In the News

Theatre department announces 2013-14 season lineup

The Hesston College Theatre Department has announced its season lineup for the 2013-14 academic year, including drama, comedy and opera, under the direction of theatre faculty member Laura Kraybill.

The lineup includes Twelve Angry Jurors Oct. 3 to 6, Amahl and the Night Visitors Nov. 28 and 30, student-directed one-acts Nov. 29, Tartuffe Feb. 26 to March 2 and a theatre showcase May 9 and 10.

Twelve Angry Jurors, by Reginald Rose and adapted by Sherman Sergel, will be presented as the fall drama Oct. 3 to 6. The play tells the story of a jury considering the fate of a young man accused of murdering his father. Opening just as the jurors move to deliberation, eleven of the jurors agree on a guilty verdict, with only one not guilty. Many of the jurors have reasons for discriminating against the defendant, including his race, background and one juror’s own troubled relationship with his son. Throughout the play, the lone juror with a verdict of not guilty sows reasonable doubt in the minds of the other jurors, illustrating the controversial and difficult elements of the judicial system.

The theatre and music departments will collaborate for the college’s second presentation of Amahl and the Night Visitors, an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, during the college’s annual Thanksgiving Weekend Nov. 28 and 30. The college presented the opera for the first time in 2007. The opera, based on Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Adoration of the Magi, is known as a children’s opera and tells the story of the night of Christ’s birth from the perspective of the boy, Amahl, when the three magi stop to rest at his home.

Theatre students will direct their own short plays during the annual student-directed one-acts, also during Thanksgiving Weekend, Nov. 29.

Moliere’s 17th century comedy Tartuffe will debut as the spring play Feb. 26 to March 2. The play, also known as “The Imposter,” tells the story of a pious fraud, Tartuffe, and a man and his mother who have fallen under his influence.

Hesston College Theatre will wrap up the year with a theatre showcase featuring scenes and songs from various plays and musicals during Commencement Weekend May 9 and 10.

Ticket prices for shows vary, and tickets can be purchased through the bookstore in the weeks leading up to a performance.

Disaster Management receives financial gift

The good work and learning of students in Hesston College’s Disaster Management Program was rewarded with a $6,000 contribution to the Disaster Management Scholarship Fund from Good Charity, Inc.’s Disaster Relief and Aid Fund.

The gift will provide two $3,000 scholarships for students in the Disaster Management Program for the 2013-14 year.

Good Charity is a non-profit organization based in Southfield, Mich., that offers financial help to projects and organizations that benefit the community and the nation. Their support reaches to various causes with the hope of providing assistance to many in need. For more information, visit goodcharityinc.org.

“Dealing with natural disasters takes advanced preparation, training, strategy and responsiveness,” said Brian Maiorana, president of Good Charity. “Hesston College’s Disaster Management Program prepares young men and women for these challenges. Supporting students who will be our future first responders in this way is something we are very proud of.”

The Hesston College Disaster Management Program prepares graduates for a career in the non-profit or public sector of disaster response, relief and recovery. The program was started in 2005 in partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), a bi-national organization that serves survivors of natural disasters. Students in the program receive classroom training for disaster response management as well as hands-on experience through summer field experience placements with MDS and other relief organizations and service trips throughout the school year.

Projects have included cleanup from the 2007 Greensburg, Kan., and 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornadoes and the 2011 Minot, N.D., flooding, repairing and rebuilding homes on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, as well as efforts following fires and other events.

“This gift from Good Charity, as well as donations from many other individuals, businesses and foundations, shows tremendous support for the students in the program and in their future service to others,” said Russ Gaeddert, Disaster Management program director.

About 14 Hesston College students will be enrolled in the Disaster Management program during the 2013-14 year. In the program’s eight years, 48 students have graduated from the program.

Former instructors release book revealing multi-racial ancestry

Former Hesston College instructors Sharon Cranford, Wichita, Kan., and Dwight Roth, Hesston, have released their book, “Kinship Concealed: Amish Mennonites/African-American Family Connections” (Legacy Book Publishing, 2013) – the story of Cranford’s, an African American Baptist, and Roth’s, a white Mennonite-Episcopalian, unexpected shared heritage.

