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Annual Student Juried Art Exhibition Opens Saturday

This Saturday, March 22, marks the opening of the 25th annual Student Juried Art Exhibition. Submissions were accepted from all Houghton students, provided that the works submitted had been completed within the last year. It will feature a wide variety of artwork including ceramics, printmaking, drawing, book art, and other forms of media, totaling nearly eighty pieces. The expansive selection of work makes it ideal as a sampling of what the art community at Houghton has to offer. “It’s a show we look forward to every year, both for the celebration of creativity among our student body and the recognition of the visual art, design and media programs,” said Jillian Sokso, chair for the department of art and director of the Ortlip Gallery.

Student_JuriedEach student can submit up to five pieces for the show, though only three are placed in the exhibition. This year, all submissions were subject to a jury process by artist Ian McMahon. McMahon is the co-founder and co-director of The Belfry, an artist-run exhibition venue located in Hornell, and his work in sculpture has been shown both nationally and internationally. Many Houghton art majors are already familiar with him and his work, having spoken previously during a Fine Arts Seminar and given critiques.

Amanda Irwin, assistant to the gallery and a junior Art and English double major, says that the great majority of work to be done leading up to the opening had concerned dismantling the previous gallery exhibition. In contrast with a visiting artist who would have specific parameters on how their work was to be displayed, this show requires a certain amount of responsibility and organizational skills from the gallery assistants and Sokso. “Jillian will go and look at all of our pieces and arrange them… and us as the gallery assistants go and hang everything and do the technical aspect of it. Later on we also do lighting ourselves.” Irwin assists alongside Alex Hood, Jordan Smith, and Lydia Wilson.

A number of awards will be designated during the event, also determined by McMahon. These awards include those such as the Ben Moss Award (3rd Place), the Alumni Award (2nd Place), and the Paul Maxwell Memorial Award (1st Place), along with the Ortlip Award for Best in Show, with cash prizes for each. Additionally, there will be a personal selection bid for two pieces of artwork by the College President and the First Gentleman, respectively.

The student show provides an opportunity for the college to acquire Houghton student artwork to display on campus. “We usually have a large turnout for this show,” says Irwin, “just because it’s student work, so it’s really fun to see if you got in and what they got or if your friends did, that sort of thing.”  Jillian Sokso also comments on the contemporary nature of many of the pieces. “The Student Juried Exhibition is an exciting showcase of what is happening in the visual arts,” she says. The entire exhibition will be available for viewing in the gallery until April 18th.

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HELP Day Gears Students Up for Future

This past Wednesday marked a continuation of the college’s yearly Houghton Life and Evaluation Planning (HELP) Day. The event, which spans the morning and most of the afternoon of a chosen Wednesday in the spring semester, cancels classes so that students may meet with their advisors to plan out their majors as well as attend various sessions throughout the day concerning topics such as career planning, graduate schools, and loan repayment.

Help_Day_WebPlanning for HELP Day began on the second Monday of this spring semester. A committee comprised of Sharon Mulligan, Marge Avery, Helena Oden, Greg Bish, Marc Smithers, Dan Noyes, Brian Reitnour, and committee chairman Mark Hunter met on a weekly basis to decide on what sessions and other services would be provided for students that day. Certain sessions geared towards underclassmen and upperclassmen, with a Grad Central Station set up for seniors to prepare for graduation and post-graduation plans. Dani Johnson of Career Services, who ran a booth at the station, explained that the purpose is to “give seniors a last chance to talk about job searching and graduate school and let them know we’re here to help.”

One of the new aspects of this year’s HELP Day, according to Hunter and Bish, was the morning sessions given to students in the dorms and townhouses, with each speaker unique to each residence hall. Speakers included Rick Melson, Vice President for Advancement; Eric Currie, Vice President for Enrollment; David Smith, Vice President for Finance, Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, and President Shirley Mullen. “We wanted to start off in the residence halls and give the vice presidents and the president a chance to interact with students on their own turf,” explained Bish.

