SUMMER 2007
THE MAGAZINE OF GORDON COLLEGE
STILLPOINT
COVER STORY The East-West Connection 6 12 Pondering Progress
16 The Changed Traveler
18 A Farm to Call Home
35 A Passage from India
Photo Rebecca Powell
THE SERENDIPITY FACTOR
Features
6
A new STILLPOINT feature, “Top Six” (page 31) came into being when we asked lab whiz Don Gonzales ’95 if he had a favorite creature. His answer was so enthusiastic we asked a few other Gordon biologists the same question. Chuck Blend’s office door displays just a few of his favorite marine invertebrates.
The East-West Connection Faculty, students, alumni and friends of the College are shaping the direction of Asian studies at Gordon. Contributing authors include Dong Wang, John Stoeckle ’07, Paul Sidmore ’92, Hannah Miller ’08 and Sam Tsoi ’07.
12
Pondering Progress: The Jerusalem and Athens Program Essay Contest We asked students in the Jerusalem and Athens honors program to analyze the often unexamined concept of “progress.” Michael Tishel ’08, Bethany Joy Floch ’08 and Josh Hasler ’09 share their responses.
16
The Changed Traveler by Michael Polefka ’07 Michael Polefka spent 10 years overseas with Mercy Ships, a medical missionary organization. Now he sees his own country with new eyes.
18
A Farm to Call Home by Deborah DeScenza Gray ’78 Farmsteads of New England began with a mother’s question: “What will become of my developmentally disabled son when he is an adult?”
ON THE COVER Deborah Teo ’07 and Samuel Tsoi ’07 in Boston’s Chinatown. Teo studied at Peking University under the Beijing Program of Asian Studies, and interned with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Tsoi was one of the first Gordon students to participate in the Beijing Program (story, page 10). Cover Photo Rebecca Powell
Photo Essay #011 China Retrospective | Samuel Tsoi ’07 view this and other photo journals online at: www.gordon.edu/photojournals
IN EACH ISSUE 1
Up Front with President Carlberg Raymond Lee—Visionary Pastor and Entrepreneur
2 Letters 3 SPORKS informative fauxlosophy 20 In Focus Faculty 22 In Focus Students 24 In Focus Alumni 26 Encounters 29 Many Voices 31 Top Six
Articles
Alumni
35 A Passage from India by Kandyce Kingsley ’06
4 The Easter Surprise
by Steven Hunt and Jordan Montgomery ’09 Biblical studies professor Steven Hunt and his student Jordan Montgomery researched well-publicized attempts to debunk the historicity of the Gospels.
15 A Biotech Apprenticeship
by Russell Camp, Don Gonzales ’95 and Cliff Mathisen ’07 Don Gonzales, M.D., mentored Cliff Mathisen in the adventures and challenges of biotech research.
30 Kidder Confronts Problem of Goodness by Edwin Bevens ’07
Well known author, Tracy Kidder visited Gordon and shared the challenging story of Dr. Paul Farmer.
32 Commencement Weekend by Ashley Hopkins Christian ethics author Dr. Lauren Winner, Park Street senior minister Dr. Gordon Hugenberger, and retiring economics professor Dr. John Mason addressed this year’s graduates.
34 A Milestone in More Ways than One by Silvio Vazquez ’87 Gordon celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of New City Scholars.
Kandyce Kingsley’s two Summer Missions Program trips led to a commitment to justice for India’s untouchables.
36 Billy Graham Takes Boston—and Gordon —by Storm by Pauline Kolodinski Brown ’50 Polly Brown remembers a first date, and Billy Graham’s historic New Year’s Eve 1950 Crusade in Boston.
38 Alumni News 47 Alumna Endows Teaching Award by Ashley Hopkins
Betsy Pea ’79 honors Dr. Marvin Wilson for his influence on her life and the lives of many other students during his 35 years at Gordon.
Inspiration I’m not very good at maintenance. There always has to be a challenge for me to be happy. I suppose it’s a little bit of ADD combined with a desire to leave things better than I found them. My friends accuse me of being a rolling stone, but my 31-year marriage and the fact that I’ve only worked for two institutions in 30 years attest that for some, keeping things fresh is just as important as getting things done. I’ve pledged myself to reading 52 books this year, and so far I’m
VOLUME 22 NUMBER 3
on schedule. But as I look at my list I’m seeing a reflection of that far-too-eclectic nature of mine. Cliff Hersey, Ed.D.
“At the still point of the turning world.” T. S. Eliot, referring to God in his poem Four Quartets
Dean for Global Education cliff.hersey@gordon.edu EDITORIAL
ALUMNI NEWS
Patricia C. Hanlon Editor
Nancy Mering Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
CREATIVE The Crisis of the Standing Order In this rather obscure volume, Field probes the development of the Boston Brahmins and their particular affinity for liberal theology. It
Tim Ferguson Sauder Creative Director Kirsten Keister ’04 Rebecca Powell Publication Design
is amazing to read the early sermons of the Unitarians and recognize that these sermons
ADMINISTRATION R. Judson Carlberg President Daniel B. Tymann Executive Vice President Advancement, Communications and Technology
would be perfectly acceptable in most evangelical 21 st-century pulpits. Oracles of Science
CONTACT
PRINTING
Dr. Karl Gilberson, a good friend of mine, takes
ADDRESS CHANGES Development Office jamie.hokanson@gordon.edu
AM Lithography Corporation Chicopee, Massachusetts
on the issue of celebrity scientists (Dawkins, Hawking, Sagan, Wilson, et. al.) and the ways the popular press has used the writings of these men to shape public views of God and religion. It is another subtle way that our culture contents itself—by believing in the mutual exclusivity of science and religion without fully
AWARDS OTHER CORRESPONDENCE Editor, STILLPOINT Gordon College 255 Grapevine Road Wenham MA 01984 stillpoint@gordon.edu
investigating or understanding the facts. ONLINE The Kite Runner
Award of Excellence Winner, 13th Annual Communicator Awards 2007 Print Competition Gold Award for External Organizational Publication, 22nd Annual Admissions Advertising Awards (2007)
www.gordon.edu/stillpoint
My list includes, of course, the Robert Ludlum and Ken Follett novels that make for good airplane reading. But I have also gotten around to reading Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, which tells of Afghanistan’s political turmoil through the story of the friendship of two young boys: Amir, the son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant.
STILLPOINT, the magazine for alumni and friends of the united college of Gordon and Barrington, is published three times a year and has a circulation of over 22,000. Gordon College is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, or national or ethnic origin.
Snow I have also enjoyed Orhan Pamuk’s Snow, the story of a Turkish poet who, having spent 12 years in political exile in Germany, returns to his homeland and experiences the clash between radical Islam and Western ideals.
read more online at: www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/inspiration
Reproduction of STILLPOINT in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
UP FRONT
WITH PRESIDENT CARLBERG
Raymond Lee—Visionary Pastor and Entrepreneur “We must see cultural transformation. We are rowing a boat toward the rapids. We will either make headway or we will be swept away. Either we will transform our culture or it will sweep us aside.” —Rev. Raymond C. Lee One of my first tasks after being selected
In this issue of STILLPOINT, Dr. Dong Wang,
as Gordon’s president in 1992 was to
the current director, gives an overview of
find a dean of chapel for the College
the Institute’s programs and possibilities
community. Someone suggested the
(story, page 6).
Reverend Raymond Lee, an associate
The responsibilities of leadership within
pastor at the Chinese Church in Lexington, Massachusetts. I wanted to appoint someone with a global perspective who understood other cultures throughout the world. On August 1, 1992, Rev. Ray joined our administrative team as the dean of chapel—the very first appointment in my new administration. In fact, we both began our service on the same day. Rev. Ray Lee brought to our community enthusiasm, deep biblical knowledge and a passion for people to know Jesus Christ. In the second year of his leadership as the dean of chapel, he and I took a trip to Hong Kong. I was representing Gordon College to leaders there and to several of the Christian high schools. He was conducting business on behalf of his family enterprises. During the trip we had several opportunities to talk together about our vision for Gordon. Rev. Ray indicated he was being asked to assume a major business leadership role in Hong Kong, which would require a reduction in his involvement at Gordon. We also discussed creating an East-West Institute on our campus with Rev. Ray as the founding director. The purpose of the Institute was to introduce students and others to the rich cultural heritage and history of Asia, and to build opportunities for study and work in Asia or Asian communities here in Greater Boston. Rev. Ray also expressed willingness to fund the
the Lee Family enterprises required that Ray and Priscilla Lee move to Hong Kong. But that didn’t cut off their relationship with Gordon College. Indeed, it made it possible for the East-West Institute to have an Asian base. Students from Gordon began working and studying in Hong Kong to gain a stronger understanding of international
TAKING OFF A new project for the Lees has been the recent launch of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, a pioneering low-cost, longhaul carrier based in Hong Kong.
business and Chinese culture. Through the years Rev. Ray and Priscilla Lee have stayed closely connected to Gordon in other ways as well. Each of them has served on our Board of Trustees; Rev. Ray currently holds a seat on the Board. They have been instrumental in helping the College expand its physical facilities to an office park in nearby Beverly. But the program that has affected virtually the entire Gordon student body is one they launched with us in Lynn, a multiethnic community south of Gordon. Gordon in Lynn has recently become a
EXPANDING GORDON The Lees have helped the College fund expansion of its physical operations. The Dunham Road office park in Beverly, Massachusetts,
residential program at the Belkins Building
houses development, information
on Munroe Street in Lynn, opening up
technology, human resources,
new possibilities for sustained partnership
financial operations, and the Center
between the College and various Lynn
for Christian Studies.
community organizations. By continuing their commitment to Gordon College from half a world away, the Lees have underscored the calling of Jesus Christ on their lives as faithful people who honor Him and others through their work.
East-West Institute’s operations, help lead its staff, and create office space on the third floor of A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel. The program thrived under his leadership and soon was expanding its horizons through contacts with key leaders in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia. Dr. Tom Askew, professor emeritus of history and Asian
President R. Judson Carlberg, Ph.D.
BUILDING COMMUNITY Since 2004 the Gordon in Lynn program has brought together over 500 students, faculty members and 20 nonprofit organizations to engage
studies at Gordon College, became the
in community-building work for the
East-West Institute’s first full-time leader.
City of Lynn.
President’s Page www.gordon.edu/presidentspage
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 1
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
“Dr. Harper challenged me to think critically, write clearly, and integrate faith with learning . . .”
I WAS SO PLEASED TO READ (Fall 2006) that Bill and Lillian Harper had been awarded the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Harper challenged me to think critically, write clearly, and integrate faith with learning. Largely because of his encouragement I began to believe that God had indeed created a potential in me that, at the age of 19, I had not yet begun to realize. His take-home exams were opportunities
I WAS ESPECIALLY PLEASED TO READ of
THE MENTION OF RIDER HALL
the recent induction of Paul Sideropoulos
(“A Freshman’s View from Exile,” Spring
’68 into the Gordon College Alumni
2007) brought to mind the enclosed photo
Athletics Hall of Honor. Those of us who
of the Rider family that appeared in a
were privileged to play several seasons with
Boston newspaper around 1930. The Riders
Paul during Gordon’s golden seasons in the
gave many years to serving the Lord. Violet
1960s always sensed we were blessed to be
Rider was my mother. Perhaps this photo
in the company of greatness. We remember
will be of interest to current residents of
fondly our teammate and captain, our
Rider Hall and may be a contribution to the
inspiration and dear friend, reminiscent of
history of Gordon College.
the words attributed to Chief Justice Oliver
—Richard E. Reed
Wendell Holmes: “When we were young, our hearts were touched with fire!” —Lorne Weaver ’69
Editor’s note: This photo was a valuable addition to our College archives along with vintage photos of Gordon students
I ENJOYED BRYAN PARYS’ COLUMN
at the 1950 Billy Graham Crusade, sent by
“Something Doesn’t Feel Right” (Spring
Pauline Kolodinski Brown ’50. We very
2007). I feel like people don’t even
much appreciate receiving reminiscences
recognize how often feelings are used to
and memorabilia.
justify and explain most of daily life. My
for students to demonstrate their best work. Now when I have to come up with tests for my own students I ask myself, “How would Dr. Harper ask this?” I am also glad I knew Lillian Harper. She has a way of looking a young adult right in the eyes with such true caring that self-consciousness melts away. She doesn’t forget a face or name or details that are important to the people she has met. —Karen J. Hosler ’78 MY DAUGHTER IS AN ALUMNA OF Gordon, and we receive STILLPOINT. I read your article about the Holocaust studies taught by Charlotte Baker and would like to note that there were other holocausts besides the Jewish Holocaust during WWII: the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek massacres. My mother was 11 when the Turks murdered her family, and she and some of the
mentor at the Swiss L’Abri, Greg Laughery,
survivors suffered greatly on their march to
is fond of saying, “You can’t always trust
the British relief station in Hamadan, Persia.
your feelings,” and that comes as such a
Perhaps holocaust studies could include this
startling surprise to most of us: “You mean
time period as well as the Jewish Holocaust.
my feelings aren’t always telling me the
—Irene Kliszus
truth?” That gets us thinking a little bit about epistemology, eh? —Eden Garber ’01 AS A PARENT OF A 2006 GORDON GRAD, I really appreciate the online version of
ERRATA
STILLPOINT. It is great to have such high
“Impressive Improv” (Spring 2007): The comedy
quality and colorful information via the
group Sweaty-Toothed Madmen was founded
Internet, and I really appreciate your efforts to “save a tree” or two by cutting back on paper use. —Janet Limberg Editor’s note: If any readers do not currently receive STILLPOINT online and would like to, please send your email address to stillpoint@gordon.edu.
2 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Left to right: Rev. James T. Rider ’27, Gordon College trustee; his daughter, Dorothy Rider ’31; Rev. Daniel Rider ’23; his daughter, Violet Rider ’31; Daniel G. Rider ’30, nephew of James and Daniel Rider.
by Dan Buck in 1998. Pete Holmes ’01 assumed leadership of the group the following year. “An Uncommon Vision for Graduate Music Education” (Spring 2007): Lindsey (Ketcham) Peabody ’01 was inadvertently omitted from the list of students currently enrolled in the M.M.Ed. program. STILLPOINT regrets these errors and omissions.
Story bryan parys ’04 Illustration Grant Hanna ’06
INSTALLATION 3: WHAT WOULD DOROTHY DO? Whenever I do dishes I can’t help but wonder how biology professor Dr. Dorothy Boorse cleans her flatware. Knowing that a past student thinks about her at some point every day might seem unsettling, but I’m sure she knows this is just the price you pay for teaching environmental stewardship. When I walk around campus and contemplate cutting across the quad, I see her there over my shoulder like some stern guardian angel, waving a disapproving finger and repeating the mantra “Soil degradation: you’re degrading the soil.” If my wife, Natalie, is brushing her teeth and leaves the water running for more than 2.5 seconds, I freak. There Dr. B is again, holding an egg timer of doom aloft our foamy mouths. “Only three percent of the earth’s water supply is fresh, bryan.” I then picture Natalie and myself in some post-apocalyptic shack trying to desalinize kettle after kettle of seawater. I can conserve H20 when we brush, and I do a commendable job walking on designated paths rather than on the grass. But how the heck am I supposed to do the dishes? Do I fill a plastic tub and use the same water for every dish? Is that really conserving anything other than bacteria? Should I just let the faucet run weakly and rely on elbow grease to get old Béchamel sauce off a cast iron skillet? While I wait for the water to warm up I often think “I should be bottling this . . . I’m sure that’s what Dorothy does.” To make matters worse, environmental scare tactics are popping up everywhere. Inconvenient truths and ruffled rebuttals fly back and forth leaving me feeling like a globally warmed death awaits me (see Installation 2). Some say it’s not as bad as we think, that we’ve been coming out of an ice age for centuries. Others tell me that the act of living emits harmful gases—and when you die, even more gases! So when you’re scared enough to stay alive and slowly emit, how can you proceed with doing the dishes in good conscience?
of critical engagement, let me say that movies affect me in profound ways. At the end of most films my imagination leads me to believe I am the just-seen protagonist. At 12 years old I rode my bike home as if a heat-seeking missile hunted me after seeing Mission Impossible. After watching Half Nelson recently, I started imagining I had a damaging addiction to drugs. Therefore, I can only assume if I watch the Gore-y shockdoc, I’ll start Googling “how to build an underground fallout shelter” (this phrase yields 1,080,000 results).
YOU DON’T NEED TO PUT A SPIN ON THE EARTH TO GET US TO NOTICE ITS ISSUES; IT SPINS QUITE EFFECTIVELY ON ITS OWN. What I have started watching is the Discovery Channel’s 11part mini-series Planet Earth. The tidbits I’ve gathered so far are innumerable: I hadn’t realized birds of paradise were better dancers than I, nor had I pondered the regenerative power of bat guano. Both documentaries showcase a world most of us don’t get to see. They ram home the notion that just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean we can ignore it. The difference is in the delivery. One uses fear to evoke urgency while the other uses wide-eyed beauty. You don’t need to put a spin on the earth to get us to notice its issues; it spins quite effectively on its own. People driven by fear will not change the world for the better. To be moved to environmental action, we need only to look at it—as Planet Earth allows us to do. It is a relief to my jumpy imagination that I don’t need to join Greenpeace to help the earth. However, I’ll dutifully continue to appease the Dorothy on my shoulder.
