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EDUCATING CHRISTIANS WHO WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD FOR JESUS CHRIST.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24 In a year when we were expected to simply survive, Corban thrived. We were blessed to complete a full school year, remaining an inperson community, despite the doubts and challenges that arose. We witnessed incredible acts of service and resilience among our community, through fire, ice, and everything in between. We welcomed vital University improvements, like the groundbreaking of our new Outdoor Athletic Complex. Most importantly, we watched our students continue to run their races with perseverance, despite the obstacles in their paths. Recently, many of them finished a major lap of their race. Though by no means the end, graduation, especially in a year like this one, is a monumental feat. Each year we are blessed to welcome in a community of students who are committed to running a race that often moves counter to their culture. Every year at graduation, individual accolades come, milestones are reached, and career paths begin to unfold, but our students leave with something more—a heart for the gospel and both eyes fixed on the true finish line at the feet of the Father. We can't wait to watch our graduates continue to run their races for the glory of God.
CORBAN OFFICIALLY BREAKS GROUND ON NEW OUTDOOR ATHLETIC COMPLEX After breaking ground for the Outdoor Athletic Complex on April 30, the new facility—including vital drainage updates and new field complex for athletics—is scheduled to be complete by fall 2021. "The Corban community really came through to make this dream come true," says Corban Senior Development Officer, Shannon Johnson. Corban's Board of Trustees had 100% participation in
donation to the project, raising over $1 million. The University also received 100% participation from all coaches, Student Life employees, and members of the Advancement Department, not to mention numerous other generous gifts from friends of Corban. Vital donations are still appreciated to see this project through to completion. To donate today, visit: go.corban.edu/cd1
To Christ be all Glory,
Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Kylie McMinn converses with her team during a break in play
KYLIE MCMINN LEADS CORBAN LACROSSE IN INAUGURAL SEASON “Lacrosse can take any type of athlete and make them a great lacrosse player,” says Kylie McMinn, head coach of Corban’s first-ever women’s lacrosse team. “It’s anyone’s game and it’s everyone’s game. If you want to be good, you can be if you put the time and the work in.”
then the second year we went 14-2 and won the championship.” Her journey would eventually lead her to play in North Carolina at Montreat College, playing in yet another program’s inaugural season and joining their coaching staff following her playing career.
Kylie is no stranger to putting in time and work to build something great. Lacrosse has been with her since she was old enough to hold a stick. She watched as her father started up lacrosse program after lacrosse program, moving across the country in search of new challenges and opportunities, growing the sport by building teams from the ground up and transforming them into champions.
When the opportunity to start up a new program at Corban University came her way, McMinn stepped into a challenge she knew so well—it was in her blood. But it was not always her plan to follow in her father’s footsteps. “The only reason why I am a coach is because God had that in His will for me,” she says. After dedicating her life to Christ shortly after high school, originally McMinn’s goal was to enter the mission field. “But every desire of my heart that I had to be a missionary farmer—the discipleship, the spreading and cultivation of the gospel—is fulfilled in coaching.”
Kylie eventually chose to follow her father to California where he was starting up yet another lacrosse program at a Division II school, Concordia University-Irvine. “We went 2-8 the first year because start-up teams are hard,” McMinn remembers, “but
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Sheldon C. Nord, Ph.D. President
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Corban Coloring Pages Alumni Benefits: RightNow Media Alumni Connections Acres of Hope Youth Ranch Forge Youth Mentoring
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Read the full story at: go.corban.edu/cd3
Humming the Doxology Corban's Partnership with IBLT Paid in Full Program Finishes First Year Post–Storm Campus Recovery Efforts Corban Fund Update
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Spring Break Mission Trip Hoff School of Business Annual Summit Event Corban Collective Debut Events
CORBAN ALUMNI EMMY AND HEATHER OFFER VITAL SERVICES TO AREA YOUTH THROUGH ACRES OF HOPE YOUTH RANCH “It’s unexplainable what a horse can do, how they can relate to someone who is struggling,” says Emmy Arana, co-founder of Acres of Hope Youth Ranch and alumna (’15) of Corban’s Master of Education program. This simple observation, born through years in the saddle, grew into her life’s mission.
