Category: Stories In Focus

Global Christian Fellowship (GCF) has big plans for this year, and they want everyone to be involved.

A fixture on Houghton’s campus for over fifty years, Global Christian Fellowship is committed to increasing global awareness, action, and prayer at Houghton. “GCF coordinates weekly prayer topics that focus on one campus issue and one global issue and that are prayed for by the campus community daily,” according to the description on Houghton’s website. They meet weekly to pray and fellowship together, while taking a look at global issues and events. Anne McConnell ‘19, President of GCF, said, “The role of GCF on campus is to connect our daily lives here to the global church and God’s global mission for the world.” Global Christian Fellowship is one of the longest lasting clubs at Houghton, being formerly called Foreign Mission Fellowship.

Julia Chamberlain ‘18, a leader for GCF, said, “We want to help students use their passions and discover where the Lord is calling them to go. When we meet it is really a time to reflect on how we can serve the Lord today and in the future.”

Other than their weekly meetings, GCF has invested in fundraisers for missionaries and relief organizations. Last year they hosted a pancake breakfast to raise money for One Day’s Wages, which fights to end extreme poverty. They also had a staff and faculty talent show that raised funds for scholarships to support Houghton students going on missions trips this past summer, and plan to have that show again in the later months of the spring semester.

For this fall, GCF has exciting events planned. On Saturday, October 22nd, they are putting on a Frisbee tournament to raise support for a global church planting organization, Alpha Ministries. Chamberlain also mentioned their plans for New Vision Week, which is from October 23rd to the 25th. She said, “We will be having a GCF Koin the Sunday before New Visions Week begins and will be selling artifacts that Papa Shea [Paul Shea] has received from Africa at a booth in the CC.” Chamberlain also added her excitement about New Vision Week, “There are so many awesome missions groups coming, and it will be encouraging to hear how the Lord is working through them in their impact through their ministry.”

About GCF, McConnell said, “It has been very important in my personal journey as a follower of Christ, as it reminds me of the many Christians around the world who are my family.” She added that GCF helps to remind her that many people in the world have never heard the name of Christ, and that she is encouraged to share the love of Christ wherever she is placed.

Madeline Chesbrough ‘18, who attends GCF, said that what she likes most about GCF is the atmosphere. “I actually have just recently started attending this semester and I instantly felt right at home,” she said. Chesbrough also added, “GCF opens your eyes to the world outside of our little Houghton campus.  It inspires people who are looking into missions, or who have a heart for the world.”

GCF meets on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9 pm in the Alumni Dining Room.

The Chapel Deacon Program was originated by John Brittain, Dean Jordan’s predecessor, and continues to flourish many years later. This year, the chapel deacons are Daniel Hodge ‘18, Silas Philbrick ’19, Alanna Paris ’18, Miranda Hayes ’19, James McLean ’19, and Joshua Emel ’21.

Miranda Hayes ’19 applied for the chapel deacon position after being prompted by Houghton representatives from Campus Target, a missions organization based in Lima, New York. “I applied for this position because it was something that God had laid on my heart in the middle of my sophomore year,” she said. “After pushing it aside for a whole semester, pretending that I couldn’t hear the clear calling that he had put on my heart, I finally applied after speaking with a couple of Houghton representatives from Campus Target. They encouraged me and helped me to better understand that God will use my feelings of inadequacy through this experience. I’ve always had a passion for loving people, so the idea of being in a position that could open doors for me to invest in others sounded intriguing to me.”

For Silas Philbrick ’19, the position was attractive because he felt it would enable him to both grow and be challenged in his faith. “It’s also a good opportunity to meet with the other deacons during our small group time to talk and pray about things going on on campus,” he said. “I am hoping this position will help me to be more bold in my faith. I’m excited to be able to lead a campus-wide spiritual life project that will, with God’s guidance, impact many people.”

Throughout the semester, the chapel deacons are required to coordinate and execute a spiritual life project on campus. In the past, students have planned worship services, fundraisers, coffeehouses, Bible and book studies, dorm events, and more.

After spending a semester in Costa Rica, Alanna Paris ’18 discovered a new interest in how other cultures perceive Christianity. “This semester, I would love to have some of the international students on campus host a coffeehouse or in some way speak up about how they perceived Christianity up to coming to Houghton, and what made them want to interact with Christianity here.” Paris is passionate about unpacking “the real story of Christianity abroad, not the one we’re fed.”

