19 Mar Dr. Dowden Receives NAIA Award

Dr. G. Blair Dowden, president of Huntington University, is the 2007 recipient of the Charles Morris Athletics Administrator of the Year award presented by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

He is the first president to receive the award, which is given to administrators involved in all of phases of NAIA athletics programs.

“I am humbled and thankful for this incredible honor,” Dowden said. “I accept it on behalf of my fellow NAIA presidents and on behalf of all who are involved in our athletic programs. These are the individuals who work hard to ensure integrity in athletics on our campuses.”

Dowden received the award on March 18 at the 66th Annual NAIA National Convention for his service to the association.

Dowden, who is in his 16th year as Huntington’s president, has served the NAIA at the conference, regional, and national levels. From 1997-1999, Dowden was the founding chairman of the Mid-Central Conference Council of Presidents. He also has been a presidential representative to the NAIA’s Regional Management Committee. In 2001, he served as chairman of the NAIA Council of Presidents and then continued as a member of the NAIA Council of Presidents Administrative Committee from 2002-2005.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 14 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past eight years, Huntington has produced 57 NAIA All-America honors and 122 All-America Scholar Athlete honors.

07 Mar HU and YMCA Team Up for New Pool

Huntington University has pledged $250,000 to the Huntington YMCA to help build swimming pool facilities in the new YMCA building, which will break ground this spring next to Parkview Huntington Hospital. When the new YMCA opens in 2008, HU will close its own pool.

HU spends about $60,000 a year on its own pool (supplies, chemicals, utilities, routine labor, lifeguards, etc.). Plus, the pool needs over at least $217,000 in short-term repairs and upgrades. So over an eight-year period, HU will spend over $800,000 on its pool during the next ten years.

The YMCA will give university students and employees free recreational access to its swimming pool facilities, allow aquatics classes to use the facilities free, and provide recreational use by participants in summer conferences held at the university for the next ten years.

The pool will be called “Forester Pool,” named after HU’s mascot.

HU’s pledge will enable the YMCA to expand the pool from 6-8 lanes and to increase the size of the warm-water recreational and therapy pool.

07 Mar HU Students Spends Semester in Israel

Christina Warner (second from the left) and her class at the Wadi Qilt on the way to Jericho and before reaching St. George’s Monastary.

On the Eastern side of the Mount of Olives, past the separation wall, Huntington University student Christina Warner sits across the table from a Muslim family, who share stories about their lives after the start of the second uprising.

“The family has lost close family members, either because they were killed or jailed, since the beginning of the intifada,” said Warner, a senior Bible and religion major from Bloomington, Ind. “They were incredibly welcoming, and I was honored to be able to sit and listen to their stories.”

This family is one of millions of people who have suffered great loss because of the intifada. Since the separation wall has been erected, the people are cut off from the basic resources of the land and economy that would help them to survive and support their families.

There are many organizations that help the community. The local Mennonite Central Committee office in Palestine supports 15 organizations that help the Palestinian people while they are under Israeli occupation. Warner has joined in on the daily meetings, which has given her the chance to see firsthand what they do as well as help provide her with a better understanding of the current political and social situation.

“These organizations provide basic education, conflict resolution, jobs, agricultural resources and water,” Warner said. “They also support a couple of Israeli organizations which educate the Israeli public about the living conditions of Palestinian refugees, comparing the current quality of life with the quality of life before the occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people.”

Warner is involved in a study abroad program at Jerusalem University College on Mount Zion, next to the Old City. The Jerusalem University College is a small American Christian college that specializes in biblical archaeology, history of the Bible and the Middle Eastern cultures, religions and modern politics.

Each of Warner’s classes involves participating in one field study. The field studies are basically field trips throughout Israel. The students must pay close attention to what they see and learn so that they do well on their tests.

“So far I’ve been on field studies throughout biblical Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and Central Benjamin Plateau, an area that the Israelites crossed to get into Canaan,” said Warner.

Although, like most college students, Warner goes to classes and does homework. In her free time she roams around Jerusalem. She goes to a local lecture, works in the garden, spends time with MCC or goes to the New City, West Jerusalem, which is mostly Israeli homes and businesses, with other students.

Most of the city isn’t much different from the cities in the United States, but each section has different social customs. East and West Jerusalem have very diverse cultures.

“The dynamics between men and women are much different,” said Warner. “The conservative atmosphere and most of the Orthodox faiths here tend to view women as less than men, but it’s not taking too long to learn how to hold my own while being respectful.”

In West Jerusalem the primary language is Hebrew, but in East Jerusalem the primary language is Arabic. Although, most of the people speak English, the professors are fluent in the languages, but Warner plans to learn a bit of both Hebrew and Arabic while she is in Israel.