In the News

Theatre department to present Tony Award-winning musical

The Hesston College theatre department will present the Tony Award-winning musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 and 19 and Feb. 25 and 26 in the Northlawn Studio Theatre.

The musical comedy chronicles the experience of six quirky middle schoolers competing in a regional spelling bee run by two equally quirky adults. The story plays with words, wit and humor to address adolescent experiences, struggles and family life. As the story unfolds, the young characters realize that success does not equal winning.

The musical marks the second Hesston College production for first-year director Laura Kraybill, who directed “Dead Man Walking” during the fall semester.

‘Spelling Bee’ speaks to society as it brings to light family issues and the obsession of winning, said Kraybill. “The often sensitive issues are dealt with through humor, which brings down defenses. It is also funny and upbeat in contrast to the fall production, and will give students and the community an opportunity to experience a range of dramatic styles.”

Like most musicals, dance, song and spoken dialogue are interwoven to create an entertaining environment. Audience participation and performer improvisation are built into the script to bring a unique factor to “Spelling Bee.” The Hesston College production also features an expanded cast to provide more student roles, a rotating set to create visual excitement and a cameo appearance by a historical figure.

The show features a small cast, but Kraybill is excited by the experience, natural humor and versatility the students bring to the stage. Most of the performers have previous acting and musical experience. Many of them are also members of Bel Canto Singers, the college’s top choir.

“The cast is made up of people with already funny personalities, who shine as extremely quirky characters,” said Kraybill. “The show gives these students an opportunity to flex their acting muscles and have fun.”

Audience members who attended “Dead Man Walking” will easily see the versatility of the student actors in “Spelling Bee.” Freshman Robert Howell of Newton, Kan., played the lead role of Matthew Poncelet, a convicted murderer on death row in Dead Man Walking. Howell plays Poncelet’s stark opposite in “Spelling Bee” – a sweet, innocent kid who makes his own clothes and wears a helmet for fear of bumping his head.

“‘Spelling Bee’ is one of the most popular shows to come out of Broadway in the last ten years,” said musical director and Hesston College music faculty member Matthew Schloneger. “We have a talented group of singing actors this year, who I know will deliver some outstanding performances. It’s guaranteed to leave your sides aching from laughter.”

The show also features the full orchestration used in the original production, including both Hesston College students and professionals.

“Spelling Bee” has a running time of less than two hours. It is rated PG for sensitive issues and some language.

Tickets can be purchased through the Hesston College Bookstore in person, by phone at 620-327-8105 or online at www.hesstonbooks.com. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors (65+). Tickets will also be available at the door 30 minutes before each show, and are subject to availability.

Tabor Mennonite Church to host Tony Brown concert Feb. 20

“Stories and Songs of Peace and Hope,” a concert featuring internationally acclaimed baritone Tony Brown will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20 at Tabor Mennonite Church.

Tabor Mennonite will co-host the event along with Hesston College as Brown shares stories from his travels as a peacemaker through music. The concert is free and open to the public, though a free-will offering will be received to for the Peacing It Together Foundation.

Brown, Hesston College sociology instructor and artist-in-residence, is an international promoter of peace. He uses music and the spoken word to bring people together across the divides of race, culture and religion.

“Tabor Mennonite Church has had a strong history as a peace church, and we continue to pray and act for peace in numerous ways,” said Corey Miller, Tabor Mennonite lead pastor. “Tony’s message of peace fits with our desire to have Christ’s peace flow out from us to the world. We trust that his music and message will inspire us all to be God’s faithful peace-makers.”

Brown is the founder of Peacing It Together Foundation, an organization that serves the global community as a resource for peace and social justice. Brown’s travels have taken him to countries such as Bosnia, Moldova, Northern Ireland, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Philippines, China, Japan, South Korea and Colombia, where he uses music and the spoken word to uplift areas of despair to hope. He has seen music transform and heal, and the concert offers audience members an opportunity to experience that transformation as well.

“The stories and songs are meant to inspire, educate and challenge all of us in our daily quest to live peace-centered lives,” says Brown.

Hesston College music faculty member Ken Rodgers, who has traveled with Brown on some of his overseas trips, will provide accompaniment.

A reception and Hesston College update will follow the concert.

Tabor Mennonite Church is located three miles south and one mile east of Goessel at 891 Chisholm Trail, Newton Kan.

Hesston College hosts Know Jesus event

About 180 junior high students and sponsors from Mennonite churches across Kansas and as far away as Milford, Neb., descended on the Hesston College campus Jan. 29 and 30 for the biennial Know Jesus event.