Part semi-autobiographical and part historical fiction, the book documents the historical multi-racial lineage of Amish brothers Jacob and John Mast who immigrated from Switzerland to Philadelphia, Pa. Jacob, Roth’s ancestor, stayed in Pennsylvania and became the first Amish bishop ordained in the United States while John, Cranford’s ancestor, left the Amish church and moved south during the peak of slavery in America. John’s grandson, Rueben, became a slave owner in North Carolina and fathered a child with a slave girl – the child became Cranford’s great great grandfather, Charley Mast.

The duo will celebrate the book and family connections with a gathering for descendants of Jacob and John Mast on July 29 at Conestoga Mennonite Church, Morgantown, Pa., near where Jacob Mast lived and ministered more than 250 years ago.

Cranford and Roth did not know each other until they were both teaching in Hesston College’s social science department – and they definitely didn’t know about their common lineage. During a casual lunch gathering on campus in 2004, Roth’s attention was grabbed when he overheard Cranford’s tell another colleague that her great grandmother’s maiden name was Mast. He quickly noted that his mother’s maiden name was also Mast.

Roth, who taught at Hesston from 1973 to 2010, had an interest in his family’s genealogy and asked a few questions of Cranford to see if they might stem from the same Mast branch. When Cranford answered Roth’s questions correctly, the two made their way to the college library to further explore their unexpected discovery in the C.Z. Mast Geneaology book. There, their suspicions were confirmed when they found both family lines.

It was several years after their discovery that Cranford and Roth decided their family’s story needed to be told. Both set out on research trips to the areas where their families originated – Pennsylvania for the northern Amish Masts and east Texas and North Carolina for the southern Masts – to talk with relatives still living in the area and visit cemeteries and other historical family sites.

Throughout the book, Cranford and Roth use imaginative history to look into what their ancestors’ lives may have been like – their struggles, pain, fears and celebrations.

“I have felt my great great great grandmother’s presence – Charley’s mother – as I have gone through this whole process,” said Cranford. “As a slave, not much is known about her, but as a mother myself, I can empathize with what it must have been like to have her child torn away. Writing about it has calmed my spirit. Our ancestors propel us. Because of that compelling spirit, they drive what I say and feel.”

For both authors, writing their ancestors’ stories was a personal experience full of growth and understanding.

“This was a profoundly spiritual and emotional experience for me, which is why I think it is about something larger than Sharon and I meeting,” said Roth. “Our ancestors wanted this story to be told.”

Aside from telling an interesting and unexpected story, Cranford and Roth hope their book will encourage others to be open minded to the realities of bloodlines that may exist even in their own families, but in an even broader sense, to realize how connections across races exist.

“I hope our readers will recognize the strange American phenomenon about color and how tied up we are in that,” said Cranford. “I hope they will take a more internal look at ‘self” and who we all are as a people.”

Books can be purchased for $19.95, plus $5 shipping and handling, by calling 316-461-8989 or emailing scran50452@cox.net.

Local book readings, signings and opportunities for purchase will be at 12 p.m., Sept. 1, at the Black Arts Festival Senior Luncheon at McAdams Park in Wichita and at 1 p.m., Nov. 16 at Wichita Public Library, Central Library branch.

Local estate gives for the future

Hesston College and the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains recently received generous financial gifts from the Harold and Evie Dyck Estate that will help both organizations in securing their future viability.

The Dycks’ estate was distributed following Evie’s death in April. Harold preceded her in death in 2007.

“We are grateful that Harold and Evie recognized the importance of organizations like Hesston College and the arboretum as a benefit to the community and as a way to serve many,” said Yvonne Sieber, Hesston College vice president of Advancement and Dyck Arboretum board member.

The Dycks donated the land for the arboretum to Hesston College in 1981 to be a place in the community where people of all ages could enjoy nature, find a peaceful place for reflection and encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of the prairie.

Thousands of people visit the arboretum each year for education events, entertainment or simple enjoyment of nature. Its location next to Schowalter Villa and a block south of the college makes it a convenient place to unify people across the age spectrum.

Likewise, Hesston College has about 450 students every year. In 2012-13, students represented 29 states and 15 countries. The students alone add to the local economy, increasing it even more as prospective students and their families visit, and during major events on campus that bring alumni, families and friends back to Hesston.

