The Clarion | Dec. 2021 by The Clarion

The similarity of our heritage

Football season ends, team camaraderie continues

Bonded by disappointment

DEC. 2021

A change in the tide Professor of English Dan Ritchie retires after 36 years. He has learned to trust his place in God’s plan throughout his entire career.

A change in the tide

The similarity of our heritage

Photo by Hannah Hobus

Pathways and barriers

Professor of English Dan Ritchie retires after 36 years. He has learned to trust his place in God’s plan throughout his entire career.

Voz Latinx creates a space for Latinx students to find community and belonging.

Ripley Smith and senior Kate Larson examine the social support of people experiencing homelessness to pinpoint a trend in what creates community.

by Soraya Keiser 06 Story Design by Hannah Hobus

Photos by Hannah Hobus

Story by Makenzi Johnson Design by Hannah Hobus

Story by Sarah Bakeman and Emily Rossing Design by Hannah Hobus Photos by Hannah Hobus

Opinion: Chuck your phone into Lake Valentine

Story by Signe Penn Design by Spencer Vang

Reflections on Dr. Ritchie

Story by Annessa Ihde Design by Aimee Kuiper

Engaging the “other:” General education courses

Story by Samuel Zalanga Design by Joy Sporleder

Leftover food fills students’ trays in the Dining Center. | Photo by Addie Stern

From tray to trash

Football season ends, team camaraderie continues

COVID-19 in the MIAC

Sodexo at Bethel aims for sustainable practices, but food waste numbers keep climbing.

Central College takes out Bethel University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III football tournament.

How do Bethel’s COVID-19 case numbers compare to other universities in the area?

by Ella Roberts 20 Story Design by Bryson Rosell

by Molly Wilson 22 Story Design by Gretta Nathe

Go figure!

Bonded by disappointment

Public space to sacred ground

As fall sports at Bethel University enter the latter portion of their schedules, let’s take a look at some of the statistics that stand out.

After limited games with no postseason in 2020, the Royals volleyball team embarked on a historic 2021 season.

Two and a half years after his death, George Floyd Square remains a space where art and activism exist together.

Essay by Hannah 30 Photo Hobus and Bryson Rosell

Story by Rachel Blood Design by Davis McElmurry Photos by Addie Stern

Story by Caden Christansen Design by Davis McElmurry Photos by Contributors

Photos by Hannah Hobus

Story by Caden Christiansen Design by Bryson Rosell Photos by Hannah Hobus

Made for ministry

Under the lights

Pastor Caitlyn Stenerson reflects on her journey back to Bethel and the moments that shaped her along the way.

Bethel music ensembles unite to put on a live Festival of Christmas.

by Hannah Hunhoff 40 Story Design by Alexa Vos

by Rachel Blood 44 Story Design by Joy Sporleder

Photos by Molly Longtin

On the cover: Dr. Dan Ritchie in his office Photo by Hannah Hobus

Photos by Mild Du

DEC. 2021

From the Editor

Soraya Keiser Managing Editor sok32884@bethel.edu

Celebration

y family has always been a strict decorate-for-Christmas-in-December kind of family. We wait until the Thanksgiving hoopla has died down, the radio stations play exclusively Christmas music and a foot of snow has drifted to the ground. That’s just how it’s been. Also, I’m pretty sure my parents wait to put the tree up so my brothers and I don’t fixate on what will soon be under it. But this isn’t an I-hate-the-Christmas-season rant. Please. I would resign from the Clarion right now if that were true. I have just always thought Christmas has its time and place: December.

When the days get dark by 5 p.m., any chance to celebrate should be taken with gusto.

This concept was never a point of contention until I came to college and my roommates were the biggest Christmas-lovers I ever knew. They started listening to the Mariah Carey Merry Christmas album before Halloween, although only through their AirPods because they knew I thought it was weird. That’s just how we dealt with it, at least until the first snowfall of the year Nov. 13. We were all driving back to campus after eating delicious spinach and artichoke dip in at Moe’s American Grill, and snow had started falling fast while we were in the warmth of the building. When we got out it was cold and windy, and everything seemed to be sparkling. The thin layer of snow made the 7 p.m. darkness just a little bit brighter, and I will admit, it was rather festive. How could I say no to Christmas music? Why shouldn’t we celebrate the small things? When days get dark by 5 p.m., any chance to celebrate should be taken with gusto. In this issue we celebrate athletic achievement. We celebrate Festival of Christmas in person. We celebrate the legacy of a professor who gave so much to Bethel. We celebrate art in the midst of sorrow. We celebrate Latinx culture. We celebrate the chance to tell stories. We celebrate being alive. It’s easy to get bogged down in pulling off projects and preparing for finals, realizing you don’t have enough money to buy all your friends Christmas gifts or dealing with the freezing wind that whips at your ankles as you run across Kresge Courtyard, but I urge you to find moments of celebration amid all of that heaviness. Find moments that make you smile despite previous opinions, because those moments are precious.

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Clarion Staff Editor-in-Chief Rachel Blood

Lifestyle Reporter Hannah Hunhoff

Managing Editor Soraya Keiser

News Reporter Ally Brodin

Copy Editor Morgan Day

Sports Editor Caden Christiansen

Art Director Bryson Rosell

Section Designer Alexa Vos

Photo Editor Hannah Hobus

Section Designer Davis McElmurry

News Editor Sarah Bakeman

Illustrator Joy Sporleder

Lifestyle Editor Makenzi Johnson

Staff Photographer Molly Longtin

Kindre Radloff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Business Manager Makenzie Enderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marketing Director Eli Barlue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sales Director Ariel Dunleavy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social Media and Website Manager Maya Spinler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contributing Writer Ella Roberts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contributing Writer Emily Rossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributing Writer Molly Wilson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contributing Writer Annessa Ihde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Guest Columnist Signe Penn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Guest Columnist Samuel Zalanga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Guest Columnist Gretta Nathe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributing Designer Spencer Vang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributing Designer Aimee Kuiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributing Illustrator Mild Du. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributing Photographer Addie Stern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contributing Photographer Ava Thiewes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Photography BUILD Mentor Mia B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Staff Dog

Have a response to a story in this issue?

Want to write for the Clarion?

Email Editor-in-Chief Rachel Blood at rachel-blood@bethel.edu with questions, thoughts or concerns or drop by the Clarion newsroom during community time Tuesdays and Thursdays to speak with a Clarion staff member.

Email Managing Editor Soraya Keiser at sok32884@bethel.edu and she'll get you connected.

THE BETHEL UNIVERSITY CLARION

THEBUCLARION

DEC. 2021

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BETHELCLARION.COM

Professor of English Dan Ritchie retires after 36 years. He has learned to trust his place in God’s plan throughout his entire career.

Dr. Ritchie shares newspapers from when he was a Kentucky journalist before he came to Minnesota. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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A change in the tide By Soraya Keiser

English Professor Dan Ritchie sits with his wife Judie and watches the sun set from the rocky beach of Lindisfarne, a monastic community off the northeast coast of England. As the sun dips into the water and turns the sky pink, the tide comes in and makes the small strip of land an island. Twice a day to the pull of the moon, Lindisfarne becomes a quiet destination once again. No one can leave across the causeway until the morning. Ritchie wants the students he has taken here on Bethel’s England Term study abroad trip to know that, while on this island, the rhythms they live by are not their own. “There’s nothing to do except reflect on your own walk with God … and see your place in God’s plan,” Ritchie said. God’s plan has led Ritchie from being a piano-playing 14-year-old with a paper route from Louisville, Kentucky to a professor with more than 36 years of teaching experience and a wall full of memories from his times climbing Mt. Snowdon in Wales to attending a Humanities program dance at the James J. Hill house in St. Paul. Lindisfarne, a holy island rich in history, religion and politics, continues to stand out among all of Ritchie’s other memories. He loves how these seemingly different topics can be unified into a place, book or topic. Originally a professor of Christianity in Western Culture for seven years, Ritchie loved the concept of team teaching and exploring the

Dr. Ritchie points out photos as well as articles that he worked on at the newspaper. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

