Beacon Family Newsletter - Fall 2020: 1st Edition

Beacon Family Newsletter

Fall 2020

Say Hello to the Newest Beacons

(1st Ed.)

New Beacons 1 Beacon Pledge 2 Our Community 3 Illuminate 4 Orientation 6 Athletics 7 FAFSA 9 Family Weekend 10

By: Jordan Alexander, Undergraduate Admissions Counselor This year has brought us all different challenges in many, different ways. 2020 has been a year of frustration, loss, change, confusion, and more for many. However, it has also been a year for us to take a step back and try to focus on the good. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, God said, “Light shall shine out of darkness.” That part of the verse sure holds true with this year’s new class!

This class is also from many different places. We have students from Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, North Carolina, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and of course Oregon. This class has literally come in from coast to coast! As an admissions team, and as a university, we feel extremely blessed to bring in students from all these places.

Here at Bushnell we have been blessed to bring in an incredible group of students. We have students from many different backgrounds, who have been a part of many great things. In this class, we have an Archery Grand Champion, a National Honors Society President, a Black Student Union Vice President, a CNA/Health Care Aide, two pet rescue volunteers, two members of the American Sign Language club, and much more.

The admissions team and I feel like this incoming class has been a light for us. We are very excited that this is the first incoming class of Bushnell University and we cannot wait to see all that they will accomplish here!

Of all of the students we have brought in, 78 were athletes at their previous school, 57 have been involved in community service, 41 took AP courses, 31 were involved in youth groups, 38 are first generation college students, 20 have been on a Missions Trip, 10 are Heritage Church members, 6 are children of Bushnell Alumni, 6 graduated with a 4.0 GPA, and 2 are Valedictorians.

Jordan Alexander, Admissions Counselor

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Your COVID-19 Campus Update and our Beacon Pledge: Doing it all while wearing a mask like all good Superheroes do By: Michael Fuller, VP for Enrollment and Student Development I hope this correspondence finds you well during what we know is a unique and challenging time. For those of us that serve as staff and faculty members at Bushnell University, this has been a season of new thinking, as we come alongside your student to offer them the best education that we possibly can during what will probably forever be known as “the COVID-19 year”.

I am very proud of our students and the level of patience, tenacity, discipline and focus they have brought to their studies and co-curricular involvements this fall. We truly have resilient students.

We do continue to remind each member of our campus community of our Beacon Pledge, which we are asking each member of our community to take daily. As a reminder the pledge is as follows:

As a member of the Bushnell community, each day I will: Self-Monitor for symptoms of illness before leaving my residence and isolate if they occur.

Wash my hands or use hand-sanitizer throughout the day.

Be vigilant about hygiene & physical distancing.

Take responsibility for my own health & safety and prioritize the health & safety of my Bushnell and neighboring communities.

Utilize face coverings in indoor public spaces.

Utilize face coverings outdoors anytime within six feet of other people.

Be flexible as the guidelines will change or adjust as time goes on.

Follow posted signage & protocols both on and off campus.

Keep my living area, classroom space, and workspace clean and disinfected.

Students are asked to complete a self-assessment each day and to not come to campus or leave their residence if they are feeling ill/experiencing a potential symptom related to COVID-19. If a student feels sick and lives on campus, they are to contact their Resident Assistant and if they live off-campus they are to contact their Academic Advisor. Academic Affairs coordinates with professors to facilitate learning for students who cannot leave their residence. If a student is quarantined on campus, we move them to a designated quarantine space until quarantine is complete. Results of the COVID-19 test are reported to the Dean of Students & Director of Residence Life, who along with the COVID-19 Task Force work with Lane County Public Health on steps to take for positive results. If a student has a negative test result, they can return to normal activities on campus 72 hours after symptoms have resolved.