After watching the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, our creative director, Tim Ferguson Sauder, walked into the office and without saying “hi” announced “Well, that’s it. We’re doomed. We’re as good as dead.” He later returned from a meeting and confessed to my coworker Grant and me that he couldn’t remember anything he’d just talked about. He was too busy sadly envisioning a world without polar bears. I have not watched this documentary. To some this will sound like a guilty confession, and to others it will be a sign that I’m not buying into the hype. I don’t agree with either of these sentiments. I can’t decide to watch it—for no reason but self-preservation. And before you peg me as someone afraid
bryan parys doesn’t like to capitalize his name. He is the web editor at Gordon College. If Dr. Boorse doesn’t happen to read this, could one of you kindly instruct her to email bryan the sustainable method of dishwashing? bryan.parys@gordon.edu
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 3
Christian faith. The National Geographic special on the Gospel of Judas, on the other hand, purported to be a historical, scientific investigation of a long lost gospel, a gospel which puts a different spin on the traditional Christian story. In keeping with one very prominent contemporary view, they argued that the Gospel of Judas represents an equally valid version of the gospel story, ultimately implying that the canonical Gospels represent nothing more than one version among many that existed in the first-century Church.
the founding of the so-called Jesus Seminar. This group asserted with great fanfare that very little of what is traditionally attributed to Jesus in the Gospels is authentic—that the vast majority of the sayings of Jesus are really sayings of the Early Church retroactively attributed to Him. Since that time the group and its findings have been severely criticized in the academy, yet very few critiques of their work have been reported by the popular press.
Orthodoxy, then, is simply what emerged from the first-century multiplicity of views. But is this the case? James Robinson, one of the most prominent scholars on Gnostic forms of Christianity in the second century, says, “Since the Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic tractate written in the middle of the second century, it does not add any new information about what happened in Jerusalem around 30 C.E. Though it is an important text for specialists in second-century Gnosticism . . . it has been misrepresented so as to sensationalize it in order to make as large a profit on its investment as possible” (The Secrets of Judas). The release of this story at Easter time in 2006 was much ado about nothing; again the academic rebuttals to the story went mostly unnoticed by the press.
Remember also TIME magazine’s damning portrayal of the Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal just prior to Easter 2002? Or, more recently, the release of the National Geographic special on the Gospel of Judas and the release of The Da Vinci Code movie just before Easter in 2006? While The Da Vinci Code was a work of pure fiction, it nevertheless became a cultural and religious phenomenon precisely by making historically inaccurate claims about the
This year’s Easter Surprise came when James Cameron (of Titanic fame) held a joint press conference with the Discovery Channel to announce the airing of his documentary on the supposed ossuary of Jesus—a stone bone box with Jesus’ name on it. The box itself was found in a tomb in Talpiot, just south of Jerusalem, during the 1980s and has been sitting in the Israeli Antiquity Authority’s Bet Shemesh warehouse ever since. Included in the tomb were nine other boxes, and
The Easter Surprise Steven Hunt, associate professor of biblical studies, and his student Jordan Montgomery ’09 wondered about the timing of well-publicized attempts to debunk the historicity of the Gospel accounts. Together they set out to investigate. There are two topics you shouldn’t talk about with friends and family during the holidays: politics and religion. Nothing can bring meaningful conversation about the weather to a halt quicker than these. Politics and religion have something else in common: both come with a “surprise” based entirely on the calendar. The “October Surprise,” as it’s called in politics, is the release of some damaging story about a candidate in late October just prior to a November election. The tactic has a long and illustrious history in American politics and has been used effectively by both Republicans and Democrats to wound their political opponents just days before an election. With another presidential election looming in 2008, we have only to wait for the details. A similar pattern relates to Christianity’s calendar. During the past few Lenten seasons we’ve seen a significant number of news stories which have, to say the least, disquieted the faithful. This trend began in the mid 1980s with
4 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Story Steven Hunt
during recent attempts to examine the boxes, one of them turned up missing— suggesting, according to the filmmaker, some sort of conspiracy. Cameron argues that because six of these boxes have some of the names of Jesus’ family members and close associates, the box with Jesus’ name is likely the Jesus from the New Testament. The next part of the argument links this story to the recently discovered box marked as that of “James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus.” Presently scholars are divided on whether this box is even authentic or if the final reference to “the brother of Jesus” is a clever forgery. Cameron assumes its authenticity and suggests that perhaps the missing box from the Talpiot tomb is actually the “James” box. In short, since they have a “Jesus” box, a “James, the brother of Jesus” box, a “Joseph” box, a “Mary” box, etc., and all these come from the same tomb, the inevitable conclusion is that they have discovered the bone box of Jesus of Nazareth. While Cameron insists his find does not necessarily have significant implications for the Christian faith, most Christians feel otherwise. Indeed. To find the bones of Jesus would require Christians to abandon their belief in his bodily resurrection and would finally validate the allegations that Jesus’ disciples stole his body and hid it—forcing us to question their reliability altogether. How can the Church respond to this? Actually, there are some fundamental flaws in the basic argument. To begin with, there were a limited number of names available to first-century Jews. Note, for example, the use of the name “Mary” to refer to different women in the New Testament. According to some recent studies, roughly 20 percent of all Jewish women in antiquity were named “Mary.” These same studies show that nearly 50 percent of all Jewish males had one of only 10 different
names. Finding six boxes with these very common names in one tomb is therefore not that remarkable. Further, while the documentary claims that the “James” box is the missing box from the tomb, it turns out the missing box was simply discarded by the Israeli Antiquity Authority because there were no markings on it and was therefore not worth keeping—hardly evidence of a conspiracy. The “James” box, if authentic, comes from another tomb altogether. We could also question whether Jesus’ family would have been preserved in bone boxes at all, typically the resting place of wealthy individuals like Caiaphas the high priest, whose bone box was discovered in 1990. In the first century a high priest would be interred in a tomb in a bone box, but a family of day laborers would not. One might wonder also why Jesus’ father, Joseph, would be buried near Jerusalem when he presumably died well before Jesus began his ministry and while they were still residing in Galilee. Finally, the most fundamental flaw in the argument is this: Why would the earliest Christians, who universally proclaimed his bodily resurrection from the dead, have placed Jesus’ remains in a family tomb in a bone box with his name on it? The makers of this documentary can give no credible historical answer to that question. This year we witnessed Cameron and the rest making their rounds on the news shows at the beginning of Lent. Unorthodoxy makes for great headlines; orthodoxy is old news. Having weathered this story fairly well, the only thing that remains now is to wait for the details of next year’s Easter Surprise.
Jordan Montgomery ’09
1985 The Jesus Seminar is a research team of about 135 New Testament scholars founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan under the auspices of the Westar Institute.
2002 During the sexual abuse scandal TIME magazine cover asks “Can the Catholic Church Save Itself?”
2006 National Geographic releases a new account of The Gospel of Judas—purported to be a historical, scientific investigation that puts a different spin on the long-lost gospel.
2006 Though a work of pure fiction, The Da Vinci Code becomes a cultural and religious phenomenon precisely by making historically inaccurate claims about the Christian faith.
2007 Director James Cameron announces the release of his Discovery Channel documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus on the supposed ossuary of Jesus.
Steven Hunt, Ph.D., associate professor of biblical and theological studies, specializes in the New Testament. He appreciates narrative approaches to the Gospel of John and socio-rhetorical approaches to the letters of Paul. He enjoys camping in the White Mountains and boating on Lake Winnipesaukee with his wife, Bridget, and four children. steve.hunt@gordon.edu Jordan Montgomery is studying physics, Bible and piano. He will be spending his junior year abroad at Jerusalem University College in Israel. The study of ancient Judaism and its impact on the Christian faith have long been of interest to him, and he hopes to continue his biblical studies. jordan.montgomery@gordon.edu
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 5
This summer marks the 200th anniversary of the first Protestant missionary entry into China. In 1807 Robert Morrison of the London Missionary Society arrived in Canton determined to translate the entire Bible into Chinese—a project that took him 25 years to complete. Morrison’s entry into China played an important part in building a bridge between the East and the West. Two centuries later our increasingly globalized world is experiencing what Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline, has termed a “massive shift in the tectonic plates of history,” a shift toward Asia as the rising world culture. This shift is evident in the growth of Asian studies at Gordon—a college whose missionary “DNA” has much in common with Morrison’s. In this series of articles we introduce you to some of the faculty, students and benefactors who are shaping the character and direction of the East-West connection at Gordon. Some, like associate professor of history Dong Wang, were born in China; others, like Sam Tsoi ’07, are American-born Chinese or of other Asian heritage. Still others, like John Stoeckle ’07 and Hannah Miller ’08, have been forever changed by their study or outreach experience in Asian countries. All are—in one way or another—bicultural, with feet in both worlds.
Story Dong Wang
ASIAN STUDIES AT GORDON The China Studies program at Gordon is intimately linked with the East-West Institute of International Studies (EWI) and with its founding director, Rev. Raymond C. Lee. Lee is a former dean of chapel whose global vision and generosity led to the EWI’s establishment in 1994 as a specialized, independently funded arm of the College, devoted to furthering EastWest relations and appreciation. In October 2005 I assumed responsibility for managing and operating the Institute after Dr. Thomas Askew, the first director, retired to become director emeritus.
6 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
The EWI, housed on the third floor of the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel, offers high-quality East Asian programs at Gordon, both on and off campus. The College’s courses in Mandarin Chinese, now overseen by the Foreign Languages Department, were launched and initially funded by the Institute. In spring 2006 the East Asian Studies minor got off the ground. Working together with the Departments of History, Economics and Business, and Foreign Languages, and the Global Education Office, the Institute oversees this new interdepartmental program. Our China courses currently include Foundations of Chinese Civilization,
Mandarin Chinese, Premodern China, Modern China, Christianity in Asia, Advanced Seminars in United StatesChina Relations, Women in China, and Chinese Nationalism. Along with these on-campus offerings, the EWI also sponsors international seminars featuring on-site studies in Asia. For instance, the course Economic Development in Modern China includes an 18-day China and Hong Kong tour, providing students with opportunities to experience China firsthand. And, in partnership with the Global Education Office, the EWI also sponsors off-campus semester-
Digital Illustrations Grant Hanna ’06
long study opportunities in China. The Beijing Asian Studies Program at Beijing University has continued to attract a small but steady stream of our students. The EWI scholarships program enables students to conduct primary research in China and other Asian countries. The program has become an interdepartmental venture—professors Stephen Smith, economics and business; Robert Joss, psychology; and Ruth Melkonian-Hoover, political studies, have all served the scholarship program. In the past two years, five students have been selected for the award: Jennifer Jensen ’06, John Stoeckle ’07, Katelyn Anfuso ’07, Rosemary Hallaren ’07 and Robert Stuyck ’07. Each year the East-West Institute sponsors events that are open to the Gordon community and beyond. This past February EWI administrative assistant Shirley Houston and our student team—Ahyoung Yoo ’09, Deborah Teo ’07, Rebekah Suzuki ’09, Monica Sakata ’07 and Sally Tsai ’07—organized our annual weeklong Lunar New Year Festival celebrating the richness of East Asian traditions. We host several East-West lectures/ faculty forums each semester, presented by leading scholars of Asia and offering a multidimensional approach to understanding China, the United States and other countries. This past spring Dr. John Fitzgerald of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, gave the address “Revolution, Respectability and Wealth: Chinese-Australian Survival Strategies in the Era of Exclusion.”
Last year the Institute became the cosponsor of the Journal of AmericanEast Asian Relations, which is coedited by me and has a worldwide readership in North and South America, Europe and Asia. To mark the 200th anniversary of Protestant entry into China, I plan to edit a special issue, “Christianity in China as an Issue in the History of United States-China Relations,” scheduled for publication in 2008. As a China historian, I am blessed to have the East-West Institute as my home base from which to carry out research and spread the College’s influence in the China field through my own scholarship. Working at a Christian liberal arts college not only helps me further cultivate relationships with churches throughout Asia and North America, but has also facilitated completion of my book on Canton Christian College. Preparations for two new books, including United States-China Relations: from the 18th Century to the Present, are well underway. The China program at Gordon College has played an active role in enhancing interactions between China and the Gordon community. Through numerous programs in Chinese language, culture, religion, history, economics, and foreign relations, the East-West Institute will continue to address challenges and opportunities in our increasingly integrated world in the 21st century.
Dong Wang is associate professor of history
Story John J. Stoeckle ’07
REPORT FROM CAMBODIA In the fall of 2005, as a recipient of an East-West Institute scholarship I researched the history of Cambodia’s medical infrastructure. I spent two weeks in Cambodia, observing hospital facilities and community development programs. I spent several hot mornings shadowing Dr. Modich, a Cambodian doctor, at a free clinic in Phnom Penh. I remember patients plagued with advanced illnesses, wholly accepting of the white man observing them, whom they then thanked profusely with the Khmer sompiah (two hands together in a praying position held high for reverence). I thanked them back with the traditional gesture. Those few days looking at X-rays for signs of tuberculosis, gowning up and holding clamps for cyst removal, while struggling to honor patients’ dignity with my limited speaking ability in Khmer, humbled me and taught me something about communicating the love of the Great Healer. I interviewed health workers in both governmental and nongovernmental organizations and gained a clearer picture of the problems of Cambodia’s medical infrastructure. Finally, I attended the First Conference on the History of Medicine in Southeast Asia in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where I heard from scholars from around the world. I recently made a presentation at Gordon on “Five Hospitals—a Partial Picture of Cambodia’s Struggling Health Sector,” which covered the forces influencing the development of Cambodia’s medical infrastructure and patterns that I observed firsthand.
and executive director of the East-West Institute of International Studies at Gordon College. As research associate, she is also
John Stoeckle grew up in Melrose,
affiliated with the Fairbank Center for East
Massachusetts, and has since lived in Ohio and
Asian Research at Harvard University. She
Kentucky. He currently resides in Phoenixville,
is the author of China’s Unequal Treaties:
Pennsylvania, and is engaged to be married to
Narrating National History and Managing
Sarah Massanari ’07 in September. They both
God’s Higher Learning: U.S.-China Cultural
plan to pursue medical training and serve in
Encounter and Canton Christian College,
Southeast Asia.
among other publications.
john.stoeckle@gordon.edu
dong.wang@gordon.edu
www.gordon.edu/ewi
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 7
Some Good Reasons for Studying Mandarin Chinese bb God loves the people of China, the most populous nation in the world (nearly 1.3 billion). One of the world’s oldest civilizations, it is home to a rich mixture of minority peoples— as many as 450 distinct groups—each with its own unique customs and culture. bb Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world, with 885 million speakers. bb Many Chinese people are already eager to build relationships with people in the West—relationships (guanxi) are the foundation for building trust. Our commitment to learn their language is evidence of our interest in them. bb Qualified teachers of Mandarin are in demand at every age level. Both the United States and Chinese governments are promoting Mandarin study, here and in China. Scholarships, internships and other resources are available for students committed to learning Chinese. bb Mandarin studies at Gordon College complement a variety of majors including business and economics, history, international affairs, political science, and minors in East Asian studies and missions. bb The study of Chinese language provides a doorway to understanding the Chinese culture, literature and history— the roots of modern China.
8 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Story Paul F. Sidmore ’92
GROWING A MANDARIN PROGRAM Gordon’s Mandarin Chinese program has had God’s fingerprints on it since it began in 1996. Devotionals are an early part of our language drill; as each class opens, students sing a Christian chorus and recite a Bible verse in Chinese. By the end of their second year, Mandarin students can translate Scripture and write prayers and testimonies in Chinese characters. People ask “How did you ever come to learn Chinese?” Paradoxically, it did not come about by my “being still and knowing.” It involved a Jonah-like detour in my life that began in 1958 when, instead of coming to Gordon College as I had first planned, I enlisted in the U.S. Army to avoid being drafted. I studied Mandarin for a year at Army Language School in California, and after the Army I took a Mandarin class at Harvard Summer School. However, at the time I had no purpose or context in which to make this study meaningful. It was not until many years later when I was at Gordon-Conwell pursuing ordination that I experienced a renewed interest in things Chinese, and was teaching ESL for a Christian organization in Boston’s Chinatown. I began to develop a love of teaching, and my heart was drawn to the Chinese people. In 1991 I began a 10-year stint as Protestant chaplain at Essex County
Correctional Facility. Halfway through my chaplaincy I learned that Gordon College and its East-West Institute were looking for a Mandarin instructor, and I began teaching Mandarin three afternoons a week on the Gordon campus. In one hour I worked in the macho, paramilitary atmosphere of the jail, and in the next I interacted with a classroom of enthusiastic, godly young Gordon students. The course soon proved viable and was fully adopted as a foreign language offering. In the fall of 1999 Gordon added Intermediate Mandarin to its first-year courses. Secondyear Mandarin students typically have well-defined goals that include other Chinese studies, often pursuing programs and eventual work in China or with Chinese people in the U.S. Jenny Chang ’01 now teaches children full-time in Chinatown, Boston. Liza Davis ’02, now works for the U.S. government as a China specialist. Another alumna, Jessica Watters ’02, is preparing to serve in rural China as a medical doctor. Every year Mandarin classes take field trips. We have toured Chinatown, experiencing its unique sights, sounds, tastes and smells. Boston’s Chinese New Year celebration is especially memorable. We also visit Boston area Chinese churches— sitting through a service conducted entirely in
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. —Psalm 46:10 Mandarin is a stretching experience. These visits have also served to create a bridge for ongoing, deeper relationships between Gordon and the Boston Chinese Christian community.
prekindergarten through eighth-grade Brookwood students. This challenging venture was quite successful, and other local schools are interested in Mandarin now as well.
Working with Director of Service Learning and Missions Kirk McClelland ’97, we have put together two five-week China Summer Missions Program (SMP) trips. Three weeks are spent in Xi’an teaching conversational English— a life-changing experience for some students. The trips provide a time to explore possible callings to long-term service in China.
As we recite God’s Word in our Mandarin classes, we are truly learning to be still and know that He is God; that He will be exalted among the nations. One of those nations is the great land of China. May our students be found exalting Him there.
