Stillpoint Spring 2007

SPRING 2007

The Magazine of Gordon College

STILLPOINT

IN THIS ISSUE On Teaching and Learning 6 Students of Culture

10 Nest of Wires: Belize and the Moral Imagination

16 Science: A Bonding Experience

Photo Rebecca Powell

GATHERING NESTS: DESIGN INTERNS LEND BEHIND-THE-SCENES SUPPORT Drew Straton ’09, Katharine Presher ’08 and Megan Bielawa ’07, Return Design interns, helped create visuals for many of the features in this issue of STILLPOINT. You’ll see their completed work on pages 10, 16 and 20.

Features 6

Students of Culture: Three Generations Talk about Their Craft, Their Journey and One Another by Stan Gaede, James Hunter ’77 and Daniel Johnson Scholar-in-residence Stan Gaede quizzed his colleagues about teaching and learning in postmodern times—and received some intriguing answers.

10

Nest of Wires: Belize and the Moral Imagination by Mark Sargent From a jungle shelter in Jaguar Creek, Belize, Provost Mark Sargent explores the history of an idea.

14

What Does Economics Have to Do with Abortion? by Bruce Webb Economics professor Bruce Webb evaluates popular claims about abortion trends and their causes.

16

The Early Years: Pioneers in the Sciences at Gordon by David Smith ’79 Alumni pay tribute to some of their favorite professors from the early years of the sciences at Gordon.

20

When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?

by Bryan Auday An adult Sunday school series provides a safe forum for Christians to explore controversial issues involving science and religion.

Photo Essay #008 India 2006 | Kandyce Kingsley ’06 view this and other photo journals online at: www.gordon.edu/photojournals

IN EACH ISSUE 1

Up Front with President Carlberg Leadership and the Moral Imagination

2

Letters

3

SPORKS informative fauxlosophy

24 In Focus Faculty 26 In Focus Students 27 In Focus Alumni 28 Encounters

Articles

Alumni

4 Standing in the Gap by Susan Skillen ’75

32 Alumni Athletes Honored at Inaugural Ceremony by Patrick Byrne

Susan Skillen, an American Episcopal priest in Orvieto, Italy, has developed an ecumenical friendship with a Roman Catholic bishop.

22 Materials Physicist Arrives at Gordon

by Ashley Hopkins Ask associate professor of physics David Lee why he loves materials and he will give you a complex—and fascinating—answer.

23 Excellence On and Off the Court by Patrick Byrne For Diana Anderson ’07, tennis is a family passion.

31 An Uncommon Vision for Graduate Music Education by Daniel White Gordon’s Master of Music Education program, entering its fifth year, emphasizes learning by doing.

ON THE COVER For many years Elaine Phillips, professor of biblical and theological studies, has helped students navigate the complex relationship between academic freedom and Christian responsibility. She is pictured here in a Frost Hall classroom with Matthew Beaudin ’10.

Cover Photo Michael Hevesy

The Department of Athletics honors six outstanding alumni athletes.

34 Milton Chen ’02: A Passion for Families and Youth by Jennifer Thorburn ’04 Milton Chen’s life was changed dramatically by an encounter with Jesus Christ. He’s been passing it on ever since.

35 The Adventures of Padre André, an Army Chaplain by Andrew Shriver ’95 Andrew Shriver reflects on his journey to an Army chaplaincy in Afghanistan.

36 Alumni News 43 A Surprising Life: Charlotte Baker ’64

by Joanna DeVos Charlotte Baker’s passion for Holocaust awareness led to unexpected friendships.

Inspiration “So,” you ask, “what inspires you? What propels you out of bed to face each new day?” Now, I know some of the right answers to that question: a deep love for what God has given me to do; joy at the prospect of engaging with students and colleagues; a sense of excitement at each forthcoming day’s adventure. But the truth is, it’s often fear. Fear of being a spectacular failure if I don’t over-prepare. Fear of disappointing people. Fear of being perceived as an outright

Volume 22 Number 2

sloth, especially when I compare myself to the people who surround me. I’m a prime audience for the exhortation in Psalm 56:3—“When I am afraid, I will trust in You,” a theme to which the psalmist returns several times.

“At the still point of the turning world.”

T.S. Eliot, referring to God in his poem Four Quartets

One more abiding fear, the prospect of physical pain, does indeed propel me out of bed early in the morning in order to exercise and hold at bay longstanding weakness in my back. And, in the strange ironies of life, that fear is a gift; the hour and a half of enforced morning exercise has become a

Editorial

ALUMNI NEWS

Patricia C. Hanlon Editor

Nancy Mering Director of Alumni, Parent and Church Relations

paradigm for what can be happening in the realm of prayer—

CREATIVE

spiritual “exercise.” I’m prodded by a line from Richard Hays’

Tim Ferguson Sauder Creative Director

The Moral Vision of the New Testament—“. . . Believers stand in a relation of solidarity with the pain of an unredeemed creation” (page 26). When I’m feeling ineffective and

Kirsten Keister ’04 Publication Design

terribly small, I’m reminded that we pray to the Master of the Universe. I revisit God’s faithfulness and trust Him as I actively

ADMINISTRATION R. Judson Carlberg President Patricia A. Jones Director of College Communications

commit the fearsome aspects of the forthcoming day, and— when I am being less selfish—a deeply pained world into His abiding care. I remember that we only have each day once, and that time, just like pain and prayer, is also God’s gift.

Elaine Phillips, Ph.D. Professor of biblical and theological studies, Senior Distinguished Faculty Recipient, 2006 elaine.phillips@gordon.edu

The Moral Vision of the New Testament

CONTACT

ONLINE

Address changes Development Office jamie.hokanson@gordon.edu

www.gordon.edu/stillpoint

other correspondence Editor, STILLPOINT Gordon College 255 Grapevine Road Wenham MA 01984 stillpoint@gordon.edu

PRINTING AM Lithography Corporation Chicopee, Massachusetts

AWARDS Gold Award for External Organizational Publication 22nd Annual Admissions Advertising Awards (2007) Award of Excellence for 2005 Evangelical Press Association

Hays’ compelling book analyzes the moral teachings of the New Testament Scriptures, and from that coherent vision speaks to contemporary issues such as violence in defense of justice, divorce and remarriage, abortion and homosexuality.

The Man Born to Be King A cycle of plays by Dorothy Sayers on the life

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.

of Christ, capturing the real characters behind what we have often allowed to become flat, stained-glass representations.

Reproduction of STILLPOINT in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

read more online at: www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/inspiration

UP FRONT

with president Carlberg

Leadership and the “Moral Imagination” “We are too young to realize that certain things are impossible, so we will do them anyway!” —William Pitt, Prime Minister of England 1783–1801, 1804–06 In this issue of STILLPOINT we celebrate

committed Christian who realized that he

creative teachers and faithful mentors.

had an obligation that went far beyond his

What often sets Gordon faculty apart is

own personal interests. Joanna Mockler

their ability to help students to think

is now a leader in international Christian

and live with what has been called in

development, attending to the world’s

scholarly discourse in recent years, the

poor who need the hope of Jesus Christ

“moral imagination.”

in their lives. She also is a wonderful

In his essay in this issue, “Nest of Wires: Belize and the Moral Imagination,” our

friend and supporter of scholarships at Gordon College.

provost, Mark Sargent, makes the point

People with moral imagination are often

GOOD TO GREAT

that developing a moral imagination is

used by God to change the course of

Jim Collins, in his landmark book,

essential to thinking both compassionately

history. At age 21 William Wilberforce was

explains how the most visionary

and creatively about human problems: “A

elected to the British House of Commons.

business leadership involves a

moral imagination,” he writes, “can be a

While he was still in his 20s, God ignited

paradoxical combination of “extreme

lens that enables us to see the world more

a passion in him to end slavery in the

personal humility and intense

frankly and fully.”

British Empire. Along with William Pitt,

personal will.” For more information,

the future prime minister of England, and

tools and discussion guides, visit

John Newton, a former captain of a slave

www.jimcollins.com.

Some of the most compelling recent discussion of the moral imagination has appeared in business and management studies. One of the best-selling books on the art of moral leadership in recent years is Jim Collins’ Good to Great. Collins says in identifying what it takes to have moral imagination in leadership, “These leaders blend extreme personal humility with intense personal will.” Collins tells the story of the late Colman Mockler, for many years the respected CEO of the Gillette Company.

ship turned clergyman, Wilberforce went into action. Pitt said of their quest: “We are too young to realize that certain things are impossible, so we will do them anyway!”

The political obstacles to halting the slave trade in the late 1700s were tremendous, and it would be 26 more years before Parliament finally voted in 1833, with the Emancipation Bill, to end slavery altogether.

Three days after the vote Wilberforce died knowing that his moral imagination had led

From time to time Colman and his wife,

hundreds of thousands of people around

AMAZING GRACE

Joanna, invited Jan and me to their home

the world to freedom.

On February 23 a gathering of alumni

for a summer cookout. One night Colman came home late after a long day in court listening to the arguments on whether an outside company could force its way into the Gillette executive suite through a hostile takeover. “What is at stake?” I asked.

May the faculty of Gordon College nurture even more graduates known for their moral imagination! The Church needs them, our nation seeks them, and the world cries out for moral leadership firmly anchored in

and friends of the College attended a special opening-night screening of the Walden Media film Amazing Grace. Kevin Belmonte ’90, lead historical consultant for the film, addressed the audience afterward.

Christ, our great Savior.

Colman quietly replied, “The well-being

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

of thousands of employees is at stake.

Gordon alumni are making

The people who will benefit will be the investors who are motivated by money. My

President

a difference by thinking

management team and board of directors

R. Judson Carlberg, Ph.D.

compassionately and creatively

and I look beyond to see the worldwide Gillette family, many of whom will lose their jobs if the company is bought out.”

about human problems.

CH (CPT) Andrew Shriver ’95 and Milton “Milo” Chen ’02 are just some of many (stories, pages 34–35). And

Mockler was not just an astute businessman,

current Gordon students are involved

but a man of genuine moral imagination—a

in outreach ranging from the Save Darfur Movement to the homeless ministry clothing drive.

President’s Page www.gordon.edu/presidentspage

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT

LETTERS

to the editor

“As always, I am impressed, inspired, challenged by the content of STILLPOINT . . .”

Kudos to you for the fresh, new look! It caught my eye among the many other pieces of mail I pulled out of the mailbox about two weeks ago. The colors on Bruce Herman’s art were captivating.

The cover invited me to open the magazine and see what was inside! I also liked the variety of brief articles. The magazine gave the reader a good view of what is happening at the College.

—Darlene Kuzmak ’74 As always, I am impressed, inspired, challenged by the content of STILLPOINT. However, as the parent of a 1995 graduate, I am now over 60 years old. My eyesight

I just finished going through your

Congratulations on a beautiful

is not what it once was, apparently. I am

magazine, STILLPOINT. I love the new

new magazine design and also on the

reading with great difficulty the smaller,

format. With its revision STILLPOINT is

remake of your branding system. Having

lighter type used in this issue.

meatier and reflects so well Gordon’s unique

gone through that process within the last

combination of faith and learning. I love

three years, I am aware of the commitment

the typography, the choice of paper and, of

of resources that such an undertaking

Editor’s note: We received several other

course, story selection—they work very well

involves. I have had the privilege of visiting

letters commenting on the font size and

together. Many years have passed since I

your campus, which helped me to relate to

weight. We hope the change in this issue

graduated in 1977, but I am glad to see that

your joy for the continued development of

is helpful.

Gordon’s core mission has remained steady.

all that is going on there.

—Victor H. Hanson III ’77

I was also personally blessed by the articles

President and Publisher,

by and about Bruce Herman (“Painting

The Birmingham News

the Lothlórien Chair” and “Bruce Herman Installed,” Fall 2006). I have a long

—Mary Anne Deik

First, congratulations on your new format. Strong visual impact, highly readable, great content. Thank you, also, for keeping the extended Gordon family updated on what is happening at Gordon.

We ENJOYED READING Sara Johnson-

personal history in the arts, which probably

Steffey’s account of her work with an NGO

contributed to my particular interest in the

in Iraq (“Crossing into Iraqi Airspace,” Fall

story. I am proud to have a fellow CCCU

2006). My husband John (and father of

institution so eloquently address the arts

Brett ’07) works in democracy-building,

and wish you the best as you continue to

legislative and parliamentary improvements

develop that program.

active-duty military chaplain. My son,

in post-conflict democracies. The job often

—Steve Hunt

requires assembling people to do projects

Vice president for marketing,

reported to duty yesterday at Fort Lewis,

overseas. In that article, Sara’s mentor from

Corban College, Salem, Oregon

Brandeis (April Powell-Willingham, who was with ICLAD) was actually recruited

by John for that specific job. John’s involvement, which recruited her, turned into Sara’s blessing. And this month he switched employment to NDI (National Democratic Institute in Washington, D.C.), also mentioned in the article. We are most grateful to see connections like this taking place with alumni such as Gordon students who have a clear understanding of the underpinnings of freedom. (And Brett? He is double majoring in theatre and politics . . . natural twins.)

—Charity Johnson

Accidental Chaplain,” I thought you would be interested in knowing that Gordon has at least one alum who currently is an Chaplain (CPT) Andrew Shriver ’94, Washington, as the new chaplain for the 864th Combat Engineers after serving at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington,

Here I sit in my living room in

D.C. Andrew will be deploying with the 864th

Morocco reading every single word of the

next month to FOB (Forward Operating

recent STILLPOINT that was sent here to

Base) Sharona in Afghanistan.

Gwen McWhorter ’05, our teammate who is teaching English here with us. I love the

—Leigh Ann Shriver

quotes, the stories about graduates, stories

Editor’s note: Read more about Andrew’s

about faculty, the wedding pictures and

journey in this issue on page 35.

baby announcements, the layout and the design. The energy is just jumping out of

Great effort with the new look.

the pages! I am soooo impressed with the

A suggestion: Have an email contact for the

magazine, with the content, with the quality

authors. Ideas should be a two-way street

alumni of Gordon, with the witness—keep

whenever possible.

up the good fight for His glory!

—Grace Ju Biology faculty, Gordon College

STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Third, after reading your article “The

Blessings on your efforts in the new year.

—Richard E. Carlson, M.D.

Story bryan parys ’04 Illustration Grant Hanna ’06

Installation 2: Something doesn’t feel right I feel like a yellow jeep is stalking me. Maybe not stalking, but at least trying to get a rise out of me, playing on my fear of coincidence. I mean, I’ve seen this thing on my way to and from work for what feels like weeks. My friend Grant has seen it, too, making him feel like there’s some truth to the fear.

“It’s not paranoia if they’re really after you,” he told me. And then—get this—I’m driving through Beverly and what do I see?

A yellow jeep for sale. I know; tell me about it.

Here’s the thing. The yellow jeep most likely belongs to someone down the street. And, as weird as it sounds, they may even have to drive to work around the same time I do. I mentioned that this jeep has been following me for what feels like weeks. Well, they follow me because there’s only one road out of town, and honestly I’ve only seen it three times. But it feels like weeks.

Actually, I feel like the real thing stalking me is the phrase “I feel like.”

Almost everyone I know, minus a few grandparents and exmilitary men, uses this phrase many times a day. I can’t trace its lineage, but my guess is this is another thing we can blame on the hippie generation (that and Jefferson Starship). Despite not knowing exactly where it came from, what is more than a feeling is the fact that our culture is obsessed with feelings.

They can be hurt, new, old, sinking, bad, good—driving our thoughts constantly in the direction they determine. And its sticky tentacles are showing up everywhere. Commercials boast products that keep you feeling young and full of life.

And if you’ve visited the Weather Channel website in the last few years, you will have noticed they not only give you the actual temperature, but what it “feels like”: “It’s 39°, but, man, it feels like 17° with the wind chill. Best go stock up on water and batteries.” And don’t even get me started on the popular office phrase “Let’s just keep our feelers out there . . .”

I remember talking about epistemology, the study of how we know things, in an English class with Dr. Anne Blackwill. I’m no expert on the subject, but I remember how difficult it was for the class to put forth any evidence as to how we come to know anything. And in a culture where food allergy warnings run longer than the ingredients list—in an effort to instill safe feelings—it’s no surprise we don’t know (or feel) the difference between knowing and feeling.

Every time I sit in a meeting at work, the “I feel like” thoughtopener gets tossed around like a Christmas fruitcake. I’ve used it to pitch ideas I haven’t thought through, and I’ve definitely used it as padding to tell someone that I don’t like

their idea: “I feel like having a link to The Apprentice on the economics and business major page might detract attention from our program.”

The problem is that the phrase allows us to speak too soon and be okay with that. We no longer have to think through something or determine how true it might actually be. And even if it is a bad idea, it’s understood that people can’t argue with feelings. So if the most people can do is “feel differently,” a true debate can never really happen. Conversations turn into self-commentaries and parallel existences. Perhaps the biggest reason for this is not the “feel” part, but the use of the word “like.” In essence, you’re assimilating yourself into something that isn’t you but is like you. You become a simile, and every interaction turns into a hypothetical.

Food allergy warnings run longer than the ingredients list in an effort to instill safe feelings. it’s no surprise we don’t know (or feel) the difference between knowing and feeling.

Canadians are often made fun of for their use of the inquisitive phrase-ender “eh?”. Well, I applaud it. It asks the person being addressed to confirm the speaker’s statement. The focus is then moved from “I” to “you.” In terms of cultural fads, “I feel like” is a mood ring and “eh?” is a Chinese finger trap. The former is a self-inflicted trick, and the latter requires teamwork to solve a problem. With that in mind, if I had said to Grant, “I’ve seen a yellow jeep three times in two days. It’s stalking me, eh?” Then he might have more aptly answered, “That’s right. They’re just waiting for the perfect chance to steal your mood ring.”

bryan parys doesn’t like to capitalize his name.

He holds a B.A. in English and is currently a web editor at Gordon. He wants you to know that a pinkish mood represents uncertain, unanswered questions. bryan.parys@gordon.edu

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT

in West Newbury, Massachusetts, to develop gifts of teaching, preaching and leadership. After serving in our church’s healing ministry for several years, I took training to be a spiritual director—a spiritual mentor or advisor. I began leading spiritual direction groups and retreats, teaching Bible studies and adult education classes, and preaching occasionally.

