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P.E. Requirements Undergo Changes for Next Semester

Current integrative studies requirements for physical education are hoped to change for the incoming class in the fall of 2014. According to Margery Avery, director of academic records, the changes will affect the use of “indoor” and “outdoor” terminology, eliminate use of “points” in physical education requirements, and attach a half-semester lab component to the required Fitness for Life Class.

Currently, students must pass one outdoor class and one indoor class to fulfill part of their physical education requirements. However, students in the upcoming academic year will only have to take two classes of their choosing from either classification. “To simplify the requirements” was the aim of this change, according to Avery. “After several years of working with the current set of requirements the faculty realized the requirements were somewhat confusing to students. Some people tended to confuse the four points system with credits, but the points had nothing to do with credits. Taking out the references to points should help simplify the requirement.” According to Linda Mills Woolsey, dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs, “We had noticed a high number of petitions for exceptions to the Health and Wellness requirements and had had some complaints from advisors about the complexity of the requirements, scheduling, and other matters.”

As for the “point” system which was previously used to keep track of which physical education classes had been fulfilled in which categories, Avery says it will no longer be needed. “Some people tended to confuse the four points system with credits, but the points had nothing to do with credits,” she said. “Taking out the references to points should help simplify the requirement.”

In addition to distribution changes, incoming students will also be required to complete a wellness lab that will follow Fitness for Life, which is intended to be scheduled solely during the first half of each semester. The second half of the semester will be occupied by the Wellness Lab, which can be taken for 0.5 credits. The lab will be based on a similar course that was previously taught at Houghton and required for integrative studies. According to Avery, “It used to be that Lifetime Wellness had a lecture and a lab component. When the current PE competency began in 2009, the Lifetime Wellness had been separated into Fitness for Life (which was part of the theory point one) and a separate lab component (the point two).”

 

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Three Floors to Close in Student Dorms Next Year

Residence Life and Housing has decided to close two floors in Gillette and one additional floor in Roth for the 2014-2015 school year. The floors to be closed are fourth main and old in Gillette and fourth west in Roth, which is cut in addition to the first floor in Roth closed at the beginning of this year.

GilletteThe decision to close three floors was made “in response to a low enrollment figure for the current year,” said Marc Smithers, Director of Residence Life and Housing, and the closures are not an indicator of lower enrollment for the upcoming year.

Another reason for the decision was on the basis of the fact that there was “so much empty space in the residence halls,” said Smithers, leading to concerns about proper stewardship of the buildings. The closures should cut maintenance and custodial upkeep costs for the residence halls and will save heating and insulation expenses. In addition, three RA positions will no longer be required for the closed floors.

Smithers noted the positives, “Instead of cutting things, we’re pushing things together… It’s a way to save money, but we’re not getting rid of anything.” In addition, Smithers stated that too many empty rooms in a hall could be demoralizing to residents, in which case a more compact dorm could have its advantages.

The move could potentially affect current residents on the floors who would be hoping to “squat” their rooms for the next year. Smithers said that Residence Life and Housing is aware of this potential issue and thinking of appropriate solutions, though they have not arrived at an answer yet.

The floors will not be closed indefinitely and, according to Smithers, are expected to be reopened for the 2015-2016 school year.

 

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Updating the War on Poverty

Fifty years ago President Lyndon B. Johnson declared “unconditional war on poverty in America” and promised that “we shall not rest until that war is won.”  The news recently has been full of assessments evaluating the war on poverty’s success and asking to what extent we have achieved victory.  Most of these assessments conclude that, though the war on poverty has had some specific and limited successes–especially in decreasing poverty among the elderly–on the whole it has fallen well short of the lofty ambitions that inspired it and the goals it set for itself.

Courtesy of http://media.npr.org/
Courtesy of http://media.npr.org

What might an updated war on poverty look like in the 21st century?  In recent decades we have learned quite a bit about the factors that lead to and keep people in poverty.  In particular, it has become abundantly clear that stable marriages and families are among the best predictors for avoiding poverty.  Nick Schulz, in a useful little volume entitled Home Economics: The Consequences of Changing Family Structure, summarizes much of the evidence linking poverty to changes in family structure such as increases in divorce, single-parent households, and children born out of wedlock.  Just a few of the findings that he reports:

  • Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution, after reviewing Census Bureau data, found that “if young people finish high school, get a job, and get married before they have children, they have about a 2 percent chance of falling into poverty and nearly a 75 percent chance of joining the middle class by earning $50,000 or more per year.”

  • Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, in their book Growing Up with a Single Parent, report that “adolescents who have lived apart from one of their parents during some period of childhood are twice as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to have a child before age twenty, and one and a half times as likely to be ‘idle’–out of school and out of work–in their late teens and early twenties.”

  • A group of researchers from the Pew Research Center “compared the median household incomes of married adults with unmarried adults in 1960 and again in 2008.  Half a century ago, the gap in household incomes was 12 percent.  In 2008, the gap had grown to over 40 percent.”

This is just a small sampling from a large body of research confirming what is by now an indisputable fact: if you want to reduce poverty, you should want as many children as possible to grow up in stable families with their own two married parents.

This evidence could provide the fulcrum for a bipartisan coalition devoted to strengthening marriage and the family.  Liberals, committed to the poorest and most vulnerable members of society and concerned with income inequality, should make common cause with conservatives, who emphasize the traditional family unit as a building-block of society.  A coalition of this sort, seeking a common, pro-family reform agenda, could make new headway in the fight against poverty.

Although family issues are often politically divisive, some reform proposals could reach across the partisan divide.  A waiting period between the filing of divorce papers and the actual finalization of a divorce, during which couples could be offered access to marriage counseling, might reduce the rate of divorce.  Other reforms, such as increasing the child tax credit, might ease financial strains on families.  More creatively, we might make the credit available only to married couples, or introduce an additional tax credit targeted specifically at married couples that choose to forego a second income so that one parent can stay at home full-time with their children.

Strengthening marriage and the family is a daunting task.  Family decline has been a product of complex cultural factors, and public policy is a blunt instrument for effecting large cultural change.  Fifty years ago, however, Lyndon Johnson told Americans, “Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom.  The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.”  If we today remain committed to giving our fellow citizens “a fair chance to develop their own capacities,” we will require creative ideas about revitalizing the American family.

A longer version of this column will appear as an essay in the Lent issue of The Cresset (http://thecresset.org).

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New Theology Major Offered

Currently, any Houghton student interested in ministry, theology, world religions, or biblical studies has the option to major in either religion, Bible, or christian formation, but that’s about to change.  A new major has been introduced to Houghton’s campus–theology.  According to Dr. Michael Walters, associate dean for Biblical Studies, Theology, and Philosophy, in time the current religion major will be phased out and the theology major will take its place.  Dr. Walters explained that the current religion major has always had a heavy theological emphasis, but due to restrictions for New York State’s Tuition Assistance Program (NYS TAP) funding, Houghton could not label the major “theology.”  However, this has recently changed, allowing Houghton students who choose to major in theology to still be eligible for NYS TAP funding.  All current religion majors have the option to finish out their major, or, if they are not very far along in the required coursework, will be given the option to switch to the theology major, which is currently awaiting New York State approval.

TheologyThe theology major is not only intended for “typical” ministry students.  While only a 30-hour major, it has been specifically designed to be completed in combination with other majors.  It should be noted that if a student were to combine a second major with theology, the theology major will only be 24 hours.  Said Walters, “What the theology major is intended to do is to prepare people at a very foundational level to think biblically and christianly about the world, but also we are very excited about the component that we’re calling ‘theology and…’ which is our way of kind of looking at theology as a viable second major to couple with your art majors, your music major, your psych major, whatever, because people who are going into those fields are going into them as Christians, and they would really like to use those majors in a way that’s effective for the kingdom of God.” In addition to many of the courses current religion majors take, future theology majors can expect to take a new course taught by Dr. Eckley, which will be called “Church, Mission and Culture.” This class will put, said Dr. Walters, “…missional kind of footprint on the program…”

With changes occurring in the church and in ministry, and Dr. Walters long ago recognized the need to grow and change along with the world.  During his recent sabbatical, he began to seriously consider how Houghton could adapt to changing times.  After consulting current students and recent alumni and surveying pastors, the idea of a theology major was born.  “We’re hoping that in very real way, our niche in the future is to listen to the God-given dreams of students.  I believe God puts dreams in people’s hearts about how they can serve him, and we want to listen very carefully to those dreams and then help people to equip to realize those dreams.”

