghton University is a college founded on a Wesleyan faith in the Trinity, meant to be a community of believers pursuing academic excellence. As part of this institutional identity, spiritual life is an important focus on campus. Houghton offers numerous spiritual outlets to students, including chapel programs, worship sessions, daily prayer, and small group meetings. On paper, it looks like Houghton’s spiritual life is thriving, with lots of programs and events. However, a real look at Houghton shows the sadder reality here.

A year ago, I spoke with a friend of mine who was President of Mercy Seat at the time. Mercy Seat is an hour-long worship session open to all students that occurs every Monday-Friday night. He was having a terrible time finding musicians and prayer leaders to lead daily worship, and there were only one or two students actually attending Mercy Seat on any given night. He was so discouraged by the lack of student desire for worship that he purposefully gave Mercy Seat a one-semester break in hopes to give the students a chance to miss it. Since it returned last spring, attendance has been highly unpredictable, with anywhere from one to ten people on a given night. The current President, sophomore Jadyn Matton , said it is difficult to get people to attend, but when they are there, she has “definitely seen people uplifted and very excited!” People seem to enjoy their engagement with Mercy Seat and The Cry, but people just don’t often participate! In addition to this, a small few students utilize the daily prayer and communion, with only between one and six students there on a regular basis. 

The icing on the cake for me was Chapel on March 17th. Students had the choice to go to chapel 20 minutes early for extra praise and worship, but most students did not arrive until the usual start time. I got there after class at 11:05 and found that many students who were there already were sitting down or on their phones, as though this was not real worship and they were just waiting for the real part of Chapel to start. Worship is worship! We were given a chance to praise God with a little extra of our time, and so few people were actually excited to take advantage of this opportunity! The purpose of Chapel is not to just satisfy God with 40 minutes, but to practice honoring Him with all of our being; when there is worship going on, God wants you to join in! Even more, you should want to join in!

After worship ended, we had Houghton Alum Katie Allen (20’) come from Asbury Seminary to tell us about the Asbury Revival. It was a huge blessing to have a Houghton Alum right there experiencing this outpouring, and it was even more of an honor that we get to hear from her directly! She came all the way from Kentucky to tell us about this huge spiritual awakening that happened at Asbury! As she spoke about this revival, I sat in my seat feeling encouraged and warmed to hear about how God is moving in our country today. My heart was then broken when I looked around the chapel to see over half the students within my view on their phones and many more on their laptops. 

I am a student too, and I fully understand that sometimes you have to cram in your reading for your 12 o’clock class during Chapel; these things happen! But over half of our students just scrolling away on their devices while our speaker is telling us about spiritual renewal is just so discouraging. God is moving in the hearts of thousands in our society, but here at Houghton it seems like we are just pushing Him away. We see what God is doing in other areas of the world, and I know He can do it here at Houghton too! We just have to open our hearts and minds and put God first! After Chapel, worship continued, but very few students stayed. I want to encourage the student body to put down their phones, take out their earbuds, close their laptops, and rest in the sacred time chapel provides. Scripture firmly encourages taking a Sabbath, but I look around campus and see hundreds of students who never take a break. Chapel is a set time designed to allow us to rest in the Father’s arms and join in communal worship, and we should engage in the time we are given to do so. 

I pray that Houghton will see its own revival and that the Spirit will pour out on us. Our spiritual life has taken a beating since COVID, and we need to be renewed in our desire to seek God. There are plenty of resources; it is on us to utilize them. Participate in a Life Together group, dedicate one day a week to go to afternoon prayer, or make time to go to Koinonia each week! I hope that those who desire spiritual awakening will pray for Houghton to be renewed in the Spirit. I am not saying we need a two-week-long, nationwide, non-stop Revival. I just hope that each individual here at Houghton will take the step to make room for God in their lives, and I pray that God will move in this way here. ★