Author: Anna Schilke

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Opinions Two Views

Three Views on // Brett Kavanaugh

As a political moderate, I’ve become used to paradoxes. After the election, for example, I received a phone call from both of my grandmothers in the space of an hour. The first is a conservative from Florida. “Thank the Lord,” she told me. “He has delivered us a President.” The other is a socialist from Canada. “We must pray,” she said to me fifteen minutes later, “and remember that trials come to test our faith.” Although I sympathized with one and disagreed with the other, I tried to listen to both with respect – not only because they are my beloved grandmothers, but because I do not belong to a party. I must open myself to hearing the opinions of both, even when those opinions are in direct contradiction with one another.

As one might imagine, with that mindset it has been a long two years. The election was swiftly followed by battles about immigration, the climate accords, Supreme Court nomination No.1, trade agreements, allegations of collusion, more firings than I can count, and cries of potential impeachment. By the time Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination became headline news, I was numb to the controversy. I’ve simply seen it too many times to be impressed. Republicans think he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Democrats are crying foul play. Everybody argues, nobody listens. Worse, the arguments aren’t new. At their core, the debates surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment aren’t about Brett Kavanaugh. They are about two issues only tangentially related to him: the role of the Senate in Supreme Court Nominations, and the bounds of what is and is not considered rape or sexual harassment.

I’ll start with the first, since it’s simpler, although not necessarily easier to solve. What is the role of the Senate in Supreme Court Nominations? More specifically, on what grounds should they be allowed to reject a candidate? The constitution – unfortunately – is of little help on the issue. “… And [the President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate…Judges of the Supreme Court” it reads (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2). Advice and Consent are not terribly illuminative words. They could mean anything from an informal brunch to a separate examination process. To interpret the wording, we must depend on legal precedent; how has the Senate handled this issue in the past? Again, that’s a more complicated question than it might originally appear. Until 1925, there wasn’t much of a confirmation process. The Senate did vote, and occasionally rejected people, but unless there was a remarkably compelling reason, the President’s choices were passed. After 1925 the process got a bit lengthier and more stringent. After 1980, it started to take its current shape: an enormously long hearing that runs upwards of 20 hours.

With the increased examination, reasons a Senate might reject a candidate have also begun to shift. Former debates centered around issues of ethics and competence; today we have added questions of political affiliation and how the candidate’s positions might affect the balance of the Court. Still, despite a growing list of factors to weigh, outright rejections to the Court are rare. Should Kavanaugh be rejected, he will be the 9th judge in US history, out of over a hundred appointments. This – for me – raises an important question. I agree that concerns of ethics and competence ought to be part of the Senate’s examination. But given the history, do I believe that party affiliations or balancing those affiliations within the broader court should also be ground for a rejection? I will return to this question in a moment.

The other crucial issue at stake in this appointment is that of rape and sexual harassment. As a culture, we’re in the middle of an ongoing conversation about these two terms. What do they mean? What constitutes them? When and where does an incident move from one to the other? What is the acceptable time limit to claim reparations? What do we accept as proof of their occurrence? How do we keep them from happening? This is a thorny issue, and one on which I frankly feel uncomfortable commenting. I don’t know what happened to those women at those parties; the events took place before I was born. Yet – per the terms I outlined above – if Kavanaugh is guilty of sexual harassment or rape, he should be rejected from the court on ethical grounds and likely arrested. Despite my reticence, this is an issue on which I need to have an opinion; until Western society gets clearer on the morality of these terms, we’re going to keep running into this situation.

So, then, what do I think the appointment? In terms of competency, Brett Kavanaugh qualifies; from all accounts he is a distinguished and effective judge. I also – as a person without party affiliations – do not believe that party politics should influence Supreme Court nominations. If the rape and sexual harassment claims did not exist, there would be no reason to bar his appointment. But the rape and harassment claims do exist, and I take them seriously. Any such charge needs to be investigated, regardless of how many years ago it took place or how convenient it may seem. Given the choice between mistakenly rejecting Kavanaugh from the Court or mistakenly silencing a victim’s voice, I would rather find another judge than ignore a woman’s pain. I’m not saying Kavanaugh should be dropped from consideration without a fair investigation. But I will not feel comfortable with his appointment until he is cleared of ethical doubt.

