Category: News

From April 16 through 18, Houghton will partner with international organization Take Back the Night to hold several events focused on raising awareness about sexual abuse and related issues.

Over the course of the three days, featured gatherings will include a chapel message from Kristina Lacelle-Peterson, a Take Bake The Night coffeehouse, discussion group, prayer meeting, and a panel about Christianity and sexuality. In addition to testimonies and spoken poetry that will be shared at the coffeehouse, the newest issue of the Lanthorn will debut and feature stories, contemplations, advocacies, and outcries related to this theme.

A group of student leaders, including Carina Martin ’18, Rachel Zimmerman ‘18, Emily Vandenbosch ‘18, and others, have been working diligently to make the event a success. With different skill sets, experiences, and church backgrounds, each student brings a unique perspective to the table.

This year’s theme for Take Back the night is raising awareness for “sexual and emotional abuse when it occurs within the context of the church,” Martin commented. She also noted that it is not intended to be a fund-raising event, but primarily centered on discussion and engagement, as “Everybody has to think about these issues and find ways to deal with this kind of stuff when it happens.” She explained that, “While you yourself might not have been affected by it, your congregation and your church have been affected—almost certainly.”

Zimmerman, editor of the Lanthorn, eagerly anticipated the sharing of poetry, music, and testimonies at the coffeehouse. She commented on her hopes for the evening, highlighting the fact that “poetry and creative writing are some of the most powerful ways to communicate.The power of individual stories and the ability to communicate an emotion—giving someone else access to that emotion—that  is really valuable.” 

On the meaning of the slogan “Take Back the Night,” Zimmerman elaborated that, “it has a lot to do with what it means to be a woman. The night is symbolic of fear, and this is sort of a way to reclaim the nighttime—reclaim something that everyone should be comfortable in and has been taken from a lot of people and replaced with fear.”

This event has the potential to open the eyes of many who find themself in the dark when it comes to issues related to sexual assault. Vandenbosch described the nature of the event as eye-opening, saying, “Take Back the Night was started to raise awareness of sexual assault and violence on college campuses. This year, we are addressing sex and the church, and both the implicit and explicit messages conveyed about their relationship.” She also mentioned that these events are structured to provide “unique, personal perspectives on how sermons, theologies, resources, and teachings of the Christian church have impacted various individuals’ views of themselves, others, God, sex and sexual assault.”

Take Back The Night highlights issues and shares perspectives that many students have possibly never encountered to help people find a better way to raise discussions about sexual assault and related topics. As Vandenbosch shared, “The purpose of Take Back the Night is to make the Houghton community aware of the underlying issues and causes related to sexual assault, violence and perversion.”

One major emphasis this year is the role of the Church in the context of sex and sexual assault.  “People often believe the church is a safe space when it comes to sexual assault, or even sex in general. They believe that is not where the problem lies,” Vandenbosch commented. This year’s leaders are making an effort to address this issue, and expect impactful events and discussions for all who attend.

Students looking for summer employment can look as close as Houghton, at least for a week in June, as the Scoop recently alerted students to the opportunity to be a summer camp counselor or to participate in a community garden internship.

Due to weather and current staff levels, however, the garden will not employ students this summer.  “Unfortunately, several factors outside our control have made it unrealistic to get the garden started in time for this year’s growing season, and we’ve decided to delay the garden until summer 2019,” explained Sustainability Coordinator Brian Webb. 

He did have good news for students interested in the opportunity, saying, “We definitely still plan to have a college garden—it’s just going to take us one more year than expected to make it happen.”  The extra time will also allow the garden to be ready as soon as the growing season starts next year.

The counselor position, according to Math Camp Coordinator Lily Morris ’19, is “open to whoever wants to make a difference in the life of a Buffalo student.”  The camp runs June 4-8.

“Since it is an educational camp, a lot of education majors participate,” commented Morris.  “However, it is really open to whoever, so each year we have a wide variety of people. Science Camp is separate, but runs the same week and sometimes that targets more biology and science majors rather than education.”  The campers are third graders for Math Camp and sixth grade for Science Camp.

