Tag: Houghton

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News

Buddy’s Place Now Open for Business

This past November 9th saw the opening of yet another venture aimed to bring more business to the town of Houghton. Buddy’s Place, which had its first open house then, currently offers spaces for rent to community members, students, and other interested renters in the area to retail artisan crafts and other goods.

Buddys_PlaceAlthough the establishment has received support from the Houghton Group, a collection of professors and community members interested in bringing business and further economic development to the Houghton area, the venture itself was spearheaded by Ralph Kerr, Houghton Group member and owner of the upcoming Genesee Rapids baseball team. Ken Bates, business professor at Houghton and Houghton Group member, said, “We began considering this about three months ago if my recollection is correct. When Ralph brought up the ideas there was an immediate positive reaction and several began suggesting possible businesses that would be interested possibilities.” Added Kerr, “We kind of play off each other and if somebody has an idea, we may just throw it out there.”

The name comes from Buddy Keith, a member of the Houghton community member who passed away about a year ago. “”Buddy was the headmaster of the Houghton Academy for years and years and he and his wife–this was their family home,” explained Kerr. “To the people that live in this area, Buddy Keith was like an icon.”

With eight total rooms open for rental, Buddy’s Place offers spaces at rates per square foot as well as deals on full-, half-, and quarter-room rentals. Several community members have expressed interest in renting spaces. Stephanie Wittenrich, administrative assistant for the Genesee Rapids who is also involved with the project, described the visitors as “a lot of local crafters, just a lot of community members that are crafty but … want to team up with other people. There’re a lot of people in the community that are creative and belong to little groups, so they just do crafts on their own. So, they’re all trying to look at forming groups to rent out spaces together.”

According to Wittenrich and Kerr, two of the available rooms have already been taken. “The first people in this morning… they run a place called ‘Tracy’s Delightfuls.’ They do gift baskets and sell candles and home decorating kinds of things and they also run the Tuxedo Junction tuxedo rental shop…” said Kerr during the open house. Other interested parties have come from the local Allegany Artisans. In addition to accommodating community members, Kerr has also expressed a willingness to work with college faculty and students in putting their pieces up for sale. “We know that, particularly for the students, they’re not going to be in a place where they can commit to a rental,” said Kerr. “But, we’d like to work out something where we could give them a wall to display their stuff and leave it here under consignment or something.”

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News

Sodexo Opts for Local Food Suppliers

Courtesy of sodexoeducation.com

Sodexo has recently made an effort to use locally- and regionally-produced and grown foods.  Within the last school year, over 23% of the produce served in the dining hall, from potatoes to lettuce, was grown within 250 miles of Houghton. Despite a decrease in students, there has been a steady increase in the local and regional produce being served.

However, there is a limit to the local places from which Sodexo make make purchases. For instance, there are guidelines that prevent Sodexo from purchasing food from farms that have not gone through a process of meeting safety regulations. These regulations help companies track the source of contaminated foods as well as other routine safety measures that benefit consumers’ health. Tina Powers, general manager, stressed that Sodexo loves the small farmer and small businesses. These are the places that are making new things and doing it with quality. A large company like Sodexo has the means to purchase large amounts of product that can greatly benefit a local economy.

Many of the gluten-free products available in the dining hall comes from a shop in Ithaca, NY. All of the dairy products used by Sodexo at Houghton are from a local company. Sodexo is also willing to work with any small farm that wants to make the transition to become a Sodexo supplier.  For example, Powers shared an anecdote of a sunflower farmer who wanted to sell his sunflower oil to Houghton and they helped him make connections with the people who could help him be inspected and regulated. However, when safe, sometimes Sodexo finds ways to work around the strict guidelines. During homecoming, Powers went out and purchased bags of potatoes from a local farmer to make the dining hall’s salt potatoes.

Two students who have worked for Sodexo for multiple years expressed the significance of local foods and in-house processed foods in the dining hall’s offerings. Emily Raczelowski, junior, sees the value value of using more local products in its reduced cost and reduced environmental impact because of transportation. Jonathan Hardy, senior, said, “Over the last four years I noticed a gradual increase in quality and variety of offerings.  This year is, of course, the largest change yet.”