Anna is a senior majoring in Writing.

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Campus News

Long-Standing Faculty Member Retires Unexpectedly

Less than three weeks into a new semester, Dean of Houghton College Buffalo and History professor Cameron Airhart has announced his retirement. This decision marks an end to a forty year career, more than thirty of which have been spent as part of the Houghton faculty. Airhart came to Alleghany County in 1987, and – until two weeks ago – was one of oldest members of staff, running only a few years behind Paul Young.

Originally a Northwestern graduate, Airhart began his studies with a BA and ended with a PhD in history from University of California Santa Barbara. He is a medieval scholar with a particular interest in St. Frances, something which influenced his teaching. “There was no topic in the arena of medieval European history,” recounts Dr. Benjamin Lipscomb, a former colleague and friend, “or in a whole lot of other areas where Cameron didn’t have something informed to say.” Students agree with this assessment, citing Airhart’s incredible knowledge of the period as a great asset. “He gave me some different ideas about what the Middle Ages were actually like,” remarked Katherine Stevick ’19, who took his Western Civ. course. Stevick is now pursuing a degree in Political Science.

Airhart’s legacy, however, extends far beyond his role as a venerated professor. He was instrumental in creating Houghton Honors and Houghton College Buffalo – programs that most students now consider established and integral parts of the college’s identity. “He put together an honors track when nothing of the kind existed anywhere at any Christian college,” said Lipscomb. “The idea of bringing together a cohort of students for an intense formative experience….that was an utterly novel idea.” From this first honors ideas came others, and under Airhart’s expertise as Director of Honors – a role he filled from 1996 to 2008 – the program expanded and multiplied. According to Lipscomb, this not only enriched student experiences but enrollment, significantly bringing up percentages. “Cameron is a force,” he commented. “His energy to make connections, to set up arrangements, to think and think and think about the creative and unexpected ways and to see the thing get done is something to behold.”

This is particularly true of the Houghton Buffalo program, which is based on helping students overcome obstacles: language constraints, citizenship issues, day jobs. Although Airhart did not found the One Symphony Campus, according to Dr. Ron Oakerson, he was integral in its current success. “The program located there evolved into one that is almost entirely dedicated to the education of refugees,” he remarked. “It is largely [due to] his [Airhart’s] vision and energy.” Before his departure, Airhart also took steps to expand the Buffalo program into other areas of the city, including a campus for ex-convicts and another for the African American community on the East side.

The same vision and energy that allowed Airhart to creatively approach program building also served him well as a teacher. “He was a very good storyteller,” recalls Stevick. “He made history seem alive… I really liked just listening to him lecture.” Lipscomb agreed, saying “it is possible… hard to say, and possibly alums from long ago would correct me…but he is the best pure lecturer I have ever heard.” Although Airhart had not taught a class on Houghton’s main campus for over four years – devoting his time to Buffalo instead – his legacy as a speaker remains intact.

Today Airhart is using those skills to pursue his own projects and spend more time with his children and grandchildren. His position in Buffalo has been temporarily filled by Rev. Steve Strand, who will serve as an interim dean until a permanent replacement can be hired.

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Opinions

Op Eds and SNL: Why the Opinions Section Matters

My sophomore year of college, I discovered SNL.

I saw my first skit sitting cross-legged in a Lambein double, at the ripe old age of nineteen. Many die-hard fans will probably be shocked by this, but I grew up without YouTube and still don’t spend much time there (which is not to say I’m without vices. I just don’t count cat videos among them). Every once in a while, however, I indulge.  Especially when I’m upset about politics. Like eating mashed potatoes after a bad day, there is nothing that makes me feel better about our government than watching someone impersonate our government.

My junior year of college, I stopped watching SNL.