Standing in the Gap Walking the streets of this ancient city can make a person feel small and insignificant, given the vast history lived here. Yet we sense we are part of something greater than ourselves—a much larger plan that God is working out.

The Anglican-Episcopal Church of Orvieto meets in a long, vaulted, chapel-sized room in the diocesan office building, the Palazzo dei Papi, the Palace of the Popes. Sunday worship is at 10 a.m., and I arrive at 9:30 along with my altar guild, Rosemarie, to prepare the altar. When the 15 parishioners are settled in their places, I stand before them in my alb, stole and chasuble—the vestments a priest wears to celebrate Holy Communion, known as the Eucharist in liturgical churches. We raise our voices in songs of praise, rather tentatively at first, but finishing with confidence and even a bit of harmony.

I am an American Episcopal priest in Orvieto, a small city in Umbria in central Italy, and also home to the Gordon in Orvieto program. Our fledgling parish has been meeting for over a year now— an assortment of American, Australian and British expatriates, some mixedmarriage couples (Anglo wife, Italian husband), our own family, and some

STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

students from the Gordon in Orvieto program. As priest and pastor of this small church plant, I stay busy with the many ordinary tasks: planning services, typing bulletins, writing sermons, meeting with people for pastoral care and counseling, leading church council meetings, organizing pot-luck suppers, and teaching Bible studies.

But occasionally I am struck with amazement at where God has placed me: in this ancient Italian town where there are no other Protestant churches, and where a woman priest is a novelty.

A CIRCUITOUS PATH But my entire journey to ordination and ministry has been full of surprises.

Fifteen years ago I was opposed to women’s ordination, and 10 years ago I would have laughed at the idea that I would be ordained. The changes and the call came about gradually, chiefly through opportunities given to me in my home parish, All Saints

In the meantime I turned 40 and was still wondering what I was going to do when I grew up. Occasionally a friend asked, “Have you ever thought of becoming a priest?” My answer was always “No way!” I had very few models of women in ordained ministry and couldn’t imagine myself as a priest.

Once I recognized this mental obstacle, however, my perspective began to change—and I began to sense that, in fact, God was calling me to ordination.

Through the sponsorship of my home parish and the support of my bishop, I began attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

A FRIENDSHIP BEGINS Five years later—and two years ago now—I was ordained at St. Paul’s Within the Walls, the American Episcopal Church in Rome. Shortly after my ordination I sensed God nudging me, under the sponsorship of St. Paul’s, to start a mission parish in Orvieto, where our family lives and where my husband, John, directs the Gordon in Orvieto program. Ironically, I never took a church planting course in seminary because I was certain God would never ask me to do that. Perhaps with the naiveté of the uninitiated, I approached the Roman Catholic bishop of Orvieto to ask permission to open a Protestant church for English-speaking people in the city. With graciousness far beyond what one might expect in this town less than two hours from Rome, Bishop Scanavino welcomed me,

Story Susan Skillen ’75 Photo John Skillen ’76

recognizing me as a priest (even though a married woman with four children), and arranged a place for the parish to meet—first at the Convent of San Lodovico and then in Orvieto’s Papal Palace.

at that service. Later in January we were invited by Bishop Scanavino to participate in a Sunday evening Eucharist. I did not participate at the altar but sat in the front row pew, and gave the homily dressed in my

the ceramics shops, jewelry stores and coffee bars that line the cobblestone street to our favorite café, Montanucci.

Along the way people turn their heads to get a better look at the woman in the priest’s collar. In the restaurant we order

“With the naiveté of the uninitiated, I approached the Roman Catholic bishop of Orvieto to ask permission to open a Protestant church for English-speaking people in the city.”

Since then this ecumenical friendship has grown. In December 2006 Bishop Scanavino and I organized a joint Italian-English/Anglican-Catholic Lessons and Carols service in the large historic church of Sant’Andrea. With 180 people in attendance, I presided at the service of Scripture readings, hymns and choir anthems with three Anglican priests, three Catholic priests and the bishop seated in the front row pews. At the end of the service Bishop Scanavino spoke words of encouragement to all of us to recognize one another as brothers and sisters of the same faith: “We are instruments of God to create communion and unity.

We have all heard the same words and we have told the same story of faith.

That’s what unites us, and those things are great and important.” At the end of his talk, the bishop asked me to give the benediction in English. When I raised my hand to make the sign of the cross over the congregation, he raised his hand beside mine, and we blessed the congregation together.

In January the diocese of OrvietoTodi has an annual ecumenical prayer service for Protestants and Catholics, this year in the little village of Ficulle outside Orvieto. Some members of my congregation and I participated

clericals. When I preached you could have heard a pin drop—people were so stunned to see a woman in this role. Then the bishop gave another homily, saying that Orvieto was very fortunate to have other churches in their city, the Orthodox and the Anglicans. He said that I was not “acida”—bitter or vitriolic—but a gentle presence with my family in Orvieto.

Then we had communion together.

Surely it is the deepest sign of our unity in Christ that we share this meal, this sacrament, together.

REVISITING HISTORY A little-known bit of history is that here in Orvieto the original breach between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church occurred, for it was here that the power players met. Pope Clement VII received the emissaries of Henry VIII requesting the annulment of his marriage to Catharine of Aragon, which Pope Clement VII denied. How ironic that 500 years later the breach that began in Orvieto should be quietly patched and healed through a humble Catholic bishop and an unassuming woman priest from America.

Today, as we usually do following the service, our congregation makes its way down the Via del Duomo, past

cappuccinos, café lattes and pastries for our Sunday coffee hour. As we drink our coffees and chat, I notice a young Italian woman half-hidden behind a dracena plant with her camera focused on me—to get a shot of this sight she has no doubt never seen before: a woman priest. She’ll be able to amaze her friends with this photograph.

The Reverend Susan Skillen, a priest in the Episcopal Church, received her M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and did further study at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, U.K. She trained as a spiritual director with the Shalem Institute and leads retreats in the U.S. and in Italy. Rev. Skillen is married to Dr. John Skillen, who has been director of the Gordon in Orvieto semester program since 1998. Rev. Skillen lives and ministers in Orvieto, a medieval city in southwestern Umbria, Italy (pictured far left). The Skillens have four daughters, two of whom are Gordon graduates and one a current student. revsusan@stpaulsrome.it

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT

Students of Culture Three Generations Talk about Their Craft, Their Journey and One Another Stan Gaede, James Hunter ’77 and Daniel Johnson have an unusual relationship spanning more than 30 years—a connection that has recently come full circle. The barebones account: Gaede, “fresh from doctoral studies at Vanderbilt,” was Hunter’s professor during Hunter’s undergraduate years (1973–1977) as a sociology major at Gordon.

Following doctoral work at Rutgers and a few other teaching stints, Hunter arrived at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he met Johnson, a promising graduate student in sociology. Johnson now serves at Gordon as Sociology Department head and associate professor. And Gaede returned to Gordon in 2006 as scholarin-residence after 10 years as provost and president of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

These three scholars’ curriculum vitae evidence a common and abiding interest in social theory—in those most basic questions, as Johnson phrases it, about “how people come to interpret the world, and how they interpret their experiences and actions within the world.” As Christian sociologists they have taken on a particular responsibility, as Gaede puts it, not just to understand the forces of cultural change but “to bear witness to that understanding of culture so that we might be salt and light within it.” And Hunter urges not just scholarly acumen but “disciplines of the inner life on the part of both the teacher and the student”—those classical disciplines of solitude and silence that are the necessary context for developing the sentinel-like vision of the true scholar.

Appropriately enough, this article was a collaborative project, sparked by Gaede’s questions posed to himself and his colleagues: How did we become students of culture in the first place?

What is it like to be always both a

STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

“I started off thinking we were the victims of cultural change, but pretty soon teacher and a learner? And what is the particular vocation of a Christian liberal arts college for these times?

Stan D. Gaede, Ph.D. How I became a student of culture is a bit of a mystery, but it probably had to do with my upbringing. I grew up in a Mennonite community, in a family that debated everything, during a time of extraordinary change and upheaval.

Being Mennonite in California during the 60s was a cultural experience all by itself. Two things were critical, however.

First, I saw the impact of a changing culture on friends, family and faith.

And secondly, I realized that faith was not only shaped by culture but was one of the factors influencing cultural shifts. I started off thinking we were the victims of cultural change, but pretty soon began to see that we were the perpetrators as well. As a Christian I bore responsibility not only to understand these changes but to bear witness to that understanding of culture so we might be salt and light within it.

Gordon certainly takes the blame for a good bit of this realization since it was

began to see that we were the perpetrators as well.”

here I encountered both colleagues and students who pushed me in my own thinking. I arrived here in the mid-70s, fresh from doctoral studies at Vanderbilt, thinking I was ready to provide cultural instruction to the untutored. I was 27 years old, looked 19, and assumed I was God’s gift to students. Turns out, I was the untutored.

I learned more about my faith and my discipline—that was pivotal and lifechanging—in the first decade at Gordon than at any time in my life. At 60 it’s pretty clear that those same students were God’s gift to me. And I don’t just mean this in the sense that they have done well in so many different ventures.

James Hunter ’77, for example, was part of a group of students at Gordon during my first years as a professor. He and three of his friends (Bill Dawson ’77, Brad Davis ’76 and Robert Hanlon ’77) were so eager to learn that one day they walked into my office and pretty

Story Stan D. Gaede

James Davison Hunter ’77

Daniel C. Johnson

Illustration Grant Hanna ’06

much demanded that I acquaint them more fully with Jacques Ellul.

I wound up putting together a seminar just to get them out of my hair. But that seminar prompted a conversation on faith and culture like few I’ve had. It taught me about teaching as well—that “professor” is the exalted name we give to a very humbling craft in which daily one learns what one didn’t know before, and often learns it from one’s students. James Hunter. Christian Smith ’82. Lawrence Holcomb ’88. A thousand other students, doing all manner of things all over the world. And now, Daniel Johnson, my student’s student— teaching me how much I have yet to learn—again.

Teaching, like everything else, has mirrored trends in the larger culture in becoming, over the years, more specialized, more designed to fit the particular needs of those involved.

The typical professor does much more with much less, focusing on one area and going as deep as possible instead of wide. Students, too, can pick and choose, having a great variety of institutions and courses to select from.

The really grand thing, however, is that from day one the Lord didn’t give me those options. As an undergraduate at Westmont and then as a professor at Gordon, I was forced to go both deep and wide. In my first year teaching at Gordon, I was dumped in Byington Hall with only one other sociologist; the rest were psychologists, historians, political scientists and economists, not to mention the personnel director and Business Office. Plus faculty from Frost and Emery Halls, who kept dropping by to inform me that my life without the humanities and the sciences was quite moribund.

So what happened? I read as much outside of my discipline as within it. Sat in classes taught by other profs. And team-taught a course on hermeneutics

(post-foundationalism, we called it) with a philosopher, a mathematician, a psychologist and a political scientist.

Where else in the world could one do that? The downside is that it got me so involved in the life of the College that I wound up taking excursions into administration. But even that helped me grow as a professor. Teaching was not about me or my discipline. It was about learning, and sharing what one learned with other learners.

fall of 1973 with a lot of questions. In Romans, for example, St. Paul writes, “Be not conformed to the patterns of this world.” But what is the “world” that we are not to be conformed to? Given my Lutheran upbringing, I was naturally suspicious of the old evangelical claims that nonconformity to the world meant avoiding alcohol, dancing and the like. Gordon was a place I could ask the toughest questions about my time and myself, but in ways that encouraged rather than denied the relevance of faith.

“The contradictions of our time are mystifying, perilous and endlessly fascinating.

What a great time to be alive and to be a scholar.”

James Davison Hunter, Ph.D. ’77 It’s often said that scholarship is a veiled form of autobiography. That describes my story pretty well. My passion to understand culture was rooted in existential questions about the meaning of the modern world and how it was possible to live in the complexities of that world as a Christian. I arrived at Gordon in the

Stan Gaede embodied the best of what Gordon had to offer students like me.

Stan is a world-class teacher, but he also, along with Judy and his growing family, extended to me a friendship that showed me how the insights of the classroom could translate into the wisdom of everyday life. Stan’s blending of theoretical perspicacity, historical

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT

analogy and the practical wisdom of our faith tradition is a lesson I’ve carried with me ever since.

Like Stan, I’ve learned much from my students over the years. I got to know Daniel Johnson when he was a first-year graduate student. Within a month of arriving at the University of Virginia, this freshly scrubbed young man became highly sought after as a teaching and research assistant.

It was clear he had it all—theoretical acumen, methodological sophistication, a sharp, inquisitive and synthetic mind, high standards, a stunning work ethic and a big heart. Having young scholars like Daniel in the Sociology Department and at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture has always been my greatest privilege.

How has the culture changed?

Certainly the roots of our present paradoxical situation trace back well over a century ago. Today the American economy remains robust, its technology is innovative, its polity generally stable and its political ideals still vibrant.

That said, American political culture is fragmented and polarized, its commercial and entertainment culture ever more tasteless and vulgar, and its moral and intellectual culture ever more disjointed, incoherent, relativistic and superficial. The contradictions of our time are mystifying, perilous and endlessly fascinating. What a great time to be alive and to be a scholar.

What is teaching like in these times?

Nowadays the pressures tend to push in opposite directions. The more gifted and ambitious students operate with higher and higher expectations and want a greater intensity to their education—I have been amazed at the level of sophistication among some undergraduates. At the same time there are greater pressures today to make the content of education more simplistic, the teaching more entertaining and every teacher an impresario. As Philip Rieff once said, “To conserve and transmit a vision of the highest, that is what is higher about education.”

But to do that effectively takes time, an absence of distraction, silence, as

STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

“My own questions were related to the central question of all cultural study: how do people come to interpret the world, and how do they interpret their experiences and actions within the world?” well as disciplines of the inner life on the part of both the teacher and the student. Sadly, these conditions and qualities are not easily found and not easily generated in our day.

One of the hallmarks of postmodernism, in fact, is the emptying of words of their meaning. Words can now be filled up with any meaning that suits us.

Of course, I’m not just talking about words but of identity, systems of belief, codes of morality and even the practice of faith (isn’t this why so many people have abandoned religion for “spirituality”?). They are all increasingly emptied of the binding particularities that make them authoritative. But living cultures only exist in their particularities. A place like Gordon can sustain the living tradition of Christian faith and thought, one in which the essential particularities of that tradition are a prism through which the most important aspects of reality are made sharper. In this sense, my view of Gordon is Augustinian—true knowledge, rather than being void of belief, in fact depends upon belief.

Daniel C. Johnson, Ph.D. When I went off to college 20 years ago, I had no idea that I had a question—or even questions—that I needed help in answering. Perhaps because I come from a family of engineers, I approached my education in purely instrumental terms. I figured that once I entered the workaday world I would be called upon to find solutions to the problems that my employers presented to me. Accordingly, I looked to my college education to give me the problem-solving tools I would need. So what if I was more interested in social things than, say, building bridges or designing electronic control systems? I saw no reason to approach learning any differently on that account.

The college I attended generally affirmed such an instrumental approach to knowledge. By my third year, however, I was growing unaccountably dissatisfied with the tools I was being given. I shared my frustrations with an admired professor who responded by recommending works from strange disciplines like sociology and

anthropology, which he apparently (and rightly) thought would stimulate my intellectual passions. When he placed in my hand a couple of books James Hunter had recently written on American evangelicals, I was hooked.

Soon I was scouring their bibliographies for other works.

What I found in those works was a corrective. I realized that what I had been seeking was not tools for the solving of problems, but tools for the asking of certain kinds of questions.

Graduate school was a natural next step for me as I sought to understand better how sociology might address the questions that drove me. There, under the more direct influence of James, I grew to appreciate how my own questions were related to the central question of all cultural study: how do people come to interpret the world, and how do they interpret their experiences and actions within the world?

Asking such a question in a sustained and disciplined way challenges our own understandings of reality, of the nature of faith, and of how we ought to live as adherents of a particular faith. In both formal and informal ways during my

graduate school years, James provided spaces wherein I and others could wrestle with these kinds of concerns.

On several occasions he spoke fondly of one who had done much the same for him: Stan Gaede. So, long before I ever met Stan I knew him as a teacher who challenged his students to explore what happens when a real commitment to a scholarly discipline intersects with a real commitment to following Jesus, because that is what I saw his own student doing with me.

It is not always easy to get students to take seriously the questions that sociology asks us. Some shudder to have their assumptions called into question by so irreverent a discipline.

Others are disenchanted souls who have heard or seen enough to affect a cool detachment whenever tricky questions of meaning arise. In the short time I have been teaching, the first sort of student has become a little less prevalent and the latter sort a little more so. In either case, our challenge as educators is to get beyond these basic

resistances, bringing such students to a point where they can ask their questions freely.

Then there are those students who, energized by what sociology asks of them, diligently pursue questions of their own devising as well as the more challenging questions of meaning that such pursuits frequently prompt. I am routinely encouraged by the number and quality of such students who crop up at Gordon. Like Stan and James, I have been blessed with more of them than I can name, and surely more than I deserve.

As Stan and James both point out, such students call us to join them as fellow learners. Their energies and passions can feed our own, which surely helps to keep us—and our teaching—vibrant and fresh. Coming alongside this kind of student can also be hard, even tedious, work. But when I consider how faithful Stan was to the exact same work, in the exact same place, some 30 years ago, and when I consider how profoundly, if indirectly, that work has shaped me, I cannot help but desire to carry it forward today.

