In the News

College to use outdoor emergency alert system for upcoming campus lockdown drill

Hesston College will engage in a Campus Lockdown Drill as part of the college’s ongoing emergency preparedness efforts.

For this drill, the college’s carillon outdoor sound system will be utilized for the first time as an outdoor emergency alert. The carillon system will broadcast a verbal warning about the emergency situation instead of the usual bell chimes.

The Hesston College Campus Lockdown Drill will take place at 4:15 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. The carillon outdoor emergency alert will sound simultaneously.

Hesston College’s Crisis Management team has authorized the drill, and Hesston Police are aware of the drill.

College gears up for annual Thanksgiving Weekend

Hesston College will host its 48th annual Thanksgiving Weekend celebration Nov. 26 to 28. The public is invited to attend several events for all ages that have become Hesston College traditions.

Hesston’s Thanksgiving Weekend allows students’ families and prospective students a glimpse of the Hesston Experience and community. Prospective students are welcome for a full campus visit weekend, including an academic and Student Development open house on Friday, Nov. 27, campus tour and spending the night in the dorms. Siblings of current students are especially invited to attend.

A complete weekend schedule and registration information can be found on the Hesston College website or by calling the Special Events office at 866-437-7866 or the Admissions Office at 800-995-2757.

Weekend event highlights include:

The annual Thanksgiving evening Masterworks concert will feature the Hesston College Bel Canto Singers, Chorale and Chamber Orchestra for Joseph Haydn’s The Creation at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 26 in the Hesston Mennonite Church Sanctuary on the Hesston College campus. The 75-minute concert tells the Genesis story with featured soloists Holly Swartzendruber, soprano; Matthew Schloneger, tenor; Doyle Preheim, bass; along with an orchestra and an 85-voice chorus of students and community members. The concert is $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for Hesston College students. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at the Hesston College Bookstore, 620-327-8104.

Students, faculty and staff will display their talents through song, skits and video at a 9:45 p.m., talent show Nov. 26, at Hesston Mennonite Church. Admission is free.

Seasoned and casual runners and walkers can work off their Thanksgiving feasts during the 24th annual Thanksgiving two-mile run/walk: The Howard Hustle at 11 a.m., Friday, Nov. 27. An early entry fee of $20 is being offered to registrants before Nov. 20. The fee after Nov. 19 is $25. Participants will receive long-sleeved tech shirts and a race number. Proceeds will be donated to the Hesston College Wellness Equipment Project. Individuals may donate a gift to the project without participating in the run. Medals will be given to overall and age group winners, and door prizes will be given to winners and participants as well. Registration information can be found online.

The college’s music ensembles, Bel Canto Singers, Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, will perform pieces from their fall repertoire in a 2:30 p.m., concert Nov. 27, in the Hesston Mennonite Church Sanctuary.

A book signing and readings will be held at 4 p.m., Nov. 27, in the lower level of Northlawn. Faculty members will read from their recent publications, including My Calling to Fulfill: The Orie O. Miller Story, a biography by John Sharp; Andre Swartley from his fiction The Wretched Afterlife of Odetta Koop and an essay “The Case for Mennonite Horror,” and Michele Hershberger’s theological essay from the book Fully Engaged.

Weekend guests are invited to the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains’ annual luminary walk from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Nov. 27 and 28, with the theme “Tis the Season for Giving.”

The women’s basketball team will host Colby Community College at 6 p.m., Nov. 27 and the men’s basketball team will host Bethel College JV (Bethel, Kan.) at 8 p.m. Both the women’s and men’s basketball teams will host Pratt Community College on Nov. 28 at 2 and 4 p.m.

Alumnus’ pottery featured in Regier Friesen Gallery

Artist Issac Shue, a 2007 Hesston College alumnus from Harper, Kan., shares what it looks like to combine two mediums of art in his midfire pottery featured in Hesston College’s Regier Friesen Gallery, located in the Friesen Center for Visual Arts, through Dec. 10.

A reception and chance to meet the artist will be from 3 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 28, in the gallery.

“My passion for drawing quickly came to a halt when clay guided through my hands the first time on a potter’s wheel,” said Shue.

His pottery ranges from large bowls and platters to luminaries and vases, all offering a glow upon entering the gallery.

“Through many test runs, broken tiles, cracked pots, horrible glazes and many hours, the contour lines, human figures and textures that often found themselves in my work, have made their way back in a new medium,” said Shue.

After graduating from Hesston College, Shue went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Goshen (Ind.) College.