Please know that we will continue to do everything that we can to be nimble and build and retain the community that is Bushnell. We know that our ability as a University to adjust quickly on the fly is one of our greatest strengths. We will continue to:

Have events both outside and in large spaces allowing for stronger social distancing

Become zoom conference call/event/online resource experts

Layer our campus events so that we can offer multiple sections/groups and in-person opportunities

Stay student-focused as we work alongside students to help them unpack and identify the call that God has for each of them in their lives And we will do it all while wearing a mask – LIKE ALL GOOD SUPERHEROES DO. All to say, these past 7 months have been challenging and full of stress, frustration and exhaustion both mentally and physically, but through it all we continue to see an amazing group of students, faculty and staff figure out how to make this work. If you have any question whatsoever, I encourage you to reach out to any staff or faculty member at Bushnell and we will do our best to support you.

2 For more information on our COVID-19 protocols please visit: https://www.bushnell.edu/covid19/

Close-knit community in a socially distant world By: Taylor Irons, Coordinator for Student Programs Community is something that we value deeply here at Bushnell University. We believe that it is our Christ-centered community that sets us apart and makes us such a welcoming place to be. The year 2020 has shown our world more than ever just how valuable a strong community is. This year has been hard on a multitude of levels, showing us that we need people who will stand beside us no matter what life throws at us. That is exactly what Bushnell continues to strive to do.

I have the fun job of helping plan events for students at Bushnell. Although our events look different this year because of COVID-19, we are still doing everything possible to provide students with community-building events. Each Friday night we have an event called a Beacon Night. These are free events for all students where they get to hang out with their peers and participate in a variety of activities. Rather than just canceling our events because of COVID-19, we decided we would get creative and implement safe, modified Beacon Nights this year. We believe that it is our job as a community to care for one another and take safety precautions to keep everyone safe. We have done many socially distanced events outside like Karaoke and human foosball. We also recently did a DIY mask night where students had the opportunity to come and customize face masks to wear. Although it is not something we would have ever imagined doing, we loved getting the opportunity to continue to cultivate a strong community through this activity.

What we have seen at our events so far, is that students want to be together, even if 6 feet away from one another. Students have done a great job of loving their neighbors by wearing their masks, practicing social distancing, and using good personal hygiene at all of our events. Although things look different than they have in the past, our community is still focused on loving one another and getting more connected.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be back on campus together and we will do whatever it takes to stay here. We will continue to create safe and engaging activities for our communities to be a part of no matter how crazy the world around us gets.

“We believe that it is our Christ-centered community that sets us apart and makes us such a welcoming place to be.�

Taylor Irons, Coordinator for Student Programs

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ILLUMINATE Chapel at Bushnell By: Troy Dean, Campus Pastor

Do you ever talk to yourself?

Do you find yourself with so much to do and a list that has a seemingly rocket-scientist complexity to it, that you verbally announce the things you need to do? “Prepare for class, pay rent, do laundry, pray for friends, and make doctor’s appointment.”

And once accomplished, you give yourself a high-five?

Recently, I have found myself not only engaging in self-talk but also speaking to a particular “year” that seems to have a deplorable disposition. Yes, 2020, I am talking to you.

The challenges and storms are tangible and apparent to all. So, what to do in a year that contains a global pandemic, societal unrest, city-wide protests, mass unemployment, business closures, online schooling and all in an election year? Did I mention the devastating wildfires and suffocating smoke? Well, if you are a small Christ-centered university in Eugene, OR… you change your name and hold tight to your anchor, Jesus Christ.

We have been planning this year to celebrate our 125th Anniversary as a college and write a new chapter with a new name. As Bushnell University, we continue to be Beacons. We started as a small divinity school as a neighbor to the University of Oregon, and yet, have grown to encompass so many degree programs, on campus and online. With this expanded influence, we hold firmly to our vision to help students, discover and unpack God’s callings in their lives. Even though the smoke has dissipated, the winds of uncertainty continue to blow.

With all we are experiencing this year, and all that we are navigating as a global, local and university community, we have chosen the Chapel theme of Illuminate. Jesus Christ is described in scripture as the Light of the World, and then in a surprising proclamation, affirms the same for us. (John 8:12;

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Matt. 5:14-16). We first experience God’s illumination through Jesus, the Word (Bible) and the translator of Truth, the Holy Spirit. As we turn to the light we, then, reflect it to those around us. We submit and then emit.