This semester, the dining hall made a change to serving more foods that have been processed in-house. The rationale behind this was that the food had to be processed somewhere and that food is the best quality when it is processed as close as possible to the time it is served. Raczelowski said that “the benefit of processing whole foods in-house is that as an employee I can see firsthand what is being done to my food.” Most of the salad bar as well as ingredients in the soup and other areas are now all prepared in the kitchen. This is of nutritional and other health benefits. Powers mentioned the shredded carrots on the salad bar. They are not as good when they have been pre-shredded and packaged and have added ingredients to keep them fresh. One might have also noticed the lettuce on the salad bar is not the same lettuce that comes mixed with carrots and cabbage in a bag.  Powers discussed the fact that the salad is now often browning on the salad bar. This is because it is fresh and has not been treated to prevent browning.

Cafeteria workers have also been trying to find ways to process whole foods as close to the serving time as possible. The drawback to this new policy is that, even though they save on money on produce because they are not paying someone else to process it, they have had to increase labor and pay for more waste removal. Powers feels that the benefits strongly outweigh the increased cost.

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Stories In Focus

The Howards: A Houghton Legacy of Love and Learning

It is fascinating to watch professors David and Irmgard Howard together, and it is difficult to explain why. If you ever have the privilege to sit down with the two of them and have a conversation, this feeling will make sense to you as well.

Howards_NewFor example, if there is a question presented to them that requires both partners to answer, there will be a slight pause when the Howard’s look at each other. This is the part that is hard to explain, because you can feel the presence of the information highway that is passing between David and Irmgard, a connection that slows down time and allows the two of them to non-verbally communicate with each other before answering the question. Perhaps that’s just the power two people gain with forty-five plus years of marriage.

The Howards have been teaching here, David in History and Irmgard in Chemistry, since 1970. This effectively makes them the most experienced faculty couple here on campus. The swing set near the science building used to be the place where their home stood. There, David and Irmgard raised four children while continuing to teach at the college. “I was teaching full-time and she part-time,” said David. “This allowed us to switch off with child care, so we never really had to hire a babysitter. We always had a parent right there with the kids. We lived within walking distance to our job as well, so it was as convenient as you could possibly imagine.”

“Houghton College arranged our schedules so that we could…” Irmgard began, but then was cut off by her husband. “Well, we arranged our schedules and they agreed to it,” said David, and both professors shared a laugh. “Right, we could always switch off,” finished Irma.

Remnants of this schedule remained in the class schedule until very recently. Some science labs used to begin at 2:15pm instead of 2:00pm like it is done now. This was so one Howard could run home to take care of the kids while the other Howard ran to begin the next set of classes. One couple affected the schedule of a whole college for almost forty years.

When asked if the school has changed over the years in terms of hiring both men and women as professors over the years, the Howard’s explained that the college has employed married couples since they started back in the 1970’s and has been willing to work with couples and their complex schedules. They also agreed that working as a married couple is not any different today than it was back then.

“My conclusion is that, if you’re not in direct competition with each other, that working together is a great way to strengthen a marriage,” explained David.

After forty-four years of working as a team and teaching at the same school, retirement is on the horizon for at least one Howard, with Irmgard in semi-retirement this semester. As far as the other Howard is concerned, it may still be a while longer before he’s ready to move on.

In response to the question if he was looking forward to retirement as well, David answered with a definite “No.”

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Opinions

Selflessness and Humility in the NCCAA

This past weekend the Houghton cross country team competed at the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championship meet in Cedarville, Ohio. Roughly 50 meters before the finish, Cara Davenport, Houghton College junior, collapsed and was unable to keep going. Moments later, teammate Judith Marklin, Houghton freshman, stopped for Davenport and carried her through to the finish line, crossing it together.

