Fall 2017 • Vol. 72 / No. 1
Inside:
Project SEARCH “Peter and the Starcatcher” Tim Unruh Transforms Campus
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From the President
Follow along with Dr. Glanzer’s travels and campus events on Twitter. /presglanzer
Homecoming 2017! A time of remembering, connecting and renewing. Each year on a weekend in October, our campus comes alive with alumni, parents and friends from all over the country. Our Homecoming tradition is launched with an alumni golf tournament, a Festival Dinner honoring the 50-year reunion class and a host of activities on campus all designed to provide a setting for people to walk down memory lane, connect with their friends and renew their commitment to the future of Tabor College. Many alumni tell me how they enjoy coming back to campus, that special feeling they have when they walk on to campus and remembering the many experiences, both good and bad, of their college years. Connecting with friends, professors who mentored them and experiences that shaped them are all part of Homecoming. Relationships are central to our lives. Life can be described as a series of relationships and experiences. The idea of community and connectedness is a gift from God meant to be cherished and celebrated. As we sit around tables drinking coffee, enjoying the Dutch lunch, telling stories, showing pictures and remembering our Tabor experiences, we come alive and have a new understanding of who we are and what has shaped our lives. Traditions like Homecoming pro-
vide a setting for all this to happen. We celebrate our shared heritage as a community of Tabor alums. The most repeated comment I heard this year was how the physical campus has changed. The park-like grounds of the campus and the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts were usually cited as the major changes. The long-held dream of an auditorium that will be a home for the performing arts and a place where the entire campus can gather for worship is about to be completed. It’s imposing presence near the center of campus was the focus of our attention and many conversations. We estimate that we gave tours of the facility to almost 500 people over the weekend. On Dec. 9, we will dedicate the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts to the glory of God. On Dec. 10, we will experience the performance of Messiah as the first event in the new facility. This will be a weekend to remember. The generosity of our people has been incredible. We are near the goal of building the facility debt free. I hope that seeing the facility near completion will inspire you to make a gift helping us reach the goal of building the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts debt free. Many of you reading this have given sacrificially. Others have given out of their abundance. All have given so that Tabor College can continue to be a place that prepares people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and His kingdom. The vision of being a college of choice for those who seek a life transforming, academically excellent, globally relevant and decidedly Christian education is greatly enhanced with this new facility. To all who have helped make this happen... THANK YOU. With Joy,
President Jules Glanzer
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Connection Fall 2017 Vol. 72 No. 1
inside
A magazine for Tabor College alumni & friends
2 From the President
Editor Amy Doane amydoane@tabor.edu
6 Student Spotlight
Writer Bailey Kaufman
10 “Peter and the Starcatcher”
Contributor Aleen Ratzlaff aleenr@tabor.edu
12 Homecoming 2017
Senior Designer Diane Steiner dianes@tabor.edu
16 Tim Unruh Transforms Campus
Student Designer Laura Pankratz
20 Sports Update
Photographer/Webmaster Vance Frick vancef@tabor.edu
21 Adult and Graduate Studies
Student Photographer Austin Calam Sports Information Director Mark Fox markfox@tabor.edu Tabor College 400 South Jefferson Hillsboro, Kansas 67063 (620) 947-3121 tabor.edu Tabor College Mission: “Preparing people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and His kingdom.”
4 Academics 9 Project SEARCH
14 Faculty Spotlight 18 Student Spotlight
22 Alumni News
We’re Online! Visit tabor.edu/connection to read the latest issue of The Connection and pass it along to friends and family. If you would like to receive an online copy of the magazine, please sign up by visiting tabor.edu/connection.
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Board of Directors:
/taborcollege /taborcollege /company/tabor-college /taborcollege Tabor Webcast
David Karber Chair Diana Raugust Vice Chair Theodore Faszer Secretary Brent Kroeker Treasurer Darrell Driggers Executive At Large Craig Ratzlaff Executive At Large
Loren Balzer Executive At Large Jose Cabrera Roger Ediger Rick Eshbaugh Jeral Gross Mark Jost Kelly Kirby Mike Kleiber Jerry Kliewer Lisa Kroeker Susan Koslowsky Bill Loewen
Nate Loewen Dean Nachtigall Deborah Penner Faculty Representative Dennis Penner Elaine Setzer-Maxwell Tim Sullivan Wilbur Unrau Richard Unruh Riley Loewen Student Representative 3
Tabor College Reports Record Enrollment Tabor College reported the largest enrollment in school history in September at 770 students for the 2017 fall semester. “I am thrilled and humbled to see that we have a record enrollment at Tabor this year,” said Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor College. “An accomplishment like this takes team effort.” The total headcount, including the Hillsboro campus and
online students, has increased by 43 students from last year’s fall semester. In addition to the increase at the Hillsboro campus, the college works with local high school students to allow them dual credit opportunities. The number has jumped and Tabor now has the largest headcount in school history.
Academic Convocation Starts New Year at Tabor Tabor College students, faculty and staff opened the year with the 2017 Academic Convocation at the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church on Aug. 29. Faculty entered the sanctuary and student body president Annaliese Wiens, from Half Moon Bay, Calif., opened the special service with prayer. Chair of the Music Department Brad Vogel directed the congregation in the hymn “We Are Called to Be God’s People.” Tabor College President Jules Glanzer welcomed the group. Speaking about the importance of symbols in our society, Glanzer recognized the regalia the faculty wore as a symbol of their commitment to learning and education. “They also happen to love you, care deeply about you and desire to form Christ’s character in you,” Glanzer said to the students in attendance. He also recognized several incoming students for academic scholarships. To set the tone for the convocation address, Multicultural Student Union president Naima Mexsen Murra, from Gomez Placio, Mexico, read Hebrews 11:1 and 12:1-3. Vice President of Business and Finance Norman Hope gave the address titled “Walking by Faith.”