Joshua Emel ’21 would like to see the community “come together” and encourage one another in Christ. Daniel Hodge ’18 is interested “systemically” in “helping people become aware” of “the internal and external forces that can destroy us, or bring us together.” “I would like to see people step out of their comfort zones, and to have the strength to do that,” he said.

Dean Jordan centers the program on mentorship, inviting the deacons to meet with him once a week for a one-on-one conversation. “John Brittain more often had students plan actual chapel programming, whereas I do a bit more of a mentoring focus,” Jordan said. “Rather than help to plan chapel, I like giving students a chance to think a bit more widely about campus spiritual life and plan some sort of program that helps spiritual life on campus.”

Hayes holds her deacon position as both a privilege and a responsibility. “As my own faith growth is an important goal for my position as chapel deacon, so is the faith of other Houghton students,” she said. “I would really like to use this experience to see others challenge themselves in their faith as well by working together to be involved in the spiritual life on campus.”

Philbrick hopes this semester is one of dedication and commitment for the chapel deacons. “I am hoping that this year’s chapel deacons can be prayer warriors for Houghton College,” he said. “I hope that every time we meet we can discuss the events that are happening on campus and pray for those that are hurting as well as the overall wellness of our campus, our community, and our nation. I would like to see that when events that threaten to cause division within our community, be resolved through the grace and peace of Christ.”

Homecoming has always  been a time of celebration when current students, family, and alumni gather to commemorate Houghton’s influence on their lives.

Today, Houghton alumni are dispersed all over the world, pursuing excellence for the glory of God in their respective disciplines. Two recent Houghton alumni, Sophia Ross ’17 and Olivia Graziano ‘16, have moved on to utilize their degrees in a unique, professional setting and impact many. Ross currently works as the Marketing Associate at Image Journal, a literary quarterly in Seattle, Washington. Graziano works as the Creative Director of Intermotion Media, “a group of creatives” that use video to tell “unforgettable stories.”

For Graziano, landing a job right after graduation was initially challenging. “I searched for about a year, applied to over forty jobs and got rejected by all of them,” she said. “By chance, Wesley Dean, another Houghton graduate, reached out to me and I ended up starting to do some contract work for him. He liked it so much that he wanted to bring me on full-time.”

As part of the interview process, Graziano traveled to Cambodia with the Intermotion Media team, partnering with World Hope International, an organization that works with “vulnerable and exploited communities to alleviate poverty, suffering and injustice.” “My experience alone in Cambodia really changed me as a person,” she recalled. “We were able to film the story of a woman that was a victim of severe domestic abuse. She is the first Cambodian woman to ever successfully file and win a domestic violence court case, resulting in her ex-husband’s imprisonment. World Hope is trying to create more awareness in global communities, so there’s a place women can go to seek help in cases like this.”

Graziano is passionate about filmmaking because it presents a unique opportunity to bring about cultural transformation. “The reason I got into video was because it’s a way that you can show others your point of view or tell them a story, and change how they think,” she said. “That’s what videos do—they have the power to change how people think.”

Currently, Graziano and her team are filming footage for Houghton’s IMPACT marketing campaign, which focuses on the impact that both current Houghton students and alumni are making around the world. Next month, the Intermotion Media team will travel to Kenya and Nigeria to partner with the United States Institute of Peace in making a video to “counter violent extremists and radicalization” and “promote rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists in East Africa.”

For Ross, her position as a full-time employee at the non-profit Image Journal enables her to fully pursue her passions. “Working at a literary journal means that I use both my majors (English Literature and Writing), which are also my passions, every day,” she said. “I get to continue learning from great writers, not only about my craft, but about the business aspects of publishing. I also get to read several pieces of great writing a day, and decide how to present them to our audience.” An average day includes “scheduling posts to social media and the blog, meeting with interns or the editor, curating content for the online newsletter and blog,” and also “proofreading manuscripts before they go to print,” all the while ending her day by “checking social media and interacting with the readers online.”

One of her favorite aspects of the job is how she is able to connect with the contributors to Image Journal. “I love that a big part of my job is engaging directly with writers and readers of the journal,” Ross said. “I manage Image’s website, blog, online newsletter, and social media accounts, which means that I’m constantly in touch with contributors, as well as readers who are engaging with posts.”