DEC. 2021

great works of writing,” Ritchie said. Those great works of writing have always been at the center of Ritchie’s work, whether it be when he’s teaching “Paradise Lost” in an English class, brushing up on his Karl Marx knowledge for Humanities IV or even working as a journalist in Kentucky covering city council meetings and coal strikes. One of his favorite things to do is teach great works of literature in the very places they were written or based. As the faculty leader on four separate England Terms, Ritchie has taught Shakespeare in London, Jane Austen in Lyme Regis and Romantic poetry in the Lake District. “The keynote of the trip is literature on location,” said Ritchie. “We are always traveling to locations where the literature either was written or took place.” Leading these trips has been such a joy for Ritchie and Judie that in retirement they hope to lead similar trips for adults centered around the idea of pilgrimage. “We’re not interested in just luxury experiences,” Ritchie said. “The kinds of people that

Dr. Ritchie and his wife Judie chat in their living room while enjoying a cup of tea and reminiscing on their past study abroad trips. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

connection between history and theology with students. However, he thought that combining more of the first-year general education classes and giving students time to read full historical texts would, in the end, be more beneficial. “When you have snippets from books, they’re inevitably curated for the professor’s purposes, and that’s fine in certain circumstances,” Ritchie said. “However, what’s great about great books is that they’re always saying different things to different people and different things in different time periods.” This is how the concept of the Bethel Humanities program came to be. After a curriculum review in 2000, the Humanities program started in 2002 and Ritchie left CWC for good. 19 years later, Ritchie is finishing up teaching his last round of Humanities courses before his retirement in December. His legacy through the program will continue to teach students the connections between history, theology, art and literature even as he moves on. “We want to empower students to see on their own the value of

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In the living room, Dr. Ritchie has his piano where he plays regularly. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

Ritchie’s daughter, Hilary, remembers childhood trips with her family through Europe. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

we can relate to the most are the kinds of people that are looking for meaning in their lives and meaning in their travel.” That means places like Lindisfarne or the Taizé community in central France will definitely be on the list. Hilary, the youngest of Judie and Ritchie’s three children, remembers the Taizé community from her time accompanying her parents on England Term, even though she was only eight years old. The Taizé Community is a Christian monastery composed of brothers from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. They are known for their simple, meditative form of worship that includes mantra songs, prayerful silence and short readings in a candle-lit environment. Now the United Worship Coordinator at Bethel, Hilary’s time spent in the Taizé community stands out to her the most. “They had worship every day and they just would sing these very repetitive songs from scripture that I think helped me in what I’m doing now,” Hilary said. “Just to see that worship isn’t just what we do in my church, that there’s lots of different ways that people express worship.” All the places that Ritchie and his family have traveled to remain

not just in memory alone. Judie says their kids have described their home as an art museum, and it’s true. Art fills the walls and almost every knick-knack has a meaning. There’s the nativity scene painted on papyrus from Egypt displayed in the dining room. A ceramic bowl decorated with tulips from their daughter-in-law’s family in Turkey hangs on the wall in the living room. The couch cushions are decorated with a tapestry from Normandy. Ritchie is not only intentional in his material possessions. According to Department of English and Journalism colleague Dr. Marion Larson, Ritchie has single-handedly been the keeper of the departmental faculty birthday calendar. He buys the card, passes it around the department and ensures that the person receives it on time. He would ask off of work to chaperone his children’s field trips because he wanted to foster in them a love for learning. Every morning he reads news sources from both sides of the political spectrum just so he remains well informed from all perspectives. The New York Times. The National Review. NPR. He listens to an audiobook every morning on his ride to work. Right now, it’s a biography on former president Lyndon B. Johnson, who Ritchie remembers from when he was a kid. With his times leading England Term in the past and his educational career soon to be as well, Ritchie is stepping into an entirely unknown time of life. “When you’re in the middle of a job, you have a schedule. You know what your life is going to look like,” Ritchie said. “And it’s hard when you retire or are facing retirement to figure out what your days are going to be.” Ritchie has been comforted by Psalm 139 when thinking about the future. Part of the psalm reads, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” “That verse, the assurance that God has numbered my days, that he knows in his book what’s going to be written, that was a helpful thing to reflect on,” Ritchie said. Whether on the shores of Lindisfarne or while enjoying an early morning cup of coffee with one of Judie’s cran-raspberry scones, Ritchie will continue to take comfort with his role in God’s plan. C Design by Hannah Hobus

DEC. 2021

‘The similarity By Makenzi Johnson The Underground was filled with the sounds of Spanish music, strings of papel picado — colorful paper flags – along the walls as partygoers loaded their plates with traditional foods. The sweet dessert, flan. A corn salad called esquite. Warm pupusas, tortillas stuffed with various fillings. Their cups were filled with sweet horchata or agua de jamaica — hibiscus tea. In their biggest celebration of the year, Hispanic Heritage Month, UCB subgroup Voz Latinx brought some of the most traditional and well-loved parts of the Latinx culture to Bethel. Voz aims to create a space where Latinx students at Bethel can find a place of belonging. President Amy Ruiz Plaza, Vice President Joshua Lopez and other members of the group host events so other students of color feel welcome while inviting the rest of the Bethel community to learn about different cultures.

“At a [predominately white institution], there’s not a lot of space where we can feel comfortable or express our culture,” Ruiz Plaza said. “It’s a group for Latinx students to come together and just have a community.” Senior science education major Jerry Lara says groups like Voz are important for students of color to have a place where they can relate to one another. “It’s nice to have people that look like me, that are able to relate to me and speak Spanish,” Lara said. “It just feels so natural and calming that I’m able to speak my native tongue and not feel ashamed or get called out for not speaking English … we share the similarity of our heritage.” Lara recalls Bethel advertising to him as a university that values reconciliation, community and diversity. He said that Bethel made it seem as though students of color

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were everywhere — which Lara found wasn’t the case. “I thought, ‘oh, there are people who are Black, there’s even more Asians, people who are Mexican, or of Latin descent … sweet, cool, there’s diversity,’” Lara said. “But in all honesty, sometimes I’m the only person of color in classrooms.” Lara said it’s hard to take Bethel’s value on reconciliation seriously when microaggressions and racism are present on a daily basis. His experience is one of the biggest reasons why Ruiz Plaza and Lopez are focused on creating a group for Latinx students on campus. “Having our presence is just really important — seeing us as a group. Not having us divided shows that there’s different cultures and perspectives on campus and that we should embrace it,” Lopez said.

Voz Latinx creates a space for Latinx students to find community and belonging.

of our heritage’ Along with wanting to make their presence known, Voz wants to disassemble stereotypes of the Latinx community, a prominent one being the stereotype Ruiz Plaza describes as Latinos being “not as smart.” “A lot of people view Latinos in general as party people that can’t keep their mouth shut,” Lopez said. “They’re always ready to party and they’re ready to do anything, but [not willing] to study or do anything beneficial that’ll help them.” A recent event hosted by Voz showed the COVID-19 vaccination documentary “Trusted Messenger.” Along with the showing, time was opened for questions, dialogue and discussion featuring a panel of eight healthcare professionals from various backgrounds, such as doctors and registered nurses from area hospitals, professors of medicine at the University of Minnesota and a member of the CDC.

Lopez said the opportunity for discussion showed others a side of the Latinx community that often doesn’t get seen or credited — the side of simply being humans willing to learn. “We want to show that we’re here to grow professionally and we want to keep our studies, but we also love our parties, we love our music and love to dance,” Ruiz Plaza said. Multiple countries are represented at the celebrations and events Voz hosts. Ruiz Plaza says representing various countries is important to showcase that not all Latinx students are of the same background. At the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration there was a fashion show that displayed traditional dress from El Salvador, Mexico, Spain, Honduras and more. Flags of various countries hung around the room.

Voz invites students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds to join their events. The Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration brought in students who were willing to learn more about the Latinx culture and wanted to celebrate it. “It warms my heart knowing that people want to care, want to be immersed in the culture and learn about different things,” Lara said. “It’s so refreshing and nice to know that people at Bethel are like that.” Through groups like Voz, safe spaces for students of color open up and the rest of the Bethel community can celebrate and learn about the various backgrounds on campus. “We want to bring our culture and integrate it on others to learn about it, but also respect it,” Lopez said. “We do have a voice and we have lots to say.” C Design by Hannah Hobus

O C T. 2 0 2 1

Professor Ripley Smith and senior Kate Larson examine the social support of people experiencing homelessness to pinpoint a trend in what creates community.