Although the arboretum is a part of Hesston College, the organizations operate as individual entities with separate budgets and their own board of directors.

“Harold and Evie’s vision of a place to appreciate the natural beauty of Kansas was ahead of its time,” said Scott Vogt, arboretum director. “One of their legacies is the arboretum and that legacy is established in the plants, landscapes, buildings and educational programs. They are an example of generosity and graciousness.”

Both the arboretum and Hesston College rely on charitable giving from donors to secure a long-term future and to continue being an asset to the community.

“We appreciate all the ways in which the community supports both the arboretum and the college – through annual giving, estate gifts and prayers,” said Sieber.

Hesston College Bel Canto Singers and MEDA create opportunities for inclusion

Hesston College and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) will both benefit from the sales of the Hesston College Bel Canto Singers’ new CD. The proceeds will be split evenly to provide student scholarships at Hesston and, through MEDA, assist small businesses in Latin America.

During the 2012-13 year, the Bel Canto Singers program, “Songs of a Wayfarer,” touched singers and audiences alike with its moving depiction of the immigrant experience of sojourn, isolation and solace, woven together with excerpts from the college’s common read, “Enrique’s Journey” (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007) by Sonia Nazario. The book is the true story of a young Honduran boy’s solo journey to reunite with his mother in the U.S. The 21-voice ensemble was so moved by the program, they decided to let the powerful message live on and benefit others by recording a CD, the proceeds of which will benefit the Hesston College Inclusion Scholarship and MEDA’s financial inclusion programs in Latin America.

In October 2012, Nazario, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author visited Hesston College to talk about her research for “Enrique’s Journey. In her presentation, she mentioned microloans as a simple way for the average person to help offset the economic destitution that provokes some Latin American parents to flee for the United States, leaving their children behind as Enrique’s mother did.

Kauffman watched the response to the program over the months and his desire to do something beyond creating connections to the idea of journeying grew.

“In presenting this program, I found a heightened level of emotional response from both students and audience members that I haven’t seen before,” Kauffman said. “Nazario’s words are compelling, and integrating and allowing a piece of music to converge with that kind of narrative created an unusually strong response.”

Inspired by Nazario’s recommendation of microloans, research turned up MEDA’s work – a timely and fitting opportunity for the group’s partnership. Both Hesston College and MEDA are Anabaptist/Mennonite-based entities, so Kauffman was familiar with the group’s work and in agreement with their ethos and practices.

MEDA works with local partners in low-income countries to improve access to capital and markets for small and medium enterprises – often family owned –to grow their business and create jobs. MEDA says these smaller businesses are the backbone of a nation’s gross domestic product, but they are often squeezed out of the market because of their struggle to receive loans from commercial banks, while microfinance institutions cater to very small companies.

The Hesston College Inclusion Scholarship was created through the college’s ongoing work with inclusion and diversity. As a campus that is home to students from 27 states, 15 countries and more than 20 religious backgrounds, Hesston College has been taking intentional steps toward being a welcoming campus to all students. The scholarship’s purpose is to improve diversity at Hesston College by mirroring the increasing racial and ethnic diversity within Mennonite Church USA. Students from underrepresented groups within the denomination will be priority recipients.

The “Songs of a Wayfarer” can be purchased for $15 through the Hesston College Bookstore by calling 620-327-8105 or going to books.hesston.edu.

Hesston College announces spring 2013 academic honors

Hesston College announced the names of full-time students – those completing 12 hours or more – whose spring semester grades earned them a place on the Dean’s List (3.90-4.00) and Honor Roll (3.50-3.89).