The event, organized by the Western District Conference of Mennonite Church USA and hosted by Hesston College, is a weekend-long retreat for junior high students to worship together and learn more about their Anabaptist roots.

“Know Jesus encourages junior high students to grow in their walk with Christ,” said Hallie Cable, an organizer for the weekend and a junior high youth sponsor from Kingman (Kan.) Mennonite Church. “It is important for the youth to explore their personal faith, and learn about the struggles of the early Anabaptists.”

The speaker for the weekend was Joel Schroeder, Pastor of Youth and Young Adults at First Mennonite Church in Newton, Kan., whose theme, “Seriously Ridiculous!” was taken from Colossians 3:1-4.

Schroeder’s message encouraged the youth to take a step of faith in times when it is easier to cling to the familiar and comfortable, and allow God to work in their lives.

“We have a seriously ridiculous God with a seriously ridiculous love for us that we can plug into, and he will do some seriously ridiculous things in our lives,” said Schroeder.

A highlight of the weekend included the Anabaptist Game, which gave students a glimpse of the persecution that early Anabaptists suffered for their faith. The youth searched for eight “safe houses” on campus where they heard the stories of famous Anabaptists like Pilgrim Marpeck, Michael Sattler, Dirk Willems and Conrad Grebel. As the youth traveled between safe houses they tried to evade the persecutors, who took them to “the dungeon” when captured.

About 100 Hesston College students, faculty and staff members were involved in game operations, playing the parts of tauferyagers, or Anabaptist chasers, and portraying the early Anabaptist and state church leaders.

A group of youth from Eden Mennonite Church in Moundridge, Kan., said they were not familiar with the stories of their early Anabaptist ancestors, and enjoyed discovering the foundations of their Anabaptist faith.

Tracey Funk, an eighth grader from Southern Hills Mennonite Church in Topeka, Kan., also enjoyed learning the Anabaptist stories.

“Until this weekend, I didn’t know that Menno Simons was a Catholic priest,” said Funk.

Hesston College students Simon Foote of Doylestown, Ohio, Josiah Hershberger of Richmond, Va., Laura Unruh of Goessel, Kan., Anna Yoder of Garden City, Mo., and Tyler Yoder of Bay Port, Mich., led music for the weekend.

Hesston College announces fall 2010 honor roll

Hesston College announced the names of full-time students whose fall semester grades earned them a place on the Dean’s List (3.90 to 4.00) and Honor Roll (3.50 to 3.89).

Hesston College – Academic Honors – Fall Semester 2010 (Full-time students completing 12 hours or more)

Dean’s List 3.90 – 4.00
Freshmen
Zachary Baumgartner – Hesston, Kan.
Harrison Beachey – New Paris, Ind.
Jacob Gayer – Hutchinson, Kan.
Hayden Goerzen – Newton, Kan.
Ashley Hager – West Liberty, Ohio
Jade Hathaway – Goshen, Ind.
Erin Hershey – Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Philip Hochstetler – Strang, Neb.
Jared Jenkins – Westminster, Colo.
Jonathan King – Hillsboro, Kan.
Danielle Klotz – Wakarusa, Ind.
Kendra Litwiller – Hopedale, Ill.
Maria Martin – Harrisonburg, Va.
Courtney Mast – Weatherford, Okla.
Kara Meyer – Orrville, Ohio
Katie Miller – Rio Rancho, N.M.
Kaela Moore – Inman, Kan.
Joel Murray – Hesston, Kan.
Hannamae Olsen – Golden, Colo.
Krista Rittenhouse – Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
Mallory Schroeder – Newton, Kan.
Rebecca Short – Archbold, Ohio
Katharine Steury – New Paris, Ind.
Issac Tice – Salisbury, Pa.
Alyssa Trevino – Halstead, Kan.
Emily Wagner-Davis – Roseville, Calif.
Grace Yoder – Bellefontaine, Ohio