Pathways & barriers By Sarah Bakeman and Emily Rossing Ripley Smith sat in a cold, plastic folding chair with another empty one seated across from him. Snacks and bottles of water sat on the formica table, an offering for the man Smith was preparing to interview. It was late April, and once John* arrived, he would be the seventh interviewee of Smith’s summer research. This was the same North Minneapolis church, with its worn-out olive carpet, ‘70s remodeling and nondescript exterior, that provided John with food, hygiene products and eventually a part-time job when he found himself homeless. John was one of 62 sources interviewed by Smith and his team of student researchers in the summer of 2021. The goal was to gain insights from people who have experienced or are currently experiencing homelessness in order to visualize their social networks. The responses of the interviewees would be turned into data points in order to determine what social support is lacking in the lives of the homeless. But Smith quickly found himself invested in their stories, especially the story of John. John found himself without a home and facing an addiction. He and his brother survived for years off of the generosity of churches Photo by Hannah Hobus

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7,940

580,000

people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Minnesota

people experiencing homeless on any given night in the US

DEC. 2021

and by collecting discarded scraps of metal and selling them to salvage yards. They also developed a few shallow, but key, relationships with restaurant owners and church leaders that led to part-time jobs and an eventual pathway out of homelessness. “It was like sitting down and talking to somebody who… had climbed Mount Everest and survived,” Smith said. “You just get to sit down and hear from them about an amazing journey that they’ve been on and how they had conquered it.” Smith’s research is part of an initiative with Envision Community, a nonprofit proposing a tiny house community for those experiencing homelessness in Minneapolis. Envision is investing time and resources into figuring out how to make their space more than just a homeless shelter, but an area where community is fostered. Envision founder Dr. Bill Walsh invited Smith to take lead on research, aiming to uncover what that community looks like at a practical level. “We’re trying to figure out what the secret sauce is for making a community really thrive,” Smith said. “We can build homes, but we want to create a community.” In an attempt to measure the number of social connections of their interviewees, Smith and senior communication studies major Kate Larson handed out a paper with 20 empty slots, telling them to fill it with the names of people who were regularly present and dependable in their lives. An average middle-class American could list around 50 people. Out of the 62 interviewees, the most names listed were 19, and only one person could hit that number. On average, people experiencing homelessness list fewer than 10 names. “People experiencing homelessness… lack a sense of community attachment,” Smith said. “And so [Envision] wanted to know what we can do proactively to facilitate that. And that was a big piece of the puzzle that we were hoping to solve with our research.” From mid-April to mid-July, Smith and Larson spent long days interviewing people experiencing homelessness. Roughly every other week, the two would commute to a Minneapolis church or a Bloomington hotel that was renting its space to St. Stephen’s Shelter. Smith and Larson, along with other research students brought on by Smith, spent all day asking the same set of questions to interviewees but received long, different answers.

In the midst of the interviewees’ storytelling, three mindsets were identified: those who saw homelessness as a way of life, those who viewed it as temporary and the ones who were hopeless and uncertain. Some of them had college degrees. Some came in after smoking meth. Others were watching the clock, making sure the interview wouldn’t make them late to a minimum wage, full-time job. Larson remembers the variety of states interviewees would enter the room in. “That was the surprise; you never knew the person coming in... what condition they would be in,” Larson said. “Again, many of these people experience severe mental illness. Some of them are still wrestling with substance use.” When John received an opportunity to get treatment, he was nervous. He’d heard stories of people who had gone to rehabilitation facilities and returned to broken connections. Connections can bring security in the form of food, work and overall social support, all of which are at risk while someone is away, learning to fight and cope with addiction. “When they go to get treatment, a lot of times you break off those relationships, those resources… and then things change,” Smith said. “The… relationships that you’ve formed, maybe they moved on, or you get disconnected somehow.” Seeing this theme across several interviews, Smith and Larson discovered a data trend. Many people experiencing homelessness lack lasting social connections. Often, the social connections they do have lack density, meaning their networks are weaker because the people within it do not know each other. John knew a pastor at a church, his brother and a restaurant owner. Larson spent weeks transcribing the interviews by ear. Smith then joined in on the process of coding interviews into larger themes. The data analysis revealed two categories: pathways and barriers. Many of the pathways, such as human assistance and community, had to do with having meaningful social connections: something Envision wants to create. A barrier might be a criminal history, substance abuse or stigmas. “As [Envision] invites people to join their community, they want to know what the normative situation for social connectedness might be for these new members of the community, and what we need to address,” Smith said.

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Of 62 interviewed, Some individuals, like John, were able to overcome the barriers. When he returned from rehabilitation, the support from his church had not disappeared. This is not always the case for those experiencing homelessness. Smith noted only about 10% of the interviewees seemed to have as positive of a viewpoint on their experience as John did. Still, there was a certain persistence and hope that struck him. “[The interviewees] kept insisting, ‘I am not homeless. This is just something I’m going through, but it’s not who I am,’” Smith said. Despite presenting the research Nov. 18 in the Bethel Library, Smith and Larson are still sifting through their hundreds of hours of data and reflecting on the stories they heard. They have provided Envision the raw data and are working with their board, consisting of many people who are currently without homes, to determine what the next steps forward are for Envision. “We are very appreciative of Dr. Smith’s work,” Walsh said. “Envision is planning on ... gathering members of the homeless community to brainstorm ideas on how to use those insights to develop concrete ideas to try at Envision.”

16.4%

While finding data trends is the focus of the research, Larson said she gained much more from this experience than statistical analysis. She urges her peers to confront the stigmas surrounding those in housing instability and to understand the reality and nearness of these people. C *This name was changed and other identifying details, such as church names, were omitted from the story to protect the privacy of the sources at the researchers’ request.

Indigenous

64.5% POC

Design by Hannah Hobus

DEC. 2021

Of 62 people interviewed, there were 29 female and 33 male. 64.5% were people of color and 16.4% were Indigenous.

From tray to trash

Sodexo at Bethel aims for sustainable practices, but food waste numbers keep climbing.

Trays full of cups, dishes and extra food pile up in the dish room. | Photo by Addie Stern

By Rachel Blood

lastic trays tossed haphazardly onto the racks cycle through the back room of the Monson Dining Center as workers in blue button-downs and black aprons try to clear them as fast as they come. Cups pile high and a hamburger with only a crumb missing from the bun sits nearly untouched beside a pile of crumpled napkins. Full plates make their way down the conveyor belt, their contents dumped into a trash bag. The buzz of rattling silverware and shouts between kitchen employees float through the air. This is the part of the DC students never get to see. For more than six years, Sodexo food service at Bethel University has partnered with Barthold Farm to recycle food scraps. Charged by the barrel, employees toss waste from the kitchen or leftover unserved food into 32-gallon containers to be wheeled outside to be driven to Barthold’s farm in St. Francis, Minnesota. Bins of severed strawberry tops, celery ends and spare lasagna are cooked and fed

to the pigs. Before Barthold drives to Bethel to pick up the waste, Sodexo weighs and tracks the food scraps. “We figure that it’s worth it because it’s food that’s not going into the waste stream,” Sodexo General Manager Michele Hamersma, who stepped into Bob Schuchardt’s former position in June, said. “It’s recycling.” However, only kitchen waste is sent to Barthold. What remains on trays when consumers finish their meals goes directly into the trash. “I try to be fairly conscious [of the amount of food I take], because one, I know somebody’s going to clean up my tray afterward, and two, there’s an amount of food waste,” senior finance student and DC Manager Jordan Diaz said. “I like to err on the side of ‘I can go back for more.’”