Ross was excited to learn more about how non-profit organizations function, and has directly experienced “just how vital every person is to the organization.” She has been challenged daily by the work environment, which has pushed her to stay constantly aware of how she uses her time.

For Ross, a Houghton education was excellent preparation for her position at Image Journal. “I can’t overemphasize how instrumental Houghton was in preparing me for this job. First of all, the professors I had at Houghton pushed me to pursue excellence in my writing and critical thinking, both of which are absolutely central to this position. I can’t thank them enough,” she said. “My roles as an RA and as an editor on the Star and the Lanthorn taught me how to prioritize my time, improved my communication skills, and gave me the tools I need to work in a professional environment.”

As part of their continuing commitment to scholastic excellence and research, four Houghton College faculty members have recently stepped into the publishing world: Brian Webb, Sunshine Sullivan, Jonathan Case, and Terence Paige.

Houghton’s Sustainability Coordinator, Brian Webb, published an article in August’s issue of the Journal of Geoscience Education. As part of his research process, Webb conducted research on the Houghton campus during February of 2015, distributing surveys to measure student attitudes before and after a lecture by evangelical Christian climate advocate Katharine Hayhoe. The general consensus of climate education is that it usually “polarizes” people toward one view or the other, and that very few people fall in the middle of the spectrum of beliefs about climate. However, the results of the pre- and post-lecture surveys revealed that several Houghton students adopted beliefs more sympathetic to climate concerns.  

This was Webb’s first major publication. In the future, he would like to do a follow-up study on campus “testing the variable of [Hayhoe’s] Christian identity to determine if that particular factor has an influence on the effectiveness of her communication.” Christians in general are much less likely to believe climate change is a serious concern, so Webb suspected that Hayhoe’s Christian background may have given her “extra credibility.”  

A paper written by Dr. Sunshine Sullivan, associate professor of Education and Chair of the Education Department, was also published in the fall edition of the International Christian Community for Teacher Education journal (ICCTE). She was prompted to write this article after attending ICCTE’s conference as a keynote speaker in 2016. She described the ICCTE conference as a chance for Christian teachers to come together and share research that they are doing, but also express how “faith supports us in that work.” While it is “very collaborative,” teachers “also try to challenge each other.” As a result, the ICCTE felt much like a “retreat” for Dr. Sullivan.

Following the conference, Dr. Sullivan was asked to “reconfigure [the] talk into [a] paper” so that it could be published in the ICCTE journal. “I was thinking about how God walks beside me,” commented Dr. Sullivan, reflecting on what had spurred her to write the article. While she felt that God affirmed her calling as a teacher, there were issues she was combating in the classroom and knew she needed to address. In her article, she sought to bridge the gaps that may exist among teachers, students, and faculty, describing this as the “in-between spaces” in “teacherly life.”

In May, New Testament professor Dr. Terence Paige published a book entitled 1 & 2 Thessalonians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. It was published as part of the New Beacon Bible Commentary series. A Houghton press release described Dr. Paige’s book as “a comprehensive work that offers verse-by-verse explanations of the two early Christian writings” and “helps to clarify Scripture’s meaning by guiding the reader through sociological, religious and cultural issues the original readers faced, in addition to the usual attention to literary and theological features that affect the interpretation of the texts.”

Webb and Sullivan both confirmed that the publication process “is consistent” across the board. First, one must write the article according to the journal’s length guidelines before submitting. Then, if accepted, the writer will add editorial comments based off the comments received from the journal’s editors. Lastly, the writer’s work is copyedited and published. The entire publishing process for journal articles typically takes a few months.

Despite the vulnerability inherent in publishing, Dr. Sullivan said that she “enjoys conversations that come from having work published.”  She is thankful that the criticism from peers and editors has allowed her to grow as a writer.

CAB’s regular Coffeehouses got off to an upbeat start last Thursday with the musical talents of Houghton’s faculty.

Over the past decade, coffeehouses have become a staple to gather students around visiting speakers, important issues on campus, or simply some good music. Interestingly, it was only at the end of last semester that CAB hosted its very first ever faculty coffeehouse, as announced on the event’s page. Connie Finney, Benjamin Lipscomb, and Marc Smithers returned to the Java stage Thursday, harmonizing to “You Are my Sunshine” and “Eight Days a Week.”