Dean’s List (3.90-4.00) Freshmen

Alyssa Becker – North Newton, Kan.
Stephen Cabe – Niles, Mich.
Denver Coblentz – Hartville, Ohio
Mason Davis – Mustang, Okla.
Mitchell Denlinger – Denver, Pa.
Rebecca Eichelberger – Geneva, Neb.
Kelvin Ferbianto – Jakarta Utara, Indonesia
Victoria Gunawan – Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia
Rachelle Haarer – Goshen, Ind.
JD Hershberger – Hesston, Kan.
Marissa Hochstetler – Strang, Neb.
Savannah Hofstetter – Dalton, Ohio
Makayla Ladwig – Wichita, Kan.
Joshua Landis – Sterling, Ill.
Nadia Loveta – Jakarta, Indonesia
Mitchell Martin – Milford, Neb.
Kendrik Mast – Harrisonburg, Va.
Elsa Miller – Millersburg, Ohio
Nathan Peters – North Liberty, Iowa
Jared Regehr – Moundridge, Kan.
Eyan Roth – Hesston, Kan.
Tyler Roth – Canby, Ore.
Amy Seibel – Lawrence, Miss.
Sarah Telleen – Haven, Kan.
Tien Tran – Hochiminh City, Vietnam
Hannah Weaver – Inola, Okla.
Wesley Wilder – Hesston, Kan.
Carley Wyse – Archbold, Ohio

Dean’s List (3.90-4.00) Sophomores

Brooke Beckerman – Inman, Kan.
Cory Bowman – Millersburg, Ind.
Angela Brockmueller – Hesston, Kan.
Neal Brubaker – Goessel, Kan.
Jill Eigsti – Goshen, Ind.
Taylor Ermoian – Hays, Kan.
Grant Fenton – Hesston, Kan.
Sarah Geiser – Apple Creek, Ohio
Adam Heisey – Elizabethtown, Pa.
Andrea Kelley – Archbold, Ohio
Ashley Kirkham – Marion, Kan.
Russell Klassen – Goshen, Ind.
Nicholas Ladd – Hesston, Kan.
Jacob Landis – Sterling, Ill.
Supassara Loobookraingkrai – Bangkok, Thailand
Olivia Miller – Newton, Kan.
Brandi Moore – Wichita, Kan.
Michelle Moyer – Monticello, Ill.
Mollie Nebel – Hesston, Kan.
Gregory Nolt – Partridge, Kan.
Keisei Ohta – Yokohama, Japan
Josanna Raber – Wooster, Ohio
Jennifer Rhoten – Wichita, Kan.
David Rudy – Manheim, Pa.
Alyssa Rychener – Hesston, Kan.
Paul Schoenhals – Archbold, Ohio
Kayla Stevenson – Meade, Kan.
Derek Swartzendruber – Shickley, Neb.
Rachel Tippin – Newton, Kan.
Courtney Unruh – Hesston, Kan.
Anna Waddell – Wichita, Kan.
Ron Wenger – Adair, Okla.
Mark Yoder – Wichita, Kan.
Monica Yosin – Central Java, Indonesia
Michaela Zook – Hesston, Kan.
Pierre Zook – McMinnville, Ore.

Dean’s List (3.90-4.00) Unclassified

Angela Azzarito – Wichita, Kan.
Jessica Isley – Wichita, Kan.

Honor Roll (3.50-3.89) Freshmen

Nadia Asprila – Purwodadi, Central Java, Indonesia
Nebiyu Bachore – Kansas City, Mo.
Garrett Byler – Belleville, Pa.
Timothy Clayton – Morehead, Ky.
Emma Cloud – Chandler, Ariz.
Morgan Cockrum – Falcon, Colo.
Abigail Hochstetler – Arthur, N.D.
Angelica Holguin – Newton, Kan.
Andrew Krege – Marion, S.D.
Victoria Kropf – Monroe, Ore.
Brandon Kutrubs – Brunswick, Ohio
Morgan Martin – New Holland, Pa.
Muna Mohammed – Ethiopia
Robin Morris – Hutchinson, Kan.
Thang Nguyen – Hanoi, Vietnam
Amy Nussbaum – Union, Mich.
Rebecca Rhodes – Arthur, Ill.
Taylor Schrag – Moundridge, Kan.
Kendal Slabach Brubaker – Harrisonburg, Va.
Rebecca Slabaugh – Goshen, Ind.
Taylor Wright – Salem, Ore.
Sierra Wyse – Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Jasmin Yoder – Sweet Home, Ore.