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Despite his efforts, Diaz has seen the reality. So much food waste ends up in the trash that the nominal difference of a single consumer hardly makes a difference. A Sodexo program called Leanpath controls food production based on usage. A menu-generating system based on the projected number of customers per meal calculates how much food to produce at each station based on past data. Despite the waste control efforts behind the scenes, consumers generate a significant amount of waste. On the dish belt, Hamersma sees piles of untouched food, especially during the 1 p.m. lunch rush. Bethel also partners with Second Harvest Heartland, one of few food distributors in the state able to take perishable foods. Its distribution system is large enough to take in large quantities of food and redistribute it to smaller food banks. Because the organization only takes large donations, a minimum of half a pallet, Bethel donates

food at the end of each semester and before big breaks. Sodexo’s other sustainability efforts include implementing corn-based recyclable silverware and sourcing Rainforest Alliance coffee from Caribou. Hamersma said these efforts are a combination of a sustainability-focused goal shared by Sodexo and Bethel administration. “Bethel’s a really good place to be, I’ll tell you that,” Hamersma said. “Students have made it clear that [sustainability] is a very important thing to our community, so we want to try to meet the goals of the university and the student body as a whole to bring programs that will help Mother Earth in the ways that we can.” Hamersma urges consumers to be aware

of the food waste and pay attention to the waste charts on the left-hand side of the dish return. “It’s great to have lots of choices, but I see a lot of food go in the garbage from the consumer end of it. It’s discouraging,” Hamersma said. “I’ve seen whole sandwiches go down the garbage disposal in the dishroom, and I think that’s just overtaking.”

“I think there just needs to be a lot more education and willingness from people to want to participate and make it happen, because it is an effort,” Hamersma said. “There’s a long way to go, and it revolves around education and talking about it. I think it’s important to have those kinds of messages out there.” C Design by Davis McElmurry

Some college campuses have phased out the usage of trays, but experimental trayless days at Bethel have resulted in severe pushback. Continuing to use large trays in the DC leaves portion control up to students. Sodexo hosts waste awareness days to increase consumer awareness about the amount of food wasted at each meal.

Beverage waste per person

Total beverage waste

3.5 gal Total food waste

Food waste per person

103 lbs

1.07 oz

A nearly untouched hamburger waits to be disposed of in the dish room. | Photo by Addie Stern DEC. 2021

LAST FILM TO MAKE ME LOSE IT By Emily Rossing

Film: Miracle on Ice Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Nathan West Director: Gavin O’Connor

The big idea: A bunch of college kids with big personalities and an unconventional coach make a run for gold in men’s hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The dynamics between the Soviet Union and the U.S. are tense on the ice but even more so in the political arena. Grit, camaraderie and hope are all themes in the film. The scene: I feel physical pain in my legs during the “Again” scene. Coach Herb makes the players skate lines for hours after losing a game, but it’s the turning point where the players finally start working as a team. It makes me think I can do anything if they can hear that whistle 50 times and skate until their legs are numb. Recommendation: If you need something to motivate you, this is it. I can recite about 60% of Coach Herb Brooks’ pregame speech and every time I get a surge in my chest as if it’s me who’s about to play the four-year reigning champ Soviet hockey team. A great feel-good sports movie. Where to get it: Amazon for $4.99, Disney+

The big idea: “Return of the King” presents the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil fighting for control of Middle-earth. Hobbits Frodo and Sam reach the country of Mordor in their quest to destroy the ‘one ring’ while Aragorn, heir to the throne, leads his forces against Sauron’s evil army in Gondor. The scene: You can have your pick from more than three hours of short people dramatically walking through woods, 836 on-screen deaths and countless jump scares of creepy perturbent eyes connected to a voice that sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball. Your tragic breakup will soon be forgotten. Recommendation: There is nothing better to get you out of a post-breakup rut than a movie that is not about relationships at all. You will either be enraptured by the dramatic events or asleep from the seemingly endless plot. Perfect! And if this movie doesn’t do it for you, there are always at least six more hours of the trilogy to keep you occupied. Also, your ex wasn’t as cool as Legolas anyway.

BEST M VIE TO WATCH AFTER A BREAKUP By Soraya Keiser

Film: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Where to get it: Amazon for $3.99 18

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Football season ends, team camaraderie continues By Ella Roberts

Central College takes out Bethel University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III football tournament.

The Bethel Royals played against Saint John’s University Nov. 13. Despite a loss by one point, the team earned a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

fter receiving its 10th playoff berth in the past 20 seasons, the Bethel University football team’s season came to a close Nov. 20 in a 61-35 loss to an undefeated Central College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs in Pella, Iowa. The Royals found themselves in an early 14-0 hole three minutes into the game after multiple Central pass completions and a Bethel pass was intercepted at Bethel’s 31-yard line and returned to the endzone. Bethel fought their way to Central’s 4-yard line and got on the board after receiving an automatic first down on a pass interference penalty. They scored THE CLARION

off of an 8-yard completion from senior quarterback Jaran Roste to sophomore wide receiver Joey Kidder, who caught two touchdowns on the day and finished the season with 10. From there, the Bethel defense started to stiffen, holding Central to a pair of field goals in the second quarter while the Royals’ offense scored two touchdowns to close the deficit to 27-21 at halftime. The second half started out promising for the Royals when freshman wide receiver Micah Niewald picked off a Blaine Hawkins pass on the opening possession. However, the Royals were unable to generate any offense, allowing Central

to pull away again in the second half and keep the Royals scoreless in the third quarter. Central added its final touchdown with 2:22 left in the game for the 61-35 final.

injury, threw for a career high of 353 yards and three touchdowns.

said. “We’re not easy to put away. Defense stepped up big time.”

“The playoffs aren’t a guarantee,” Roste said. “Today was a gift.”

Central came into the game leading the country in most offensive categories and it showed why with a combination of quick passes and big plays.

Bethel’s defense picked off Central’s quarterback Hawkins twice, which was his season total coming into the game. Junior linebacker Collin Curtis made a career high of 16 stops, including a tackle for loss.

Johnson credits the team’s overall success this season to the love his players show for one another.

“They are terrific on offense. Their quarterback Hawkins is a great player,” coach Steve Johnson said prior to the game. “They are good all over, but especially on offense and throwing the ball.” The Royals’ Roste, bouncing back from

“We have a great bunch of dudes with Matthew Feldick, Nate Farm and another corner who had to step up in the times, Danny Kulus. I take pride in our secondary,” senior cornerback Tavian Swanson DEC. 2021

“I love these guys,” Johnson said, fighting back tears. “There’s a special deal with our football team, and we might be a bunch of ragamuffins, but we love each other. It’s as close on earth as you can get to unconditional love.” C Design by Bryson Rosell

COVID-19 in the MIAC

By Molly Wilson

he Bethel University COVID-19 Dashboard has become a source for students to see how COVID-19 has impacted the school — a small snapshot of a larger COVID-19 prevention and tracking operation. Executive Director for Healthcare Excellence Kristi Moline is in charge of monitoring all of the COVID-19 related data Bethel collects. When looking at the Dashboard, she recommends paying attention to how many positive COVID-19 cases have occurred in the last 14 days. This is the time it would take for newly implemented measures to prove effective. How does Bethel compare to other schools in the MIAC? While each MIAC school has a COVID-19 Dashboard, they are not all created equal. Some schools draw data from the Minnesota Department of Health while others rely on data coming from the university itself. C

COVID-19 Levels for Bethel

How do Bethel’s COVID-19 case numbers compare to other universities in the area?

Level 0: Normal: Green There are no COVID-19 cases on campus. This is the ideal situation. Level 1: Low: Blue Where Bethel is sitting now (as of Nov. 30). There are still COVID-19 cases, but Bethel is able to run with few to no protocol changes. Level 2: Moderate: Yellow Some protocol changes due to a substantial number of COVID-19 cases.

Level 3: High: Orange COVID-19 restrictions are so great that campus activities and resources cannot operate normally. Level 4: Critical: Red Campus must close. In-person classes and campus residencies are suspended.

Design by Gretta Nathe

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Bethel

Northwestern

St. Thomas

CSB/SJU

Health Services

Center for Well-Being

Not listed

Size of student body (Fall 2020)

2,710

3,363

3,650

1,569

Positive cases in last 14 days (as of Nov. 30)

20 (Nov. 14-28)

18 (Nov. 23-29)

35 (Nov. 13-26)

11 (Nov. 16-30)

63%

Not listed

89.9%

90%

Not listed

113

Not listed

196

Information source

Vaccination rate (students with one or both of the shots)

Students and employees in quarantine and isolation Cumulative positive tests this academic year

Weekly Positive Cases Bethel

St. Thomas

CSB/SJU

15 10 5 0

Oct. 30 - Nov. 5

Nov. 6 - Nov. 12 DEC. 2021

Nov. 12- Nov. 18

Nov. 19 - Nov. 25 23

Go F igur e! By Caden Christiansen

As fall sports seasons at Bethel University come to a close, let’s take a look at some of the statistics that stand out.

he number of interceptions that freshman defensive back Nate Farm had for the Royals football team in 2021. Farm snagged multiple interceptions in games against Gustavus Adolphus College and Concordia College Moorhead and is tied for 20th in all of Division III for interceptions per game. Farm was also named to the All-MIAC first team defense.