Team leaders Hannah Miller ’08 and Katie Stone ’08 were with us on the first trip, 2005, along with Malcolm Patterson, Gordon’s dean of the graduate program in education. In 2006 the SMP team was co-led by Colby Smidt ’09 and Katie Amico ’09. Each person who went on that trip still corresponds with and prays for the friends they met in China. In fall 2006 we began an after-school Mandarin program at Brookwood, a private school in nearby Manchesterby-the-Sea. Erin McGough ’07, an education major, was the lead teacher for this new program. Katie Stone, Leslie Timm ’08 and Hannah Miller have also taught
Paul Sidmore is a part-time instructor of Mandarin at Gordon. He is grateful for the leadership, support and encouragement of Leasa Lutes, professor of Spanish, and Gregor Thuswaldner, assistant professor of German. He and his wife, Marcia, live in Danvers, close to their five children and two grandsons. Next year they will celebrate 40 years of marriage. paul.sidmore@gordon.edu
Story Hannah Miller ’08
AN IMMERSION EXPERIENCE I was one of the first Gordon students to participate in the Beijing program’s language-immersion track. I loved going down the back streets to hang out with the vendors while they sold sweet potatoes heated over coal in big oil containers, and asking them about their lives. I understood only about a third of what they were saying, but they didn’t mind—they just kept talking in their thick Beijing accents and smiling in amusement as I continued to ask questions about their lives. On my flight from Beijing to Hohhot (in Inner Mongolia) a little girl sat next to me and insisted I read the newspaper with her for the whole flight. I think I learned more characters in those 45 minutes than I did in three hours of class. As the semester went on and our Chinese improved beyond a basic level, our conversations turned to the social and economic changes that are occurring in China and in the United States right now. The four of us—the teacher, my two classmates and I— would sit around our little table in the classroom that we occupied five hours every day, and talk about the issues that globalization and modernity are bringing to our countries. Even as my Chinese improved and my appreciation for the more tangible aspects of Chinese culture increased, my teachers gave me an even deeper, more personal understanding of their culture. They shared with me their fears as young, educated men and women entering a world fraught with uncertainty. They shared their joys as well—one of my teachers became engaged midway through the semester and talked about
her hopes for her family and their future. We took field trips together to buy Chinese pop music, watch the latest Jackie Chan movie, visit museums and taste Beijing’s moon cakes before the Fall Moon Festival. China is a paradox, and I have walked in that paradox. On the dirty streets where the ritzy high rises tower over the construction workers’ tents. Where the impoverished farmer pulls out a cell phone to tell his neighbor about the condition of the crops. Where the Forbidden City and the central business district can be seen in the same skyline. Where a society of guanxi (relationships) is being confronted by shangpinhua shijie (commercialization). Where society is trying to change as fast as the economy and is getting ripped apart. Where Confucius was replaced by Mao, and Mao by money, and suddenly that money seems to be failing them. Where hopes are placed on the single child in families—single children receiving more nurturing, spoiling and pressure than any other children on earth. Where every day I am confronted by a seemingly homogeneous group of people and yet still cannot articulate what the Chinese people are “like” because I’ve seen too many contradictions. I went to Beijing as a stranger and left it still barely understanding what it was that I experienced. But I know this city has shaped the way that I view the world.
Hannah Miller is an economics and international affairs major at Gordon. During the summers she enjoys fly fishing on rivers in Minnesota. hannah.miller@gordon.edu
10 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Story Samuel Tsoi ’07
IN PEKING I once heard it said that a cross-cultural experience is like a fish never knowing it is wet until it is out of the water. My own experiences prove the saying true—my awareness of my cultural identity was never more pronounced than when I studied abroad in Gordon’s Beijing Program in Asian Studies in the fall of 2005. Studying in a historic city of 13-plus million and on a campus— Peking University—where international students numbered in the thousands, was quite a paradigm shift from being at Gordon. And as an Asian American, I was simultaneously attempting to prove my American identity while trying to connect with my rich Chinese heritage. I could not avoid questioning who I am in terms of my habits, cultures, values, beliefs and faith. What resulted was a feeling of being both “out of the water” and deeply immersed—a sort of cultural amphibian. But after navigating my way through a semester in China, I felt both more American and more Chinese. Besides having strong personal motivations to experience China, I was interested in larger questions as well. How does a nation that transformed itself with unprecedented speed and scale maintain a stable society? How will the rise of the Chinese economy shake up world relations? And most poignantly, how do China’s 1.3 billion people deal with such dramatic shifts and live amongst the great paradoxes of rich and poor, rural and urban, powerful and powerless, and the new and the ancient? Will this transition usher in more innovation, cooperation and hope—or turmoil, conflict and spiritual poverty? For my generation in this globalized world, these are compelling narratives in progress. The discussions in our Sino-U.S. Relations class, the stories broadcast at my internship with the BBC, and the omnipresent Americanization of China evident in the proliferation of companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Starbucks, and all the skyline-protruding Western logos—all of these made me aware
CHINA IN OUR BACKYARD Boston’s Chinatown is located less than 30 miles from the Gordon College campus. The only historic Chinese area in New England and the third largest Chinese neighborhood in the country, it is located between Boston’s Financial and Theater Districts. Seventy percent of Chinatown’s population is Asian—Chinese, Japanese, Cambodian and Vietnamese. The Boston Chinese Evangelical Church, located on Harrison Avenue, is home church to many friends of Gordon College, and ministers in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. The area is, of course, noted for its large selection of Asian restaurants, bakeries and other businesses. On the facing page, Samuel Tsoi and Paul Sidmore share some of their favorites.
that as an Asian American I was part of history in the making. However, it was easy to be blinded by the glamour and not to see the inequalities, struggles and challenges of most everyday Chinese folk. It was emotionally difficult and spiritually demanding to see these realities, to digest them and to understand my own part in them. Indeed, this story is to be continued beyond my mere taste of China two years ago. Back in the U.S. now, every time I look at the headlines and browse in libraries and bookstores I see China. I continue to be intrigued by China and committed to live out the privileges and responsibilities bestowed upon me as a follower of Jesus, a student, an American and a cultural amphibian. I am grateful for the opportunity to begin to make sense of what will happen in my generation’s lifetime, and to identify the challenges and opportunities for me in that beautiful struggle.
Samuel Tsoi, a first-generation Chinese American and New City Scholar, was an international affairs major who participated in the Beijing semester and the Gordon in Boston program, where he was an intern at Oxfam America. samuel.tsoi@gordon.edu
ONT S T
GE ST
BEACH ST
KNA
AVE
AN
DS T
R ST
ISON
ALB ANY ST
ST
BE
NN
L LE P MAP
PINE
JON
NY
TAI T
UNG
ST ON HUD S
N AV E
ASH ST
GTO N ST
OAK ST
WAS HIN
UT AVE
OAK ST
NA SSA US T
TYL ER S T
NEW ENGLAND MEDICAL CENTER STATION
ST
HAR RISO
TREM
ET
D
TYL E
D
HUD S
EEL
HAR R
RV AR
ONT S T
KN
SUR
RD RS HE A
N MO SIGN O
PL
HA
SHAWM
S ST
WARRENTON
CHARLE
WA SHIN GTO N
ST
ON
ST
PP S T
ST
CT
ST
GINA
L ST
PI
NE
ST
BAKERIES
10. May’s Cake House 11. Eldo Cake House 12. Crown Royal Bakery
RESTAURANTS For menus, visit menupix.com
1. Taiwan Cafe (Taiwanese) 34 Oxford Street T 617 426 8181 F 617 426 8585 Mo-Su 11 a.m.–1 a.m.
2. Penang (Malaysian/Pan-Asian)
BEA CH S T
FAC ER
STUART ST
MAR
KINGSTON ST
LAGRA N
TREM
STUART ST
ST
CHINATOWN STATION
PING ON ST
BOYLSTON ST STATION
ESSEX ST
EDINBORO
ESSEX ST
BOYLSTON ST
RD ST OXFO
ST
AVE HARRISON
BOYLST ON
223 Harrison Avenue T 617 350 0210 36 Harrison Avenue T 617 350 7977 68 Beach Street T 617 338 8889
685 Washington Street T 617 451 6373 F 617 451 6300 Su–Th 11:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m., Fr–Sa 11:20 a.m.–midnight www.penangusa.com
3. Pearl Villa (Cantonese) 25 Tyler Street T 617 338 8770 F 617 422 0664 Su–Th 11–2 a.m., Fr–Sa 11–3 a.m.
4. Rainbow Cafe (Cantonese) 1 2 60 Beach Street T 617 542 1763 F 617 542 8236 3 Su–Th 11 a.m.–11 p.m., Fr–Sa 11–24 a.m. 5
5. Dong Khanh (Vietnamnese) 6 7
81 Harrison Avenue T 617 426 9410 8 Mo–Su 9:30a.m.–10:30 p.m. 9 10 11 12 1271 Boylston Street T 617 437-8889 F 617 267 2763 13 Su–Th 11:30 a.m.–midnight, Fr–Sa 14 11:30 a.m.–1 a.m. 15 www.hongkongcafe.net 16 17 18 19 DIMSUM (lasts until 3 p.m., but20get there by noon or 1 p.m.)
6. Hong Kong Cafe
7. China Pearl 9 Tyler Street T 617 426 4338 F 617 426 8427 Mo–Su 8:30 a.m.–11 p.m. www.chinapearlrestaurant.com
8. Emperor’s Garden (Empire Garden) 690 Washington Street T 617 482 8898 F 617 482 6500 Mo–Su 8:30 a.m.–10 p.m.
MARKETS AND MORE
13. C-Mart 14. Super 88
9. Imperial Seafood Restaurant 692 Washington Street T 617 338 1717 73 Essex Street T 617 423 3749
15. Central China Book Co. 44 Kneeland Street T 617 426 0888 16. Van’s Fabric 17. Silky Way
14 Beach Street T 617 423 6592 38 Kneeland Street T 617 451 5719
18. FETI (Far East Travel) 65 Harrison Avenue T 617 482 1008
ICON KEY Credit Cards Accepted Cash Only Reservations Accepted Good for Groups Takeout Available Delivery Available
70 Beach Street T 617 426 8439 Su–Th 8:30 a.m.–12:30 a.m., Fr–Sa 8:30 a.m.–4 a.m.
Pondering Progress
The Jerusalem and Athens Forum (JAF) is a great books course in the history of Christian thought and literature. Funded by the Lilly grant, the program strives to help students reflect on the relationship between faith and intellect, deepen their own sense of vocation, and awaken their capacities for intellectual and moral leadership. Seminar-style classes involve students
in an ongoing critical conversation with thinkers from the broad sweep of the Western tradition. This year STILLPOINT and JAF sponsored an essay contest that was open to all participants in the program. Students were invited to offer critical reflections on the concept of progress—prevalent in Western culture
Recovering an Image of Progress There is a joke about the Eastern Orthodox Church that goes like this: “How many Orthodox people does it take to change a light bulb?” The response is simple: “Change?” Orthodoxy is often accused of not changing with the times, and a single visit to an Orthodox church—with its incense-filled, candle-lit, icon-covered sanctuary, and clergy in ancient vestments—confirms the stereotype that Orthodox folks aren’t too keen on change. Compared to chic American mega Christianity, with convention-style LCD projectors, stage lights and rock music, the Orthodox Church can seem rather calcified and antiprogressive. This worship tradition (of which I am part) has been in existence since the Early Church and was carried over from an even earlier tradition, the Jewish liturgy. Is Orthodoxy taking refuge in nostalgic traditionalism, or is there something much more intentional happening? I would argue that Orthodoxy, in its apparent changelessness, is actually all about change. Anthony Bloom, Orthodox writer and theologian, describes the ancient liturgy as being “a school for spirituality: it is a situation and an encounter with God and the world in God. It has its own spontaneity which goes beyond the actual spontaneity of each of its members. It is the holy spontaneity of the community already fulfilled and in God.” The liturgy, filled with litanies and prayers that have persevered for centuries, is like the sunrise—mutable and immutable,
Story Michael Tishel ’08
constant and beautifully sporadic—in all things spontaneous, yet not chaotic. St. Maximos the Confessor, St. Gregory of Palamas and Blessed Augustine of Hippo were among the many Early Church giants upon whose shoulders we, as dwarves, rest, learning about a vocation that continues beyond the grave. Russian theologian St. Theophan the Recluse said, “Look to Heaven, and measure every step of your life so it is a step towards it.” Do not be fooled by this apparent otherworldliness; if every moment of our lives is interpreted with the destination and direction—Heaven— fully in mind, we will live every moment to its fullest. To have an untarnished focus on Heaven is to transform every present moment into that which is genuinely progressive—that is, oriented towards eternity. False progress, on the other hand, is movement that only appears to make life better. The media, for example, has “progressed” toward much more freedom of expression ever since the gyrating hips of Elvis Presley disrupted the tame pop culture of the mid-20th century. Violence, raw promiscuity and rock-star irreverence have all had their fair share of the limelight. Is this progress, or is it leading mankind back to itself in a circular path? For progress to be genuine its direction must be toward God; transfiguration is stunted by movement back toward the self. The Eastern Church would say that the entirety of man’s life is about changing from his fallen state into a transfigured person who
since the 18th-century Enlightenment. Essayists were especially encouraged to consider how the Christian tradition and moral imagination might contribute to a Christian theology of progress. Students engaged with thinkers as various as George MacDonald and C. S. Lewis, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Augustine of Hippo, Theophan the Recluse and Josef Pieper.
The first-place essay, “Recovering an Image of Progress” by Michael Tishel ’08, argues for the genuinely progressive nature of Ancient Church tradition. Bethany Joy Floch ’08 received an honorable mention for “To Kill Time Is to Kill Life,” in which she explains how Sabbath-keeping is both a reminder of God’s grace and a guard
against the idolatry of productivity. Joshua Hasler, whose essay “Progress as a Work of Redemption” also won an honorable mention, suggests that “progress may be both merely and triumphantly our participation in the redemption of fallen creation.” Read excerpts from these essays on page 14.
becomes as God—just as He became man—and, ironically enough, more human than ever before. The whole world falls under the umbrella of this incarnational transformation.
and He has restored the sullied image to its ancient glory,
Nothing can baffle the human mind more than this mystery of Christ’s Incarnation. That God Himself deigned to take on a fallen human form—one that He created to begin with—is utterly appalling, universally unique and somehow wondrously comforting. We read about the Incarnation in Scripture; we hear it expressed in sermons; we subliminally absorb its reassuring promise—but do we see it? How do we see a God who came in the form of a baby? Babies, of course, can be depicted, spoken of, seen. Parents send birth announcements with a picture and description of the newborn—symbols that do not capture the essence of this wonderful new human being, but that nonetheless allow us to share in the parents’ joy and to celebrate this event. What about Jesus—could He be depicted? Can He be depicted even now?
and we depict in the holy icons.
If Heaven is the end, then the mutual pull of man to Heaven and Heaven to man will dictate anything from politics to ecology, relationships to cosmology and anything else under the sun. If we see the world as an icon, then the journey of progress becomes much clearer. We can all learn a thing or two by simply stopping to check our course and confirm our journey’s end.
Images in the form of icons fulfill this very role in Orthodox worship—they allow us to see Jesus. A particular hymn in the Orthodox Church referred to as a “kontakion” beautifully contemplates this great and awesome mystery: The uncircumscribed Word of the Father became circumscribed, taking flesh from thee, O Theotokos [Mother of God],
filling it with the divine beauty. This, our salvation we confess in deed and word, St. John of Damascus, an Early Church theologian and defender of icons, proclaims, “I have seen the human image of God, and my soul is saved.” God allowed us to know Him as a colleague, the most humble of colleagues—to see Jesus, the Image of the Father in both His full humanity and full divinity. And in like manner He has “restored the sullied image”—our sullied image—calling us to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). But the story does not end there; for now we are able to see this very same depiction, the image of God, in all fallen images, places and faces of both rich and poor. We journey from our own fallen “depictions” to that which is as God. We all have it right when we talk about the need for progress, I suppose. But we must specify. When I place the image of a fast-paced urbanized culture next to that of the steady consistency of a slug and ask which one is making more progress, I must question direction. In which case is culture being transfigured? In which case are people being transfigured? Is the culture becoming a better culture by its frantic search for success? Or is the slug becoming a better slug by simply being a great slug?
Maybe the joke should read: “How many Orthodox does it take to change a light bulb?”; with this revised response: “Change? Change is fine, but only if you screw it on the right way, and it lights up the whole world in the end.”
Michael Tishel, a Pike Scholar, is studying comparative historical theology (Orthodoxy and Protestantism). He is active in his church’s youth program and Orthodox college ministry and has a special love for the Eastern monastic tradition. He likes playing guitar, singing and songwriting, and spending time with family and friends. His summer plans include a pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece and a seminar on the history of ancient and modern Greek culture and Christianity. michael.tishel@gordon.edu
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 13
Critical Loyalty Update
To Kill Time Is to Kill Life
Excerpt Bethany Joy Floch ’08
Growing up I thought eternal life began after death. Similarly, I thought we would enter the Kingdom of God after leaving this world. However, in the Lord’s Prayer we say “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God’s Kingdom is neither purely future nor purely elsewhere—it is also here and now, throughout history on earth. Furthermore, Christianity calls us to a much larger sense of ourselves as human beings. Although our earthly days are numbered, eternity begins as conception. But how does this relate to time? If time is merely a commodity or resource, then it is smaller than I am—something I have the power to limit, to manage, to control. However, realizing I am eternal requires me to recognize time as something bigger than myself. Eternity is beyond the limits of my imagination—I cannot even begin to pretend to comprehend it. Time is a gift, but not one in a box that I can unwrap. It is a gift that I must enter into—a world that waits beyond a door; perhaps like the door at the end of C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle. It is a world where we are always called to go “further up and further in.” Bethany Joy Floch, a Pike Scholar studying comparative literature, is from Dallas, Texas.