 

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Grading Scale Undergoes Changes for Next Semester

The college has recently proposed a motion to relinquish the current grading scale in favor of a non-numerical rubric. The rubric would still retain quality points for determining GPA, but it would also establish value based on certain adjectives such as Excellent, Good, Average, etc. Each department would have the responsibility of maintaining grading criteria that are consistent across each discipline, the results of which would be funneled through the rubric.

Grading_Scale_CMYKThe decision stems from multiple sources, the principal cause being the results of a faculty survey taken in the Fall of 2012. The results, collated from 68 participants, discovered that more than half of faculty members (54.4%) substituted the official grading scale with their own, and an even higher number (61.5%) reported that they did not believe that Houghton’s current grading scale was effective in portraying student learning.

Professor of education, Connie Finney, was especially critical of the current grading system, citing philosophical problems with its attempt to artificially create a normal curve. “With the current grading scale, you have a small A, a larger B, an even larger C, and a small D. This pushes students toward C, the largest category. What should be a naturally occurring phenomenon ends up getting manipulated.” She regarded the new rubric as quite an improvement, with the caveat that C’s are still defined as ‘average.’

Dean Mills Woolsey said that prior to the survey there had been a few discussions, but after the studies were done, it really helped bring the conversation to a place where they could act on it. “If it were like 10% of the faculty then you would say, ‘oh, we’ve got to get after that 10%,’ but if it’s that significant, it means that there’s probably a problem with the system itself.”

The decision has passed through the Academic Council, gained approval from the faculty, with the final step being to publish the new rubric in the 2014-2015 catalog. This publishing would stand as a contract to the New York State’s Department of Education, while eliminating discrepancies between faculty members’ usage of alternate systems and creating more flexibility within each department.

Another primary reason which Dean Mills Woolsey cited was behind the decision lay in some of the negative reactions that parents had to Houghton’s grading scale, especially in regard to their students’ eligibility for scholarships that are dependent on maintaining a certain GPA, as well as an extensive conversation on the Houghton Parents Facebook page, dated in March of 2012, revealed a parent’s concern that their child’s test scores, which would typically be higher in many other schools, was weighed down at Houghton due to the stringency of the grading system.

Dean Mills Woolsey said that Houghton’s current grading scale has had a long established tradition here, but she also said that many other institutions, especially those Houghton considers as sister schools such as Wheaton or Asbury, use a similar grading rubric. “The fact that most of the schools that we consider peer schools or that we benchmark with don’t use a numerical scale suggests that maybe we’re finally coming into some kind of a mainstream.” She cautioned against those who would claim it a dumbing down, saying that grading varies greatly from discipline to discipline. “Some disciplines are very quantitative and they lend themselves to that numerical scale, and other disciplines are more qualitative. You have to somehow translate what you’re doing into numbers in order to make that scale.” Mills Woolsey believes that the rubric’s implementation will eliminate many previous problems that they have had, and that this new change is the right step forward.

 

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Faculty Attend Wesleyan Transgender Conference

On January 24, 2014 representatives from Houghton College, Indiana Wesleyan University, and Oklahoma Wesleyan University were invited to attend a meeting at the Wesleyan Church Headquarters, in Indianapolis, IN, to look over a draft policy statement on the issue of transgender.

Courtesy of saxony-indiana.com
Courtesy of saxony-indiana.com

Representatives from each college typically consisted of an administrator and a theologian. It was decided that Dr. Richard Eckley, professor of theology and an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church, and Dr. Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, would be the two representatives for Houghton. The group of representatives was called together by the Church even though the policy had already been through the denomination’s general board “to further review the issue,” as Eckley explained.

“I was hoping to help my denomination think through the foundational areas necessary for making a sound pastoral approach to this issue.  The homosexual question has been addressed by all with little common ground,” said Eckley.

Eckley described the trip as “a meeting of representatives of the

Wesleyan Church’s colleges/universities to look over a draft policy statement on the issue of transgender.” A total of eight people were present at the meeting, each being given the policy draft ahead of time to be looked over prior to the start of the meeting.

Eckley expressed, “The transgendered person is a part of our churches, and therefore is more than a topic; it is a question about how the Church gives hospitality to the people that make up her congregation.” At a time when transgender is a delicate topic, especially in the church, the policy is aimed to be a guideline to create a careful balance of honoring scripture, but also to know how to pastor and show love and support to people going through questions of expression.

“The policy statement is shaping up to be a kind of ‘middle way’ approach,” said Eckley. Eckley explained how the Church seems to be taking a traditional approach to the Biblical, theological, and scientific research, while also not forgetting the importance of pastoral guidance in churches and learning communities.