Stan Gaede, Ph.D., is currently scholar-in-

James Davison Hunter, Ph.D. ’77, is LaBrosse-

Daniel C. Johnson, Ph.D., is associate professor

residence and senior advisor to the president

Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion,

of sociology and department chair at Gordon.

at Gordon College. He was a member of the

Culture and Social Theory at the University

He holds the Ph.D. in sociology from the

Sociology Department at Gordon for 22 years

of Virginia, and founder and director of the

University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where

before serving as provost and then president

University’s Institute for Advanced Studies

he worked with James Davison Hunter. He

at Westmont. The Gaede Institute for the

in Culture. Hunter received the Ph.D. in

joined the Gordon faculty in 1998. His primary

Liberal Arts at Westmont was established in

sociology at Rutgers University, working

research and teaching interests are in critical

recognition of Gaede’s work in promoting the

with Peter Berger. He is the author of eight

social theory and cultural sociology, although

vitality of the liberal arts tradition in American

books including Evangelicalism: The Coming

he also enjoys teaching statistics to the math-

higher education. Gaede is the author of seven

Generation; Culture Wars: The Struggle to

phobic. His current research projects focus on

books including Surprised by God; When

Define America; and The Death of Character:

the construction of the idea of “calling” among

Tolerance Is No Virtue: Political Correctness,

Moral Education in an Age without Good

ministry-oriented adolescents, on the nature of

Multiculturalism and the Future of Truth and

or Evil. He is the founder of The Hedgehog

hope, and on narratives of civilizational decline.

Justice; and An Incomplete Guide to the Rest

Review: Critical Reflections on Contemporary

He received the Distinguished Junior Faculty

of Your Life.

Culture, and a member of the National Council

Award in 2003.

of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT

Nest of Wires:

Belize and the Moral Imagination

10 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Story Mark Sargent Photos Michael Hevesy

Provost Sargent reflects on a trip to Jaguar Creek, a Christian retreat center in Belize that will be the home base for the future Gordon in Belize program.

Just southeast of Belmopan, the inland capital of Belize, the Hummingbird Highway leaves the savannas and weaves through the Maya Mountains on the way to the Caribbean. All along the route there are citrus orchards—long threads near the roadway or patches climbing up the hills, clutching the soil that has been cleared of rain forest.

Virtually all the orchards are now owned by Canadians and Americans, most of them aligned with distant conglomerates. Native Belizeans, many dislocated by the orchards, find seasonal work in the fields or in fruit processing plants located along the highway. Fruit trucks bounce constantly on the road, losing some of their cargo over their wooden rails. They slow, but just slightly, for the many single-lane bridges that span the tropical streams.

About half an hour out of Belmopan, a short dash off the highway in a jungle crevice is Jaguar Creek, the home of a Christian educational center and a retreat haven. In April 2005 a small team of Gordon faculty—Dorothy Boorse, Dick Stout, Cliff Hersey and I—spent time there to explore potential sites for off-campus study.

After a couple days on airplanes, in Mayan temples and on dirt roads, the jungle shelter at Jaguar Creek seemed like an idyll. The new cabins at the center are sparse but spacious and inviting, with just mosquito netting for walls, corrugated tin roofs and a long boardwalk, essential in the rainy seasons. There are boars, parrots, monkeys and reportedly a jaguar or two in the canyon, but the jungle is nocturnal, and the afternoon was quiet with merely the steady hum of insects and the scurrying of birds in the lowlying brush. In those still moments I found a book of poems on the cabin table, a collection by the American Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize winner.

One poem, “Acid” (at right) kept me from rest.

This was not, at least at that moment, a distant image. Though spared most of the violence that ravaged nearby Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador during years of civil strife, Belize has widespread indigence and ecological stains, along with less obvious scars such as high rates of domestic violence and villages displaced for foreign profits. We had seen considerable beauty—cohune palms, broadleaf forests and scarlet macaws—but also sewage and urban debris in the stagnant mouth of the river in Belize City. More than 40 percent of the rural residents fall under the nation’s relatively low poverty line, and this former British colony recently dropped below the median on the United Nations development list.

Acid In Jakarta, among the vendors of flowers and soft drinks, I saw a child with a hideous mouth, begging, and I knew the wound was made for a way to stay alive.

What I gave him wouldn’t keep a dog alive.

What he gave me from the brown coin of his sweating face was a look of cunning.

I carry it like a bead of acid to remember how, once in a while, you can creep out of your own life and become someone else— an explosion in that nest of wires we call the imagination.

I will never see him again, I suppose.

But what of this rag, this shadow flung like a boy’s body into the walls of my mind, bleeding their sour taste— insult and anger, the great movers?

—Mary Oliver

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 11

As I rested in the Belizean jungle, I felt that the dagger of Oliver’s poem was not just its searing reminder of human poverty and our own meek charity. It was also the intimation that human dignity and restoration depend upon the imagination, that “nest of wires” that some scientists consider merely a biological accident.

The history of an idea Oliver’s lines stopped me in part because I had been thinking a great deal about the elusive notion of a “moral imagination.” On a few occasions I have suggested this expression might convey something about the distinctive DNA of Gordon College—or, perhaps more importantly, our future vision.

There is risk here, of course. Among evangelicals, it is tough to link morality with creativity, especially since no one can translate the imagination into code.

At times it is hard to accept the notion that truth and justice might draw upon creative epiphanies—those neurological “explosions” in our brains.

First used by British philosopher Edmund Burke, the concept of a moral imagination has a long history, with heirs on the right and the left.

Some contemporary writers, such as Harvard’s Robert Coles, stress the need to recover an imaginative life that fosters moral growth, personal discovery and empathy. They contend our imaginations can be nourished by the difficult journeys through the world’s bravest books. They challenge us to nourish those imaginations with more tales about human relationships and responsibilities, and fewer films and parables about libertine joys.

Other writers emphasize that the imagination is increasingly necessary for social justice, responsible citizenship

12 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

and the creative resolution of human conflict. Weary of logjams in government, these scholars have seized the concept of moral imagination as an appeal to overcome the ideological loyalties that too often pass for thought. Many of us—in the academy, the legislature and the Church—were so caught in our polemical allegiances that we were slow to accept the tragic proportions of the AIDS pandemic or the scourge of alcoholism and abuse in broken homes. We still struggle to own up to the ethical repercussions of overconsumption, massive incarceration, state violence and the most lucrative biotechnology, in part because we can imagine few remedies.

As John Paul Lederach observes in his study The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, all the varying notions of a moral imagination dwell on “the quality of transcendence”—the patience, ethical fervor and intellectual agility to escape “what appear to be narrow, shortsighted or structurally determined dead-ends.” This is at least in part what theologian Richard Hays urges us to do when he urges Christians to live in “imaginative obedience” to the “moral vision” of the gospel.

Our challenge is to approach the imaginative life—as well as the liberty in the liberal arts—not as open flight toward personal independence, but as the rich soil for moral development and restorative justice. A moral imagination can be a lens that enables us to see the world more frankly and fully. It is the acid of hope.

A detour Just before we drove to Jaguar Creek, we spent a night in Hopkins, a small bicycle town with its own dialect— mostly a two-mile string of wooden homes and red-dust lots near a ribbon of beach. The next morning was warm; the humidity would rise, but early on at least we had the advantage of the ocean breezes. Before heading into

the hills, we drove north through the peninsular city of Dangriga, the center for the Garífuna, or people of mixed African and Caribbean descent. We needed gas and a quick stop at a bank or ATM. Dangriga recently scrapped its former English name for a Garífuna label; once a center of Caribbean slavery, it is now a place of great cultural resurgence, a port city with inventive reggae, pop and dance.

It is also, according to the guidebooks, a risky place to linger at night. Banks and shops had iron grills. There were bars and pawn shops all along the “sweet waters,” or the heavily littered Stann Creek that split the town. The street merchandise was faded, much of it secondhand (Dorothy did find one offbeat Red Sox cap, but Cliff came up empty at the banks). While they were absorbed, I allowed myself a brisk, one-block dash to see the bridge over the river, apparently a lure for the foot traffic and idlers. Not surprisingly, this was a tourist corner, and in the relative quiet of April I was an easy magnet.

Although able to avoid one combative broker near a tobacco stand, I hustled by a young boy with facial sores, shoeless, hand up for cash. Ignoring him took a quick, hard swallow—but we had a schedule to keep. A few hours later, while reading in that quiet cabin at Jaguar Creek, the acid suddenly hit.

It is such a familiar dilemma. Street charity may be shortsighted and even counterproductive, too often a lifeline for drugs and alcohol. At best it is a momentary balm for deep, cancerous wounds. I thought about the many mission teams from well-meaning colleges that have rushed naively into poor neighborhoods to distribute soup or Bibles without the discipline to learn

anything about the macroeconomic, cultural or community development issues in the region. I was certainly guilty myself of going to Belize on minimal homework.

the New Testament is precisely this effort to bridge from the immediacy, the Parousia, the highly personal appeal of the gospel to the culture building evident in the epistles.

On the other hand, as I have since discovered, there are some imaginative projects attempting to address human

We are in a very real sense still engaged with that challenge. Taking students to places like Dangriga—or Boston, for

“A moral imagination can be a lens that enables us to see the world more frankly and fully. It is the acid of hope.” needs in Belize, many under the radar screen of most political or media reports. These include projects to improve the education and safety of women; projects to connect indigent urban youth and small rural business to the opportunities of the expanding ecotourism and agricultural diversity; and churches devoted to rural literacy and shelter for the abused.

Several partnerships between NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and educators strengthen local and urban democratic practices, providing an antidote to the authoritarian tendencies that are often apparent after the end of colonial rule.

Vision and vocation Months later, though, I am still left with that image of a hungry child, one without any “look of cunning.”

Now it seems like nothing more than moral leisure on my part to stride by a poor child in the name of some larger educational vision. Jesus, an itinerant, ministered to and healed those he encountered at the fringes. Part of the revolutionary power of Christ’s ministry was that he walked outside the major social corridors of education, worship and economy. But he also prompted us to engage these social engines in order to build social hope. In fact, one of the great imaginative challenges in

that matter—where want takes a human face, seems ever more essential to the goal of being a liberally educated citizen in a global community. But how does a college with global hopes balance compassion and critique? How does one walk, either alone or with students, into these streets with their palpable suffering and their intricate and seemingly intractable problems, and not leave with the impression that the destitute have served merely as part of our pedagogical landscape?

Then again, how do we ensure that we are prompting not just the reflex of compassion but also the resolve of the imagination?

I left Belize realizing that I must imagine new ways of being obedient to my vocation as a Christian academic—and to the moral vision of the gospel.

Mark L. Sargent, Ph.D., has been the provost of Gordon College since 1996. He has a particular interest in international education and travels frequently with his wife, Arlyne, and three children. Of his role at Gordon Sargent says “Most of all, my task is to interpret the mission of Christian higher education as one of empathy and hope.” mark.sargent@gordon.edu

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 13

What Does Economics Have to Do with Abortion?

Books about economics (aka “the dismal science”) rarely make the bestseller lists, but Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dunbar is a recent exception. This entertaining and accessible book shows how economic analysis can help us answer questions usually thought to be outside the scope of the discipline. Chapters such as “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” and “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?” reveal surprising and even counterintuitive results.

“While seeking common ground is hard to oppose, the evidence shows that economic conditions and welfare generosity have little impact on abortion rates.”

14 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

One of the most controversial chapters in Freakonomics deals with the alleged connection between abortion and crime. Based on earlier technical work by Levitt, the authors claim the sharp increase in abortions after Roe v. Wade caused the crime rate to fall in the 1990s; that those who were aborted were more likely to grow up in circumstances that would have led them to commit crimes than those who were not aborted. What disturbed me most about their claim was not the statistical relationship (which has since been questioned by other researchers) or even the cause and effect argument (which is plausible), but the unstated

though rather obvious conclusion that legalized abortion creates positive social benefits: If you want less crime, abort more babies, especially babies who would otherwise be born into situations in which poverty, poor education, and lack of positive male role models would increase the chances they would commit crimes later in life.

If this was the best that economics had to offer, then pro-lifers were justified in dismissing it as, at best, irrelevant.

However, reading technical papers

by Levitt and his critics did create a spin-off benefit for me. I became aware of a much larger body of literature written by economists and other social scientists, which used economic analysis and sophisticated statistical (econometric) tools to study the demographic, economic and policy factors that affect a woman’s choice to

Story Bruce Webb

have an abortion. This seemed to me to be a more promising and potentially useful application of economics to the study of abortion. Economists are trained to study how changes in incentives affect people’s choices.

This can be something as mundane as predicting the effect of a change in the price of coffee on the quantity of coffee and alternative beverages purchased by consumers. In the case of abortion, changes in incentives might include such factors as a change in welfare benefits, or economic circumstances, or the passing of a state law requiring informed consent prior to an abortion.

As an economist and active member of the pro-life movement, I felt obliged to see if something of value could be gleaned from this literature.

During a subsequent sabbatical I pored over dozens of studies—many published in respected academic journals—and found some interesting results with important policy implications. For example, one recent study found that states with laws that restrict Medicaid funding for abortion or require “informed consent” from women seeking an abortion have lower abortion rates than states without these laws.

Another study found that states that have adopted “family cap provisions” of the 1996 welfare reform bill, which allow states to deny benefits to women that have additional children while on welfare, have had no significant change in fertility rates, which strongly implies no effect on abortions. A number of studies that have looked at the relationship between the level of welfare benefits and abortion have found little if any relationship. Finally, still other studies have failed (for the most part) to find a solid link between abortion and economic conditions (e.g., unemployment).

Interesting as these results may be, a word of caution is in order. Conclusions drawn from econometric studies should be taken as tentative. New research using different research methodologies and data sets sometimes leads to results that are at odds with earlier studies. Care must be taken in drawing

Bruce Webb, Ph.D., has taught economics at Gordon College for 30 years. He is currently chairman of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the state’s largest and most comprehensive pro-life organization, where he also serves on the Executive Committee and chairs

firm conclusions unless there is a broad consensus among researchers.

the Finance Committee. bruce.webb@gordon.edu

Nonetheless, I believe economic studies can support pro-life groups as they strategize about ways to reduce the number of abortions. First, the research shows that state laws restricting abortion do make a difference. While pro-life activists have known this intuitively, there is now evidence that validates the results of their efforts.

Passage of “informed consent” laws and Medicaid funding restrictions should be at the top of the pro-life agenda in those states that have not yet done so.

Second, these studies help us evaluate claims about abortion trends and their causes. Just prior to the 2004 presidential election, a prominent professor of Christian ethics made the startling and counterintuitive claim that economic and social welfare polices of the Bush administration had led to an increase in the abortion rate (calculated as the number of abortions per one thousand women of childbearing age) after Clinton policies had led to a decline. His proposal: to cut down on abortions, pro-lifers should break with conservatives and join with liberals to reduce unemployment and promote increased welfare and healthcare benefits. While subsequent data showed that the abortion rate actually declined during the Bush years and that during Clinton’s presidency it fell most sharply prior to the booming economy

of the late ’90s, one still hears calls for pro-life and pro-choice forces to find common ground to reduce the number of abortions. While seeking common ground is hard to oppose, the evidence shows that economic conditions and welfare generosity have little impact on abortion rates. These matters are, of course, important in their own right, but they should not be seen as substitutes for effective pro-life legislation.

Finally, we should bear in mind that while economic studies can direct us to policies that will reduce the number of abortions (surely a good thing), the ultimate goal must be to overturn the Supreme Court decisions that have made abortion-on-demand a legal right and allowed the killing of approximately 45 million unborn babies. Economics has little to offer about strategies for reaching this goal.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 15

The Early Years:

Pioneers in the Sciences at Gordon

A Bonding Experience Freshman biology majors were akin to a sports team, spending much time together inside and outside the classroom. Early on we were introduced to the joys of labs and field trips with Dr. Dent. I think he represented everybody’s favorite uncle—warm and caring, passionate about his pursuits, with a delightful, selfdeprecating sense of humor.

For our first two years we all had the same 8 a.m. chemistry class with Dr. Jack Haas, who never explained why his lab coat was embroidered “The Jack of Lights.” Dr. Haas resided on the near side of the lunatic fringe, infusing joy and zaniness into our lives, manifesting a love for his subject and for life and his Lord.

Fruit flies were a major bonding experience. Yes, I know that sounds like I inhaled too many fumes in the chem lab! For our

H. Omar Olney, Ph.D., Biology, 1960–1968 “In 1966 we science majors decided it was about time the Science Department received the Senior Class Gift. We decided to purchase a decent water still. When it came time for the presentation in the chapel, Dr. Olney (then head of the Biology Department) appeared dressed in overalls, flannel shirt and straw hat, looking like he came out of Pike County, Kentucky. He carried the still up onto the platform. It had already been in use and leaked as he took it up.

‘The dang thing ain’t housebroke yet!’ he said, and the whole place broke out in laughter.”

Robert Crippen ’66, Retired Senior Analytical Chemist j.b.crippen@worldnet.att.net

Richard T. Wright, Ph.D., Biology, 1965–1998 “The month I graduated from Gordon, I decided I wanted to be a writer instead of going to medical school. I arrived in a heap in Dr. Wright’s office, full of sorrow about what not going would mean to so many people who had helped me along the way— including him. I was also a little afraid of the changes this new idea would mean for me. Dr. Wright, who had been my science advisor for years and had spent his own life in science, seemed not to think the decision itself was so critical. It was good to work hard in science; it was also good to write well. It was just good to work hard. And then—I’ll never forget this—he lifted his (his!) Remington typewriter right off his desk and handed it to me. That rugged tank of a manual, which is here by my side now, took me through graduate school and well into my writing life. If I could rig it up with email, I’d be writing on it now.”

Lynne Bertrand ’85, Writer lynnebertrand@comcast.net

16 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Story David Smith ’79 Photos Hypernikon

genetics labs we cross-bred fruit flies with various physical characteristics, such as straight- versus curly-winged, different eye colors and so on. When they were hatching, we had to make a count every 12 hours, coordinating with our lab partner the morning and evening counts—and pestering dear Dr. Dent constantly; only a bookshelf separated his office from the lab space we used. I suspect more than a few of the innumerable escapees (flies, that is) roaming Emery Science Building were intentionally released—little loving reminders to Dr. Dent and everyone else in the building that we were enjoying our studies.

