In the News

Hesston College and Goessel High School to present collaborative concert

The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers and the Goessel High School Elbiata Singers will collaborate to present a concert at St. Fidelis Church: The Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria, Kan., at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. The concert is free and open to the public, though a free-will offering will be collected to cover program costs and for the ongoing work of St. Fidelis Church.

The combined choir will present a program of sacred and secular choral music with the theme “A Prairie Winter Sojourn.”

“This performance gives the choirs an opportunity to present a specific type of legato music within a sympathetic architecture,” said Bel Canto director Bradley Kauffman. “Bringing the legato voice together with a generous, live acoustic can be a uniquely inspiring experience. It is an aesthetic that inspired medieval and renaissance to modern composers.”

St. Fidelis Church was nicknamed The Cathedral of the Plains by William Jennings Bryan in 1912. The Romanesque church, which features German windows and works of art, Austrian hand-carved stations of the cross and an Italian marble altar, was completed in 1911. In 1971 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as a “building of architectural significance,” and was named one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas in 2008. The church is free and open to the public every day of the year, with mass being celebrated daily.

Bel Canto Singers and Elbiata Singers are mixed chamber choirs with a long traditions of vocal excellence in their respective instituions. Bel Canto is directed by Kauffman and Elbiata Singers by Renae Peters. Members of both choirs are selected by competitive audition.

A charter bus leaving from Hesston at 1 p.m. Jan. 27, will travel to the concert for anyone wanting to attend. Seats on the bus can be purchased for $25 by calling Hesston College Alumni and Church Relations at 866-437-7866. Reservations and payment must be received by Friday, Jan. 25.

Photo release - A weekend to be thankful

above Student soloists perform during the masterworks concert Thanksgiving evening.

More than 300 people, including about 40 prospective students, were guests at Hesston College during the 45th annual Thanksgiving Weekend Nov. 22 to 24. Guests traveled from 22 states for the weekend activities, which included Hesston College traditions of the Thanksgiving evening buffet, choral masterworks concert, talent show, Howard Hustle Two-Mile Run/Walk, music department concert and Thanksgiving Classic basketball tournament.

Photos by Larry Bartel

Howard Hustle - Participants in the 21st annual Howard Hustle Two-Mile Run/Walk start the day-after-Thanksgiving race led by an enthusiastic group of costumed students. More than 320 college students, Thanksgiving Weekend guests and local community members completed the route.

left to right Freshman Carley Wyse (Archbold, Ohio) and sophomore Rachel Miller (Hutchinson, Kan.) perform a song during the Thanksgiving Talent Show.Freshman Carley Wyse (Archbold, Ohio) and sophomore Rachel Miller (Hutchinson, Kan.) perform a song during the Thanksgiving Talent Show; Howard Hustle women's winner Mikala Heddin (below) of Hesston crosses the Howard Hustle finish line with a time of 13:05 as the top female finisher. Many community members, like Heddin, participate in the annual run/walk; Howard Hustle men's winnerSophomore Jacob Landis (Sterling, Ill.) crosses the Howard Hustle finish line. Landis’ time of 10:53 earned him awards for the top overall finisher and top male finisher. Landis is a member of the Hesston College Cross Country team.

World renowned baritone to make Hesston appearance

David Adam Moore, one of the world’s most sought-after operatic baritones, will perform a multi-media seasonal concert of Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Die Winterreise” (“A Winter Journey”) with pianist Earl Buys at Hesston College as part of the 2012-13 Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series at 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus.

“Die Winterreise” is a setting of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller performed in Schubert’s native German. Moore created a multimedia staging of Schubert’s masterwork with video projection, including English surtitles, as a way to help the audience visualize the very descriptive text.

“What’s special about this concert is that, as the performer, I’ll be free to use the entire stage and include visual elements to illustrate things that would normally be left to the audience’s imagination,” said Moore. “The text and music of ‘Winterreise’ are so full of imagery that it’s impossible to perform it or listen to it without seeing some sort of mental reel of what is being described.”

