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Vice president for Student Life Dr. William Washington braced the outdoor cold for an inward warmth. By Dr. Washington I was content and comfortable at the institution where I had attended as an undergrad and served various professional capacities for over 28 years. My wife and I would often remark that if I left that place, we would move somewhere warm where I could work on my suntan year-round! Minnesota, especially this year, would not fall under the category of “warm.” Although I was looking for a warm climate, the Lord was looking for me to be in a warm community. So, who is Bethel? What makes Bethel a warm community? It’s the people – students, staff, faculty, administration, alumni. When I first had the opportunity to interact with students, I experienced first-hand their thoughtfulness, character, and integrity. I saw how much they loved each other and the Lord. Bethel… Keep Reading

Three professors discuss artwork from the new gallery show By Elena Vaughn The Underground was packed with students and faculty Wednesday night for The Paradox of Beauty panel discussion. Art professor Wayne Roosa, philosophy professor Carrie Peffley and English professor Angela Shannon engaged in discussion about The Beautiful, the new exhibit in the Olson Gallery. The exhibit is sponsored by Christians in Visual Arts and features 33 artworks focused on the theme of beauty in the fallen world. Art professor, gallery director and CIVA board member Michelle Wingard moderated the event. Roosa gave a thoughtful musing on the different paradigms of “classical beauty” and the expression “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” “Beauty is not a thing,” Roosa said. “It is more like an agency, the living dynamic.” After Roosa’s remarks, Peffley discussed the difference between kitsch, surface level aesthetic appeal and true beauty. “The beauty of true… Keep Reading

A manifesto on being a 20-something with a migrating identity. By Jamie Hudalla | Columnist Recently, I put myself in a time-out for the weekend. Three friends and I took a writer’s retreat to Door Country, five hours and 12 Amish-crossing signs away. We rented a cabin in the woods from a white-bearded man named Ransom. He had freezers full of meat, windows without blinds and a bidet in the bathroom, so we slept with kitchen shears under our pillows. We survived the night and wandered Sturgeon Bay the next morning until we found a bookstore. Popping our heads in morphed into an hour and a half endeavor. A middle-aged man named John worked the front desk. He was a retired nuclear physicist, or in his words, he made very little objects that made very big booms. He’d lived in Israel and Russia, attended John Hopkins University and owns a… Keep Reading

By Josh Towner I like to think of myself as an independent person who isn’t tied down by the cliches and stereotypes at Bethel. I don’t attend chapel very often, I go on rants where I curse like a sailor and I have occasionally broken the covenant. I don’t party at the U, but I’m also not a shift leader. I like to think of myself as a mature, nuanced person, separate from the Bethel bubble, but I also think my Vans look pretty cool. I have a hydro flask mug and a metal water bottle. I know what kind of panini I like, I say hi to Geetha and I enjoy sitting in the BC. I like to think of myself as a free spirit on a campus that seems to agree on a little too much, but when I truly examine who I am, I’m just another Bethel… Keep Reading

Shaped by founders and changed by time, Bethel tries to pinpoint its identity. By Jasmine Johnson The first time Holly Haugen knew she would attend Bethel, she was 7 years old. Wandering through the halls with her grandma and hearing stories about spending time in the coffeeshop for hours, roller skating on the weekends and attending football games from her alumni parents, she was convinced of her love for the university. “I always told my cousin ‘We’re gonna go here,’” said Haugen, a freshman communications studies major. “I always had a plan of coming.” When looking into what Bethel has been, is now and will become, the university’s identity can be defined by many different factors: gathering spaces, faith, denomination, enrollment, academics, moving forward. Although these factors also contribute to other postsecondary institutions, director of admissions Bret Hyder says that something about Bethel is different. “Have you ever been to… Keep Reading

The tension isn’t new. Bethel University has long been labeled as both too liberal and too conservative. By Maddie DeBilzan and Sam Johnson A small group of Bethel University parents, alumni and former faculty members stood in a dimly lit hallway outside of Benson Great Hall and greeted their friends as they stomped off their boots and talked about the amount of snow piled up on the early spring ground. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., Steve Larson, an alum and former Bethel hockey coach, opened with a short prayer. Then they all stood up. “Let’s meet back here in half an hour,” Larson said. They walked through the halls, praying silently at first before gathering into a circle and praying out loud. They spent 15 minutes in the theology department. “Free us all. And not in a judgemental way,” Bethel alum and pastor Dan Munson prayed aloud. “If any profs need… Keep Reading

Two introverts share insight on the glorified community in the Bethel Bubble. By Jaimee Hood and Lindsey Micucci Jaimee: Soft sunlight streams in through the big windows in the Brushaber Commons. A late afternoon buzz has settled in the air — huddled groups of friends quietly converse around the round tables by the staircase, the occasional loud laugh cutting through. I sit at a table of one, purportedly working ahead on some readings for Humanities, but I’m completely distracted, completely present (for the first time in a long time) in this place. Two guys have entered into an embrace, their girlfriends leaning their heads together to giggle about something. It makes me smile, to be an outside observer to the innocent atmosphere friendship creates. And then I start to wonder: Do people see that when they look at me? Do they feel as though they are on the outside looking… Keep Reading

Art and design club promotes their spring event By Jasmine Johnson  Art and design club co-leader Hannah Brue wanted to be a part of an art club in college, so she decided to make this an option for other students too. Brue talked with art and design office coordinator Julie Thoreen, who suggested combining with existing design club. Since the club was already established and Brue would be expanding it, the department supported this suggestion. “I was looking at the board of clubs that BSG funds and they’re all sports related or major related, but there wasn’t a single one for art,” Brue said. “So I was like, ‘We have to change this.’” Starting next school year, the club plans on hosting monthly events involving a variety of activities from design workshops to painting nights. Brue also brought up the idea of shack take-over, which would bring art events into… Keep Reading

Faculty senate meeting included updates on the search for Bethel’s future leader By Sam Johnson Inside a conference room on the fourth floor of the Brushaber Commons, a faculty senate meeting took place on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. The emphasis of the conversation was updates on the presidential search process. The meeting opened with philosophy professor Sara Shady praying for the Bethel community to unite during this transition from President Jay Barnes to the university’s sixth president. With the presidential search committee members finalized, committee chair Jim Green along with fellow committee member Julie White led the discussion with the faculty. Green began by reiterating that the timeline is on schedule to begin searching for candidates in the middle of June and will run until the middle of January. The goal of the committee between now and mid-June, Green said, is to develop a presidential profile that lays out qualifications… Keep Reading