Not because it wasn’t funny anymore, or because the humor got too raunchy. I stopped watching SNL because one day I realized that it had – unconsciously – become a source of political information. It was an innocuous enough affair. My dad and I spend much of our time together arguing politics; we both love it. And one moment, in the heat of a fierce debate (which I was absolutely winning) he asked “where did you hear that?” The image of Leslie Jones floated through my mind, and I realized I had just used the premise of an SNL skit to back up a political position. I’m a journalist. It was a moment of deep shame.

My senior year of college, I’ve become the editor of an Opinions section.

SNL isn’t fact. It is based on facts, but it does not contain sources or quotes or peer review. It’s opinions. It’s humor. It’s people taking real life events and examining them, drawing inspiration from the world to make an audience think. Fundamentally, this is also what a good opinions piece does. Traditionally, Opinions Editors have started the year by talking about the purpose of this section. Why do we have an Opinions section? What does it do for us that the Features or the News section cannot? What – as a reader – do you need to know about the articles you will find here?

To start, I want to define an “opinions piece” or “op ed” (opinion editorial). It is a newspaper article that presents a subjective argument about a chosen topic. This is slightly different than an editorial, which presents a subjective argument about a chosen topic from the perspective of the newspaper. And it is very different than a News or Features piece, which does not present an argument at all but merely facts. So for example, say I wish to write an article about how Metz is now stocking papaya in the salad bar. If this article was a Feature or News story, I would only write about things that can be proven: what inspired our cafeteria to take this action, when the papaya might start appearing, if it will go to the left of the cantaloupe or the right, etc. If I were to write a straight editorial on this same issue, I would present the opinion of the STAR staff. Melissa, Kayla, Michael and I would have a vigorous debate about papayas v. pineapples, and create an argument that lines up with the pre-determined voice and character of the STAR. I would then write this argument into an article and publish it anonymously, because it represents the opinion of the paper as a whole. If I were to write and op ed or opinions piece, however, I would write my own thoughts on the papaya issue (for the record, I endorse all exotic fruit options), and publish it under my name.

In the Houghton STAR, we do not have straight editorials. This is because the newspaper does not have a pre-determined voice or character to generate them. Rather, the STAR exists to represent students: their news and their opinions. Our constitution states “The mission of the Houghton Star is to preserve and promote the values of dialogue, transparency, and integrity that have characterized Houghton College since its inception. This will be done by serving as a medium for the expression of student thought.” The STAR fulfills this mission through editorials – through publishing the opinions of students for students. There is no political party line or “Houghton propaganda” that characterizes this section. It is rather characterized by the people who chose to write for it.

So back to the question of what might be in an Opinions Section and why we need such a section at all. I cannot promise that everything you read here will be provable or objective. That’s not what an opinions article is designed to do. It will not contain the sort of information you can quote to your father in a political argument. What it will contain is perspectives – ways of looking at the world that will challenge and enrich your own. We need this. We need to hear the opinions of our fellow students, and we need to learn to both express our thoughts and respect those of others. This is not possible until we recognize the difference between Opinions and other sections, just as we must recognize the difference between an SNL skit and a press release. Only when we understand the both the limitations and unique strengths of the medium will we be able to fully take advantage of the humor, insight, and ideas that are shared within it.

Anna is a senior majoring in writing.

Categories
Opinions

For a Mystical Comeback

Approximately 1,983 years ago, Jesus died on a cross in Jerusalem.

If you’re a glass half-full sort of person, that’s roughly two thousand years. Two thousand years in which the church has existed, adapted, changed, made mistakes and reformed. Two thousand years of history, some of it beautiful, some of it shameful. Christians today carry this legacy with them. It is impossible to join the faith without possessing a connection to people throughout the centuries who have shared it and that connection is, at times, a hard weight to bear. None of us want to claim the crusades, the bombing of abortion clinics or the believers that cited and used biblical support to prop up slavery.

