13 Jan In Nicaragua with the HU Baseball Team

A baseball team, most from Huntington University, is in Masaya, Nicaragua. They are conducting baseball clinics for kids during the day, and (often) competing against Nicaraguan baseball teams at night.

12 Jan 12 HU Students in Paris

A group of 12 Huntington University students are spending January Term in Paris, France. They are staying about a mile from the Charlie Hedbo office, where 12 people were killed on Wednesday, January 7. However, because of a flight delay, they hadn’t yet arrived. They were supposed to land several hours before the Charlie Hedbo attack, but were delayed 24 hours in Indianapolis because of ice; that’s where they learned about the attacks.

Caitlin Trainer, a senior who is on her fourth trip to Paris, is leading the trip. “I for sure went through a period of second guessing our trip once I found out about the shooting, but upon affirmation from our Paris site coordinators that it’s completely safe to travel, I made the decision to stick with the plan,” she said.

Their first full day in Paris came on Friday, the day French police killed three gunmen and freed hostages. That day, they did a prayer walk around Paris, but stayed away from the Kosher store where a hostage situation was in progress. They report that they have never felt unsafe. They’ve been able to go shopping and sightseeing.

“We are totally fine,” said Trainer. “We’re not being affected by the attack whatsoever. Really, the only big thing that we noticed is different is that we just see more armed policemen with guns, which is actually kind of normal for Paris. A lot of times they do walk around fully armed with big guns. This time around there’s just more of them. So you’ll see groups of like 10 instead of just two walking around the city.”

Added freshman Hannah Barrett, “There are a lot of police officers out and about in the city, but it’s really not bad at all. Everyone is still going about their days just like normal. I haven’t been nervous at all. They really have it under control and are making people feel safe.”

For the trip, the students teamed up with an organization called Envision Paris. They are feeding the homeless, doing young adult discipleship, hosting an art exposition, and teaching English. They will return to the US on January 20.

25 Nov Dr. Paul Michelson Retiring from HU

Dr. Paul Michelson plans to retire from Huntington University in May 2015. He has been a history professor at HU since 1974. When he retires next year, it’ll be 41 years, one of the longest tenures of any professor in the school’s history.

“I’m going to be 70,” he said. “I think that’s probably a good time to call it a day. …. I’m still in reasonable condition. I need to get my book done before I turn completely senile.” He has written or co-edited six books. This will be his seventh.

In addition to his service at Huntington University, Dr. Michelson was a member of College Park UB church in Huntington and served 12 years on the denomination’s Executive Leadership Team, 1993-2005.

Michelson earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University, and considered positions at Taylor and LeTourneau universities before choosing HU.

“For one reason or another, this one to me looked more interesting,” he said. “I applied, they invited me up for an interview. I liked the people I met, who seemed serious but fun loving.”

He added, “For a very small school, Huntington had a lot of hard-working but first-class people – people who were here obviously for the teaching side of it and who were active in their fields.”

Michelson and Jack Barlow, the only other history professor at the time, formed a legendary team. Dr. Dwight Brautigam, who joined the team 27 years ago, said of Michelson, “He cares deeply about students and wants them to become the best Christian thinkers they can be, a pretty noble and significant goal if there ever was one. Of course, all of this comes in a package of sometimes bizarre humor.”

For more about Dr. Michelson, read this article published in the student newspaper, the Huntingtoninan.

13 Nov Nov 8: Join HU at a Fort Wayne Komets Hockey Game

HU is going to a Fort Wayne Komets hockey game! UB youth groups and others in the northeast Indiana area may want to join the fun.

The game is on Friday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m.

Komets tickets are only $6 when you purchase from Marcy Hawkins in Alumni Relations. All tickets purchased through HU directly benefit the Forester Fund. That’s right, 100% of our ticket sales will be used to help provide student scholarships!

Contact Marcy Hawkins by email at mhawkins@huntington.edu or directly at 260-359-4097. Don’t forget to wear your green!

11 Nov HU Prof Gets “Article of the Year”

Dr. Kevin Miller, professor of communication at Huntington University, wrote the best article of the year in the Christian Scholar’s Review. That was the verdict of a panel who read every article published in Volume 43. Miller’s article (brace yourself), “Reframing the Faith-Learning Relationship: Bonhoeffer and an Incarnational Alternative to the Integration Model,” appeared in the Winter 2014 issue.

In his essay, Miller noted that the faith-integration model, with its working assumption that “All truth is God’s truth,” has become the standard approach for many scholars at evangelical universities as they seek to understand the relationship between faith and learning. He offered an alternative incarnational model of scholarship that drew from the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ideas about a “religionless Christianity.”

In offering an evaluation of Miller’s essay, one juror wrote that it “is a lucid essay with a bold thesis that deserves to be read and discussed widely.” A second juror notes that the essay “is clearly written, easily accessible to people from a variety of fields, and engages directly with an issue that is essential to all Christian scholars, namely, the relationship between their faith and their work….Shifting the discussion away from thinking ‘Christianly’ to thinking ‘humanly’ provides a new way to account for what we do, one that works equally well within and outside Christian circles, and so is also of use to Christian scholars working in secular communities.”

Miller earned a Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Kentucky, a Master of Arts in Journalism at Ohio State University, and Bachelor of Arts in English at Eastern Mennonite University. Before teaching, he was associate editor at Christianity Today magazine. He joined the HU communication faculty in 2002.

11 Nov Indiana Governor Mike Pence Visits HU

Indiana governor Mike Pence visited Huntington University on Thursday, November 6.