Honor Roll (3.50-3.89) Sophomores

Erin Albrecht – Sebewaing, Mich.
Asbel Assefa – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Joshua Burkholder – Warden, Wash.
Broxton Busenitz – North Newton, Kan.
Erika Dorsch – Whitewater, Kan.
Taylor Fritz – Atglen, Pa.
Bonita Garber – Bainbridge, Pa.
Traci Gronau – Newton, Kan.
Jenae Hershberger – Goshen, Ind.
Samuel Hinga – Nairobi, Kenya
Rhett Imel – Olathe, Kan.
Kenzie Intemann – Bessie, Okla.
Cody King – Wichita, Kan.
Mariah Martin – Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Jeptha Miller – Millersburg, Ohio
Alisa Murray – Orrville, Ohio
Logan Orpin – Canton, Kan.
Ashish Pathak – Katmandu, Nepal
Alec Stahly – Newton, Kan.
Tyran Stutzman – Newton, Kan.
Leah Unruh – Walton, Kan.
Victoria Wheeler – Wichita, Kan.
Nicholas Yoder – Millersburg, Ohio

Honor Roll (3.50-3.89) Unclassified

Philip Kauffman – Hesston, Kan.

Bel Canto Singers membership for 2013-14 announced

The Hesston College Music Department has announced membership for the 2013-14 Bel Canto Singers. Members are selected by competitive audition.

Incoming first-year students named to the ensemble are Rachelle Adrian, Mountain Lake, Minn.; Mary Bender, Harrisonburg, Va.; Spencer Berning, Newton, Kan.; Keilah Brokaw, Kalona, Iowa; Davis Cook, Goessel, Kan.; Galed Krisjayanta, Surakarta, Indonesia; Havela Lehman, Canby, Ore.; Matt Lind, Harrisonburg, Va.; Jay Marsten, Murpheysboro, Ill.; Karli Mast, Hubbard, Ore.; Holly Peters, Hesston, Kan.; Jason Schroeder, Harper, Kan.; and Taylor Zehr, Archbold, Ohio.

Hesston College students named to the ensemble for their sophomore year are Laura Baker, Protection, Kan.; Rachelle Haarer, Goshen, Ind.; and Nathanael Ressler, Mount Vernon, Ill.

Hesston College students who were part of Bel Canto during their freshman year and who will return with the ensemble for their sophomore year are Josh Booth, Goessel, Kan.; Rebecca Eichelberger, Geneva, Neb.; Morgan Martin, New Holland, Pa.; Cameron Ponce, Elkhart, Ind.; Rebecca Rhodes, Arthur, Ill.; Jeffrey Smoker, Harrisonburg, Va.; and Emily Taylor, Inman, Kan.

The 2013-14 year will mark 30 years of Bel Canto Singers, Hesston College’s premiere choral ensemble. Under the direction of Bradley Kauffman, the mixed chamber choir performs ambitious concert and touring schedules annually.

The choir has performed for professional clinicians including The King’s Singers, Charles Bruffy and Constantina Tsolainou and appeared with the Wichita (Kan.) Grand Opera in its tenth anniversary gala concert in 2011. During the 2012-13 academic year, Bel Canto performed at churches and schools throughout Kansas, including at St. Fidelis Church: The Cathedral on the Plains (Victoria, Kan.) and toured in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and was part of a mass festival choir which performed at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

Bel Canto Singers represent a broad sampling of academic pursuits, from aviation to nursing to music majors.

Explore Kansas! trip to venture south

Hesston College’s 12th annual Explore Kansas! trip June 14 and 15 for alumni and friends of the college will venture to historical sites and places of interest in Kansas and Oklahoma.

The trip will depart from Hesston June 14 and travel to Oklahoma to visit the Cherokee Heritage Center near Tahlequah. The museum features the Trail of Tears exhibit, Ancient Village and Adams Corner Rural Village. The group will enjoy dinner at a Bartlesville, Okla., restaurant before taking in the OK Mozart Festival’s Woolaroc Ranch Outdoor Concert of the Amici New York Orchestra performing the score from “Hollywood on Parade.”

Participants will spend the night in Bartlesville. June 15 events include the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve including the country lodge ranch of Phillips Petroleum founder Frank Phillips and travel to Elk Falls, Kan., to explore the falls, Prudence Crandall history, the unusual Outhouse Tours, a visit to Elk Falls Pottery with a potter’s wheel demonstration, a restored barn and bunkhouse, a Missouri oak timbers home and early 1900s restored garden and estate. The evening will conclude with a garden party dinner and show by folk singer Clint Gilbert before returning to Hesston.

