Tag: Houghton

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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.

 

Categories
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.

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News

Addie’s Ice Cream Coming to Houghton

An ice cream business selling forty different flavors of handmade ice cream, along with sundaes, handmade waffle cones, and milkshakes, is looking to open a shop location in an existent building on Route 19 next semester.

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Addie’s Ice Cream is a business owned by Houghton graduates Addie and Andrew Silbert. Addie and Andrew met as students at Houghton during a choir tour. They married after Addie graduated in 2007 and lived in Fillmore until Andrew graduated the year afterward. They then bought an ice cream shop and restaurant in Findley Lake, New York in 2009, with the intent to run it along with their full time jobs elsewhere. Addie had worked at the restaurant since she was in high school and knew the business well.

However, the Silberts ran into difficulties in the early years of owning and operating the restaurant. “The first two years were very difficult. We both quit our full time jobs and just jumped right in,” said Addie Silbert. The problems sprang from the fact that they were located in a town where business was only profitable seasonally. As a result, the business no longer operates as a restaurant, but in the past few years the Silberts have seen their ice cream manufacturing and distribution business take off. The couple now sell their ice cream to many different vendors across New York, including the Chautauqua Institution near Jamestown.

Four weeks ago, the couple approached Professor Ken Bates, business, regarding the possibility of opening a second Addie’s ice cream shop in Houghton. Bates had kept in touch with Addie Silbert over the years as she was a former business major and the Silberts went to him to ask for his expertise and advice in opening a shop in Houghton.

“Several businesses in the past have tried to set up here in Houghton and have failed. It’s a long list of businesses,” said Bates, “In the back of my mind, I’m trying to sift through their ideas to somehow protect them from the same path that a few others have gone down.” He continued, “As I was talking with them, I made sure to approach everything that might cause this to be a bad idea. We turned over every rock with them, but it appeared like this business could work. It could really be a winner.”

Where Bates sees the success of this business at Houghton is that their main profits are focused on manufacturing and distributing the ice cream, not on sales from their shop alone. “The key to their business is in manufacturing,” said Bates, “The ice cream shop that most of us will see and enjoy is a sort of a ‘icing on the cake’ thing, if you will. If that was their only business here, then again I might be questionable about if that could work here.”

The Silberts are excited to be opening a shop at Houghton, a place where they have many fond memories, and they are hoping to eventually move their family of four to Houghton. “Our goal is to move somewhere around Houghton. The community is wonderful here,” said Addie Silbert, “I feel like if this is what is going to take our business to the next step, then this is definitely a place where we would like our kids to be raised.”

It is possible that the Silberts might move their manufacturing business to Houghton as well. The student-run Houghton Business Consulting Group has recently formed a team to analyze the volume of sales that Addie’s Ice Cream would receive to be justifiable to expand or move their manufacturing to Houghton. The Consulting Group are also looking at initiatives made in the state legislature that encourage businesses to open near college campuses. The reports made by the Consulting Group should be finalized by the end of the semester, as a service project to the community.

Above all, Addie and Andrew Silbert are looking to make their shop at Houghton student-friendly. “People want to get off campus once and awhile, and there’s nowhere to go,” said Addie Silbert, “I think that would be something we would like to provide.” Among other things, they would like to establish a lounge area in their shop for students to do homework, meet with friends, or host birthday parties. The location of their building has yet to be determined, but it will most certainly be located on Route 19.

Categories
Arts

“Survivors” Photography Exhibit Installed in CC Basement

The Houghton Coffeehouse is now featuring a photography exhibition entitled “Survivors.” This exhibition, which has received national recognition, is by freshman Sandra Uwiringiy’imana and her brother, Alex Ngabo.

Sandra“Survivors” is a collection of pictures taken at refugee camps in Burundi, depicting Congolese survivors of the Gatumba Massacre which took place August 2004 in Burundi. The collection was first shown at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York in 2011 as part of a series on genocides that they were featuring in that exhibition.

According to Uwiringiy’imana, this collection is intended to not only relay the story of what she had been through, but also to communicate to her audience that the “world is bigger than Rochester.” For Uwiringiy’imana, this exhibition tells the story that she “didn’t know how to express through words,” and by using photography as a means of expression, she was able to put “all her feelings into it” without “having to worry about finding the right words.” A subject as large as the Gatumba Massacre is a story that Uwiringiy’imana said is not just hers to tell. As she said, “this didn’t just happen to me, it happened to hundreds of people,” She hoped that this exhibition is her way of getting their stories out as well as her own.