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Glanzer noted that this event showed Tabor’s commitment to quality education. “Our academic convocation is one of two times a year our faculty dress in regalia, recognizing their commitment to our students and the college,” Glanzer said. “The service to open the academic year sets a tone of excellence and achievement for students, faculty and staff.” To close the convocation, attendees sang the Tabor College Hymn, “Redeemed of God, Come Let Us Sing.” Campus Ministries Council president Josh Funk of Hillsboro closed the convocation with prayer.
‘Legacy of Hope’ Endowment Celebrates 10 Years of Aiding Faculty, Student Scholarship In the spring of 2007, the New Hope Mennonite Brethren Church of New Hope, Minn., established a Legacy of Hope endowment to support scholarship at Tabor College. Since then, this endowment has provided over $165,000 in grants to aid Tabor students and faculty members in their scholastic endeavors. According to Ernest Boyer in his study, Scholarship Reconsidered, scholarship involves two elements: the systematic study of a topic or issue and the public presentation of the results of that study. Support for the scholarship activities funded by the Legacy of Hope endowment falls into three categories: scholarship grants, innovative curriculum development grants and logistical scholarship support grants. Scholar grants are designed to encourage Tabor College faculty and students to systematically study issues of significance through a Christian worldview lens. Innovative curriculum development grants aim to encourage the development of innovative curriculum ideas. Logistical scholarship support grants provide supplemental logistical support for faculty or students not granted a scholarship or innovative curriculum grant. During the 2016-17 school year, the total amount of grants was $21,206. This money helped fund projects and conference attendance for 16 students and five professors. In August 2016, Laurel Koerner, assistant professor of theater, participated in the Association for Theater in Higher Education’s 30th annual national conference in Chicago. In November of that year, Douglas Miller, professor of biblical and religious studies, used Hope Scholar funds to take five students and three professors to the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. In January 2017, Jessica Klanderud, assistant professor of history, took nine students to the American Historical Association Annual Conference in Denver, where she put
together several panels based on undergraduate recruitment and her research on the African American Civil Rights Movement. Also in January, Koerner brought four students to Des Moines, Iowa, to participate in the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. In February, Shawn Knopp, assistant professor of music, attended the Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop in Wichita. Here he was selected to present two different sessions in the area of curriculum and instruction. On March 25, 2017, Norman Schmidt, professor of chemistry, attended the 62nd Annual American Chemical Society Oklahoma Pentasectional Conference in Lawton, Okla. Three junior and senior chemistry majors joined Schmidt and presented their posters on their research. Finally, Christin Pruett, associate professor of biology, used Hope Scholarship funds to help one of her students examine the population genetics of birds found on the island in the Bering Sea. To read about other projects and see funding reports, visit tabor.edu/hope.
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Jessica Thorpe Spends Summer on Mission Colorado, Dominican Republic, Dallas and Chicago. Over a span of about three months, sophomore Jessica Thorpe visited all four of these destinations as part of two different mission programs. Last fall, a few staff members from Forge, a nonprofit Christian ministry organization based in Colorado, visited Tabor to share about ministry opportunities for the summer. Thorpe attended its informational meeting and said she instantly clicked with the staff members. “Over the course of three hours, they listened to my entire life story, prayed over me and freed me from so many things,” she said. “They made such an impact on my life, and I wanted what they had.” After some hesitations about cost and fundraising, Thorpe decided that participating in Forge was the next step for her faith. “The Forge staff really got to know me because it was going to be an intense experience,” she said. “They helped walk me through fundraising. I reached out to a lot of people and was very overwhelmed and blessed by everyone who gave to me.” On May 17, Thorpe departed for her two-month-long discipleship program with Forge. The program began with a month of learning and training in Colorado. “The first phase of the trip, I was in the classroom learning from speakers and pastors,” Thorpe said. “In the classroom I was taught about God and his kingdom and learned just how much it applies to my life.” During this time, Thorpe also bonded with the team she would serve with internationally. While a total of 17 participated in Forge, Thorpe’s team was made of eight people. “That made it a more comfortable environment to share my life story with these people,” she said. “We were with each other for 58 days, which is like the equivalent of knowing someone for two and half years. We learned that true unity comes from actually working through the issues, and we had to get to the heart of issues if we were really going to tackle something and be good friends.” Following their month of training, the team departed for their international portion of the trip, which took place in Dominican Republic. The team spent 17 days there, which was split between putting on a Vacation Bible School, participating in door-to-door evangelism, working with youth groups and doing a little sightseeing. “Overseas, the emphasis switched from learning to learning through service,” Thorpe said. “I was encouraged to humble myself a great deal.”
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The team returned to the United States to spend a week in inner-city Dallas working with local missionaries. Here, team members were given the freedom to take initiative in their mission work, receiving a budget and making decisions on their own. “My team and I were encouraged to examine the ways that learning and serving go hand in hand,” Thorpe said. “Life should be a similar cycle. We were encouraged to not only take initiative on the trip, but in our own lives as well.” Finally, the team traveled back to Colorado, where they spent one more week debriefing and learning more about themselves, which was referred to as the life planning stage. “During the life planning stage, my gifts and talents were revealed to me in a very special way,” Thorpe said. “It was also encouraging to learn about how my wiring and life experiences help me make decisions. I know now how Jesus Christ within me can impact culture around me.” Thorpe returned to her hometown of Sterling, Kan., on July 15, but her summer on mission was unexpectedly far from over. “I got back on a Saturday, and the next morning in church, I found out a girl who was going to lead a week-long mission trip to Chicago might not want to go,” Thorpe said. “I was asked if I would be willing to step in if need be, and that afternoon, I got a text asking me to go.” After only a week of being home, Thorpe packed up her bags once again and joined another mission trip, this time as a leader. “I now have a lot of respect for leaders,” she said. “Helping lead the trip to Chicago, I lived for a week what leaders do all the time.” In Chicago, Thorpe and her group helped make mats for homeless people, worked for secular and Christian organizations, helped make murals under bypasses and experienced life and faith in the city. “We asked questions with the group about how being in each situation affected their faith,” she said, “and it was cool to see the lights light up in the teens’ eyes, to see them get it and understand.” As a ministry major, Thorpe plans to use the things she learned on mission this summer to be a light to whatever mission field God calls her. For now, she said that mission field is right in front of her. “My heart’s fire is getting bigger for the people who don’t know who Christ is,” she said. “That’s my mission field—real life right in front of me. One of the best advice I heard this summer was if you can’t be on mission for God in your own community, then you can’t be on mission overseas. It has to be a part of your character and everyday life.”