The meet official disqualified both girls, saying they aided each other during the race. The whole situation pushed the women’s team from about seventh place to eighteenth place overall. But in a situation where helping another competitor damages ones own race-time, especially at a national championship meet, should a rule of aiding a teammate apply?

Section 8, subsection f, of the NCAA XC and Track and Field rule book states that an athlete can be disqualified “If unduly aided by a coach, a teammate not in the race or a non-competitor associated with the team.”

Marklin had not yet finished the race, so what exactly did she do wrong? The rule doesn’t include

runners who are also competing, allowing you to question the call made by the official. For those who witnessed the dramatic finish, it is safe to say cheating did not cross their minds, but instead I imagine they saw complete selflessness and love.

In a case where the “rules are rules” mentality wins, there is little to be done. Although many coaches of opposing colleges voted in favor of Davenport and Marklin, saying they should not be disqualified, the meet official had the final say. In the end, it was 100% the official’s decision in the disqualification. Had the assisting of an athlete helped the school, that would be cheating, but should the rule need to apply to all situations? Although the legality of it all makes sense, what does

the situation say about ethics?

The mission statement of the NCCAA reads, “The NCCAA is an association of Christ-centered collegiate institutions whose mission is to use athletics competition as an integral component of education, evangelism and encouragement.”

What happened on the course that day reflected exactly that. Those watching and competing alongside Davenport and Marklin were educated and encouraged at that moment. To see such humility can encourage everyone to do something great when the chance is presented to him or her.

nccaa

An organization, which is meant to be founded on the teaching and ways of Christ, disqualified an athlete for doing exactly what Christ calls us to do. Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

“The selflessness of a teammate to stop their race and give up their individual glory to help a teammate to the finish. That is the reason I coach, because the spirit of sport is revealed and the true character of our athletes shines through,” said cross country and track and field coach, Matthew Dougherty.

“After the race as Judith and I were helping Cara to the bus a girl from another team came up to us and told Cara what an awesome finish she had and how great Judith was for helping her,” explained Houghton senior and cross-country captain Leah Williams.

Despite the NCCAA’s decision to disqualify both Davenport and Marklin, there is still a great story to be told. It almost brought me to tears watching the two of them cross the line. “Cara has been such a strong asset to the team this year and to see her give everything she had to get across the finish line makes me so proud to call her my teammate. And for Judith to sacrifice her own race is one of the most selfless acts I’ve ever seen,” said Williams.

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Stories In Focus

Behind the Scenes: Sodexo Student Supervisor, Ed Taylor

Ask any student worker in the Houghton Cafeteria about Ed Taylor and you will probably hear words like ‘dedicated,’ ‘humble,’ ‘supportive,’ and ‘hard working’ used to describe him. After working in the cafeteria for over 30 years, Ed Taylor is highly respected and looked up to by many.

Ed_Taylor“Working for Ed is like working for a favorite uncle. You know that he expects you to work hard, but you also know that he won’t let the job get too hard for you, and if you mess up, he’ll be right there to help you out,” explained senior, Benjamin Hardy.

Though many may not know of him, the students who work for Taylor speak very highly of him. Taylor currently works with Sodexo as the Student Supervisor, alongside his wife, Tracy Taylor, who also works in the Houghton Cafeteria. Taylor primarily works behind the scenes, though occasionally you can spot him around the cafeteria helping wherever he is needed and never failing to say hello to the students who pass him.

Becoming the Student Supervisor has allowed Taylor to create strong relationships with students and be a role model for them. When talking with Taylor in the cafeteria, no matter the question, he always related his answers about the students and how they are a big impact on his career. “That’s the only reason I’m still here, I like working with the college kids. I have fun,” said Taylor.

“He loves his student workers and the students who come up to eat in the cafeteria for four years of their life, and that care is very obvious.” said Hardy. This care was evident as Taylor and I talked alongside his co-workers, taking time out of his short lunch break.

Ed Taylor graduated from Houghton College in 1982 with a degree in math education. He soon realized teaching was not for him after spending a semester student teaching, which led to his career with Houghton College. He worked in the cafeteria through all four years as a Houghton student and continued to do so upon graduation. From 1982 to 1985 Pioneer Dining Services sent Taylor to work at other colleges but he was able to find his way back to Houghton and has not left since.