In the face of this weight, there is a temptation to dismiss the entirety of church history, or significant portions of it. Specifically Christendom, the period between the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (the first Christian ruler in Europe) and the Protestant Reformation, is ignored. While this mindset in understandable – Christendom introduced a marriage of power and faith that is hard to reconcile with a biblical Jesus – it is also problematic. To dismiss Christendom is to also dismiss important practices which could greatly help the modern church. Among these are the reverent writings of many mystics and thinkers of the medieval ages which display a regard and piety for God that is both beautiful and challenging.

“Oh, abyss of love!” wrote medieval mystic Catherine of Siena. “What heart can help breaking when it sees such dignity as you [God] descend to such lowliness as our humanity?” The words come from Siena’s work Dialogue, a book of her thoughts and prayers which fully focuses on God’s love and the unworthiness of the soul to receive that love. Her imagery throughout is startling. The love of God is like a deep rooted tree which cannot be unplanted; it is also like a mirror the soul can hold up to spot imperfections. After looking, the soul then puts down the mirror, and endeavors to resemble the reflection it saw within. When ready, it once again lifts the mirror and stares at itself anew.  To read the Dialogue is to be overwhelmed with the vastness of God – the abyss of love that one cannot help but fall head-first into.

In a similar way, the writings of Brother Lawrence, a monk in the seventeenth century are full of the same sense of perfect piety. “Adoring God in truth” he wrote “means that our hearts actually see God as infinitely perfect and worthy of our praise. What man…would not exert all his strength to show his respect and love of this great God?” To Lawrence, devotion was an internal communion with God, a whole attitude, a daily leap into submission without reservation. His advice is simple: love Christ completely, nothing more is needed, nothing less should be given. His own practice of this concept lead to a life full of total peace and joy which is documented in the book The Practice of the Presence of God.” Like Siena, Lawrence held an unshakable awe of God’s grace and his own unworthiness to receive it.

Why have we cut these readings out of our lives? Why are they often absent from our devotions and prayers? Surely if the church placed a higher emphasis on these writings, it would be easier to avoid the temptation to lop Christendom out of history. Although it’s not an easy thought, I wonder if there isn’t some similarity between why the church disregards the writings of Brother Lawrence and the 100 Year War: both are alien in our modern context. Like we struggle to accept the history of the church, blemishes and all, we struggle to understand this sense of perfect devotion that has, at least in my experience, become foreign to us. The fullness of their reverence seems impossible. The ease with which they achieve it even more so. There are good reasons for this – our lives are very different from Catherine’s – and yet the difference does not invalidate their wisdom. The piety of these saints can still present a challenge to us, even thousands of years later. We need not accept everything they say. But the mystics are not the crusades; their words are still valuable and their adoration of God admirable even as it is unfamiliar.

Anna is a junior majoring in English and writing.

Categories
Opinions

Dwelling on Discomfort

“May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you; may he bring you home rejoicing once again into these doors.” – Traditional Blessing

There were no doors where I was standing. Only scrubbed brush dotting the landscape and the distant lakes. Flowers grazed my knees; Mt. Hermon rose impressively to the west. And the barbed wire, running haphazardly by my feet, old, rusted, and still sharp. The physical features reflected the paradox: how could such horrible violence exist in such beauty?

There’s a mountain in northern Israel where you can stand and see the border of Syria. It’s a tourist magnet; at eight in the morning people milled around, drinking coffee from the gift shop and taking selfies with a bombed-out tank on the neighboring hill. After all, the border is unremarkable: only a dirt road in the distance. There’s no gunfire, no explosions, no bodies. Snapping a few photos of the line about covers it. Check it off the list, scratch it off the planner, make a Facebook post and you’re done. Back to first-world paradise.

I sound callous. It’s a defense mechanism, for I was simultaneously horrified by that reaction and tempted towards it. Standing, looking at that dirt road was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. What right did I have to be there? I’m an American. Eight days later I crammed myself into an airplane seat and returned to a home where I can go walking at midnight without qualm. To look at that brown line was to be aware of how much my life diverged from people living on the other side. There’s no reason for it to be so. I did nothing to deserve my birth.