Also new to this year’s activities were some of the sessions offered to students. “We added a few new sessions this year, one about loan forgiveness,” said Hunter. The college brought in Houghton alum Bruce Campbell ’81, currently Director of Graduate Admissions at St. Bonaventure University, to speak on Houghton’s loan forgiveness program and applying to graduate school. According to Hunter, the loan forgiveness session “was probably the most well-attended session. Our next best-attended session was preparing for graduate school, and then ‘Navigating Personal Finance.’”

Also added this year was a session on Gallup’s StrengthsFinder, which was made available to students through the career services office. “I think that’s an underlying big thing we brought this year–each person knowing their own strengths, getting to see others’ better … how together we form the body of Christ and are unique in what we bring to the table,” said Bish.

However, HELP Day isn’t solely a day for students. Faculty too attend sessions dealing with topics of professional improvement. Past HELP Days typically planned one session for faculty. However, this year, three were made available, one for a general faculty audience, one for department heads, and another for faculty in the process of writing for grants.

Hunter’s gauge of student response was positive. “We actually had greater attendance of our afternoon sessions this year than last year,” he said. As for planning for next year, he said that “we always welcome student input about how to improve HELP Day. We want it to be a thing that really is valuable for students when they think about the future, whether it’s next fall’s classes or a career or graduate school.”

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Meilaender Awarded Research Fellowship at Biola University

For Peter Meilaender, professor of political science, the opportunity to embark on a research fellowship next spring at Biola University is a “chance to sit down, free of distractions” to work on a subject that has piqued his interest for almost a decade.

After applying last October, Meilaender was awarded a research fellowship at the Center for Christian Thought (CCT) at Biola University, a Christian, California-based school. According to its website, the CCT awards a number of research fellowships, with all research “[focusing] on a theme of contemporary relevance and importance, which has bearing on both academic and popular issues.” The theme of 2014-2015 at CCT is “Intellectual Virtue and Civil Discourse.”

MeilaenderSpecifically, Meilaender will be embarking on a study of loyalty, a virtue that he described as involving a moral tension “between our duties toward particular persons with whom we stand in special relationships and our universal obligations toward all human beings.” In relation to the theme of the CCT, Meilaender hopes that “by defending a virtue that involves commitment to others without requiring ideological agreement, I … hope to strengthen an ideal of civility in our public discourse.”

Meilaender became interested in the subject of loyalty through his work on immigration in a book published ten years ago (and currently available in the Houghton library entitled Toward a Theory of Immigration.) During that study, he was interested in using loyalty as a “positive case for special preference to fellow citizens” in the broader immigration debate which, by contrast, according to Meilaender, currently favors open-border policies. Since his introduction to loyalty through that study, Meilaender has explored the topic in greater detail and even offers a course entitled “Loyalty” through the political science department.

Though his planned research on loyalty next spring is not an official sequel to Toward a Theory of Immigration, Meilaender feels that “intellectually, this is a sequel to the immigration book.” He also expressed his hope that the “three or four conference papers” that he completes during the fellowship might result in four book chapters for a book on loyalty.

Because the fellowship will take him away from campus, and consequently decrease the political science department by half, Meilaender will be teaching a full load of courses next fall, which include “In Search of Justice,” “Introduction to Political Thought,” and “International Law and Organization” in addition to supervising the political science senior seminar.

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Student Schedule Changes Approved for Next Fall Semester

After several semesters of tentative planning and re-planning, a new schedule was approved for next fall semester. The new schedule, which moves chapel start time from 11:30 am to 11:05 am, is hoped to provide students with more time to eat lunch before afternoon classes. It also sets the earliest class time at 7:55 am instead of 7:45 am and eliminates five-minute breaks between classes, making sure most students have ten minutes to get from one class to another.

Luckey_2Reasons for changing 7:45 start times to 7:55 were complaints about its earliness, while five minute intervals between classes were found to be insufficient for students, especially those walking from one end of campus to the other and those with physical ailments. According to Marge Avery, Director of Academic Records, “There was a proposal to do that to try to squeeze more time slots for classes in and still get things done in the time they thought it could get done in. Enough people said that doesn’t work very well because not all the other classes get out on time.”

The final schedule had to pass through multiple organizations on campus before reaching a general consensus required for final approval. Student government, Academic Council, faculty, Student Life, Sodexo, Dr. Jordan, the admissions office, the dean’s office, and the athletics department all provided input and approved of the final product.