The exhibition has had a history of national and international attention. In 2011, after the exhibition had been installed for a time in Rochester, a representative from Newsweek called the gallery, asking to speak with Uwiringiy’imana. Upon returning their call, Newsweek asked Uwiringiy’imana to allow her exhibit to be a part of the annual “Women in the World Summit” that is co-sponsored by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. After accepting the offer, Uwiringiy’imana was asked to also speak at the Summit about women and war with host Charlie Rose alongside other female activists, including Angelina Jolie and Tina Brown. For Uwiringiy’imana, this venue with an audience of over three thousand people was the first opportunity she had to share her story with a “non-church” audience. As a result, this opportunity “opened a lot of doors” for Uwiringiy’imana in the realm of activism, leading to involvement with women’s refugee programs, the United Nations for World Refugee Day, and the organization 10 x 10, a global ambassador for the education of girls.

Uwiringiy’imana received “support from back home,” as she continued to share her story through “Survivors” and also through her newfound activist platform. She said that her support back home was enthusiastic about her activism, as they “had never seen one of their own speak for them.” Uwiringiy’imana was also faced with negative reactions alongside the positive ones, and said that she would often hear people remark that a “teen couldn’t express opinions on this issue well enough to the national government.”

Uwiringiy’imana said that Dr. Ndunge Kiiti was instrumental in bringing this collection to Houghton, with the help from a donation made by Al and Lyn Barnett, as an addition to the Faith and Justice Symposium. Upon the collection’s arrival at Houghton, Uwiringiy’imana said that it left her feeling “really vulnerable,” but that she hopes it motivates people to act, while giving them a sense of hope at the same time, reminding people that “God’s got your back.”

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News

International Students Participate in Intensive English Program

 

Houghton College inaugurated the Intensive Academic English Program (IAEP), this fall semester, helping international students improve their English language skills as they began their college careers. Seven international students, one man and six women, are currently enrolled in the program and hail from countries including Mali, Barbados, and Burma.

Courtesy of salamtoronto.ca
Courtesy of salamtoronto.ca

Dr. Mark Hunter, director of CASA (Center for Academic Success and Advisement), said the college selected these first-years as “students of non-traditional background… [who have] shown motivation, desire, and potential” but also need some assistance with English. He also stated the lessons are “distinguished from ESL, which is about conversation” whereas the program’s aim is “improving reading and writing abilities to what is expected at Houghton.” The students take classes in reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction in addition to Biblical Literature and College Study Methods.

The listening and speaking portions of the IAEP are presented by Prof. Colleen Ahland who teaches “how to listen to a lecture [and] take notes,” using methods such as video lectures and going “over strategies for note taking and presenting.” Her instruction is “mainly practice” and she stated that, “I want them to be functional in an academic English setting.”

Likewise, Prof. Michael Ahland, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and TESOL, teaches the reading portion. He says his classes involve a “great deal of talking and interaction,” and the lessons are “highly practical,” providing his students with the “skills needed to be a good reader, writer, presenter.” During one class, Michael Ahland focused on formulating inferences, or assumptions, about a text while reading. After teacher assistants acted out dialogues, the students studied the written text and discussed in small groups the inferences they had made. While Michael Ahland said “I try to keep it lively,” he also said that what thrills him about the IAEP is that “these are students that are really excited to be here.”

While the IAEP was formed to provide students in need with higher-level English classes, its creation is also linked to Houghton’s global mission. Dr. Hunter expressed that the program is part of Houghton’s focus on global engagement, stating, “I think the diverse backgrounds of the students is exciting.” The participants of the IAEP have roots in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, allowing for the spread of world cultures and languages on campus. Colleen Ahland said “diversity leads to better ideas which better the academic setting.”

When asked about something that excited her about the program, Colleen Ahland cited “getting students interacting with others from other countries. That’s education itself.”

Categories
News

College Golf Teams Eliminated

Due to the enrollment shortfall this year, many Houghton departments and programs have had to trim their budgets significantly. One of the cuts directly impacting students is the elimination of both the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The golf teams were informed on September 10 that their teams had been eliminated from the athletics program. “I showed up for practice on Tuesday and our coaches were waiting there… I thought that maybe a tournament had been canceled – but it was actually the entire team,” said the women’s captain Hannah Fink, junior.

GolfThe decision “came out of the blue,” according to the men’s captain, Evan Castle, junior, “Basically we had two matches and were completely into our season – nobody knew that this was going to happen – and we showed up to our practice on Tuesday and we get the news from our coach.”