Quite outside of myself, the violence of this place was enough to tempt me. I’ve never seen a dead body and there are millions twenty miles away. I could feel the lack of peace, as I could feel the sun beating down on my neck. What kind of a God allows such a thing to happen? What kind of a God selects some people (me) to escape it and others (a whole country) to bear it? I tried to pray, to reclaim some of the faith that had been so strong a half hour before. Nothing came out. I had nothing to say to God. So I just stood there, aghast.

Eventually, years of church training kicked in. With no words of my own, I used the church’s words. Over and over in my head. “May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you…” My mental voice choked every time I got to the last line. “May he bring you home rejoicing once again into these doors.” What doors? Heaven? I’ve prayed that prayer hundreds of times, over my friends, over my professors, over my church. This was my first time saying it alone, saying it over people I didn’t know, people whose lives will likely never intersect with mine. When it was time to go, I was glad.

Three months later the memory still makes me uncomfortable. I’ve come back to college seeking answers; I’m hardly the first Christian to face suffering. Ideas must exist somewhere in the annals of two thousand years of history that could help. And there were ideas, but not answers. No one concrete definition or ontological proof eased my mind. The strongest discovery was this: my discomfort is necessary. Not a state of constant unrest and anxiety, but a state of mind that recognizes suffering. A state of mind that doesn’t allow for ignorance, one that cannot walk away from my brothers and sisters across the border. There is no theological band-aid for this question. It needs to be felt and wrestled over.

Such an approach has flaws. Sitting in discomfort can lead to a passive faith, one that never acts. It can endorse a false dichotomy between the unease of the person sitting and the suffering that caused the sitting, as if those two things are equal. It can cause doubt and questioning of the faith. But for all that, I argue that discomfort is necessary. We cannot walk away from suffering or flee towards solutions without first feeling compassion. One of the  helpful theological perspective I stumbled upon is a vision of the church as God’s instrument of healing in the world. It is, in some ways, on us to prevent violence, to spread love, to give and gracefully receive mercy. This vision is impossible without a willingness to be uneasy.  To reflect “the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ” requires us to be uncomfortable.

Anna is a junior majoring in writing.

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Campus News

College Choir Kicks Off Spring Tour

At seven this morning, the College Choir departed for their week-long tour of the East Coast. Their path includes performances at nine different churches and several schools.

“The College Choir tours to re-connect with Houghton alumni, engage with prospective students, promote the college to those in communities we visit, and provide an opportunity for current choir members to perform at a high level in a variety of quality performance spaces,” stated Director Daniel Black.  According to Black, the choir has been touring for decades, continuing the long tradition of Houghton excellence that started when Wilfred Bain founded the College Choir in the 1930’s.

The tour this year is planning to make stops in a variety of states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. Per graduate assistant Alessio Tranchell, the first performance will be in North Wales, Pennsylvania at a Lutheran Church on Main Street and the week will finish out with a performance of the National Anthem at a Rochester Red Wings baseball game. Choir members will get to stay and watch the game afterwards. Of the places on the itinerary, Black was most excited about performing at the New Life Church in Maryland, the Aisquith Presbyterian Church which is the regular host of the Maryland State Boychoir, a nationally recognized group, and his own home church in Rochester. Choir members are perhaps most excited for stop the choir will be taking in New York City.

As the choir tour falls over holy week (ending the day before Easter), Black had no easy task selecting songs. “I started with pieces with which I had a personal connection” he said, “and that I thought the choir would like and sing well. As the list of pieces grew, the theme that emerged was that of gratitude for the many blessings God bestows on us.” Black’s song list is a little bit of everything, representing a range of styles. From Bach to Italian Madrigals to contemporary gospel pieces, few genres are missing. The set will end with the standard piece Give me Jesus, which is sung at the end of almost every college choir concert. Black’s theme of thankfulness splits itself into five different categories, sung sequentially throughout the program. “I identified a few categories of things for which I think we ought to be thankful,” he added, “and finished the program by finding pieces that fit into those categories.”