Critical Loyalty: Christian Vocation at Gordon College is a multidimensional initiative supported by a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. The project helps students develop a sense of vocation through reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the American evangelical heritage. Some highlights of the past five years: bb Gordon was featured in the Lilly Endowment Annual Report 2004, one of three colleges out of 88 to be so honored. bb The Jerusalem and Athens Forum, the Elijah Project, and the Christianity, Culture and Character mentoring program, all created by the grant, are fixtures of the College alongside older programs such as the A. J. Gordon Scholars Program and the Center for Christian Studies. bb The Jerusalem and Athens Forum was featured in All-American Colleges (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2006), as a premier Christian liberal arts honors program. bb Gordon was one of six schools profiled in the Lilly-supported documentary A Passion for the
Progress as a Work of Redemption
Excerpt Joshua Hasler ’09
Possible. Other schools profiled included Notre Dame and Boston College. bb The grant-supported Faith
Across the black water, above the recently thawed silt of unplumbed depths, the gray trees are desolate in these late winter months. A flock of colorless birds emerge, startled, I imagine, by the slam of construction that labors on our side of the pond. Just below where I sit in Lane Student Center, massive cement trucks roll by and arrive at the exposed soil like so many gardeners— braving the icy winter my western sensibilities balk at—to bring us something new, something good. And yet they are seen through the skeptical eyes of one of the last nostalgic residents of Wood Hall. And I sit where many of you have sat before and wonder: What, if any of these things, is progress? It may be the forging of a new building to replace the old and the worn. It could be the regrowth of trees or the path around the pond. Do we appraise progress according to our benefit as stewards, by the flourishing of creation itself, or the peace and happiness of humanity as a whole?
Seeking Understanding lecture series has been regularly advertised in national journals such as Books & Culture, First Things and the Harvard Theological Review. bb Gordon received a $500,000 extension grant from the Lilly Endowment, allowing the Critical Loyalty programs to continue for an additional three years with matching funds from the College.
Joshua Hasler is a philosophy major from Conifer, Colorado. joshua.hasler@gordon.edu
14 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
www.gordon.edu/criticalloyalty
Story Russell Camp
A Biotech Apprenticeship
Cliff Mathisen ’07
Don Gonzales ’95
“During every callback and interview I’ve had with potential employers, the first thing they want to hear more about is my research with Dr. Gonzales.” —Cliff Mathisen One reality for biotech entrepreneurs is raising capital, and the most difficult round of financing is often the first. A recent success story has an unusual profile—the entrepreneur pitching a business plan to a venture capitalist was a Gordon undergrad, Harold “Cliff” Mathisen ’07. Mathisen’s presentation was the culmination of a semester’s collaboration with Gordon alumnus Don Gonzales, M.D. ’95. Gonzales has a long track record of cutting-edge medical research, beginning in his own undergraduate years as a biology major at Gordon.
company he founded in 2007. Until recently he practiced otolaryngology in Gloucester and Beverly with a focus on endoscopic sinus surgery and sleep apnea.
“Don’s driving passion for biology and scientific research inspired both me and his peers,” says Russell Camp. “His ability to design and implement experimental protocols was remarkable.” After graduating from Gordon, Gonzales received the Engel Fellowship from the American Cancer Society and researched the genetics of muscle development in the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. At Cornell University’s medical school, Gonzales worked in the labs of Memorial Sloan Kettering determining the genetic sequence of the protein that causes Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome. He also worked with the Strang Cancer Institute at Rockefeller University and Cornell to determine the carcinogenic potential of estrogen metabolites.
“Dr. Gonzales had me do the detective work in figuring out what the major problems were with sinus surgery,” Mathisen says. “He would point me in the right direction, but then it was my responsibility to conduct my own research and draw conclusions from what I had learned. I gained significant knowledge of sinusitis and the problems that needed to be addressed in treating patients. I also came to appreciate the potential impact the new device patented by Dr. Gonzales will bring to the treatment of sinusitis patients.”
After Cornell, during his residency in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at Tulane University, he studied the role of IGF (insulin-like growth factor) in wound healing and cancer metastasis. During his senior year of residency he published his first patent and formed a company around a device for nasal surgery. Since then he has become the CEO and president of Xorbent Technologies, Xorbent Developments, Xorbent, LLC, and, most recently, the chief medical officer of ENTrigue Surgical Inc., a venture-backed
Gonzales wanted to introduce Gordon science majors to the realities of biotech entrepreneurship. This past academic year the Biology Department sponsored a pilot project in which biology major Cliff Mathisen worked with Gonzales and Camp in the development of a business plan for one of Gonzales’ most recent patents on a surgical device to treat sinusitis.
An important step in Mathisen’s work was to formulate a business plan. “Calculating a sound approximation of funding to be requested from a venture capital firm is critical to the success of the product,” Mathisen says, “but also a delicate balancing act. Requesting too little presents the real risk of bankruptcy before reaching the next stage of funding. Requesting too much would give the venture capitalists a higher market share in Dr. Gonzales’ product once he reaches the next stage of funding.” Mathisen defended his business plan in a PowerPoint presentation in the presence of venture capitalist Michael Magliochetti, Ph.D., from Oxford Biosciences. “Cliff did a great job—the venture capitalist really drilled him and Cliff stood the test,” says Camp,
who hopes this collaboration will be a prototype for entrepreneurial research opportunities for Gordon science students. Mathisen adds, “This experience with the business aspect of biotechnology is something I would not have received in strictly biology-based study. During every callback and interview I’ve had with potential employers, the first thing they want to hear more about is my research with Dr. Gonzales. This experience has helped me land a job at Financial Executives International, a nanotechnology company in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Dr. Camp and Dr. Gonzales have started something at Gordon that will give future students in this type of research a powerful understanding of how the business behind biotechnology works.”
Russell Camp, Cliff Mathisen and Don Gonzales wrote this article together in a round-robin series of emails. Mathisen is from Madison, New Jersey. Camp, who was instrumental in implementing this pilot for a mentoring program in biotechnology, recently retired after teaching biology at Gordon for 37 years. Gonzales and his bride, Shanna, now live in San Antonio, Texas, where he is chief medical officer for his new company, ENTrigue Surgical Inc. russell.camp@gordon.edu harold.mathisen@gordon.edu gonzales@xorbent.com
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 15
Intro Nancy Mering Story Michael Polefka ’07
The Changed Traveler Michael Polefka recently graduated from Gordon as a Pike Scholar with departmental honors in English. His is an unusual profile; after one semester at Gordon in 1990, he served for 10 years as a volunteer with Mercy Ships, a medical missionary organization that provides free surgeries for people in developing countries. He traveled to over 25 nations in southern and western Africa, the Baltic states, and much of coastal Europe. During those years Michael held on to a plan to return to college someday. He read voraciously from the ship’s library. Though he was eager to get out into the world after living in a small Christian community for 10 years, Michael decided first to return to Gordon—possibly just for a semester— to strengthen his grade point average. Once back at Gordon, his love of the small classes and his appreciation for the professors made him open to staying on. Now he finds himself somewhat disappointed that the college experience he anticipated for so long has ended. “Can there be anything better than sitting back, reading and learning?” he asks. Michael began his missionary work with Mercy Ships hoping to “change the world.” Over the years his idealism boiled off and his faith was distilled, refined. His senior thesis was an ambitious book-length work in progress titled Uproot, consisting of a series of narratives grounded in various settings in and around Boston. The project was inspired, he says, “from my process of reconciling my experience of nearly a decade of overseas service in relief work with my present perception of Boston, the city in which I grew up. In choosing Boston as the theater for these narratives, my hope has been to connect with any reader who has experienced the urban, whether in Boston or any other city. These urban places even serve as a concentrated version of the global community. For this project, however, my focus is not so much on overseas experiences as on the return from them—the changed traveler—and what they will do with those experiences and changes in their perceptions. The final hope is that the uprooting is a positive thing, if catastrophic—catastrophic in the sense of eucatastrophe (‘good-turning’), to borrow from Tolkien.”
www.mercyships.org
This excerpt is from a section of Uproot featuring the Boston Public Garden: His clothes were shabby, and the knocked-about 35mm around his neck looked older than I. He had purpose in his gait, but not swiftness—he looked to be in his 80s, his face deep in lines and creases; all except his eyes, which held a wonder I envied. I have lately become fascinated with age. At times I feel as though I have stepped out of myself to watch the slow progress of my body and mind. I am not old, but I am not fully young either. I have a chronic ache in my side that my doctor tells me not to worry about, and that the lawyer on TV says will make us both rich if the doctor’s wrong. Information doesn’t flash into recall the way it did when I was in high school. Vitamins now seem like a better idea to me than popular music. Conversation with friends now involves more of the past than it used to. I never sleep through the night. This slow progress of aging had consumed all but that old man’s eyes and purpose, and somehow he had gotten out of bed that morning and walked as briskly as he could to the center of this city to spite the cold and the grey, and to find something worth being delighted over. I had spent that morning walking with my shoulders hunched, looking out for municipal social deterioration and bird droppings. I took a cue and opened my eyes. Turning up the Haffonreffer Walk in the Boston Public Garden, I was rewarded with an eruption of Canada geese gathered for migration at the pond, their wings whistling as they pulled up from the water’s surface. The flower beds on either side of the walkway were cleared for winter, raked out and fertilized. Squirrels nosed around looking for storage space. From the
dor · mant [dawr-muh nt] –adjective c. 1386, from Old French: dormant, present participle of dormir “to sleep,” Latin: dormire “to sleep,” Indo European base: dre- “to sleep”; compare to Old Church Slavonic: dremati “to sleep, doze,” Greek: edrathon “I slept,” Sanskrit: drati “sleeps.” footbridge over the pond I took a lesson in the grace of dormancy. I stood on the footbridge, the bedside to the declining year, and tried to imagine it as a nodding-off instead of a terminal illness. I rested my head on my paws. On the south side of the pond the Swan Boats had been removed, the docks swept clean and in order. A few mallards drifted with beaks tucked away. On the north side of the pond were two points of focus—an enormous Asian-style garden lantern I had never noticed before and a deep red maple in the center of the small island sanctuary for the mallards. Surrounding the pond, willows formed a garland with their strands cropped evenly, just a few inches above the waterline. West of the footbridge the flower beds were still active—winter kale and some late-blooming roses. The west side of the garden is anchored by the Ritz-Carlton across Arlington Street, host of well-funded weddings that require pristine photo ops. A certain Thomas Lee had commissioned a nearby monument to be built in 1867 “in gratitude for the relief of human suffering.” His inspiration was the 1845 discovery of the properties of ether at Massachusetts General Hospital, and he gives this event biblical significance, citing both Old and New Testaments: From Revelation, “Neither shall there be any more pain,” and from Isaiah, “This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” The sculpture at the top of the column shows the Good Samaritan ministering to the wounded man, and on each of the column faces in turn are images of healing agents, alternating between the earthy and the divine: a team of surgeons, an angel of mercy, a Civil War doctor, the Madonna and Child in union with the Muse of Science.
One man builds a monument in thanks for pain’s absence. Millions have pain with no hope of relief. I have a dull ache in my side that only troubles me when I think about it and a propensity toward melancholy that in truth is really a luxury. I consider gratitude.
Texan—but all had the common timbre of enjoyment. An elderly Asian man walked slowly with his hands behind his back, wearing a surgical mask but showing peaceful eyes; his wife a few paces away—no mask but equally content.
I followed the path in from the edge of the garden and came across the first of two fountains, now dry. I hadn’t seen these since going there as a boy with my father to ride the Swan Boats some summer back in the 1970s. A bronze sculpture shows two toddler-age boys playing in what would ordinarily be the spray of the fountain. In a shady clearing across the path there is another sculpture of a mountain lion catching a raptor out of the air—two predators squaring off. Facing the center of the park, the predators are on the left and the innocents are on the right. I pondered whether this was intended.
I saw no sign of the old man with the camera and the purpose and the eyes of wonder. His day had taken him away as mine was about to take me. Not without teaching me something about a strangely obscure grace. The year turns through three seasons and settles, resting its head on its paws.
To the east of a statue of a man called Tadeusz Kosciusko (the Polish hero of the Continental Army in the American Revolution) stands one of the garden’s numerous Belgian Elms (Ulmus hollandica x belgica). An enormous burl was growing out of its side, roughly the size of a person in fetal position. It’s believed that irritants or bacteria stimulate these outgrowths over a period of many years. Carpenters and wood turners will tell you that these make some of the most stunning patterns of grain, and are highly sought after for wood sculpting. Not unlike the irritating grain of sand in the oyster yielding a pearl—though this particular burl is more than 100 years in the making. At the footbridge I completed my walk, the drizzle subsiding and the sky lightening, with more people willing to give the gardens a chance. Most of the languages and accents were not local: German, Dutch, French, Scottish,
Michael Polefka moved a lot growing up—eight different times between the North and South Shores of Boston, but always within easy reach of the city. Having returned from their service overseas in 2002, he and his wife, Kendra, now live near the beach in Quincy, Massachusetts, where they are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child in October. michael.polefka@gordon.edu
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 17
the worry of traffic or the need to be constantly socially appropriate.
A Farm to Call Home Farmsteads of New England began with a question to myself: “What is going to become of Andrew when he grows up?” My son, Andrew, was born with a rare metabolic disorder and is considered to be both severely mentally retarded and autistic. I say “considered” because he’s never responded to an IQ test in a way that is measurable, so we really don’t know his level of intelligence. And autism is a disorder that is diagnosed based on observable behaviors—it isn’t one condition with one cause. Put simply, Andrew behaves in ways that lead people to give him these labels. At 24 and nearly six feet tall, Andrew can walk, climb and run in his own fashion. He is in constant motion and has virtually no attention span. He is strong in short bursts. He understands everyday communication but is nonverbal, communicating his wants and needs by a few idiosyncratic gestures and by taking people by the hand and guiding them to whatever he wants help with. He loves attention but has no understanding of socially appropriate behavior. He might wrap his arms around a perfect stranger, swipe a hat off their head to play with or, if the mood strikes, slap them as he walks by. He is apt to run screeching with delight through large stores. He feels compelled to find the most perfectly matched pair of things such as spoons or coat hangers. I avoid the clothing
18 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
departments of stores at all costs when he is with me since he is likely to start stripping clothing off hangers to find the two hangers that feel best together in his hands.
As I researched this idea, visiting farms and similar residential settings, I decided a farm might be a great setting for other people with similar needs as well. I knew it was important that Andrew not be isolated; I’d learned that one of the biggest complaints of developmentally disabled adults is loneliness, and the direct-care staff working with these people also often feel isolated and don’t have the support they need. I started dreaming of a farmstead where several people with autism and other developmental disabilities could live, work and play together with the support of a group of mentors who could also be a support to each other. When Andrew turned 16 in 1999, I decided it was time to make the leap. I quit my full-time position as a special education teacher and program coordinator and began working on developing a farmstead. Farmsteads of
The residents—our “farmers”—come to understand the cycles of nature by seeing fields tilled, seeds planted and watered, plants growing and bearing fruit, and then the harvest. People frequently eat as they pick—and that’s okay. As he grew up I was always wondering about his future. I learned that in our home state of New Hampshire the only model for day services for the developmentally disabled was full community-based services emphasizing competitive employment. I knew Andrew would need something different. I thought about his strengths and weaknesses and decided a farm would be the perfect setting for him. Farms have a multitude of concrete tasks that would give him the chance to do meaningful work with readily observable results so he would understand why he was doing each task. Farms also have lots of space—he would have plenty of opportunities to expend his excess energy without
New England (FNE) was incorporated in 2000 and got its tax-exempt status in 2001. We began fundraising and were able to purchase the beautiful and historic Rosewald Farm in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in 2003. We now have five people with developmental disabilities living on the farmstead, another five who come regularly for day services, and a list of people who are waiting for us to build more residences. Additionally, we’ve provided respite services to about a dozen other people and their caregivers over the past few years. Our residential program focuses on life skills such as meal preparation, doing laundry and grocery shopping while our day services are a more structured combination of vocational
Story Deborah DeScenza Gray ’78
and recreational activities including caring for animals, working in the garden, making crafts, baking, running the farmstand, swimming, snowshoeing and taking nature walks. The residents—our “farmers”—come to understand the cycles of nature by seeing fields tilled, seeds planted and watered, plants growing and bearing fruit, and then the harvest. People frequently eat as they pick—and that’s okay. Everyone helps make a big lunch each day using our own produce. We sell extra produce at our farmstand, and our farmers love running up to the office to tell me what they’ve sold. Everyone gathers in the barn each spring to watch the baby animals being born; we generally bottle feed at least one kid or lamb each year, and those animals become especially friendly. Each day the farmers are able to feed the animals and watch them grow. Everyone has his or her favorite. We are about to expand so we can provide services to more people. We
plan to build a cluster of six residences that will each have four one-bedroom apartments surrounding a common room. In most cases there will be three people with developmental disabilities and one nondisabled mentor living in each building. After over two years of planning, we are about to begin construction of the first two of these residences. These apartments will give each person as much privacy and independence as possible, the companionship of friends nearby, and as much support from mentors as needed. We gave Farmsteads of New England a plural name and a wide geographic reference intentionally. We didn’t want one farmstead to grow too big and become impersonal, and we figured that once we had worked out the kinks it would make more sense to duplicate the model than to force other people to reinvent the wheel. We get inquiries from parents in other states and even other countries almost every week. We’re hoping that in 2008, after we’ve
been up and running for five years, we will be able to start a second farmstead. My goal is to have our farmers go to bed at night feeling tired from having had a full day, feeling proud for having accomplished something important, and feeling content knowing they have friends, a home and a good life.
Deborah DeScenza Gray received her B.S. in elementary education from Gordon and an M.Ed. in learning disabilities and emotional disturbances from the University of Virginia in 1979. She has completed the coursework towards a doctorate in special education administration at Boston University.
Frequently Asked Questions Q: Isn’t today’s philosophy leaning toward mainstreaming people with developmental disabilities into their communities? A: Many people who have autism or sensory integration difficulties are overwhelmed by the fast pace and crowded conditions of an urban or well-populated environment and prefer a quieter, less-hurried life. Many of them have not been able to successfully participate in competitive employment situations.