“I know a number of people liked having chapel back at 11:00,” said Avery. “I think that will help. I think this will help with science labs and … one of the main things is that it gives students more time to eat lunch.”

 

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Baseball Teams Heads to Florida for Championship

This past spring break provided time for the Houghton Men’s Baseball team to embark on the 26-hour drive from campus to Florida to participate in The RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.  The week-long trip was an opportunity for the team to build relationships between each other and test their skills on the field.  Ten games were scheduled; however one junior varsity game was rained out. A total of eight varsity games were played as well as one junior varsity game for freshman and sophomores.

Up to this point the baseball team had only participated in scrimmages.  The tournament consisted of mostly northern college baseball teams and was intended to provide extra playing time for an otherwise short season.  It also gives players the chance to encounter scenarios that do not surface while practicing indoors.

Having participated in the tournament two years previously, with a beginning record of 1-7, the team is excited about this year’s record of 4-4.

rp_primary_IMG_5194Pitcher and DH Seth Cornell, a junior, remarks on the team saying, “We have improved every year and it’s nice to see that we compete.”

Coach Brian Reitnour says, “The team was competitive in all the games and this gives us a look at the big picture in order to move in the right direction for the upcoming season.” Reitnour points to the two home runs and two triples by freshman Tommy Walker as just one example of the type of playing exhibited by Houghton during the tournament.

The trip involved many activities for the baseball team besides the tournament itself.  Just one example was the parents’ cookout that was held for family that travelled to see the team compete. Additionally, the team held a worship service for a time of praise and testimony, spotlighting players such as Mike Kerr and Kevin Cassar in which teammates were able to see each other in a more vulnerable light.  They were also able to spend time bonding during a Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins game where two home run balls were caught.

For freshman Joe Gilligan, the trip gave him just a small look at the camaraderie shared between the players.  Gilligan says, “I thank my teammates for making this such a great experience.”

This season’s team consists of 12 returning players, 17 new players, and no seniors.  Being such a young team means that they are “not experienced yet at such a level, but have a lot of promise,” says Reitnour.

Watching the players grow into new roles on the team, especially those who have been on the team since its start three years ago, has been exciting for Coach Reitnour.  He says, “the guys teach each other academically, socially, and athletically.”

With such a team, Reitnour added that, “they play for something more than themselves, making it more meaningful individually and collectively.”

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National Sacred Honor Choir Performs at Carnegie Hall

As students returned back from break last weekend, one group of students did not look rested, though perhaps some of them looked rejuvenated.  College Choir spent this past spring break riding in a tour bus and performing in churches from Pennsylvania to Virginia and back.  From gospel music flash-mobs in King of Prussia Mall to Carnegie Hall, the College Choir generally was described as a rewarding experience by participants.

“Overall I felt that this tour was one where the choir connected the most with both each other and the music,” said senior Heather Todd, afterward, this being her third tour with College Choir.  “Our group devotional times became incredibly personal and through sharing of our connections to the text it brought us closer as a group.”  The sense of community by working and sharing together was not limited to music and spiritual growth, however.

Courtesy of media.npr.org
Courtesy of media.npr.org

According to graduate assistant Kelly Van Kirk, “Choir members stepped up, above and way beyond the call of duty all throughout tour.”  One particular situation arose in Philadelphia, PA where the choir was singing at 10th Presbyterian Church.  After some an afternoon of free time in the city, the choir went to the church to unload the trailer with equipment and risers and rest.  “Dr. Johnson had mentioned a mandatory nap time and we were super excited!”  said Todd.  But the van with the trailer broke down a mile from the church, stranded with all of the equipment.  Van Kirk described the experience, “I had to ask people who were short on sleep, had been wandering the city and were expecting a time of rest to skip that rest and carry hundreds of pounds of robes and risers a mile to the church.  I felt terrible, but right away a group jumped up and said, ‘We’ll go.’ I was shocked.”  A member of the group added, “A couple people would trade off every couple of blocks and we managed to get everything back in time for the concert.”  “No one complained for the rest of tour,” said Todd. “We met the worst it could be and we got through it together!”