Moore rose to international acclaim when he made his operatic debut in the title role of Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” with the New Israeli Opera. Since then, he has performed in countless roles at major opera houses and with famous orchestras worldwide.

The “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” praised the Texas native for his “enviable swagger coupled with a subtle musicality and big, handsome voice.”

Moore is a graduate of the Oberlin (Ohio) College Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) – College Conservatory of Music. He was also accepted into the Seattle Young Artists program before making it big on opera’s world stage.

His performance resume includes work with companies in New Orleans, Houston, Seattle, Carnegie Hall, Japan, Germany, France, Ireland and more, starring in popular operas including “Don Giovanni,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Barber of Seville” and “Carmina Burana.”

An advocate of contemporary music, Moore has performed several works by American composers Martin Hennessy and Stephen Louis Bayne, most notably “9/11/01” at New York’s Guggenheim Art Museum. He is also an accomplished composer, whose work, “Kronos,” was featured in a performance by Delaware’s Oxymoros Dance Ensemble.

Aside from a rare appearance in south-central Kansas, Moore’s 2012-13 season features his debut in major roles with well-known companies, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” followed by a performance as Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!” He will also debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Prior Walter in “Angels in America” and make a return appearance with Arizona Opera as Mercutio in “Romeo et Juliette” and further performances as Kowalski with Virginia Opera.

Pianist Earl Buys has been a highly sought-after accompanist and coach for more than 40 years. His resume includes appearing in recital with hundreds of singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and South America, official accompanist for dozens of opera competitions, performing in every major New York City venue and employment with major opera companies across the U.S. and around the world.

Moore will also conduct a master class with voice students from Hesston College and Bethel College Monday morning, Dec. 3 at Hesston Mennonite Church. The class is free and open to the public. Contact the Hesston College Music department at 620-327-8141 for the time.

Single tickets for the David Adam Moore concert are available for $16 or $19 with discounts available for students and senior citizens.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College) or visit the HBPA website at www.hesston.edu/hbpa.

HBPA is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency which believes a great nation deserves great Art, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the cities of Hesston and North Newton and area patrons.

Hesston College to offer Bible course to community

Community members interested in ministry, church leaders and anyone with a general interest in the Bible are invited to join the Hesston College Bible Department for a three-weekend course, Prophets and Revelation, during the spring 2013 semester.

The class, taught by Bible and Ministry faculty member Michele Hershberger, focuses on prophetic and apocalyptic genre and the books of Jeremiah and Revelation over three weekends – Feb. 1 to 3, March 1 to 3 and April 5 to 7. Participants can earn three course hours.

“This course offers church leaders and community members a way to connect and interact with young adult college students in a new setting,” said Hershberger. “The books of Revelation and Jeremiah have much to say for our times right now – in a sense, we live under a Roman Empire today – what does that mean for us?”

The first weekend, Feb. 1 to 3, will focus on the biblical prophets and their importance both in the context of their day and also in today’s church. The second weekend, March 1 to 3, will center on the prophet Jeremiah, apocalyptic genre and the background of the book of Revelation. The third weekend, April 5 to 7, will be a verse-by-verse study of Revelation, a book that carries prophetic themes and visions, and discuss how the book can be used in preaching and worship.

Participants will learn the cultural and historical background of the prophets and the book of Revelation, how to read prophetic and apocalyptic genre and identify literary cues for interpretation to glean preaching topics and enhance worship.

“The course can serve as a refresher for pastors and Sunday School teachers on the prophetic books and the book of Revelation, give new ideas for sermons and worship themes and be the start for a new vision in a ministry setting” said Hershberger.

Hesston College offers a variety of degree and transfer options in Bible and Ministry, including two-year degrees in Bible and Religion, Pastoral Ministries and Youth Ministry. Hershberger is excited to share this course material with the wider community and church.

For more information including pricing for the course, or to register, call the Hesston College Bible and Ministry office at 620-327-8290. An audit option for the course is also available as well as scholarships and grants for students considering the Pastoral Ministries program.

Namesakes featured in Hesston College art gallery

Bob Regier and Paul Friesen, the namesakes for the newly named Hesston College Regier Friesen Art Gallery in the Friesen Center for the Visual Arts, are two of the six featured artists in the gallery through Dec. 13.