“If there’s a singular thing I learned, its try to be more Christ-like. More clear on what the scripture says and doesn’t say, and not to be afraid to honor the scripture,” said Pool. “I want any student to be able to come here and thrive.”

A second motivation for the policy, and reason for the meeting is guidance for the possibility of future ligation on the subject of hiring in Christian colleges and universities. In the past Christian institutions have faced legal disputes on the matter of transgender faculty. The idea is to prevent schools without a policy from being in a bad position to have a clear response in these cases.  “Of course, as a theologian, I am not that excited about documents drawn up primarily for lawyers,” Eckley joked.

It is clear that the completion of the policy will not fix all problems, but it is definitely a start, as Eckley referred to the meeting as “an attempt to refrain from judgmentalism and to offer understanding and compassion to those struggling with sexual identity dysphoria.” The college has taken a big step towards making the campus a place that welcomes all people, and with the policy colleges can have a consistent approach on doing so.

The final draft will be ratified within the next few weeks, where once completed, can be viewed online at the Wesleyan Church website.

Apart from the policy being put together by the Wesleyan Church, Houghton College had also begun to create a pastoral letter on homosexuality for its campus. The letter will aim to show how “as a community Houghton can help, support, and pastor those with same sex attraction,” explained Pool.

 

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New Women’s Leadership Support Group Kicks Off

A new group has recently emerged on Houghton’s campus, going by the name of Deborah’s Daughters. Described by Dani Johnson as an “emerging support group for women in leadership”, the group was created for female students on campus whose vision of their future involves being leaders, in a ministry capacity or otherwise. Johnson, an assistant in Career Services, and Dr. Sarah Derck, an assistant professor of Old Testament, along with sophomore student Carly Congilosi (’16), founded the group in November of last year, and currently serve as the group’s primary leaders.

Star Logo_NewThe group grew out of discussions between Johnson, Derck, and other women in the Houghton community about the need for increased encouragement of young women “who want to either go into professional ministry or want to be leaders in some respect,” Johnson said. When explaining the inspiration behind the group, Derck cited Johnson’s “idea to network women on campus,” as “it can be a very isolating thing to feel a call as a woman.” The two recognized that, for female individuals, leadership is often complicated by traditions or views that limit women’s involvement in this capacity, and desired to create a safe, supportive environment where women can explore their potential in this area.

Things started out small, with Derck emailing a short list of female students, Congilosi included, about their interest in working to get the group off the ground. Congilosi stepped up to the challenge. When asked about her beliefs concerning women’s involvement in leadership and ministry, Congilosi replied that she’s “always believed that they should.” Said Congilosi, “I wanted to be involved in a group that supported that… the more I heard about [the group] and the more we started to develop the idea of what it was going to be, the more interested I became in it.”

From the time of its inception the group has increased in numbers to around 20 members, including Houghton College students of different years and women from the faculty, staff, and surrounding community. Meetings take place on a bi-weekly basis, rotating between different off-campus locations, and alternate between evenings of discussion, sharing, and prayer; and group activities or other events. Evenings often involve hearing from “women in our community who are serving as professional ministers in some capacity, or have a leadership role,” said Johnson; “women who have come from similar backgrounds…but have sort of pushed the envelope a little bit, and faced those struggles themselves.” Mentorship is also an important component, with mature women meeting with female students on a regular basis, to support and encourage them in their growth.

The group’s purpose, however, is binary in nature. In addition to small group sharing and mentorship, their intentions include an outward focus as well. One of the goals of the small-scale mentorship already in place is for the development of a program in which women students from Houghton act as mentors for younger women of middle or high school age, from Houghton Academy and the surrounding community. There has also been talk of future collaborations with other student groups in campus wide events focused on women’s empowerment. This future-forward vision involves men as well as women in dialogue about these issues. When talking about the group’s trajectory, Derck praised the “wholehearted support” of the group by the faculty in the biblical studies, religion, and philosophy departments and said that, when it comes time to have more public discussion about these issues, “I think there would be no hesitation in inviting male panel members into that.” She further emphasized that while the group concentrates its efforts on supporting female students in particular, the group’s collaboration with other organizations will involve both men and women in partnership together.