Dean’s List 3.90 – 4.00
Sophomores
Darin Bontrager – Archbold, Ohio
Amy Brubaker – Goessel, Kan.
Lucinda Eash – Haven, Kan.
Katie Fiedler – Newton, Kan.
Laura Good – Fisher, Ill.
Kirsti Graffenberger – Albany, Ore.
Hannah Hoffman – Bendena, Kan.
Alyssa Horst – Orrville, Ohio
Julisa Jeske – Royal City, Wash.
Makenzie Jones – Hyde Park, Utah
Shayna Kaufman – McPherson, Kan.
Megan Leatherman – Hesston, Kan.
Elizabeth Miller – Riverside, Iowa
Yeji Mun – Kyoungsangn, South Korea
Sheralynn Neff – North Newton, Kan.
Michelle Powell – Derby, Kan.
John Schoenhals – Archbold, Ohio
Kelsey Schrock – Wellman, Iowa
Yohanes Setiadi – East Java, Indonesia
Stephanie Swartzendruber – Shickley, Neb.
Rachel Weaver – Inola, Okla.
Teresa Wiebe – Durham, Kan.
Elliot Wilder – Hesston, Kan.
Serena Williams – Hesston, Kan.
Allison Yates – Hesston, Kan.
Debra Yoder – Apple Creek, Ohio
Heidi Zehr – Tiskilwa, Ill.

Dean’s List 3.90 – 4.00
Unclassified
Frank Breugem – Hillsboro, Kan.
Bryan Miller – Hesston, Kan.

Honor Roll 3.50 – 3.89
Freshmen
Claudia Baca – Dodge City, Kan.
Hannah Bachman – Tiskilwa, Ill.
Jesse Baer – Villa Ridge, Mo.
Brocia Beachy – Wolcottville, Ind.
Ashley Boden – Marion, Kan.
Ryan Buckwalter – Hesston, Kan.
Cody Cook – Clayton, Kan.
Shuvo Das – Dhaka, Bangladesh
Erika Dorsch – Whitewater, Kan.
Logan Duerksen – Newton, Kan.
Angela Entz – Whitewater, Kan.
Caleb Gingerich – Kalona, Iowa
Kenneth Graber – Stryker, Ohio
Robert Howell – Newton, Kan.
Hyungjae Kim – Seoul, South Korea
Kush Lengacher – New Providence, Pa.
Xing Li – Hubei, China
Matthew Malo – Newton, Kan.
Saralyn Mast – Ephrata, Pa.
Ronald Moyo – North Newton, Kan.
Leah Mueller – Halstead, Kan.
Israel Negussie – Atlanta, Ga.
Saki Nozaki – Tokyo, Japan
Cynde Postma – Denver, Ore.
Stephen Quenzer – Visalia, Calif.
Stefanie Ruhs – North Rhine, Germany
Mara Short-Miller – Bellingham, Wash.
Emma Siegfried – Lancaster, Pa.
Jason Stubby – Newton, Kan.
Kara Stutzman – Hesston, Kan.
David Tedone – North Richland Hills, Texas
Elyse Terry – Bluffton, Ohio
Sarah Unruh – Durham, Kan.
Taylor Waidelich – Stryker, Ohio
Lauren Weaver- Hesston, Kan.

Honor Roll 3.50 – 3.89
Sophomores
Chelsey Alden – Broomfield, Colo.
Justin Davis – Topeka, Kan.
Lauren Franz – Hesston, Kan.
Austin Goering – Moundridge, Kan.
Mandy Kanagy – Timberville, Va.
Sarah Lederman – Middlebury, Ind.
Allison Martin – Crawfordsville, Iowa
Andrew Miller – Marion, S.D.
Tyler Mitchem – North Newton, Kan.
John Oyer – Hesston, Kan.
Andrea Pankratz – Buhler, Kan.
Shawnti Peachey – Corvallis, Ore.
Leah Rittenhouse – Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
Alex Roth – Hesston, Kan.
Solomon Rudy – Manheim, Pa.
Josh Snyder – Kalona, Iowa
Jodi Stutzman – Middlebury, Ind.
Ryan Wengerd – Goshen, Ind.

Photo release: Hesston College celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Week

Hesston College Pastoral Ministries student CJ Chukwukelu (right) and his wife Ude perform at an on-campus coffeehouse Jan. 21. The coffeehouse was one of several events at Hesston College Jan. 17 to 21 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Week. Other events included conversations with nationally-recognized human rights and environmental activist Rosina Philipe from Grand Bayou, La., a gospel concert by Voices of Joy choir from Dell Rose Methodist Church in Wichita, Kan., and presentations on various aspects of Dr. King’s life and work by guest speakers and faculty members.

Student’s fundraising efforts make a difference in Haiti

For Hesston College freshman, Saralyn Mast of Ephrata, Pa., the decision to cut Christmas break at home short by one week for a service opportunity was an easy one.

While most of her classmates were still enjoying the comforts of home, Saralyn traveled to Haiti with Life Connection Mission where she, four teammates and a leader spent a week ministering to Haitian children.

“I have always been attracted to that part of the world and to missions,” said Saralyn. “When the earthquake happened in Haiti I felt like that is where I needed to go.”

At the time of the earthquake, Saralyn had graduated from high school and was taking a year off of school to do missions work. She was already planning to leave for three months in India. Her time working with orphans in India would only fuel the desire to continue missions work.

Almost a year after Saralyn’s initial pull to Haiti, she set her feet on Haitian soil.

Traveling to another country requires a significant amount of money, and for a 19-year-old college student, extra money is not always readily available. Fundraising was essential for Saralyn, but being in Kansas meant she was more than 1,200 miles away from home and the people who know her best.

As it would turn out, she didn’t need to worry about fundraising in a new place. Hesston College students, faculty and staff stepped up to help make Saralyn’s call to serve in Haiti a reality.

“I did fundraising back home and people at my church donated, but when I started the fundraisers at Hesston College I didn’t have high expectations, because I wasn’t sure how involved people would want to be,” said Saralyn. “Because of Hesston College I was able to raise more than what I needed to fund the trip, which was such an unexpected gift. I feel blessed to have received that encouragement.”

With the help of her academic advisor, Kevin Wilder, Saralyn solicited the help of her new community. She recruited friends to be a part of a Servant Sale, in which students donated their time and physical labor to faculty or staff. The money they would have been paid for their work funded the trip. When the Peace and Service Club did its annual leaf raking in the wider Hesston community, one person wanted to compensate the students for their time and kindness, but the club insisted he give his donation to Saralyn’s trip instead.

Wilder even agreed to donate his hairstyle to the trip with a penny competition. For one weekend, students, faculty and staff voted with money for the hairstyle they wanted to see Wilder sport. The “Mr. T.” won by a landslide, so Wilder cut his hair into a mohawk to resemble the famous actor from the 1980s.

“Saralyn is an excellent student and an even better person,” said Wilder. “She is thoughtful, joyful and caring. I know this experience in Haiti is only the beginning of her commitment to service.”

The money Saralyn raised was for more than just getting her to Haiti and paying for meals or lodging. In fact, the team stayed in tents similar to the ones thousands of Haitians have been living in since the earthquake or in homes associated with the mission organization. The extra money was instead used to provide meals and clothes for Haitian children.

The first three days in Haiti, Saralyn and her team worked at a school in the mountain village of Charrier where they ran a format similar to Vacation Bible School. They told Bible stories, made crafts, played games and sang songs with the children. The team planned for about 50 children to attend, but almost 100 children showed up every day. Some of the money they raised was used to provide a meal of rice, beans and beef for almost 200 people at the school.

The rest of the week was spent in the coastal town of Montrious distributing t-shirts in a tent city and playing with the children at two orphanages. One of the orphanages, run by a local pastor and his wife, supported 45 children. Thanks to the unexpected success in fundraising, the team realized they had enough money remaining to provide another meal.

“There were times when these children wouldn’t eat for three days,” said Saralyn. “We had intentionally raised enough money to provide a meal at the school, and we were fortunate to have enough money left over to provide a meal for the children at the orphanage as well.”

Now that she’s back in school mode, Saralyn has begun to think about future opportunities in missions. She is leaning toward a major in psychology because she says it is more than just a job and something she can use in everyday life.

“I really enjoy missions work and I want to continue,” said Saralyn. “Hesston College is providing me with countless opportunities to interact with people through dorm life, intramurals and clubs. I am getting life learning, not just book learning, for which I am grateful.”

Saralyn is a member of Ephrata Mennonite Church and the daughter of David and Karen Mast.

Excel Industries’ gift to Erb Hall rooted in father’s philosophy of business, giving

Brothers Bob and Paul Mullet remember well the station wagon that brought their family to Hesston in 1958. Their parents, Roy and Bess Mullet, were moving the family from a farm in Montana to Kansas so their five sons wouldn’t have to commute 25 miles to attend high school in the dead cold of an eastern Montana winter.

At the time, the Mullet family attended Red Top Mennonite Church in Bloomfield, Mont., where Bob estimates about 10 percent of the church’s members were attending Hesston Academy or Hesston College. So Roy figured he and Bess could solve the problem of the kids commuting to school by buying a place in Hesston where the sons could be close to family and educational opportunities.

Little did they, or their new neighbors, know the impact the Mullet family would have on their new community. It’s been a half century since the Mullets made that move, and with Roy’s death on Jan. 14, many at the college and in the community are reflecting on the legacy he has left.