When asked what she looked forward to getting out of the experience, Morris referenced the opportunity to gain leadership experience.  Her major motivation, however, was the chance to create “a positive difference in the lives of Buffalo students for a few days.

“They remember Math Camp forever and some of their home lives are very difficult, so having a safe and fun place to come is so worth it for everyone involved,” explained Morris. “It also highlights some of the aspects of college living. For them, this is only a dream that they have heard of other people doing. Through this, we are able to show them they can go anywhere they want to in life.”

Meals and training are both provided during the week.  Preparation for the week will begin on Monday, which is the day the counselors arrive, and continues into Tuesday.  Responsibilities of counselors include decorating Gillette lounge on Tuesday night in preparation for the campers’ arrival.  The theme for the year is pirates, so participants will help transfigure the space into a pirate ship.  Campers will arrive on Wednesday morning, and Wednesday and Thursday are packed with exciting activities for the kids.

Because it is a math-focused camp, activities will include math centers in addition to water balloon fights, baseball games, and generally spending time with the kids.  “For the daytime, there are normally four to five groups that I make up with the counselors,” said Morris.  “They are our ‘color teams.’ Each of these teams are assigned five or six kids that travel with them throughout the day.” 

Counselors will be assigned “bedtime buddies” for the evening.  “They live in the room next to you and you basically make sure they fall asleep, read them books if needed, wake them up in the morning, eat breakfast with them, etc.,” explained Morris.  “Each counselor is assigned two to four students- it’s normally two- for ‘bedtime buddies.’”

The camp will run until Friday.  Campers will head home Friday morning, but there will still be a bit more time for fun before they leave.  Morris explained, “We get t-shirts and the kids get to sign them at the end of the week—they go absolutely nuts!”  Around 4 p.m., after lunch and clean-up, counselors will be free to leave.

Those interested in becoming a counselor are encouraged to submit an application and make sure they have a valid red employment card.  Participants will fill out a time sheet together before the campers arrive Wednesday morning, and will earn $250 for the week.

Tomorrow night, March 24, at 8:00 p.m., Global Christian Fellowship (GCF) will host the annual Faculty and Staff Talent Show in the Center for the Arts Recital Hall. Tickets for the event cost $5 per person ($7 at the door), and baked goods homemade by community members will also be available for purchase.

The funds raised by the show will support Houghton students who are embarking on mission trips this summer. The event will showcase the impressive—and perhaps surprising—abilities of various faculty and staff from the college, including Dean Jordan, Meic Pearse, Ransom Poythress, Amanda Cox, Casey Conklin, Connie Finney, Jon Arensen, and Brandon Bate.

This year, biology professor Ransom Poythress will be performing an act with the intriguing title “Using Punctuation for Communicative Clarity.” He described the talent show as “a little like a mini SPOT, just with faculty and staff participants.” As the event approaches, Poythress hopes that “attendees will be able to enjoy themselves, learn a little more about the quirkier side of some of us, and that enough money will be raised to substantially fund some Houghton students’ mission trips.”

The 2018 Faculty and Staff Talent Show will also feature history professor Meic Pearse. For this show, Pearse will be exchanging his signature parody tales for different stories, which he describes as being “at least equally silly, made famous 60 years ago by the eccentric Gerard Hoffnung.” Pearse, who considers himself “born just naturally silly,” explained that his primary hope for the event is “that I get out alive. Followed by the vague notion that it will raise lots of money towards sending some of our students as far away as possible.”

The Faculty and Staff Talent Show is brought to campus by Houghton’s GCF organization. As described by the college website, GCF is an organization designed “to meet students where they are and be a place where they can be informed about global missions and worship with others.” As Ashley Carroll ’18, one of the talent show’s organizers, explained, “GCF is important because it gives students on campus the chance to hear what’s going on around the world.” She described this opportunity to hear about missions as a blessing made possible by the “retired missionaries and…many alumni who are out and about, serving the Lord, who come back and share their experiences.” GCF provides students and community members with the chance to listen to these missionaries every Wednesday from 8-9 p.m. in the Alumni Dining Room.