There must have been many times our profs looked the other way. Several of us regularly used the constant temperature baths in the lab to make yogurt; our methodology was

foolproof with that kind of temperature control. There were times when the profs wished they could look away. When we dissected dogfish sharks, my shark’s tail made its last trip in a unique fashion: through the dirty dish conveyer in Lane. I did the same with a “pithed” frog—splayed him out nicely on a clean plate, on a tray set with clean silver and a nice glass of water. Very satisfactory shrieks emerged from the back of the kitchen.

Medical school admission was highly competitive in the late ’70s. I’d heard stories of sabotaged lab projects, of needing to physically guard one’s notes and lab reports, or of professors who were coldly uncaring and unhelpful. The beauty of Gordon was not merely the absence of all those

John F. Haugh, PhD., Chemistry, 1967–1974 “Dr. Haugh mentored upperclassmen by having them monitor our freshman chemistry labs. Nevertheless, he was usually strolling through the lab drinking coffee from a beaker. I always had the sense he loved chemistry, but even more that he loved his students. Having him at your lab bench felt more like a friend watching, ready to ask you ‘the’ question that would allow you to overcome the obstacle or allow you to find the answer. Having worked on a secular campus for more than 30 years, it is even more apparent now that the man behind the coffee beaker was walking with God.” Donna (Andrews) Cullen ’71, Computer Policy Analyst dccullen@rochester.rr.com

H. David Brandt, M.S., Physics, 1969–1977 “Dr. Brandt was being challenged regarding the idea that the study of the humanities was superior to the study of science. He replied, ‘When you know as much about Newton as I know about Shakespeare, come back and talk to me.’”

Beverly (Mann) Hall ’71, College Math Adjunct Professor bmhall2@edison.edu SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 17

negatives, but the presence of positives. My lab partners were companions. My professors were role models and friends; I visited their homes, even knew some of their kids.

Three of us went to med school in 1979 out of a class of eight biology majors that year. Many thanks to all of our professors, and special kudos to Dr. Richard “Dick” Wright, our premed advisor. He let us know in no uncertain terms that if we weren’t up to his high standards there would be no letter of reference forthcoming. He would not put his name and the school’s reputation on the line except to back a truly excellent student.

After graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1983, my first practice setting was in West Virginia, in a one-man office located up a twisting mountain road, 11 miles from a 28-bed hospital. For three years I had a solo practice

in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Next I taught in two familymedicine residency programs, first with the West Jersey Health System and then with the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine.

I retired two years ago on full disability due to fascioscapulohumeral (FSH) muscular dystrophy. In his infinite and inscrutable wisdom, the Lord saw fit to have me work only 19 years in my profession. This is one of God’s mysteries—alas, we don’t see things through the divine perspective. But my task is straightforward: to trust Him and to obey Him. One way I have of using my time to His glory is to help coordinate the science-faculty tribute project. It came about as Bob Grinnell and I were talking about ways to make the Heart of Discovery campaign more relevant to alumni, and

Russell R. Camp, Ph.D., Biology, 1970–present “One day another student and I were working on a lab. Things were not looking very good when all of a sudden Dr. Camp entered, took one look at us and said, ‘You guys look like you need a song!’

He disappeared, then returned with a guitar. He sat on the stairs and belted out an old James Taylor number. He sang a few more songs, then disappeared again, leaving us to continue with our lab work—only by then we were smiling.”

Lisa Sargent Satterwhite ’88, Science Teacher slatterwhite@yahoo.com

Thomas C. Dent, Ph.D., Biology, 1969–1991 “Dr. Dent always made us smile. Around the time he was retiring, a group of students went for a walk through the woods behind campus. At one point Dr. Dent dropped to his chest on the ground, marveling at some plant that he saw. This enthusiasm for botany—and creation in general—is one of the reasons the Biology Club planted the sugar maple tree in front of Emery Hall in his honor.”

Chad Hutcheson ’93, Section Head, Analytical Services hutcheson@highstream.net 18 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

how to honor our many science profs who will be remembered on plaques and in the museum in the new science building.

The idea of collecting tributes on the website came up—and the response so far has been gratifying with tributes from alumni from the 1960s through the 2004 graduating class— over 40 years of scientific excellence being praised. We look forward to posting these on the website and ultimately to presenting them to the professors and their families at the dedication of the Kenneth Olsen Science Center. The professors mentioned in this article all began teaching at Gordon before 1973, but there are many more. So please take the time to visit www.gordon.edu/honorsciencefaculty and add your own word of praise for our outstanding science faculty.

David Smith and his wife, Elizabeth, come back to Gordon frequently and are contributors to The Partners Program. Their oldest child, Daniel ’02, was an A. J. Gordon Scholar and a participant in the Gordon in Oxford program. David has spoken to Gordon students about the practice of medicine and the life of the healthcare worker, and more recently to Phi Alpha Chi candidates about writing. He has written several scientific articles as well as a devotional companion to the New Testament, Journey to the Heart of God, Vineyard International Publishing, 2005. david.smith79@gordon.edu

John W. Haas Jr., Ph.D., Chemistry, 1961–1995 “Happy Jack! I still don’t understand how one can have so much fun, and so consistently, in a chemistry lab. It must be the great sense of humor and the kind, loving heart. I’ll take more of that any day.”

David Hall ’77, M.D. puffindoc@integrity.com

Jerrold McNatt, Ph.D., Physics, 1972–2007 “I was struggling with Calc 1. I remember sitting in class, feverishly copying everything the professor was writing on the board, hoping I’d be able to sit down after class and decode it all. I even copied stray chalk marks just to be certain I got everything that was important. Then I had a flash: ‘I’ll take these hieroglyphs to Dr. McNatt.

He’ll help me sort it all out!’ I knocked on his office door unannounced, and he was more excited to help me than a dog with a fresh bone! We sat in the lab (the dungeon in Frost Hall) and Dr. McNatt opened my notebook.

In less than a heartbeat he knew exactly what we had been doing in class: ‘Oh yes, well, this is easy.’ And he proceeded to make notes in the margin of my notes as he explained the process. It was like asking Julia Child how to boil an egg. I instantly think of Dr. McNatt when a student asks me for help.”

Roger Shelton ’77, Science Teacher rshelton@worldpath.net

Photos of science faculty are from issues of Hypernikon, the Gordon College yearbook, spanning years 1961–76.19 SPRING 2007 |the STILLPOINT

When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?

Not long ago my colleague Haddon Robinson, noted homiletics professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, commented on why he believes people leave the church. One major reason is that the church no longer addresses issues and concerns that are relevant to their lives.

I had just received a Lilly grant, which is administered through the Center for Christian Studies at Gordon. One purpose of this grant is to allow professors to explore ways public issues—in my case scientific issues— can be introduced to nonscientific audiences within the church. Last fall I used a portion of the grant to develop a 12-part adult Sunday school series titled “When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?”

(The title is borrowed from a book by Ian Barbour, a stalwart in the cause for dialogue between scientific and Christian communities.) I wanted to stimulate conversations that would help Christians navigate the confusion—even among educated churchgoers—of topics such as human cloning, the

20 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

harvesting of embryonic stem cells, evolution versus creationism, and the nature of homosexuality.

I taught this 12-part series at my own church, First Congregational Church in Hamilton, Massachusetts. My intention was to establish an open forum on Christian faith and science, one in which participants felt safe to explore varied positions on controversial topics.

Often people view Sunday school as a vehicle for indoctrination, not as a place to explore new ideas. However, if evangelicals want to grow in their faith, they must understand not only their own position on a topic, but the positions of those with whom they disagree as well.

My series began by juxtaposing scientific naturalism with its emphasis on the scientific method, with a biblically based Christian worldview. To begin a dialogue between science and theology, we needed to understand the basic presuppositions of both camps. In the words of theoretical physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne, “Every

discipline has to rest on an unexplained foundation. For science this is provided by the fundamental laws of nature, just as theology rests on the given existence of the deity conceived.”

We then looked at different models of how scientific and theological communities interact. I drew upon Barbour’s fourfold typology: conflict, independence, dialogue and integration.

The heading “conflict” corresponds to those who believe that science and religion are enemies—for example, biblical literalists would argue that the theory of evolution is incompatible with the Genesis narrative; each position is seen as mutually exclusive.

The “conflict” approach to dialogue— which is usually characterized by mudslinging—has been popularized by the media because it makes for spirited news stories.

The “independence” view is that science and religion are not in conflict because each has its own language, poses different questions, and concerns separate domains of reality. Religion

Story Bryan Auday Photos Return Design interns

asks “Why?” and science asks “How?” But in compartmentalizing science and theology, there is little opportunity for dialogue. Though I don’t have hard data to back this claim, I believe the vast majority of Christians fall into either the conflict or independence categories.

The late Stephen Jay Gould was a good example of a scholar who adopted the independent typology. In his 2002 book Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Time, he pointed out the virtues of both science and religion but saw little value in bringing them together. In recent months Richard Dawkins’ much-talkedabout book The God Delusion (2006) has rekindled the fires of conflict since he is arguing, in part, that a choice must be made between evolutionary naturalism and theism.

The last two typologies, “dialogue” and “integration,” refer to positions that respect the integrity of each other’s domains, recognizing that each has meaningful things to say, particularly when they are weighing in on similar questions. The difference between the two is a matter of degree—integration is a more ambitious attempt to unify theology and science into a single discourse. Both these positions, however, see dialogue as essential and allow for the possibility that science and theology can influence each other. From my perspective, dialogue and integration are the best methods for gaining insight into the two most important books that Christians have been given—the Holy Scriptures and the book of nature.

During the remaining weeks of the course we delved into topics such as creationism, evolution, the intelligent design movement, and hybrid theisticevolutionary perspectives. At no point did I advocate for a particular position; it was important to allow the participants to discuss different perspectives that are held by Christians who maintain a high view of Scripture.

Each person was encouraged to come to his or her own conclusions.

We looked into scientific and theological perspectives on the mind/ body/soul question, attempting to address “Who are we?” and “What constitutes our humanness?” As we looked to construct a biblically informed anthropology, we noted that the Scriptures make it clear God made us in his own image (imago Dei), and we tried to unpack what this means. We completed our study by looking at how science can help inform us about issues such as homosexuality, human cloning and developments in biotechnology.

Here are two lessons I learned through this experience. First, there is an immense need for the Christian academy to converse with the local church on significant contemporary issues. My course dealt with science, but there are many other possible topics. A second lesson I learned is that I’d been taking Gordon College for granted. One of the College’s central missions is to bring the expertise of our academic disciplines alongside our faith as we strive to become truth seekers. In our community at Gordon, faculty, students, and staff have daily opportunities for contact with each other as we sort out the complexities of the Christian life.

This privilege needs to be exercised, cherished and shared.

No matter where you are on your faith journey, keep us in mind as a resource.

To contact faculty who could help you or your church with important issues, go to www.gordon.edu/faculty.

Assigned Reading When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?

(2000) by Ian G. Barbour The author is the “dean” of science and theology dialogue.

Good discussion of philosophy of science.

Science and Theology: An Introduction (1998) by John Polkinghorne More sophisticated discussion of science and theology dialogue.

Everything by Polkinghorne is solid.

Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality (2004) by John Polkinghorne Polkinghorne presents a new model for science and theology dialogue—a very insightful book.

Biology through the Eyes of Faith (2003) by Richard Wright Excellent discussion of both creation and evolution by a fine biologist.

Three Views on Creation and Evolution (1999) edited by Gundry, Moreland and Reynolds I drew heavily from this book.

“Theistic evolution” position by Howard Van Till presented.

Bryan Auday, Ph.D., is chair of the Psychology Department at Gordon. He would like to thank Robert Tansill and Dorington Little, pastoral staff at the First Congregational Church in Hamilton, for the opportunity to teach his adult Sunday school program and for supporting his vision to use a multiple-perspectives pedagogy. bryan.auday@gordon.edu

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 21

Story Ashley Hopkins Photo Cyndi McMahon

MATERIALS OF INTEREST A material of interest to both the academy and industry is a class of metals known as metallic glasses.

These are metal alloys with no longrange crystalline structure (Fig. 1).

In normal metals, atoms line up neatly in rows that are disrupted only by the occasional grain boundary or inclusion.

An amorphous solid (Fig. 2), on the

Materials Physicist Arrives at Gordon

other hand, has a disordered atomic arrangement—as if the atoms had been frozen into place from its liquid

“I’m interested generally in the properties of materials—why is a particular material hard or amorphous or superconducting or tough?”

state. Everyday clear glass (like in your office window) is an example of an amorphous oxide (SiO2).

This article continues at www.gordon. edu/stillpoint/materialsphysics. Email david.lee@gordon.edu to learn more about his work and the physics and preengineering programs at Gordon.

Fig 1. Crystalline structure

Fig 2. Amorphous solid

22 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Since receiving his Ph.D. and M.S.E. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology (following his B.S. in engineering-physics from Princeton University), Gordon’s newest associate professor of physics, David Lee, has managed space shuttle experiments for NASA; studied the metastable thermodynamics and kinetics of a family of bulk amorphous metals at Liquidmetal® Technologies; and directed the development efforts for discovery of novel functional inorganic materials. Lee holds six U.S. patents, loves opera and fiction, and eagerly awaits the day his daughter can join him and his wife fly fishing for trout.

When this well-rounded professor is asked what drives him in his research, he says, “I’m interested generally in the properties of materials—why is a particular material hard or amorphous or superconducting or tough? Can we understand the underlying phenomena well enough to make it harder or nanocrystalline or a better superconductor or tougher? In materials science, there is tight coupling between theoretical understanding and its practical outworking and application:

www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/materialsphysics

If there is a hypothesized improvement, someone will try it out in the lab.

The continual feedback between the intellectual pursuit of understanding material behavior and better real performance is exciting.”

In 2005 that interest in materials led him to Golf Digest, where he was tapped to join their technical advisory panel that selects the products featured in the sought-after Equipment Hot List issue. Among the six scientists on the panel, Lee is the self-described “materials physics geek.” They discuss the latest technological developments in golf clubs and analyze manufacturers’ claims. “It’s a fun couple of days,” Lee says, “and a chance to apply physics and materials head knowledge to a very different arena from academics or our scholarly research.”

Lee is pleased about his move to Gordon. “My family and I are blessed to be part of this community,” he says, “I am excited about the rapid and deep revitalization of our 3-2 preengineering program and the related commitment to and vision for physics here. I look forward to participating in God’s unfolding plan for Gordon.”

Story Patrick Byrne Photos Wes Fornero

Excellence On and Off the Court Diana Anderson—Player of the Year, Senior Scholar-Athlete As a coach you would love to have her on your team; as a professor you would love to have her in your classroom; as a friend or roommate you would love to spend time with her; as an opponent you would hate to play her.

Gordon College women’s tennis star senior Diana Anderson is a standout Gordon College studentathlete. Coach Whitey Davis says, “Diana is an inspirational Christian and an outstanding leader on and off the court.”

Anderson has been a star on the Fighting Scots women’s tennis team since the beginning of her time at Gordon. As a freshman she was the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Rookie of the Year and an AllConference Player in doubles tennis as well. Only one award in the conference is higher than Rookie of the Year, and that is Player of the Year; the year Diana got Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year went to her sister, then senior Jen Anderson ’04. Diana kept the Conference Player of the Year award in the family for the next three years as she set an outstanding mark of 41 wins

and eight losses in singles play, and was never defeated in the conference regular season at 31-0 over four years.

Diana was also selected to the AllConference Team four consecutive years in doubles play as she tallied a 32-9 record overall and 21-3 in the CCC. In addition to being named Player of the Year in 2006, she was also honored as the Senior-Scholar Athlete. Diana carries a cumulative grade point average of 3.66 and will graduate in May with a degree in elementary education and Spanish. She comes from a family of tennis players and is greatly inspired by her parents, Susan and Wendell Anderson. She says of her family’s influence, “My parents have always been there for me. My dad, especially, has coached me since I was big enough to hold a racket.”

When asked about her future in the sport, she says, “I would love to continue to be involved in tennis, whether coaching a high school tennis team or eventually a college team. I would also love to teach tennis to kids in hopes they would enjoy it as much as I have. I’m planning to continue playing

for fun with my family and friends or in local tournaments and leagues—as long as I’m playing, I’ll be happy.”

Although admittedly uncertain about her future, Diana is committed to serving the Lord and would enjoy being involved in a diverse community where she could use both her elementary school teaching abilities and her degree in Spanish. “I really want to be involved in mentoring relationships with youth and would love to work in a Spanishspeaking environment, whether in a school, a community, or on missions trips,” states Anderson. “I’m leaving the door open to whatever opportunities or possibilities might arise in my future.”

Patrick Byrne is the sports information director at Gordon. patrick.byrne@gordon.edu

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 23

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

Articulating Faith and Economics Nineteen years ago Gordon College economists, in collaboration with the Association of Christian Economists, began publishing the review Faith & Economics. With the release of the Spring/Fall 2006 double issue, Stephen Smith and Bruce Webb, professors of economics and business at Gordon, concluded nearly two decades of editing the journal. Under their leadership the journal has thrived and helped spark significant scholarly effort by Christian economists. Webb’s article “Is There Value-Added in Christian Scholarship? The Case of Unemployment” appeared in the most recent edition.

New Director of Church Relations Named Robert Whittet, M.Div., has accepted new responsibilities as director of church relations.

He will continue with his primary faculty position as associate professor of youth ministries but will also assist the College with building networks among churches and pastors. This work will build on his successful endeavors to support professional development for local youth workers and pastors. Last November, for instance, more than 140 persons attended the 2006 Symposium on Youth Ministry, sponsored

iPerson: iPod, Technology, and Personhood Bruce Herman, Professor of Art Gordon College Convocation—February 26, 2007 Apple has got its finger on the pulse of our culture—but they aren’t just selling technology; they’re selling a certain kind of constructed identity.

But if you’re a constructed identity, are you, indeed, free? This notion of an “invented self” is the outcome of at least a century and a half of what has come to be called individualism—a culture geared toward personal and entirely independent choices.

But if you can construct your own identity, are you really a person? Isn’t it true that I’m not really a person until I’m connected to some other person?