Freshman defensive back Nate Farm gets ready for the Gustavus offense as the rain pours down during the homecoming football game. Farm came away with two interceptions to add to a stout defensive effort from the Royals in a 34-9 victory. | Photo by Dave Staniforth

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1,078

Design by Davis McElmurry

The number of receiving yards racked up by sophomore Joey Kidder for the Royals football team. Kidder reached this mark on only 58 receptions and averaged an astounding 18.59 yards per reception. He ended the season ranked 19th in all of Division III for receiving yards and added 10 touchdown catches on the year as well. Kidder was also named to the All-MIAC first team offense. Sophomore wide receiver Joey Kidder finds the endzone for one of his two touchdowns against Gustavus on homecoming. Kidder leads the Royals’ offense in receiving and receiving touchdowns through seven games. | Photo by Carl Schmuland

Senior setter Hannah Wilhite sets the volleyball high in the air to a fellow Royals teammate. Her keen ability to assist her teammates has helped lead the Royals volleyball team to the top of the MIAC standings. | Photo by Nathan Klok

1,132 The number of assists senior setter Hannah Wilhite accumulated for the Royals volleyball team this season. Wilhite assisted on a staggering 10.58 points per set and ranked 14th in all of Division III for total assists. She earned her fourth consecutive All-MIAC honors and was named an All-America honorable mention. Royals volleyball was granted an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after a 23-7 overall record where they lost in the second round.

115

The number of saves sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Smith collected for the Bethel women’s soccer team this year. Smith allowed 1.99 goals per game with a save percentage of 0.787 (78.7%) in the 16 games she played in. She finished the year ranked 47th in all of Division III for total saves. C

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Junior Emily Rossing spikes the ball across the court. | Photo by Bryson Rosell

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Bonded by disappointment By Caden Christiansen

After limited games with no postseason in 2020, the Royals volleyball team embarked on a historic 2021 season.

The Bethel University volleyball team took the court at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minnesota sporting their navy blue jerseys to begin the 2020 season. The Royals’ swift three-set victory brought a sense of normalcy back to a team that waited 501 days to play competitive volleyball against another opponent. After seven more staggered matches, one scrimmage and a non-existent Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff to battle for, normalcy was hard to come by. In July 2020, the MIAC announced that cross country, football, soccer and volleyball competitions would be postponed until the spring due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. With volleyball categorized as a “high risk” sport, the MIAC allowed teams to sched-

DEC. 2021

ule a maximum of nine matches and cancelled the conference championship. Despite disappointment and uncertainty for a senior-dominated roster, the Royals were able to use limited practices and competition to grow closer as a team. “There were times it was really draining,” senior setter Hannah Wilhite said, “but it allowed for a lot of team bonding and time to soak it in with those seniors who weren’t coming back.” The 2021 season came faster than usual, less than four months from the team’s last conference game. With seniors Allie Fauth and Rylee Forshee returning for fifth years and a full season of scheduled matches in front of them, the Royals were ready to get started.

Senior setter Hannah Wilhite soars in the air to serve the volleyball in the first round of the MIAC playoffs. Wilhite was a big part of the Royals’ success in their 23-7 record, being named to the All-MIAC team for the fourth year in a row. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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“Everyone was so hungry,” sophomore outside hitter Danielle Friedges said. “We all had the mindset that this is going to be a good season and we have the capability of going super far.” It didn’t take long for the Royals to burst onto the scene, posting a 12-3 record between their home opener and first four tournaments including wins against two teams ranked in the top 25. As they approached conference play, it became apparent for players and coaches that a special season was in the making. “After beating some of the best teams and seeing us get ranked, that’s when I opened my eyes to it,” Friedges said. “Everyone fulfilled their own role and knowing that is what made us so good.” With momentum and confidence on their side, the Royals entered a hefty conference schedule with a dominating three-set victory over the College of St. Benedict but were overpowered in three sets by Gustavus Adolphus College just three days later. “After the Gustavus game, everyone's mindset changed,” Wilhite said. “We were not letting that happen again because we wanted to win the MIAC.” Following the loss to Gustavus, the Royals did just that, rattling off eight straight conference victories on their way to a 10-1 conference record and a tie with Gustavus for the regular season MIAC championship. The impressive conference record is the best in school history since at least 1981, the last year the MIAC online volleyball archives dates back to. After a historic regular season, the Royals earned the second seed in the MIAC playoffs, facing Hamline University at the Robertson Center. Winning the match in four sets led by junior Kirsten Cotter’s 17 kills, the Royals earned a trip to the MIAC championship game in St. Peter, Minnesota against Gustavus.

ing the Gusties 64-63 overall, as Gustavus was crowned 2021 MIAC champion. “It was heartbreaking,” Wilhite said. “A lot of it was in our head,” added Friedges. “The crowd, the atmosphere, knowing what’s on the line. We kind of beat ourselves, but at the same time were able to play some decent volleyball.” After losing the MIAC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Royals’ fate for a postseason bid was left out of their hands. “There was hope knowing how well we did that we would get a bid,” Wilhite said. “There’s always doubt in the back of your mind, but I think a lot of people almost expected it.” With a 23-7 overall record, victories over multiple top-25-ranked opponents and a national ranking of 21 after the MIAC championship, the Royals earned an at-large bid to the NCAA volleyball tournament in Waverly, Iowa. It was their first trip to the tournament since 2015 and despite losing in the second round against third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, the 2021 season was one of the best in school history. Along with many team accomplishments in 2021, several Royals players were awarded postseason accolades. Wilhite, Kotter, Fauth and junior Emily Rossing all earned All-MIAC awards with Kotter and Wilhite earning All-America honorable mention awards as well. “[Head Coach Gretchen Hunt] stresses to bring your best self every day no matter what’s in the tank,” Wilhite said. “We’re never going to stand around the same 28 girls again, and I think that meant a lot more to us this year than other years, because we were more grateful for it.” C Design by Bryson Rosell

Prior to this year, the Royals have participated in six straight MIAC playoffs with none resulting in a conference championship win. In a game against Gustavus, who had handed Bethel its only conference loss of the season, the Royals found themselves overwhelmed by a raucous crowd of black and gold and a tough Gustavus team. After winning the first set, the Royals dropped the next three, despite out-scorDEC. 2021

Public space to sacred ground One and a half years after his death, George Floyd Square remains a space where art and activism exist together. Photo Essay by Hannah Hobus and Bryson Rosell

Located one block away from George Floyd Square, a memorial stands for individuals who have lost their lives due to discrimination in the United States. Members of the public are encouraged to take to time to reflect on the memorial. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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DEC. 2021

Few walls in George Floyd Square remain untouched by artists and activists for the Black Lives Matter movement as they communicate calls to action and remember lives lost. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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DEC. 2021

The art in the area has been weathered by many seasons since first being erected in the summer of 2020. | Photo by Bryson Rosell

Individuals from across the country and the world have visited and continue to visit the square to pay their respects to Floyd and others. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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Photo by Hannah Hobus

DEC. 2021

The Speedway on the corner of 35th and Chicago has been transformed into a space where community members gather. It hosts many paintings and murals by local artists. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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The space directly outside the Cup Foods has been decorated with notes, artwork, pictures of loved ones and various other items. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

A bus stop near the Cup Foods has been covered with posters and notes with heartfelt and powerful messages. | Photo by Bryson Rosell

DEC. 2021

An abandoned Metro Transit stop has been repurposed into a place to donate clothes for members of the community. It also directs people to locations where food can be donations can be dropped off. | Photo by Bryson Rosell

The location of Floyd’s death is commemorated by art, flowers, teddy bears and notes. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

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Local businesses and establishments have had their walls painted with murals by local artists. | Photo by Hannah Hobus

Members of the community have taken to using spray paint to write calls to action and convicting messages in and around Geroge Floyd Square. | Photo by Bryson Rosell DEC. 2021

By Hannah Hunhoff

aitlyn Stenerson sat in Ken Reynhout’s Systematic Theology I as a first-year seminary student in 2015, penning her dreams about the possibilities of what the local church could be in a class paper. What if the church was actually a place where we could come broken? What if the church was filled with people who were open to the messiness of real relationships?