CORBAN COLORING PAGES We are excited to introduce a novel and creative feature to our menu for alumni (and other interested readers). Alumni Kid’s Activity Pages point to Corban’s mission and other meaningful and fun features of our campus and student life. We hope you’ll enjoy and share these with kids and college bound students in your life. Suitable for ages 1 to 101.
Acres of Hope accepts kids of all backgrounds, dealing with a wide range of issues from anxiety and depression to bullying and heavy trauma. “Our mission is to share hope,” says Heather Holcomb, a fellow Corban alumna ('12) and now Executive Director of Acres of Hope. “Our heart is to pair them with a mentor, somebody who is going to be consistent with them.” These mentors, called session leaders, teach all the necessary skills to take care of and lead a horse. For Emmy and Heather, they are not interested in simply offering riding lessons. Instead, they opt to teach their kids the skills of horsemanship from the ground up—from tacking up to galloping, and every aspect of caring for a horse. “When our kids come to Acres of Hope, they are very much
Acres of Hope co-founder Emmy Arana and her horse, Kimber
looking for leadership, from their mentors and even the horses,” says Emmy. “We get to teach kids a different definition of what leaders look like, that doesn’t require words or a stage or a microphone. It requires standing up taller, a soft feel. It’s body language. It’s all nonverbal. As our kids take deep breaths and release, they see the horse’s demeanor change.” It is the unique ability of horses to care for and relate to their riders that first drew Emmy and Heather to the idea of using horsemanship to help hurting youth. “These horses mirror things,” Emmy says. “If a kid comes to the table with high anxiety, they feel and mirror that.” As a result, the youth at Acres of Hope have the unique opportunity to safely view and reflect on their struggles and learn how to work through them, to the benefit of horse and rider.
Download the content by visiting: go.corban.edu/cd5
ALUMNI BENEFITS: RIGHTNOW MEDIA Did you know Corban alumni have free access to RightNowMedia? Visit the link below to get informed about all our alumni benefits, including access to education scholarships for you and your children. Visit: go.corban.edu/cd7
Keep reading at: go.corban.edu/cd11 (left to right) Heather Holcomb, Emmy Arana, Justin Arana
FORGING NEW CONNECTIONS: ALUMNI TODD AND BRIAN START FORGE YOUTH MENTORING MINISTRY Even before they considered mentoring as a ministry course, alumni Todd Kleppin ('93) and Brian Vaughan ('91) first encountered its impact as teammates on the Corban soccer pitch.
ALUMNI CONNECTIONS FACEBOOK: Alumni Page: Corban University/Western Baptist Visit our page for University updates and event information. Alumni Group: Corban University/Western Baptist Join our alumni group for more relational involvement within our alumni community. INSTAGRAM: @corbanuniversity LINKEDIN: Corban University
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EMAIL: alumni@corban.edu
Email to share updates such as name changes, marriages, obituaries, or special acknowledgments for yourself or fellow alumni (that are deemed public information). Do you have questions about transcript or diploma requests, course descriptions, or faculty information? Contact: registrar@corban.edu. To explore all of our social media platforms and pages, visit: go.corban.edu/cd9
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Years later, they would find themselves reunited, joined by the same galvanizing force, and Forge Youth Mentoring was born. Forge’s unique approach, helping to identify and support organizations and individuals, equipping communities with the capacity to serve beyond the borders of a single church, has been a major reason for its quick expansion. “One of our main focuses is that church staff already have way too much on the plate,” Brian says. “So, let’s not add anything to it, but let’s help take the members of their congregations who are ready for mentorship and plug them into the community.” Forge accomplishes its mission by networking with multiple churches, connecting with people in these congregations, and matching them with atrisk youth. “We want to come in and help pastors provide a ministry, but we can do all the work, and let God claim all the glory,” Todd says. “My hope is to stir up the average person in the pews. The cool thing about mentoring is that you don’t have to have special skills or a dynamic testimony. You just have to be willing to let God use you.” For Todd and Brian, the need for more dedicated involvement from the church community has never been more dire.