The climax of the tour was the performance on Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall strengthened by the National Sacred Honor Choir.  There were rehearsals for several days before the performance with the group of Christian college students, community members, and students at private Christian schools from the greater New York City area.  Beyond the weekend of preparation and fellowship, the performance itself was agreed to be a memorable experience.  “The hall was amazing!” said graduate student Elizabeth Martindale.  “You could say something, hear it bounce off the wall behind you, go out over the audience and come back from the balconies.”  Despite being a Sunday afternoon, the hall was fairly full, according to Van Kirk.  “I was worried because of the time and day, but there were almost 2,000 people in the audience.”  … “I received really meaningful comments, from the high school students especially,” said Van Kirk who was in charge of most of the New York weekend.  “I think we accomplished our goal of showing the younger singers what a joy it can be to make music for God in this kind of way.”

The College Choir’s home concert is Friday at 7:30 PM in the Wesley Chapel.

 

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Crisis in Crimea Continues with Referendum

A referendum on the status of Crimea, formerly a subdivision of Ukraine, is to be held on this Sunday in which Crimeans will decide whether to join the Russian Federation or set a course for independence.

Courtesy of http://static.guim.co.uk/
Courtesy of http://static.guim.co.uk/

The move comes after Russian infiltration on the Black Sea peninsula. In seemingly effortless political stagecraft, Russia was able to gain control of Crimea in late February–all without firing a single shot. The crisis began to unfold following the uprisings in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev with the ouster of then pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. With its interests threatened following Yanukovych’s flight, Russia was able to gain considerable political leverage over the new Ukrainian government by sending unidentifiable (no insignia or indication of national origin) soldiers to gradually take over the peninsula of Crimea. According to the Russian government, the intent was to protect the majority of ethnic-speaking Russians in Crimea who, the Kremlin claimed, were under threat from Ukrainian nationalist extremists in the new Ukrainian government.

After Russian soldiers took control of the airports, roads, and other major infrastructures, armed gunmen seized the main Crimean assembly building and presided over the election of Sergei Aksyonov (a high-profile advocate for Crimean unity with Russia) as prime minister of Crimea. Since the election of Aksyonov, the government of Crimea has set referendum for Sunday to decide whether Crimea joins Russia as a federal subject or becomes an independent state. (Additionally, the government voted ahead of the referendum to declare its intentions as independent should voters approve the split from Ukraine.)

A key question surrounding the Crimean referendum is its legality, something that the United States, along with other major world powers, have refused to recognize. In a statement to the press, President Obama claimed that the proposed referendum “would violate the Ukrainian constitution and violate international law,” citing that any discussion on the future of Crimea had to include the “legitimate government of Ukraine.” Said Obama, “In 2014, we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.”

Likewise, a statement released from the G7 (a group of developed world powers, including the US) on Wednesday condemned the referendum and said that such a measure “would have no legal effect.” The G7 leaders voiced their concerns over the hastiness of the referendum, as well as “the intimidating presence of Russian troops” which could influence the vote. According to the G7, “In addition to its impact on the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states.”

The Russian government, however, claims that the referendum is perfectly legal and within the bounds of international law. Citing the case of Kosovo and other international laws, President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Crimean referendum was nothing more than an expression of the right of self-determination. (One wonders, however, if Mr. Putin would feel the same if Chechnya were also presented with this same right.)

In response the crisis in Crimea, a new executive order issued by Obama authorized sanctions and travels bans against those found to be causing or benefiting from the crisis. Worldwide, other countries are following the same measures. In addition to sanctions and other penalties, the United States has also pledged to issue a $1 billion loan package to support Ukraine, while the EU has put together a $15 billion package. Though the US and other international bodies have promised harsher penalities on Russia, exactly what the international response will be following the referendum on Sunday remains to be seen.

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Biology Department to Hire New Faculty Member

The Biology Department is interviewing to hire a new professor for the fall semester of 2014, intending to fill the gap in its staff after losing Drs. Matthew Pelletier and Kurt Vandock. Pelletier left Houghton for Liberty University;Vandock, for a job at Bayer.