Other featured artists include faculty members Hannah Eastin and Lois Misegadis, 2007 graduate Mark Horst and 1967 graduate Don Lind.

The exhibit contains a variety of media from drawing and paintings, to pottery and wood and stone sculpture.

This fall, the Friesen Center art gallery was renamed to honor both Regier and Friesen, two former faculty members who fostered a 15-year integrated exchange program beginning in 1965 between Hesston College, where Friesen began the art program in 1956, and nearby Bethel College (North Newton), where Regier was teaching. Regier’s art teaching career began with Friesen’s encouragement. In the cooperative exchange, Regier taught printmaking, design, drawing and painting and Friesen taught ceramics and sculpture.

A reception and chance to meet the artist will be from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20 in the gallery.

The gallery is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

An exceptional place to start

Hesston College’s results from the 2012 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) are among the highest in the country and reinforce the college’s claim that Hesston is a great place for students to start their college career.

The survey measures student perceptions of their engagement in their academic work in five key benchmark areas that research shows contribute to learning: active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and support for learners.

Results from the same survey conducted in 2009 earned the college a number two national ranking from “Washington Monthly” magazine among other two-year colleges in terms of student engagement and overall success in 2010. At that time, Hesston ranked at the 97th and 98th percentile in four of the five benchmark areas.

In keeping with recent trends, Hesston’s results are on the top end of the scale.

The results from the 2012 survey surpass even the 2009 data, giving college leaders, faculty, staff and students alike much to celebrate.

All five of the benchmark areas for 2012 were above the top 10 percent of all 2012 CCSSE participants. In student-faculty interaction and support for learners, Hesston scored at the highest score reported by all 266 participating colleges.

“Our CCSSE results show us that we are finding success in the efforts we make to be caring and people-centered while providing our students with excellent academics,” said Dr. Sandra Zerger, vice president of Academics.

The college began using CCSSE in 2007 to help identify areas for improvement. At that time, the college scored only slightly higher than the national average in four of the five benchmark areas. Administrators and faculty decided to use the survey results to improve the learning experience for students, and the newest data reflects great success in those efforts.

“It is exciting to see the improvement we have made since our earliest experience with the survey,” said Zerger. “The survey results help us build a faculty team based on the factors of success.”

The steps toward improvement have been calculated and intentional at both a collective and individual level. The Dean’s office and faculty members collaboratively discuss the survey data, how it affects them and their courses and how to respond. Faculty also attend on-campus in-service workshops and off-campus conferences geared specifically toward those areas needing improvement.

“Our faculty care about improving the academic experience for students,” said Nelson Kilmer, chair of the science and math division and who analyzes and interprets Hesston’s survey results. “We always want to know how we can improve. We care deeply about our students’ learning.”

Hesston faculty explore their strengths and weaknesses even further by using the Individualized Developmental Education Assessment (IDEA) survey for at least one of their courses each year. The national survey measures student perceptions of the quality of individual courses and instruction.

When Hesston began using the IDEA survey in 2006, 11 percent of all courses were in the top quartile nationally when compared to both two- and four-year colleges. With the most recent survey conducted for the 2011-12 year, 76 percent of all Hesston courses scored above the national average, as compared to 50 percent for all IDEA colleges surveyed, and 38 percent of all Hesston courses scored in the top quartile.

The IDEA Institutional Report states that “A summary score of 60 percent or more of the classes above the IDEA average is considered exceptional.”

Students attest to the exceptional quality of their courses, instructors and overall educational Hesston Experience.

“All of my classes are small, so my instructors know me personally, know how I am doing in their class and are quick to offer help when they know I need it,” said Ezekiel Lazaro of Andover, Kan., a sophomore studying Aviation and Air Traffic Control.

“I have been to other colleges and have never felt such genuine interest from faculty and staff for my academic pursuits and personal life as I do at Hesston,” said Jennifer Kaberline of McPherson, Kan., a non-traditional first-year student in Hesston’s two-year RN nursing program. “My instructors use a lot of interactive projects and small-group discussions in class. I appreciate being able to hear different perspectives on topics from other students.”