“We adults simply do not understand that the world is completely different for kids,” Todd says. With 42-55% of kids being born to unwed single mothers, coupled with the ever-present effects of divorce, Todd sees a growing void for today’s youth. Because Forge does not tie its services to a single church or individual, and offers its programs at a third of the normal cost, they enjoy incredible flexibility in their capacity to serve many areas, having already expanded in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii in under three years. “It would be great if we could team with Corban grads who have their own churches that want something like this in their community or for their congregations,” Brian says. “And we don’t need their resources. We don’t need their staff, or their monetary contributions. We just need them to partner with us and encourage their people from the pulpit and we will take it from there.” Read the full story at: go.corban.edu/cd13
Todd Kleppin ('93) and mentee Zell
HUMMING THE DOXOLOGY: A REFLECTION FROM DR. JIM HILLS The freezing rain began falling around nine o’clock. It didn’t seem like much, more of a drizzle than a full rain. An hour later I looked out my front window at the shiny street and took a few cautious steps onto my front walkway. Ice. Not a lot, maybe a sixteenth of an inch. This happens around here occasionally. Roads would probably be slick in the morning, clear by noon. At eleven it was still drizzling—and freezing. I was glad for a warm house and cozy bed. Several hours later we were jarred awake by something heavy landing on our roof, a branch, I assumed, from one of the big oaks surrounding our house. Oaks are heavy and brittle, and arm-sized pieces had fallen before. Then there was a terrific bash. The house shook—and we were shaken, too. Morning showed a log-sized limb resting on the smashed eaves just outside our bedroom window. And out front we found a massive oak tree, uprooted and lying across our roof, and two torn logs across the driveway. When the big oak tore itself out of the ground it took our water line with it. No water. No power. Lines were down all over the city and county. Neighbors came with chain saws and cleared the driveway. We moved in with my brother Jon for an eight-day stay. A day or two later I drove to Corban. Our park-like campus looked as if it had been shelled. Trees and
pieces of trees lay everywhere, some of them across roads and sidewalks. Some dorm rooms were dark. A classroom in the Academic Center had its windows smashed. No classes that day. Or the next. Some students—not many—went home for a few days. The rest picked up their boxed meals, and—if they lived in a dorm that had power—studied, read, and hung out with their friends until things returned to normal. Whatever normal means this year. In a half century of teaching I’ve never encountered anything like these twelve months. To think of just dealing with a pandemic during a school year as getting back to normal tells how trying a season it’s been. We’ve lived with a lot of uncertainty. Last March we sent our students home for Spring Break a week early, hoping that in two weeks the outbreak of COVID-19 would abate enough to allow a safe return to classrooms. Didn’t happen. We finished out the semester by e-mail and Zoom. Spring sports were cancelled, as was graduation. International students had a tough time getting home. Would they be able to return for fall term? Nobody knew. Over the summer a team of administrators and science and health professionals devised protocols that we hoped would allow face to face instruction. The program worked pretty well. We wore masks. We wiped down desks and doorknobs. We observed the recommended distancing, though it often meant
only half of the students in a course could sit in the classroom at a time. The other half tuned in. Athletes trained hard, though with no assurance that there would be games to play. September wildfires filled our air with stifling smoke.
Dr. Jim Hills
The ice storm shut us down for a couple of days. But here we are, at the end of Spring Term. We’ve figured out a way to have graduation ceremonies. Athletes are playing their games, and winning most of them, though with few spectators. Prof. McGinnis figured out how to produce plays—live productions— without a live audience. Students are finishing projects and preparing for finals. Robert Frost wrote, “Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.” We’ve lived through them both—and a pandemic—and we’re still here, making plans for next year and humming The Doxology.