Photo courtesy Jessica Thorpe
Photo courtesy Jessica Thorpe
Graphic Design Student Experiences Dream Job Through Internship Ever since she was a young girl, Laura Pankratz’s dream job was to work at Hallmark. This summer, that dream was realized as the senior graphic design major was selected for one of eight internships in Hallmark’s creative department. “The first day during orientation, I just started tearing up,” Pankratz said. “I was like, this has been my dream forever and I am here. I was overwhelmed. God is so good.” Photo courtesy Laura Pankratz The journey that led Pankratz to her summer at the Hallmark Cards headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., began in March, when her graphic design professor, Derek Hamm, made her aware of the internship availabilities. Hamm previously worked as a designer for Hallmark and was able to help Pankratz through the application process. “I knew that Hallmark did internships every summer, which I found out from Derek,” she said. “So I just started preparing for it and getting my work ready to officially send in.” Pankratz created a portfolio of projects focused on Hallmark’s style and products. These included some of her greeting cards, illustrations and hand lettering. “I did a lot of revisions with Derek because he knows what Hallmark wants and what they look for,” she said. “So he would constantly look at my portfolio and tell me what I could change.” In April, a month after sending in her application, Pankratz received a call from Kansas City with good news. “I had already been interviewed, and at that point, I was waiting for a call of yes or no,” Pankratz said. “I got a call from Kansas City during art class one day, and he said, ‘I’m gladly calling you to tell you that you have received the internship.’ I was immediately speechless.” Pankratz was selected to be one of Hallmark’s eight creative interns from a pool of roughly one thousand applicants. From late May until early August, Pankratz worked on three different teams in the creative department and learned from multiple talented artists. “Every day felt like a dream,” she said. “I never dreaded going to work.” Each day of Pankratz’s internship looked a little different. Generally, she would have two to three projects she would work on for each team. Many of her projects revolved around Christmas cards. “I was assigned to come up with new concepts and ideas for Christmas cards,” she said. “Those were called ‘point of views’ because they wanted to see a new point of view for Christmas 2018.” For these projects, Pankratz made use of Hallmark’s resources. “I did a lot of research,” she said. “I’d go to their library and look through books. They had a Christmas gallery, so I would go and just hang out in there and be inspired by all the aesthetics. Then I would come back to my desk and sketch out some ideas and start creating it on the computer.” Some days, Pankratz was given top-selling cards from previous years
that were becoming outdated, and she was assigned the task of freshening up the cards. For each of these projects, the Hallmark creatives would give Pankratz advice on different processes and things she could add, such as gold foil or glitter. “They showed me all those different processes that you don’t really think about when you’re envisioning a sketch,” she said. “That was fun to experiment with.” Pankratz also was able to attend workshops and learn from several different artists. “I loved the workshops because I got to learn from these really talented artists, and a lot of these artists were people I’d been following on Instagram for years,” she said. “Those were very exciting days.” In addition, Pankratz participated in networking events. “Each day all the interns were always networking,” she said. “We had at least three networking meetings each week, which was great because you got to meet lots of people and get your name out there. My communication skills got a lot better from talking with people every day.” Since returning from her internship, Pankratz said she has a new perspective when it comes to her design classes at Tabor. “I learned a lot and came back with a better work ethic after seeing the other interns that came from big design schools,” she said. “I came back thinking, we can’t slack off. I’ve been better at spending extra time making my projects better, not sloppily doing them just because I have to.” Pankratz said thinking of returning to Hallmark after she graduates in December is both scary and exciting. “I know if I were to go back, I wouldn’t be an intern anymore,” she said. “I’d be an employee and they expect more and the pressure is on. So I’m super glad I got to experience it and now I know I wouldn’t mind going back, but if nothing happens with them, I’d be content too.”
Photo courtesy Laura Pankratz
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Tabor Introduces Project SEARCH Program Tabor College signed a partnership agreement with Project SEARCH and Marion County Special Education Cooperative in January of this year. Participant applications were reviewed in the spring and in August three Project SEARCH interns began working at Tabor. Ryan Hutton of Newton, Ally Larson of Hillsboro and Thomas Gill of Hillsboro are the inaugural participants in the partnership. “We’re excited to be offering this program to three interns in the first year,” said Robert Haude, chair of the Project SEARCH partnership. “These are excellent young people with bright futures, and we’re excited to see all that they will accomplish through the program.” Haude leads education for the interns who will spend part of their time in a classroom and part of their time working on campus. Along with Haude, Izzie Klaassen spends time helping the interns navigate campus, learning the new skills required in their work rotations and providing general support. Throughout the year, interns will work in three different locations on campus to learn and practice skills. Hutton began in the athletic training facility and has learned how to make an ice pack, tape and bandage player injuries and use training machines. Larson is working in the campus library. Among many duties, she removes out-ofprint books from the shelves to make them available online. Gill’s first rotation is with facility operations. He has been busy on campus cleaning windows and working to keep the grounds looking good. While Project SEARCH is new to Tabor College, it was first launched in 1996 in Cincinnati. The program has grown to more than 500 work sites across the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Kansas
has been hosting sites for six years, and Tabor College is the 13th location added in the state. “Project SEARCH is a natural fit at Tabor College,” said Tabor College President Jules Glanzer. “Its mission directly aligns with ours to prepare people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and his kingdom. I can’t think of a more appropriate partnership than this one to move forward that mission.” Project SEARCH is a program that strives to provide systematic and intentional job training through skill building for young adults with disabilities. The end goal is to assist them in gaining meaningful employment. Not only does this help these individuals and their families, but it also assists in building the culture of Tabor College.