College choir members are looking forward to traveling together and performing. “I’ve never been on tour with the choir,” said member Gabrielle Sheely ‘19. “It sounds like a lot of fun. Members have been working on some of the pieces since the beginning of the year, and are excited to get to perform them.”

“It’s a great opportunity” added Gena Hartman ‘19, another member.

“What I love most about this process is that I have the privilege of bringing together students from many different backgrounds, majors, and walks of life, in order to build something beautiful that points the singers and our audiences to Christ,” stated Black. “I believe that part of our responsibility as Christians is to work to renew the world, to be the new Jerusalem here on earth, and that putting things of beauty, such as music, into the world, is part of fulfilling that responsibility.”

Dates and locations for the tour are available on the Houghton website.

 

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Campus Stories In Focus

Equestrian Center Hosts Conference

The Houghton Equestrian Center will host the Region 5 Certification Horsemanship Association (CHA) Conference from March 31 to April 1. The conference is a series of workshops designed to help riders from all over the area improve their skills from specialty instructors. Attendees can choose from ten different workshops to attend. All the workshops are scheduled for different times, so guests have the option of doing one or all.

The CHA is a group that offers distinction to schools and instructors who they deem meet specific equine standards. “Our facility is CHA certified, it meets a certain level of standard for teaching and facilities,” said Lauren Grifoni ‘19, an equestrian major. “Your facility doesn’t have to be CHA certified,” added Andrea Crickard ‘17, another member of the program. According to Grifoni, not only is Houghton’s equestrian center one of the nicest in the area, it is also one of the only facilities certified by the CHA. The combination draws a lot of people from the area to events, like the conference, that the center holds.

Houghton’s association with the CHA does not stop at being CHA certified. According to Grifoni, Houghton’s equestrian program director, Jo-anne Young is also the CHA Region 5 Director. However, that connection does not automatically mean that Houghton would be selected to host the event. “It’s kind of cool, and kind of an honor that we were selected to host the event,” said Grifoni. “We’re small, tiny little Houghton, and we’re getting to host the regional conference. It’s a big deal.”

Small as Houghton College may be, this honor is not out of the ordinary for the Equestrian Program. They were named one of “20 most amazing college Equestrian Centers” by Best Value School earlier in March, and recently received a large anonymous donation that will enable them to expand their indoor riding arena.

The workshops offered as part of the conference all focus on teaching, rather than on riding specifically. “Workshops aim at helping instructors improve teaching techniques and develop and educated eye,” the registration form reads. The sessions focus on things like “the power of self evaluation,” “teaching sidepassing,” and “teaching skills vs. Traffic Control.” According to Grifoni, out the of the ten workshops offered, there is something for everyone. Each individual workshop is ten dollars, one full day of five workshops is fifty dollars, and all workshops together cost seventy-five dollars. Workshops are taught by qualified instructors, and lunch is included in the price of a full day.

Although the conference is open to anyone who might wish to participate, according to Larissa Strappello, the coordinator of the event, it is especially beneficial to those interested in CHA certification. She said, “The conference  is one way riding instructors who are certified through CHA can obtain continuing education hours towards the twenty-five hours they must have every three years to maintain their status as CHA certified instructors.” Strapello added the event is “a great day of learning and connecting with other equine enthusiasts.” Grifoni echoed the sentiment, saying she was looking forward to the event.

Categories
News

SASF To Serve In Louisiana

Over February break, the Salvation Army Student Fellowship will head to Louisiana on a missions trip. This year the trip will focus on cleanup from the flood that happened in August of 2016.

The Salvation Army Student Fellowship, according to student member Ruthanna Wantz ‘17, has been in existence since at least 2002. The group is a SGA recognized club, and primarily uses its funding to transport interested students to church every week. The group also does a number of events during the school year. Wantz stated their most popular event is the Salvation Army thrift store that takes place in the basement of the Campus Center each semester, but the group puts on other events, including an annual missions trip.