CORBAN'S PARTNERSHIP WITH IBLT IMPACTS 12 MILLION THROUGH NEW BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
PAID IN FULL PROGRAM FINISHES FIRST YEAR
Corban’s partnership with the Institute for Biblical Languages and Translation (IBLT) first came about through service. IBLT provides accelerated training for Bible translators, with the aim of having the translation of the Old Testament begun in every mother tongue by 2033. After hearing about the missional programs Corban was providing in Africa, they reached out in search of a similar partnership.
Through Corban's partnership, IBLT is able to offer accredited master's degrees to their students who stay on for an additional summer term. “We provide American accreditation for degrees which they would not be able to offer without our work,” says Trull. “We also do a lot of advising on curriculum, structuring classes, and faculty policy.”
This March, Paid in Full Oregon celebrated the first completed academic year of its inaugural class. Partnering with Corban University and the Oregon Department of Corrections, Paid in Full Oregon strives to change the culture of Oregon’s prison system through the transformational power of education and the gospel.
As a result, the program has made major strides toward accomplishing their goal of seeing the Bible translated into every mother tongue. “Our second graduating class now translates the Bible for over 10 million people,” Trull says. Through their first three cohorts comprising 73 students in total and representing 27 distinct target nations, the program has been able to begin translation projects, supporting 153 different languages, and reaching over 12 million people from unserved language groups.
Through Paid in Full’s partnership with Corban, the nonprofit is able to offer fully-accredited, four-year bachelor’s degrees to adults in custody, training and equipping them to minister within the state’s prison system as spiritual and moral leaders. It’s a unique way that Corban is embracing its mission to educate Christians who will make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ. Regardless of age or location, these AICs are Corban students and possess the unique capacity to reach a group of people who would be otherwise inaccessible to the University’s mission.
IBLT takes an uncommon approach to translation. As a part of a nine-month intensive and accelerated program, they take individuals from strategic countries, who already have firsthand knowledge of the target language, and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge of biblical Hebrew to be able to translate the Bible into their unreached mother tongue. “It’s a very innovative approach in comparison to the traditional method of translation,” says Corban Dean of the School of Ministry, Dr. Greg Trull. “Considering the strategic countries that they will be working in, the impact is huge.”
To read the full story, visit: go.corban.edu/cd15
Read the full story at: go.corban.edu/cd17
POST-STORM CAMPUS RECOVERY EFFORTS When the February ice storms hit the wooded hillside of Corban's campus, downing trees and power lines, blocking roads and pathways, Head of University Facilities, Troy Croff knew the cleanup would not be easy. "We came in on Saturday and spent the day opening up pathways for students and clearing as many roads as we could," he says. Though the damage was devastating, leaving most dorms without power for over a week, Croff was still amazed by the response of Corban's community and his team. "Since the storm hit, our teams have been working hard not only to keep up their normal duties, but have also been cutting firewood, splitting larger
pieces, and chipping limbs almost daily," he says. "We had a student organized work party where over 20 students came and made a big dent in the clearing process. It was a fun Saturday, teaming up with our Corban students, working hard together to clean up our campus." With the help of the whole Corban community, Croff finally sees the end of the months-long cleanup in sight. For details and images, visit: go.corban.edu/cd19
CORBAN FUND UPDATE We have 2 months left to meet our annual fund goal. With May 4 marking the second annual spring Corban Giving Day, now is the perfect time to get involved. We are praying for 200 new donors to help us meet our "Double our Donors"goal, showing support by making a gift of any size to the Corban Fund before May 30. It's the perfect time to join in the generosity and partner with Corban friends and family from all over the world, caring for our students, faculty, and University. For more information, visit: go.corban.edu/cd21
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EVENTS