According to Dr. Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, the reason that the teams were informed in the middle of their season was due to the unexpected drop in enrollment in the beginning of the school year. “We thought – up until the end of July – that we would have been higher [in enrollment] than what we actually came in at. So it was, to many of us, a big surprise when we got to August and realized where we were with enrollment in terms of deposits.” This required the college to make emergency cuts for this fiscal year. “We had to cut somewhere,” said Pool, “A small piece of that was in athletics.”

The elimination of the golf teams is part of a larger amount of cuts that Athletics are being asked to make. In total, Athletics were asked to cut $60,000 out of their budget this year – the golf team taking a significant percentage of that number. According to Athletics Director, Skip Lord, “In a nutshell, every area on campus has had to make hard decisions relative to budgets this fall. That included athletics. This decision, along with other significant, but less visible cuts in athletics, were carefully weighed to accomplish the goal.”

One of the factors leading Student Life and Athletics to cut golf particularly is the relatively small number of students that it will affect. Both teams have about a dozen players combined, though this number varies between the fall and spring due to several players already involved in other seasonal sports teams. Another factor influencing the decision to cut the teams is that both the coach, Thomas Kettelkamp, and the assistant coach, Richard Halberg, are already employed as faculty members – so no jobs will be cut as a result of this decision.

Houghton introduced the golf teams last year when it made the move into the Empire 8 Athletic Conference, along with introducing other sports teams such as lacrosse, tennis, and baseball. The elimination of the golf teams should not impact Houghton’s NCAA D-III or Empire 8 standing.

Coach Thomas Kettelkamp and Coach Richard Halberg both expressed their dismay at the elimination of the teams.

“Personally I am a full time faculty and will not be impacted by the decision to cut the golf program but it was very, very difficult to tell the players that we are done,” said Coach Kettelkamp. Coach Halberg echoed Kettelkamp’s statement and said that he felt, “badly about ending our relationship with a great group of students.”

According to Kettelkamp, there were three prospective students looking into enrolling at Houghton to join the college’s golf teams, but he had to write to inform them that they should “look elsewhere for a college golf program.” Additionally, he believes that no one on the golf teams is currently intending to transfer as a result of this decision, but he said “if they ask me to help facilitate transferring to another college, I will certainly do so.”

Fink and Castle both lamented that they had not been able to complete the season as captains, the first time in these positions of leadership. “I had hoped to improve our record from last year. Individually, we all wanted to get better. Basically, improve,” said Fink. Castle said, “It’s a big bummer because I spent a lot of time with my teammates and my entire summer planning for this year. And it’s gone.”

 

Categories
Opinions

To Infinity and Beyond; Religious Plurality and Dialogue

We live in a religiously pluralistic society. We see it in manifested in our own faith tradition with tens of thousands of Christian denominations, and also outside in the realm of world religions, spanning Hinduism and Buddhism in the East, to Islam, Judaism, and beyond. Even in the evangelical Christian milieu of Houghton there is still a reasonably large spectrum of beliefs and experience. For Houghton, as a Christian institution, does this plurality merely represent our extensive mission field? Or does it perhaps provide us with the opportunity to understand our faith—as individuals and a community—more deeply?

monstersPractically speaking, it is necessary that we come to terms with our religious differences, both across the spectrum of Christianity (which we experience on campus) and across the spectrum of religions we see as “others”. Though our respective traditions may be directly opposing one another, faith remains essentially a human trait, something solid to provide a basis for successful interfaith dialogue. But how are we to go about this dialogue?

Last fall in my Judaism class, I read an article by the rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, (known popularly as “The Rav”) which I found to provide solid guidelines for interfaith dialogue. He stipulates that a confrontation (dialogue) between two faith communities is only possible if it is accompanied by a “clear assurance that both parties will enjoy equal rights and full religious freedom.” Additionally, both parties must have an assurance that they will be upheld in high respect, and not dragged through the mud, so to speak, when difficult issues or severe disagreements arise. In other words, if we neglect to provide a safe environment for these discussions, it is inevitable that neither party will come away with anything constructive, rather both sides will probably emerge somewhat insulted or discouraged.

Granted for the majority of us on campus it will be far easier to approach different denominations rather than entirely different religions; engaging a Catholic is quite different than engaging a Hindu, whose vocabulary, beliefs, and traditions are completely foreign for most of us. That being said, it is vitally important that we as a Christian institution strive to engage these very “other” communities. If we continue to avoid interacting with these other faiths, we risk allowing “monsters to grow in the silence,” as Dr. Case said, one of our world religions professors. I would define these “monsters” as our tendency to demonize or vilify any religion that opposes Christianity. This mindset only serves to further the disparity between our respective faith traditions, burning bridges rather than building them.