“The missions trip is something we’ve been doing every year” Wantz said. “We’ve had a chance to go to a variety of places.” In the past few years, the missions trip has been involved in cleanup from Hurricane Sandy, helped at an Adult Rehabilitation Center in Buffalo, and assisted a community outreach center in Camden, New Jersey. According to another group member, Emily Wing ‘17, most of the trips are connected to a local chapter, or as the Salvation Army calls them, a Corps.

This year the group will be traveling to Louisiana. “This year is going to be different from previous years,” stated Wing. Not only is the group traveling a further distance than the past few years, their focus is going to have a stronger emphasis on service projects. “Most of their building are damaged, and there’s still a lot to do down there,” she said. Wantz added the area is “still dealing with damage to property from the disaster this summer.” Wantz continued, “We’re going to help repair and make building and properties more usable. They’re already told us that the roof is completely caved in on one of our projects. We’re going to be helping put a new roof on.” The group will also be assisting a women and children’s group. Wing stated,  “they want to hear our testimonies…which should be cool and interesting.”

One of the main goals of the trip, according to Wantz, is to allow students an opportunity to see the work their denomination is doing in other places. “It gives people a taste of what the Salvation Army is doing around the country and by extension around the world,” she said.

This goal and the outreach the group is planning to accomplish meshes nicely with Houghton’s vision of producing servant scholars who can lead and labor in the world. “I learned [at Houghton] to listen and care,” stated Heather Phillips ‘18, another member of the group. “That is going to be helpful to me.” Wing agreed and stated,  “Houghton is a good place to prep yourself spiritually and mentally… it can be hard…but I think Houghton definitely gives you the tools to minister to people.” The group is planning to leave Houghton Friday afternoon and arrive in Louisiana on Sunday, giving them the week of break in the area.

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Campus Stories In Focus

Singing Their Way Down South

Over the course of next week, the Houghton Singers, Houghton’s acapella group, will leave on a tour which will cover Florida and make additional stops in Virginia and North Carolina. The tour is part of a joint effort with the Advancement Office to publicize Houghton in Florida.

According to Kelly Van Kirk, the group’s director, the idea of a week-long Florida tour came from alumni and community engagement director, Phyllis Gaerte, who first envisioned a partnership between the Singers and Advancement. “It was the perfect storm,” Van Kirk recalled. “It’s not only a great thing for the members of the group [to go on tour], but a chance to connect with our denomination and alumni and to do some recruitment.”

While the Houghton Singers typically do a shorter, more local tour in the spring semester, the tour in Florida will break from previous years in several ways. The Singers are only doing four church concerts, instead playing the majority of their performances at retirement homes and schools. They have also expanded their repertoire to include more than acapella pop which Van Kirk called the group’s “bread and butter.” They will now include a few older jazz standards, a gospel piece or two, and even a Beatles song.

The Houghton Singers were created four years ago by Kevin Dibble during what Van Kirk termed “the post Pitch Perfect phase.” The group is highly selective, with a limited number of slots each year filled by an intensive audition process. Ellenore Tarr ‘18, an alto in the group stated, “I love working with this small, intimate ensemble. We’re more than a singing group. We’re a family of believers, and we get to use our gifts to create something beautiful.” Several members of the group expressed their excitement at the opportunity for a longer tour. “I’m excited to get to go off campus with people in a situation that’s less stressful – no homework or assignments,” said Hannah Jager ‘18, another group member. “We get to just perform, we don’t even have to rehearse every day.”

Additionally, the Singers will experience the Florida weather, and make time in their packed itinerary to visit St. Augustine and Tampa, and hopefully the ocean. “We’re excited to enjoy the weather, enjoy the sunshine,” Van Kirk said. “In a busy tour, this is all the break we’re going to get.” The singers are also looking forward to their role in the advancement process. Jager, a music education major, specifically mentioned the group’s school visits. She also referenced the group’s church ministry, and stated, “We get to lead worship one Sunday, so I’m pretty excited for that.”