“The hire in biology is a critical need given the loss of two professors last year.” said Dr. Jamie Potter of the Biology Department, “We have one of the largest majors at Houghton. As we look to the future of the biology department, a hire in biology is necessary to meet the needs of our students, majors and non-majors, in their educational preparedness and to share in our roles as advisors and mentors.”

Having only three full-time faculty members makes both teaching and advising biology students difficult. There are roughly 100 declared biology majors. The classes that most demand to be filled are basic genetics, which is essential to a BS in Biology.

In the spring semester 2013, faculty in the department formed a committee consisting of the biology faculty and one member from outside of the sciences. This committee, after receiving approval from college administration, developed a posting for the job. It was listed by the CCCU and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The committee collected a list of those interested in the position. Each candidate was categorized as a “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” by Dr. Aaron Sullivan. Members of the committee reviewed the teaching philosophy, faith statement, and curriculum vitae of each candidate to narrow the selection from 30 to nine possibilities. The initial culling is very easy. Oftentimes, applicants do not include a statement of faith when they submit for candidacy. This automatically results in their elimination from the pool of potentials.

From here, the nine candidates’ applications were parsed thoroughly by the committee. Members looked through written submissions and contacted the references listed by the applicants. After scrutinizing the applicants in detail, the members of the committee each ranked them from best to worst by their own criteria.

They met and discussed their rankings. Each member explained how they ranked the applicants and a loose consensus of ranking was reached. The applicants each scheduled an interview via Skype with the committee.

Following each interview, the committee conferred about the candidate in question. Members listed good attributes and poor ones in order to gauge how well the interviewee would do as a part of the faculty. By the time the candidates had reached this stage in the process, their qualifications are generally similar. These interviews focused more on the person as an individual. Are they personable? Are they going to be easy to work with? Will students be able to approach them?

After these meetings dismissed, the members of the committee were encouraged to pray about their decisions. Each took time to reflect on the candidates. No conclusions were to be reached until the follow-up meeting. In this meeting, the committee made cuts. They decided who to decline and who to invite to campus for one final assessment.

Of the 9 candidates interviewed, 2 were brought to campus the week before Spring Break. Because of the costs involved in flying someone to the school and accommodating them on their stay, the committee needed to make sure that the candidates they brought to campus were the right ones. They only chose the very best.

The candidates were led through a hectic day. It began with meeting the committee itself in person. Here, a more in depth interview took place. The candidates, in their own meetings, were asked to elaborate on their faith statement. They spoke on how they would integrate faith into their teaching, what their biggest challenges would as professors, and where their passion for science came from. They met with several important figures on campus, including Dean of Science and Mathematics, Keith Horn; Dean of the Chapel, Michael Jordan; Dean of Academics, Mark Hijleh; and President Shirley Mullen.

They then taught a biology class. Members of the committee sat in on the class to evaluate their teaching skills. These also candidates gave lectures that were open to all students at a separate time. They met with students personally, without the committee present.

At the end of the day, they could relax. On both visits, some of the committee members went to dinner with the candidates. At a local restaurant, members sat down with candidates and chatted casually about their days. The members of the committee who were present enjoyed the ability to see the interviewee in a less formal setting. Here, they could really tell if they could work with this person as a colleague.

The candidates have both returned home and now the committee is in the process of choosing which one of them will join their faculty next semester. Having their opinions in place after interviewing and meeting the candidates, members of the committee will take into account the opinions of students both by word of mouth and survey. Once the committee has agreed, the candidate chosen will be announced and will join Houghton in the Fall semester.

 

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College Expects Tuition Increase

The cost of attending Houghton next year is set to increase by three percent, bringing the total to approximately $36,660. According to David Smith, vice president of finance, the decision to raise tuition is a “board/trustee level decision” and what the trustees recommended was a three percent increase of room, board, and tuition. Data obtained from past Houghton College catalogs reveals that tuition has increased approximately 46% since the 2000-2001 school year.

moolahHowever, it is not only Houghton making these changes—colleges across the nation are raising tuition. According to President Mullen, data compiled by Dale Wright, Houghton’s chief business officer, reveals that out of a group of seventy-five Christian colleges and universities, “only five have a lower tuition increase over the last three years… Our three-year change in the cost of attendance has been between 8-9% and the average was 13.8%.” Smith commented on the increase in comparison to similar Christian schools, saying  that “although we’ve gone up, more than I would like, we’ve certainly gone up a lot less than our competition.”