While working with Pioneer Taylor had many responsibilities making his workweek over sixty hours. After the switch from Pioneer to Sodexo, Taylor’s current job as Student Supervisor is more focused, giving him fewer responsibilities, allowing him to focus mainly on the students. He oversees and helps the student workers as well as other completing other jobs needing to be done in the cafeteria. “With Pioneer I did everything, now I’m just in charge of the students,” said Taylor, “It was definitely a big change but in the end it was better for me. ”

Dr. Anthony Petrillo, community member and friend of Taylor said of Taylor, “I think that’s why the students are attracted to working with him, he’s a Godly man and does his job well… He lives the statement: ‘To preach the gospel always and if necessary use words’,” said Petrillo.

Having spent many years in the Houghton Community Taylor discussed how he has seen the college change over the years. Taylor said, “It was like one big family, a lot more floor activities, and class activities. That’s something I think they can get back to.” Taylor expressed how he feels Houghton has stepped away from a tight knit community, especially with the building of the townhouses. The school has also grown in number since Taylor first came here, which he also felt has changed the feel of Houghton.

“He makes the cafeteria an inviting place for freshmen to work. He sets the mood and makes work fun,” said Hardy.

Taylor is someone who genuinely loves his job and has a positive outlook on life. When discussing a large pay cut he received to be able to continue working at Houghton after the switch from Pioneer to Sodexo, his response was simply, “It’s a benefit for me, now I get to work with my wife everyday.”

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News

Houghton-Backed Vocal Group to Give Performance at Carnegie Hall

Members of the Houghton College choirs will be embarking on a trip this spring to perform on the same stage that esteemed musicians such as the New York Philharmonic and The Beatles have graced over the years.

choircloseupcolor3x2jpgLed by Dr. Brandon Johnson, The National Sacred Honor Choir is an ensemble of Christian musicians wishing to spread their faith through music. The choir is made up of both past and present students, faculty, and staff, as well as other professionals and vocalists from around the globe, with Canada, China, Morocco, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe represented among other countries. Accompanied by a skilled orchestra and including performances from professional soloists, the group will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“There is no more venerated hall in the world than Carnegie and launching this new national initiative at such a celebrated place as Carnegie is both an honor and a sacred trust,” Dr. Stephen Plate, Dean and Director of the Greatbatch School of Music, said. “All the music performed will be done to the glory of the Lord by people who join their God-given talents in honor of the God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift.”

In order to practice for the performance, students involved in this opportunity are required to take a great deal of time out of their schedules: approximately seven and a half hours every week just for choir rehearsals. Participation is by invitation or through audition only. Although Johnson and other faculty members have stopped at several Christian institutions on the east coast for auditions, the majority of student auditioners typically send in a letter of recommendation from a voice instructor which outlines their capabilities. Olivia Roland, a sophomore vocal performance major and soloist for the National Sacred Honor Choir, stressed the amount of work and detail that the choir is putting forth to ensure a spectacular performance this spring. “College choir meets every day for an hour and a half or so,” Roland stated, “Rehearsals are extremely rigorous. It’s hard work, but in the end, it will be so worth it.” Performers not only must integrate their voices with others’ in the group but also work on pronunciation, as the majority of the pieces are written in Latin.

Johnson emphasized that the point of the concert was not simply to perform a set of pieces and showcase the ensemble’s vocal abilities. “There are a lot of great musicians in the world and a lot of opportunities to make really great music, but I wanted to explore the ideas behind whether or not it mattered that we’re Christian, whether it mattered in our music-making, not just in an internal way, but in an external way.” Collin Price, a sophomore vocal music education major and member of the ensemble, also expressed the choir’s first and foremost priority as delivering the message of God through music to Christians and non-Christians alike. “I’ve learned that it’s not always what’s written on the page that matters,” Price said, “It’s how you convey the music and what it means to those listening.”