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Tabor Hosts Bible Scholar Scot McKnight Tabor College hosted Scot McKnight Sept. 11-12 at several events in Wichita and Hillsboro. The public was invited to one or both sessions in a two-part series that was held at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.
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In addition to the public sessions in Hillsboro, Tabor invited Wichita-area pastors to a lunch-and-learn event on Sept. 11. McKnight was also part of a two-day Ministry Encounter experience the Tabor admissions department arranged for high school students interested in ministry. In each of his talks, McKnight spoke on the topic “Christians as Culture Creators.” He addressed how Christians should interact with the world around them to be creators of culture. McKnight outlined that Christians should be people-oriented, be focused on God, embody care and keep their eyes on Christ. He also lectured on the book of Philemon. McKnight was the inaugural speaker of a lecture series put together by the Bible department at Tabor. The Lectureship in Vocation and Service, called “Exaudio: Listen and Live,” is an annual academic lectureship in which a scholar is invited to present on a meaningful expression of Christian discipleship that arises from his or her professional discipline. Douglas Miller, chair of the department, started working with McKnight last April on planning the first event in the new program. “The purpose of the lectureship is to challenge and encourage believers in their individual and collective calling of work and service for Christ and his kingdom,” Miller said. “The term ‘exaudio’ is a Latin word that means to listen, comprehend and respond faithfully.” McKnight is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, Lombard, Ill. Previously he taught at North Park University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has authored more than 50 books (both scholarly and popular) and edited or coedited half a dozen more in addition to numerous articles and essays. Among his publications are “The Jesus Creed,” for which he was given the Christianity Today Book Award for Christian Living. His coedited work “Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels” won the Gold Medallion Book Award. He maintains Jesus Creed, a popular evangelical online blog, and is in demand as a speaker at churches, conferences, colleges and seminaries in the U.S. and abroad. He and his wife, Kristen, are the parents of two adult children.
Theater Department Performs “Peter and the Starcatcher” Tabor College Theater performed “Peter and the Starcatcher” in the Tabor College Chapel Auditorium Oct. 18 through 21 as part of homecoming week festivities. The play was a creative comedy about how a young boy became Peter Pan. Based on the young adult novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Tabor College students told the story of a lonely orphan who became the boy who can fly, with a makeshift family and an enchanted island to call home. Laurel Koerner, director of theater at Tabor, said the play allowed her actors to have fun and be creative. “The cast had great fun with it,” Koerner said. “There was plenty of room for creativity and infusing it with our own sense of humor.” With 14 cast members and eight student crew members,
a wide range of disciplines were represented in the casts and crews. “One of (the play’s) charms was the ensemble nature of the cast,” Koerner said. “It was a team effort, with no small roles.” Senior Molly Wiebe Faber, a Tabor theater veteran, portrayed the lovable villain Black Stache. “The show was collaborative and creative and a lot of fun,” said Wiebe Faber. “One object might turn into five different things, and everyone had a hand in helping tell the story, whether they had a line in that moment or not.”
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HOMECOMING 2017
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9 Tabor College Homecoming weekend brought excitement and tradition with activities for the community and alumni to enjoy Oct. 20-21. 1. Community members, students and alumni attended the traditional Dutch lunch in the Student Center gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. 2. Seniors Heidi Klaassen and Evan Sprayberry were crowned Homecoming Host and Hostess. 3. The theater department performed “Peter and the Starcatcher” Oct. 18-21. 4, Alumni and current students displayed their work in an art exhibit in the Historic Mennonite Brethren Church on Oct. 21. 5. Druber’s Donut Shop in Newton gave away free donuts
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10 Friday evening to anyone wearing Tabor blue. 6. Saturday’s first public event was the Homecoming Music Fest in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center Rehearsal Hall. 7. Kids were welcome in the Campus Recreation Center Saturday morning for Kids Zone activities. 8. During the Festival Dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita on Friday evening, the Alumni Merit Award and Alumni Medallion Award recipients were honored. 9. President Glanzer and students shared at the Golden Brunch with the President, which was held on Saturday morning for those who attended Tabor on or before 1967. 10. The Tabor College Golf Classic took place Friday morning in Wichita.
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Katie Funk Wiebe Writing Center Dedicated on Oct. 21 The Tabor College Writing Center received a fresh look and a new name over the summer. The English department, which is located on the main floor of the H.W. Lohrenz Building, received an endowment from the memorial fund of Katie Funk Wiebe, a former English professor who died in October 2016.
Over the summer, new carpet, furnishings, wall coverings and lighting were installed in the English department’s writing center. “Everything was 30 years old or more,” said Deborah Penner, writing center director and English professor. “The area was really in need of refreshing so it could be an enhanced learning space for students.” In a dedication ceremony on Oct. 21, the center was also renamed as the Katie Funk Wiebe Writing Center. The event included remarks from Jean Janzen, a Mennonite Brethren poet from Fresno, Calif., and Joanna Wiebe, one of Funk Wiebe’s daughters. The Tabor writing center was started by Beth Impson, former English professor. Penner has been director of the center since 1999. “Our goal is to assist students with writing at any stage,” Penner said. “We work with clients in a way that they learn to edit and revise their own papers in order to elevate the level of academic expression and discussion on campus.” Students who come into the writing center work individually with students who have been hired as tutors. Since Penner became director, 63 tutors have worked in the center. The English department has plans to use more of the endowment to renovate the faculty offices next summer. “We’re very touched and blessed to receive this generous gift, and we’re grateful for it,” Penner said.