While Johnson, Derck, and Congilosi have headed the group thus far, the desire for it to eventually become student-led has been clear from the start. Said Johnson, “I’m trying to step back as much as I can and let it be a student-led group.” This sentiment was echoed by Derck, who reiterated that she and the other faculty and staff members involved in the group “see ourselves involved as advisors in the future in a consulting kind of way… we definitely don’t want to be in charge.” With that, the group is open to any and all female students who are interested in these topics. “This group is not just for women that are planning on going into an official ministry position,” said Congilosi. “It’s for any woman who is interested in [this] topic and also wants to lead in some capacity, or use their future vocation as a ministry.” Students interested in joining the group or learning more can contact Congilosi at carly.congilosi16@houghton.edu for further information.

 

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International Delegates Talk Syrian Peace

As international delegates arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, January 21, doubts persisted concerning whether they would be able to bring an end to Syria’s three-year-old civil war.

Courtesy of radioaustralia.net.au
Courtesy of
radioaustralia.net.au

Sponsored by the United States, Russia, and the United Nations, the peace accords, known as “Geneva 2,” will bring together officials from Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government along with the Syrian National Council (SNC) an opposition bloc consisting of various groups seeking to overthrow the Assad regime. However, numerous groups engaged in the conflict have refused to attend, including many Islamist fighters who seek to turn Syria into an Islamic emirate. Complications further expanded as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, under the lobbying influence of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, withdrew an invitation to Iran, one of Assad’s main financial and materials supporters.

According to Reuters, Ban faced immense pressure from both Washington and the SNC, the latter threatening to boycott the talks and further obstruct any chances of conflict resolution. Moreover, Iran rejected the caveat that it had to accept the guidelines of a previous peace conference held in Geneva in 2012 that called for President Assad to step down and allow a transitional administration to take over. These peace talks failed after the U.S. and Russia could not agree on Assad’s post-conflict, political role. Washington Post reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said excluding Iran is not a “catastrophe,” and said Russia and the other countries at the conference will still push for a productive dialogue between the warring factions.

Further complications arising as peace talks begin include the revelation of widespread torture and systematic killing committed by the Assad régime against 11,000 detainees in Syrian government custody. Al-Jazeera reports that thousands of photographs smuggled out of Syria and examined by a team of war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts show emaciated bodies marked with signs of brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture. The photographs were taken by a photographer for the military police who had secretly defected to the opposition. While both sides of Syria’s civil war have been accused of war crimes, this evidence is the most definitive proof of large-scale killing on the part of the régime to date. According to U.S State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, one reason “Geneva 2” needs to be fruitful is because “the situation on the ground is so horrific that we need to get a political transition in place and…we need to get the Assad régime out of power.” Reuters reports that the former chief prosecutor of a war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone, Desmond de Silva, commented that “some of the images we saw were absolutely reminiscent of people who came out of Belsen and Auschwitz.” It is not yet known how the revelations of these photographs will influence the demands of other negotiators, such as Russia, or the SNC.

Meanwhile, as “Geneva 2” begins, warfare continues in Syria. It is estimated that 130,000 people have died along with 22 million being displaced. Spillover from the conflict has also affected neighboring countries. In Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, a suicide bombing occurred in front of the headquarters of Hezbollah, a Shi’a group that actively assists Assad and militarily adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shi’a Islam. Meanwhile, Iraq faces political strife as al-Qaeda-linked groups seek greater influence amongst the country’s Sunni population.  Currently, Iraqi government forces and tribal fighters are trying to expel al-Qaeda fighters, staunchly opposed to Iraq’s Shi’a-dominated government, from the Sunni enclave in the country’s west. Consequently, as the conflict between Sunni-backed rebels in Syria and the Alawite-majority government continues, sectarian divides deepen further throughout the Middle East.

 

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Houghton’s Got Talent Cancelled

Despite initial hype, Houghton’s Got Talent will no longer be premiering as planned.

CAB was hosting HGT as an opportunity for students to exhibit their passions, expose hidden abilities, and get involved by competing for the title of being Houghton’s most talented through various acts.  CAB member Josh Duttweiler says “due to the show’s previous success a few years ago, it made sense to give students a platform for their interests again.”

PrintYet, due to a lack of student commitment through act sign-ups, CAB was forced to cancel the event.  This proved to be surprising, says Duttweiler, especially due to the excitement HGT had brought in the past.  Possible reasons for the shortage of performers could be the lack of preparation time available and the event being scheduled so close to the beginning of the semester.