To cut down on the cost of a tour bus, the group will be driving themselves, doing the trip down south over two days and the trip home in one. Van Kirk referred to the process as “an adventure.” Despite the long hours on the road, the group is in high spirits. “I’m excited to make personal connections in the places where we travel,” said Tarr.  “It will be special to create real memories out of the itinerary that we’ve only seen on paper so far. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be looking back on experiences instead of talking about expectations.”

 

Categories
Opinions

What Do We Do With Politics?

“So was there, like, a huge breakdown at your college after the election?” Of all the potential questions I was prepared to answer about the election, this was never one I considered. Who I voted for, yes. Why I voted for them, yes. If my college was a sobbing, quivering mess on November 9? Not so much. Yet it’s a question I find myself having to answer. To grandparents. To aunt and uncles. To family friends. To the sweet gentlemen who administered my road test on Wednesday, as I was trying to parallel park. (I passed, in case you were wondering.)

My gripe with the question, besides my own inability to answer it, is that I think it’s the wrong question. Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not trying to minimize the legitimate reactions of celebration and grief felt by Americans after the election. Those reactions were important, but as we move farther and farther away from the election, our immediate responses to Donald Trump’s victory can’t continue to take precedence.  Of greater concern to me right now are the policies he’s announced since his victory, the splinter in our country, and the splinter in the church.

The last is particularly upsetting. No matter our political origins, I would like to think people of a loving and kind God could manage to show that same love and kindness, if not to the world around them, at least to each other. As a first time voter I can only hope the hatred and venom that parts of the church displayed during this election are not typical. Ultimately it is this behavior that I find concerning, far more than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. The sorts of questions I want to be asked are “did you listen to people who disagreed with you?” “Did you treat them with kindness?” It no longer matters who cried when and where.  I want to know how our splintered churches are going to be made whole again.

My conclusion thus far: we need to look to what holds us together. Democrats or Republicans, we can agree in a common love for humanity. We can agree that God has given us stewardship of this earth and we need to take that responsibility seriously. We can agree that it is our responsibility to stand with and for the vulnerable. Proverbs 31: 8-9 states “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” On these tenants, we can find common ground.

What, then, do we do with politics? This presidential election vividly displayed that common principles do not always result in a unified decision. So do we abandon the political arena altogether? I don’t think that’s the answer. The problem with presidential elections is that they fool us into thinking that they’re the pinnacle of political engagement. They’re not. They’re a piece of a much bigger system that affords its citizens all sorts of opportunities to stand up for their beliefs and put them into practice. The more we take our principles and use them to engage with post-election politics, the more we switch our focus from the things that divide us to the things that unite us.

These opportunities are not trite or irrelevant, especially on the lower levels of government. From a purely statistical standpoint, an individual has a much greater chance of changing decisions on a state or local level than on the federal level. It takes fifty percent of America to elect a president, but according to congressional staffers, it takes as few as fifteen Americans to sway a congressman’s vote. Fifteen!  It’s as easy as a phone call or an email. Five minutes out of a day to talk to a staffer or type a message. Five minutes! Houghton College, surely we can handle five minutes.

Even more, we can do it together. Every Thursday, a group of students run the “Do Something Table” by the steps of the cafeteria during lunch.  Their end goal: convince Tom Reed, the Congressional Representative of Houghton’s district to visit and in the meantime, sway his voting. Each week they prepare scripts for phone conversations and information about legislation that they feel needs to be opposed or supported. They alternate between advocating for the vulnerable with better immigration reform, and for the earth by supporting wise environmental policy. And they do it with one another, standing in unity instead of division.

As of November 8, I was deeply concerned about the presidential election. I voted. I discussed. I ranted and I researched. I watched a debate. But after November 9, my priorities changed. I’ve stopped worrying over who holds office.My interest now lies in how I can be an agent for change in this world. My interest now lies in how I can be part of the healing of the nation and involved in protecting the things I’m called to protect. What I offer you here is one solution. There are others. But if you, like me, are done with questions about crying and are ready to do something, it is one you might want to consider.