Who was Katie Funk Wiebe? Katie Funk Wiebe was an English professor at Tabor from 1967-1989. Before moving to Hillsboro, she and her husband, Walter, were involved in writing for Mennonite Brethren youth publications in Canada. In 1962, Walter was offered a job at a publishing house in Hillsboro, and the family moved. Within six weeks of the move, Walter died and she was left as a widow in a new place. Funk Wiebe had a talent for expressing herself on paper and was able to get a job at the publishing house. She was eventually hired to teach English at Tabor College. “She was good at it,” said Peggy Goertzen, director of the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies. “She was very focused and had pretty high standards for herself and the students.”
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Funk Wiebe used her writing talent to publish numerous books, many of which were autobiographical and historical in nature. “She personified the MB writing world for a lot of folks,” Goertzen said. “She had a passion for communicating truth and insight and life lessons through storytelling.” Funk Wiebe was named one of the most influential women in the Mennonite world by the Mennonite World Review and was an early advocate for women’s leadership in conference colleges. When she was a member at Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church, she published historical stories about the church in the newsletter. Funk Wiebe was also on a board for student publications at Tabor and the board of Christian literature. In addition, she wrote hundreds of articles for the Christian Leader. “Underlying everything Katie did was her desire to communicate God’s truth,” Goertzen said. “She gave voice to a lot of emotions and transitions in life that sometimes get overlooked.” Information provided by Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies
Giving that pays Help Secure Your Future and the Future of the Arts at Tabor College
We know it’s not easy to live in times of a fluctuating market and low interest rates. Why not consider a charitable gift annuity for Tabor College? A gift annuity makes it possible for you to receive returns on an investment for the rest of your life. But that’s only half the story. When you make a gift to fund a charitable gift annuity, the benefits include lifetime payments and tax savings. That’s what we call a gift that pays dividends.
Receive an immediate charitable tax deduction and potential savings in capital gains and estate tax Collect timely, fixed payments for you and/or your spouse’s lifetimes – the older you are, the higher your payment rate Fund your gift with as little as $10,000 in cash or securities Support the Center for the Arts endowment at Tabor College
Contact us today to discuss a no obligation gift illustration. (620) 947-3121 Ext. 1709 advancement@tabor.edu
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Tim Unruh Helps Transform Campus into a Natural Work of Art by Janae Rempel, reprinted courtesy of Hillsboro Free Press If Earth is a canvas, landscaping at Tabor College is Tim Unruh’s work of art. Unruh, who serves as grounds supervisor, came to Tabor in August 2008 and has worked to transform the appearance of the campus as part of a larger calling. “When I started, seeing it the way it (was), there was obviously room for improvement,” Unruh said. “A lot of the comments I heard, I guess, were from college kids coming (from) out of state: ‘Kansas is boring.’ Coming from California or from Colorado or wherever, things are a lot prettier. “So I guess one of the goals for me was to beautify cam-
Photo courtesy Janae Rempel
Photo courtesy Janae Rempel 16
pus, bringing in plants, bushes, shrubs, whatever things that would work here.” Tabor College President Jules Glanzer said beauty not only creates a good first impression on campus, it also lends itself to a better learning and working environment and sets the tone for the Tabor community. “I receive many comments from alumni, parents, prospective students and people from the community about how beautiful the campus looks,” Glanzer said. “They come on campus and their first impression is that we care about what we do. “Alumni tell me how it looks so different. Community people tell me they have altered their daily walk to be able to walk through campus to enjoy the flower gardens. Tim has been a driving force in making Tabor a beautiful place.” Unruh has been drawn to caring for the Earth since childhood. “I grew up gardening with my grandma primarily, and I’ve always felt that this is what my job is,” he said. “No matter where I go, I’m always somehow tied to tending to God’s Earth.” Unruh worked at a greenhouse for 13 years prior to coming to Tabor and has a background in both horticulture and floriculture. Upon arriving at Tabor, he began experimenting to find what plants grow well here. “I’ve used campus for a canvas, kind of like what an arboretum is used for, to plant things to see if they work in this area,” he said. “I try to introduce new things all the time.” Unruh said he looks for plants that are native to the Kansas prairie, including sunflowers, goldenrod, salvias and grasses, as well as hybrids of those varieties. Unruh said sunflowers and rudbeckias, and yellow flowers in general, tend to be hardy and work well here, while cooler blue colors are usually harder to grow, with the exception of indigo and sweet peas. “A lot of that’s experience and learning over time,” Unruh said. Tabor employs two full-time groundskeepers, Unruh said, and also relies on student workers, including two fulltime workers in the summer and three or four part-time workers during the school year. “The last couple years, I’ve been really fortunate and blessed to have good student help,” he said. Unruh said his crew spends 20 hours mowing each week, including maintaining the Bermuda grass on the athletic practice fields. “Basically, that’s like keeping up a fairway on a golf course,” he said. “I mow those every other day.” A majority of campus is serviced by automatic irrigation. Unruh said there are about 1,000 sprinkler heads on campus,
Photo courtesy Janae Rempel