If you’re interested in learning more about FNE, would like to help with our fundraising efforts, or would be interested in working
Q: Why is a farm a good setting for these people?
and/or living on the farmstead,
A: A farm provides vocational activities—working with animals, growing plants, baking, and selling produce at our farmstand—that are meaningful and satisfying because the results of their work are readily evident. The farmstead is a less stressful employment situation for some because it allows everyone to work at his or her own pace away from a high level of noise and work demands. It also provides a built-in community of friends and mentors.
contact Deborah DeScenza Gray:
Q: Do the farmers stay on the farm all the time?
www.farmsteads-ne.org
Farmsteads of New England Inc. 213 Center Road Hillsborough NH 03244 603 464 2590 ddgray@farmsteads-ne.org
A: No, there are plenty of opportunities to interact with the larger community. Work-related trips include the hardware store, grocery store and recycling center. Recreational activities include movies, hikes through Fox State Forest, the library and bowling. There are also weekly swimming trips to either local beaches or swimming pools.
More information and a complete list of FAQs www.farmsteads-ne.org
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 19
IN FOCUS
FACULTY
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS, PERFORMANCES AND PRESENTATIONS Gordon’s faculty members are active scholars who make important contributions to their disciplines and to society. A full listing of faculty publications, performances and presentations is available online at: www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/faculty
Department Chairs Gather Gordon College and the CCCU (Council of Christian Colleges & Universities) hosted the Faith-Filled Department Chair Institute June
Farewell to Four The College honors four retiring faculty members who have made giant-sized contributions to the life of the College.
14–16, fulfilling a dream of Academic Dean Kina Mallard. “The department chairs,” she says, “are the most important administrators on a college campus. They are in the trenches with faculty and students thinking daily about teaching and learning, the most important work of our campuses. At the same time, they are the transmitters of information from upper administration trying to strike a balance between the needs of the institution and the needs of their departments.” Fifty-four administrators from 23 institutions participated including chairs, deans and one library director. The Institute offered sessions such as “What CAOs Want from a Department Chair,” “Leading Your Department from Good to Great,” “Workshops-to-Go,” “Faculty Working Styles,” “Managing Minutiae” and “Strategic Planning and Assessment.”
IN THEIR WORDS
“In higher education there is so much emphasis on change—on the rapid pace of technological innovation and the short shelf life of disciplinary methods and orthodoxies—that we can easily overlook the importance of longevity and faithfulness. What these veterans leave us is not simply a heritage of good teaching; they have helped create a culture of trust, shared governance, and thoughtful piety.” —Mark L. Sargent Provost, at faculty retirement ceremony
20 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Four retiring faculty who have collectively served at Gordon for 131 years were honored May 10 at a farewell ceremony honoring their contributions to the life of the College. Roy Brunner, professor of music, was praised by colleague Thomas Brooks as a first-rate concert pianist, hymnologist and gracious and capable instructor. He noted Brunner’s courage in overcoming the debilitating effects of a stroke and his patience in mentoring students who were struggling. President Carlberg reminded those gathered of how, on September 11, 2001, Brunner’s organ playing “led us down the path of worship” on an extraordinarily difficult day. Biology professor Russ Camp was honored by associate professor of biology Dorothy Boorse as a “lab guru,” mentor for generations of Gordon premed students, promoter of biotech opportunities, and as one who “loves instrumentation.” Boorse said, “Russ is known as a kingdom man— not just the Kingdom of Christ, but the biological kingdom—plant, animal and bacterial. He’s got a swath of knowledge we are going to miss.” (Camp is pictured above, left, with colleagues Craig Story and Richard Wright, inspecting the scope he received at the ceremony.) Economics professor John Mason was noted by colleague Stephen Smith for his commitment to social justice and to the whole gospel, and his writing that has influenced a generation of Christian scholars. “In another life John might have been a carpenter or an architect,” Smith said. “He hasn’t just made contributions to the department; he made the department. We are built according to his blueprint. We are the better for his winsome vision.” Philosophy professor Malcolm Reid’s legacy was related by two of his colleagues, Mark Gedney and David Aiken. “Malcolm is devoted to the highest standards of what philosophy can be at a Christian college,” Gedney said. Reid, recently ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church, has for years been actively involved in helping to build and promote Uganda Christian University in Kampala, Uganda. “In retirement he is only expanding the range of his ministry, not changing it,” Aiken said.
Faculty Publications, Performances and Presentations www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/faculty
IN FOCUS
FACULTY
IN THEIR WORDS
“To advocate for and to assist those in society who are weak, vulnerable, and poor—as I contend the Bible instructs us to do—will inevitably require sacrifice in a world constrained by scarcity.” —John Mason, Ph.D. Professor of economics, in his address to graduates at the Senior Breakfast
Two Outstanding Part-Timers Along with its annual Distinguished Faculty Awards to two full-time professors each year, the College also honors two part-time faculty who have made major contributions as teachers and mentors. The recipients of the 2007 Academic Service Awards are Stella Price ’89, part-time instructor of English, and Dawn Jenks Sarrouf ’92, technical director for the Department of Theatre Arts. Price, a writing teacher, has been a source of encouragement to many, especially ALANA (Asian, Latino, African and Native American) and international students. Sarrouf has capably managed schedules, handled purchases, maintained equipment, trained stage managers, and assisted with the international seminar in England.
Distinguished Faculty Awards At this year’s Commencement, Provost Mark Sargent presented the Senior and Junior Distinguished Faculty Awards to professor of economics Stephen L. S. Smith, Ph.D., and to associate professor of history Jennifer Hevelone-Harper, Ph.D., respectively. These awards are based on nominations received from faculty and graduating seniors, considering teaching performance, scholarly and professional endeavors, and service to the College and community. Smith, who holds degrees from Williams College and Stanford University, was praised by Sargent for his attention to the welfare of colleagues and for his dedication to scholarly endeavors, including authorship of many articles and conference presentations, and his coeditorship for 19 years of the scholarly journal Faith & Economics. “He has collaborated with colleagues from around the country on publications,” Sargent said, “and has encouraged some of his peers to bring their own scholarly projects to fruition. In recent years one of his prime collaborations has been coediting the book Attacking Poverty in the Developing World.” Raised in Asia, Smith has a global focus. He served for several years as the associate director of Gordon’s East-West Institute for International Studies and has long served as codirector of the College’s major in international affairs.
The Story behind ECHO ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) works to provide solutions to global hunger. Associate professor of biology Craig Story led Gordon students on spring-break missions trips to ECHO headquarters in Fort Myers, Florida. This year he assembled a team of art and communication arts students, along with Paul Rogati, educational technology specialist in multimedia at Gordon. The team filmed the Fort Myers demonstration farm and interviewed
As an undergraduate at Gordon, Hevelone-Harper was an A. J. Gordon Scholar who completed a year of study at the Gordon in Oxford program and went on to distinguished graduate work at the University of Chicago and Princeton University. Her dissertation on church history at Princeton developed into her first book, Disciples of the Desert—a study of monks and laity in Late Antiquity. Returning to Gordon as a faculty member, she quickly became a leader, chairing the History Department and speaking frequently in chapels, forums and convocations. In fall 2006 she was a panelist in Gordon’s first trialogue, a conversation between Christian, Jewish and Islamic scholars. Sargent says of Hevelone-Harper, “She infuses her work with a joyful sense of discovery and a genuine love for God’s people, both past and present.”
ECHO staff, producing an interactive DVD about ECHO’s services. Contact Dr. Story or Mark Maerten of ECHO for information. More about ECHO www.echonet.org | craig.story@gordon.edu | mmaerten@echonet.org
IN FOCUS
STUDENTS
IN THEIR WORDS
“The bells of the two local cathedrals ring for ten minutes straight to end the evening vespers service. . . . As the sound of the bells dies out, night descends gently on the town. Aix-enProvence is nothing if not idyllic.” —Abigail Adams ’07 Abigail attended the Gordon in Aix (France) program during the 2006–07 academic year.
Running for Awareness Jonathan Phelps ’08
A Former Refugee’s Heart for Darfur
Although Nick Ware ’10 was only one face in the
Gabriel John ’08
he stood out with his ungroomed beard and
My name is Gabriel John. I am from Sudan, and I became a U.S citizen last month. For eight years I lived in a refugee camp in Kenya; however, I never thought it was a possibility to come to the United States. Life in the camp was a struggle—never enough food, and though education was there, it was a struggle to concentrate when we were only eating one meal a day. When you or a friend got sick, you just prayed that everything would be okay—there were hospitals, but there was only so much help they could give you because the facilities were so limited. During this time many people died. I was in the camp without my parents because when civil war broke out in Sudan I was separated from them. But through all these hardships God was with me and brought me to the United States. It has been a long journey to Massachusetts and to Gordon College, and many people have helped me along the way. Alberta Nutile, a foster mom of my cousin, accepted me to live with her in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Tymann family and others in the Gordon community were instrumental in helping me get to Gordon. I wanted to be in an environment where I can learn and grow in Christ, and I have not been disappointed. Though I am safe now, I think a great deal about the situation in Sudan that I left behind. Darfur, in the western part of the Sudan, has been in crisis for the last four years. About two million people have been forced to flee their homeland and are suffering from violence and atrocities. I hope the world opens its eyes and saves these innocent people—they are our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. These people shouldn’t be killed and tortured for their faith. I still cry every time I read an article about the situation in Darfur. I cannot stop thinking about them. There is nothing like freedom, and these people don’t have that. Is it good for human beings to live their lives in fear? We Christians don’t fight, but our weapon is prayer and unity. Here at Gordon we have formed the group Save Darfur. It is not too late to do something— it is never too late to save lives. Gabriel John is an accounting major. He is grateful to the many people who have helped him in his journey to the United States and to Gordon College.
crowd running the 110th annual Boston Marathon, the words “Save Darfur” brightly painted on his shaved head. “I was planning to run the marathon anyway,” said Ware. “I thought it would be a good springboard to raise awareness of what’s going on in Darfur.” Ware promoted his run to “Save Darfur” through the popular college networking website Facebook as well as speaking at local churches and working with the Gordon College Save Darfur Movement. Ware says, “This wouldn’t be tolerated in the United States, and the people of Darfur aren’t any less deserving of safety than we are.”
GCSA Casts a Vision Prashan De Visser ’08 has been elected president and Megan Thompson ’08 vice president of the Gordon College Student Association for 2007– 08. Thompson is a Pike Scholar (urban studies) and political studies major with a Spanish minor. De Visser is an economics and international affairs double major. The two student leaders hope to spark conversations about vocation and community among an increasingly diverse student body. They state: “One of the most crucial questions for students as they come to the end of their time at Gordon is ‘Where do I go from here?’ The answer to this question is never going to become known in isolation.”
Find your local Save Dafur group www.savedafur.org
IN FOCUS
STUDENTS
Fulbright Scholars Named Taryn Knerr ’07, a double major in German and mathematics, will be placed by the Fulbright Commission in a school in Bad Muenstereifel, Germany, to teach English. She also plans to audit university courses while fulfilling her teaching assistantship. Upon her return she plans to pursue a master’s degree in German literature. Knerr is also the recipient of a Calvin College Academic Achievement Award. Daniel Santimore ’07, a double major in ancient languages and biblical studies, and a minor in Ancient Near Eastern studies, received his grant to study and research in Israel, where he will attend Hebrew University in Jerusalem. During his Fulbright year his research will focus
Unpacking Uganda
on the religion of ancient Philistine culture.
Nicole Klink ’07
on Philistine religion with Dr. Elaine Phillips,
Coming back to Gordon after a semester at Uganda Christian University (UCU) was really hard. I walked around like a zombie, comparing everything to Uganda. No one else seemed to realize that wearing jeans, eating cold cereal and sitting on porcelain were all privileges. For awhile I took the easiest option: I became detached and disconnected. One of the biggest lessons I’d learned in Uganda was that I don’t have all the answers—and I somehow used this acknowledgment as an excuse for inaction. Everything I wanted to do for Africa I figured would be counteracted with some sort of corruption. Living at college felt like being in a rat cage I had to wait to get out of to actually do something. After a month of inward struggle and outward complacency, I finally got my knees dirty praying. And God worked. I started sharing stories rather than bottling them up. I met with my friend Amy Spaulding ’07, who had just gotten back from the Middle East Studies Program and was struggling with the same issues. Within days we were gathering with other people passionate about the world and about life, and talking about what it means to live out our convictions at Gordon. Eventually we developed a whole network of students who were already in groups ranging from Homeless Ministry to Save Darfur, from Amnesty International to the Summer Missions Program. This network evolved into the Social Justice Initiative, an umbrella organization that connects and encourages groups on campus that seek to be socially just. Uganda has taught me to revolutionize my daily life. I struggle to live simply, take time for relationships, approach issues in humility, take risks, appreciate the little things in life, be a steward of the environment, and thank God for where I am now. Struggling with Africa was one lifechanging experience, but struggling with the U.S. is a whole other one. I am glad God finally shook me to action because I have probably learned as much “recovering” from Africa as I did while I was there. The Uganda Studies Program is a CCCU (Council of Christian Colleges & Universities) BestSemester program, partnering with UCU in Mukono, Uganda. Nicole Klink is a psychology major from North Dighton, Massachusetts.
He is currently contributing to a book project professor of biblical and theological studies at Gordon.
Biology in Print Tiffany Hurlbut ’07 has been accepted into Harvard University for graduate studies in biology education, with plans to be a high school teacher. Tiffany worked on her honors research with professor of biology Ming Zheng and gave a presentation to the New England Society of Microscopy in December 2006. Her senior thesis, “Developmental Dynamics of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Microspores in Culture,” has been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, In Vitro Developmental Biology–Plants, and is currently under review. Kara Raychard ’07, also a biology major, has authored a paper describing a new species of parasite from a deep-sea bass from the Bay of Campeche. The paper will be submitted for review to The Journal of Parasitology, the journal produced by the American Society of Parasitology, our nation’s national association for this discipline. Raychard performed all the research and measurements, and wrote the manuscript, assisted with edits by Dr. Chuck Blend, associate professor of biology.
For more on these CCCU programs www.bestsemester.com | www.ugandastudies.com
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 23
IN FOCUS
ALUMNI
Alumni Books Lynne Bertrand ’85 published Granite Baby (illustrations by Kevin Hawkes; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), a raucous tall tale of five swarthy sisters running a granite quarry in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When one sister accidentally carves a baby out of granite, none of them knows how to stop the little fellow from wailing. In addition to being the author of this and other children’s books, Bertrand is a contributing editor to WonderTime, a magazine for parents of young children. Gary D. Schmidt ’79 is the author of The Wednesday
The Shirt Off Your Back
Wars (Clarion Books, 2007),
Paul Daigle ’97
a novel about Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader who happens to be the only Presbyterian student in Mrs. Baker’s class. On Wednesday afternoons, “when at 1:45 sharp half of my class went to Hebrew School at Temple Beth-El, and at 1:55 the other half went to Catechism at Saint Adelbert’s,” he and Mrs. Baker are stuck with each other. Things go from bad to worse—or so Holling thinks—when Mrs. Baker comes up with a plan. Abigail R. Gehring ’04 published Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck (Skyhorse Publishing, May 2007), a guide to freelance jobs. “Most of us have had one at some point in our lives,” Gehring writes. “Some of us have had a lot of them. And some of us have had a lot of REALLY odd ones. I’ve had about 30 jobs in my 23 years—some lasted an hour, others for close to an eternity.” Contact the Authors Lynne | lynne.bertrand@gordon.edu Gary | schg@calvin.edu Abigail | abigail.gehring@gordon.edu Order Your Copy All books are available online or through local bookstores Read More myoddjobs.blogspot.com
24 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Since graduating from Gordon I have been involved in various social justice organizations. I worked at and later led Starlight Ministries, an organization serving the homeless in Boston and Cambridge. I led a policy advocate committee at the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, and became involved with the Boston chapter of the ONE Campaign, which advocates for debt relief to developing countries and helps in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. I have also been involved with fair-trade issues. This continuing passion for justice led me, during the past year, to start the business Off Your Back Shirts, which offers organic, sweatshop-free and fair-trade apparel. The company’s values listed on the website come directly from Micah 6:8: justice, mercy and humility. The company grew from a combination of passions: entrepreneurial vision, a passion for the poor and for a more just consumerism, and a love of creativity. We sell T-shirts in a variety of designs, and although not all of them are sweatshop-free, they soon will be. It was hard to find reliable producers of sweatshop-free clothing and/or fair-trade clothing that was also of high quality. Although fair trade—a movement seeking fairer wages and payments for producers in the developing world—is increasingly common in products like coffee, the clothing industry has moved slowly in joining the movement. We’ve now found some factories and distributors we hope we can work with long term. We wanted our shirts to have style, comfort and fair production. All of our shirts are organic or even recycled—a good thing, considering that approximately a third of a pound of pesticides is used for the cotton to produce just one cotton T-shirt. As we grow we want to add more products that are made justly, and to grow in our ability to support and finance programs working in the areas of poverty and the environment around the world. We want to be a business where you can feel good about your purchases. Paul Daigle is married to Diana, and they live in community with others in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Paul helps lead a house church (www.thewelljp.org) and is currently the program manager for JP Centre/South Main Streets (www.jpcentresouth.org).
www.offyourbackshirts.com | offyourbackshirts.blogspot.com
IN FOCUS
ALUMNI
Homecoming 2007
community; share what God is doing in your life.
“I did not know where I was going. I was not escaping, but God was leading me home. I did not know it at the time, but God was carrying me on His back when I thought I was walking by myself.”
Regenerate your passion for your vocation
—GRACE AKALLO, GIRL SOLDIER
Reconnect, Rediscover, Regenerate, Reignite October 5–6
Reconnect with people who helped you grow— beloved faculty, staff and fellow students. Rediscover God at work in the Gordon
and avocation. Reignite your commitment to Jesus Christ and your desire to be a person of shalom. The following alumni will be honored during Homecoming at a banquet Friday at 7 p.m. bb Christian Smith ’82 Alumnus of the Year bb Dana ’93 and Brandi (Anderson) ’92 Bates Jack Good Community Service Award bb Alberta ’49 and Martha ’53 Simms A. J. Gordon Missionary Service Award bb Marilyn ’68B and James Cooney Winifred Currie Award in Education bb Margaret T. Jensen (1916–2007) Lifetime Achievement Award Don’t miss this and more at Homecoming 2007!