The audience can expect to hear three works during the choir’s performance: Mozart’s “Requiem”, Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy”, and a new contemporary piece, “Cantate Domino,” by Houghton music professor Dr. David Davies. “It promises to be an emotional and powerful performance,” Plate ensured.

The National Sacred Honor Choir will meet together in New Jersey to rehearse for three days prior to their inaugural performance at Carnegie Hall on March 9, 2014.

 

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Opinions

Woes of the Privileged Dependent

As dependents we like to complain. Or rather, as the privileged we like to complain, because it really is a question of privilege. It is a privilege to be dependent on someone financially, and even if you are an independent financially, as a student you are currently depending on this institution for food, lodging, and education.

But we love to complain. Throughout my time at Houghton and even more so it seems since I graduated, all I hear from current students is how awful this place is. Sodexo is taking over everything. The rules are too constricting and frankly ridiculous. Res Life is on a constant witch hunt. The dorms are nasty. The education is minimalistic. Finally, my personal favorite, “Houghton shelters us and does not prepare us for the real world.” The list of complaints goes on, but you get my point.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to complain as well. But every once in a while you need to stop, sit back, and consider what you are complaining about. Because more often than not we sound pathetic, and the grounds for complaints are nothing more than juvenile trivialities.

Let me put things into perspective. According to Forbes, Houghton College is currently ranked in the top 4% of colleges nationwide. Our Investment Center just recently broke $300K. Our Media program has had students go to Antarctica, and produce documentaries for the Gates Foundation. 83% of applicants from Houghton have been accepted into medical school (the national average is 43% according to the Association of American Medical Colleges). We may be small, but the quality of academics is undeniable.

During my last weekend on campus I went up to the cafeteria to eat lunch. I had to struggle choosing between numerous delicious-looking options. No institutional food will ever compare to your mother’s cooking, but have you eaten at other colleges? We get quality food, tons of variety, and all you can eat. Last but not least, Sodexo accommodates dietary restrictions like few other institutions. I would also like to praise the new management of Java 101. Flex dollars can be used to purchase coffee, and it is now open all day Sunday!

Our student guide requires students to not drink, use illegal substances, or act promiscuously. Now go find another Faith-based institution that promotes those. In fact, go find an actively Christian institution that is more liberal on those issues at all.

When it comes to Res Life, I have sat in on disciplinary hearings while serving as an RA, and I was shocked. Not because of the strictness, but because of the understanding and caring on behalf of the staff. The case I was in had to do with drugs, which under the student guide is a one-strike offense. The evidence was compelling; the confession was there. The student should have been expelled. But instead, the staff asked how the student was, what was the reasons for this, how could we help. I was asked to be his mentor.

Dorms are dorms. Hundreds of people have used the room you are in. Of course it’s not a five-star hotel in Monaco. But next time you feel compelled to whine, go spend a night in a state school dorm that has been sullied by thousands of drunken, puking, fornicating residents, and then see how you feel.

Lastly, do you really need to drink, smoke, and have sex, or even be surrounded by such things, in order to prepare yourself for the “real world”?  Let me give you a glimpse of the real world: most people work 8-5 jobs with an hour lunch break, after which they go home and watch TV. On occasion they enjoy happy hour at the local bar. Far fewer may hook up for some quick sex. But mostly this is just a television fantasy. According to the CDC, while two out of three American adults drink, the average amount consumed is 4 drinks per week. 19% of Americans smoke and only half of Americans purport to have sex once a week. So you really aren’t falling behind the rest of the population with the amount of alcohol, tobacco and sex of which you are deprived.

Houghton is not perfect. There are things that could stand improvement, but by and large it is a truly quality institution. Remember that there are so many issues in the world, i.e. world hunger, child prostitution, homelessness, domestic violence, and gender inequality. And explain to me why your life is particularly miserable at Houghton.

 

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News

Admissions Adopts New Recruitment Strategies

As the new recruiting season has begun, the admissions department has adopted new strategies to reach new students.