“I receive many comments from alumni, parents, prospective students and people from the community about how beautiful the campus looks,” Glanzer said. “They come on campus and their first impression is that we care about what we do.” something else that must be maintained. In addition to his daily and weekly duties, Unruh said he attempts to make time for a list of other projects, including concrete projects and cleaning up around campus houses. Even in the winter, Unruh said there is plenty to keep him busy, including trimming trees and rose bushes, and hardscaping projects such as building landscape beds or installing ground cover or rock. He also is tasked with snow removal and salt application, as necessary. Unruh said he bases his projects on where he sees a need. He finds particular satisfaction from being resourceful. “We’re always on a small budget, so I work with what I have,” he said. “A lot of times I’ve repurposed things to make areas look better.” For example, Unruh turned an old air-conditioning pad south of the men’s quad into a picnic area. “I put picnic tables out there and built a fence around it and then did a native landscaping around it,” he said, adding that he incorporated limestone as well. “That’s exciting for me when I spend virtually no money, because the plants I divided from other places on campus or brought in from home or out in the wild.” North of the student center, Unruh used flowers from a house Tabor purchased to beautify the space. “I had the base of everything that I needed and just for a little bit of extra money added a couple things for some impact,” he said. “It feels good to me to try to make a big impact with a little bit of investment.” When redoing the parking lot north of the Campus Recreation Center, Unruh added landscaping to improve the area. One of Unruh’s large projects this summer was topdressing
Tabor’s three practice fields with 120 tons of sand, spread in a 1⁄2-inch thick layer. The project is something he said he tries to do every three years. “It just creates a nicer, safer playing surface,” Unruh said. “It makes it softer. It makes it more like the artificial turf. It puts a cushion on the field, fills in the little divots. The coaches really like that because it cuts down on ankle twists and impact injuries.” Unruh has already designed a landscape plan for the area around the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts building, which is scheduled to be dedicated Dec. 9. Unruh will implement some of his landscape plan in the fall and the majority of it later in the spring. “That was a fun project,” he said. “I would sit up in the MJR building on the top floor so I could see the area as I was drawing it out.” Most of the plants will be on the north and east sides of the new building, he said, which will provide an opportunity to use shade-loving varieties. “For Kansas, that gives a lot of nice options because your east and north sides are more protected from the wind and from the sun,” he said. “So I can use things there that normally I wouldn’t use in other places on campus.” With the approaching completion of the new building, Unruh said he would also like to remove the berms around some of the other buildings in the area. “It dates the buildings,” he said. “Once that would be all cleared away, that would be all landscaped differently around those buildings.” No matter what project he’s working on, beautifying campus fits with Unruh’s mission and is part of a larger purpose. “(God’s) called us to take care of the Earth, so what he has given us must be cultivated and tended to,” he said. “Tabor College is a place where people can come and learn how they can make an impact on the world. “I feel that my gifts to serve God are to maintain the landscape and its facilities to provide a place where students can experience God while at Tabor College.”
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Horner Competes in Lifelong Hobby of Cowboy Mounted Shooting As a dual sport athlete, senior Amy Horner is no stranger to competition. Horner’s competitiveness and athleticism extend beyond the volleyball court and triple jump pit, though. Since she was 12 years old, Horner has been competing in a sport called cowboy mounted shooting. “I ride my horse through a pattern and shoot a .45 single action Colt pistol at balloons,” she said. “It’s for time, so every time you miss a balloon or knock over a barrel, five seconds is added to your time. We call it barrel racing with an attitude.” Horner, who is from Artesia, N.M., grew up showing animals at fairs and was introduced to cowboy mounted shooting during an intermission of a professional bull riders show. “My mom had always wanted horses, but my dad always said, ‘No,’” Horner said. “But when we saw the demo of cowboy mounted shooting, we got horses right after and got into it.” Horner and her parents turned the sport into a family affair, spending Sundays training their horses at a local
man’s house. “Not every horse is OK with being shot off of,” she said. “So we’d go there and train our horses, and we’d learn how to handle the guns on a moving horse. My mom and I had never been on a horse, so we had to also learn that part.” Horner said it took about three years to become competitive in cowboy mounted shooting, and the sport continued to be a family event. “I like it because it’s a family sport,” she said. “From a time a little kid is old enough to sit on a horse, they can pretty much compete, either just riding through a pattern or shooting with a cap gun. When they’re 12, they start shooting, and then you can shoot until you’re too old to ride a horse. It really involves the whole family.” Every summer, Horner said she looks forward to a big competition her family attends in Las Vegas. “Especially since I’ve been away from home, I go for that week and get to spend it with my family,” she said. “It’s like vacation with competition.” Horner will graduate in December with degrees in chem-
Photo courtesy Amy Horner 18
“I like it because it’s a family sport,” she said. “From a time a little kid is old enough to sit on a horse, they can pretty much compete, either just riding through a pattern or shooting with a cap gun. When they’re 12, they start shooting, and then you can shoot until you’re too old to ride a horse. It really involves the whole family.” istry and math, but her path to Tabor was not a straight one. “I looked at Tabor when I was in high school and loved it,” she said. “But I didn’t come here because it was so far away from home.” Instead, Horner decided to play volleyball at New Mexico State, which was only three hours from home. But, Horner did not have a good experience there, and through a perfectly timed call from volleyball assistant coach Tesha Werth, God nudged Horner back to Tabor. “I called a former Tabor coach to get a coach’s perspective on my situation,” Horner said. “Tesha had called her the night before I called, telling her to contact me and see how I was doing. I was at the point where I was just going to quit volleyball and go to school. But when I found out Tabor still wanted me, I talked my mom into letting me come on another visit.” Horner said she fell in love with Tabor all over again and decided to make the move. She said her experience as a Bluejay has been completely opposite from her experience at her previous school. “It was the first time I had ever been on a team that all got along,” she said.