Barrington Reunion: “Be Still and Know That I Am God” On June 9 over 300 alumni gathered at the former Barrington College campus in Barrington, Rhode Island, for a worship service and dinner. Bernice Graser ’61 recited a medley of Psalms, and Roger Green, professor of biblical studies at both
Grace Akallo ’07 Publishes Girl Soldier On October 10, 1996, The Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan terrorist organization, kidnapped at gunpoint 15-year-old Grace Akallo and many of her classmates from St. Mary’s College in Aboke, northern Uganda. For the next seven months Grace became one of the thousands of abducted child soldiers who make up 80 percent of the LRA. These children are subjected to a “spiritual initiation” into warfare and forced to kill—even relatives, neighbors and other children. When Grace finally escaped, she began a long and difficult journey away from the horrors she had endured, but as a student at Uganda Christian University in Kampala, Uganda (2002–2004), and then later on at Gordon (2004–2007), Grace has been telling the story of the ongoing suffering of these children and of her country. Though she might have preferred to put these unspeakable events behind her and live a more ordinary life as a college student, her passion for the many child soldiers who did not escape, or who have been irreparably damaged by their experiences, has driven her to make their plight known. While at Gordon she completed an internship with World Vision and spoke in a symposium organized by World Vision and other NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) on the continuing crises in northern Uganda. In 2004 she spoke at an Amnesty International Annual Meeting and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. In April 2006 she testified before a House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, urging members of Congress to pressure the Ugandan government to end the war. Grace has recently graduated from Gordon with a communications major and hopes to go on to graduate studies in international relations and conflict resolution.
Barrington and Gordon, gave the keynote address. Drew Poulopoulos ’79 led the reunion choir. During dinner several alumni addressed their classmates. Emanuel Nasir ’69, a native of Pakistan, spoke of being tutored in English by Mrs. de Vos, a Barrington English professor. Marion Bean ’50 related the story of the purchase of the Barrington campus. Mark Ferrin ’72 gave a brief devotional. The evening concluded with a
This year, in partnership with author Faith McDonnell, she has published a book, Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children (Chosen Books, 2007). Its preface is written by the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who states, “It is my hope and prayer that as you read Girl Soldier you will see God walking with a young Acholi girl in her captivity, hear Him weeping for the deaths of His children, and whispering in the hearts of thousands to raise up a movement for these children.”
candle lighting ceremony and the singing of the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.”
Homecoming and Family Weekend 2007 www.gordon.edu/homecoming/familyweekend Uganda Christian University www.ucu.ac.ug
ENCOUNTERS
Upcoming Speakers DAVID AIKMAN | September 14, 2007 On his book Jesus in Beijing DAVID BLANKENHORN | October 1, 2007 “The Future of Marriage” CHRISTIAN SMITH | October 5, 2007 On his book Soul Searching ANN BEZZERIDES | November 2, 2007 “Eastern Orthodoxy and Christian Vocation” TIMOTHY GEORGE | November 5, 2007 “American Evangelicalism and Christian Unity” OS GUINNESS | November 8, 2007 “Conversations on the Future of Evangelicalism”
Restore Creation Susan Sawyer ’08 Restore Creation is an on-campus program of recycling and energysaving that is supervised by Physical Plant. Its major initiatives take place during Symposium week—an intensive schedule of student-led forums and activities organized each year around a different theme. This year’s initiatives included: bb Tour de Trash—an environmental field trip to the RESCO (Refuse to Energy Systems Company) in Saugus, Massachusetts, where Gordon’s trash is deposited and where students viewed RESCO’s incinerator and methods of trash disposal
To Know and Be Truly Known
bb Unplugged—a forum for music, poetry readings, and discussion of environmental issues and preventative measures
focused on the theme “To Know and Be Truly
bb Tree-planting event to help with landscaping the Brigham Athletic Complex
our sexuality: How do we express our intimate
bb Student-run panel discussion on environmental awareness, moderated by Assistant Director of Physical Plant Mark Stowell
We were challenged to “love the other” in
Amy Gentile ’07
This year’s Symposium—a weeklong series of student-initiated seminars and activities—was Known.” Some events asked us to think about desires in God-honoring ways? Other events focused on relating to God through worship. our midst—the mentally ill, the homeless, the
bb Trail walk around campus to take students to areas they would not normally visit, such as loading docks and recycling centers
disabled, and those of different cultures or
bb Alternate Fuel Exposition, highlighting our newest Public Safety vehicle, a gas and electric hybrid SUV that cut gas consumption by half and saves the College an estimated $3,000 annually; also exhibited our biodiesel vehicles, which run on leftover oils from our food service, and our electric-powered carts used around campus
an activist group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
Each year Restore Creation has expanded its conservation and recycling efforts, including the recent addition of ink cartridge and cell-phone recycling programs. The Design Center also now purchases 100 percent post-consumer content copy paper for the printers and copiers around campus. Meredith Longo ’07 says, “Gordon makes it obvious to students that they can be active participants in recycling and in turn be small parts of a greater movement in conservation.”
religions. We were required to take a good look at what it means to truly love when Soulforce— transgender Christians and nonChristians— visited the campus and presented their views. How do we love in grace without compromising truth? How does looking at our own virtues and vices affect how we look at others? We all deeply desire to be “known truly and truly known.” At a time when our identities are being profoundly shaped—apart from the churches, friends and families who have shaped us—we are reminded that we still have a need for relationship, both with each other and with the God Who bestows our identity and knows us more truly than we know ourselves.
Restore Creation www.gordon.edu/restorecreation | restorecreation@gordon.edu More Upcoming Speakers www.gordon.edu/ccs
ENCOUNTERS
Gordon Named “Strong in Music” In the 2007 Fiske Guide to Colleges Gordon was featured in the Small Colleges and Universities Strong in Music category. Currently there are over 100 music majors and minors enrolled at Gordon, and roughly 25 percent of the student body participate in ensembles taught by over 30 full- and part-time faculty and staff. The music faculty includes distinguished teachers, scholars and professional musicians from the Boston area. “We’re delighted to be included on this high caliber list alongside other institutions and conservatories internationally known for their impressive music programs,” says C. Thomas Brooks, chair of the Department of Music and conductor of the Gordon College Choir and
A Technology Pioneer’s Legacy Gordon’s West Campus office building contains a treasure—the personal archives of Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and longtime trustee and benefactor of the College. The archives contain thousands of pages of research and business documents, books, and objects such as hard drives, circuit boards, an “antique” magnetic core memory (pictured above), a complete Digital VAX computer, and Olsen’s own desktop computer. Receiving the archives was a major event for the College and was noted in an article by Hiawatha Bray that appeared on the front page of the business section in The Boston Globe on April 16, 2007. Bray interviewed Daniel Tymann, executive vice president for advancement, communications and technology, and Media Relations Manager Ashley Hopkins.
Chamber Singers.
Honors to Stowell and Seavey The Provost’s Awards, new this year, honor two staff members who have contributed
The Olsen archives are considered one of the top computer collections donated in the last century and contain valuable technology history. College archivist John Beauregard ’53 estimates it will take years to sort through the collection. With consulting support from John Toole, executive director of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, and his team, Beauregard and Gordon junior Lindsey Alexander will digitize and index Olsen’s papers, which now exist as hard copy in file cabinets and cardboard boxes. This painstaking process will make the data accessible to researchers interested in tracing the life cycle of the Digital Corporation and legacy of Ken Olsen. Tymann believes there are important and valuable best practices and discoveries in foundational technology, company culture, leadership models and business processes—all standards in industry today.
significantly to students’ education and personal
Olsen is notable not just as a pioneer in computer technology but as a servant leader and longtime friend of the College. He served for 30 years on Gordon’s Board of Trustees, along with former Raytheon Corporation’s CEO Tom Phillips and evangelist Billy Graham. More recently Olsen has lent considerable support to the construction of a new science facility at the College. The Ken Olsen Science Center is the College’s most ambitious building endeavor to date—an 80,000-square-foot science and technology center to be built in two phases at the heart of the Gordon campus, between Frost Hall and the Phillips Music Center.
there have been hundreds of Gordon students
More about DEC and the Boston Globe article www.decedout.org/KOTribute.htm
development. Mark Stowell, assistant director of Physical Plant, and Ann Seavey, director of the Academic Support Center, received the inaugural Provost’s Awards. Stowell, Provost Mark Sargent says, “is someone who works tirelessly, often behind the scenes to care for both the physical environment and the spiritual vitality of the College.” Sargent also commended Stowell’s leadership of Mexico Outreach, the program that he helped found in 1996. Of Seavey, Sargent says: “In the last 20 years who may never have graduated without the advice and encouragement of one woman. Long before it was fashionable, she championed the ethical responsibility of the institution to respect the learning disabilities of students, and has faithfully endeavored to help the College find that right balance between accommodating legitimate needs and holding students accountable.”
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 27
ENCOUNTERS
IN THEIR WORDS
“As we investigate the physical world, we see a world in its rational beauty and rational transparency, which is shot through with signs of mind—and it is worth asking yourself if it might not be the ‘capital M’ Mind of the Creator that lies behind that wonderful order.” —John Polkinghorne Templeton Award winner in science and religion and former Cambridge University physicist. Polkinghorne spoke at a dinner with natural science faculty at Gordon July 7.
More than Just Bleachers New spectator seating is an encouragement to athletes Recently the College has seen some visible changes for the better in its buildings and facilities. Renovations to Frost Hall, including ground floor handicap-accessible restrooms and updated furnishings, have made the lobby a more inviting environment for visitors. The chapel has received welcome cosmetic improvements, and the bleachers the College could not afford to construct at its new Brigham Athletic Complex are now in place. All of these changes have been made possible through the generosity of Dale and Ann Fowler, who have two grandchildren at Gordon and have come to know and love the Gordon community. When they have noticed a need in their walks around the campus, they have often been moved to help—and the need for bleachers at the Brigham Complex was an obvious one. Built in 2005, the Complex is a valuable addition to Gordon College athletics, featuring a synthetic turf field and an eight-lane, all-weather track complete with spaces and facilities needed to host official NCAA track and field meets. However, spectators at track and field events had to bring their own lawn chairs or stand, spread out along 100 feet of fencing. On June 9 the Fowlers were honored at a ceremony held outdoors at the Brigham Complex. Provost Mark Sargent said, “I feel a sense of nostalgia in seeing this project completed—partly because the older I get, the more ‘spectating’ I do, but also because this facility is really part of our witness. A lot of learning takes place outside the classroom—athletics isn’t just something you do when you’re tired of learning.” Dan Hickey ’07, men’s All-Conference lacrosse player, said that this year’s playing has been “very special because of the bleachers—the difference in how you experience the game is amazing.” Women’s lacrosse player Dani Zorn ’09 noted that “people are much more motivated now to come to the games.” Dale Fowler spoke of his and his wife’s desire to reflect the glory of God in all they do. “We see ourselves as ambassadors of Jesus Christ,” he said, “and we see that same theme running through Gordon College.”
Pentecost 2007: Fine Arts Convocation Kirsten Eichenauer ’08
According to Acts 2, when the 12 disciples gathered together for Pentecost, the Holy Spirit—the presence of God Himself—descended upon them. Yet it’s a stretch for many of us to grasp this radical, transformative experience of the presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit. Kendyll Menasco Hillegas ’07, Tanja Butler (associate professor of art) and I, along with others in the Arts, Theatre, Music and Chapel Departments, wanted to spark thoughtful conversation on campus about Pentecost. So we designed a fine arts convocation that would, we hoped, bring home the reality of this event. Several themes framed the service: light, fire, the journey into clarity. We created sensory experiences of these themes to facilitate active participation of the minds and bodies of the audience. From passing strings of lights down aisles to physically rising and proclaiming the truth of Pentecost in various languages, the Gordon community was encouraged to evaluate our relationship with the Holy Spirit. How connected are we to the mysterious, the unexpected, the miraculous? Are we really ready for the Spirit of God Almighty?
www.gordon.edu/restorecreation
MANY VOICES
Carlberg Presidency Marks 15th Year Friends and colleagues celebrate a gifted administrator Adam and Eve, Batman and Robin, Ben and Jerry, Barbie and Ken, Tarzan and Jane—like other great partnerships throughout history, the dynamic duo of Jud and Jan Carlberg, both children of preachers, continues to impact the lives of Gordon students, faculty and staff. This partnership started when Jud and Jan served together in student government during their college years and continues in various forms such as “Coffee with the Carlbergs,” informal dinners in Lane, and their coteaching of Christianity, Character, and Culture classes. We are blessed by their faithful, steadfast, and gracious leadership and ministry. BARRY LOY DEAN OF STUDENTS
Jud Carlberg is a servant leader, a man
Jud’s vision is defined by both focus
Jud’s willingness to suspend disbelief in
of deep faith, a man with a vision, and a
and breadth. Visit his office with an idea
regard to the arts here on campus has been
man with a talent for getting things done.
or attend a reception in his home with Jan,
a true miracle. Many college presidents
During his 15 years at the helm we have
and you feel a spirit of both purposefulness
find they must make decisions mainly
experienced the construction of the Bennett
and openness. Despite the thousand
from a pragmatic standpoint—and the
Athletic and Recreation Center, the outdoor
matters on their horizon, your thoughts and
arts are notorious for being on a collision
Brigham Athletic Complex, the Phillips
your presence matter. We see that focus
course with mere expediency and narrowly
Music Center, the Barrington Center for the
and breadth in Cabinet meetings when
defined notions of the “practical.” Jud
Arts and four new dorms. He is the architect
Jud can survey a vast landscape of issues
Carlberg has an instinct for truth, an eye
of a full-campus transformation.”
and quickly harness our attention on the
for beauty and a heart for mystery. He also
THOMAS L. PHILLIPS TRUSTEE, CHAIRMAN AND
essential questions. He reads widely on a
runs a tight ship. As artists, what more
spectrum of topics and loves to travel, and
could we ask from an institutional leader?”
he always manages to extract from all those
BRUCE HERMAN PROFESSOR OF ART,
CEO (RET.), RAYTHEON COMPANY
Jud genuinely reflects the institution he
books and trips the ideas and opportunities
leads. Like the College, Jud seeks to view
that seem most relevant to our distinctive
the whole world through the eyes of Christ;
Christian mission. Gordon has, I believe, a
his is a global perspective. Like the College,
special ethos—an evangelical heart and an
he keeps growing and learning; not in spite
appreciation for academic freedom and
of what he believes but because of it. Like
exploration. That survives in large measure
the College, Jud is more interested in living
because the president has set a confident
the core of the gospel than straining at
tone of conviction and hospitality.”
gnats. In his leading Jud has been a learner. It has paid off—not only for him but also for the rest of us.”
MARK SARGENT PROVOST
I am impressed with Dr. Carlberg’s
STAN GAEDE SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE, CENTER
willingness to boldly move Gordon
FOR CHRISTIAN STUDIES
forward in engaging current cultural
Jan is a true partner in the Carlberg presidency, and engages her life and work with a relaxed intensity. She is a tireless encourager—she is the first (and perhaps loudest) in celebrating the work of God in and through the lives of others. I’ve never seen Jan more enthusiastic than when giving thanks for the promise of God’s ongoing work in and through the lives of Gordon students—except, perhaps, when she is following a close Red Sox game.” GREG CARMER DEAN OF CHAPEL
issues, solidifying Gordon’s commitment to pursuing science, and allowing an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and inquiry. Our tagline—“freedom within a framework of faith”—has taken on fullness for me as I’ve observed firsthand the hard work of Dr. Carlberg and his colleagues. Probably my favorite part of working with Dr. Carlberg was the candid moments behind the scenes, which gave insight into the man behind the mission.” JOHNNY STOECKLE ’07 PAST GORDON COLLEGE STUDENT ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
LOTHLÓRIEN DISTINGUISHED CHAIR IN FINE ARTS
Jud’s love for the arts is exceptional. I always marvel at how often he and Jan attend our concerts given their busy schedules. For Jud this investment isn’t simply for his own enjoyment. He sees that the battle for the hearts and minds of young people takes place in the arena of culture, and he has made every effort to place Gordon on the front line.” MIA CHUNG PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AND ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
Through President Carlberg’s experienced and visionary leadership, Gordon’s campus has maintained its solid commitment to academic excellence and spiritual maturity along with remarkable improvements in its facilities. At this milestone of Jud’s presidency, we celebrate the many encouraging things God has accomplished at Gordon through his dedicated and faithful service.” MARVIN WILSON HAROLD JOHN OCKENGA PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 29
Story Edwin Bevens ’07 Photo courtesy of Tracy Kidder
BOOKS BY TRACY KIDDER
Mountains Beyond Mountains On the life and work of Paul Farmer— doctor, Harvard professor, infectiousdisease specialist, anthropologist and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.
My Detachment A memoir of Kidder’s experience as an ROTC cadet and army officer during the Vietnam War years.
The Soul of a New Machine Kidder’s prescient account of the computer revolution, written 20 years before it actually happened.
HOUSE The true story of the building of a suburban home—its frustrations, crises, tensions, challenges and triumphs.
30 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Kidder Confronts Problem of Goodness “What I attempted was a shameless effort to promote something I believed in, presenting every foible to make Paul Farmer palatable, to deal with this problem of goodness.” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder used to feel helpless when confronted with stories of tragedy in developing countries. Thanks to the example of Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, things are different now. “Before I heard about Paul Farmer and Partners in Health, I turned away when I ran into stories about pandemics in places like Haiti because I thought there was no hope,” he said. Kidder, the author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, spoke at Gordon College on March 21, the culmination of the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library’s On the Same Page community reading event—an event, according to the library’s website, “designed to bring individuals in the Hamilton and Wenham community together by reading one memorable book at the same time.” Kidder’s book was the library’s choice for the community reading, and it is also required reading for Gordon College freshmen. Mountains Beyond Mountains tells the life story of Dr. Paul Farmer, whose organization provides medical care to the impoverished nation of Haiti.