The family’s most significant influence has come by way of Excel Industries, a manufacturer of industrial and residential lawnmowers located in Hesston. In addition to being one of the largest employers in Harvey County, Excel has established a charitable foundation that allows the company to give roughly 10 percent of its profits each year to philanthropic efforts – most of which are focused in the local community.

Excel made the lead gift of $500,000 for the Erb Hall Renovation Project, and it’s a gift that reflects the long-standing relationship between the Mullet family, Hesston College and Excel Industries. The connection goes beyond all five of Roy and Bess’s sons attending either the academy or the college. The college played a role in getting Roy connected with the company back in 1960.

After working at the local turkey plant and Hesston Corporation, among other places, Roy decided to enroll in classes at Hesston College. It had been 20 years since he graduated high school. Roy was quite the senior to many of his classmates and only two years ahead of his oldest son, Dave, but still he persisted and took his coursework seriously.

One of Roy’s instructors, Dr. Cal Redekop, was working with a local group of men who were establishing what would become Excel. Cal was impressed by Roy, and the two became more like friends than professor and student, Bob says.

“It was through that connection with Cal that Dad got involved at Excel,” said Bob, now vice president at Excel. “We still run the company with the same philosophy Dad and Cal established in the beginning. Even though we’re not totally family owned, we strive to be a family oriented company that has maintained a philosophy of giving and a connection to Hesston College.”

With the start of the campaign to raise funds for the renovation of dorm rooms and lounges in Erb Hall, Hesston College President Howard Keim and Vice President for Advancement Yvonne Sieber contacted Excel’s foundation about making a gift.

“The timing was right,” said Paul, President and CEO at Excel. “We had a buildup of funds that we wanted to give and use for something that really needed to get done.”

Though none of the Mullets lived in Erb Hall (it wasn’t the norm for “townies,” or local kids, to live on campus back then), Bob and Paul each have positive memories connected with Erb. Plus, a show-and-tell featuring crumbling, rusty pipes with Hesston’s Campus Facilities Director Jim Mason convinced them of the project’s importance.

“The need really struck a chord with me,” Bob says. “This is more my personal philosophy, but Hesston College has a unique product in the opportunities it provides for first-year students to be involved in a plethora of activities, and our father always had a philosophy of wanting to support the college. Excel’s gift to this project allowed us to continue his legacy.”

HBPA to feature “the world’s reigning male chorus”

A popular vocal ensemble – which also happens to be known as “the world’s reigning male chorus” (The New Yorker) – makes its fifth appearance in the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series.

Chanticleer comes to the Memorial Hall stage on the Bethel College campus Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.

“Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts has a long tradition of presenting the world’s finest choral groups, and Chanticleer forms a significant part of that heritage,” said HBPA director Matthew Schloneger. “They remain the world’s pre-eminent male a cappella chorus, and it is a great privilege and a testament to our community’s love of excellent vocal music that we’ve been able to bring them back so many times.”

In addition to Chanticleer’s concert appearance, the group’s music director, Matthew Oltman, will present a free public choral master class on the Memorial Hall stage from 4-5 p.m. on the day of the concert. Performing ensembles will include Bethel College’s Concert Choir, directed by William Eash, its student-organized male vocal ensemble Open Road, and Hesston College’s Bel Canto Singers, directed by Bradley Kauffman. The master class is free and open to the public.

The San Francisco-based Chanticleer is now in its 33rd concert season and is scheduled to perform more than 100 concerts in 2010-11, in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and the National American Choral Directors Association conference, Chicago. The HBPA event is Chanticleer’s only Kansas concert in the current tour.

Chanticleer – whose name comes from that of “the clear-singing rooster” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – is known worldwide as “an orchestra of voices” for its seamless blend of 12 male voices, ranging from soprano (countertenor) to bass, and its original interpretations of vocal literature from Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony and Romantic art songs to jazz, gospel, world music and new music.

Some recent highlights for Chanticleer have included being named “Ensemble of the Year” by Musical America in 2008; making its debut tour in China in 2009 and returning to the country in June 2010 as part of the San Francisco delegation to Expo 2010 in Shanghai; appearing on public radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion”; and, during the just-passed Christmas season, releasing A Chanticleer Christmas, a collection of favorite Christmas music from live performances as broadcast by American Public Media.