During the visit, he met with an economics class full of seniors. He addressed and fielded questions about a wide range of issues–the midterm elections, unemployment, Indiana’s economy, and his own presidential ambitions.

“Just his genuineness came forth in the classroom today,” said Sam Thompson, a senior. “Having the chance to sit down with students in an informal matter with all of the cameras off to talk with the governor.”

Aaron Tan asked if Pence was interested in running for President in 2016 or 2020. “He didn’t really give an answer. He says he wanted to focus on Indiana. That’s where his heart is and his passion is.”

Pence also met with a business class in an open-forum setting. At the end, the students prayed with the governor. 

A press conference was held at the university, during which Pence said, ““This is a great school, and it has a national reputation among Christian institutions around the country. I wanted to come here and encourage, but I also want to learn and look for ways that the state of Indiana can provide additional support for all the good work that’s being done here.”

11 Nov HU is a Champion of Character School

For the sixth consecutive year, Huntington University’s athletic program has been named a recipient of the Champions of Character Five Star Award. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 2013-2014 awards in October.

The award uses a point system and consider a variety of factors: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion, plus the five Champions of Character core values: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership. The Foresters also earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and minimal ejections during competition.

To receive this award, institutions must score at least 60 out of 100 possible points. HU earned 76 of the possible 100 points to rank among 60 schools named to the silver level (66th overall).

Eight of the ten schools in the Crossroads League received Champions of Character awards, putting Crossroads among 17 conferences to be recognized as a Champion of Character Conference.

St. Francis, a Catholic university in Fort Wayne, Ind., was the only Crossroads school among the 12 Gold Medallion winners (scoring 90 or above). HU, Bethel, Goshen, Spring Arbor, and Taylor received the Silver Medallion. Two other Crossroads schools, Grace and Indiana Wesleyan, qualified for the Bronze Medallion. Only Mt. Vernon Nazarene and Marian University didn’t make the list.

Huntington University competes in 16 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 38 NAIA All-America honors and 222 All-America Scholar Athlete honors.

09 Sep HU Sees 8% Enrollment Increase

Fall enrollment at Huntington University stands at 1,209. That’s an 8% increase over 2013.

The graduate programs grew across the board, increasing from 69 to 134 students. That included:

• 32 students (the maximum allowed) in the new doctorate in occupational therapy program.
• A 60% increase in the graduate counseling program.
• New graduate programs in ministry and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

Meanwhile, at the undergraduate level:

• There are 977 traditional undergraduate students, a 3% bump from fall 2013.
• The 87% retention rate of freshmen to sophomores is the highest in the university’s history.

Once again, it’s a diverse class.

• Students come from 35 different states, including such far-flung states as Maine, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Hawaii.
• 9% of the students are ethnic minorities.
• 41 international students represent 20 countries, including Argentina, Honduras, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia.

25 Aug HU: Among the Best in the Midwest

For the seventh year in a row, The Princeton Review named Huntington University one of the best colleges in the Midwest. The nationally-known education services company recommends the school as one of 159 institutions in 12 Midwestern states on its “Best in the Midwest” list for 2015. Read more.

13 Aug HU Launches New Pastoral Leadership Program

For over 100 years, Huntington University has been the primary training ground for United Brethren ministers. The new Pastoral Leadership program, launching this fall, will once again take the lead in training future UB ministers.

“The pastoral leadership program represents a true collaboration between the church and college,” says Bishop Phil Whipple (left). “Huntington University took to heart what the church leadership felt were the important elements of training pastors, and they developed a program to meet those needs.”

In fact, HU is launching three masters programs designed for people entering Christian ministry:

• Pastoral Leadership: foundational principles and skills for effective leadership in local churches. Targets local church ministers.
• Global Youth Ministry: the skills needed for effective youth ministry leadership in traditional settings, with ethnic populations in the United States, and in international settings. Targets youth ministry professionals.
• Global Initiatives: foundational principles and skills for effective cross-cultural ministry leadership in the church. Targets Christian leaders and missionaries.

These add to the existing master’s degrees in Counseling, Youth Ministry Leadership, and Education.

The three new programs will be offered in seven-week blocks, with a combination of onsite classroom instruction, online live instruction, and online recorded classroom training. Every class will be broadcast live and posted online for later viewing. This will enable students to learn in an environment that best suits their needs.

Bishop Whipple points out four ways in which the new program will benefit the United Brethren Church.

1. It is uniquely United Brethren. “The Pastoral Leadership program covers areas which the Church felt were priorities for training pastors.”
2. It gives our pastors much flexibility. “Through the variety of delivery systems, the program will allow a number of pastors to complete their master’s degree and while continuing to serve their church.”
3. It strengthens the UB/College bond. “The new program continues to help develop the connections between the United Brethren in Christ Church and Huntington University. We have some superb professors at Huntington University. It will be great using many of them in the masters program.”
4. It expands the influence of the UB church. “The broader church world will benefit from this solid program for training pastors, missionaries, and youth pastors.”

In 2010, Huntington University discontinued the pastoral track. It was a sad day; from the days when HU had a seminary to the Graduate School of Christian Ministries, the majority of UB pastors were trained through Huntington University. However, it was a budget decision, and a decision not made lightly. Huntington University had tried different approaches over the years, but none worked. It finally reached the point where, because the program continued losing money, they felt they needed to pull the plug.

But now it’s back with a whole new look. And the United Brethren denomination–its ministers, its missionaries, and its youth workers–will greatly benefit.

“I am excited about the potential of this program,” says Bishop Whipple, “and I’m eager to see other areas in which Church and College can connect to produce win-win-scenarios.”