Author: Josiah Wiedenheft

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News

Dr. Wayne D Lewis Jr. Announced as 6th President of Houghton College

Dr. Wayne D. Lewis will take over from President Mullen this fall as the 6th president of Houghton College. COURTESY OF AMY TETTA

On Wednesday, April 28, Dr. Wayne D. Lewis Jr. was announced as the 6th president of Houghton College. Following President Shirley Mullen’s announcement on October 20th of her resignation after 15 years in the position, the school has spent over half a year eagerly waiting to find out who would be the next individual to take up the role of school president.

So who is Dr. Lewis? Hailing from New Orleans, Lewis graduated from Loyola University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. However, his formation as a leader began even before college. In his first message to the student body, during Wednesday’s chapel, Dr. Lewis cited his time as a high school drum major as a key influence on him, saying this was his “most formative leadership experience, even at this point in my life… there’s nothing I believe that prepared me more.” Going on to receive a master’s degree in Urban Studies from the University of Akron in Ohio, Lewis then received a PhD in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from North Carolina State University, with a minor in Public Administration.

Dr. Lewis is certainly no stranger to the field of education, and though his experience in this area includes time dedicated to higher education, it is by no means limited to it. “I selected education as a career a long time ago now,” he said an introductory video released on the Houghton College YouTube channel, “because of my deep love for students… I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life and my career working to create opportunities for students.” This started, says Dr. Lewis, with his time working in K-12 education in Louisiana and North Carolina public schools, particularly focusing on special education. 

After Dr. Lewis finished his doctorate, he served at the University of Kentucky as a professor of Educational Leadership. He then moved on to serve in a public office, as the Executive Director of Education Policy and later the Commissioner of Education for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Before coming to Houghton, Dr Lewis’ most recent position was at Belmont University, as the inaugural Dean of the School of Education. Furthermore, he has authored one book, “The Politics of Parent Choice in Public Education: The Choice Movement in North Carolina and the United States,” and has published numerous other pieces on topics in education, included in both edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Lewis’ positions and writing outline the figure of an individual who is dedicated to improving education for all in practical ways, both through what he says and what he does.

In the introductory video, Dr. Lewis also emphasized the necessity of Christian liberal arts institutions in our current time and climate. “I have no doubt God uses places like Houghton College,” he says, “to prepare leaders for today and tomorrow, to deal with some of the most difficult, the most intractable problems our world has ever seen… to have a small role in what God is doing here at Houghton, is more than I could ever imagine.” ★

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Campus News

SGA to be Replaced With SEC

The new logo for the SEC, a variation of the familiar SGA symbol. Courtesy of AC Taylor

By Josiah Wiedenheft (’22)

On Wednesday, March 10, the Student Government Association passed a motion that confirmed the end of SGA as we currently know it, with something new to take its place: the SEC. Known fully as the “Student Experience Committee,” this organization aims to preserve the purpose of SGA, while refining its structure and clarifying its responsibilities. Director of Student Engagement AC Taylor explains this revised body as a group of students “[who] represent various student experiences and student groups and [do] so by representing student needs and concerns to the institution directly,” and in the words of the organization’s own constitution: “The Student Experience Council (SEC)… shall be charged with [representing] the student body to the college administration, faculty, and staff in order to promote student interests and ensure activities and services make the student experience at Houghton the best it can be.”

Why do away with SGA though? Why SEC instead? While AC mentioned that the changes have been considered for a few years, the final decision came from “a common feeling among many executive officers of not really knowing what they were supposed to do.” The changes focus around clearing this up. Even though “government” was in the name, SGA in recent years had not been serving any real governing role among the student body, at least not in the usual sense of the term. The name of “Student Experience Council,” on the other hand, is meant to clarify their function: to represent the experiences and needs of students to the school’s administration.

Most of the changes that have been made have the purpose of making more clear the “how?” and “why?” of the organization. While the number of roles in the executive council (renamed from executive cabinet as a part of the “de-govermentalizing” of these changes) has increased, adding specific representatives for athletics, residence life, student organizations and academics, the purpose and responsibilities of each of these positions has been made more clear. The focus, as suggested by the names, is very clearly on representation: the various positions each represent an aspect of student life and activity here on the campus, so that the concerns specific to that area can be heard and made known. AC states that the hope is that these more clearly defined roles “will increase their effectiveness in supporting the student body.”