The cost of the trip is $150 per person and is limited to the first 50 people to register. Cost includes charter bus service, meals, lodging and all admission fees. Registration and full payment must be received by May 31.

To reserve a spot or for further information, call the Hesston College Alumni Office at 620-327-8109 or 866-437-7866 or email alumni@hesston.edu.

Graduates commissioned to be promoters of peace and hope

above - Pastoral ministries graduate Kenzie Intemann, Bessie, Okla., receives his stole and a blessing from program director Tim Lichti.

Commencement speaker J. Nelson Kraybill, president-elect of Mennonite World Conference, filled graduates with hope for a world filled with shalom as they departed Hesston College during the May 5 ceremony.

Kraybill referenced the apostle Paul’s words to the church in Ephesians 1:16-23 to encourage the graduates that there is hope in the world and God is not silent.

“I do not cease giving thanks to God for you as I remember you today in my prayers,” Kraybill said. “And I pray with Paul that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you understand the hope to which God has called you, and the power of the gospel to transform lives and change the world.”

Kraybill, who serves as pastor of Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., and is president emeritus of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, shared stories of forgiveness and love to show that, despite the pain and suffering in the world every day, there is hope in faith and within faith communities. He challenged the graduates to live for shalom community and serve others boldly.

“In this world of violence and poverty and need, what if Hesston College graduates were known around the world as the best trained shalom activists, who are so effective because they are not afraid to die for Jesus?” said Kraybill. “What if Hesston College alums were ready to risk everything for [selfless] reconciliation?”

The church of Paul’s day served selflessly because of the hope they found in Christ’s teachings – even risking their health, comfort and lives to help the church grow. Kraybill commissioned the class of 2013 to respond to a world in need in the same way.

“As terrorism again touches this nation, as warfare festers in other parts of the world, as environmental and natural disasters befall the world that God loves, it is timely for people trained in disaster response to go out and give your lives in living sacrifice for the healing of the nations,” Kraybill said. “It is time for teachers and nurses, scientists and pastors, pilots and artists, computer programmers and historians to infiltrate the structures of government and business and politics and the church and subvert them for hope.”

“Graduates, God is not silent in our suffering world,” Kraybill continued. “God is speaking and will speak through you and act through you for the healing of the nations. That is the hope to which you are called. Go out from here with joy and be led back with shalom.”

President Keim conferred 161 degrees for the class of 2013 – 59 associate of arts degrees, 20 associate of science degrees and 82 associate of applied arts and sciences degrees.

above - Dr. J. Nelson Kraybill encouraged graduates to be carriers of hope and shalom as they go out into the world during commencement exercises May 5; Destavia Davis, Nacogdoches, Texas, receives her Hesston College diploma from President Howard Keim. Davis was one of 160 graduates of Hesston’s 103rd graduating class.

Individual student groups were recognized in special ceremonies May 4. Longtime Mennonite Disaster Service volunteer and member of the bi-national MDS Board of Directors, Paul Unruh, (Hesston) presented the message “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things” to students completing the Disaster Management Program.

Shiloh Jiwanlal, MSN, APRN-BC, a clinical nurse specialist in behavioral health service at Via Christi Health Systems in Wichita, Kan., and wife of 1980 graduate Rich Jiwanlal, presented the message, “Knock of Jesus,” to nursing graduates during the nursing pinning ceremony. The nursing class of 2013 marked the largest class to date with 54 graduates.

Kurt Horst, lead pastor at Whitestone Mennonite Church (Hesston), and a 1973 graduate, brought the message “Sufficient in Christ” for the pastoral ministries commissioning.

Aviation and air traffic control graduates were honored during a reception and encouraged by a message from Jonathan Rudy (Manheim, Pa.), father of 2013 aviation graduate David Rudy and 2011 aviation graduate and current flight instructor Solomon Rudy. Rudy is professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and scholar in residence at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.

Other weekend events included a voice recital by sophomore Emerencia Dudas, Walbridge, Ohio, student-directed one-act plays and a Bel Canto Singers concert as a precursor to their 30th anniversary tour to the east coast, including a performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

Graduates listed below photos.