Farmer’s vision has since spread to Russia and Peru, and is currently looking toward Africa. In the course of writing Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder became an enthusiastic supporter of Farmer’s work. Much of Kidder’s presentation focused on sharing stories of patients who had been successfully treated at Farmer’s facilities. “All the care in these facilities is first rate,” Kidder said. The first 20 years of Partners in Health were “an adventure in public health and medicine.” It is the success stories that have impressed Kidder the most and given him hope. “There have been a number of stories about the failure of aid in these countries. What I like about Partners in Health is they prove it can be done,” he said. When writing about a subject like Paul Farmer, an author is faced with what Kidder calls the “problem of goodness.” There is “a tendency for people to feel rebuked if Paul Farmer becomes real to them,” Kidder said. “Look, I know this guy makes you uncomfortable; he makes me uncomfortable, too, and here’s what we can do with this discomfort.”
TOP SIX
A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS
6
Favorite Creatures (and Other Living Things) The late paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould once confessed his affection for a very particular creature: the land snail Cerion. We wondered if all biologists, like Gould, have a favorite creature (or other living thing), and posed the question to lab whiz Don Gonzales, M.D. ’95, when he was on campus in June. His response was immediate and enthusiastic: the African clawed frog Xenopus, an important model organism in developmental biology research. Here is what some of our favorite Gordon biologists said when we asked them the same question.
1
2
3
4 6
5 1 | Spring Peeper Hyla crucifer
2 | Moringa Moringa oleifera
3 | Pacific Yew Taxus brevifolia
I am convinced that the spring peeper is the
Gordon’s ECHO program (Educational
Yew wood is valued for its hardness,
reason for many people falling in love in New
Concerns for Hunger Organization) promotes
workability, fine-grain rose-red color, and
England, as its early spring chorus awakens
the moringa as a miracle tree—from India, it
durability—yew trees can live as long as 2,000
sleepy denizens to the joys of the coming
grows 15 feet in one season, is drought tolerant,
years. All parts of the yew are poisonous due
season. It is named “crucifer” after the sign
has highly nutritious leaves, has more calcium
to a mixture of alkaloids collectively referred to
of the cross, a dark mark across its back, and
than milk, has more potassium than bananas
as taxine. The irony: Yew trees also provide one
sings around Easter, truly comprising a hymn
and is high in protein. It is also used as a water
of the most effective treatments for cancer.
of praise.
purifier and has antibacterial and antifungal
In 1971 Taxol was extracted from yew and was
DOROTHY BOORSE, PH.D. ASSOCIATE
qualities. The United Nations is promoting this
found to interfere with cell division in tumors,
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
plant in its effort to help those in Sub-Saharan
and it was approved in 1992 by the FDA for
Africa suffering from AIDS.
treatment of ovarian cancer.
GRACE JU, PH.D.
MING ZHENG, PH.D.
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
4 | Eastern Hemlock Tsuga canadensis
5 | Protozoan Vorticella spp.
6 | Giant Squid Architeuthis dux
In winter storms when the white pines are
As a boy I spent many hours with a little hobby
shedding branches and birches are acquiring a
microscope examining samples of pond water.
The giant squid is a favorite of marine legends,
permanent geriatric stoop, the hemlock folds
One microscopic organism that caught my
along with its newly discovered bigger cousin,
down like a closing umbrella and just shrugs off
attention was Vorticella, a ciliated creature
the colossal squid, which is found in frigid
the burden of ice and snow, standing tall and
named for the rotating water currents created
Antarctic waters. They are the two largest
straight after the storm. The hemlock provides
by the ring of cilia rapidly beating around its
marine invertebrates known. Both are members
shelter for birds and beasts, and seemed to be
mouth. The mouth and cilia form an inverted
of the group Cephalopoda, considered by
the utter favorite food of the porcupine that
bell-like structure that waves about in the
many to be the most intelligent group of
dwelt in the crags behind my house. Hemlock
water currents and is attached to a long, thin
invertebrates. The brains of both squids can be
lumber is tough—my dad and I were building
stalk cemented to a solid surface. What I enjoy
as large as a soccer ball, containing billions of
a chicken coop with used wood which we
most about the vorticellids is their unusual
neural connections!
thought was all pine. One rafter wouldn’t take
habit of rapidly contracting their long stalk
CHUCK BLEND, PH.D.
a nail, though; every last one we tried to drive
faster than the blink of an eye.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, MARINE
in just folded over. Hemlock, my favorite living
CRAIG STORY, PH.D.
BIOLOGIST/ZOOLOGIST
thing—if only they were edible!
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
Colossal Squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni
DAVID SMITH, M.D. ’79
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 31
Commencement Weekend Graduates Urged to “Think Clearly, Gaze Deeply and See Well”
Saturday, May 19, over 3,000 people— the graduating class, their families and friends, and members of the faculty and staff—celebrated Gordon’s 115th Commencement in the Bennett Athletic and Recreation Center. There were 383 baccalaureate degrees presented in the liberal arts and sciences along with 20 graduate degrees in education and music education. Dr. Lauren F. Winner, acclaimed author of Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath and most recently Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity, addressed the graduating seniors, speaking of her own graduation from college and the list of goals she had set for herself at that point—goals that, in her estimation, she “more or less achieved”; several advanced degrees, three books and numerous articles published. “Yet, when I reflect over the last 10 years of my life, I realize those things that people see when they look at my resume aren’t, in fact, the truly important things I’ve done since graduating. The important things are far more intimate: I have taught the pre-K Sunday School class at my church; I have tried, and often failed, to be a good wife and sister; I helped my mother die—not what I expected to spend my 26th year of life doing, but much more important than anything on my resume.” Winner then offered a bit of hardearned wisdom from her post-college years: “Remember that Jesus came to give us life more bountiful, not life more accomplished or more productive. Resist the world’s attempts to measure the worth of your days by your productivity; measure yourself instead by the fullness and richness of your life, by the extent to which you live into the true bounty that Jesus promises us.” She reminded the senior class that “terrifically important challenges
32 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
await you on the other side of this commencement ceremony. Some of those challenges, like stewarding creation and quite literally saving the planet, are so awesome that just thinking about them makes our hearts race. And some of them are smaller and more intimate but also hugely significant: the challenge of living attentively in a world that tells us to multitask; the challenge of living lives of holy intention in a world that values haste.” Winner told the graduates, “The things that matter in life require us to find some space from the world that defines us by what we produce, and then by what we spend. It takes time to do this. It takes time, leisure and space to settle into adulthood; it takes time, leisure and space to follow Christ into and in the world. You are leaving a community that has asked you to gaze deeply at the things that matter, a community organized around teaching people how to think clearly, gaze deeply and see well—and you are entering a world that will ask you to do everything quickly, to glimpse instead of gaze.” Winner defined life after graduation as “a long unfolding season in which you are given the opportunity to do that which you have been equipped to do: to figure out what to pay attention to, and pay attention to it. For the attentive, faithful, bountiful lives you have led thus far, I am thankful. And for the attentive, faithful, bountiful lives that commence as you leave this place, I am grateful. This scary, broken, redeemed, blessed, holy, painful, magical world needs you.” Commencement Exercises on Saturday were part of a full weekend of activities beginning with Senior Breakfast Friday morning at the Danversport Yacht Club. Organized by the senior class officers, it was attended by roughly 400
Hear speeches on podcast www.gordon.edu/itunes
Gordon seniors, faculty and staff who shared one last breakfast together and heard the words of selected faculty, administrators and classmates. The class invited economics professor Dr. John Mason to speak at the breakfast. Mason, who is retiring after 39 years at Gordon, began on a light note by introducing himself as “a Christian brother who happens to be an economist. Now economists might be described as charter members of the World Association of Party Poopers (WAPP). It is our self-assigned task to assess the cost of whatever it is you may want to do, and then, more often than you would like, to caution that the ends you seek are not feasible, and to encourage you to chart a less utopian course. To which you may well respond, ‘Who invited this guy to the party?’ But before showing me the door, recall that I am a Christian economist, and Christians should always be dreaming of new and better ways of bringing God’s full shalom to every corner of our world.” Mason critiqued Christopher Hitchens’ recent book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, arguing that “to advocate for and to assist those in society who are weak, vulnerable, and poor—as I contend the Bible instructs us to do—will inevitably require sacrifice in a world constrained by scarcity. I challenge Christopher Hitchens and his fellow travelers to provide, in the absence of God, a more compelling and enduring motivation to sacrifice than that given to us in Jesus Christ—the God who became man and taught us to sacrifice for others, and then in humble obedience offered His own life as an example for us and as an atonement for the sins of the whole world.” Mason’s concluding charge to the seniors: “May you continue to help this world do the
Story Ashley Hopkins Photos Daniel Nystedt ’06 and Kristin Schwabauer ’04
good things to which it aspires, but without God lacks the understanding and will to make happen.” The Baccalaureate ceremony took place Friday evening in the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel. The College Choir performed several inspiring works. Dr. Gordon Hugenberger, senior minister of Park Street Church in Boston and former Gordon College trustee, began his talk with a critique of the saying “Preach the gospel at all times; use words when necessary.” He exhorted the graduates not just to practice what they preach, but to preach what they practice—a hallmark of evangelicalism, which holds preaching in high regard. Hugenberger praised the “architects” of the evangelical tradition, notably Harold John Ockenga, pastor at Park Street Church for 32 years and the fifth Gordon College president. Hugenberger related Billy Graham’s praise of Ockenga; no one, Graham said, outside of his own family, had influenced him more. Ockenga, along with Graham and others, including Carl F. H. Henry, the first editor of Christianity Today, “distanced themselves from a fundamentalism that, as it had evolved, had acquired certain lethal characteristics for them spiritually.” They upheld the centrality and exclusivity of the gospel of Christ and maintained a high view of Scripture but refused to engage in divisions over secondary matters of faith such as methods of baptism, the role of women in church leadership or the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This legacy is very much apparent in the ethos of the College today—a legacy, Hugenberger said, of which Gordon students can justly be proud.
1
2
3
4
5
6
1. Gordon College celebrates its 115th Commencement in the Bennett Athletic and Recreation Center. 2. Graduates listen to Dr. Lauren F. Winner’s Commencement address. 3. Colorful academic regalia on display.
4. Two new graduates walk around the quad. 5. Faculty await President Carlberg’s announcement of the 2007 graduating class. 6. Dr. Winner urges graduates to “gaze deeply at the things that matter.”
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 33
Story Silvio Vazquez ’87
A Milestone in More Ways than One First Cohort of New City Scholars Graduates Sunday, May 6, the New City Scholars and their families gathered for dinner in the Presidents Dining Room to celebrate a milestone—the upcoming graduation of the first cohort of recipients of this scholarship for urban students. The event was hosted by Jud and Jan Carlberg, and organized by Sheena Graham, director of intercultural affairs. The evening underscored the diverse journeys of these urban students and their families. Six members of the original New City Scholars cohort—Kevin Thai, Dean Blackette, Sonya Peters, Samuel Tsoi, Diane Andre and Matthew Hicks—walked across the stage at this year’s Commencement. Two others, Pedro Maura and Joel Vargas, will finish their degrees this fall. During dinner I sat with the parents of Kevin Thai and Samuel Tsoi, whom I’d first met four years earlier as Kevin and Sam were being considered for the scholarship. It was a moving experience to be with these people again, celebrating the achievements of their children. I knew they and many other parents in the room that evening had overcome tremendous obstacles to
have their children be the first in their families to graduate from college. Kevin recounted for us some of these obstacles and challenges. “My grandfather had to escape from China to Vietnam,” he said. “And my father escaped from Vietnam to this country. Now I’m the first in my extended family of 300 to graduate from college. And I don’t have to run.” Kevin, as part of a new generation that does not have to run from anything or anybody, is wasting no time. This summer he will be moving to South Korea to teach English for the coming year. With gratitude and humility, Samuel Tsoi thanked faculty and friends for the impression they’ve made on his life. He ended his remarks in his native Cantonese as he tearfully thanked his parents for their love, support and sacrifices. Sam’s interniship through the Gordon in Boston program was with OXFAM International’s Boston headquarters in the North End. He worked on the Corporate Partnerships Team and hopes his internship will lead to a full-time position.
Left to right: Matthew Hicks ’07, David Rameau ’08, Jennifer Etesse ’09; Samuel Tsoi ’07, Deneen Levy ’08, Christine Burke ’09; Kevin Thai ’07, Dianne Andre ’07.
One of the things that struck me as Kevin, Sam and other students spoke of their four years at Gordon was how they were fine examples, even mentors, for the younger New City Scholars in the room. Gordon, as a suburban campus, had much to learn from the NCS cohort’s urban perspective. The cohesiveness of the scholars has been critical to success. I was also struck by how beneficial the New City Scholars program has been for the College. It has enabled us to build a critical mass of students coming from urban communities—not just in terms of numbers but in terms of collegiality. Attracting students from diverse backgrounds and stories, the New City Scholars program has made us all the richer for allowing us to be part of the global Church right here in Wenham. I am grateful for how God continues to use Gordon to advance His Kingdom. Silvio E. Vazquez, M.B.A., is vice president for enrollment at Gordon. He grew up bicultural, and was a first-generation college student in his family. silvio.vazquez@gordon.edu
34 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
Story Kandyce Kingsley ’06
payments, where I would make friends or when I’d next be able to travel to India (or anywhere else for that matter). But I knew I had to do it.
A Passage from India Gordon’s summer missions trips often spark callings to full-time ministry and humanitarian work. A recent graduate who participated in two trips to India with SMP (Summer Missions Program) tells her story. I stood on a sidewalk outside a cinema complex in Delhi and watched a highcaste Hindu man beat an untouchable Hindu boy with all his might. The man’s friends watched as he kicked the boy square in the face, undoubtedly breaking multiple bones. The boy never once opened his mouth in protest, never lifted his head or hand to fight back. I knew from that moment on I could never rest unless I told this story and the stories of so many like this boy and his oppressor. Caste is one of the greatest mysteries of India—references to caste, rules about how to treat members of different castes and how each caste is to conduct daily life are found scattered throughout various ancient Hindu texts, but when and how caste became institutionalized and internalized remains a mystery. While things have improved from the days that required Dalits (“untouchables”) to walk backwards and erase their footprints to keep the higher castes from being “polluted,” caste continues to dictate occupation,
living standards and future marriage partners. It limits access to education, health care and other constitutionally guaranteed rights. It shapes worldviews from childhood, teaching that Dalits are made from different biological matter than upper castes and that they deserve their lot in this life because of actions committed in a former life. They are told they are children of a lesser god or children of no god at all. I participated in two SMP (Summer Missions Program) trips to India while I was at Gordon. After graduating I heard about the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) and saw a blurb on their website about an internship. I did what anyone with conviction and belief and a little post-travel insanity would do: I packed up my car and drove halfway across the country to the Denver, Colorado, area—a state and a city I had never visited—to begin work for a job which, at the time, didn’t pay. I’m pretty sure my parents thought I was crazy— I even thought I was a little crazy. I had no idea how I would make my student loan
It was a crazy idea I haven’t regretted. DFN works in four major areas— education, health care, social justice and economic development—in order to affect all areas of the lives of the Dalits, who are truly “the least of these”: those among whom, I believe, Jesus would have spent His time on earth. The Dalits comprise 25 percent of India’s population, an astonishing 250–300 million people. I am blessed to work for this organization, raising awareness and networking resources with which to do God’s work. From fundraising and building schools for Dalit children to coordinating medical service trips and women’s empowerment conferences, we are able not merely to listen to the words of Scripture but also to do what they say. Peace cannot and should not exist without justice. As a follower of Christ, I am commanded to “seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17, NIV). My four years at Gordon coupled with my two summers in India have imprinted this command on my heart and in my mind.
Kandyce Kingsley graduated in spring 2006 with an international politics major and fine arts minor. She continues to work for the Dalit Freedom Network based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and hopes to move to India someday. www.dalitnetwork.org kandyce.kingsley@gmail.com
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 35
EVANGELIST GREETS BOSTON LEADER Tal McNutt, left, Boston president of “Youth for Christ,” is greeted by the Rev. Billy Graham, noted evangelist. In center is the Rev. Grady Wilson, international speaker of the organization.
CHOIR SINGERS AT REVIVAL MEETING Here is a portion of the massed choirs that sang last night at the revival meeting conducted by the Rev. Billy Graham at the Boston Garden, where an extended musical program was part of the service.
Billy Graham Takes Boston—and Gordon—by Storm Pauline Kolodinski Brown ’50 recalls the Billy Graham Crusade in Boston that began on New Year’s Eve, 1949, and continued for weeks afterward. This is her story of the Crusade’s effect on the Gordon community, and of its powerful after effects. Cleaning out my file drawer recently, I came across an envelope of yellowed newspaper clippings. Why had I saved them? Removing the contents carefully, I saw headlines from Billy Graham’s 1950 crusade in Boston—a faded photo of Mechanics Hall at Boston Garden on New Year’s Eve 1949, packed with people; and I was there. The memories came flooding back. The end of an old year and the beginning of a new one, and also the beginning of the last half of my senior year at Gordon. I went out on my first date with Ralph Brown ’50 that night. We went to the Ice Capades at Boston Garden and then to Boston Garden to hear Billy Graham preach. I had hoped for this date for months and wasn’t disappointed. The midnight service and Billy Graham also lived up to our expectations. In November we students at Gordon (the campus was in Boston back then) had been thrilled to hear how a young evangelist had taken Los Angeles by storm. That crusade made
36 STILLPOINT | SUMMER 2007
headlines all over the country. Marion (Johnson ’53) Allaby remembers the girls praying in the dorm for Billy Graham and his crusade on the West Coast. As we heard more of the way God was working, the news galvanized the College. Then we heard that Billy Graham was coming to Boston. In advance the local newspapers published articles about him, questioning the reception he would receive here. The Evangelistic Association of New England (now Vision New England) and Dr. Harold Ockenga of Park Street Church had invited him to speak at the New Year’s Eve Service, followed by a weeklong crusade at the church. The newspapers put Billy Graham on the front pages. They were skeptical at first, evidenced by the headline in the Boston Herald reading “Evangelist Here to Vie with New Year’s Fun.” The article described Billy Graham as “a youthful evangelist who thinks he can outrival the convivial lures of New Year’s Eve with a Mechanics Building religious rally.”