What if the church was a place where we were willing to engage in hard and difficult topics with one another? She will never forget Reynhout’s affirming words: “I would love to be in a church like this someday.” “[Reading Reynhout’s note] made me realize that it’s more than just going to seminary to be a pastor,” Stenerson said. “I’m going to seminary to ask the questions of the church and to ask what it would be THE CLARION

like if the church lived up to Jesus’ ideals and more.” Stenerson’s pathway to unpacking biblical truths began in the lunchroom of Roseville’s Concordia Academy, where she could be found having theological debates at the lunch table. Stenerson took her theological questions to her Bible teacher and received scripture references in response, opening her eyes to the complexity of God. It wasn’t as popular to be after the pursuit of Christ in middle school,

Made for ministry Pastor Caitlyn Stenerson reflects on her journey back to Bethel and the moments that shaped her along the way.

Interim Assistant Pastor and Director of Chapel Programming Caitlyn Stenerson stands in her office in the Christian Formations and Church Relations Office. This is a space to have impactful, faith-filled conversations with students. | Photo by Molly Longtin

but Stenerson pressed beyond her parents’ faith, no longer relying upon “felt board stories and children’s Bibles.” At 14, Stenerson found herself in a frontrow seat among hundreds of teens at a North Heights Lutheran Church youth group night. She was serving in student leadership at the time, wrestling with what she now would call a “leadership gifting.” Watching her youth pastor on stage, Stenerson had an epiphany.

“I remember looking at our youth pastor and having this moment when I realized that is what I was made to do,” Stenerson said. There was no booming voice in the midst of the crowd, just a “gentle whisper in her spirit” that made Stenerson feel like she was created for a pastoral position of this kind. Stenerson shared that every pastor she knew or admired in ministry received DEC. 2021

their education at Bethel University. Desiring a similar path, Stenerson attended Bethel for Post Secondary Enrollment Options, an alternative program for her senior year of high school, but chose to major in political science. Toward the end of her first year of PSEO at Bethel, Stenerson entered a “rebellious stage in her faith” that made her feel like she didn’t want to attend a faith-focused school any longer. Her sophomore year, she transferred to Carthage College, a

Christian college in Kenosha, WI with less of an emphasis on religious involvement, and soon recognized that her faith would be dead by the time she graduated if she chose to stay.

would be done. Navigating her seminary journey with no Bible undergraduate degree felt intimidating, but Stenerson says she was committed to being faithful to her calling.

advocacy for our online community in the midst of COVID and her investments in our emerging female leaders,” Lead Pastor of Emmanuel Covenant Church Chris Studenski said.

After completing her fall semester sophomore year at Carthage, Stenerson drove into the familiar town of Arden Hills and transferred back to Bethel five days before Bethel’s spring semester started. She chose to return to an institution where her faith was nurtured and fostered.

“I always say that my four years in seminary were the four best years of my life,” Stenerson said.

At the end of August 2021, Stenerson received a call from Bethel University informing her that a pastoral position had recently opened up: Interim Assistant Pastor and Director of Chapel Programming. At the time, Stenerson was interviewing to be a teaching pastor in Michigan and realized that “God just blew up her plans.”

“It was the best decision I ever made in my entire life,” Stenerson said. After receiving her B.A. in Political Science, Stenerson pursued a career in political and public relations. While working as a communications specialist at the House of Representatives in 2015, Stenerson unexpectedly received a phone call from the former seminary Director of Admissions Jen Niska, who encouraged Stenerson to apply to Bethel Seminary. She applied, praying God’s will

Some defining moments of Stenerson’s seminary journey consisted of being a teaching assistant for Dr. David Howard’s Old Testament classes, writing challenging papers and winning first place in the Edwin J. Omark preaching competition in both 2017 and 2018. After graduating from Bethel Seminary with her Master of Divinity in May 2019, Stenerson served as Professor of Biblical Studies at Solid Rock School of Discipleship and eventually went on to become Connections Pastor at Emmanuel Covenant Church. “We especially appreciate the humility that she came into her new role with, her

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When Laurel Bunker concluded her role as Campus Pastor and Vice President and Dean for Christian Formation and Church Relations Aug. 6, Stenerson knew that she was stepping onto a campus that was grieving Bunker’s absence. Stenerson was shocked by the opportunity, being encouraged by Pastor Matt Runion to talk to a few mentors about it. “Everyone in my life kept saying to me that ‘I’ve always said going back to Bethel

Photos submitted by Caitlyn Stenerson.

was a dream,’” Stenerson said. She felt at peace about stepping into the position at the beginning of September.

She wants chapel to be a place much like the type of church she dreamed and wrote about in seminary.

“I wanted to be sensitive to the grief and I wanted people to know that I wasn’t here to replace [Bunker], but here to be present,” Stenerson said. “This is the specific role that Jesus has called me to in this season.”

“I want to foster a place that incorporates new and old practices, engages deeply, honestly and in an informed way in the issues of our time through a theological lens, and allows each person to show up honestly,” Stenerson said. C

Sternerson’s greatest hope is that her office will become a place where students can “engage and encounter real life” and experience Jesus. “In addition to her very public chapel presence, Caitlyn is also quietly providing much-needed pastoral care to students,” Runion said. “I think it’s important to recognize that she is really helping students emotionally and spiritually.” Stenerson stood on the stage in Benson Great Hall Nov. 20 preaching a sermon about finding joy in the midst of suffering.

Design by Alexa Vos

“I’m going to seminary to ask the questions of the church and to ask what it would be like if the church lived up to Jesus’s ideals and more.” PASTOR CAITLYN STENERSON

DEC. 2021

Bethel’s music ensembles rehearse a combined piece directed by Dr. Guice Gill under ornaments hung in Benson Great Hall. | Photo By Mild Du

Under the lights By Rachel Blood

Bethel music ensembles unite to put on a live Festival of Christmas.

r. Merrin Guice Gill takes the podium and raises her baton, the eyes of over 200 student musicians on her as they anticipate their entrance. With a flick of her wrist, Guice Gill brings Benson Great Hall to life with sound. Bethel’s 65th Festival of Christmas is in full swing with an in-person audience after 2020’s virtual celebration. Preparation for Festival of Christmas begins more than six months before the concert itself with weekly meetings among faculty and staff regarding instrumentation, repertoire, program order, lighting cues, stage setup, sound and more. Each ensemble member is required to put in one or more “service hours” prior to the event in the form of stage setup, performing in small groups in the lobby prior to a performance or hanging Christmas decorations. Manager of Music Organizations Kevin Shull oversees the entire operation.

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“It’s very rigorous, more than before. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it,” freshman Lucia Chorum member Laura McVeigh said. “It’s the most important event for the Bethel choirs, I’d say. We have extra practices and we rehearse every day, almost, at this point.” Combined rehearsals consist of the wind symphony, orchestra, handbell ensemble and Festival Choir, which is a combination of the three vocal ensembles. McVeigh loves the combined rehearsals and feeling connected to every musician as they work toward the same outcome. “I feel so blessed that I get to be involved in such a huge production at Bethel. I think it’s an amazing opportunity for everyone,” she said. This year, COVID-19 protocols also had to be taken into consideration. Each ensemble member was tested for COVID-19 the day prior to the opening performance to ensure a safe maskless performance.