Faculty, staff, students and families surround disaster management graduates for a prayer of blessing following a recognition ceremony May 4.

Nursing graduate Michaela Zook, Hesston, Kan., receives her pin from her mother and former nursing faculty member Marcella Zook. Zook was among the college’s largest nursing class with 54 graduates.

Graduates Asbel Assefa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Herane Girma (Alexandria, Va.) and Zenawit Nerae (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) celebrate their new degrees following commencement.

Associate of Arts:
Erin Albrecht, Sebewaing, Mich.
Atsushi Ambo, Niigata City, Japan
Ashley Beatty, Washington, Iowa
Seth Bitikofer, Saint George, Kan.
Timothy Bixler, Indianapolis, Ind.
Nathan Bray, Galva, Kan.
Neal Brubaker, Goessel, Kan.
Deni Brummer, Hutchinson, Kan.
Joshua Burkholder, Warden Wash.
Broxton Busenitz, North Newton, Kan.
Ian Croyle, Goshen, Ind.
Seth Davenport, McPherson, Kan.
Destavia Davis, Nacogdoches, Texas
Tate DeGraff, Runnells, Iowa
Joel Dick, Wichita, Kan.
Kaci Diener, Harrisonville, Mo.
Mallory Eicher, Berne, Ind.
Taylor Ermoian, Hays, Kan.
Bonita Garber, Bainbridge, Pa.
Hayley Gately, Roseville, Calif.
Sarah Gilman, Knoxville, Tennessee
Jordan Gray, Shreve, Ohio
Adam Heisey, Elizabethtown, Pa.
Jenae Hershberger, Goshen, Ind.
Preston Hornbeck, McKinney, Texas
Mahlon Jones, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Timothy Jordan, Hutchinson, Kan.
Yoshiki Kasai, Tokyo, Japan
Andrea Kelley, Archbold, Ohio
Cody King, Andale, Kan.
Justin King, Hillsboro, Kan.
Russell Klassen, Goshen, Ind.
Ashlyn Knepp, Millersburg, Ind.
Supassara Looboonkraingkrai, Bangkok, Thailand
Junau Louis-Jean, Les Cayes, Haiti
Mariah Martin, Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Alexander Miller, Beemer, Neb.
Michelle Moyer, Monticello, Ill.
Alisa Murray, Orriville, Ohio
Mollie Nebel, Hesston, Kan.
Keisei Ohta, Yokohama, Japan
Armond Patterson, Indianapolis, Ind.
Luke Ropp, Inman, Kan.
Alyssa Rychener, Hesston, Kan.
Alex Santiago, Burrton, Kan.
Marissa Schuett, Wichita, Kan.
Alec Stahly, Newton, Kan.
Jonathon Steele, Hesston, Kan.
Trevor Toews, Hesston, Kan.
Courtney Unruh, Hesston, Kan.
Leah Unruh, Walton, Kan.
Mason Unruh, Newton, Kan.
Matthew A. Weaver, Hesston, Kan.
Scott Weaver, Goshen, Ind.
Kaitlynn Wills, Kapolei, Hawaii
Jerry Yang, Fresno, Calif.
Melinda Yoder, Garden City, Mo.
Jacob Zehr, Peoria, Ariz.
Pierre Zook, McMinnville, Ore.

Associate of Science:
Asbel Assefa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Cory Bowman, Millersburg, Ind.
Maureen Brenneman, Wellman, Iowa
Karl Buller, Hesston, Kan.
Faith Denwalt, Anthony, Kan.
Grant Fenton, Hesston, Kan.
Taylor Fritz, Atglen, Pa.
Herane Girma, Alexandria, Va.
Andreww Harris, Lititz, Pa.
Keenan Jensen, Hesston, Kan.
Jacob Landis, Sterling, Ill.
Jeptha Miller, Millersburg, Ohio
Zenawit Nerae, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Logan Orpin, Moundridge, Kan.
Michael Oyer, Hesston, Kan.
Ashish Pathak, Kathmandu, Nepal
Paul Schoenhals, Archbold, Ohio
Derek Swartzendruber, Shickley, Neb.
Redfa Titihalawa, Jakarta, Indonesia
Matthew R. Weaver, Goshen, Ind.
Ron Wenger, Adair, Okla.

Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences:
Ashle Ashley, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Angela Azzarito, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Amber Baker, Newton, Kan., nursing
Alexander Bargerstock, Massillon, Ohio, general studies
Brooke Beckerman, Inman, Kan., nursing
Colleen Berger, Everest, Kan., nursing
Lori Bingham, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Logan Blackford, Orrville, Ohio, Bible and religion
Quinn Bowers, McPherson, Kan., aviation – professional pilot
Angela Brockmueller, Hesston, Kan., nursing
Heather Crawford, Newton, Kan., nursing
Angela Dickson, Hesston, Kan., nursing
Troy Dorrington, Hesston, Kan., general studies
Erika Dorsch, Whitewater, Kan., nursing
Jasmine Douangpraseuth, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Jill Eigsti, Goshen, Ind., nursing
Shelia Ford, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Samuel Foxvog, Tiskilwa, Ill., general studies
Sarah Fuller, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Jennifer Garcia, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Sarah Geiser, Kidron, Ohio, early childhood education
Ethan Gingerich, Kalona, Iowa, general studies
Khrystian Glover, Muskogee, Okla., general studies
James Godshall, Souderton, Pa., aviation – professional pilot
Traci Gronau, Newton, Kan., nursing
Alexander Hart, Derby, Kan., general studies
Martin Hernandez-Oviedo, Monterrey Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Whitney Hickert, Hays, Kan., nursing
Samuel Hinga, Nairobi, Kenya, general studies
Kathryn Ignowski, Derby, Kan., nursing
Rhett Imel, Olathe, Kan., aviation – air traffic control
Michelle Inman, Tustin, Calif., nursing
Kenzie Intemann, Bessie, Okla., pastoral ministries
Byron Jiles, Oklahoma City, Okla., general studies
Courtney Johnson, Walton, Kan., nursing
Esther King, Sturgis, Mich., nursing
Janae King, Gordonville, Pa., general studies
Ashley Kirkham, Marion, Kan., nursing
Chanel Knight, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Jacob Landis, Sterling, Ill., Bible and religion
Ezekiel Lazaro, Andover, Kan., aviation – air traffic control
Kaedi LeFevre, Hesston, Kan., nursing
Rebecca Lopez, Wichita, Kan. nursing
Louisa Martin, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Lisa McGuire, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Alissa Modlin, McPherson, Kan., nursing
Brandi Moore, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Gregory Nolt, Lancaster, Pa., nursing
Peyton Olden, Rose Hill, Kan., nursing
Brittani Peterson, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Alexis Porter, Newton, Kan., nursing
Josanna Raber, Wooster, Ohio, nursing
Courtney Reimer, Inman, Kan., nursing
Delmer Reyes, Hugoton, Kan., general studies
Tieyce Rhodes, Newton, Kan., nursing
Jennifer Rhoten, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Jason Robinson, Wichita, Kan., aviation – air traffic control
David Rudy, Manheim, Pa., aviation – professional pilot
Amanda Sandoval, Hutchinson, Kan., nursing
Ashley Sassi, Newton, Kan., nursing
Natalie Saypativath, Mountain Lake, Minn., general studies
Jennifer Shepherd, El Dorado, Kan., nursing
Amanda Smith, Partridge, Kan., nursing
Jason Stubby, Newton, Kan., nursing
Rachel Tippin, Newton, Kan., nursing
Carly Unruh, Wayland, Iowa, general studies
Felicia Unruh, Walton, Kan., nursing
Marissa Vermillion, Halstead, Kan., nursing
Anna Waddell, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Taylor Walsh, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Michelle Ward, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Rachelle Wenger, Adair, Okla., nursing
Lorena Weymouth, Subiaco, Ark., early childhood education
Victoria Wheeler, Wichita, Kan., general studies
Amber White, Inman, Kan., nursing
Carol Wingo, Oklahoma City, Okla., aviation – air traffic control
Mamiko Yamagata, Ebina Kanagawa, Japan – general studies
Kassidy Yeackley, Milford, Neb., nursing
Mark Yoder, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Natalie Young, Wichita, Kan., nursing
Michaela Zook, Hesston, Kan., nursing