Professor Lipscomb also performed a spoken word version of”Dynamite” by Bruno Mars mashed up with a rendition of “Brown-Eyed Girl.” Memorably, he adjusted the lyrics to “blue” in honor of Professor Bruxvoort-Lipscomb.  

Students came to check out the latest and greatest hits performed by a few of Houghton’s talented faculty and staff, then relaxed in the second hour of the coffeehouse, which focused on hymns.  “Honestly, I loved the hymn singing, the second half,”  Bonnie Huegel ‘19 commented.  “The Beatles were very fun.”   

This year, CAB has persistently and intentionally chosen Houghton students and faculty to show their talents in music, with just as much vivacity as years past. Part of CAB’s set up is the sociable yet studious atmosphere of Java is kept during their Thursday night events. Gabi Sheeley, a fellow musician, expressed her thoughts after the coffeehouse, “It’s a place where students can either come and do homework or talk in conversation too- it’s just a good casual outlet.” The come-and-go entourage invited those who wanted to stay for 5 minutes or 2 hours to take a break from the day and enjoy the calming rhythms.

“I enjoy hearing the music, but it’s a different atmosphere from a concert,” agreed Bonnie.  “It’s a smaller, more intimate setting.  I generally see people I know there and get to listen with friends and acquaintances.”

“We have to put in so much energy to plan out what songs. There’s the pressure of having your fellow students enjoying the music with you,” shared Gabi. “So it’s great to know that we’re supporting each other’s talents and passions.” Just as encouraging as it is to an athlete, or a band member when a friend comes to a game or concert, so it is when showing up to CAB coffeehouses.  “I make it a point to go whenever I someone I know is performing,” said Bonnie.  “It’s a good break from studying.”

Frequently CAB selections are of singers with a guitar or band accompaniment, which share their picks on both familiar and unfamiliar songs of various genres. Each performer puts their own special twist on how they want to represent their song choices.  Upcoming coffeehouses scheduled for the semester include Gabi Sheeley and Gena Hartman, Mason Sebian, Andrew Hutton and Naomi Canaviri, and “Rotheehouse”, a coffeehouse to be performed by the RAs of Roth.

Tyger Doell ‘19, one of the RAs in question, is looking forward to the performance. “It’s a great opportunity for me and some of the other guys on the staff who aren’t super musically inclined to get a chance to shine on the stage,” he said. “I know, for me, it’s always been on my Houghton bucket list. I don’t know how to play the guitar or really any instruments, but with this coffeehouse, I can team up with some of my best friends and we can make music together.”

Summer break is a fantastic time to take advantage of volunteer and internship programs. Students are often encouraged to participate in these programs as a means of gaining experience in a field that they will potentially prepare to enter after graduation. Often times, skills and interests are enhanced during these summer experiences, preparing students for their fields of work.

Since Buffalo is the closest city to Houghton, many students took advantage of the broad range of internship opportunities available there. Ashley Carroll ‘17, a psychology major, explored an internship in Buffalo with P.A.T.H. (People Against Trafficking Humans). P.A.T.H. is a non-profit organization that provides services to any woman or child that is vulnerable, traumatized, or has been exploited by the human trafficking industry. Carroll participated in a variety of positions, such as leading spiritual development groups, shadowing a social worker, sitting in on support groups, and providing transportation for clients.

Carroll was fortunate to participate in an internship that solidified her career goals. “I got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of non-profit organizations,” she said, “and was able to explore my passion in regards to counseling and loving on human trafficking survivors and women who have experienced severe trauma in their lifetime. I seem to have discovered that I would love to be a school counselor!”

Tess Taggart ‘17, a biochemistry major, spent the summer in her hometown of Albany, NY, working as a Quality Control Analytical Chemistry Intern at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. She worked on optimizing the peptide mapping procedure in Regeneron’s quality control lab. Taggart had the opportunity to present her research to a member of the senior leadership team, as well as the whole department she worked for.

These internship programs allowed interns a large amount of freedom to put into practice the skills they have learned in college. Taggart was able to build complex experiments for the company she interned with. “My boss trusted me to carry out procedures and gave me great advice throughout the process,” she said. “I really felt like I was doing something important with the department.”