This year’s theme, “This Little Babe,” centers around the concept of Christ as a child. “Especially in the trying times that we’ve had the last couple of years, I think it’s a theme that will be quite welcomed for everyone, just bringing their eyes back to what really matters,” Lucia Chorum Director Nicole Lambrecht said. In the chaos of the holiday season and the bows and lights and gifts, she is excited to return the focus to the faith and restoration aspect of Christmas. As the night goes on, Lucia Chorum sings “This Little Babe,” a musical arrangement aligning with the evening’s theme. The piece surrounds Christ fighting Satan to protect his people. McVeigh said she appreciates how the theme recognizes the might of Jesus even in his youth. “We always see the nativity scenes and everything, but not a lot of Christmas songs necessarily talk about Jesus [as a child] or Mary and Joseph as parents,” Lambrecht said. The program is divided by narrations

between songs to enhance the theme of the evening. “I enjoy sitting in the front row and just listening and letting it wash over me,” Wind Symphony Director Dr. Steven Thompson said. “The narrations are powerful and help make the Festival more worshipful than a simple concert.” Thompson has participated in 19 in-person Festivals and one virtual. Conducting “O Magnum Mysterium” and “Festive Overture” this year, he is excited to be on stage again. “The beauty of the Festival, in my opinion, is that it truly stays the same with aspects that the audience loves and comes to expect while at the same time constantly changing and morphing according to the theme and the various directors that come and go,” Thompson said. In addition to the return of a live audience, the 65th Festival sets itself apart with a harpsichord feature and three first-year directors: Lambrecht, Royal Register Director Dr. Marcus Simmons and Orchestra Director Patricia Kelly. The most classic

“It really is a great collaboration between and a great representation of the music department here … we work really well together, and I think that’s something that is quite unique,” Lambrecht said. “It’s just going to bring the joy and the reminder of what Christmas is really all about.” The concert closes with a world premiere of an arrangement of “Go Tell It On the Mountain” specifically written for the 65th Festival. Instruments of all kinds– a harp, a marimba, violins, drums, brass, woodwinds– line the stage as the three choirs spread across the risers. Golden ornaments hang from the rafters and the organ pipes glint under the carefully cued lights. It’s Christmas at Bethel. C Additional Reporting by Ally Brodin Design by Joy Sporleder

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aspects of Festival remain the same: the candles, the Christmas decorations and carols arranged in unique ways.

Christmas gift list 46

By Maya Spinler Christmas, while a time of happiness and cheer, is also a time of stress and worry. It can be a lot of work to find a great gift that is both unique and desired. Check out these picks to help you check everyone off the list!

FOR THE JAMES BOND WANNABE: “FIRE MISSILE” CAR BUTTON

FOR THE ON-THE-GO ADVENTURER: ADIDAS MINI CROSSBODY BAG

FOR THE GIRLFRIEND: PANDORA KNOTTED HEARTS BAND RING

FOR THE SOON-TOBE DOCTOR: “THIS IS GOING TO HURT”

FOR THE ATHLETE: RECOUP CRYOSPHERE ICE COLD MASSAGE ROLLER

Photos from retail websites. Design by Alexa Vos. THE CLARION

FOR THE CALIFORNIAN AT HEART: VANS CHECKERED SLIDES

FOR THE KIDULT: MARBLE RUN SET

FOR THE FRIEND WITH THE W.W.J.D. BRACELETS: “THE KING IS COMING” HOODIE

FOR THE STAR LOVER: SKYLITE

FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER: KODAK DISPOSABLE CAMERA

FOR THE ANIME ENTHUSIAST: APPA AVATAR BUCKET HAT

FOR THE BOYFRIEND: GYM SHARK HOODIE

FOR THE BEAUTY GURU: OUAI WAVE SPRAY

FOR THE PERSON WHO INSISTS ON LEGOS BEING FOR ADULTS TOO: LEGO SPEED CHAMPIONS FERRARI F8

DEC. 2021

Chuck your phone into Lake Valentine

By Signe Penn

“It’s that phone of yours, isn’t it?” That’s how the stereotypical and technologically obsolete mother confronts her kids when she finds fault in their behavior. It is one of the worst phrases to hear. It is, of course, a meme, because who even really thinks that nowadays? If I’m being honest, I do. Hear me out. I’m not trying to be a terrible and obnoxious person. I have no right to scold you. I love my phone and spend a lot of time on it. That’s where the problem is, isn’t it? I love (like for real love) my phone. On Sundays, I get a fun little notification that tells me I spent an average of anywhere from 3-6 hours on it per day. I like to ignore that notification, because then I don’t have to feel bad about it. (Really, Signe? Six hours? What are you doing with your life?) However, when I’m not reminded of the time I’m wasting, I like texting my friends, watching random videos, getting cool craft ideas, doing nothing. It’s a space for my brain to not think about anything at all, to relax, to be distracted from the mountain of physics homework quickly piling up. It’s also really beneficial for studying to have a mini-supercomputer on the table beside me at all times. But when it comes to mega-huge-giant-multi-bagazillionare companies, I am not only the consumer. I am a product. My attention, my information and my interests can be and are sold away. It’s not just my information; they sell yours too. (If you need convincing, go watch the Social Dilemma on Netflix. Trust me, you’ll hate what you learn, but it’s a great documentary.)

Here’s where you go, “Okay, great, Signe, thanks for enlightening me. What am I supposed to do now, drop my phone in Lake Valentine and wear a tinfoil hat to class?” Yes? No? Maybe? Probably not? I don’t have the answer. I’m a college student at Bethel University writing this on my state-of-the-art MacBook Air, listening to movie soundtracks through my Airpods. My entire life is dictated by my GCal and I have yet to walk into class without my phone. I’m always engulfed by technology. Without it, it’s essentially impossible to connect with anything here at Bethel, much less the national and global community.

I’m sick of knowing that my cell phone is all that is wrong with the world and not being given any tools to fix it. The problem with technology is real, but also way bigger than I’m sometimes told it is. I don’t have the option of becoming a technological hermit if I want to succeed, and honestly, I don’t want to be. I’m thankful for what technology allows me to do, but I’m sick of being used by it for profit. Fixing this might take some time, and I know it will take a lot of compromise and hard conversations, but I’m willing to listen to what you have to say if you’ll listen to me. I’d rather share wisdom than both suffer for being partially right. I want to make this world a better place. I need you and my phone to do it.”

You’ve heard all this before. We hate technology. We need it. End of story.

[Insert dramatic pause for effect. Mic drop. Walk off stage amidst wild cheering.]

Except I hate that ending even more than I hate the way technology is exploiting me. It’s negative and hopeless, and I’d like to (and do!) think that there is more potential than that melodramatic standoff in our culture.

I’m kidding about that last part. I don’t know where that semi-elegant statement leaves me right now. I don’t plan on giving any speeches, don’t know how to turn my thoughts into action or how to get it off this page or make someone understand that I mean it.

So here’s what I wish I could say to every big tech company or CEO, to politicians, to real-life journalists, to you or just anyone, really: “We can’t change the fact that technological progress is skyrocketing past our ability to comprehend. And I know that all you old people out there are also just getting used to what it means to have a cell phone. You aren’t digital natives, and that’s okay, truly. But as you learn about technology and develop your theories on it, would you please include me in the conversation?

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Maybe you’re in the same place. Talk to me; I’d love that a lot. (As mentioned above, please see my GCal for availability.) Talk to someone else. You’re not alone. Maybe we all become the newest pioneers for change tomorrow. Maybe we don’t. But let’s start talking about it at the very least. C Design by Spencer Vang

Opinion

DEC. 2021

Reflections on Dr. Ritchie By Annessa Ihde

nyone who has had Dr. Ritchie for a Humanities class knows that he is an Edmund Burke enthusiast. This is why I wasn’t surprised when he told me Burke’s “Reflections on the Revolution in France” is the book he has re-read the most.

Too often, voices from the past are shoved into a contextual box. We limit their influence on us by tying their ideas to specific time periods, social movements or geographic locations. What Ritchie has taught me is that there is always a bigger story to consider.

“Like all classics, it has something new to say in every historical period,” he said.

Ritchie never hesitates to connect ideas of the past to modern issues. I remember my very first Humanities lecture. It was about ancient Greek dramas. I had made the appropriate preparations to make sure I didn’t doze off in the comfortable Benson Hall chair: an RG coffee, pen for doodling and my phone tucked beneath my leg. But then I heard Ritchie start speaking in his captivating, authoritative voice, “This is a lecture on murder, vengeance and systemic change.”