There are multiple reasons behind the tuition increase. According to President Mullen, the main reason is that “the basic costs of doing operations in a college go up every year,” such as increases in utilities costs, increases in healthcare costs, increases in local taxes, and “Sodexo costs [also] go up every year.” Another reason for the tuition increase is “step increases for faculty… so that means that every year, even if you have the exact same number of faculty, you have slight increase in everyone’s salary.” Another factor leading to the decision to increase tuition is the New York state-mandated minimum wage increase. Smith stated that the college does hire a lot of students as workers and their labor costs alone are a “non-trivial expense.”

A final, slightly less well known cost Houghton has invested in over the last several years is putting more money from the operations into “improving the physical plant,” Mullen said. “We have beautiful buildings, but many of them are older. And it’s only fairly recently that we’ve tried to have an institutional facilities renewal policy.” Referred to in higher education as deferred maintenance, Mullen gave the example of Gillette Hall, which had a water main break earlier this semester, as being an example of a concern. Deferred maintenance is “not something that any individual student is going to see a drastic change in. But it’s the kind of thing we have to do,” Mullen said. Smith also described deferred maintenance as “something we’re really having to focus on.”

The alternative to tuition increases is cutting costs, which Houghton has experienced quite a bit of over the past few years. Smith stated that the two largest costs on Houghton’s budget are the college’s commitment to four-year financial aid for students, followed by the salaries of faculty. Mullen stated that the challenge to cutting costs as a strategy for lowering costs is that “every cost we cut hurts students in some way… I would say we’re still going to be trying to look at that, because that’s the other way”. Mullen also offered the suggestion that it might be “interesting to have students weigh in on that at some point… our dominant perspective on any of our conversations is not to hurt student experience; but when you have administrators thinking this way, it may not be the same as what students would say”.

At a time when our enrollment is a concern to all on campus—faculty, students, and staff alike—will the tuition increase have an effect on incoming students? Houghton’s recent joining of the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) will probably keep that from happening. Smith described the LRAP as a kind of insurance program, featuring a sliding scale of reimbursement from the foundation to future Houghton graduates who are working in the United States, ranging from full reimbursement of loans for those making less than $20,000, and decreasing gradually until the cut-off point at $38,000. Smith described it as a “safety net to help you have the debt not be a burden on you.”

Throughout the interview, Mullen emphasized that “I wish we didn’t have to raise the tuition every year because I know that it falls most heavily on returning students… we’re not casual about this.” Smith similarly emphasized that all of the business decisions at the college are made with the good of students as the first and primary concern.

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Russian Educators to Visit Campus

During the week of March 10 through 14, Houghton College will be hosting six English teachers newly arrived from the city of Perm, Russia. The arrival of this group of Russian guests continues a practice of over 12 years in which Houghton has welcomed visiting professionals from Perm.

Perm_RussiaThe teachers have been familiar with Houghton, and friends with many of the faculty and staff, for many years due to the efforts of the Perm Mission Network (PMN). Susan Hice, former director of Student Academic Services (now known as CASA), along with numerous other Houghton constituents, have traveled to Perm every summer for more than twenty years. According to Daniel Moore, coordinator of audio-visual services and PMN group member, these groups have built an extensive network of friends in the process of ministering to orphanages, schools, businesses, prisons, churches, universities, and summer camps.

It is during the PMN’s summer ministry that the invitees to this program are selected for an educational exposure in American, and specifically Christian, higher learning institutions. The group of six this year, said Moore, “are very excited to see America and curious to interact with students….  They plan to visit a few classes and are eager to observe how American higher education compares with their system. They hope to collect a few ideas that may be useful to them when they return.”

Moore added, “The fact that they are investing their own money to pay for travel, taking time away from employment, enduring the rigors of bureaucracy, and leaving the security of their family, is testament to their curiosity and excitement.”

Another visit to Russia with the PMN is being planned for this coming June. Students interested in participating in this group ministry should contact Daniel Moore at daniel.moore@houghton.edu.