Courtesy of hcap.artstor.org
Courtesy of hcap.artstor.org

This past year enrollment fell just below the standard established by the college, resulting in some changes in the admissions department. The challenge this year will be to bring in more students previous years. Both the vice president and director of admissions are working on new strategies to reach the desired number of students for the start of the next fall semester.

“One of our fundamentals is in building strong relationships with applicants to tell the Houghton story and communicate the value of the experience they will have here,” said Director of Admissions, Ryan Spear. Throughout the past years Houghton has struggled with low enrollment numbers, thereby putting pressure on Admissions to develop new strategies which will draw new students into the college.

“We will be using strategic emails and telecounselors will be calling all interested applicants for events,” said Vice President for Admissions, Eric Currie. Currie also added that their travel reps would be on the road visiting over 300 high schools and over 150 fairs with the admissions counselors picking up the rest of the schools.

According to Spear, a typical day for an admissions counselor at Houghton involves focusing on encouraging applications from prospective students and working with students who have already applied. They accomplish this with conducting admission interviews as well as communication through emails, hand-written notes and calls via telephone.

Traveling admissions counselors, on the other hand, spend most of their time on the road visiting high schools. Depending on in which region they are traveling, these counselors will visit three to four high schools a day and usually a college fair at night. Stephen Zacchigna, traveling admissions counselor said, “I mostly work in New York State but Houghton covers the entire region from Indiana to Virginia to New England and most places in between.”

Current senior, Jennifer Newcombe said “My admissions counselor did a really good job of making me feel like Houghton really wanted me. I didn’t feel like I would be lost in the crowd.” Newcombe also said that, unlike other colleges, she felt a personal connection to Houghton through the emails and phone calls. She was also impressed with the way in which her acceptance letter arrived. “It came in a cool tube and the acceptance letter was very personalized.”

As well as trying more ways to reach out to potential students, the admissions office is also trying new ideas for visiting days. Spear said, “We are pushing back the start time for visitors so that a family could leave from a one- to two-hour radius of Houghton and arrive the morning of at a reasonable hour.” Spear also said they are focusing on running fewer visiting days while improving the efficiency and quality of the visits in general.

 

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Opinions

Rethinking the Houghton Community

Community. You can get your token laugh-of-familiar-amusement out of the way now. I’m not writing about community because it’s a long established Houghton tradition; I’m writing about it because I’ve been thinking about it, and my conclusion is that there’s more to be said about community than we who are so familiar with the term might imagine. This has been on my mind because a few weeks ago, one of my seminars ended with an enthusiastic discussion about the nature of a Christian liberal arts college: is this kind of thing a community? My preference is to answer “yes,” though with a caveat: a Christian liberal arts college can, and should, be a community. Whether or not it actually is – that’s a different question. So, what do I have in mind, when I use the word community?

communityOur lives involve all sorts of projects, things we’re pursuing and working on. Lots of our projects are shared with other people. Sports teams share the project and pursuit of athleticism; musical ensembles share the project and pursuit of producing quality music. At minimum, this common pursuit, or common end, unifies individuals into a cohesive group. But, better than merely finding common ground in some pursuit or end is to care about the team or group for its own sake. This doesn’t happen easily, or immediately, but it certainly does happen. After playing together for a while, the team ceases to care only about winning, and the team members start to care about their shared pursuit of winning. Once the team members start to love the team for its own sake, the care spills over and is extended to individual members of the team. At this point, I think, community enters the picture. When a collection of people start to care about their shared project for its own sake, their care extends to the other members of the group, and the group becomes concerned for each one of its members, over and beyond that member’s ability to contribute to the group. For instance, the choir expresses community when it mourns a death in the family of one of its members (which is, strictly speaking, not relevant to singing well together). The mourning becomes relevant if the choir is a community that cares deeply about each of its individual members.

Now, I’m assuming Houghton’s primary project is education, or more specifically, Christian liberal arts education. That’s what we’re pursuing, and unless you take an entirely mercenary approach to your education, the shared pursuit of education is unifying: it makes us a group, a team. At least, then, Houghton is a shared project. But is it a community?