This respect for the past is something I’ve grown to admire in Ritchie’s approach to learning. His ability to engage with historical texts and apply their lessons, warnings and insights to our modern context inspires me. In fact, the entire Humanities program (aka Ritchie’s brainchild) is built on this idea that there is an ongoing conversation among writers, philosophers and theologians of the past and present about the nature of humanity and our relationship to God. With that said, here’s a brief breakdown of the Burkean basics. Burke’s political philosophy was based on a deep appreciation for history and an emphasis on constitutionalism. Some of his most influential writing can be found in his “Reflections on the Revolution in France,” in which he criticized the radicals of the French Revolution. In this book, Burke suggests that the French revolutionaries could have established a more politically stable regime if they had used ancient precedents as a guide. “By following wise examples you would have given new examples of wisdom to the world,” Burke wrote.

For the next hour, I listened as Ritchie used Plato’s words and ancient Greek themes to talk about the murder of George Floyd, the recent riots and unrest and the controversial movement to abolish the police. How should we respond to injustice? In Ritchie’s mind, this was the underlying question that connected Aeschylus to George Floyd. We are too quick to dismiss the wise examples that come before us. It’s easy to see our generation’s problems as completely separate from the experiences of the dead authors we read in class. What does Tocqueville know about police brutality? What could Saint Augustine possibly have to say about my own faith journey? How can an ancient Greek tragedy offer a new perspective on racial injustices in America?

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Ritchie has shown me that these connections are not only possible but crucial to our understanding of ourselves and others. I could end this article with a cheesy Robert Frost quote, something about how nothing gold can stay… but even though I will miss having Dr. Ritchie as a professor (is there any way you can stay for two more years, DR?), I believe his wisdom goes beyond impressive memorization skills and eloquent essay feedback. His greatest gift to students will outlast his physical presence on Bethel staff. It is his willingness to learn from others, his appreciation for the past and his courage in wrestling with the toughest questions that make him so wise. I’ve decided to take Burke’s advice. I want to follow wise examples. I want to allow their ideas and experiences to shape my understanding, so that I can find and even give new examples of wisdom to the world. Instead of quoting Frost, I’ll leave you with a piece of Ritchean wisdom: “Our view of the past is central to the way we face the future.” Thanks, DR. C Illustration by Aimee Kuiper

Opinion

DEC. 2021

Engaging the

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Opinion

“other”: General education courses DEC. 2021

By Samuel Zalanga

ne of the unique things about the American higher education system is that to complete the requirements for an undergraduate degree, almost 50% of the course credits that a person earns are meant to satisfy general education graduation requirements. At the time of my undergraduate education in Africa, there was very little, if any serious requirement for general education courses. Thus, I found it fascinating when I came to realize that liberal arts education in the United States requires one to major in a particular discipline while also acquiring broad-based exposure to other spheres of learning that are crucial for having a relatively holistic understanding of human beings, the human experience and diverse human cultures in history. Notwithstanding the value of liberal arts education, many people have developed skepticism about general education courses, partly because of the emphasis on professional majors and also because general education courses can be stressful to students, given that they have to go beyond their major to comprehend the complex nature of the human experience. At Bethel, part of the requirement is that students take a course on non-Western cultures (i.e., U-tag) and another course that compares systems and cultures (i.e., G-tag), which sometimes focuses on comparing Western and non-Western cultures. Last summer, I taught a Bethel general education course that has both U and Z tags. The U-tag portion of such a course focuses on learning something on non-Western

cultures, while the Z-tag requires a Bethel student to have at least 25 hours of faceto-face interaction with people from a culture that is either minority or not part of the mainstream and dominant culture of the United States. The main rationale behind U-tag courses is to expose students to the world beyond their own culture and social background, which in this case means beyond Western culture. The Z-tag came out of a strategic and futuristic vision of the kind of world

young people will grow up in. A time will come when not only will the U.S. population be made up of minority people reaching up to 50%, but the greater expansion and deepening of the processes and forces of globalization will result in the world becoming far more diverse and cosmopolitan than it is at pres-

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ent. Thus, through the Z-tag, it is hoped that the Bethel student is prepared to learn to function effectively in an environment that is not made up of predominantly White people and the ways and manner of operation in such communities are predominantly based on minority cultural experiences. Some students never take general education courses seriously because for such persons, taking such courses is just one of the ways they can necessarily satisfy the graduation criteria of “righteousness.” But amazingly, some students take it very seriously and dedicate themselves without reservation in order to comprehend and effectively apply the course material to life in general. The course I offered last summer is titled “Peoples and Cultures of Africa.” I never expect students to be excited about the course and so when I prepare to teach it, I am always modest in my expectations. Last summer, students after satisfying the U-tag part of the course could not visit African immigrant churches for the purpose of satisfying the Z-tag portion of the course requirement owing to the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. I consequently decided that the students would watch 25 hours of documentary films on Africa and write a page summary of each documentary film. The guidelines compelled students to engage the African culture in consonance with the objectives of U-tag courses. Using the criteria provided, it is easy to evaluate whether a student is engaging the course

Opinion

material seriously. At most, students were required to write 25 pages of reflection, one for each hour of Z-tag engagement. Many students did excellent work. But what surprised me most was one student who wrote 69 pages of reflection that were deep, engaging and infused with great empathy and compassion while conveying a deep sense of our shared humanity as she expressed herself in analyzing the documentary films. As a minority African immigrant instructor, I was not only moved, but touched and inspired by the commitment of this suburban young Bethel student who is named Gretta Nathe. I requested to meet informally with Gretta during fall semester because her work highlighted some profound lessons about what Bethel general education courses can do in developing and solidifying the moral and ethical compass of students. The initial question one would ask is why would a young suburban White woman – who comes from an age group that is stereotypically assumed to be highly self-absorbed – be so dedicated to care about Africa and the people of Africa, the continent that is considered least developed and metaphorically speaking, “the dark continent?” Many leaders and politicians have used words that imply how in their mindsets and worldviews, they perceive African people as subhuman. But amazingly, Gretta dedicated her time to write 69 pages of deep, sincere, honest and genuinely caring reflection about Africa and African people. Many Africans who read Gretta’s reflection will feel like giving her a hug for creating a deep sense of hope that there is the possibility that through education, humans can empathetically connect with “Others” in a manner that transgresses traditional boundaries of race, class, gender and national origin. There are so many important themes that Gretta highlighted in her extensive reflection. Amazingly, she is a graphic design

major and not someone majoring in the social sciences, let alone anthropology or sociology. The depth and sincere passion to understand, relate and connect with the African experience that she exhibited compels us not to assume that someone’s privileged social background will automatically make such a person not care for those that psychiatrist Frantz Fanon called “The Wretched of the Earth.” It is all about one’s values, moral and ethical compass and the training they have received. Let me highlight five general but important themes that are apparent in her analysis. First, she exhibited the desire to understand African people and culture from their own perspective and context instead of judging them from an ethnocentric perspective. Second, she clearly underscored how Africa today is still struggling with the legacy of its colonization and the continued impact of neocolonial institutions and processes. Third, she highlighted how the combination of corrupt postcolonial African leadership and the impact of neocolonial policies have resulted in war and violence in many African countries, which forced many people in Africa to desire to migrate out of the continent.

difference in the lives of such people. She then documented hope and excitement of African immigrants coming to the U.S. and the struggles illuminating the challenges they encounter in adapting and integrating themselves in the US. Everyone should read her paper. The paper can help anyone appreciate the impact of migration on the mental health of immigrants and the lasting trauma of being rendered without a family because of civil war. The paper and reflection is written from the perspective of a caring young suburban American woman who is concerned about creating a more just, fair and inclusive world for everyone. I commend her for demonstrating such exemplary ethical commitment at a very young age. Here is a quote that illustrates the overall tone of her analysis in the paper and reflection: “Africa has a voice that needs to be heard and its history is rich with many lessons to be learned and taken into consideration by the leaders of the future. I hope that as an educated individual, I can continue to uphold my community and country by making choices that do not reflect the mistakes of the past within Africa and our own country in order to make the lives of the next generation to come.” Design by Joy Sporleder

Fourth, she carefully documented the trauma that many African populations went through because of war and the role that the United Nations played in creating refugee camps to help rehabilitate the victims of wars. Fifth, she was very nuanced in showing that the issue is not intervention of Western nations in Africa but the motive behind their intervention given that U.S. effort in resettling African refugees from Southern Sudan and Somalia made a huge

DEC. 2021

Frost painted windows WINTER LULLABIES by Soraya Keiser

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