In addition to GCF’s weekly meetings, the group has traditionally hosted the Faculty and Staff Talent Show. The event’s performers volunteer to showcase their remarkable abilities, and past hits have included songs from Hamilton sung by Ransom and Lisbeth Poythress, Meic Pearse’s tales about Vaigly Methodistic College in Dagnabbit’s Snowhole, and the storytelling of Beth Phifer and Benjamin Lipscomb.

With a strong lineup of faculty and staff prepared to exhibit their humorous and hidden abilities, the GCF Faculty and Staff Talent Show promises to be a thoroughly entertaining evening in support of important causes. As Ashley Carroll observed, “This event is fun because it’s getting to see our professors in a new setting and seeing what special talents and unique gifts they have. It helps you gain a new perspective of a professor on campus and feel more connected with them.” All students and community members ready to view faculty and staff in this new light are encouraged to come out tomorrow and enjoy the show because, in Carroll’s words, “It’s super fun!”

The fall 2018 semester will begin with two fewer business faculty members, as professors Naomi Christensen and Pil Joon Kim plan to end their time at Houghton. Despite this loss, their colleagues expressed confidence that the department will maintain a strong program.

“We will always be grateful to both professors Christensen and Kim for the three years they each invested in our students,”commented professor of business Ken Bates.  “Already we have high-performing alumni working both in accounting and in finance who are reaping dividends from exposure to these two Houghton faculty.”

While no new business professors have as yet been announced for next year, Bates offered assurance that Houghton would continue to offer a high-quality business education, saying, “Our commitment is high to fill their shoes with quality replacements that will continue the unusually strong heritage of Houghton’s business program.”

Business students expressed more concerns for the future of the program.  Tyler Stetson ‘20 commented,  “With the continual increase in regulation, companies are looking for people with excellent financial and accounting abilities. If Houghton isn’t prepared to provide top-notch instruction in those areas, it is headed for trouble.”

The knowledge and experience Kim brought to his teaching career allowed many students a more advanced business education than would typically be available to their peers.  Bates commented, “Our upper level finance students were stretched beyond what anyone would normally expect in an undergraduate business program by exposure to Dr. Kim’s expertise and his proprietary technical investing analysis methodologies.”

“I’m deeply disappointed about Professor Kim leaving,” said Stetson.  “He is an excellent professor that takes a personal interest in the academic and professional success of his students. He is also never afraid to push the bounds and encourage students to think well outside the normal undergraduate finance curriculum.”

Kim has served as a professor of business administration and was previously department chair.  His background includes numerous degrees from Soongsil University (South Korea) and the Illinois Institute of Technology.  His published research covers several crucial topics in the business field, including stocks and on market overreaction.

Christensen also brought her own interests and experience to her time teaching in the Houghton business department.  A Houghton alumna, Christensen currently serves as an instructor of accounting.  In her faculty biography, she described her teaching as a practical approach to accounting.  “Accounting is best learned by doing, so I incorporate multiple opportunities for students to try what we are learning for themselves,” she wrote.

Christensen taught several levels and varieties of accounting courses, as well as classes covering auditing and tax practicum.  “To make the subject matter come alive, I weave in examples of how students might see this applying in the world around them and their future careers,” she said. Her knowledge in those fields comes largely from her practical experience working with a variety of not-for-profit organizations.

Bates said of his colleague, “Professor Christensen strengthened our program with her practical experience at a public accounting firm and at a not-for-profit environment before coming back to Houghton.” He continued, referencing her certification as a public accountant, saying the department, “benefited from her professional credentials in managing our accounting major.”

“As for Professor Christensen leaving, I never had her in a class but hope Houghton finds another full time accounting professor soon,” commented Stetson.  “If they don’t, then they are not truly concerned about two of the school’s most popular and important majors, business and accounting.”

Along with an appreciation for the work of Kim and Christensen, their business colleagues expressed some sadness at the reality of their departure.  “As people, change is one of the hardest realities we face, but it is also one of the most constant,” added associate professor of Communication and Business Daniel Minchen.  “Our faculty is strong and we will adjust to the recent developments at the same time that we say a sad ‘So Long’ to dear colleagues.”