Ji-yeong “Jenny” Woo ‘17, a TESOL major, had the opportunity to complete a volunteer internship in Sendai, Japan. She assisted teachers with classroom programs and preparations, supported children with intellectual, physical, and behavioral difficulties with their academic studies, and spoke English in the classroom as well as on the playground to help students learn. “My favorite part of [my] internship was building a relationship with my students and teachers at school and seeing growth in their academic and spiritual areas,” Woo said.

Participating in cross-cultural internships such as Woo’s can be a challenge. When in a host culture, it’s easy to be misinterpreted and misunderstood. One of the biggest challenges Woo faced during her time in Japan was being Korean. During class one day, a student asked her where she was from. When she responded with Korea, the student initially responded negatively, due to the stereotypes some Japanese people have towards Koreans. Woo was able to use this tension with her student to talk about God’s love, which unites across differences and breaks cultural barriers.

The VOCA Office was created to assist students in finding Internships and volunteer programs that expose them to hands-on, authentic experiences in their own fields of interest. “VOCA does a great job of preparing you for interviews and helping to clean up your resume or CV,” Taggart said. “Going through that process is extremely important to landing a great summer job.” Whatever your major may be, there are opportunities out there to help you better understand your role in expanding the kingdom of God.

In the Spring of 2017, Ryan Yates began his term as Houghton’s Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Data Science.

Yates graduated from Wheaton College in 2003 with majors in computer science and mathematics. From there, he landed a job in the software industry, building computer aided design tools before further pursuing his academic career at the University of Rochester.

“My area of research is in systems; in particular, synchronization,” Yates said. “Synchronization is how you manage multiple computers on the same chip all working together, and making it work to either improve speed or increase the scale of the problems we solve. The other half of my research is in the Haskell programming language which is a functional programming language that is different from others in its commitment to a mathematical approach to things.”

Combining these two areas, much of Yates’ current work has focused on improving the performance of transactional memory, which involves a compositional approach to solving problems. “In the industry I was working for, we encountered concurrency problems in managing computers that involved thinking about the whole system at once,” he said. “Transactional memory allows you to think about the small parts independently.”

Dr. Brandon Hoffman, Department Chair of Physics, Computer Science, and Engineering highlighted the strengths Yates brings to the program. “He is interested in a wide variety of fields that involve computer science, which is really important for data science because you’re applying it to anything, and he’s interested in applying it to anything,” Hoffman stated. “When you present him with a new application, he’s good at seeing the connections and he enjoys it.”

Morgan Smith ’19, a student who has been under Yates’ tutelage for several years, echoed Hoffman’s statement. “Yates is interested not only in developing valuable tools, but also in using and sharing those tools intelligently and respectfully. Computer scientists tend to retreat into their discipline and look down on what they perceive as the non-technical laity, while Yates seeks to help people with different skill sets contribute to and benefit from the discipline by prioritizing the social dimensions of technology,” Smith said. “This focus will help Yates produce excellent technologists and make him an ideal educator for students from other disciplines encountering computer and data science in Houghton’s new liberal arts courses.”

Since Yates has always valued getting to know people in an intentional way, he has adopted an interactive lecturing style in the classroom. “If I don’t get to know my students, I won’t get to know what things are just beyond their ability, and what is way beyond their ability,” he said. “I want to push them just beyond their ability, so they are constantly on the edge of learning.”

This focus has not gone unnoticed by many of his students, including Smith. “Yates combines technical expertise and pedagogical skill with humility and active concern for students,” she reflected. “In particular, I value the way he pushes students to think critically about the material they’re learning, helping them to understand why something’s designed a certain way by imagining and evaluating multiple possibilities together.”

To Yates, learning is personal. “I want every person to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, and I want to give them an opportunity for learning,” he said. “I want everyone’s learning experience to reach everybody, and in that vein, I also want to demonstrate my own learning and demonstrate things that are just beyond the edge of my understanding, and engage with students in those things.”

So what does “success” mean in the computer science classroom? “Getting to know better the material, and not just the ideas,” Yates said, “but also the place of those ideas in a bigger picture of the world.” He values discovering how the ideas are important to humanity, and to the world. “Each class should broaden your world in an interesting way,” he said. “You haven’t been successful in the classroom if you aren’t making connections to things outside of it.”