We do not shine our own light, but the light of the hope of God. This year has already tested our plans. We began celebrating Chapel outside in our grass quad, distanced and masked up. We then, moved inside as the smoke made our air hazardous. We decided to put all our classes online for over a week and, now, we are back in person for classes and Chapel. Our Chapel meets in three locations on campus to curb the spread of COVID-19 and abide by the protocols of our state leadership.

Our grit and community has not been stronger. We have seen our students more engaged in Chapel (even online), connected in small groups (10 or less, online or safely meeting), and serving in our community (collecting donation and volunteering at the evacuation site for those displaced by the fires).

We are aspiring to be the Beacons that we are called to be. We are learning how to lament loss. How to love and care for one another. And ultimately, how God shapes his people through trials and redeems all things for hope.

This year we are calling all lights to shine. Our world needs it. The Lights of the World for a world in need of light. Let’s illuminate together.

We are coming for you 2020.

Bushnell becoming home By: Sophia Castillo, ASBU Freshman Class Representative Hello, my name is Sophia Castillo, a freshman from Bakersfield, California.

I am a member of the women’s soccer team here at Bushnell and this year’s freshman representative.

My overall experience during orientation was comforting. This may be an odd word to use to describe my exeperience during Orientation - but it is the truest word I can use.

Days before traveling to Oregon my emotions were scattered. I was nervous, excited, and really scared.

I was nervous to start college but excited to get back into a routine with soccer and school. The fear I was feeling mostly stemmed from the idea of being away from home and my family, especially since I never have left home or even spent the night at friend’s house. However, my parents kept reassuring me that this is the right decision for me and the experience would help me grow. Their assurances brought a lot of peace in my heart.

As we arrived on August 20, a bustling group of students who were wearing bright light blue shirts stood out to me. Those were the students that helped with moving in, answered any questions we had, and were a part of activities throughout orientation.

Most importantly, they helped by welcoming everyone and reassuring us as new students that we belong at Bushnell. In the four days of orientation we were busy with activities. We spent most of our Orientation days with our ‘fish group’, our orientation team- immediately in these groups, we began meeting people and creating friendships and developing a small community. At first, as a new student, I felt a little bit awkward because I was with people I didn’t know and the fish group leaders are returning students with a lot of energy - and I mean A LOT. It can get pretty intimidating. But the more I spent time with them and allowed myself to enggage, the more at home I felt.

Throughout the four days we took on different tasks such as small group discussions, games, and rafting.

With all the activities I was able to see everyone’s personalities and the many different sides of the people I was with. This was an eye opener because everyone wasn’t afraid to be themselves, and were were accepted as who we were. One of the nights, our student leaders asked us some questions that you wouldn’t think you would answer the first couple days of meeting new people. Some questions had to do with our faith journey. This was a surprise to me, mainly because I came from a public school, so God and faith were not brought up in a classroom environment or even during lunch. But I think this is what makes Bushnell different from other schools.

With such a tight knit student body and faculty, you get to share and have those deep conversations and get to talk about your faith and your walk with God more openly with someone who understands what you are talking about.

Transitioning into this new chapter of our lives, we are surrounded by positivity and uplifting energy of the leaders and faculty. Orientation created a connection or feeling that you have known this person for a while even when you just met them.

Orientation was just a preview of the rest of the year.

Looking back, I’m glad I pushed through my nervous feelings about coming to Bushnell and enggaing during Orientation. I feel that this university is a place where you can be exactly who you are and enjoy the fresh page and start that is gifted to you. I’m glad to be a Beacon.

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Athletic Updates By: Nick Askew, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications

The tri-athlete model at Bushnell University reflects our desire to see student-athletes transform in all facets of life; on the field of play, in the classroom, and as Champions of Character, doing all in a Christ-Centered fashion. In that spirit, we present our athletics parent update focusing on those three areas: the classroom, character, and competition.

CLASSROOM Despite the disruption to normalcy that we all experienced at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, the Beacons continued to be model students, evidenced by the amount of awards and accolades brought in. As a whole, the Bushnell student-athelete population held a 3.36 GPA. This along with over 60% of eligible athletes earning Academic All-Conference honors, allowed us to earn President’s Scholar Distinction from the Cascade Conference.

In addition, 13 of our 14 teams were selected as NAIA Scholar Teams, given to teams with a cumulative GPA over 3.0. 64 of our athletes completing their sophomore, junior, or senior years did so with a 3.5 GPA or higher, which qualified them for NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athlete honors.

CHARACTER For the second straight year, Bushnell earned distinction as a Champions of Character Five-Star Gold Level institution. Awarded in Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers, NCU has been selected in each of the previous seven years of the current structure. In order to be named a Five-Star Institution, schools are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earn points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition, and character promotion.

Institutions earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.

Once again, Bushnell brought home a prestigious Cascade Collegiate Conference Post-Season award. This year, senior softball player Maya Jenkins was named the CCC Female Champion of Character.

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COMPETITION This fall provides a very unique situation for Bushnell as the NAIA voted to push all fall sport national championships to the spring. Bushnell and the Cascade Conference also altered their regular season schedules.

Golf and Cross Country will be allowed to compete once in November, but all other fall sports join the spring sports with no competition until after January 1.

One Bushnell sport IS able to compete this fall and that is Esports, with its natural social distancing and virtual competition. Seasons began in September for Overwatch, Rocket League, and one of the newest Beacon offerings, Valorant. The Eports team is the fastest growing in our department and now boasts 24 studentgamers, competing in five different games. New games Valorant and Super Smash Bros. join continuing games in Overwatch, Rocket League, and League of Legends.

Two other major changes have taken place in Bushnell athletics. Erik Carrazco was hired as the new Head Men’s Soccer Coach in May. Carrazco became just the second Bushnell Alumnus to come back as the head coach of his team in over 35 years. He has been a part of the program for over a decade, beginning as a four-year student athlete followed by six seasons as a member of the coaching staffs for both the men’s and women’s programs.

In September we announced the launch of our 16th Intercollegiate Sport: Women’s Beach Volleyball. Kim Elgarico has been named the head coach for the team, working alongside Indoor volleyball head coach Jason Corwin. The team will officially put their feet in the sand for the Spring 2022 season.

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Filing your FAFSA By: Casey Craige, Financial Aid Counselor The beginning of the fall semester is always such a whirlwind. It sometimes feels like we’re half over before we’ve had the chance to fully appreciate that we’ve begun. Even as we’re all trying to catch our breath from launching our students into a new school year the time to start preparing for next year is already upon us!

This upcoming school year (2021-2022) marks the fourth year that the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1st of the prior year, and using financial information from two years prior (2019, for those of us who get disoriented by all the shifting timelines, myself included). This should, hopefully, not be new information to any of us. But I wanted to write a friendly reminder and offer some FAFSA tips that may be particularly relevant for the unusually challenging year we’ve been enduring.

It is more likely than ever before that your family has experienced a financial hardship that negatively impacts your financial situation compared to 2019.

We can make adjustments to your student’s FAFSA to account for those changes, but only after the FAFSA with 2018 information has already been filed.

Please proceed with filing your student’s FAFSA as normal (and as soon as possible after the October 1st opening date) and reach out to me directly concerning any changes that need to be made.

Finally, please do complete your student’s FAFSA as soon as possible after it opens on October 1st. Not only does this give us as much time as possible to help you troubleshoot any possible challenges, but it also helps secure your student’s place in line for programs with limited funding (like Federal Work Study).

More than anything I want you to know how grateful we are that you’ve chosen to trust your students to our care at Bushnell. As your Financial Aid Counselor, I’m committed to helping you and your student navigate the financial aid process throughout their time here and even beyond. (I absolutely love helping Beacon Alums with their aid-related questions!) I’m here to help with any questions you have and look forward to a great year with you and your student.

S’co Beacs!

If at all possible, please use the IRS’s Data Retrieval Tool when filing the FAFSA. This helps make sure that all your financial information is entered accurately and helps us process things more quickly later on if your student in selected for verification. If you haven’t filed taxes yet because of an extension or other complications you can still submit a FAFSA using your best estimates to at least get the ball rolling.

Casey Craige, Financial Aid Counselor

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