One question that might be on student’s minds amidst all this is what will become of the class cabinets? Formerly, the class of each year had their own mini-executive cabinet, who generally represented that class in the SGA’s public meetings and who would also plan events for the other students of their year. Within the structure of the SEC, class cabinets have been done away with in name, though their purpose has been morphed to a different form. The role of representing the needs and concerns of a given academic year will now be taken on by four class representatives who will be a part of the executive council. These four positions have acquired additional responsibilities beyond merely representing their class, however: the senior class representative takes on a role similar to that formerly fulfilled by the SGA vice president, acting in the place of the president in their absence; the junior class representative fulfills a scribe roll, taking the minutes for SGA meetings; and the sophomore representative helps to organize the election of the first-year representative each year. The representatives of the first-year and senior classes also take part in coordinating traditions and events for first-years and graduation respectively.

The “class cabinets” will also continue to exist, though they too will be shaped slightly differently. Going forward they’ll take the form of dedicated clubs, which AC says will be able to “work to increase connections and comradery amongst classes while also still having a connection to the concerns/advocacy part [of the SEC’s function].”

While the decision was formalized last week by the current Executive and Class cabinets, SGA is still open to hearing student thoughts and feedback. You can make your voice heard by talking with your class cabinet representative or members of the Executive Cabinet, or by attending one of the weekly public SGA meetings. All students are also invited to get involved by running for a SEC position for next academic year! You can find out more information about that process in the all-campus email sent out last week. ★

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News

New Ortlip Gallery Exhibit Reunites Alumni to Share their Experience

Article by Elise Koelbl, with contributions from Josiah Wiedenheft

The Ortlip Gallery has had many interesting and unique creations from artists displayed in its hall before. This new exhibit is no exception. The Art Alumni Show: RECOLLECTIVE is an exhibit being shown from September 4th to October 3rd. This exhibit was organized by Houghton College graduate Joshua Duttweiler (‘15). 

RECOLLECTIVE is an exhibit built on experiencing familiar places with new perspectives. The artists involved are all Houghton graduates. Each one of them has some of their most recent art on display. Many of the artists have different talents and practices put into their work, ranging from photography to quilting, to painting and much more. These artists are breathing new life into the Ortlip Gallery as artists from over the years return to the campus that helped them develop such abilities. 

Joshua Duttweiler found himself inspired when he came to visit campus last spring, saying that it was his first in almost four years since graduating. When he arrived on campus to speak at the Fine Arts Seminar he was surprised when he realized that many current students had so much they wanted to learn from an experienced artist such as himself. 

“I was pleasantly surprised how much can happen in five years and how eager the students were to hear. It was this task of preparing a lecture about my journey that made me curious about where my fellow alumni were in theirs,” he says. It was moments such as this that made Duttweiler wonder if sharing knowledge and wisdom from beyond college experience would be beneficial to current students.

It was from this idea that RECOLLECTIVE was born. “I reached out to a variety of recent alumni artists that I knew had a current art/design practice,” explained Duttweiler, “I wanted to show a range of media as well as ideas about what life after Houghton can be.” He highlights that there isn’t really one overall message other than that “each of us takes our own path and we all have a lot to learn from each other.”

The artists that have their works on display are as listed: Merritt Becknell (‘15), Amy Coon (‘14), Joshua Duttweiler (‘15), Alex Hood (‘15), Natalie Moffitt (‘14), Hannah Jennings Murphy (‘13), Brady Robinson (‘15), Lindsey Seddon (‘13), and Laurissa Widrick (‘15). Each of these individuals provided not only artwork, but also short essays to the college and its students, collected together and available at the gallery. Both the artwork and the essays are also available online at the exhibition’s website www.recollective.site, which forms a “large component of the exhibition” due to the pandemic circumstances, allowing even those absent from campus a form of access.

Joshua Duttweiler had this to add: “This exhibition would not be possible without the support of Professor Alicia Taylor who gratefully allowed me to follow my initial curiosity last spring. Special thanks Professor Ryann Cooley for overseeing the final details and installation. And of course, thanks to the Art Department at Houghton College who have inspired our artistic endeavors past and present.” 

What are your thoughts on the RECOLLECTIVE exhibit? Impressed? Inspired? Comment below or get in touch with us via Instagram, Twitter, or email (editor@houghtonstar.com)!