The Regier Freisen Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Historic drama coming to Hesston College stage

Hesston College Theatre will present four performances of the fall drama These Shining Lives, directed by Rachel Jantzi, Nov. 12 to 15 in the Helmuth Studio Theatre in the Northlawn Center for Performing Arts Education on the Hesston College campus.

Set in the 1920s, These Shining Lives, by Melanie Marnich, is the true story of Catherine Donahue and her journey as an employee for the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois. When Catherine can no longer walk due to radium poisoning, her family and friends support her as she physically takes a stand in a case that hit the Supreme Court.

“[This play] is about real women and actual events,” said Jantzi. “It tackles the theme of corporate greed at the expense of the workforce and the power of a few individuals to make a difference, in spite of the odds.”

Jantzi, in her first year as Hesston College theatre faculty, said she chose this show for many reasons, the main one being the students.

“As I stepped into this new position I was fortunate enough to already be familiar with the talent level of our students,” said Jantzi. “This is an extremely hard show: thematically, emotionally and technically. I knew this particular group of actors and tech crew would be challenged, but that they would handle the story beautifully and respectfully.”

The result is a gripping show that mirrors life.

“It’s hard and wonderful and tragic and funny and beautiful,” said Jantzi. “The snapshot style of storytelling in ‘These Shining Lives’ adds to the constant pace that family, friends, work and life in general expects from us.”

Show times are 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 14 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15. Doors open 30 minutes prior to show time. The show is rated PG.

Tickets are $10 for adults and seniors and $5 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased through the Hesston College Bookstore in person, by phone at 620-327-8104 or online. Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended due to limited seating. Tickets will also be available at the door 30 minutes prior to show time and are subject to availability.

Voice students compete at singing competition

Hesston College voice students competed among the best collegiate vocalists in a four-state region at the annual National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) West Central Region Vocal Competition Oct. 30 to 31, at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Twelve students represented Hesston College during the weekend competition with four advancing to the semifinal round.

More than 400 student auditions were part of the competition in classical and musical theatre divisions. Students from colleges and universities of all sizes in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming compete against one another in the same class level and gender.

Hesston students who advanced to the semifinal round were:

• Morgan Leavy, freshman, Freshman/Sophomore Women’s Musical Theatre Division, student of Matt Schloneger
• Anna Martin, sophomore, Harleysville, Pa., Freshman/Sophomore Women’s Musical Theatre Division, student of Holly Swartzendruber
• Emma Roth, sophomore, Goshen, Ind., Sophomore Women’s Classical Division and Freshman/Sophomore Women’s Musical Theatre Division, student of Holly Swartzendruber
• Caleb Schrock-Hurst, sophomore, Harrisonburg, Va., Freshman/Sophomore Men’s Musical Theatre Division, student of Matt Schloneger
• Sophomore Eleya Raim, Oxford, Iowa, was selected to sing at one of the convention’s master classes.

Hesston College music faculty member Ken Rodgers and staff member Karen Unruh provided accompaniment for competing students.

Hesston College named to NJCAA Preseason Top 25

Hesston College Men’s Basketball Team, coming off a NJCAA Region VI title and national tournament appearance, was named to the NJCAA Pre-Season Top 25 with the Larks coming in at #13.

The Larks are coached by Dustin Galyon and return key contributors Jake Hansen, Cody Halverson, Michael Lindauer, and Ty Jordan. Redshirt Freshman Jontray Harris is also expected to provide meaningful minutes. The team looks to defend last year’s Region VI title and hopes to make a deeper run in the national tournament.

The Larks open their regular season against Bethany College JV, Friday, October 30, 2015, at Yost Center on the campus of Hesston College.

For more information about #13 ranked Hesston Larks Men’s basketball.

President Keim announces transition

Hesston College President Howard Keim announced to the college community today, that he will transition away from his role at the college at the end of the 2015-16 academic year, concluding 11 years of leadership as the college’s eighth president. Keim will conclude his service in June.

“I am grateful for the trust that has been placed in me the last decade as I have served Hesston College,” said Keim. “I have always viewed myself as a steward, not an owner of the office of president, and it has been my goal to ensure students are well-served and the mission of the college was advanced and strengthened and for the future.”

“Howard has served the college well,” said Kelvin Friesen, Hesston College Board of Directors Chairman. “He has given tirelessly of himself to advance this institution. It is evident that he has viewed his role here as a steward, and that he has seen his work here not as a job, but as a mission. He has served with distinction and the Board is deeply appreciative of his work.”

During Keim’s tenure, the college has made great strides in many areas that affect the student experience including academics, facilities, financial stability and more. In a September meeting, the Hesston College Board of Directors approved a new set of strategic priorities for the campus community to continue making improvements as it moves into the future.

In the academic realm, since January 2005 when Keim began his role as president, Hesston College has made important changes to its general education curriculum and course transferability as well as adding several high-demand programs of study and extracurricular activities to meet student needs and workforce demands. Program additions include the recent launch of a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN) – the first four-year degree program for the college in almost 60 years.

Likewise, the college began measuring, evaluating and improving course standards, academic challenge and faculty instruction as seen in Hesston’s outstanding results from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and Individual Development and Education Assessment (IDEA) survey. In 2010, Hesston College was ranked the number 2 two-year college in the country by Washington Monthly magazine based on 2009 CCSSE data and showed markedly improved scores on the survey in 2012. Student satisfaction rates continue to climb as faculty respond to feedback in student learning.

Under Keim’s careful and visionary leadership, the campus has undergone several transformations. Keim helped the college recover from budget deficits, gain financial stability and increase the endowment. According to Friesen, under Keim’s leadership, Hesston has always been in the upper zone on the Financial Responsibility Index as evaluated by the Federal Department of Education – a difficult task for a small college.

The past 10 years have also seen an increase in student diversity emphasized by a formal Inclusion and Diversity Council charged with evaluating the college’s inclusionary practices for students from all backgrounds. Physical changes to campus include the addition of one new building and a new campus entry, as well as renovations to four others to increase efficiency and better meet student needs.

Starting with the 2015-16 year, Keim implemented a reorganized Student Development department which includes Residence and Campus Life, Campus Ministries, Student Success and Athletics. Student retention has increased over the last several years and the new structure is a response to maintain and further increasing those efforts.

“Howard’s commitment to Hesston College, Mennonite education and the broader Mennonite church have been a valuable gift,” said Carlos Romero, executive director of the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA). “He is a servant leader, and on behalf of Mennonite Education Agency, we are grateful for his significant contributions that will last far into the future.”

A search for the college’s next president will begin as a search committee is finalized. Ken Kabira, Board of Directors member, will chair the search committee. Other members will include members of the Board of Directors and the MEA Board, faculty, staff and representatives from the wider Mennonite church and local community.

Photo caption: President Howard Keim visits with sophomores who serve as First-Year Experience Scholars Luis Marinez Veloz, Daisy Correa, Jessica Farenthold, Karli Rodriguez and Jermani Thompson.

Hershberger awarded KICA Faculty of Distinction

The Kansas Independent College Association (KICA) proudly announced the selection of seventeen college faculty members to receive the association’s Faculty of Distinction award. Michele Hershberger, Hesston College Bible and ministry faculty member, was named Hesston’s recipient of the award. The honorees will be recognized at a workshop and award reception in Newton, Kan., on Nov. 3.

The KICA Faculty of Distinction program celebrates excellence and achievement among faculty at the 18 accredited private colleges and universities in Kansas. Honorees are nominated by the President and/or Chief Academic Officer of each KICA member institution.

Hershberger has been chair of Hesston College’s Bible and Ministry Department since 2000. In addition to teaching, she is the author or co-author of three faith resource books as well as curricula and articles for periodicals and academic journals. She has also been a frequent speaker and playwright for Mennonite Church USA youth conventions. During her tenure at Hesston, Hershberger took time to serve as adjunct instructor in youth ministry at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) (Elkhart, Ind.) in 2003, and taught Bible and youth ministry classes at LCC International University (Klaipeda, Lithuania) in 2009-10.

Before coming to Hesston, Hershberger served as youth pastor at Zion Mennonite Church (Hubbard, Ore.), conference youth minister for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Mennonite Church, head of the Bible Department at Western Mennonite School (Salem, Ore.) and project associate for The Giving Project for Mennonite Church USA.

She holds an associate degree from Hesston College, a bachelor’s degree from Goshen (Ind.) College and a master of arts degree in theological studies from AMBS.

2009 Hesston College Nursing graduate named KHA Healthcare Worker of the Year

Hesston College 2009 Nursing Graduate Lisa Harrelson, RN, a critical care nurse at Wesley Medical Center, was recently named a Kansas Hospital Association’s (KHA) Healthcare Worker of the Year. The Health Care Worker of the Year Award recognizes and honors the excellence of health care workers statewide.

Annually, each participating KHA member hospital nominates one employee who has made significant contributions to the betterment of their hospital by routinely going above and beyond the call of duty.

Due to her nomination for the award by Wesley Medical Center, Harrelson attended the KHA Convention held September 10-11, 2015, and while there learned of her selection as one of two Kansas Hospital Association’s Healthcare Worker of the Year Awards, receiving a trophy and a cash award of $500.

The award is well-deserved recognition for Harrelson who persevered to pursue higher education, overcoming the challenges of an undiagnosed learning disability. When she was applying for college, she suffered rejection after rejection from college after college but kept praying that God would show her the way forward, which he did with an introduction to students and alums from Hesston College.

“I was working at Wesley Medical Center and had the opportunity to work with Hesston students in clinical, and there are also some Hesston grads who work there. I asked everyone what they thought of the school they went to, and Hesston was the only school that everyone I asked said how awesome their education was. I kept hearing about the teachers and how supportive they were. Many people said, ‘Lisa, you would love Hesston because they will go the extra mile to help students learn.’ “

In addition to the KHA award for her award-winning, compassionate nursing, Harrelson was lauded in 2014 for on-the-job creativity with the founding of her unit’s “Because We Care” cart, which helps comfort patients and their families going through difficult times.

More of Lisa’s story from Hesston College Today

My True Potential

by Lisa Harrelson as told to Carol Duerksen

Everybody who graduated from the Hesston College Nursing Program in 2009 has a story, but Lisa Harrelson…Lisa has a story that must be told. Lisa has a story that testifies to the courage of a young woman with a learning disability, the mystery of God’s perfect timing, and the willingness of a nursing program to go the second and third mile with a student.

This story is told in Lisa’s own words.

God placed the desire in my heart to be a nurse at a really young age, but I didn’t know how I could ever be a nurse, given the obstacles I had to overcome just to get into a school. I only had a 7th grade education, and this was a deep wound in my life. My parents took me out of school because I struggled so much. I was seen as not paying attention, or lazy. I failed first grade because I had great difficulty reading and writing. No one had an idea why I was struggling. I thought I was mentally challenged, and I remember telling my mother that over and over. No one knew I had a learning disability.

When I was 18, I got my GED. I remember the day I went to go get my mail and pulled the envelope out and it said “pass.” I slumped down at the mail box and wept. I decided that day I would never share my painful education hole with anyone. I was going to try and get to college to be a nurse. I took some general education courses through colleges in Wichita. I inquired into three different nursing programs and was turned down. I didn’t have an SAT or an ACT test score. My learning disability was a problem. My 7th grade education was a problem. I had no algebra, no chemistry, no biology, no computer. I was missing four years of high school and these schools didn’t want to take that gamble on me.

I kept praying about this, because I knew God was calling and I just knew if he called, he would open up the right doors. I was working at Wesley Medical Center and had the opportunity to work with Hesston students in clinical, and there are also some Hesston grads who work there. I asked everyone what they thought of the school they went to, and Hesston was the only school that everyone I asked said how awesome their education was. I kept hearing about the teachers and how supportive they were. Many people said, “Lisa, you would love Hesston because they will go the extra mile to help students learn.”

I needed to hear that. At Hesston, I would be more than a number—my teachers would know my name and things about me that would help me overcome my education obstacles. I worried about finances and how much Hesston would cost. People told me there are many grants and things that Hesston offers, and kept encouraging me to check it out. Hesston is 45-50 minutes from where I live, and that was a long way. But God kept opening doors.

I will never forget my first campus visit to Hesston. Everyone, as they walked by, said hi. I felt like I was at home the minute I set foot on the campus. There’s a man who keeps the grounds—I don’t know his name—but every time I would see him he would smile or wave. The students are full of life and no matter how old you are, you fit in. I could go on and on about every area of the campus and the people who work in those areas and the differences they made in my life.

And the teachers…I can’t say enough about the teachers. You can do anything with the right support around you. There are many gifted teachers in this world, but there are few who will pick you up when you feel you can’t go on. This is not a job for them—it’s a true ministry. I can’t tell you how much healing I have received in this program. They helped me realize my true potential, not the messages I had told myself my whole life.

The day I graduated from Hesston was amazing, but I still had to pass boards to really be a nurse. As I sat down to test, I knew that no matter what happened I was going to keep coming back until I made it! Mid way through the test I could feel a little panic set in and I cried out to God, “Please help me now—I need wisdom!”

It’s kind of complicated to explain how the test is set up, but I can tell you that when I was done, I knew that I’d either done extremely well or really badly because I answered the minimum number of questions a candidate can answer – 75. I feared the worst. I told my family that there is nothing within me that thinks I passed. I waited a day and a half, and when I got the results, I cried the hardest I ever have cried. I didn’t believe it and I kept having my husband check the spelling of my name on the licensure information. I was in disbelief until the next day when it came in writing: Lisa Harrelson has passed. I am now an R.N. I am still in shock. It feels like a dream.

I have already been working for a week in the medical intensive care unit at Wesley. I am finding my past is no longer holding me back. I am free! I will always thank God, and I will always thank Hesston College.

Lisa Harrelson prays that God will put people in her path to whom she can minister. Apparently, God honors those prayers.

Gary Voth, Hesston, Kansas, was in his third week at Wesley Hospital in Wichita due to a pulmonary embolism (blood clot near the lungs). One medication that was supposed to help had left him in excruciating pain for sixteen hours, with damaged nerves, and unable to walk. The doctors recommended Gary begin another medication, the blood thinner Coumadin. That night, worried and uncertain about the future, neither Gary nor his wife Gladys could sleep in the hospital room.

Around 2 a.m., Lisa Harrelson entered the room. It was a busy night and they were short-staffed, but Lisa was determined that her patients wouldn’t know that. As a nurse assistant, she took Gary’s vitals, and as she did, she could see fear on the faces of the couple in the darkened room. She began to talk with the Voths about Gary’s medical situation.

“I shared about my husband having a similar medical scare several years ago,” Lisa recalled. “I talked about the fear I experienced with my husband having to be on medication for life and living with the fear that he may get another blood clot. Then, after awhile, I was afraid that maybe I shared too much. I really want to focus on my patients and not what I have gone through, but in that moment I just wanted to offer them some kind of hope.”

And she did.

“Lisa’s calm reassurance of God’s nearness and guidance, plus the practical ups and downs of living with Coumadin, were the right prescription of nursing care,” Gladys said, her voice breaking. “God’s timing was perfect. Even a year later, we still recall her confidence and reassurance that any medication has its uncertainness, but God is constant.”

Lisa and the Voths credit God with her placement in Gary’s room that night. At the time, she was working in a “floating pool.” Each night, when she arrived at work, she would go wherever the need was the greatest. She worked in 16 different departments. That night, she was where she needed to be.

Just as she was this past Easter Sunday morning. Near the end of the service, one of the band members, John Jayne, noticed what seemed to be the sound of someone snoring nearby, then Mary Shook asking her husband if he was okay. Buddy Shook’s head had dropped down and he was having difficulty breathing. A paramedic from the congregation was at his side quickly, and soon other medical professionals from the congregation came to pick him up and lay him on the floor.

“I wasn’t fearful as I jumped up from my seat to help,” Lisa recalled. I was thinking that someone had passed out because we had 900 people there and it was a little hot. As soon as I got to Buddy, it was clear that he had lost his blood pressure. His face was gray. We scooped him up and I started CPR. I recall the incredible feeling of hearing hundreds of people all around us praying for Buddy.

“I think about so many times at Hesston College I was told ‘you are the equipment.’ The teachers wanted us to know that we were not to rely only on monitors and machines but on God and ourselves as well. ‘Treat the patient, not the machines,’ they would say. That day I had no machines—I just had God and my training. I could have done everything possible and Buddy’s outcome could have been different. Buddy didn’t die—he came back to life. Now, every Sunday Buddy comes up to me and hugs me and thanks me. If I never have another opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, that Sunday was worth all the blood, sweat and tears of school.

“I have heard so many stories of how that Sunday changed so many in that audience. People made new commitments to God. One young lady made a decision to become a paramedic—she said that God had been calling her to do if for a long time and she was ready to answer the call. It changed all of us. Buddy had some sore ribs and that is taking some time to heal, but he tells me it’s a beautiful reminder of resurrection Sunday!”

John remembers a story Lisa told him a few years ago, when her husband was laid off from work and Lisa wanted to go to nursing school but didn’t have the money. “Someone in our church walked up to her and handed her a check for the exact amount she needed for her class, and told her that God said to give this money to Lisa! And a few years later, there we were, watching Lisa jump into action, being able to save Buddy’s life with the training she received because of the generosity and obedience of another. Wow! I am totally in awe of our Lord!”