Chanticleer received the inaugural Dale Warland/Chorus America Commissioning Award in 2008, recognizing the group’s longstanding commitment to commissioning and performing new works. Among the 70 composers that Chanticleer has commissioned throughout its history are Chen Yi, Brent Michael Davids, Guido López-Gavilán, William Hawley, Jeeyoung Kim, Tania León, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Shulamit Ran, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Jan Sandstrom, Steven Stucky, John Tavener, Augusta Read Thomas and Janike Vandervelde.

Also in 2008, Chanticleer was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. It received the Education and Outreach Award from Chorus America in 2010 and is on Billboard magazine’s Top 10 list of best-selling classical artists.

Chanticleer has several Grammy® awards to its credit, including one in 2000, for Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without a conductor) for the album Colors of Love, and two in 2002, for Classical Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without a conductor) and Best Classical Contemporary Composition for the world-premiere recording of John Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises.

Tenor Louis Botto founded Chanticleer in 1978, sang in the ensemble until 1989 and served as artistic director until his death in 1997. Music Director Emeritus Joseph Jennings joined Chanticleer as a countertenor in 1983 and shortly thereafter assumed the role of music director, a position he held until he retired in 2008. Jennings has arranged some of Chanticleer’s most popular repertoire, most notably spirituals, gospel songs and jazz standards. Current Music Director Oltman began his tenure in 2008 after singing with the ensemble as a tenor starting in 1999.

Single ticket prices for Chanticleer at Bethel College range from $23 to $19, depending on seating section, with discounts available to students and senior citizens.

Remaining performances in this HBPA season are Lyric Arts Trio (vocal and instrumental), Sunday, Feb. 20, and Three Part Invention (instrumental), Sunday, April 17, both at Hesston Mennonite Church.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College), e-mail hbpa@hesston.edu or visit the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Web page.

This program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes a great nation deserves great art, and is supported by Mid-America Arts Alliance, with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kansas Arts Commission and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

Hesston College to host week-long Martin Luther King Jr. celebration

The life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be honored with a week of events at Hesston College Jan. 17 to 21.

The week’s events, entitled “United We Stand? Lament and Celebration” will focus on social diversity especially related to Native Americans and African Americans along with social inequality and environmental issues. All events are free and open to the public.

Rosina Phillippe, a nationally recognized human rights and environmental activist will be the keynote speaker Jan. 17 and 18.

Phillippe is a lifetime resident of Grand Bayou, La. She is an advocate for the preservation of cultural and heritage practices of marginalized families making their living through fishing, including her Atakapa-Ishak tribe who has lived on the Louisiana bayou for more than 1,000 years. Phillippe has partnered with leaders of faith-based and non-profit organizations to work for sustainability for affected families along the Gulf Coast and across the country. Her work addressing issues of Fair Trade marketing, racial injustice, economic instability and coastal restoration has been featured on CNN and the National Geographic Daily News.

Phillippe became acquainted with Hesston College through Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), a volunteer service of various Anabaptist churches which helps people affected by disasters clean up, repair and rebuild, and rebuilt Phillipe’s home after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Hesston College offers a degree in Disaster Management in cooperation with MDS.

Points of focus during Martin Luther King Jr. Week include the Gulf Coast oil spill, how it affects people and the involvement of Hesston College in that area through the Disaster Management Program and Mennonite Disaster Service.

“We want to remember the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the week,” said organizer Dwight Roth. “Dr. King had points of emphasis that overlap with Mennonite and Anabaptist values such as peace and service. The week will be a celebration of social diversity and a lamentation of the injustices that occur as we move toward making Dr. King’s dream a reality.”

Phillippe will speak on “Surviving Disasters: A Louisiana Story” during Hesston College chapel Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. She will speak again at 7 p.m. on “The Atakapa-Ishak Nation Along the Louisiana Coast: A Story of Survival.” Both presentations will be in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary.

Other events during the week include a concert of gospel music by Voices of Joy, the Dell Rose United Methodist Church choir of Wichita at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary. The concert will be followed by a presentation by faculty members Marion Bontrager and Lorna Harder at 8 p.m. entitled “Civil Rights or Opposition to War? Exploring the Events Surrounding King’s Assassination.”

The Wichita African-American Council of Elders will reflect on the life and work of King at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 in Kropf Center room 150 (this event cancelled due to weather). The Council is a collective made up of concerned elders from the Wichita African-American community who have come together to share what they have seen and learned to help the entire Wichita community grow stronger.

History instructor John Sharp will present “Rethinking Worldviews: Where are Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Women in the Master Narrative?” at 7 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary. Faculty member Laura Kraybill will follow the presentation with a dance of response.