Photo courtesy Amy Horner In addition, Horner said her teammates and coaches have pushed her in her faith. “You can just see the passion in our team,” she said. “At nationals last year, we decided instead of playing for ourselves, we were going to play for each other, and we wanted people to see God in our team. “There were players who came up to us and said they wished they were on a team like ours. There were coaches who went up to our coaches who said they wished they could coach a team that had as much passion and desire to be with each other as our team. We prayed with everybody, and everybody just saw it through us. I think that helped me grow spiritually.” After she finishes her final season of volleyball and graduates in December, Horner hopes to attend graduate school and pursue an MBA in order to add a business background to her chemistry and math degrees. Horner also hopes to become more involved in cowboy mounted shooting once she finishes her time at Tabor. “My parents told me that once I don’t have practice anymore, they will give me a younger horse that I’ll train,” she said. “Then by the time I’m completely done with school, it will get to the point where I can shoot off of it.” Horner said that even after her career as a volleyball and track athlete is over, she wants to continue competing in cowboy mounted shooting. “I don’t know if I’ll do it for the rest of my life,” she said, “but I do think I’ll stick with it for a while and see where it goes.” 19
FALL SPORTS UPDATES Follow Bluejay Sports on Twitter @GoTaborBluejays
Men’s Cross Country
The men’s cross-country had a relatively successful fall season under second year coach, Joel Allen. The team placed 3rd in the Warrior Fest, 4th in the Tabor College Invite, and then 25th at the Chile Pepper meet at the University of Arkansas. The team is eight strong this year, with only two seniors, and they look forward to continued improvement.
Women’s Cross Country
The women’s cross country team has made strides this season highlighted by Julie Loewen becoming the 3rd fastest woman in TC history when she ran her first sub-19 minute 5K at the Chile Pepper Invite. The women also took 2nd at the Warrior Fest, 3rd at the Tabor Invitational and 5th at the Ollie Isom Invite.
Football
The Tabor College football team is 5-1 in the KCAC, tied for first place with Sterling. The Bluejays are currently ranked in the Top 20 in the NAIA, and have three games remaining. The team ranks in the top 50 in the NAIA in numerous categories, including No. 7 in rushing offense/game (272.3 yds), No. 20 in scoring offense/game (35.9 ppg), and No. 34 in total offense yds/game (404.3 yds).
The men’s team has been very competitive this year and seems to be finding some chemistry as the season progresses, including some grit and toughness that Coach Brubacher has been searching for. The team sits at 3-4-1 in the KCAC, 6-6-1 overall, and are 3-1-1 in their last five conference matches.
Volleyball
Men’s Tennis
The volleyball team is currently 13-4 in the KCAC and 18-8 overall. The Bluejays are in fourth place in the conference with five matches to play. Amy Horner leads the conference in aces and kills, while Ali Jost is second in digs/set. As a team, Tabor leads the KCAC in kills/set and assists/set. 20
Men’s Soccer
The men’s tennis team has been a little bit short-handed during their fall season, but have shown improvement and a willingness to fight through matches. Angel Miguel made it to the semi-finals at the Tiger-Jinx Invitational, while Dhiraj Adhikari won the back draw of his flight at the same tourney.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team has had to overcome some injuries this fall season, but Coach Thomson’s team continues to work hard and compete. The women are currently 2-5-1 in the KCAC and 5-8-1 overall.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s team has had a fairly successful fall season, capped by Jessica Emoto’s third straight ITA Regional victory and subsequent sixth place finish in the ITA Individual National Championship. The women will pick back up in February when they head to Newman University to face the Jets.
Tabor Expands Criminology Program to Online Venue Tabor College Wichita is preparing to launch its online criminology program in January 2018. In 2016, Tabor’s Hillsboro campus began an undergraduate criminology and restorative justice program, taught by professor Jill Schellenberg, which the college is now expanding to an online platform. “A big part of the appeal (of the program) was the correlation with our mission and confession of faith,” said Tom Shaw, vice president of Tabor College Wichita. The program is designed to provide a faith-based response to the evolving criminal justice system in the United States. “It’s important to have a source for our beliefs, values
and morals in response to societal issues and the criminal justice system,” Shaw said. “This program allows online students to explore human behavior, system challenges, civil unrest, legal issues and communication, countered with refreshing alternatives to restorative, peace-infused and faithbased solutions.” The online nature of the program also makes it appealing to a wide audience. “It allows working professionals in the field to stay in their jobs and study with Tabor during their off-hours,” Shaw said. Students in the program will take classes one at a time with other online students using Tabor’s learning management system, Canvas. “The convenience and flexibility of online education makes this a real blessing to people who are ready to go back to school and finish their bachelor’s degrees,” Shaw said. “And going through the classes together as a cohort group really forges some great relationships and networking possibilities.” Tabor projects that 25-30 students will enroll in the program by fall 2018.
Tabor College Wichita & Online tabor.edu/online learn@tabor.edu
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Alumni News Calvin Friesen (g’50), Wichita, Kan., July 27, 2017 Betty (Suderman fs’48) Friesen, Wichita, Kan., July 17, 2017 Leonard Vogt (g’51), Fairview, Okla., July 8, 2017 Loyal Funk (g’49), Dallas, Ore., July 1, 2017 Elton Berg (g’55), Hillsboro, Kan., June 25, 2017 Larry Feil (fs’52/ff’79) and Jetta Feil, Aurora, Colo., June 21, 2017
Dewindt/Cairns
Huxman/Troxell
Alliston/Kroeker
Schletewitz/Hughes
Eunice (Bartel fs’54) Nachtigall, Aurora, Neb., June 18, 2017 Alice (Klassen fs’49) Koop, Hillsboro, Kan., June 7, 2017 Martha (Wiens fs’53) Funk, Lakewood, Colo., June 4, 2017 Daryl Adrian (fs’ 55), Muncie, Ind., May 31, 2017 Roberta (fs’59 Friesen) Isaac, Hillsboro, Kan., May 21, 2017
Caleb Anders
Saylor Craig
Hayley Frick
McKenzy Myers
Marriages Douglas Dewindt and Melissa Cairns (fs’17), married in Salina, Kan., July 29, 2017
Coraline Riley
Connect with us ONLINE!