It’s worth pausing before answering that. I don’t think community is to be taken lightly, since community involves the accepting of other people’s well-being over your own. To be in community is to ally yourself with others in a fundamental way. Thus, community is not about warm-fuzzies, or team spirit. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with these things, and they’re helpful in establishing an especially well-functioning community. Yet, to equate community with emotional attachment to a group of people is to reduce community into something too ethereal. A community is a substantive thing, the kind of thing that can and hopefully will exist even when team spirit and warm-fuzzies have faded away.

This is, of course, a tall order. This demands something from us, something more than wearing purple or gold and faithfully attending SPOT. It’s also a rather complex goal: the good of Houghton as a community is linked to your individual good, if you’re part of the community, but neither is your good reduced to what’s good for the community, since the community is also adopting your good as relevant to its own. Given this complexity, it might be a little naïve or optimistic for me to argue that Houghton is a community. Nonetheless, I do think that Houghton can be a community. It may be difficult for such a large group of people to be a community, but it’s not impossible. For us to be a community, individual members would have to express concern for the good of other individuals, the institution would have to make the well-being of its individual members a priority, and individual members would have to care about the institution for its own sake. Hard to achieve, but not impossible. Moreover, I’ll take this “can be a community” a step farther: given Houghton’s Christian commitments, Houghton should be a community. So, don’t just claim community in virtue of your emotional attachment to the school. Make community happen, through your attitudes and behaviors towards the institution and the individual members of the institution.

 

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Arts

Houghton Pops Orchestra Ushers in Third Year

Courtesy of Jon Hardy
Courtesy of Jon Hardy

The Houghton Pops Orchestra (HPO), birthed in 2011, was the dream of organist Robert Martin (class of ’13). The model of a popular-music orchestra was new at Houghton and finding the right spot for such an ensemble required unflappable determination on the part of the founders and was a matter of some discussion in the CFA and the SGA, who regulate student clubs. The first concert, “Heart of the Highlands,” was a kind of a trial run which the orchestra managed to pull off with little time and almost no money. Most of the funding for sheet music, venue and recording fees, not to mention the signature bagpipes, was paid out of pocket by orchestra members, Robert Martin himself, and a few generous supporters. Fortunately for the future of HPO the concert was a smashing success.

“I am obsessed with Celtic music,” said Martin, “I thought it would be a great place to start with a new orchestra, seeing as it is music that is generally liked by and accessible to a wide variety of people.”  That motto, “likable and accessible” are the watchwords of HPO. Current HPO conductor Nathaniel Efthimiou (Music, ‘14), commenting on his plans for the ensemble says, “…[I] hope that HPO can be a place where anybody can come and have a good time making music together. Music is one of those things that can bridge the walls we set up with each other and I think HPO can help in building up our Houghton community, in the breaking down of those barriers.”

Music majors make up a large portion of the performers in HPO, but their ranks are swelled by students from numerous other departments: Communication, Computer Science, Education, English, Philosophy, Physics, Theology, just to name a few. Attendance at the concerts has also been diverse drawing large numbers of community members and faculty and staff in addition to students.  Music brings Houghton students from all over campus to strive for excellence together in a way not otherwise experienced.

Part of this goal is accomplished by the music itself. Repertoire is chosen by the conductor based on a theme he has in mind, such as Celtic music for Robert Martin or John Williams film music for Kevin Dibble (BMus ’11 and MMus ’13), and what sheet music can be purchased with the club’s funds. Within this framework, however, is the willingness to take on pieces or cut out pieces based on the makeup of the orchestra and the ability of the members. Enjoyable, recognizable and catchy music for both the listener and the performer goes a long way toward an enjoyable rehearsal and concert.

With the first concert of the year several months away on November 22nd, the orchestra members and their conductor have a long road ahead of them. If the past is any indication however, it promises to be one filled with insanity and laughter, friendship, struggles and triumph, Purple and Gold and bagpipes.