Thus these conversations should not be taken as opportunities to merely target non-Christians for conversion (or even to convert those outside the perimeters of our preferred denomination). In other words, our mission should not be to proselytize, but to establish relationships. These dialogues and relationships would help to destroy our unwarranted prejudices and misconceptions about other faiths, and aid us in being effective in a world that preaches tolerance. Constructive interfaith dialogue should force both sides to be open minded without requiring either side to sacrifice their beliefs to the other, helping foster conversations and relationships as opposed to mission fields.

This being said, we do have a “missionary mandate” as a Christian institution and church, and when all is said and done, even in these honest dialogues there remains an element of persuasion on each side. While conversion should not be our only aim, it is legitimate, but perhaps it is best pursued in the context of these relationships we establish through dialogue. After all, is our goal merely to increase numbers for the church or is it to welcome new members into the body of Christ? It’s at least my experience that the most successful evangelism is done within the context of real relationships, and when it comes to people of other faiths, we cannot hope for true relationships unless we are willing to engage in open dialogue.

Houghton appears to be heading toward becoming a more welcoming campus when it comes to interfaith matters. Dean Michael Jordan has said that the administration is on-board with increasing the diversity of speakers both in and outside of chapel. He mentioned that the Franciscan friars will be back, along with a couple speakers representing the Catholic and Presbyterian churches in the coming spring semester. This is a step in the right direction, providing the campus an opportunity to learn from and engage faiths that may be foreign to our own. Jordan also said that he is open to, and hopes to welcome, speakers outside of the Christian tradition on campus for panel events and discussions in later semesters. Presented with these opportunities, we have the potential to become a community of believers who are open and willing to engage in dialogue with the religious diversity in our own community and outside it.

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Opinions

Statement of Purpose

Two main criticisms are usually leveled at the Star: number one, that we are too pro-Houghton and, number two, that we are too anti-Houghton.

The people who normally complain the first seem to view the Star as a branch of Houghton’s public relations department – as if the Star provides a ringing endorsement of the changes, policies, and events that go on at Houghton within the stories that it covers. The point of view of these people is that the Star often paints too rosy a view of the institution while neglecting the very obvious problems that it faces. Meanwhile, the second group often view us similarly to saboteurs – those who will spitefully publish negative pieces about the college either to relieve personal frustration, to start drama, or else to hinder the positive growth of the institution.

It should not be too surprising that both of these criticisms are very much misplaced and often have much more to do with the self-identification of the reader (in either the group that negatively identifies with Houghton or the group that positively identifies with Houghton) than they have to do with the content of the Star itself. When one positively associates with the institution, one is prone to feel that any story that portrays the college in a negative light is an outright condemnation or an attempt to sabotage the college by the newspaper staff. When one negatively associates with the

institution, one will look at multiple positive articles as an indicator that the newspaper is tightly tied to the institution.

With this in mind, let me take this moment to refresh readers on what the Star actually is and what it intends to be.

Our mission statement, printed in every copy of the newspaper, “is to preserve and promote the values of dialogue, transparency, and integrity that have characterized Houghton College since its inception. This will be done by serving as a medium for the expression of student thought and as a quality publication of significant campus news, Houghton area news, and events.”

As outlined in our mission statement, our job as the student news organization on this campus is not

to promote the college. Neither is it denigrate it. Instead, our job is to make sure that the stories we publish are fact-based, accurate, and relevant in coverage of events and news of the college. We have no aims in a larger agenda, either positive or negative, other than to serve as a professional medium for dialogue and the exchange of factual information. Above all, we aim to serve.

I would like to extend invitations to all readers to get involved with the newspaper this year. There are many avenues to do this. If you are a student, the first suggestion would be to become a writer for the Star. If that seems like it would be a good fit for you, please send us an email indicating your

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interest at editor@houghtonstar.com. We would also encourage students to help with editing

articles on Tuesday evenings in our office in the campus center basement. This latter opportunity is the easiest way to get involved with the Star and, along with writing articles, is an excellent opportunity to improve editing and writing skills.

The last avenue that is open to the public as a whole (not just students) is writing letters to the editor, and we would strongly encourage you to do so either to help provide insightful information about a given subject or else to correct any error that we make here at the newspaper. Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less and you can send them to the email listed above.

Houghton is undergoing a turbulent season. We at the Star hope to serve the campus well. Here’s to the new year!