There has to be self and other; there has to be dialogue; there has to be relationship for there to be personhood. And isn’t personhood itself, from a Christian point of view, grounded in God—our God Who is, in fact, not just one person; not a solo-flight God, but a God in three persons?

This is a great mystery, and I’m not going to unpack the Trinity this morning, but let me just say that in the very nature of our Creator there is relationship; there is community. If God is real and if the Trinity is true, there has to be, at the core of human experience, otherness; there has to be self and other. You can’t love yourself until you love your neighbor.

You can’t even see yourself—you don’t really even exist—outside of relationship. The independent self is an illusion, a fiction. You don’t exist for yourself; you exist for the other. In a strange, mysterious way, God has modeled this for us—He has actually emptied Himself for us, as St. Paul tells us in Philippians 2. That’s how you love your neighbor.

by Whittet and Gordon’s Center for Student Leadership. “Having served in pastoral ministry

Listen to Bruce Herman’s full presentation online at www.gordon.edu/itunes.

for many years, this new position gives me a chance to put that experience to work, building connections between the College and congregations and their leadership throughout New England,” Whittet says.

Past convocations and featured speakers www.gordon.edu/itunes 24 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Faculty Publications, Performances and Presentations www.gordon.edu/stillpoint/faculty

IN FOCUS

Faculty

IN THEIR WORDS

“Really good movies don’t make obsolete the need for me to engage my imagination. Morally imaginative movies illuminate the problems of being human in a fallen world. And like all good stories, they show the power of humans making choices and of consequences.”

– Rini Cobbey, M.A. Assistant professor of media studies

New Classics Minor Begins Guided by the vision of philosophy professor Malcolm Reid, several departments have recently crafted a classics minor, drawing on existing offerings in history, philosophy and English literature, and including first and second year courses in Latin. The minor, and especially the Latin language component, has been requested for some time by students majoring in history, philosophy and English, who hope to pursue graduate studies in the fields of ancient and medieval history and literature. To complete the minor, students will take a total of six courses, four in the Latin language and two from a selection of ancient history, literature and philosophy. In their fourth semester of Latin language, students will read texts in Latin relating to their fields, allowing them to encounter firsthand documents pertaining to their areas of interest. Assistant professor of English Graeme Bird (pictured above), whose Ph.D. is from Harvard in classical languages and literature, will be the coordinator for the minor.

Faculty Forum Lecture Series Faculty Forum meets bimonthly in Jenks Library.

Dwight Tshudy, chemistry, writes, “As the College grows, it is increasingly difficult to know all the other members of the academic community.

Faculty Forum is an opportunity for Gordon faculty (and others on and off campus) to come together to learn from one another. We talk about our research and other interests in an informal and collegial atmosphere. The Forum has a long history at Gordon, and it continues to evolve as Gordon changes and grows.” Spring 2007 presentations included: b Jim Trent, sociology, “Great Christian Colleges: Reflections on Scholarship and Musings from Martin Luther King Day 2007” b Cliff Hersey, global education, “Dr. John Codman and the Unitarian Debate of 1808”

Gordon in Orvieto Adds History Initiative During the spring semester of 2008, history faculty Jennifer HeveloneHarper, Tal Howard and English and history faculty Agnes Howard will offer three courses at the Gordon in Orvieto program on transitions in Christian history, with topics ranging from medieval spirituality to the modern-day ecumenical movement. Hevelone-Harper will teach Christianity in Medieval Italy. The Howards will team-teach a locally relevant version of Christianity and the Modern World, with emphasis on Catholic-Protestant ecumenism.

Agnes Howard will also teach a course titled Women, Family, and Religion in the Early Modern Era. Along with John Skillen’s Orvieto-program course, Cultural History of the Renaissance, 16 credits of history will be available that semester, allowing interested students to earn a minor in history.

b Steve Hunt, biblical and theological studies, “Peter on the Water: Teaching Discipleship in Matthew’s Gospel” Alumni and friends of the College are welcome to attend Faculty Forums. For more information contact martha.crain@gordon.edu.

Sargent On Point December 22, 2006, Provost Mark Sargent was interviewed on the National Public Radio (NPR) series On Point. The subject was the recent Hollywood film The Nativity Story. Sargent joined the interview (which featured director Catherine Hardwicke) and provided a Christian reaction to the film as well as discussed how the nativity has been portrayed in other notable films.

Gordon in Orvieto www.gordon.edu/inorvieto NPR’s OnPoint www.onpointradio.org

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 25

IN FOCUS

STUDENTS

IN THEIR WORDS

“You learn something in the creation of every piece, and this one was no exception. I learned BENNETT CENTER

a little better how orange looks next to blue, and how to hold my brush steady while painting a thin line. But while these kinds of technical things are important, I’m most thankful for what I learned about community—about BROMLEY

RIDER HALL

listening, about speaking, about effort, about pain, about being patient with others and honest with myself.”

– Kendyll Menasco ’07

A Freshman’s View from Exile Bryce Bachelder ’10

Kendyll and other students worked on the Lynn Community Minority Cultural Center (CMCC) Mural Project (story, page 29).

“Wait—where is Rider?” That’s the usual question I’m asked when I say I live in Rider Hall.

For all who are curious, Rider Hall is, according to Google Earth, 1777.88 feet (.34 miles) from the chapel, 1785.66 feet (.34 miles) from Lane, 1354.94 feet (.26 miles) from the front door of Jenks and 1486.75 feet (.28 miles) from Barrington. Most importantly, Rider is 23,006.36 feet (4.36 miles) from the famed Nick’s Roast Beef.

However, I am amazed by Rider’s community. We Rider folk don’t associate the word “Rider” with the building itself but with the people inside the building. Despite the long walk to—well, anywhere on campus— and the complete lack of estrogen, things are pretty kickin’ around here.

Learning from St. Francis Jonathan Crawford ’08

Bread Groups are small-group fellowships that

Facebooked

meet weekly for at least one semester and are eligible for alternative chapel credit. We

by Kelsey Klerowski ’10

are reading The Way of St. Francis by Murray

Feeling a little guilty for using Facebook so much? If not, it probably means you did not attend the convocation in which students walking into chapel were greeted with the phrase on the projector screen “Your Synthetic Life: Convocation has added you as a friend.” Some students recognized that phrase from the popular networking site Facebook.

Seniors Bridget Barrows and Lindsay Kronzer discussed how this medium distorts images in everyday relationships. Mediated communication, they said, is a useful tool in keeping contact with friends and family, but it must be handled with caution and prudence. Facebook allows us to project a synthetic image of ourselves to our friends, the people with whom we are supposed to feel most comfortable. Said Barrows and Kronzer, “We need to be aware of what we are creating because we are responsible for what we portray.”

in-residence at Thomas More College, Kentucky.

Get your own facebook! www.facebook.com Explore Google Earth earth.google.com

Bodo, O.F.M., a Franciscan brother and writerOne of Bodo’s consistent points is that we are not called to imitate Christ but to follow him. If we do exactly what Jesus did in the first century or what Francis did in the 13th, we are not living the gospel. So we discuss ways that we can live these gospel virtues—love, peace, prayer and chastity, and so on—today. Francis was a normal human being who lived an extraordinary life; a saint who was fully engaged in the world and yet a man of deep prayer, with an intimate relationship with his heavenly Father. It is from him we get the saying “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.”

IN FOCUS

ALUMNI

Alumni Books Pauline A. (Kolodinski) Brown ’50 has published Jars of Clay: Ordinary Christians on an extraordinary mission in southern Pakistan (Doorlight Publications, 2006). In 1954 Pauline “Polly” Brown and her husband, Ralph, went to the Sindh Province in southern Pakistan, an Islamic republic, as missionaries.

Their story is relevant more than ever in our post-9/11 world.

David L. Smith, M.D. ’79 recently published Journey to the Heart of God: A 52-Week Devotional Journey through

Reviving CinemaSalem Paul Van Ness ’73 and Bill Collins ’71 opened an independent threescreen theater, CinemaSalem, in Salem, Massachusetts, in June 2006.

The theater has an art gallery and a café, and Van Ness and Collins hope it will fill a niche. “We’ll always want to be playing a great family film, an innovative art film and a quality film out of Hollywood,” Van Ness said. The partners are interested in community development in Salem, giving a percentage of their profits each month to a different North Shore nonprofit agency. Van Ness owns Van Ness Creative, a film and video production company in Beverly, Massachusetts. Collins is a video broadcast engineer.

For Van Ness, the opportunity to manage a theater was “part of a conversation I’d been having with God over the last 25 years about what I should be doing with my time, my energy and my gifts.” Van Ness has long been fascinated by the power of film: “It’s the sum of all art forms, put together synergistically.” But it is the communal side of film that particularly interests Van Ness these days. “Movies are something powerful that happen with strangers sitting in the dark, but I want to get people talking about that powerful experience afterward.”

the New Testament (Vineyard Music, 2006).

David writes: “As I read through the Bible every year, the usual seven-days-perweek format of readings felt inflexible and guiltinducing, so I devised a schedule of five readings per week, with illustrations and open-ended questions inviting the reader to interact with the text and not simply fulfill a duty.”

Luke Reynolds ’03 was the editor of Inside Out & Outside In (Stonegarden Press, 2007), essays written by his students at Farmington High School in Connecticut.

Luke writes: “It was my third year of teaching. My plan for the upcoming school year was simple: I would assign all the normal thesis

On February 23 CinemaSalem hosted one of many events that Van Ness and Collins hope will encourage moviegoers to share the solitary experience of watching a film. The Gordon community gathered for the premiere of the Bristol Bay Production Amazing Grace, which depicts the story of William Wilberforce, whose 20-year crusade led to the abolishment of the British slave trade in 1807. Following the screening guest speaker Kevin Belmonte ’90, lead historical consultant for the film, addressed the audience with a special “Thoughts on the Film” talk.

papers but would add short essays based on

Paul Van Ness (left) and Bill Collins have a lot in common: their time at Gordon in the early 70s, careers in film and videography, and now a new business. The partners are pictured in the lobby of the newly renovated CinemaSalem.

Pauline | randpbrown@verizon.net

themes students deal with every day, and their own 50–80 page novellas. When I told them this news, I think they may have prayed for my immediate demise by lightning. But the more they created this work, the more they came to love it.”

Contact the Authors David | david.smith79@gordon.edu Luke | Luke.Reynolds@gordon.edu

Order Your Copy Jars of Clay and Inside Out & Outside In barnesandnoble.com Journey to the Heart of God vineyardmusic.com | 800 852 8463

CinemaSalem www.cinemasalem.com

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 27

IN FOCUS

ALUMNI

Requiem for Darfur A Concert at Carnegie Hall

On Monday, January 22, 2007, Sarah Herman Heltzel ’01 sang at a fundraising performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Carnegie Hall, New York City. The performance was presented by the Democracy Council to benefit the people of Darfur and served as a memorial for the thousands of people who lost their lives while mobilizing critical funds for humanitarian relief, recovery and advocacy efforts. Requiem for Darfur will foster an ongoing series of performances, events and media coverage of

End of Silence Nominated for Grammy

the human suffering in Western Sudan. Current

By Jonathan Phelps ’08

Gordon students are actively involved in raising awareness of this crisis in the Sudan. Junior Brandon Sabbag leads the Gordon College Save Darfur Movement.

Although Rob Graves ’00 always loved music, he didn’t like the idea of becoming a musician—he didn’t want to work at places like Starbucks to support himself. So while he was at Gordon he double-majored in premedical biology and theology.

“When Rob was a biology major we used to sit in my office and play guitar together,” recalls Russell Camp, professor of biology. “He is one of the most talented musicians I have ever known.”

Impressive Improv Tim Lewis ’07

Pete Holmes ’01 got his comedic start writing and cartooning for Gordon’s student newspaper, the Tartan, and by founding the on-campus improvisational comedy troupe the SweatyToothed Madmen. He has since gained notoriety in the New York City stand-up scene as well as in regular appearances on Comedy Central and VH1’s Best Week Ever. On February 23 Pete performed his first stand-up act at Gordon since graduating. The Campus Events Council’s comedy night drew a large crowd, nearly filling the entire chapel. Holmes’ act included

Graves wanted to become a surgeon or medical researcher. But everyone in his life, including his father, was telling him to pursue music. In 2001 he moved to Nashville with his wife and wasn’t even fully unpacked when Reunion Records hired him to remix Bryan Duncan songs for radio play.

Later he established himself by writing the single “Surrender” for Joy Williams, working alongside Brown Bannister, a Christian music producer best known for his work with Amy Grant.

Then a member of the rock band Red asked him to help them out. Over the next two years Graves and the band worked together writing songs and developing a style for the band.

The result was the album End of Silence, which debuted in June 2006 under Essential Records. It quickly climbed the Christian rock charts; the first single, “Breathe into Me,” reached number one and stayed there for six weeks.

This year Red was Grammy-nominated for the best rock or rap gospel album. Although the band did not win the Grammy, being nominated was a milestone. But the most gratifying part, Graves says, “is to see people affected by the music and to feel the power of the music.”

custom-tailored Gordon comedy the audience of current and former students could relate to as well as the original material that has driven his popularity. His observational humor is easily accessible to a diverse audience. Holmes’ act

See Pete Online

was highly appreciated and a great model of the

www.peteholmes.com

power of the creative imagination.

Red www.redmusiconline.com/palebird

28 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Save Darfur www.requiemfordarfur.org | www.savedarfur.org

ENCOUNTERS

Gordon Launches Podcast Site through Apple’s iTunes U On the heels of its website redesign, Gordon launched a new podcast site providing anyone with Internet capabilities an opportunity to virtually experience many campus activities— from visiting lecturers and music concerts to student-produced video journals and sporting events coverage. The podcast is hosted on Apple’s newly introduced educational software interface iTunes U. The site features the categories listed below and will continue to include new activities as content becomes available. b Seasonal Spotlight—Recent seasonal cultural events from on and off campus b Gordon Pulpit—Presentations of on-campus chapel services b Speakers’ Corner—Features on-campus speakers and visiting lecturers b Life at Gordon College—Student-produced videos and Gordon garage bands b Concert Hall—Selected concerts featuring music faculty from the Gordon Music Department b Fighting Scots—Video highlights of athletic events

Art Students Complete Mural Project at Lynn Community Center Working collaboratively, students from painting and advanced drawing classes at Gordon designed an installation for the two storefront window cases at the Lynn Community Minority Cultural Center (CMCC), located in Lynn, Massachusetts. The installation features six hinged panels in each window case, with a grid of over 90 images displayed in a quilted pattern. Each one-foot-square image expresses a different aspect of the diverse ethnicities and architectural sites of the community and celebrates the work the CMCC has done in Lynn, placing its work within the larger history of the Civil Rights Movement. The panels were presented to the community at an unveiling celebration December 15, 2006.

“It was exciting to learn about the cultural diversity in Lynn,” said Kirsten Eichenauer ’08, “and to explore ways of representing its themes.” Junior Angela Yarian said that the more she engaged in research about the community, “the more engaged I became with the richness of our subject matter. As the last weekend rolled around before our deadline, excitement was high, and we worked on this project with fervor.”

Jars of Clay at Gordon The award-winning Christian rock band Jars of Clay performed at Gordon November 10, 2006, as part of their Good Monsters Tour. Many alumni turned out for the concert. Jars of Clay is a four-member Christian rock band originally from Greenville, Illinois. The band is renowned for its unique mix of rock and pop, and has found its niche in the pop wing of alternative rock radio. They are also known for the graceful way

Students found the process of collaboration arduous but rewarding. “It took a lot of patience and energy during the planning process,” said Annika Knibbe ’08. And senior Sarah Lupton shared that a major concern for the students was “how all the panels would come together with all the different images and varying painting styles. But as we continued painting we began to see how perfect this diversity of approaches was for Lynn.”

Tanja Butler, associate professor of art, noted that this opportunity to engage in art projects for public spaces is a valuable part of an undergraduate art education. “At Gordon we encourage our students to consider the broader social function of art,” she stated. “A number of our courses include projects created in collaboration with community organizations. Art students are often involved in internships and ministries, using their artistic gifts in community settings.”

they communicate their beliefs through their music. The band’s name is drawn from a biblical reference: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7, NIV).

Gordon Podcast www.gordon.edu/itunes More photos of the CMCC Mural www.gordon.edu/photojournals/CMCC

ENCOUNTERS

IN THEIR WORDS

“I love theatre and I love Jesus. I think Jesus loves theatre, too. He was a storyteller: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world’ (Matthew 13:35, NIV). However, acknowledging Jesus as a ‘theatre guy’ would have put me among the heretical in much of Church history.

In the contemporary church, drama is not explicitly banned, but ‘theatre people’ are more likely to be in the audience than onstage as performers in skits depicting Bible stories.”

Christian Ethics Author Lauren Winner Visits Gordon

– Kimberly Kurczy ’07 English and theatre double major

Lauren Winner, author of Mudhouse Sabbath, Girl Meets God and most recently Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity, spoke to the Gordon community in December 2006 on subjects that included “Lies the Church Tells Us about Sex,” “Communal Sex: Or Why Your Neighbor Has Any Business Asking You What You Did Last Night” and “Writing the Naked Truth.”

Winner, who grew up Jewish, converted to Christianity while in college.

With wit and theological acumen, she makes a compelling case for premarital chastity, speaking and writing with disarming honesty about her own “slow conversion to chastity.” She readily admits that chastity is not always easy or fun—in fact, as she writes in Real Sex, it is sometimes “strange and difficult and curious. But it is also a discipline, and like any spiritual discipline, it gets easier and better with time.”

In her December 8 chapel address “Communal Sex,” Winner opened by stating that her theme was actually less about sex than about community and about “what it means to live as a community in this area of embodiment.” One of Winner’s central points, in fact, is that sex is not a purely individual matter—a profoundly countercultural belief in these times. Winner argues in Real Sex that an important part of Christian discipleship is “to transform seemingly private matters into communal matters. Of course, premarital sexual behavior is just one of many instances of this larger point. Christians also need to speak courageously and transparently, for example, about the seemingly private matters of Christian marriage; there would be, I suspect, a lot fewer divorces in the church if married Christians exposed their domestic lives, their fights and tensions and squabbles, to loving wisdom, advice and sometimes rebuke from their community.”

Winner has appeared on PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly and Christianity Today. Her essays have been included in The Best Christian Writing 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. She will return to Gordon in May to address the Class of 2007 at Gordon’s 115th Commencement.

www.laurenwinner.com

Growing Up Christian Selected for New England Festival The Gordon College theatre production Growing Up Christian, an original ensemblecreated work about growing up Christian in late 20th- and early 21st-century America, was one of six selected for performance and competition in the 2006 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival–Region I. Before announcing their final selections, festival judges considered over 100 college theatrical productions from the New England area. “We were honored and proud to be accepted into this festival, particularly with this fresh and original show,” says director and theatre professor Jeff Miller.

“This approach empowered our actors to share their personal stories about growing up in a Christian home. The authenticity of those stories truly resonated with the audiences.”

Story Daniel White Illustration Drew Straton ’09

BELIEVE IN THEIR DREAMS Summer Music Academy June 25–29, 2007 A one-week program designed to help fourth- through ninth-graders develop their talent, build confidence and strengthen technique. Serious learning within a fun environment.

Vocal and instrumental. Enroll your

An Uncommon Vision for Graduate Music Education In the summer of 2003 professor of music Kenneth Phillips and the Department of Music launched the Master of Music Education (M.M.Ed.) program, Gordon’s second graduate program. “No one on the North Shore was offering the M.M.Ed. degree,” says Phillips, “and the College wanted to provide a place for its music education alumni and others to pursue their graduate work.”

Turns out some of those students were also searching for just such a place. In four years enrollment has more than quadrupled for this summer program, from nine students in 2003 to 38 in 2006, with up to 45 expected in 2007.

Of those enrolled, six are Gordon alumni: Andrew Norton ’99, Jen Bowler ’00, Erin Cherry ’00, Shannon Sullivan ’02, Debbie Gesualdo ’03 and Beth Newman ’04. Most students who enroll are music teachers in public and private schools.

Phillips attributes the growth to several factors. “We offer practical knowledge to our students that is directly applicable to their own classrooms.

We make sure the course material can be used effectively within the students’ teaching situations.” Students themselves teach part of the curriculum to their peers, a feature of the program

that builds their confidence and helps make them better teachers. “Too many young teachers are dropping out of teaching after just a few years—they are ill-equipped and try to rely too much on textbook knowledge,” Phillips says.

“At Gordon we are trying to reverse this trend.”

Phillips is an award-winning researcher and teacher and is widely regarded for his seminal work Teaching Kids to Sing, a standard text in elementary school music programs throughout the United States. He has also written Basic Techniques of Conducting and Directing the Choral Music Program, and has just completed his fourth book, Exploring Research in Music Education and Music Therapy, set for release in 2008 from Oxford University Press. Members of Gordon’s accomplished undergraduate faculty also teach within the M.M.Ed. program along with area clinicians.

Now entering its fifth year—and after having graduated its first class at last year’s Commencement Ceremony— Phillips hopes the program will serve as a model for teacher education at the graduate level. “We are striving for a change of attitude toward graduate teacher education,” he says. “We are all about making good teachers great.”

aspiring musician now.

978 867 4364 | sma@gordon.edu www.gordon.edu/music

NEW ALUMNI ALBUM

Caspian’s much-anticipated, fulllength CD The Four Trees is due out April 10, 2007, in the United States and May 2, 2007, in Japan. Their spontaneous and emotionally diverse sound has commanded attention from the media as well as from fans around the world. Since releasing their debut EP, the band has twice toured the U.S. and Canada playing at legendary venues such as The Knitting Factory (Los Angeles) and CBGBs (New York City). Choosing an instrumental rather than vocal route, their sound is obsessed with the lifting and cresting movements between ambient space and epic complexity. Caspian consists of Philip Jamieson ’01, Calvin Joss ’03, Chris Friedrich ’08 and Joe Vickers. Check out www.caspianmusic.net.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 31

Alumni Athletes Honored at Inaugural Ceremony SPONSORED BY

Gene Fitzgerald ’62

PAUL SIDEROPOULOS ’68

Peter Chartschlaa ’72B

BASKETBALL

SOCCER

SOCCER

A multisport athlete, Gene Fitzgerald was most known for his presence on the basketball court. Fitzgerald was a vital part of three consecutive North Atlantic Christian College (NACC) championship teams for the Fighting Scots (1960– 62). Fitzgerald was the NACC’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1962 and was the team’s MVP during his sophomore season in 1960. Fitzgerald scored over 1,400 points in his career while the Fighting Scots went 63-41 during his four years at Gordon. From 1960 to 1962 Fitzgerald averaged 16.9 points a contest and contributed a team-high 192 rebounds his senior season. In addition to his basketball prowess, Fitzgerald was on the touch football team in 1959; he also played baseball and soccer during his four years as a Fighting Scot.

Paul Sideropoulos was a star midfielder on the Fighting Scots men’s soccer team 1965–1968. In his first two seasons he led the Scots to a 19-4-2 record and was named to the Colonial Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC) both years. By the end of his senior year Sideropoulos had tallied an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes) record 108 career goals, he was a four-time all-conference standout and had led the team to three CIAC championships, including leading the Scots to a 13-2-1 record in 1968 as team captain. After being recognized as an NAIA All-American, Sideropoulos was signed to play professional soccer with the Boston Beacons of the North American Soccer League. His continued success on the field led to his selection to the U.S. National Team in 1970.

During his four years at Barrington College, Peter Chartschlaa set numerous school and national records for his prowess on the soccer pitch. A star striker for four years, Chartschlaa set an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes) record of 144 career goals while leading the team in scoring four consecutive years and was an All-Colonial Intercollegiate Soccer Conference member for four straight years. Chartschlaa set a New England Collegiate record with 53 points (42 goals and 11 assists) in 1970 and was awarded an Olympic tryout the same year. Chartschlaa led Barrington to the Regional NAIA Tournament in three of his four years and was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” his junior and senior years.

32 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Athletics tests the physical, emotional and spiritual strength of a person in a way few other challenges can. It takes a driven, motivated and talented person to achieve athletic greatness.

Over the years the College has had a number of exceptional student athletes. For the first time, however, six top alumni athletes were inducted into the Hall of Honor by the Department of Athletics in a ceremony on January 20, 2007.

The Hall of Honor event took place in the Presidents Dining Room (PDR). Many alumni and thier families attended.

Whitney (Swan) Earle ’99 SOCCER and SOFTBALL Whitney (Swan) Earle was a two-sport standout for the Fighting Scots in soccer and softball from 1995 to 1999.

On the soccer pitch she blasted 41 career goals and tallied 22 assists in four seasons. Her 102 career points place her in the top five all-time at Gordon College in women’s soccer. In 1998 Earle was the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year; she scored 18 goals and notched eight assists while leading the team to an 18-4-1 record and a trip to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship match. On the diamond Earle was a three-time All-CCC First Team selection, racking up 16 wins in her first three seasons with 142 strikeouts while batting well over .376 for her career; she also threw two no-hitters. Earle was captain of the soccer team her senior year and was a captain of the softball team her junior and senior seasons.

More than 100 coaches, athletes, alumni, staff and students gathered in the Presidents Dining Room in Lane Student Center—not knowing exactly what to expect, but leaving with an appreciation and understanding of what athletics means to Gordon students. Gene Fitzgerald ’62, Paul Sideropoulos ’68, Whitney (Swan) Earle ’99, Tambrey (Mentus) Fliermans ’01, Matt Chapman ’02 and Peter Chartschlaa ’72B reminded the attendees that while athletics was not the most important part of their lives, it was vital to their growth as Christians and leaders at Gordon College.

Tambrey (Mentus) Fliermans ’01

Matt Chapman ’02

FIELD HOCKEY

Gordon’s first men’s lacrosse NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) All-American Honorable Mention, Matt Chapman was a star midfielder from the moment he stepped on the field for the Scots. Chapman finished his senior year as the NCAA Division III leading scorer with 8.14 points per game; the top goal scorer with 67 goals (4.79 per game); and number two in the nation in assists per contest with 3.36. Chapman was a three-time CCC All-Conference selection, Conference Player of the Year in 2002 and an ECAC First Team selection as a senior. Chapman finished his career with 168 goals, 121 assists and 289 total points.

As a star midfielder for the Fighting Scots field hockey squad, Tambrey Mentus earned National Field Hockey Coaches Association New England Region All-American status in 1999 as a senior. During her senior year Mentus was team captain and was the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year as she tallied 12 goals and a career high 14 assists.

Mentus set school records in goals with 49 and notched 32 assists for a total of 130 career points. During her years at Gordon the Scots posted a record of 47 wins and 27 losses, and a CCC championship in 1996.

LACROSSE

Plaque images created by Crown Trophy (Middleton, MA)

www.gordon.edu/athletics/highlander.cfm

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 33

Story Jennifer Thorburn ’04 Photo courtesy of Milton Chen ’02

While at Living Word, Milo got to know Ken, a 17-year-old who was paid by a local drug dealer to be on the lookout for cops. Through Milo’s influence Ken became a Christian.

One night at a Bible study, however, Ken disappeared during a break.

After searching the neighborhood, Milo and some of the other students found Ken lying in a pool of blood, mortally wounded. Milo held Ken as he died. His last words to Milo were, “I know where I’m going.”

Milton Chen and his wife, Tiffany, live and minister in Los Angeles.

Milton Chen ’02: A Passion for Families and Youth When Milton “Milo” Chen ’02 was 11, his father walked out of his life, and Milo became the sole provider for his family—his mother and a younger brother and sister. They lived in Queens, New York, and Milo turned to selling drugs to help the family survive. At 16 he was kicked out of his school and not allowed to return for a diploma. In fact, almost no school in New York City would take him in—except for Manhattan Christian Academy in Harlem, which had admitted many students in similar situations.

His classmates were ex-prostitutes and drug dealers, and his teachers really cared about their students. His principal, in fact, shared the gospel with him, and knowing Christ made an immediate impact on Milo’s life.

He went back to the streets where he formerly had made drug deals and shared his story with friends who were still involved in gangs and the drug trade. Many became Christians, their lives changing dramatically—though there were sometimes serious consequences stemming from their conversions.

34 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

One of his friends left his gang and was subsequently killed by his fellow gang members.

Even so, Milo’s passion for evangelism grew. His pastor told him about Gordon’s youth ministry program, and despite low high school GPA and SAT scores, Milo was accepted. States Silvio Vasquez, Gordon’s vice president for admissions and enrollment, “When evaluating admissions files, we are not just looking at academic achievement, but at the promise that a student demonstrates— especially when that student’s life has been dramatically changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. Milton’s life is certainly an example of this kind of transformation.”

Throughout his time at Gordon Milo never wavered in his desire to pursue youth ministry, and upon graduation he worked as a youth minister in Houston, first at Hope for Youth, an outreach ministry to inner-city youth, and then at Living Word Fellowship, a church in Houston that had a vision for family involvement in youth outreach.

After two years of service in Houston, Milo sensed a call to a new ministry. Hollywood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles was looking for a new student ministries director, and Milo applied just to see what would happen. He got the job, and he and his wife, Tiffany, moved to Los Angeles. Although the church is located in the Hollywood zip code, the area surrounding the church reminded Milo more of inner-city Houston than of glamorous Hollywood. The church’s demographics, however, were white and upper-middle class; most of the teens in the youth group had never ventured into areas beyond their affluent suburbs.

Milo’s goal for this youth ministry has been to fill it with students who are passionate about serving Christ.

At first he found the youth group members apathetic, but now parents are complaining about having their children hang out with kids from the streets. Milo takes this as a compliment; it means he is finally getting them to reach out.

Jennifer Thorburn is the assistant director of alumni and parent relations. jennifer.thorburn@gordon.edu

Story Andrew Shriver ’95 Photo Larry Buwee

When I greeted the young soldier’s widow afterward, she hugged me, saying, “That was exactly what he would have wanted to be said.” It was moving to realize that this young man, even in his passing, was able to share Christ’s love with hundreds of people.

The Adventures of Padre André, an Army Chaplain “I look forward to serving in Afghanistan. . . . I will be the only one in my unit without a weapon.”

I have just arrived in Kuwait with the 864th Combat Engineer Heavy Battalion. Today, February 21, I coofficiated for an Ash Wednesday service with a Lutheran chaplain in the chapel at Camp Virginia amidst the sands of the Kuwaiti desert.

As I traced an ashen cross on the foreheads of 30 soldiers ranging from colonels to privates, I was reminded of how Christ died for everyone, those with rank and those without it.

In a few days we will be deployed to Afghanistan to help the Afghans in rebuilding their roads, among other tasks. As I prepare to provide spiritual support for these soldiers, I’ve been thinking over this past year.

In January 2006 I was sworn into the U.S. Army as a reserve chaplain at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., by a lieutenant colonel who had lost his leg in Iraq.

Later that month I was assigned to the 2290th U.S. Army Hospital at Walter Reed. It was during that assignment the nurses began to call me “Padre André.” In March I began

to serve full-time as a mobilized reservist at Arlington National Cemetery in nearby Arlington, Virginia. I soon found myself officiating over six funerals a day, five days a week. Some of the deceased had served in World War II and the Korean War while others were far younger and had died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

One funeral was for a young captain who had been killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) in Iraq. His wife and 10-month-old boy sat next to his parents, and behind them stood several hundred others who wanted to show their respect for his sacrifice, including a U.S. congressman and a number of Army generals and other officers.

In my sermon I spoke of John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Before Newton died he told a friend, “My memory is almost gone, but there are two things I still remember— first, that I am a great sinner, and second, that Jesus Christ is a great Savior.”

In September, having completed basic chaplaincy training, I returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as chaplain for the Military District of Washington Air Operations Group based at Fort McNair. While there I supported the Air Operations Headquarters, working with a helicopter battalion and an Army Lear jet battalion. My helicopter battalion transported generals and/ or admirals who were accompanying caskets from Dover Air Force Base to D.C. It was my job to support them in the difficult task of transporting fallen soldiers.

In January I joined the 864th, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, and we were sent to Kuwait in mid-February.

As we wait to be sent to Afghanistan, I look forward to being a spiritual support to these soldiers. Whether chaplains are leading worship, counseling or on patrol, we are at the front line of soldiers’ lives, and we have to work well under pressure.

I will be the only one in my unit without a weapon, but I know God will provide everything I need, even security.

CH (CPT) Andrew Shriver, pictured here at Fort Lewis, Washington, holds master’s degrees from GordonConwell Theological Seminary and Wheaton College. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Health and with several Christian college campus ministries. He enjoys hearing from friends and may be contacted at andrewsshriver@yahoo.com.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 35

ALUMNI

NEWS

1950s Ruth Brain ’55PBBC, with Bible Centered Ministries International, thanks you for your prayers!

Sylvia (Burgess) Lloyd ’58PBBC and her husband, Bob, work for CAM International, a mission-sending agency.

Mel Stewart ’58 was in Shanghai, China, to teach at Fuday University for the fall term. He was a John Templeton visiting philosopher on a grant for four years.

1960s John Kearns ’60B, a U.S. Air Force Auxiliary-Civil Air Patrol chaplain, was recognized at the North East Region CAP Conference and presented with the NER Command’s Commendation for his 10 years of support and assistance of the Region’s Chaplain Staff College.

Bruce Jones ’61B is an adjunct professor at Davis College in Johnson City, NY (formerly Practical Bible College). He and his wife, Elizabeth (Bristol) ’60B, reside in Liverpool, NY. Linda (Trask) Siddon ’64 retired in June 2006 after 26 years in the education field.

Robert Crippen ’66 retired in January 2007. He has been published and a patent is pending.

Nancie (Soldat) Mooney x’66B was ordained in 1988 after many years of ministry as a pastor’s spouse. She retired in 2006 after 16 years as pastor of Lakewood Baptist Church in Warwick, RI. John V. Chang ’69 is an emergency medicine doctor. He was selected to present an honorary degree to Barbara Ross Lee—the first black medical school dean in American history.

1970s Bill ’71 and Roberta (Newkirk) ’70 Stevens reside in northeast Maryland. Bill has been a headmaster at Wilmington Christian School in Hockessin, DE, for seven years. Roberta is a teaching assistant in first grade at Wilmington Christian School.

John ’70 and Starr (Hazlett) ’71 Powell are pastoring a church in Bolivia.

David Taylor ’71B retired from the U.S. Navy in June 2004 to take a position supporting a NATO contract.

Carolyn (Gettys) ’72B left Norfolk Christian in January 2006 to be available as a grandmother and as a traveling companion on her husband’s international trips.

36 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Lee McQuillan ’72B recorded his fourth musical composition, entitled Sweet Home Suite, in November with the Dvorak Symphony Orchestra in Prague, Czechoslovakia. www. contemporaryclassical.com Bruce Robinson ’73 is entering his 31st year as the northeast academic and sales representative for the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Stephen Shive ’73B has worked as a cardiology physician assistant for over 20 years and in 2000 moved into a medical group, Boston Scientific in Natick, MA. Joel Guillemette ’77 is senior pastor at Sudbury United Methodist Church in Sudbury, MA. He and his wife, Wendy (Davison) ’77, reside in Sudbury, MA. Gerald Bouts ’78 is assigned at U.S. NORAD and Northern Command in Colorado Springs as a political advisor (foreign policy).

Tommy Nosal ’78 graduated from Smith College Graduate School in 1983. He was in a percentile less than .01%. Not many guys get this chance. soccerton1026@ netzero.com Bruce ’79 and Laurel (Schmid) ’80 Aulie have been on the mission field since 1986 when they headed off to Spain.

In May 2006 they resigned from that ministry and ask for continued prayer support. bruceaulie@yahoo.com David Smith ’79 has written a devotional guide to reading through the New Testament, Journey to the Heart of God. Paul ’81 and Lucinda (Rowe) ’79 Bentley were on furlough July–October 2006, visiting and speaking in churches in the U.S.

1980s Philip Eyster ’80B is president of Eagle Projects International (EPI).

EPI has been privileged to have some wonderfully talented and dedicated people go on trips all over the world with them. This enables them to perform many different kinds of ministries from evangelism to medical clinics; from business seminars to leadership training and film shows. www.eagleprojects.com Douglas MacGray ’81 leads an executive financial planning practice, which is a comprehensive financial and investment planning service provider.

Wendy (Lyon) Wright ’81 is principal of Faith Christian Academy in Poughkeepsie, NY. She resides in Poughkeepsie with her husband and two children. She is active in their church.

Cheryl (Devries) Huegel ’82B is a supervisor/trainer for theflyer.com and enjoys singing in church choirs and ensembles. Her husband, Fred, is in retail management. They reside near Tampa, FL, and would love to hear from 1982 Barrington alumni. cahuegel28@ hotmail.com Gregg Stiansen ’82 is senior vice president with Nassau Broadcasting Partners, L.P., of Princeton, NJ, with over 50 radio stations from Maine to Maryland.

Gregg resides in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania with his wife, Linda, and their two children.

Lynn Grainger ’83 received his National Board Certification as a middle childhood generalist, November 2002.

Stephanie (Eklund) Stockhouse ’84 is an ob/gyn staff physician at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, AK. She resides outside Anchorage with her husband, Bruce, and their two children.

She recently became medical director of the Sexual Assault Response Team in Anchorage. They attend Community Covenant Church in Eagle River.

Victoria (McGonagle) Norris ’86 has recently released her second album, Art of Love (www.myspace.com/v2james). God has taken a seed and has been faithful to water.

Debbi (Edwards) Speer ’86 continues to teach piano through her home-based studio and is also part-time director of children’s ministries at their church, Prairie Creek Baptist in Plano, TX. Her husband, Bruce, is an architect. They reside with their daughter in Fairview, TX. Faye (Staples) Sorterup ’86 is chairman of the school board at Coastal Christian School in Waldoboro, ME. She is also a Bible teacher of fifth- and sixth-grade youth at the church where Grant x’86 serves as a deacon.

Ed Kennedy ’87 is a pilot for Southwest Airlines and resides in Glens Falls, NY, with his wife, Karen, and their two children.

Steve Kercher ’89 toured Turkey with performances for two weeks this past summer.

1990s Keri Cahill ’90 was recently honored on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., when she received the 2006 Angels in Adoption Award presented by Congress.

Keri adopted her daughter Anastasia from Russia in 2005, and she claimed to have a sister. After a long and arduous search, Keri located this sister and is in the process of adopting her. Anya hopes to join her new family in Massachusetts this spring.

ALUMNI

NEWS

William Crosbie ’90 performed the duties of treasurer for the Sandbox–An ACM SIGGRAPH Video Game Symposium held in Boston in July 2006.

Charity (Evans) Zemzoum ’90 serves as the church librarian at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, TX. She is a certified secondary social studies teacher and has taught in the Houston public schools. She resides in Houston with her husband, Aman, and son Noah.

Richard Dacey ’90 moved to the Sydney, Australia, area to serve a fiveyear call with the West Epping Uniting Church as ministry team leader. He was accompanied by his wife, Anne, and their three children: Erin; Claire; and Lachlan, born October 3, 2005.

Michael Messenger ’90 recently acted as lead counsel for a government public inquiry into issues of youth criminal justice in Canada. In January he was awarded the 2007 Young Lawyer Award by the Canadian Bar Association in part for his community involvement, including his service as a member of the Board of Directors of World Vision. He and his wife, Yvonne, and their two children live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Alison (Pomfret) Danielson ’91 has been married for three years to Erik Danielson.

She is the office manager for Sun Farm Network (www.greenfaith.org).

Jill (Story) Topham ’91 has enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom to their two children and has continued to stay involved in education through the Christian education board at their church. Now that both children are in school, she is substitute teaching at their elementary school.

Julie (Norris) McGonagle ’92 is codirector and coteacher at Tender Shepherd Preschool of Troy, NH. Neil Papamechail ’93 was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2000. He is a stay-at-home dad and would love to hear from you. candlsdad@hotmail.com Meadow Rue (Lincoln) Merrill ’94 wishes to heartily thank those who generously donated to Ruth’s adoption fund.

Because of them and others, Ruth, who has cerebral palsy and is also deaf, is receiving the therapy and services she needs to succeed.

Andrew Shriver ’95 graduated from Chaplain Officer Basic Course at Fort Jackson, SC. He served as an Army chaplain at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA, and Fort Lewis, WA, and is currently serving with the 864th Combat Engineers at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Sharona in Afghanistan. andrewsshriver@yahoo.com

Maria (Sedaca) Faircloth ’96 is living in Florida, where she teaches social sciences in an alternative school for kids with behavioral problems. She earned the Minority Teacher Award of the 2006–2007 academic year.

Roger Borlase ’98 is a Microsoft certified systems engineer.

Tiffany Webber-Hanchett ’98 is teaching fashion and textiles at Parsons The New School for Design and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her husband, Thomas “Toby” ’99, is pursuing acting.

They reside in New York City.

Andrew Beckwith ’99 was commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2002.

Melanie (Riley) Gonzalez ’99 received a Master of Music in Music Performance from Northern Arizona University.

Benjamin Hodges ’99 is the boy’s high school varsity basketball coach at Masconomet Regional High School, Topsfield, MA. He is also the golf coach, earning the Eagle-Tribune newspaper Coach of the Year honors, fall of 2005.

2000s

Class of ’66 Reconnects In 1966 there was still a Prince Chapel, and Gordon Divinity School still lived in Frost Hall.

Dinner was a dress-up occasion, and freshmen endured a strange ritual called “initiation.” There was a Winter Carnival, a Trumpet Trio and a Rifle Club. Marilyn Wallace was Homecoming Queen and William Boylan was Athlete of the Year. Televised class lectures were the latest in educational technology. The Hypernikon was dedicated to Dr.

Heather Funk ’00 graduated from New York University in Madrid with a master’s in Spanish: language and translation in September 2006. In October Heather started teaching in Vicalvaro Elementary School, Madrid, as part of a program to improve the bilingual education in Spain.

David Franz, originator of the

Alison (McGuirk) Graham ’00 started her own tutoring company, Excel Tutoring Co.

to our 40-year reunion this past

Richard Harrington ’00 was ordained in April 2005 with the American Baptist Churches.

Dave Smiley since graduation.

Jahan Manasseh ’00 was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2004. He and his wife, Avanya (Utzinger) ’03, reside in Boynton Beach, FL. Daniel Sylvia ’00 has begun full-time ministry as associate pastor: youth and family ministry at Trinity Community Church in Norwood, MA. Dan, his wife, Lisa (Archibald) x’01, and their two sons, Isaiah and Elijah, reside in Norwood. djlcsylvia@comcast.net Amy (Bascom) Brereton ’01 received notification in October that she has been approved for her doctoral degree in educational research through Cambridge University, England.

European Seminar.

Writes Margaret “Marnie” (Kerr) Ketcham ’66 (pictured above), editor-in-chief of the 1966 Hypernikon, “About 25 of us came October. None of us had seen Tom Masterson and his wife, Sharon, were here from California.

Jan (Lind) Klingberg, my roommate, flew in from Chicago.

We noted how much the campus had changed—for the better, though we felt a sense of loss with the demolition of Wood Hall.

When we graduated, only two dorms and Lane Center had been built. The professors we fondly remembered have all retired by now, but those of us who still live in the area filled the others in with what we knew about professors Franz, Kolz, Spires, Haas and others. We hold Gordon College dear in our hearts.”

Jason Martinez ’01 does weekend home building in Mexico through Amor Ministries.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 37

ALUMNI

NEWS Sorina You Teav ’01 earned a Master of Education from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA, in August 2004. She is teaching sixth-grade math and English language arts, and fifth-grade math in Alhambra, CA. Jesse Hagopian ’02 is a licensed realtor in the D.C. area and loves finding homes for his Gordon friends moving there.

Beth (Clark) Kurtz ’02 married Tony Kurtz in July 2004 and has earned a Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Development from Geneva College.

Audrey Stigall ’02 graduated from the University of Denver in 2004 with an M.S.W. and is a resident director at Westmont College.

Abigail Baird ’03 graduated cum laude from Boston College Law School in May 2006 and began her career last fall at Ropes & Gray in Boston.

Jeffrey A. Kiess ’03 acquired a private pilot’s license in July 2003.

Alumni: East and West September: Ipswich, MA About 300 alumni gathered at Russell Orchards for free cider, cider donuts, apple picking and apple-themed giveaways such as an Apple Nano and apple pies.

Pictured top: Natalie (Robinson) ’06 and Bryan ’04 Parys.

October: Alexandria, VA The alumni team traveled south to the home of Tim and Randi (Fredholm) ’85 Hutchinson to meet with about 30 alumni in the D.C. area. President and Mrs. Carlberg spoke of initiatives on campus. Pictured middle: Douglas ’86 and Jill (Sullivan) ’87 Auld, Kristine Dunne ’89.

January: San Clemente, CA Twenty-eight alumni, prospective students and their families enjoyed a Mexican dinner at the home of Chuck ’69B and Sheri (Wallace) ’69B Parsons. Pictured bottom: Angel MacLean ’03, Sara Fillmore ’04, prospective student Jeff Ward, and Daphne Hollinger ’03.

For more past and upcoming events, see page 42 or go to www.gordon.edu/alumnievents.

38 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Paul Turbiak ’05 of Canton, CT, returned to his alma mater, the Master’s School, to direct the ArtMasters Summer Youth Theater. He studied at the British American Drama Academy in London.

Jessica Andrew ’06 is in Washington, D.C., as a Witherspoon Fellow with the Family Research Council, which involves her in academic studies while working on various projects.

Nisse Olsen ’06 is the administrative assistant in the Office of Institutional Advancement at New England College of Optometry.

Matthew Wolfe ’06 is working for Stubblebine Co. as a salesperson. He specializes in clientele establishment, financial analysis, project evaluation/ management and negotiations in both user sales and leases of industrial and research and development properties in Northwest Boston and the MetroWest area.

Weddings

Melissa Pratt-Zossoungbo ’03 is a graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Angela (Linsalato) Shaw ’03 earned a master’s degree in recreation education from Lehman College, Bronx, NY, in September 2006. Angela currently lives in Eastchester, NY, with her husband, Jeremy.

Laura Bullock ’04 is living in Somerville, MA, and working as a full-time folk musician. She released her first full-length CD entitled Points North in September 2006—available on iTunes. www.laurabullock.com Sara Hancox ’04 is teaching third grade at the Huckleberry School in Lynnfield, MA. Krystle Plasse ’04 is employed as director of bands and chorus at Massabesic Junior High School in East Waterboro, ME. Christy (Goggin) Reed ’04 is living in Iowa with her new husband, Rob. She will finish her master’s in kinesiology from Iowa State University in May and will begin a Master of Arts in a teaching program in hope of becoming a middle school science teacher.

Ginny McWhorter ’05 is currently teaching English at an orphanage in Morocco. She will be there for two years.

Matthew Oosting ’05 is teaching social studies in a Reading, MA, school this year.

He and his wife, Hillary (Collins) ’05, reside in Haverhill, MA. Beth Roland ’05 recently graduated with a master’s in school psychology from Tufts University and is employed by the Massachusetts Department of Education in Malden, MA, working as a program coordinator/analyst.

Gretchen Nelson ’88 and Thomas Sill, March 4, 2006. They reside in Seattle, WA. Alison Pomfret ’92 and Erik Danielson, January 21, 2004. Alison and Erik reside in Ringoes, NJ, where Alison works as an office manager for Sun Farm Network, a solar company providing solar energy throughout New Jersey to homes, businesses, churches and other faith organizations in association with Green Faith.

Sarah White ’98 and Todd Trembley, May 13, 2006. Sarah and Todd reside in Seattle, WA, where Sarah is a mental health counselor and Todd is a graduate student in philosophy.

Louise Borges ’99 and Antonio DeSisto, July 16, 2005. Louise is a teacher for Everett Public Schools and Antonio is an auditor for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

The couple lives in Revere, MA.

ALUMNI

NEWS

Kristy Gilberto ’00 and Mark Rautiola, October 8, 2005. Kristy and Mark reside in Melrose, MA. Kristy is teaching children and adults at a faith-based organization in Chinatown. Mark, a Gordon-Conwell graduate, works in Boston with those in need. kristy.rautiola@gordon.edu Tracy Hsiao-Yun Lu and Clement Wen x’01, January 14, 2006, in Yilan, Taiwan.

The couple just moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where both are beginning graduate theological studies at Regent College.

Jennifer Bonina ’02 and Joshua Noseworthy, December 2, 2006. Jennifer graduated with a master’s degree in horticulture science from the University of Florida in 2005 and has been accepted into the plant biology program at University of New Hampshire, where she will pursue a Ph.D. She recently gave a talk at the American Scientific Affiliation annual meeting held at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, on using science to help the poor. She and Joshua live in Nottingham, NH. Karis Bucklen ’03 and Chad Harrell, September 9, 2006. Judie McInerney ’03 was a bridesmaid. The wedding was held in Virginia Beach, VA. Chad is a petty officer in the U.S. Navy.

Emily Arndt ’03 and Flavio DeCastro, November 6, 2004, at St. Andrew’s Church in Marblehead, MA. The couple resides in Beverly, MA.

Lindsey Benson ’04 and Scot Allenby ’05, June 17, 2006. Alumni participating in the wedding were Caren (Benson) Swanson ’02, Bess Watson ’03, Tina (Helming) Ambler ’03, Amy (Beers) Mason ’04, Christina Frost ’04, Jonathan Chevalier ’04 and Andrew Swensen ’05. Lindsey and Scot reside in Andover, NH.

Breanna Chabot ’05 and Daniel Allard, July 1, 2006. Alumni participating were Rachel (Clayton) Nimon ’05, Katie Grogan ’05 and Becki Wing ’05. Bre and Dan reside in Auburn, ME, where Bre is a high school teacher and Dan works for UNUMProvident Insurance Company.

Rebecca Park ’04 and Raymond Wiggin, December 9, 2006. Alumni participating in the wedding were Sarah (Park) Craig ’03 and Kristin Walker ’04.

Jessie Sarkissian ’04 and Jeremy Pappenfus, September 2004. The couple resides in Whitefish, MT, where Jessie teaches music and Jeremy works in construction.

Vanessa Corbett ’05 and John Pillen ’04, April 15, 2006.

Kirsten Heacock ’05 and Brian Sanders, August 5, 2006. Kirsten will graduate from Duke Divinity School with a master’s in theology in May 2007. Brian and Kirsten reside in Norfolk, VA. Laura Smith ’04 and Jory Crowell ’03, July 14, 2006. Alumni participating in the wedding were Christina Newton ’04, Laura Gladden ’04, Melinda Morrell ’04 and James Morrison ’04. Jory is earning his M.B.A. at Brandeis University and is a part-time realtor. Laura is the office manager at Family Continuity Programs Inc. and recently launched an event planning business. The couple resides in Beverly, MA. Rebecca Bing ’05 and Brian Vienneau ’04, July 15, 2006. Andy Marks ’04 and Blake Whitney ’04 were groomsmen.

Rebecca works as a math teacher at Covenant Christian Academy in Peabody, MA. Brian works for Gordon College as the systems manager.

Kristin Lake ’05 and Joshua McKean, July 29, 2006. Alumni participating in the wedding were Brian Lake ’04 and Lydia Bristow ’05. Kristin is a nanny and Joshua is a technician for the Sudbury, MA, public school system. The couple resides in Marlborough, MA.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 39

ALUMNI

NEWS Daughter Nora to William ’90 and Jennifer Crosbie, August 14, 2006. The Crosbies reside in Highland Park, NJ. Daughter Clarice Mira to Jeffrey ’90 and Silvana Hebert, June 4, 2006. The Heberts live in Schenectady, NY, where Silvana has a baking company and Jeffrey has a manufacturing company.

Son Jadon Alfred to Gregory ’90 and Christine (Fischer) ’90 Kithcart, May 24, 2006.

Amy Zerr ’05 and Josh Wilson, May 6, 2006. Amy is a kindergarten teacher and Josh works at an interior design firm. The couple resides in Malvern, PA. Lindsey Anderson ’06 and Joshua Neumann ’05, July 29, 2006. Thomas Sheesley ’04 and Matthew Lemieux ’06 participated in the ceremony.

Laura Arnold ’06 and M. Ryan Groff ’06, May 27, 2006. Laura and Ryan attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Births and Adoptions Son Josiah Paul to Steven and Deborah (Moulton) ’77 Mears, adopted January 25, 2007. He joins sister Dorothy. Josiah came to them as a foster child at 3 months.

Son Grant Christian to Dean ’77 and Jennifer Orrell, December 8, 2006. He joins siblings Jessica, Rachel and Dean III. Daughter Lorelei Miao-An to John and Cheryl ’83 McConchie-Babrick, August 6, 2005, and adopted September 4, 2006, from Jiangxi Province, China.

Son Samuel Joseph Henry to Bradley ’84 and Lisa (Scheerer) ’84 Winston, June 3, 2006. He was welcomed by his 11 siblings: Kirsten, Annelisa, David, Benjamin, Jonathan, Joy, Josiah, Rachel, Daniel, Grace and Mercy. Bradley is a pediatrician in Milford, DE, and Lisa is a stay-at-home mom who homeschools.

Daughter Piper to James and Karen (Rannala) ’88 Armstrong, February 9, 2006. She joins sisters Rebecca and Elizabeth. The family resides in Los Gatos, CA. jka8198@yahoo.com Son Thomas John to John and Kimberly (Robinson) ’88 Luciano, May 17, 2006. He joins siblings Sarah and Michael. Kimberly is director of research and development, clinical development and medical affairs at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation.

They live in Madison, NJ. Daughter Anastasia Holly (age 14) to Keri Ellis Cahill ’90, adopted from Siberia, May 2005. Adoption is pending for Anya (age 15).

40 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

Son Jeremiah Mark to Mark ’90 and Jenneth (Craig) ’96 Scharlach, July 21, 2006. They reside in Georgetown, MA. Son Scott Raymond Jr. to Scott ’91 and Theresa Gibson, June 3, 2006.

Daughter Grace to Brad ’91 and Sarah (Luetjen) ’97 Phillips, October 25, 2006.

Son Luke Richard to Christian and Laura (Zavodsky) ’92 Ellison, August 23, 2005.

Laura is a stay-at-home mom, and they reside in Scotch Plains, NJ. Daughter Hayley Caroline to Joel and Wendy (Fox) ’92 Jacobson, February 28, 2006. She joins brothers Jeremy, Jared and Justin.

Son James Timothy to Glenn ’92 and Mary Ellen (Nauman) ’90 Oliver, November 17, 2006. He joins siblings Thomas and Priscilla.

Son Wyatt Matthew to William ’93 and Kirsten Dehmlow, April 8, 2006. He joins siblings Shaffer, Konnor, Tucker and Chloe.

Daughter Camille Reese to Anthony ’93 and Claudia Sposato, May 7, 2002. She joins sisters Sophia and Isabella. They reside in Haworth, NJ. Son Hayden Ray to Kirk and Dawn (Siver) ’94 Bargerhuff, January 3, 2006. He joins brothers William and Kennan.

Daughter Kinsi Leigh to Jeffrey ’94 and Karin Clapper, February 26, 2006.

She joins sisters Kayli and Kelsi. They reside in Dover, PA, where Jeff is teaching high school math and Karin is a stay-athome mom.

Daughter Joanna Audrey to Stephen and Lanette (Grovesteen) ’95 Lepper, September 13, 2005. She joins sister Abby. Lanette is the recipient of a Military Spouse Fellowship for the accredited financial counselor program through the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. Stephen is a lieutenant teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy and will be deployed to Afghanistan in the spring.

Daughter Eliana Joy to Sepi ’95 and Karen (Oderman) ’94 Mahooti, December 19, 2006. She joins sister Sarah.

Daughter Catherine Grace Lee to Glenn and Andrea (Rodolico) ’95 McKenzie, September 16, 2006. She joins brothers Caleb, Micah and Joseph. Andrea is a stay-at-home mom who homeschools their children, and Glenn is senior pastor of Grace Temple Assembly of God. They reside in McMinnville, TN. Son Joshua Michael Joseph to Michael and Kristen (Borchers) ’96 Koepfer, December 14, 2005. He joins brother Matthew.

Daughter Willa Marian to Mark and Jennifer (Chamberlain) ’96 Paglierani, March 23, 2006.

Son John Robert to John and Katherine (Manseau) ’96 Richards, January 5, 2006.

He joins sister Emme.

Daughter Allyson to Stephen and Joleen (Begin) ’96 Spencer, June 23, 2006. She joins brother Stephen. Joleen is a stay-athome mom.

Son Nathan and daughter Aislyn to Randy and Michelle (Ross) ’97 Ford, January 13, 2006.

Son Calvin Jackson to Jonathan and Clancey (Jackson) ’97 Paul, August 9, 2006. Clancey continues to work with children and adolescents through the social work field. She and her family live in Methuen, MA. Son Samuel Jameson to Paul and Molly (O’Connor) ’98 D’Antonio, July 17, 2006.

The D’Antonios live in Morristown, NJ, where Paul works as an engineer for Johnson & Johnson and Molly teaches English part-time at Pingry School.

Son Liam Philip to Timothy and Ashleigh (Marrama)’ 98 Hourihan, October 8, 2006. He joins brother Connor.

Son Anthony Varitek to James and Barbara (Hughes) ’00 Gemma, August 18, 2006.

Daughter Abigail Grace to Jonathan ’00 and Elizabeth (Ayres) ’00 Siegal, October 2, 2006.

Son Weston Elisha to David and Erica (Wilcox) ’00 Smith, January 8, 2006.

Daughter Penelope Sage to Chuck ’01 and Hannah (Woodham) ’03 Bartholomew, September 10, 2006.

Daughter Karis Joy to Matthew ’01 and Jane (Buckman) ’01 Nussbaum, May 20, 2006. She joins brother Jesse.

Daughter Sadie Olivia to Ben ’01 and Jen (Kunte) ’01 Parker, June 27, 2006.

The family resides in Attleboro, MA, where Ben is a youth pastor at Good News Bible Chapel.

Son Noah Andrew to Chris and Lindsey (Ketcham) ’01 Peabody, October 17, 2006.

The Peabodys live in Swampscott, MA.

ALUMNI

NEWS

Daughter Ava E. to Adam and Taylor (Nice) ’01 Philbrook, March 21, 2006.

Son Elijah Vincent to Joshua ’01 and Ariana (Utzinger) ’01 Robinson, June 25, 2005.

Daughter Breanna Marie to Shawn and Joanna (Smith) ’01 Trautman, December 31, 2005. She joins sibling McKenzie Rae. Joanna is coauthor of Picture Yourself Dancing. The Smiths reside in Dunedin, FL. Son Ethan Brooks to Brian and Anna (Puckett) ’02 Cochran, June 22, 2006. He joins brothers Kelton and Josiah.

Son Samuel to Lee and Tara (Oesch) ’03 Emmett, January 6, 2006. He joins sister Madison.

Daughter Abigail Grace to Daniel and Ginnie (Metz) ’03 Woolley, February 25, 2006. The family resides in Mansfield, MA.

In Memoriam Mary (Northrup) Benedict x’31, July 17, 2006.

Euphemia (Forsyth) Harvey ’34, October 29, 2005.

Frances (Rawley) Roberts ’36, April 25, 2001.

Laura (Currier) Shorey ’46PBI, December 1, 2006.

Arnold R. Vail ’40PBI, ’48, September 27, 2006. He was a teacher, preacher and singer for more than 40 years.

Charles Moore ’41PBI, February 19, 2006.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce.

William Millar ’42, April 5, 2005.

Elliott Roy Blanchard ’43. Reverend Blanchard served as a missionary in Ivory Coast, West Africa, with World Venture (formerly CBFMS) for 42 years. He is survived by his wife, Eula Mae. Barbara (Skinner) Blocksom ’43, September 1, 2006.

Russell Edmondson ’43PBI, August 12, 2006. He was in full-time Christian ministry for 66 years and had recently celebrated 45 years as founder and executive director of Bible Mission to Native Americans and Native Islanders. He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Erma.

Rita Salls ’43, August 3, 2006. She graduated with high honors from Gordon College in theology and missions, and studied French in Switzerland and France.

She was a missionary in Africa and retired in Sebring, FL. Betty (Froberg) Coster ’45PBI, ’48, July 19, 2006, after an extended illness. She is survived by her husband, James ’50.

Hope (Stewart) Denton ’45, December 27, 2005. She is survived by her husband, Clyde.

Waldon Corbet ’46PBI, ’48, August 7, 2006. He pastored churches in Maine, Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire, where he served for 27 years. He is survived by his wife, Isabell (Dean) ’46PBI. Eva (George) Cross ’46, November 10, 2006. She was very active in the churches she and her late husband served, and she volunteered at Cape Cod Hospital for over 25 years.

James Agnew ’47, August 27, 2006.

Charles Nute ’48PBI, July 5, 2006, after a prolonged illness.

Lloyd Williams ’48PBI, August 20, 2006.

Before WWII he was a merchant marine.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army during the war and left the service as a first lieutenant. His life work was serving as a teacher and pastor. He is survived by his wife, Barbara (Booth) ’47PBI. Conrad Collins ’49PBI, January 28, 2006.

He pastored churches in Connecticut and New York over his more than 40 years of ministry. He is survived by his wife, Viola.

Samuel Pinkston ’49, November 8, 2006.

He completed his seminary work at Temple University with a Ph.D. in 1977.

He served in ministry for 57 years in New Jersey, Rhode Island and California.

M. Elaine Potter ’52, July 29, 2006.

Alice (Hatch) Schoen, ’52PBBC, January 29, 1996.

Helen (Booras) Werner ’52PBBC, November 10, 2006. She is survived by her husband, John.

Carl Hatch ’53PBBC, August 26, 2006.

Elaine Bean ’54PBBC, December 25, 2006.

Natalie (Macdougall) Lowrance ’54PBBC, October 14, 2006. She was very involved in teaching music. She is survived by her husband, Donald.

Patricia (Foley) Eliasen ’56B, October 19, 2006. Before retiring she was employed as an elementary school teacher for 38 years. She was a member of the Central Baptist Church in Chelmsford, MA, and is survived by her husband, Donald.

Gerald Thorne ’57PBBC, March 9, 2006.

Gerald was an accomplished artist. He is survived by his wife, Eloise.

Frank Kik ’58, August 1, 2006. He served as pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, KS, for 18 years. For the last 12 years he served as professor of practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and preached at numerous churches in the Charlotte, NC, area. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis.

Lydie (Lariviere) Noel ’58B, October 1, 2006. She is survived by her husband, Claude ’57B.

Florence Riedle ’49, November 3, 2006.

She was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where she served 1944–46 as a lieutenant J6 during WWII. She went on to be a missionary for 34 years.

Elizabeth (Mallonee) Gross ’61B, March 31, 2004.

Howard Riley ’49, May 22, 2006. He was a Marine Corps veteran and served during WWII.

Cynthia Megginson ’63, August 1, 2006.

Her expertise in counseling and teaching as well as her heart for missions led her to spend 10 summers mentoring Christian school teachers and administrators in Haiti. In 2005 Norfolk Christian School named a wing the Cynthia J. Megginson Middle School Wing. She served there from 1970 to 1993.

Manuel Chavier ’50, August 12, 2006, after a brief illness. He was the founder of the International Church of the Nazarene in 1948 and was actively serving as the senior pastor of his church. He served as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army during WWII. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (McKenney) ’49.

Joseph Mills ’50, December 24, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Barbara (Clark) ’52.

Philip Vernon Jaquith ’50PBI, September 29, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Mildred.

Jean (Fowler) Wood ’50PBI, August 2, 2006.

Arline (Daellenbach) Weaver ’51PBBC, February 16, 1997.

David Picciano ’52, October 3, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Margaret.

Vernal Duchette ’63B, May 11, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Opal.

James Repperd ’63, November 16, 2006.

He served in the U.S. Air Force 1954–1959, working in photo reconnaissance. He was also interested in archeology and had a great love for music. He is survived by his wife, Patricia (Jeckel) ’62.

Milton Reedy ’64, December 16, 2006. He joined the U.S. Air Force after college and became a pilot, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Cynthia (Biernacki) Spencer ’65, August 23, 2006. She had a two-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 41

ALUMNI

NEWS

Cynthia (Schauffele) Ingwersen ’68, October 24, 2006. Cynthia studied music and sang and toured with the Gloriae Dei Cantories choir throughout the U.S. and abroad. She was awarded a master’s degree in nursing from Salem State College in 2000. She is survived by her husband, John.

Upcoming Alumni Gatherings

Valeria (Robbins) Vieira ’69B, July 6, 2006.

June 9 Barrington, RI Barrington College Alumni Reunion

Albert Malphrus ’71, November 22, 2006.

He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam era and was employed at the Holyoke Regional Building for 31 years.

He was a longtime member of the Living Gate Church in Granby, MA. He is survived by his wife, Barbara (Russell) ’69.

CONTACT jennifer.thorburn@gordon.edu 978 927 4226

Geraldine Van Twisk ’71B, April 2, 2006, at age 88. A piano teacher to generations of children, she is survived by her husband, Wally.

Sarah Allyn ’07, October 30, 2006, from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Sarah was in the first group of Gordon students to work as interns in the Gordon in Lynn program. She was looking forward to receiving her degree in social work in May and perhaps taking a year to do missions work before studying for a master’s degree in social work.

Ruth (Shields) Morgan ’72, November 14, 2006. She is survived by her husband, David.

Staff and Trustees In Memoriam

Davideen (Ilsley) Dahill ’92, November 2, 2000, from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. She is survived by her husband, Dana, and three children.

Barbara (Gerry) Duley ’73B, September 11, 2006. She was a direct descendant of Elbridge H. Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence. She directed over 40 theatre productions and was an adjunct professor at Barrington College.

Send us Your News!

Submission Guidelines

We love hearing from alumni, and we want to make sure your news is as complete and accurate as possible. We will accept alumni news in any form, but if possible please send it electronically: www.gordon. edu/alumninews. This will help us reduce transmission errors.

b Give graduation year of any Gordon alumni mentioned. b Give graduation year and maiden name (if applicable) for alumni participants in weddings. b Send full name of deceased, including maiden name (if applicable), and graduation year. b Include your location (city and state or country) when appropriate. b Give exact position titles and company names. b Spell out acronyms—it isn’t always clear what they mean. b We accept photos (primarily of weddings and alumni gatherings) in hard copy and digital format, and publish them as space permits. All photos should be in focus, have good contrast, and digital photos should be high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) for best results in print. b We will no longer be publishing baby photos—look for this as an upcoming feature in the alumni section of the College website.

Deadline for alumni news for the Summer 2007 issue is May 10; for the Fall 2007 issue, September 10. If your news arrives after a deadline has passed, it will be published in the following issue.

Although STILLPOINT is now both a print and an online publication, alumni news will be available online only as a log-in feature—that is, accessible to alumni only, and not to Internet search engines.

Unless you state otherwise, we will assume that sending us your news constitutes permission to publish both in the print magazine and online (as defined above). However, we will NOT publish your email address unless you give us specific permission to do so.

42 STILLPOINT | SPRING 2007

April 13

New York City, NY

April 14

Philadelphia, PA

April 15

Washington, D.C.

April 21

Wheaton, IL

June 22–24 Wenham, MA Summer Alumni Institute—“Living Out a Kingdom Vision in a Complex World” Have you found your calling, or are you still looking? What might it look like to be a “transformative agent for the Kingdom of God”? What obstacles do you face? What internal resistance do you encounter?

A group of Gordon alumni will gather for a weekend this summer to explore these and similar questions.

CONTACT laura.carmer@gordon.edu 978 867 4029

STILLPOINT reserves the right to edit letters, images and alumni news for clarity and space. No engagements, please.

PHONE 978 867 4238 FAX 978 867 4656 ONLINE www.gordon.edu/alumninews MAIL Gordon College Office of Alumni and Parent Relations 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham MA 01984 EMAIL alumni.office@gordon.edu

Story Joanna de Vos Photo courtesy of Charlotte Baker

constant: the students taught themselves about the Holocauset through reading books such as Elie Wiesel’s Night, viewing films, keeping journals and presenting oral reports.

Charlotte comments, “I enjoyed all my students, of every different ability level.

If anything I took particular delight in seeing my so-called ‘lower ability’ students take an interest in Holocaust studies. I’m amazed at how the Lord has led and used me to fulfill plans of which I could never have dreamed.”

A Surprising Life: Charlotte Baker ’64 A dedicated and visionary teacher gives back to Gordon.

For 34 years Charlotte Baker taught eighth-grade English at the Bessie Buker Middle School (now Miles River Middle School) in Hamilton, Massachusetts (pictured above). To a rare degree she was gifted at listening to her students. Her life has also displayed an uncommon aptitude for listening to God and for being willing to set off on unexpected journeys.

One year towards the end of the semester she assigned the book The Diary of Anne Frank. The students’ interest in Anne Frank’s story was so intense that her next year’s classes circulated a petition demanding that she teach the book in their classes as well. Year after year interest grew, and faculty beyond the English Department got involved. What began as an end-of-semester reading assignment developed into a full curriculum on the Holocaust, “A Call to Justice”—the first program of its kind on the North Shore.

Eventually Charlotte was introduced to Sonia Weitz, a contemporary of Anne Frank, survivor of five Nazi concentration camps, and the author of I Promised I Would Tell, a book

of poetry about the Holocaust. The two women became friends. Sonia spoke to Charlotte’s classes about her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, along with many other guest speakers.

In 1989 Charlotte was given an award for teaching Holocaust studies along with a Summer Fellowship at Yad Vashem Israel, an intensive three-week living and learning experience aimed at American secondary school teachers who are committed to teaching new generations about the Holocaust.

Through a surprising combination of circumstances, Charlotte stayed a year in Israel, working for Bridges for Peace, a Jerusalem-based Christian organization focused on building relationships between Christians and Jews worldwide. Her living arrangements were also happy surprises: she lived for awhile on a kibbutz, and also in the home of Yehoshafat Harkabi, former head of Israel Army Intelligence, who was a professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Though Charlotte honed her curriculum over the years, one thing remained

Charlotte retired from teaching in 1998 and now lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. She recalls her years as an English major at Gordon with fondness and gratitude, and has included the College in her estate plan.

In a very real sense, the future of the College is being planned today by people like Charlotte Baker.

The Clarendon Society recognizes all who make gifts to Gordon College through a planned gift or provision in their estate. If you have already named Gordon as a beneficiary in your will or estate, please contact us so we can welcome you into The Clarendon Society.

A special luncheon in appreciation of our Clarendon Society members will be held May 18, 2007. For information about ways to support Gordon through planned giving, contact Joanna de Vos, associate director, Special and Planned Gifts, at 978.867.4460 or visit www.gordonplannedgiving.org.

SPRING 2007 | STILLPOINT 43

HECHT from the series Vulnerables installation with dyed sawdust, anthracite © 1989

Sue Trent, M.F.A. artist and adjunct professor of art

Installation art places sculptural and everyday materials in environments outside of galleries, and aims to evoke reactions from viewers. Of her installation series Vulnerables, Sue Trent says, “When I first began making sculpture, I spent a year creating works that could be destroyed easily if even one person decided to touch them. I put them in public places—some of the works were so vulnerable that even casual traffic might destroy their integrity. In making Hecht, I placed dyed sawdust on a floor in an intricate pattern that could easily be disturbed by the tailwind of people rushing by.

“I wanted to know whether the pieces emanated a selfprotective ‘force field,’ causing the public to act carefully in their presence. Or, conversely, might they invite touching, or even conscious mischief, and so be rendered dysfunctional? In their vulnerability these pieces offered both a question and a challenge to their viewers.”

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