The show was intended to be different from other student entertainment, such as SPOT, in that it would promote all types of performance without a basis in comedy.  Instead, the show was anticipated to be an engaging set of acts that displayed the variety and diversity within the Houghton campus.  It was also an attempt to provide a way to showcase talent that may otherwise be overlooked.

In remaining true to American’s Got Talent, HGT was to also offer entertainment through a select group of faculty and student judges.  Featured judges included students Simba Kamuriwo and Alyssa Figueroa, admissions counselor Zina Teague, Professor Ryann Cooley, and Dr. Doug Gaerte.

As seen in CAB’s “Meet the Judges” promotional video, the panel came together to create a humorous spin on each judge’s reveal of what they were interested in seeing during the show.  Figueroa says she “looked forward to the chemistry” between herself and the other judges as well as the chance to play off their various personalities.

Having participated as an act in a previous Houghton’s Got Talent, Zina Teague remembers the “buzz” that was created over the various contestants.  Previously HGT was divided to extend over two weekends with acts either advancing or being cut between.  Teague and her partner “stepped” their way to the second round before being eliminated.  Teague views this show as a way in which students can “come together and share a piece of who they are.”

This year’s show was set to run similarly, with commentary by the panel of judges and concluding with an audience vote.  Votes would be placed through text message as experienced before in this past fall SPOT.  Besides students being able to showcase their range of skills, they were also competing to win cash prizes.

Teague commented that this event was a way for students to “break out of boxes.”  She makes the point that there is not just one type of person who can show off talent.  Whether it is a biology major or athlete on the stage, they are equal.

According to Ryann Cooley, it made sense that Houghton in particular would find interest in holding such an event.  With the Music Department as an obvious hub for talent, Cooley expected it to be a driving force behind various acts.

Cooley also points to the excitement of the unknown and the unique quality that Houghton has as being a “safe area to have fun taking a chance with the support of genuine and encouraging students.”

Despite Houghton’s Got Talent’s cancellation, CAB encourages students to come to the Chapel at 8 pm on Saturday, January 25th for the showing of Star Trek Into Darkness.

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Addie’s Ice Cream Coming to Houghton

This April, Addie’s Ice Cream is expanding its business to Houghton.

The company, cofounded by Houghton College alumni Addie and Andrew Silbert, began serving the town of Findley Lake, NY in May of 2009. By April of this year, they plan to open a new location adjacent to the fire hall parking lot. It will take the space that was formerly “Personal Effects” at 9746 Route 19. The space is their second location.

Addies“We plan to offer a variety of 16 flavors at our Houghton location,” Addie said, “We also plan to offer our homemade waffle cones, waffle bowls, sundaes, banana splits, milkshakes, floats, a variety of novelties, fresh brewed coffee and some baked items.”

Addie and Andrew met at Houghton College. Addie graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in business, and Andrew in 2008 with a B.A. in communications. In 2009, they opened a family restaurant and ice cream parlor near Addie’s hometown after moving there a year prior. Set two hours west of Houghton, Findley Lake became the stage for the couple’s entrepreneurial upstart.

The restaurant on Sunnyside Rd. (paralleled by Shadyside Rd. on the other side of the lake) became a beloved part of the community. As their shop grew, Addie and Andrew noticed that the product people kept coming back for was not their hot food, but rather their frozen treats. After two years of business, they decided to refocus solely as an ice cream shop. Until this year, their expansion has only reached out to vendors – including Houghton College’s Campus Store and 5Bites.

The company began to offer its product through 5Bites in late September of last year. Bradley Oliver (’15) works with Addie’s, managing stock and shipments of their ice cream to 5Bites. He says, “Addie’s really cares about our business’ success which was manifested in their deliveries and payment schedules. Addie and Andrew are both genuine people and are really passionate about their business.”

While many of the company’s products are available on campus already, the Houghton location offers new opportunities to the college and the community. With this space, Addie’s can get involved with the college’s students by providing employment opportunities that are currently few and far between outside of campus. In addition, Addie’s is interested in a potential relationship with the business program at Houghton, providing internships that will feature hands on experience in an entrepreneurial environment.

When asked what the couple’s impetus for opening a location in Houghton, Addie answered, “One of the reasons was the desire to begin to give back to a community that we both cared about. We wanted to contribute to the economic development of the Houghton community.”

Addie’s hopes to become an integral part of life for both students and non-students alike in the Houghton area. Look for their frozen treats to arrive as Houghton thaws this April.