Update your info, send us pictures and tell us about your recent honors/ awards online at tabor.edu/alumnifriends. Click on the Be Connected tab to submit your information! CODES
g – graduate fs – former student cs – current student f – faculty ff – former faculty st – staff fst – former staff tcw – Tabor College Wichita
Kyle Huxman (cs’17) and Kaleigh Troxell (g’17), married in Wichita, Kan., July 22, 2017 Kevin Alliston and Deborah Kroeker (g’02), married in Wichita, Kan., May 13, 2017 Daniel Schletewitz and Brooke Hughes (g’14), married in Reedley, Calif., April 1, 2017
Births/Adoptions Grant (g’08/st’17) and Stacie (Herman g’09) Myers, Hillsboro, Kan., a girl, McKenzy Ann, Aug. 8, 2017 Cord and Samantha (Heinrichs g’12) Cunningham, Bel Aire, Kan., a girl, Reese Jo, June 27, 2017 William and Kelsey (Hiebert g’08) Craig, Chicago, Ill., a girl, Saylor Grace, Feb. 23, 2017 Troy (g’12) and Amanda (Oliver) Frick, Wichita, Kan., a girl, Hayley Marie, Dec. 28, 2016 Danny and Becky (Lutes g’06) Anders, Wichita, Kan., a boy, Caleb Joseph, Dec. 27, 2016 Andrew and Melissa (Nickel g’09) Riley, Kansas City, Mo., a girl, Coraline, June 29, 2017
Deaths Ida (Penner) Neufeld, Fairview, Okla., Oct. 15, 2017 Betty (Vogt g’62) Bernhardt, Hillsboro, Kan., Sept. 29, 2017 Emery Suderman (g’57), Enid, Okla., Sept. 22, 2017 Sylvia (Kroeker fs’77) Unger, Greer, S.C., Sept. 1, 2017 Ethel (Loewen) Hagen, Lincoln, Neb., Aug. 15, 2017
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Richard Kliewer (fs’66), Hesston, Kan., April 13, 2017 Anna (Fast fs’46) Kliewer, Reedley, Calif., April 7, 2017 Loretta (Kroeker fs’53) Babich, Grants Pass, Ore., Feb. 24, 2017 Robert Friesen (fs’59), Bellingham, Wash., Nov. 30, 2016 Theresa (Schroeder fs’53) Frantz, Highlands Ranch, Colo., Nov. 5, 2016 Harold Kleinsasser (fs'48), Reedley, Calif., Oct. 26, 2017
Alumni News – 1970s Stephen Morris (g’77) received his Educational Doctorate Degree in May 2017 from Fresno State University.
1990s Chad Christensen (g’95) and his Maize South Mavericks baseball team became the Kansas state champions in 4A-DI baseball this spring. This is the first sports program to win a state championship for the school in its eight-year history. Christensen was also selected as the 4A-DI Coach of the Year, which gives him a total of three Coach of the Year awards in Kansas.
2010s In the last week of September, Richard Kyle’s (f) 12th book was released titled “Popular Evangelicalism in American Culture.” This study contends that evangelicalism has been thoroughly acculturated—perhaps more than any other religious body in America. Evangelicals have not created a Christian America. Rather, they have developed an Americanized Christianity and they cannot tell the difference between the two. In the mind of many evangelicals, Christianity and American civilization (as it existed before the 1960s) were one and the same. This volume has been published by Routledge Books, an international academic publisher based in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Susan Lehrman Retirement
Lyndon Vix Retirement
Susan Lehrman retired from Tabor College in September after more than 30 years with the school. During her tenure, Lehrman rose in the registrar's office from administrative assistant to assistant registrar. Colleagues from the college as well as retired faculty and staff joined together to send Lehrman off with best wishes. At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Lehrman was the recipient of the inaugural Staff Excellence Award. “I didn’t expect it and am humbled by the comments from my colleagues,” Lehrman said of the announcement. “It is so special to work for a place that recognizes the effort and value of staff contributions. The people at Tabor have made it a joy to go to work.”
After serving the Tabor College Board of Directors for 30 years, Lyndon Vix has decided to retire. Vix came on the board in 1987 and began serving as chair in 1998. Through the years, he has seen the college go through ups and downs and acted as a stable leader. “Lyndon has done many great things for the college in his tenure on the board,” President Jules Glanzer said. “Most recently he was instrumental in providing direction and leadership for the new Shari Flaming Center for the Arts. I am honored to have served Tabor under Lyndon’s leadership and proud to call him a friend.”
Grand Finale Nears End Tabor College has been the recipient of several $1,000+ gifts over the last year to help finish construction on the new Shari Flaming Center for the Arts. When the Grand Finale effort began, there was still a little more than $1 million to raise to complete the building debt free. Through the Grand Finale, the advancement office asked individuals to give $1,000 to help meet the debt free goal. As of Nov. 3, the progress is more than half way to completion and additional gifts are expected through the end of the year. There is still time to contribute. To make a gift to the Grand Finale effort, contact Ron Braun at (620) 947-3121 ext. 1709 or email ronb@tabor.edu.
Grand Finale As of November 3, 2017 1000 individuals giving $1000 donor names will appear on a Grand Finale plaque Participants Goal
1000
Participants YTD
586
Funding goal
$1,000,000
Amount Given YTD
$632,196
Amount Needed to reach funding goal
$367,804
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Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit #20 Hillsboro KS
Tabor College Connection 400 South Jefferson Hillsboro, KS 67063 Address Service Requested
Please contact us if your address is incorrect: advancement@tabor.edu TABOR COLLEGE INVITES YOU TO CELEBRATE THE DEDICATION OF THE
Shari Flaming Center for the Arts Dedication Ceremony DECEMBER 9, 2017 – 2:00 p.m.
Messiah DECEMBER 10, 2017 – 7:00 p.m.