Although college leaders don’t know if the college’s CCSSE results will be used for rankings again, the evidence of student satisfaction and learning is enough of a success in itself.

And until the next survey rolls around in three years, the college will continue to make Hesston College an exceptional place to start.

Former instructors write unexpected family history

It is not uncommon for people to discover new relatives at Hesston College. With ties to the Mennonite faith tradition and many of the students, faculty and staff coming from the same faith background, the branches of many family trees run all across campus.

Sharon Cranford, however, did not expect to find any cousins at Hesston College. As an African-American Baptist woman teaching at a college from a predominately white, European church tradition, common blood lines were the last thing she expected to find. But the discovery of just that led her to co-author a book, “Kinship Concealed: Amish Mennonites/African-American Connections” with her new-found cousin, Mennonite-Episcopalian Dwight Roth.

The book is historical fiction – documenting the historical multi-racial lineage of Amish brothers Jacob and John Mast who immigrated from Switzerland to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1750 with a fictional story line.

Jacob was the first Amish bishop to be ordained in the United States and had an expansive group of descendants in the Conestoga Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. His brother John left the Amish church and moved south during the time when slavery in America was at its peak. His descendants became Methodists and Baptists and include slave owners and slaves.

“Discovering this family connection and writing the book has expanded my view of family,” said Roth. “For many people, kinship systems, ancestry and the definition of family may be much broader than we realize.”

Cranford and Roth were both teaching in the social science department at Hesston College in 2004 when they uncovered the connection that went further than common academic pursuits.

Overhearing a conversation Cranford was having with another colleague and mentioning her great grandmother’s maiden name of Mast, Roth interjected that his mother was also a Mast. He went on to explain that Mast is a common Amish Mennonite name and his own grandfather was an Amish Mennonite bishop.

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, which covered the family history from 1750 to 1909. There, their suspicions were confirmed when they found both family lines.

“From the moment I first came to Hesston, I felt comfortable,” said Cranford, who taught at Hesston from 2002 to 2007. “I was raised with many of the principles and values of this culture, but would have never made the connection. It was wonderful to find out there was a kinship and reason I felt so comfortable. I believe our discovery was meant to be and this story was meant to be told.”

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.

The Mast family became multi-racial when John’s grandson Reuben, a slave owner in North Carolina, fathered a child with a slave girl. The child was Cranford’s great great grandfather, Charley Mast, who was ripped away from his mother as a baby and sold to his uncle, Reuben’s brother John.

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 have been a personal experience full of growth and understanding.

“This has been 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.”

“Stories like this have happened throughout history and continue to occur, but people don’t want to talk about it,” said Roth. “The complexity of kinship is often the elephant in the room, but we have decided we are going to talk about it.”

“Kinship Concealed” is currently being reviewed by publishers and Cranford and Roth hope that their family’s story will be available to all readers soon.

Hesston College students have success at vocal competition

Four Hesston College voice students advanced to at the least the semifinal round of competition at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Vocal Competition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nov. 2 to 3. Nine students represented Hesston College during the weekend competition.

Sophomore Cameron Ponce of Elkhart, Ind., placed fifth in the Sophomore Men’s Classical Division – the highest finisher for Hesston during the weekend – and advanced to the semifinals of the Freshman-Sophomore Men’s Musical Theatre Division. Ponce was also selected to sing at a musical theatre master class before the full convention. At Hesston, Ponce is a two-year member of Bel Canto Singers and Concert Band, both under the direction of Bradley Kauffman, and has been a part of all of the college’s theatre performances under the direction of Laura Kraybill during the 2011-12 year and in the current year to date. He studies voice with Hesston music faculty member Matthew Schloneger.

Sophomore Deni Brummer of Hutchinson, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Sophomore Women’s Classical Division. She is a member of Bel Canto Singers for the 2012-13 year, was a member of the Hesston College Chorale under the direction of Ken Rodgers during the 2011-12 year and has participated in theatre performances. She studies voice with Holly Swartzendruber.

Sophomore Broxton Busenitz of North Newton, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Freshman-Sophomore Men’s Musical Theatre Division. Busenitz is a two-year member of Bel Canto Singers and studies voice with Schloneger.

Freshman Josh Booth of Newton, Kan., advanced to the semifinal round in the Freshman Men’s Classical Division. He is a member of Bel Canto Singers and studies voice with Schloneger.

Other students competing from Hesston were sophomores Emerencia Dudas of Walbridge, Ohio, Bonita Garber of Bainbridge, Pa., Alisa Murray of Orrville, Ohio, freshman Rebecca Eichelberger of Geneva, Neb., and third-year student Kaedi LeFevre of Hesston, Kan.

The NATS Vocal Competition pits students against one another based on their age level and gender. About 450 students competed throughout the weekend, representing regional colleges and universities of all sizes from Division I to two-year colleges comparable in size to Hesston from Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.

“I was pleased at how well our students competed against voice majors from some of the top programs in the region,” said Schloneger.

A tradition continues with Thanksgiving Weekend

Hesston College will host its 45th annual Thanksgiving Weekend: A Family Celebration Nov. 22 to 24. The public is invited to attend several events that have become an annual Hesston College tradition.

The weekend lineup includes activities for all ages, including a traditional Thanksgiving meal, music concerts, a talent show, men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, a two-mile run/walk and a luminary walk at Dyck Arboretum.

“We welcome anyone who is interested in experiencing Hesston’s community or just wants to take part in the many fun events,” said Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations.

Hesston students come to campus from 29 states and 15 countries, and with Christmas break following only three weeks after Thanksgiving, going home for both holidays is difficult for many students. Instead of going home for Thanksgiving, the Hesston event brings students’ families to them, giving them the chance to experience the Hesston College community.

“Thanksgiving is a weekend for high school-aged siblings of our students to visit their brother or sister at college, stay in the dorms, meet their friends and get a glimpse of the Hesston Experience,” said Vice President of Admissions Rachel Swartzendruber Miller. “We want all of our students’ families to feel connected to Hesston and to their students’ experience.”

Prospective students and their parents can explore what Hesston has to offer and meet faculty during a majors exhibition from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 in the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center on the Hesston College campus, and enjoy the fun of the campus community during activities like the annual talent show.

Other weekend events of special interest include the Thanksgiving buffet prepared by Hesston College Food Service and hosted by faculty and staff members. The dinner will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22 in Bontrager Student Center. Reservations are required.

The music department will host several free performances throughout the weekend, including a choral masterworks concert of Mozart’s Solemn Vespers alongside traditional and contemporary anthems will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers, Chorale and Concert Band will perform works from their fall repertoire at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

Voice and acting students will perform a collection of musical theatre songs and scenes during a Cabaret Music Revue at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24 in the Northlawn Studio Theatre. Admission is free but tickets are required as seating is limited. Call the Hesston College Bookstore at 620-327-8105 to reserve tickets.

Students, faculty and staff will display their talents through song, skits and video at a 10 p.m. talent show Nov. 22 at Hesston Mennonite Church.

Seasoned and casual runners and walkers can work off their Thanksgiving feasts during the 21st annual Howard Hustle two-mile run/walk at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 23. An early entry fee of $20 is being offered to registrants before Nov. 15. The fee after Nov. 15 is $25. Entry fees cover t-shirts and a chip timer for each participant. Proceeds will be donated to the Hesston College Labyrinth Project. Individuals may donate a gift to the Labyrinth Project without participating in the run. Medals will be given to overall and age group winners, and several door prizes will be available to participants as well. Registration information can be found online at hesston.edu.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will host Northern Oklahoma College-Enid, Central Christian (McPherson, Kan.) junior varsity, Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kan.) junior varsity and Southeast Community College (Beatrice, Neb.) for the Thanksgiving Classic sponsored by The Twisted Cow in Newton, Kan., Nov. 23 and 24.

A complete weekend schedule and registration information can be found on the Hesston College website at hesston.edu or by calling the Special Events office at 866-437-7866 or 620-327-8109.