CORBAN GIVING DAY Help “Double our Donors” on Corban Giving Day, May 4. Your gift of any size, now through May 30, will help us meet our goal of 200 donors to the Corban Fund. Your generosity keeps Corban’s mission and impact moving forward. For more information, visit: go.corban.edu/cd29 (left to right) Anna Benjamin, Gabriela Azcorra-Uicab, TiHana Alik, Michaela Herring, and Karianne (Raina) Tschantre
CORBAN STUDENTS SERVE ON SPRING BREAK MISSION TRIP FOR FIRST TIME SINCE COVID-19 “It was five days before we were supposed to be on the road that we had to shut the trip down,” Anna Benjamin remembers. In a matter of days, a year’s worth of preparation was wiped away. But last year’s hardship became this year’s blessing as, for the first time since the pandemic, Corban students would once again be sacrificing their spring breaks for the service of others. This time around Anna would be stepping into a leadership role, building off the hard work of the team members of the year prior, whose preparation work they were
able to use for this year’s trip. “It was really a gift for the team that was able to go this year,” she says. Even though the team would be small—only five members, largely due to COVID restrictions—it wasn’t difficult to find willing participants. “We really wanted to help others during this hard time,” says fellow student leader, Raina Tschantre. “Instead of vacationing during spring break, we wanted to use that time to help others who are in need.” To read the full story, visit: go.corban.edu/cd23
HOFF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ANNUAL SUMMIT EVENT AVAILABLE TO VIEW This year's Summit Event, put on each year by the Hoff School of Business, is now available to view. This event is designed to promote and foster critical thinking, career planning, and servant leadership for Corban students and alumni. This year’s event featured speakers such as University President, Dr. Sheldon Nord; Professor of Accounting and Director of the MBA program, Dr. Bryce Bernard; and keynote speaker and current
President and CEO of Manna Development Group, Paul Saber. Saber brings a wealth of business experience to the table as the former Senior Vice President of the McDonald’s Corporation, and former COO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Currently, Saber’s Manna Development Group oversees the majority of the Panera Bread franchises in the Western United States.
COFFEE CLUB UPDATE Exciting update for our monthly recurring donors who are a part of the Corban Coffee Club: After several taste tests, we have officially selected a Uganda + Indonesia blend from Conversatio Coffee to be included in our annual gift for coffee club members. This blend was a huge hit with our staff and alumni and it also holds significance for us because of Corban’s ministry partnerships in the nations of Uganda and Indonesia. Sign up to join the coffee club here: go.corban.edu/cd31
To view the event replay, visit: go.corban.edu/cd25
REWATCH THIS YEAR'S COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
(left to right) Emma Cotterell, Sydney Jackson, Ryland Duval, Liz Powell, Ethan Knopp, Jeremy Drake
CORBAN COLLECTIVE MAKES DEBUT PERFORMANCE Corban has had a long heritage of music groups in its history. Alumni and community members remember groups like Master's Touch or events like Christmas Alive. Music is a part of Corban's DNA, which is why we are excited to announce Corban's new group, the Corban Collective. Originally set to launch with a live performance last Easter, the advent of the pandemic charted a new course for the singing group. Now, over a year later, Corban Collective is ready to share its exciting new
brand of music with you, launching their first music video, with more singles and performances to follow. As the Corban Collective help to carry on the University's legacy of ministry and outreach through music, we ask that you consider supporting them through prayer and financial support as they engage their vision to reach our communities for Christ. View their debut performance at: go.corban.edu/cd27
If you would like to view this online go to go.corban.edu/cd37 or scan this QR code.
Each of our graduation commencement ceremonies are now available to stream for free for those who were unable to view the ceremony live or who simply want to rewatch this special celebration of our graduates. Rewatch commencement here: go.corban.edu/cd33
GOLDEN GRADUATES TO BE HONORED With both our 2020 and 2021 Golden Graduate Celebrations being affected by COVID, plans are moving forward for a hopeful Golden Grad reunion in the fall of 2021. Please visit the page below if you are interested in attending the fall reunion: go.corban.edu/cd35
REACH OUT TO US Do you have something you would like to see featured in an upcoming issue? Let us know at go.corban.edu/cd39, by email at advancement@corban.edu, or by mail.
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