But the crusade was a huge success, and for two nights after that, Park Street Church was full with hundreds more standing outside. Dr. Ockenga and the evangelistic team decided to move the meetings back to Boston Garden. With a packed house every night, the campaign was extended beyond the original one week. When the hall was no longer available, the crusade moved to the Opera House. The climax came on January 17 when nearly 16,000 attended the final meeting at Boston Garden with an estimated 5,000 turned away. Nothing like that had happened in living memory in Boston. Had revival come to New England? The Lord had certainly begun something quite remarkable. My faded clippings tell the story, and they bring back so many memories. What did that crusade mean to us who were Gordon students? For those 17 days in January 1950 we talked of little else. We held prayer meetings. We volunteered as personal workers and to sing in the choir. Yes, we still
Story Pauline Kolodinski Brown ’50 Photos Boston Sunday Post,
had to go to classes—I don’t remember our professors lightening the load of assignments. But the whole campus was focused on the Billy Graham meetings. The kitchen served our main meal at noon and prepared bag suppers for those going downtown. People were turned away every night so we had to get there early. Going back on the subway, whole cars filled with people singing praises to God—in Boston! Among my clippings is a faded picture of Tolbert “Tal” McNutt ’50, president of Boston Youth For Christ, with Billy Graham. Tal has spent his life as an evangelist, ministering all over New England and beyond. He still carries on an active ministry with his wife Evelyn (Bearse) ’52. Alan Johnson ’50 recalls the father of classmate Elmer “Doc” Murdoch ’50, standing outside the building handing out tracts and greeting people. A Congregational minister, Pastor Murdoch wore a clerical collar and people were mistaking him for a Roman Catholic priest. Many stopped and asked, “Is it all right to go in, Father?” Pastor Murdoch’s reply: “By all means—you need to hear this message.” The crusade impacted many of us in significant ways. Billy Graham’s messages, straight from the Bible, clearly pointed people to Jesus Christ as the answer to their deepest problems, and they responded by the thousands. Stan Allaby ’53 led an individual to Christ and has never forgotten the thrill of that experience. Many of us, previously reticent in sharing our faith, became much bolder. We had seen God at work right here in Boston. The experience inspired us to hope for even greater things in the future, both in New England and in our own lives. The Billy Graham Crusade that began on New Year’s Eve didn’t end on January 17. On March 27 Graham began three weeks of meetings in 15 cities all over New England. Hundreds more made commitments to Christ during those crusades. Billy Graham received invitations to speak at colleges and
January 8, 1950
universities in Boston and elsewhere. He did not change his message to impress academics and found that everywhere students gave him a respectful hearing. This spring campaign culminated in a massive rally on Boston Common in April. When I got up that Sunday morning, though, it was pouring! Could the rally go on? Billy Graham wrote in his autobiography Just as I Am, “I have never been quite sure who controls the weather.” When reporters phoned to inquire, he assured them he would be preaching as scheduled. And the weather did not deter the thousands determined to attend the rally. Buses came from all over New England. At 2 p.m., during the singing of the first hymn, the rain stopped, umbrellas came down, and by three o’clock when Billy Graham got up to preach, the sun broke through the clouds, a sign of God’s blessing. Present in that crowd, estimated to be 100,000, were many from Gordon. I for one will never forget that day.
A Galvanizing Moment Rev. Tal McNutt ’50 (pictured far left with Graham), along with Allan C. Emery, longtime trustee of Gordon College and GordonConwell Theological Seminary, served on the Youth for Christ Committee that invited Rev. Billy Graham to come to Boston in 1950. “It was a tremendous crusade,” Tal recalls. “We had exams right at the beginning of the year back then, but we went every night to the crusades regardless—we just hoped for the best as far as our marks were concerned. Seeing hundreds upon hundreds of people responding to the invitation, night after night, had an impact on all of us. Cliff Barrows was the song leader and George Beverly Shea was the soloist (both received honorary degrees from Gordon in 1964). We’d get on the tramway to go home and people were singing ‘Send a Great Revival in My Soul.’ Even the guy driving the tramway was singing.” Tal serves as president of McNutt Ministries Inc., founded in 1979 for the purpose of preaching and teaching the gospel in America and overseas. He is a former director of The New England Fellowship and founder of HappyT-Ranch and Rumney Snow Camp in Bristol, New Hampshire. “In my current ministry I log about
Pauline “Polly” Kolodinski Brown holds an A.B. in theology from Gordon College. She did graduate work at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman, Oklahoma; the Kennedy School of Missions in Connecticut; and Wheaton Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinois. With her husband, Ralph, she served in Pakistan from 1954 to 1988. She coauthored Functional
30,000 miles a year traveling up and down the Eastern Seaboard leading Bible studies and teaching the Word.” Like many men of his generation, he is a World War II veteran and was serving in Okinawa in August 1945 when two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. “Serving in the military was great preparation for ministry,” he says. “You learn discipline and
Sindh, a grammar of the Sindhi
how to adjust rapidly to changing
language. The Browns have five
situations. And commitment is
children and 17 grandchildren.
crucial to any degree of success in
She has recently published a
the military and anywhere else.”
memoir of their missionary years, Jars of Clay: Ordinary Christians
Tal enjoys hearing from classmates
on an extraordinary mission in
and friends and may be reached at:
southern Pakistan.
P. O. Box 404
randpbrown@verizon.net
Myerstown PA 17067-0404
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 37
CURRENT MEMBERS Miss Margaret Clare Alsen ’54
Grace Hagemann Hawkins ’38
Miss Caryl A. Reid
David and Carolyn Ames
Mrs. Laura Headley
Barry ’66 and
Ms. Ellen Joy Anderson ’77
Mr. George Hein
Mr. and Mrs. Harold and
Mrs. Christine Hodgman ’53
Joyce ’58 Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. Roy D. Honeywell
Ken ’70 and Janet ’68 Arndt
Nathan C. Hubley Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. Manuel C. Jr. ’47 Avila
Dr. and Mrs. Edward R. Huff
Mrs. Eloise Rideout
Miss Charlotte Anjenetta Baker ’64
Joseph and Margaret Hunt
Rev. Harold F. Roberts ’46
Mr. John Barbour
Beth Hunter ’75B
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Robertson ’33
Rev. Kenneth E. Bath ’37
Dr. and Mrs. T. David ’53 Jansen
Tod and Lyn Rodger
Mr. and Mrs. John ’53 Beauregard
Mr. and Mrs. Philip and
Prof. and Mrs. Richard ’53 and
Barbara ’83 Becker
Joanna de Vos
What a delight it was to welcome our special Gordon alumni and friends to the annual Clarendon Society luncheon on May 18. Harry Durning, former director of public relations at Gordon, gave the opening prayer, and President Carlberg gave a campus
Ruth ’49 Replogle
Mr. and Mrs. John F. ’82 Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon ’85 and
Clarendon Society Gathers
Pearl Everts Homme ’47
Yetta (Pennington) ’66 Relyea Mr. and Mrs. Frank Jr. and
Judith ’60 Johnson
Rev. and Mrs. Walter ’49B and Audrey ’53B Rice
Dorothy ’50 Rung
Mrs. Ruth Jones
Mr. James O. Rutherford ’60
Dr. David A. J. Belman
Mr. and Mrs. William E. ’78 Keep
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Schempp
Miss Ruth E. Bennett ’65B
Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Kenyon Jr.
Rev. and Mrs. Charles L. Jr. ’48
Miss Margaret Ann Bentley ’78
Rev. and Mrs. Andrew Jr. ’50 and
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Bernard
Mary ’70 Kilpatrick
Schenck Mrs. Diane Shaw
Dr. Diane E. Blake ’58
Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Jr. ’93 Klein
Mr. William H. Shepard
Mr. and Mrs. Philip ’64 and
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel ’57 Klim
Tom and Lyn Shields
Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Paul C. ’43
Rev. Ernest D. Sillers ’35
Linda x’65 Bonard Cecil “Bret” Breton ’52
and Madelyn C. ’47 Klose
Dr. and Mrs. George W. ’36 Smart
Elin Meffen Bridgham ’51
Dr. Judith S. Krom ’63
Frederick R. Smith ’53
Ms. Tori Jaye Britton ’84
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel ’74 and
Mrs. Edith D. Smith ’33B
Ralph E. ’50 and Pauline (Kolodinski) ’50 Brown
Darlene ’74 Kuzmak
Dr. and Mrs. Mark A. ’80 Smith
Mrs. Sarah W. Lake
Ms. H. Sue Snyder ’78
Mr. Arnold S. Bruce
Rev. Veronica H. Lanier ’54
Prof. and Mrs. T. Grady Spires
Dr. and Mrs. Carl F. ’50 Burke
Mrs. Mary A. Lark ’54B
Mrs. Barbara Steeves ’40
Ms. Helen Burrill
Priscilla Ferrin Leavitt ’62B
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Steltzer
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Butler
Rev. and Mrs. Raymond C. Lee
Dr. Peter W. Stine
Jim ’54B and Traudie ’52B Campbell
Mr. and Mrs. David ’71 and
Mrs. Jeannette Spinney Stuart ’52
Dr. and Mrs. R. Judson Carlberg
Lynda ’72 Linker
Mrs. Charlotte S. Stuart ’54
Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Carlson
Mrs. Marsha K. Littler ’63
Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Svoboda
Mr. and Mrs. Roy C. Carlson Jr.
Mr. Douglas F. MacDougal ’85
Mrs. Ann Tappan
spoke passionately about her
Dr. and Mrs. Paul R. ’54B Carlson
Dr. Charles Sherrard MacKenzie ’46
Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon Thompson
experience at Gordon, and
Dr. and Mrs. J. Lloyd ’64 Carr
Dr. and Mrs. Ronald ’81 and
Rev. and Mrs. Lester ’53 and
update. Jennifer Donivan ’10
guests enjoyed special music by the Gordon Guitar Quartet. The event had a strong turnout, reflecting the growing number of visionary alumni and friends
Carolyn J. Cassidy ’63
Jerilyn ’82 Mahurin
Ruby ’53 Tufts
Mr. and Mrs. Donald P. Chase
Mr. Raymond C. Mann ’61
Mr. and Mrs. Russell L. Tupper
Mr. and Mrs. Wendell and
Rev. and Mrs. Don L. ’51 Marcum
Rev. Dr. William ’52 and
Mary ’49 Chestnut
Mrs. Graham E. Mason
Nancy ’55B Udall
Mrs. Margaret Clark ’70B
Miss Margaret E. Mattison ’79
Dr. and Mrs. James E. Vander Mey
Rev. and Mrs. Francis and
Peter ’65 and Pat ’65 McKay
Mr. David Vander Mey
Miss Bille S. McKinney
Robert W. vanTwuyver In Memory of
Elizabeth ’49 Crisci
who invest in Gordon’s future by
Mr. and Mrs. John G. ’71 Den Bleyker
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Meers
making provision for the College
Mrs. Mabel U. Downing ’32
Dr. James D. Meffen ’49
Rev. Dr. Joyce B. Duerr ’58
Mr. and Mrs. C. William Meyer Jr.
Miss Violet E. A. Vogel ’47B
Mr. Kenneth B. Durgin
Miss Evelyn C. Nelson
Mrs. Nance C. Ware
Mr. Harry M. Durning
Mrs. Ruth Emily Newhouse
Ms. Joan M. Welsh
to over 200 members since its
Miss Ethel N. Fern ’53
Mrs. John T. Nichol ’49
Ruth Chase Wessel ’49
creation in 1995. Polly (Kolodinski)
Eric ’76 and Robin ’80 Feustel
Donald ’46 and Bernice ’43 Niles
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel and Beth ’87
Mr. and Mrs. Dale Fowler
Mrs. Opal Norton
Mr. David L. Furman ’57B
David ’50B and Shirley ’47 Nystedt
Miss Eleanor C. Wilson ’61B
Ms. Olive Garde
Rev. Wayne L. Owens ’56B
Miss Mary D. Wilson ’49B
Mrs. Barbara Cushing-Geary
Mrs. Ida H. Parker ’50
Florence M. Winsor ’56
Ms. Mary L. Gibbs ’64
H. LeRoy Patterson ’41
Mrs. Joyce Witherell ’52
Rev. Robert Walter Goodwin ’59
Mr. Ronald A. Perry ’65
Mrs. M. McCormick Wolf
Mr. and Mrs. Robert ’81 and
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard J. Peterson
Mr. Walter R. Wood ’47
Mrs. Lucile Peterson
Rev. Elmer Edwin Young ’49
Rev. and Mrs. Charles N. Pickell
Mrs. Alda H. Young ’45
Marc ’95 and Emily ’96 Pitman
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas ’68 and
in their wills and estate plans. The Clarendon Society has grown
Brown ’50, along with her husband Ralph ’50, is a longtime Clarendon member. Don’t miss her article: “Billy Graham Takes Boston—and Gordon—by Storm” on page 36. Joanna de Vos, Associate Director, Special and Planned Gifts
Barbara ’81 Grinnell Joan Lloyd ’74 and Judson C. ’69 Guest
978 867 4460
Mr. and Mrs. Brian ’87 Habib
Mrs. Lois D. Pollard
joanna.devos@gordon.edu
Eldon C. and Grace R. W. Hall
In Loving Memory of
Miss Leona A. Harmon ’41 Mr. and Mrs. Glenn L. ’ 64 Harrington
Rev. Joseph E. Pouliot ’50 Mr. and Mrs. James ’40 and Patricia ’70 Rahn
Pauline C. Stradtman Vaughan
White
Linda ’69 Zieger Mr. and Mrs. John L. Zimmermann III
Story Ashley Hopkins Photo Cyndi McMahon
instant success in the religious field, was later released as a documentary under the title Jews & Christians: A Journey of Faith. The documentary is a wideranging ecumenical project focusing on how Judaism shaped early Christianity, and how Christian-Jewish relations have played out from biblical times to the present.
Alumna Endows Teaching Award “Students love Marv Wilson for his pastor’s heart, his teachable spirit and his commitment to growing Christian global leaders.” —R. Judson Carlberg Dr. Marvin Wilson, Harold John Ockenga Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, has been presented with the Dr. Marvin Wilson Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities. The gift was given by a Gordon graduate and former student of Dr. Wilson, Betsy Gage Pea ’79, and her husband, Barry. “The strength of a college is in its professors,” says Betsy. “While studying at Gordon I saw firsthand the impact Dr. Wilson had on the lives of the students. With this gift I hope to not only recognize Dr. Wilson for his years of passionate teaching but also encourage other faculty to strive for similar success in the classroom and the Gordon community for years to come.” The Peas reside in North Carolina with their four children. A professor at Barrington for eight years and at Gordon for over 36 years, Dr. Wilson has distinguished himself as both a teacher and academic researcher with expertise in Old Testament, Jewish Studies and the Hebraic origins of Christianity. Having received the Distinguished Faculty
Award for Excellence in Teaching at five commencement ceremonies throughout his career, Dr. Wilson continues to be a respected teacher and scholar at Gordon. At both national and international levels Wilson has been instrumental in building bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews. He has served as organizer and cochair of four national conferences of both faiths, and for more than a decade has served on the Committee of Church Relations and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In 2004 the Anti-Defamation League honored Wilson for his extensive work in the field of Christian-Jewish relations by presenting him with the Leonard P. Zakim Humanitarian Award. Dr. Wilson is the author of over 200 articles and reviews in scholarly works and religious periodicals, and has authored or edited nine books. An example is Our Father Abraham: The Jewish Roots of Christian Faith, which focuses on the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, and due to its
In 2006 Dr. Wilson expanded his interfaith efforts to include the Muslim community by organizing and moderating a trialogue on campus among the three Abrahamic faiths. “We need to find common ground and a familiarity with those of other faiths so we can cooperate as a human family, finding areas such as social justice projects where we can and should be working together,” says Wilson. Gordon College President R. Judson Carlberg says of Wilson’s influence, “Generations of our students love Marv Wilson for his pastor’s heart, his teachable spirit and his commitment to growing Christian global leaders; and the gift from the Pea family acknowledges his contribution and helps pass his spirit to the next generation of faculty.” “There is no greater honor for a faculty member than to receive acknowledgment for the impact they have made in the lives of students,” says Kina Mallard, academic dean of Gordon College. The generous gift from the Pea family establishes an endowment that will support an annual award for faculty members from the Humanities Division. Each award recipient will be provided with funding for professional study and development.
SUMMER 2007 | STILLPOINT 47
THE HOUR AND THE DAY oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches © 2006
Heijin (Esther) Kim, ’06 painter
Heijin Esther Kim ’06 was born in the Republic of Korea. She was raised in the Philippines as a missionary kid and received her bachelor’s degree in visual arts at Gordon College. “I have spent a significant portion of my life waiting in line to purchase an item, use the restroom or exit a building.” Esther explains, “Waiting touches every aspect of human life—from minute inconveniences such as waiting in line, to grave matters like waiting for a close family member to recover health. One must wait. What is more, the scope of waiting affects all stages of life—from infancy to adulthood—in different degrees and circumstances. However, the ultimate wait is for Christ’s second return, and that is what I wanted to capture in The Hour and the Day. Trapped in an earthly body, the young girl gets a glimpse of the new life. She yearns to be one with the Light and is overwhelmed by the Love. Yet, still doubtful that Christ really chose to love her, the girl points to her heart to confirm the Truth. Presently dwelling in a world filled with darkness, moments of light here on earth remind us of what is to come for those who wait patiently for the Lord.” Esther is continuing her art back in Korea as she rediscovers her Korean heritage after living abroad for 19 years.
255 Grapevine Road, Wenham MA 01984-1899 www.gordon.edu
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED