The Experience Magazine - Summer 2009 by Warner Pacific University

THE EXPERIENCE THE MAGAZINE OF WARNER PACIFIC COLLEGE

SUMMER 2009

WE ARE WARNER PACIFIC

FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT

New leadership for a remarkable community

believe in Warner Pacific – its mission, its vision, its values, and its people. In this issue of “The Experience,” we explore the theme “We are Warner Pacific” as a way of celebrating our diverse college community. Warner Pacific attracts students looking for an intimate college Andrea P. Cook, Ph.D. setting where they will be challenged by President-elect faculty and staff who go the second mile on their behalf. Thousands of alumni who are serving in areas like education, law, medicine, the ministry, and business can speak to the powerful influence the college had on their lives. Not surprisingly, Warner Pacific also draws strong leaders who are committed to the role that Christian higher education plays in shaping the lives of students – whichever generation they represent. Recently, we have added two key members to our administration team - individuals who are talented, experienced, who love the Lord, and who want to invest their energies in supporting Warner Pacific College. Kevin Bryant is the college’s new Vice President for Institutional Advancement. A native of Seattle, Kevin has extensive experience in athletics management, including coaching and marketing. Kevin most recently served

Not surprisingly, Warner Pacific also draws strong leaders who are committed to the role that Christian higher education plays in shaping the lives of students – whichever generation they represent. as Associate Principal for Athletics and Activities at Tigard High School, in Tigard, Ore. Kevin has also held positions as the Director of Development at Young Life Portland and Director of Athletics at Whitworth College, among others. While at Young Life, Kevin oversaw a $10 million campaign to convert the former Rajneeshpuram ranch near Antelope, Ore. into a Christian outreach camp for young people. Stepping into another key role is Steve Stenberg, our new Interim Vice President for Operations. As Director of Facilities, Operations, and Planning last year, Steve oversaw the $5.5 million renovation of Egtvedt and McGuire Halls, as well as facilities and security. Prior to coming to Warner Pacific, Steve was the Director of Facilities at SEH America in Vancouver, Wash., where he managed a $40 million operating budget and a $350 million construction budget. Kevin and Steve are just two examples of the caliber of individuals who are guiding Warner Pacific into a promising future. As for the articles in this issue, I trust you will be encouraged by the remarkable people that make Warner Pacific so special.

THE EXPERIENCE TheExperience@warnerpacific.edu EDITOR / PHOTOGRAPHER / DESIGNER SCOTT A. THOMPSON sthompson@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1123 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS KELLY WILSON ’97 DR. PAM PLIMPTON CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER FRANK MILLER “The Experience” is produced three times a year by Warner Pacific College for alumni and constituents. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of Warner Pacific College. Warner Pacific is an urban, Christ-centered liberal arts college dedicated to providing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them for the spiritual, moral, social, vocational, and technological challenges of the 21st Century. WPC is affiliated with the Church of God, Anderson, Ind. PRESIDENT ANDREA COOK, PH.D acook@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1246 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COLLEGE RELATIONS LANI FAITH lfaith@warnerpacific.edu 503-517-1369 Warner Pacific College 2219 SE 68th Ave Portland, OR 97215 503-517-1000 www.warnerpacific.edu Please send comments, story suggestions, and corrections to:

Warmly,

TheExperience@warnerpacific.edu Scott A. Thompson, Editor 503-517-1123

Andrea P. Cook, Ph.D. President-elect

Cover photos and photo illustration by Scott A. Thompson.

THE EXPERIENCE

Summer 2009

6 MINDFUL ARTIST Andrea Millen ’09 may be headed for a career in psychology, but she showcased her vivid painting style in a solo art show this spring. 12 MEET OUR AMAZING STUDENTS The college’s student population is increasingly more diverse and just might surprise you. 16

14 WHEN MOM GOES TO COLLEGE A number of single mothers are using Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program to take control of their professional lives - and ensure a better future for their children.

16 CIVIL SERVANTS Three WP alumni in the Oregon State Legislature bring a more seasoned and humble approach to state politics. 17 EDUCATION ADVOCATE Oregon Outreach founder Becky Black ’94 reaches high school students who have nowhere else to go. 18 INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE BUILDER Former Warner Pacific College president Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 is training servant leaders around the world through the foundation that bears his name. 23

FIRST PERSON: COMING FULL CIRCLE Where she once used writing to process through personal grief, an aspiring author takes a career plunge so she can write to help others. By Kelly (Hembree ) Wilson ’97

DEPARTMENTS 4 20 22

College News Alumni News In Memoriam

COLLEGE NEWS

Another Great Graduation Day

n a pristine spring day, Warner Pacific faculty, staff, alumni, and friends celebrated 122 new graduates during the college’s 2009 Spring Commencement service held on May 9 at New Hope Community Church. Following recent trends, the majority of graduates earned their degrees through the college’s Adult Degree Program, giving the Class of 2009 a multi-generational feel. In addition to conferring degrees, the college honored four graduates with annual student achievement awards. Religion and Christian Ministries major Victoria “Vik” Schaaf ’09 received the Milo L. Chapman Award for Service. Music Education major Kristina Larson ’09 received the Marshall K. Christensen Award for Scholarship. ADP graduate Donavon Mattern ’09, the assistant Chief for Clark County Fire District 3, in Vancouver, Wash., received the Wilma I. Perry Award. Finally, Cross Cultural Ministry major Ruby Mitchell ’09 was honored with the A.F. Gray Award.

Larson

Schaaf

Mattern

Mitchell

(Clockwise) Graduates Sasha ’09 and Ira Bailey ’09 enjoy a moment with their four-yearold daughter, Selah; Seymour L. Palmer, Jr. ’09 points skyward as he prepares to receive his diploma; WP Board member Pam (Harlan) Wilson ’81, her niece Lauren Waymire ’09, and Jennifer Marble ’10 enjoy the Commencement reception.

Pioneer School improvements continue

arner Pacific’s ongoing partnership with neighboring Pioneer School continued in April as students, alumni, and friends of the college turned the school’s drab concrete retaining wall into a work of art, with the help of a $500 grant from Oregon Volunteers. Pioneer, which is located a block east of Warner Pacific’s Mt. Tabor campus, is part of Portland Public Schools and serves students with significant social and emotional needs. Since 2005, Warner Pacific volunteers have completed a series of beautification projects at the school, including the installation of raised garden beds, chin-up bars, and an outdoor basketball court. During the weekend of the 2009 Global Youth Service Day, April 23 and 24, volunteers painted the retaining wall with squares inspired both by the building’s architecture and by the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian. “The whole architecture of the building is kind of 1960s, so we did this Mondrian square pattern,” said project coordinator and artist Sharon (Warman) Agnor ’73, who also donated paint. “He used only geometric shapes.” In addition, students also weeded and dug additional garden areas in Pioneer’s courtyard, working alongside Pioneer students for the first time.

The Experience

Kunke, Scott named faculty and staff persons of the year

Ethics Bowl team finishes third

Warner Pacific’s Ethics Bowl team finished third at the 2009 Ethics Bowl Championship, sponsored by the Oregon Independent College Foundation and held at Marylhust University, Feb. 28. The team of Scott Mangle ’09, Cassandra Clerget ’09, Rheanna Clason ’09, Blake Ettestad ’10, and Jacob George ’10 faced a number of tough cases, including questions about what to do with unused frozen embryos in fertility clinics and ethical guidelines in banking. The team had victories against Linfield College, Pacific University, and Reed College, but

Two WP students to vie for the title of Miss Oregon

After winning local competitions, two Warner Pacific music majors will be among the contestants at the 2009 Miss Oregon Pageant, held in Seaside, Ore. July 8 - 11. Sophomore Alexandria Henderson ’10 wowed judges with her singing and stage presence as she claimed the Miss Henderson Portland title on March 28. Also impressive in the Miss Portland competition was first runner-up and fellow WP music major Kaya McGrath ’09, of Seaside, Ore. A former Miss Clatsop McGrath County, McGrath was eager to compete for Miss Oregon one last time, so she entered and won the Miss Washington County competition in April.

College’s tuition reduction makes national news

A year after Warner Pacific lowered its traditional tuition by 23 percent, the college is still in the news. Warner Pacific is mentioned in an article about institutions’ responses to the economic downturn in the Spring 2009 issue of “Advance,” the magazine of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. The full article is at www.cccu.org/news/advance.

The Warner Pacific student body voted Health and Human Kinetics professor Kunke Tom Kunke and former Administrative Assistant to the Dean of Students, Donna (Lamping) Scott ’73 as the 2008 -09 faculty and staff persons of the year. Kunke has served Scott on the faculty for over twenty years and this year coached the Warner Pacific men’s and women’s golf teams in their inaugural season. Kunke has announced that he will take a one-year leave of absence to spend time with family. Scott had worked at the college for 18 years in advancement and student services. She and her husband Terry, are now happily retired and living in Gresham, Ore.

Long-standing trustee retires

lost to Willamette University. Warner Pacific lost a tie-breaker with eventual champion University of Portland for the right to move on to the championship round.

After serving 15 years, Simeon Greene has retired from the college’s Board of Trustees due to term limits. Greene Greene is a former agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency who has become an entrepreneur with his own line of “Simmie J’s” gourmet barbecue sauce.

President-elect Cook provides invocation for State Senators

President-elect Andrea Cook gave the invocation at the State Capitol in Salem, Ore., before the State Senate session on March 25 as a guest of state Sen. Rod Monroe ’64. During her visit, Cook met with the three Warner Pacific alumni who serve in the state legislature, Monroe, Rep. Vic Gilliam ’75, and Rep. Bill Kennemer ’68. (See related story on page 16).

Urban Ministries expert Lupton to speak at Inauguration

Urban ministries leader Bob Lupton will be the keynote speaker at the inauguration of Presidentelect Andrea Cook on September 20, 2009, in McGuire Auditorium. Lupton is the president of Family Consultation Service, based in Atlanta, Ga. Lupton FCS constructs housing and offers other human services in urban areas. He also the author of “Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life,” and “Renewing the City: Reflections on Community Development and Urban Renewal.”

(L to R) Volunteers work on the front face of Pioneer School’s retaining wall; the front of Pioneer School after primer had been applied; WP freshman Ashlee Richardson ’12 paints a square.

Summer 2009

STUDENT PROFILES

Mindful artist Andrea Millen ’09 may be headed for a career in psychology, but she showcased her vivid painting style in a solo art show this spring.

ecent WP graduate Andrea Millen ’09 is a renaissance woman. Not only is the Human Development major headed to graduate school to study psychology, but Millen is also a skilled artist. Millen displayed many of her vivid acrylic paintings in a solo show on campus this spring. Millen painted much of the work as a result of taking art classes at Pacific Northwest College of Art, in Portland, through a partnership with Warner Pacific that allowed her to take drawing and painting courses without paying additional tuition. It also helps that Millen’s mother, Kim, is an art teacher who keeps a studio in the family’s West Linn, Ore. home. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always danced, sung, and done art,” said Millen. “It’s always been there.”

Millen had originally planned on pursuing a graduate degree in art therapy, but ultimately felt earning a doctorate in psychology would give her more flexibility in her career. This fall she will begin a five-year doctorate program in psychology at Pacific University, in Forest Grove, Ore. Painting will stay a hobby. Millen’s interest in psychology has been fueled by conversations with faculty; missions trips to Mexico, postKatrina New Orleans, and Honduras; and an internship at the Salvation Army’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation program during which she taught anger management to middle-aged male clients. “Most of the men had been in jail. It wasn’t their choice to be there, but I laid down the rules and the guys respected me,” said Millen. “It was really awesome that I got this experience.” Millen credits the accessibilty and support of Warner Pacific faculty as key to her success as a student at the college. “The best part of Warner Pacific is the professors and how invested they are in you,” Millen said. “There’s no comparison to the amount of access you can have with your professors [at Warner Pacific] if you choose to. I feel I’m well prepared for the next step I want to take.”

Multnomah County honors Social Work intern with award for volunteerism

ocial Work major Rheanna Clason ’09 made quite an impression during an internship with Multnomah County’s Department of Criminal Justice this past semester. Clason received a special 2009 Citizen Involvement Award from Multnomah County for her work in the Family Services Unit. She assisted counselors as they met with juvenile clients with criminal histories, including pregnant teens, victims of domestic violence, and teens with family members in jail. Clason wanted an internship where she could help some of our community’s neediest individuals, and she wasn’t disappointed. “I looked forward to [the internship],” Clason said. “It was interesting to see how all of the classes I’ve taken came into play in one spot. It cemented the fact that learning isn’t just in a textbook.”

The Experience

Clason

An insider’s look at homelessness

Did you stay in Portland the entire time?

Recent graduate Graham Houser ’09 shares his story of voluntarily living on the streets to learn firsthand what it means to have no home.

How was your faith impacted by your experience?

Raised in a stable, Christian family in Southern California, Graham Houser ’09 moved to Portland after graduating from high school six years ago to live on the streets and share the Gospel with homeless people. “The Experience” asked Houser to further describe his journey into homelessness, one that lasted nearly two years. (Interview conducted and condensed by Scott A. Thompson). What led to your decision to live as a homeless person? Every Christmas and Thanksgiving Day, [my family] would serve at homeless shelters, as well as do volunteer work on the weekends through the church. It was instilled in me. What are some things you learned about homelessness? A lot of homeless guys I met were working really hard doing construction or temp jobs or whatever they could and they had just been dealt a bad card in life – a bankruptcy or a divorce – and things had spiraled out of control. I was surprised that not every homeless person was a “no good alcoholic,” but, instead, hard working. Many of the youth I met came from pretty good backgrounds but they got into drugs and alcohol and that put them on the street. Some had come out of the closet and their parents couldn’t handle that and they had no where to go. That surprised me. How did you go about finding food and shelter?

No. I started hitchhiking around the country. I spent time in San Diego, living on the beach there, and then out to Montana and as far east as Minnesota.

Often times, I saw much better Christ-like figures who were the drunkards and the drug addicts and the homeless than the people I grew up with in the church, because [the homeless] were a lot more honest and real and present. After living such a nomadic existence for two years, was it difficult to finally come to Warner Pacific and begin your studies in Social Work and Human Development? All of these experiences I had brought a lot more depth to the material. I realized there are actual terms for this or that and disciplines focused on [understanding homelessness]. But it was also kind of distant. However, a really cool internship I had was with an outreach program called Janus Youth - a program I was in when I was homeless. We would go downtown in groups and find homeless people and offer them bags full of medical and hygiene supplies. We also had a book full of the numbers of agencies in town where they could get a job or a meal the next day. What advice might you have for people who are genuinely concerned for homeless people, but feel awkward engaging with them on the street? Homeless people just get ignored and forgotten because they’re dirty and crazy and weird. Just acknowledging people and stopping to talk with them for a little bit and taking an interest in them goes far beyond what we can see. Homeless people don’t have judgments like a lot of us do, because we’re so concerned with our image and how we look and what people think about us and how we’re performing. These people don’t care about that anymore.

I didn’t have any street smarts, initially. You just gain that through experience. I started to understand streets and maps better, where free bathrooms are and where the best dumpsters are to get food. There is always a shelter downtown in some city where you can get a meal and a shower.

What’s next for you after graduation? I’m really interested in community development internationally. I love the idea of strengthening the infrastructure locally, within a neighborhood. Now that I’m young and not tied down, I love the idea of traveling overseas and working for an organization like the Peace Corps. What’s one of the more endearing memories of your time as a homeless person?

Often times I would have a sign and ask for change from people. That was tough. Growing up with such a blessed family, I didn’t have to ask for anything, so it was an interesting feeling to be ignored, like I totally disappeared, because I had a sign in front of me asking for change. But there was also humility in being in a position of needing something from someone else.

Sleeping under one of the bridges in Portland, I met this friend named Tramp. He was this old Vietnam vet in his sixties who had been a hobo ever since. He said, “I don’t understand why anybody would want to live in a $5 million house when you can live under a $60 million bridge.” He had this perspective that just made you enjoy wherever you were. Summer 2009

FACULTY NEWS

Bravo! Captain After twelve years of making us laugh, cry, cheer, and reflect long and hard about our lives, beloved theatre director Gary Bruner retired this spring. A fellow colleague pays tribute. By Pam Plimpton, Ph.D.

welve years ago, Gary Bruner saved the day. He graciously stepped in to direct the college’s production of Hart and Kaufman’s comedy, “You Can’t Take it With You” after the previous director accepted an incredible job offer and left the college mid-production. A total stranger to the cast, Gary shaped the fledgling play into a hit that had audiences rolling in the aisles. So began Gary’s tenure at Warner Pacific, during which “The Captain” (Gary also is an avid boatman) left an indelible impression on hundreds of students. As an assistant professor of English and Drama, Gary not only taught play production but also courses in speech, oral interpretation of literature, Shakespeare, drama, and of course, acting. Gary taught students how to love language: the sound of words, the pain of a (really bad!) pun, the delight of a well-placed malapropism.* He drilled them in the rhythms of iambic pentameter. He coaxed emotion and intensity, control and circumspection out their performances. And he respected their opinions in the choice of plays or musicals to perform. Gary embodies the belief that drama is not an art form for the elite, but, rather, for all of us. He spent countless hours cutting lumber to make amazing sets (one of which actually revolved), sewing last minute costumes, and driving from thrift store to thrift store in search of that perfect prop. Pam Plimpton is a professor of English and Humanities and the interim chair of the Warner Pacific Humanities Deparment

Twelfth Night - 2002

Something’s Afoot - 2004

The Bourgeois Gentleman - 2005

The Curious Savage - 2009

Students – actors and tech crew alike – learned what it meant to be committed to a greater good. They often sported black T-shirts with the inscription, “I can’t . . . I have rehearsal” - a subtle reminder to all that discipline, dedication, and hard work produce excellenct results. Gary’s legacy cannot be quanThe Experience

tified, but students he has taught know its worth. It will be with them all their lives. We will miss him tremendously (although he will teach Shakespeare as an adjunct professor next year, a true blessing for our students). * A word sounding somewhat like the one intended, as in “polo bear.”

Dr. Pam Plimpton, professor of English and Humanities, received the 2008-2009 Kendall Excellence in Scholarship Award, as voted by the faculty. Plimpton has been developing new courses for the revised English major, including Critical Strategies and Global Literature. She has also conducted considerable research on female British authors of the 18th Century.

Dr. Stephen S. Carver, Chapman Chair of Biblical Studies, has begun work on a textbook for the Introduction to the Bible course in the Adult Degree Program. In this textbook, Dr. Carver will provide an overview of the background, content, and literary forms of the books of the Bible.

Associate Professor of Missions and Urban Ministry Dr. John Johnson received the 2008 - 2009 Kendall Excellence in Teaching Award, as voted by the faculty. Johnson has led four international mission trips for the college, including a return trip to Myanmar in May, and has worked with a team of staff and faculty in forming two “Crossing Culture” classes, which will provide opportunities for students to gain academic credit for intentionally integrated cross-cultural experiences.

Sue Kopp, Director of Library Services, concluded her service on the steering committee that planned the national conference for the Association of College and Research Libraries in Seattle, Wash. last March. At the event, Sue monitored four sessions, as well as the round table discussion forums; hosted a dinner for participants from across the country; and enjoyed time in Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen’s suite at the Experience Music Project - Science Fiction Museum.

Humanities Professor Heidi Owsley has developed a new course for the Master’s in Teaching in the Adult Degree Program entitled “Reading and Writing in the Content Area.” It is an examination of literacy across the middle and high school curriculum with an emphasis on helping struggling readers and non-native English speaking students.

Dr. Jerry Hickson, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministries, is leaving Warner Pacific to return to fulltime ministry. Prior to arriving at the college in 2002, Hickson worked as a Church of God pastor in California, Florida, and Texas. Hickson is currently working on a book about theodicy, an aspect of theology that attempts to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering in the world with a righteous God.

Dr. Caleb Rosado, Director of the Urbans Studies Program, is creating a Community Advisory Council for the Urban Studies Program, which will include community leaders in the Portland Area. Rosado is also developing a Certificate Program in Urban Ministry, which is designed to empower pastors with an understanding of the city and the practice of ministry in an urban context.

As a part of the Journalism Education Association mentoring program to new high school publications advisers, Bill Flechtner, Associate Professor of Education, co-chaired a mentor forum at a conference in Phoenix, AZ, in April, 2009. The forum was for current mentors to continue to build the skills needed to work with advisers in their first two years of the position.

Summer 2009

ATHLETICS NEWS Athletic Director Valentine to step down, will still coach

Bart Valentine ’75, who has served as Athletic Director and Men’s Varsity Basketball coach since 1999, will transition out of the AD role at the end of the summer to become WP’s new mathematics professor, this fall. The college hopes to name a successor by August. Valentine will continue as the varsity men’s basketball coach, but is excited to return to the classroom.

Trio of hoopsters earn honors

Barton

Senior Jacque Barton ’09, Senior Adam Moore ’09, and junior Kaylone Riley ’10 earned All-Cascade Conference honors following the ‘08 - ‘09 basketball seasons. Barton, a native of North Eugene, Ore., finished with a 12.8 scoring average and led the Knights to a 5th-place finish in the conference. Moore, from Everett, Wash. led the Knights in scoring, averaging 20.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He also was named a Second Team All-American. Riley, from Las Vegas, Nev., was named the CCC’s Defensive Player of the Year after ranking among the nation’s top five players in blocked shots, defensive rebounds, and total rebounds.

Men’s basketball team out early at national tournament

Riley

Unseeded Grace College (Winona Lake, Ind.) spoiled Warner Pacific’s fourth consecutive trip to the NAIA Division II men’s basketball championships with an 82-72 first round upset victory over the 13 th seeded Knights, March 12, in Point Lookout, Mo. The Knights led 68-62 with 8:45 remaining, but the Lancers finished the game on a 20-4 run. Warner Pacific, which finished third in the Cascade Conference, ended up with a record of 21 wins and 9 losses.

Track and field athletes compete at nationals

(Pictured right) First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-American Adam Moore ’09.

Three student athletes represented Warner Pacific at the 2009 Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, May 21 - 23, in Edwardsville, Ill. In her third trip to nationals, Jill Peoples ’10, from Morton, Wash., finished 24 th in the javelin competition with a throw of 37.9 The Experience

WP golfer Jason Anderson ’09, of Vancouver, Wash., attempts an approach shot during a Cascade Conference match last March.

meters. Also returning to nationals was decathlete Brett Van Asch ’10, from Glendora, Calif. who finished 11 th , the same spot as last year. Finally, Jonathan Graves ’09, from Vancouver, Wash. competed in the steeplechase.

Promising recruits join Knights’ athletic teams

Warner Pacific coaches have landed new talent for the coming year. Men’s basketball coach Bart Valentine ’75 has signed senior guard Reggie Guyton, a 5’ 11” transfer from Oral Roberts University. Women’s basketball coach Matt Gregg has signed transfers Kristina Schumacher and Maya Gross from Portland’s Cascade College. And volleyball coach Kim Pearce has landed Clackamas Community College standout Meltia Elliot, the recipient of the 2009 Art Fiero Award for the top female scholar athlete in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

Peoples

Graves

Golf teams conclude inaugural season

Warner Pacifi’s golf teams completed their first year of competition with the men finishing last in conference and the women third. Jon Gaffney ’10 was named All-Conference.

Van Asch

Cricket Anyone?

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Pictured (clockwise) Professor Terry Baker ’81 (in foreground), Nick Foutz ’12, Zach Barron ’09 (throwing), Bethany Baumann ’10, Jacob Jackson ’10, Jonathan Cotton ’10 and Baumann, and Vik Schaaf ’09.

Summer 2009

It was to cricket what stick ball is to baseball when members of Global World History and History of Western Philosophy courses played a pick-up game of cricket on a windy Friday afternoon last May, using a home-made cricket mallet and (appropriately enough) #2 pencils as bails. In addition to being an excuse to postpone studying for finals, the match was an effort to better appreciate the second most popular sport in the world. It sure puts a new spin on bowling, now doesn’t it?

WE ARE WARNER PACIFIC

WHO ARE THESE AMAZING STUDENTS?

hey represent a remarkably diverse mix of backgrounds, ages, and life experiences. Some are traditional college students recent high school graduates leaving home for the first time to embark on their own, coming-of-age journey. They come from as far away as Uruguay and as close as a few blocks up the street. They are the children of ministers, teachers, business owners, and blue collar workers. Over a third are first-generation college students when they arrive. After studying Greek philosophers, music theory, or microbiology on the Mt. Tabor campus; working at a part-time job or an internship; worshiping in chapel; preparing for an athletic match; or putting in community service hours, traditional students can be found immersing themselves in the social life of the campus (rarely getting enough sleep in the process). This might include screaming until their hoarse at home basketball games, dressing to the nines for spring banquet, taking in a rousing game of ultimate frisbee on the lawn, or playing video games late into the night, punctuated by midnight donut runs. And then there is another set of students who bring their own life history to the table. They are working adults â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mothers, fathers, even grandparents â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for whom earning a college degree has been a dream deferred. Many are already successful professionals who need a college degree to earn that promotion or to forge a different career. Others have faced misfortune and are coming to college to build a new life. When they are not discussing Greek philosophers, or examining ethics in the workplace, or researching child development, they can be found juggling work demands, child care, endless errands, and homework (rarely getting enough sleep in the process). If there is any commonality between our students, it is that they have dared to dream big and engage in a life-changing process that demands courage, hard work, camaraderie, maturity, and faith. They are Warner Pacific College and we are mightily impressed.

The Experience

Did you Know? Test your knowledge of Warner Pacific College with our â&#x20AC;&#x153;Get to know usâ&#x20AC;? quiz. 1. How many students (traditional and adult degree) were enrolled in the spring of 2009?

9. Which of the following are the newest majors offered by the college?

a. 740 b. 850

a. Urban Studies b. Accounting c. Communications

c. 970 d. 1,038

d. Psychology e. All of the above

2. Last year, overall enrollment increased by what amount?

10. What is the most popular major?

a. 12 percent b. 21 percent

a. Business b. Education

c. 18 percent d. 26 percent

3. What is the average age of a WP student? a. 25 b. 30

11. In 2008-09, minority students comprised what percentage of the WP student body?

c. 38 d. 43

a. 9 percent b 15 percent

4. In 2008-09, the Adult Degree Program comprised what percentage of the overall student body? a. 45 percent b. 58 percent

c. 63 percent d. 72 percent

c. 700 d. 800

c. 23 percent d. 35 percent

7. In 2008, Warner Pacific reduced its traditional tuition by what percentage to better accomodate students and their families? a. 10 percent b. 23 percent

c. 18 percent d. 28 percent

8. How many campuses / sites does Warner Pacific now operate for traditional and ADP programs? a. 1 b. 2

c. 3 d. 4

c. 21 d. 34

13. Of 117 freshman in the traditional program last year, 56 percent came from Oregon. Which state claims the second most students?

6. What percentage of incoming students (freshmen and transfers) in the traditional program were first-generation college students last year? a. 10 percent b. 18 percent

c. 13 percent d. 21 percent

12. How many different Christian denominations are represented among our students? a. 15 b. 29

5. What is the anticipated enrollment of ADP in the summer of 2009? a. 500 b. 600

c. Social Science d. Human Development

a. Washington b. Nevada

c. California d. Hawaii

14. In which of the following graduate schools have Warner Pacific alumni studied within the last two years? a. University of Kentucky Medical School b. Fuller Seminary c. Fordham University d. The New School (New York City) e. University of Colorado Medical School f. University of Connecticut g. The University of Chicago h. All of the above

Key (1) d, (2) b, (3) b, (4) c, (5) d, (6) d, (7) b, (8) d, (9) e, (10) a, (11) b, (12) b, (13) a, and (14) h. Source: The 2008 Warner Pacific Fact Book Summer 2009

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

STUDENT LIFE

When Mom goes to college A number of single mothers are using Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program to take control of their professional lives - and ensure a better future for their children.

(Top) Human Development major Char Williams ’09 still has two of five children at home, Spring, 10, and Emmett, 13. (Right) ADP student Richelle Durham ’09 was interviewed by CBS News’ Seth Doan last fall.

a law career. Durham’s story gained national attention last fall when she was interviewed by CBS News correspondent Seth Doan about a savings program for low-income families in which Durham was participating. Durham represents a number of single mothers who have turned to Warner Pacific to establish new lives following difficult circumstances. “My ADP experience has been very positive,” said Durham. “I feel the teachers are very understanding and respectful of the fact that I am not an 18-year-old college student living at home,” she said. Program convenient Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program was founded with working adults in mind. The program offers an associate’s degree, two bachelor’s degrees, and three master of arts degrees,

The Experience

PHOTO COURTESY OF JRICHELLE DURHAM

ive years ago, it looked to all the world that Richelle Durham ‘09 was living out her own version of the American dream. Durham was a stayat-home mom married to a wealthy businessman and living in an upscale neighborhood in Kelso, Wash. with their three children. Durham enjoyed a weekly allowance of $1,000 and drove a new $45,000 Ford Windstar Minivan. “I wasn’t wanting for anything [financially],” Durham said. But behind the scenes, Durham and her children were in danger. Durham’s husband was physically abusive and in January 2004 - after enduring multiple assaults - Durham finally mustered the courage to make her escape. She grabbed $40 cash and drove away in the family’s beat up 1981 Chevy Suburban with her two oldest children (who have a different father) to start a new life, literally from scratch. “Within an hour, [my ex-husband] canceled all my visa cards,” said Durham, 37. “I never had a bank account. I stayed with a friend in a two-bedroom apartment trying to figure things out. I needed to become self-sufficient.” Today, Durham is well on her way to realizing a different dream - this time on her own terms. Following her divorce, Durham got custody of her three children, but receives no child support. She now works as a legal assistant in Kelso for her former divorce attorney – earning $11 an hour – and will soon complete a bachelor’s degree in Human Development through Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program on her way to pursuing

PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSICA NICE

each of which is designed to be completed in approximately 18 months. Students are grouped into cohorts that meet once a week and move through the program as a team, changing courses and professors every five weeks. The accelerated curriculum and relational model are particularly valuable for single mothers - especially those who have never gone to college - as they try to balance work schedules, childcare, and class assignments. “I was very insecure and scared that I was not going to succeed, but I realized that there is no where to go but up,” said Char Williams ’09, 46, who is finishing her bachelor’s degree in human development. Seven years ago, Williams was a stay-at-home mom to five children - ages 3 to 18 - when her husband left. A friend from her church helped Williams land a part-time job as a retail merchandiser for Proctor and Gamble, but it took her a number of years before she had the confidence to consider going to college for the first time. She took a few community college courses before beginning ADP’s associate degree in organization dynamics in 2006. In her first cohort, Williams met and immediately bonded with two other mothers, which helped ease her fears. “They were accepting of me,” Williams said. “I started to get brave and it was my faith in God that kept me going, for sure.” Williams has two remaining children at home, Emmett, 13, and Spring, 10. She finds that she has to get her homework done

ADP student Jessica Nice ’09 with sons Miles, 3, and Byron, 6.

really couldn’t do it without my family,” said Nice, who will complete her bachelor’s degree in human development next December. Nice worked as a loader at UPS three years ago when her husband of six years announced he was ending the marriage. Nice immediately put in for a promotion, realizing that she would have to get serious about building a career. She wants to stay at UPS and says any future promotions will hinge on her having a degree. She’s planning on earning a master’s degree in management and organizational leadership at ADP when her bachelor’s work is over. “I knew that I was going to have to start cracking if I was

“It would be nice to be able to take care of things for my kids and to be in a place where I’m not on any assistance and I can totally provide for them.”

- ADP student Richelle Durham ’09

on her days off and on weekends when her kids visit their dad. But despite the time crunch, Williams says she is determined to excel and get top grades. “I want to get the most out of this,” Williams said. Extended family essential Single mothers with young children say that help from their extended family is essential to their ability to attend college full-time. Keisha Sanchez ’09 works in an office at the David Douglas School District, in S.E. Portland. She recently separated from her husband and is the primary care-giver to her seven-year-old daughter, Kenya. Sanchez relies on her mother, Nancy Smith, to watch Kenya on her school night, which means having to leave work early, pick up Kenya from school, drop her off at Smith’s home in Boring, Ore., and then hustle back in time for a 6:00 p.m. class at ADP’s Centre 205 campus. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been really hard,” Sanchez said. “I’ve lost some time with my daughter, but I devote my weekends to her and the week to school. She has gotten through this with flying colors. It helps that I have this great kid.” Jessica Nice ’09 has three young children, ages 3 to 6, and works a graveyard shift in Tualatin, Ore. for United Parcel Service, where she is a supervisor. Her mother, Sherri, stays in Nice’s home with the children when Nice is working. “I consider that I have a second chance at my dreams and I

going to be on my own,” said Nice, “I had to get all of the education I could get before I threw myself into my career.” A better provider Durham admits that navigating this new chapter in life has taken its toll on her family. Her children - now ages 8, 13, and 18 - have been in survival mode so long, they have had to carry more of a load than she’d like. For example, her oldest daughter has to work to pay for her own car, insurance, and cell phone. “It would be nice to be able to take care of things for my kids, and to be in a place where I’m not on any assistance and I can totally provide for them.” Things are looking up for Durham. In addition to being only months away from graduating from Warner Pacific, Durham successfully applied to become a family partner in the organization Habitat for Humanity (HFH), which is building a new home for her and her children. Also, Durham is applying for the Washington State Law Clerk Program which will allow her to study law under the mentorship of her boss instead of through an expensive law school. She will be eligible to take the bar exam in four years. “I am definitely not done with my education,” said Durham. “Law is my passion. I love being in the courtroom. I love doing what I’m doing. Dealing with criminal clients, dependency parents, juvenile situations. It’s really what I want to do.”

Summer 2009

ALUMNI PROFILES ists,” said Kennemer. “I think I have something to contribute. I have a little more maturity and a substantial amount of experience both at the state and local level.” Gilliam, on the other hand, was appointed to serve in Salem in late 2006 by the commissioners of Marion and Clackamas Counties – including Kennemer - after the previous representative resigned due to poor health. He won election outright last fall. Gilliam had political aspirations early in his career after he served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield, but he lost in a bid for the Oregon state senate in 1986. Gilliam gave up politics to focus on development work for major nonprofits like Mercy Corp International and the Oregon Health and Science University Foundation. He smiles at the irony of his appointment twenty years later. “It’s a very different thing in your early 30’s to really want it and lose to . . . [being] in your early fifties and it be handed to you, in a way,” said Gilliam. Philosophically, Monroe and Gilliam are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, while Three WP alumni in the Oregon State Legislature bring a Kennemer strikes a pragmatic middle ground. For example, Monroe fought to limit drastic more seasoned and humble approach to state politics. cuts in public education as a way of balancing the 2007 - 2009 budget. “The big issue we faced was whether to force schools to cut days,” said Monroe. “I objected to that and convinced not only my committee but ultimately the epresentative Vic Gilliam ’75 (R-Molalla, Silverton), full house and senate.” Senator Rod Monroe ’64 (D-Portland), and RepresenIn contrast, Gilliam believes there is still plenty of fat in the tative Bill Kennemer ’68 (R-Oregon City) may not state budget. always agree on matters of policy, but the three War“If you just assume that government should grow, and Demoner Pacific alumni who served at the State Capitol this crats do, then you are four and five billion dollars in the hole, and year share a common drive to improve the lives of others. counting,” he said. “But you and I don’t budget that way.” “Part of our responsibility is to be leaven and to do our part to As for Kennemer, he’s not opposed to government intervention, make the world a better place,’” said Kennemer, a retired clinical but prefers to use it selectively. psychologist who also served for 12 years on the Board of Commissioners for Clackamas County. Monroe is a former high school history and government teacher who began his political career in the “Part of our responsibility is to be leaven and Oregon House of Representatives in to do our part to make the world a better place.” 1976. Now in his third term in the Senate, Monroe served this year on the - Oregon State Rep. Bill Kennemer ’68 all-important Ways and Means Committee that had to fill an $855 million budget shortfall. “I was always taught by my mom “Increasingly there are ‘top down’ people who think they know that the more abilities you’re given, the greater the responsibilwhat’s good for you,” said Kennemer. “I’m more concerned what ity,” said Monroe. you think is good for you.” Kennemer first served in the Oregon state senate from 1987 Political philosophies aside, the three legislators believe they to 1996 while operating his private practice in Oregon City, Ore. can model a form of leadership at the State Capitol that isn’t He sponsored seven of the top 50 bills passed in 1993, as rated tainted by a quest for fame. by “The Oregonian” newspaper. He left state politics in 1996 to “I think that wisdom versus ambition thing is worth noting,” work at Clackamas County. After toying with retirement last said Gilliam. “I think Bill and [Rod] Monroe bring that. Senator year, Kennemer ran for an open senate seat, believing he still had Monroe and I don’t agree often . . . but it’s just a very nice thing plenty of experience to offer Salem. to have fellow Knights down here.” “Increasingly the members [of the legislature] are young activ-

FRANK MILLER

Civil Servants

The Experience

Education Advocate

Becky Black ’94 with students at Gladys McCoy Academy in N.E. Portland.

Oregon Outreach founder Becky Black ’94 reaches students who have nowhere else to go.

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

three separate sites in Portland, with only $18,000 in funding from Multnomah County. Eventually, Black moved all three programs under one roof in 1990 in a house in NE Portland, naming the high school portion the Gladys McCoy Academy, after the first African-American woman to serve on the Portland School Board. Black initially contracted with Portland Public Schools to teach expelled students coming from within the district.

“We want the students who have tried everything else. - Becky Black ’94 Exec. Director of Oregon Outreach

ecky Black ’94 has devoted the last twenty years of her life giving students who have burned all other educational bridges a place to finally find academic success. Black is the executive director of Oregon Outreach, Inc., an organization that serves students who have been expelled from public schools and who face their last shot at earning a high school diploma. “We want the students who have tried everything else,” said Black, in her NE Portland office. “If they don’t come here, it might be the end of the road for them.” Oregon Outreach operates five small “contract” schools in Oregon, including sites in inner N.E. Portland, East Multnomah County, North Clackamas, Molalla, and Woodburn. Students not only receive schooling, but also have access to drug and alcohol counseling and job placement services. “I always said, these are God’s children and He’s going to take care of them,” said Black, who received a “Spirit Award” from the City of Portland last December for her efforts. “Our program started with nothing. We had the kids and clientele long before we had the money.” Black came to Portland from Idaho in the summer of 1988. A single mother with five children, Black had worked at a residential drug and alcohol treatment center for youth while studying social work at Idaho State University. Once in Portland, Black enrolled in Warner Pacific’s Degree Completion Program and worked for the federal program, Job Corp, helping 600 teenagers find jobs her first summer. In the process, Black realized how many of the youth had dropped out of school. “I felt I was putting the cart before the horse when I was trying to find them jobs and they didn’t have the education,” Black said. Black started Oregon Outreach in 1989 after she attempted to help eight male teenagers transition out of MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, in Woodburn, Ore. No public schools would accept them, so Black ordered paperwork from the Oregon Department of Education to start her own school. She found a local church willing to donate classroom space and with volunteer Tim Holt ’90 started tutoring the young men. “I learned more about education with those young men,” said Black. “We didn’t have any books or computers. We had library cards and bus tickets.” Within six months, Black was operating a job placement service, drug and alcohol counseling, and tutoring programs at

As word spread about McCoy Academy’s work, Black began receiving referrals from suburban school districts. Since the suburban schools paid more per student, Black was able to subsidize the overall program. She now leases office space in Portland’s Rockwood neighborhood and serves 40 students from East Multnomah County schools at Rosi Hinton High, named in honor of a former Warner Pacific College professor who also taught for Oregon Outreach before dying of cancer in 2007. Keeping multiple programs afloat financially has always been a “hand to mouth” existence. Black has had to close and reopen sites as funding has ebbed and flowed, but she remains undaunted. She says the payoff is graduation, when students – some carrying babies in their arms – accept a diploma they thought might never come. “To see them begin to build relationships with the staff, begin to fit in, to begin to earn credit to go onto graduation [is the reward],” said Black. “They’re all success stories.”

Summer 2009

Photo courtesy the Marshall Christensen Foundation

ALUMNI PROFILES

Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 (left) with Erezhep Mambetkaziev, President of Kazakh American Free University, in Ust-Kamenogorsk.

International Bridge Builder Former Warner Pacific College president Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 is training servant leaders around the world through the foundation that bears his name.

s Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 was finishing his third and final term as president of Warner Pacific College in 1996, he received an unexpected phone call that would set his career on a new – and distinctly international – path. On the other line was Dr. Dan Harrison (he received his honorary degree from Warner Pacific), the Vice President of the American ministry InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) asking if Christensen would help establish a new college in – of all places – the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. There would be no pay, but Christensen would be able to stay in Portland and develop curriculum and programs for a college that wanted to teach Western-style business courses in English. Christensen was, to say the least, intrigued. “They wanted their students to study in English and learn free enterprise,” Christensen said in a recent interview in Portland. “These post-Soviets were interested in our values. I said, ‘Dan, that’s really amazing.’” Little did Christensen know that the fledgling project in Kazakhstan would lead to the creation in 1997 of the Marshall Christensen Foundation, which has facilitated partnerships between universities in former Soviet-bloc countries with Christian schools in the Northwest, including Northwest Nazarene University, Concordia University (Portland), George Fox University, and, most recently, Warner Pacific College. MCF also operates servant leadership programs that serve foreign students and faculty in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and The Philippines. “God has used the foundation in such wonderful ways, and yet none of this was planned by a missions committee,” said Christensen. “There is no strategy, and that’s what I love about it. It’s people coming together, trying to do some good and influence young people [in other countries].” Seeds of a ministry Christensen’s 15-year tenure as President of Warner Pacific was marked by an interest in education at an international 18

level. When he became president in 1981, Warner Pacific had a significant English as a Foreign Language Program, which brought scores of international students to campus. “It started to dawn on me that this was the mission field and that the church in general, but Christian higher education in particular, needs to think differently how to respond to these international seekers,” said Christensen. International travels When Christensen left the presidency at WP in 1996, he continued to teach at the college for 18 months until nearby West-

“As Americans, we sometimes assume that state universities [in the United States] are closed to believers. However, international schools are eager for partnership.” - Dr. Marshall K. Christensen ’65

ern Seminary invited him to join its faculty as a distinguished professor of history and culture in early 1998. Six months later, Christensen became Executive Vice President for Advancement at the seminary. The school gave him plenty of freedom, which enabled him to pursue the opportunity in Kazakhstan, in an area that borders China in Central Asia. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kazakh government sought to establish an American-style university that would teach free market economics in English. The new school – now known as Kazahk American Free University (KAFU) – was an offshoot of East Kazakhstan

The Experience

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MARSHALL CHRISTENSEN FOUNDATION

State University (EKSU), one of three major state universities. In 1994, EKSU signed an agreement with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to help establish the new college, which led directly to Harrison’s phone call to Christensen two years later. “It was a fabulous opportunity to have access to these post Soviet kids,” said Christensen. “The young people know English is the ticket and the free market system is the way to a higher standard of living.

American business sense In 1996, Christensen invited Dr. Marshall Christensen ’65 (in foreground, leaning against a ladder) completes a painting three Portland businessmen to project with Ukranian students participating in the Servant Leadership Academy, hosted in accompany him to Ust-Kameno- Oregon by the Marshall Christensen Foundation. gorsk, Kazakhstan to scout out the school. They found poor facilities. The electricity and course load. Christensen and Ballast teach a course in the prinhot water were not available during their visit. Nevertheless, ciples of leadership, after which students apply the principles a powerhouse university president named Erezhep Mamthrough a six-month research project at a business, social agency, betkaziev, a born entrepreneur, was ready for changes. The or government office in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Christensen then businessmen recommended that Christensen start a foundation arranges mentors in the United States to correspond with inin order to facilitate fundraising and to provide leadership in dividual students via e-mail. recruiting American business teachers to teach short-term “Servant leadership is radically different from … the oldcourses at KAFU. Dan Ballast, a young InterVarsity teacher, Soviet command and control [system],” said Christensen. had started working with Dr. Mametkaziev two years earlier After a year, the students come to Oregon for the Internain Ust-Kamenogorsk, a city that was closed to the West during tional Servant Leadership Academy, hosted by MCF. During the Soviet era. two weeks, the students travel to area businesses to see principles “As believers, we just wanted access to their students,” said of customer service and leadership at work. Christensen. “They loved their country, but they had no guid“They come and see it in practice and realize you can actually ance system.” use these principles and you can prosper,” said Christensen. MCF is in the process of establishing similar programs with A new era of servant leadership schools in Ukraine, Afghanistan and The Philippines. MCF also Currently, students at KAFU, an independent university recently established a separate program that is bringing linguissince 2000, complete a five-year business program taught in tics teachers from Ukraine to study Western teaching pedagogy English. They also pay tuition – unheard of during the Soviet at Christian colleges in the Northwest [see bar below]. era – and the university has enjoyed steady growth, with a curChristensen says its only the tip of the iceberg. rent student body of between 2,500 and 3,000 students. Once “As Americans, we sometimes assume that state universities KAFU had established itself and begun growing, Christensen [in the United States] are closed to believers,” he said. “However, and Ballast decided to scale back and take a narrower focus. international schools are eager for partnership.” Five years ago, they designed a two-year international servant leadership program (ISLP) at KAFU. Visit www.TheMCF.org for more information about the Marshall ISLP is voluntary and above and beyond students’ normal Christensen Foundation and to sign up for its free newsletter.

Warner Pacific hosts visiting Ukranian professor thanks to Marshall Christensen Foundation leadership program

Summer 2009

SCOTT A. THOMPSON

Zhanna Kovalchuk, a professor of English and translation at Kiev National Linguistic University, in Ukraine, became the first visiting professor to study teaching pedagogy at Warner Pacific through a leadership program founded by the Marshall Christensen Foundation. Kovalchuk spent a few weeks last March on campus, observing classes and talking shop with WP professors. “Warner Pacific has become a good example for me,” said Kovalchuk. “[There are] very friendly, very personal relationships between the professor and the students. I have these relationships with my students [in Ukraine], but still it seems to me that everyone here has this style of teaching. I was really impressed by the high level of professionalism.”

Zhanna Kovalchuk

ALUMNI NEWS Rev. Howard Leverett ’59 and his wife, Marie, live in Lebanon, Pa. in an apartment built onto the home of their daughter, Marva Rhode ’65 and her husband, Ralph. The Leveretts have been married 67 years and say they are 88 years young and still enjoying the Lord. Prior to retirement, Howard served as a pastor in Roseburg, Ore. and Santa Maria, Calif. for 26 years. Marie worked as a secretary to the Vice President at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. Stanley K. ’71 and DeAnne Reiley celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in December 2008. Since retirement, they have been interim ministers at four churches and currently are serving a congregation in LaJunta, Colo. Lynnette (Munger) Gillett ’78 is the senior pastor at Church of God United in Muskegon, Mich. She has been married for almost 30 years and has two daughters in the ministry. She also has five grandchildren. Nancy Osier ’82 has worked as an elementary school counselor in Ellensburg, Wash. for eleven years. Cindy (Hoppengarner) ’82 and Jeff Mugford ’82 are church planting in Laveen, Ariz. More info at www.TheBridgeLaveen.org. Dave ’83 and Pam (Truman) Hutton ’82 report that they are alive and breathing in “God’s country”, Montana, where they have lived for 19 years.

A NOTE FROM DANA As I sit in my office looking out my window, I am in awe of the beauty created by the hands of our Heavenly Father. Together, let’s strive to be focused on what God is doing in our hearts, our relationships, and in those we encounter each day. The Alumni Office is always looking for new information about our alumni. We would love to know where you have been recently, Dana McGuire Director of Alumni, what your family is enjoying, details about Church, and Parent your work, promotions at work, new babies, Relations new grandchildren and more. Please access dmcguire our web site www.warnerpacific.com, click @warnerpacific.edu the Alumni & Friends tab. If you are a member of Facebook, you can also leave a message on the Warner Pacific alumni Facebook page. And you can always contact my office directly at alumni@warnerpacific.edu Many, many thanks to each of you who donated directly to the Phonathon this last year. Our student callers absolutely enjoyed their conversations with each of you. Total pledges received: $9,785. Outstanding pledges: $1,950. I encourage you to take a moment to complete your pledge. For your convenience, you can fulfill your pledge electronically at donate.warnerpacific.edu. Important Dates to Save: September 1: October 9 -11: October 23-24: November 14: November 21: February 5 & 6:

Convocation Family Weekend Alumni Council Meeting 40th Reunion - Class of 1969 Alumni Dinner & Theater Alumni Weekend

Mark Kowalko ’83 lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he has been a pastor at the Church of God there for 17 years. Cindy (Fagan) ’84 and Bernie Buckle ’85 operate Buckle’s Collision Center in SE Portland. They have three children, aged 20, 17, and 9. They encourage alumni to connect with them via the WPC Alumni Facebook site. Susan (Jardine ) Pengra ’84 owns a coffee shop / café in Woodland, Wash. She has two sons, ages 19 and 21. Cindy (McCool) Saboe ’84 owns her own business as a PartyLite Candle Continued on pg. 22 20

GOLDEN REUNION Members of the Class of 1959 were honored during Spring Commencement, May 9, at New Hope Community Church. Pictured (R to L) are Veletta (Hatley) ’59 and Gene Frink ’59, Barbara (Livingston) ’56 and Lewis Hyslip ’59, Eva (Moore) ’58 and Richard Hubacek ’58, Zona (Stevia) ’59 and Rev. Charlie Gray ’62, and Marlene (Smith) ’59 and Rev. Ron Swanson ’59.

The Experience

Pastors Katy (Hood) ’95 and Keith Trapp ’94 celebrate the anniversary of the day in 1992 when Keith proposed to Katy in the middle of a Warner Pacific choir concert. The couple lives in Lake Stevens, Wash.

Debbie (Nicolle) Wilson ’00, Jean and Martin Shackleton and Janet (Helbling) Wilson ’74 go for a stroll. Rose (Spohn) Wilde ’95, Bruce Kreig ’01, Marva (Cantrell) Adams ’77, and Dana (Cantrell) Kruse ’69 visited the world famous “Carnegie Deli” during the Warner Pacific alumni choir’s four-day stay in New York City, last March.

A big hit in the Big Apple Members of the Warner Pacific Alumni Choir experience the thrill of singing in Carnegie Hall, followed by a whirlwind tour of New York.

D LeAnn (Light) Kinnee ’85 and her husband, Jim, enjoy a harbor cruise.

Dr. Tom “Doc” Miller warms up the alumni choir and orchestra prior to the March 29 Carnegie Hall concert.

ozens of Warner Pacific alumni were among 235 singers who performed Haydn’s Paukenmesse, also known as Mass in the Time of War, in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, under the direction of WP music professor Dr. Tom Miller, on March 29. (The choir also included singers from Tualatin and Tigard High Schools, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, in Lake Oswego, Ore., and the Oregon Chamber Singers). For many alumni, it was a trip of a lifetime. “Absolutely everyone in our choir had an extended moment of that dizzying ‘OhWow’ spin when we first walked onto the Carnegie Hall stage,” said Bonnie (Clinebell) Aona ’70. “The concert was amazing, but went way too fast. I will forever remember Doc leading that huge group of musicians on that incredible stage. I get chills and thrills just thinking about it.” The rest of the trip was a non-stop attempt to do all-things New York in four days. Nearly everyone went to at least one Broadway or off-Broadway show. Other highlights included dining out at the stunning variety of restaurants, watching a lightning show from the Empire State Building observation deck, strolling through Central Park, shopping at Macy’s and Tiffany’s, visiting Grand Central Station and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, walking all over Manhattan, taking in a foggy harbor cruise past the Statue of Liberty, and, of course, singing karaoke at Times Square at night. “In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined how great this trip was going to be,” said Marva (Cantrell) Adams ’77.

Summer 2009

CLASS NOTES Continued from pg. 20 consultant. She has four children, ages 7, 10, 14, and 19. Warren Lynn ’84 lives in Indianapolis, Ind. where he is the Director of the Office of Search and Call for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. He also is the creator of the “Well-fed Spirit” website, which is designed to provide spiritual practice and wellness resources for clergy and other church leaders. It is at www. wellfedspirit.org. Eric Odell ’91 was recently appointed the Vice President of Marketing for Mimecast, Inc., a unified e-mail management platform. Recently, Eric was successful in getting Mimecast listed in the “Cool Vendors in Archiving” report by technology analyst group, Gartner. Wade Webberley ’92 teaches second grade at Yacolt Primary School, near Battle Ground, Wash. He is married and has three young children. Annette Mattson ’96 is the 2009 President of the Oregon School Boards Association. She has served on the OSBA Board of Directors since 2002 and has served as a volunteer in elected office on the David Douglas School Board (Portland, Ore.) since 1995. In her professional life, Annette is a Government Affairs Specialist for Portland General Electric. She and her husband, Jeff Reardon, have four daughters. Joyce Annette Woods ’96 was a teacher for many years and now homeschools her son in Olympia, Wash. Heather ’02 (Wood) and Steven McDonald welcomed their first baby, Jared Michael, on August 17, 2008. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19 inches long. Brent ’05 and Cassie ’06 (Johnson) Mueller recently bought their first house in southeast Portland. Brent graduated with his doctorate in Physical Therapy from Pacific University in June ’08 and has been working as a Physical Therapist at Broadway Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation in Portland. Cassie graduated from nursing school at the University of Portland in August ’08 and 22

En Memoriam Jacqueline (Spires) Gotz ’52 Jacqueline (Spires) Gotz ’52 of Columbia City, Idaho died October 30, 2008 in North Manchester, Ind. at the age of 79. She was born June 29, 1929 in West Frankfort, Ill. She attended Pacific Bible College, in Portland, Ore., through her junior year. She then transferred to Phillips University in Enid, Okla., where she earned a bachelor’s degree. Gotz married Rev. Russel Gotz ’52 on August 23, 1952, in Portland. In 1956, the family moved to Anderson, Inc., where Russel served as an assistant pastor at a Church of God. Jackie earned her BA degree at Phillips University in Enid, Okla. and her Master of Arts at St. Francis College in Ft. Wayne, Ind. She was a teacher in Churubusco, Ind. and served many years as a delegate to educational conventions. Survivors include siblings Joe Spires ’52, Jerry Spires ’55 and Janella J. (Spires) Hammersmark ’73, three children, a son-in-law, two granddaughters, three sisters and seven brothers. Wendell Wallace ’58 Influential African American pastor Wendell Wallace ’58 died March 9, 2009, in Wood Village, Ore. at the age of 85. Wallace was a thrilling speaker who led Portland’s Maranatha Church in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Maranatha was a groundbreaking example of racial harmony at a time of social upheaval. The church welcomed blacks and whites, old and young, well dressed conservatives and shoeless hippies. Wallace was born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1923. He served in the Navy during World War II and returned to Portland in 1948 to attend Pacific Bible College, now Warner Pacific College, but did not graduate. He left Maranatha Church in 1972 and crisscrossed the country with his wife of 35 years, Cheryl. They spent seven years in Detroit, where a Bible college bears Wallace’s name. In 1989, Wallace returned to Maranatha Church for three years. Then in 1992, Wallace created New Azusa Christian Center in Portland, which closed after Wallace retired in 2002. Wallace is survived by seven children, 14 grandchildren, eight great−grandchildren and one great−great−grandson. A daughter and a grandson preceded him in death. Correction: In obituary for Dr. Darold Jones ’53 in our last issue, we omitted the name of his surviving daughter, Julianne (Jones) Wallace ’85, who reports that she is living in San Diego with her husband and three children. We regret the oversight.

has been working as a nurse at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

Portland. Sophee weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.

Aimee ’06 (Radford) wed Clayton Ladd on February 21, 2009. Aimee is a teacher with the Hanford Elementary School District in Calif.

Barnabas Omulokoli ’07 has started a Master’s of Business Administration program at Eastern University, near Philadelphia, Pa, that focuses on International Economic Development.

Cameron ’06 and A s h l e y ( We l l s ) Marvin ’07 gave birth to daughter Sophee Lynn on May 6, 2009, in

Sophee Marvin

The Experience

Robbie ’07 and Jamie York ’08 welcomed the birth of their first child, Josiah Robert, on Friday, April 17, 2009, in Portland, Ore. Details and pictures are at www.webeyorks.blogspot.com/.

FIRST PERSON

Coming Full Circle Where she once used writing to process through personal grief, an aspiring author takes a career plunge so she can write to help others.

By Kelly (Hembree ) Wilson ’97

hen I was in the fifth grade, I fell into a ceremonial well underneath an ancient German church during a field trip. My clothes were soaked and my teacher, Mrs. Bottigi, lent me her purple pantsuit for the rest of the day (she wore her trench coat, buttoned up to her neck). There is, of course, much more to that story, but while I was in the bathroom trying to buckle the pantsuit’s thick, fuchsia-colored belt, I realized just what a sacrifice Mrs. Bottigi had made for me. At that moment, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. There were other factors, too. I grew up in an abusive home. School was my escape and hope for the future, so it’s no mystery I decided to spend my life there. And the path seemed straight – get a degree, get a license, get a job. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was on my own and needed to pay my own way through college. I prayed that God would show me where to go based on which school gave me the most money. I remember when I received my financial aid statement from Warner Pacific in the mail. Between scholarships and grants, I would pay nothing. Decision made. While at Warner Pacific, I took advantage of the free counseling services to begin talking about my family history. I was a new Christian in a precarious place in my life, but I began to “work out my salvation,” as Paul says in Philippians. The only question I was able to muster was, “Why would my parents treat me so terribly?” The reasonable answers were, “It’s a fallen world,” and “Unfortunately, we pay the price for other people’s sin.” I accepted these answers – for a time. I decided I would live differently than my family, calling on the abundant life that God promises in scripture. So I shoved my experiences with abuse and pain and betrayal into a box, wrapped a ribbon around it, and set it far back on a shelf in my brain. It collected dust there until about 7 years ago, when my oldest son was born 10 weeks early, and he and I almost died. On the same day, a good friend of mine had a baby, and her baby died. The box thumped its way toward the front of my brain, the ribbons straining, and “It’s a fallen world” wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I had circled back around to experiences I thought I had left behind. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a Christian any more. I had a lot of questions, and I was angry enough to ask God, “Why did my son and I live, but my friend’s baby die? Why her and not me?” The only way I could process through my feelings was to write about them. I had always been a writer. In my office is a stack of totes that hold my notebooks, journals and essays from elementary school until now. And a couple of years ago, I figured that eventually I would be able to spend my life writing after I retired from teaching. But only a year ago, it was time.

I had taught upper elementary school part-time for several years, splitting time with a job-share partner. Last year, we were told we would have to teach kindergarten in order to keep our jobs. My colleagues and I were incensed, but I wasn’t ready to quit, so I decided to take a year’s leave of absence. However, quietly, I knew it had to happen. I couldn’t explain it to anyone, but I knew if I kept teaching, I would be disobedient to what God wanted me to do, which was write. Not to say it was easy to give up my job. I cried for months, trying to think of some other way. I wanted to know what

I didn’t know if I wanted to be a Christian any more. I had a lot of questions, and I was angry enough to ask God, “Why did my son and I live, but my friend’s baby die? Why her and not me?” was going to happen to me once I was no longer “a teacher,” which was the only dream I’d ever really had. But there was the seed of a new dream, what I call “the grief book.” I knew I was supposed to use my year off from teaching to explore how grief experiences circle back around in and on themselves, as I had experienced over and over again. I would stay at home with my kids, write, and submit pieces to publications with little chance of becoming a published writer. I would make no money - and I loved it. Still, I dreamed of writing for a living, as a professional, paid writer. At the same time, fear and insecurity bubbled up, reminding me that I couldn’t see the path ahead, and what I could see didn’t look straight. But there was also that seed of hope, of possibility, of wanting to take the risk, knowing that somehow I had stepped out of one dream and into another. It has proven to be more than I could have ever asked for or imagined. I had to make my final decision in early March whether or not to quit my teaching job. Again, I asked God for a sign. He tilted his head, cocked an eyebrow and said, “Really?” I had to laugh. The same week I signed the paperwork to quit my job, I found out that my first book, which is about living frugally (no surprise there), would be published. And “the grief book” is almost done. I don’t know where my path will curve after that. I imagine that, somehow, it will circle back around. Kelly (Hembree) Wilson ’97 is the author of “Live Cheap and Free! Strategies to Thrive in Tough Economic Times.” Visit www. WilsonWrites.com for more information.

Summer 2009

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