Media Mentions

Richard Hughes, senior fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center, considers the power of forgiveness and how it could be used in the city of Harrisburg in a November 3 op-ed in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. The Boyer Center teamed up with WITF and the Central Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal Church to watch and discuss the award-winning film, ” The Power of Forgiveness.”

Read “Build bridges of forgiveness.”

President Kim Phipps and Provost Randy Basinger teamed up to write an op-ed piece for the October 11 Harrisburg Patriot-News that highlights the College’s active engagagement in the Harrisburg region for 100 years.

Read “Messiah College takes holistic approach to education.”

The College’s first graduate level course is off to a good start, according to participating students and the program director, both interviewed in an August 11 Carlisle Sentinel article. More than 20 students enrolled in the first course –Professional Issues and Ethics.

Read “Getting schooled: Messiah expands its programs.”

Central PA magazine, the publication of local public television station WITF, devotes much of its August issue to the arts in the capital region. In the feature story, the magazine profiles five talented creators and performers under the age of 25. Included in this prestigious group is David O’Donnell, a 2008 graduate, who is performing his sixth operatic role in Belgium as John Brook in “Little Women.”

Read “Reaching for the stars.”

In addition, a story about how arts and culture programs are faring at colleges and universities in light of the recession extensively quotes both Richard Roberson, dean of the School of the Arts, and Jeff Rioux, director of the Larsen Student Union. Both contributed to the conversation about the need for the arts, especially during times of national economic turmoil.

“A college is incomplete without the arts,” says Roberson. “The arts are part of what it is to be human. They’re part of the way we understand and interpret he world that’s around us. To not have them on the college campus, it wouldn’t be a real college any more.”

The article, “A commitment to culture,” is not available online.

Craig Dalen, program manager of the College’s Harrisburg Institute, and Susan Hasseler, dean of the School of Education and Social Sciences and Community Engagement, consider the compelling research that mentoring programs for youth provide important connections to adults that can prevent a child from faltering or hanging out on the street. The two examine the benefits of mentoring in light of a recent rash of homicides in the city of Harrisburg in an August 2 Harrisburg Patriot-News op-ed.

Read “We can curb violence on city streets by providing mentors for our youth.”

Richard Hughes, senior fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center, examines whether America can truly be defined as a Christian nation in his book “Christian America and the Kingdom of God.” Excerpting from his book, Hughes unpacks this topic and some recent comments made by Newt Gingrich in a July 12 op-ed to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Read “Is the United States a Christian nation? Let’s look at the Bible…”.

A blogger from University Business magazine is examinig what college presidents are reading during the summer months. Messiah’s own Kim Phipps weighed in with a few of the titles on her nightstand.

Read “UB Buzz Summer Reading.”

A July 5 story in the Carlisle Sentinel surveyed local colleges and universities to gauge the impact of the economy on enrollment. John Chopka, vice president for enrollment, noted that Messiah, like all other colleges and universities in the eastern United States, is expecting a decline in applicants as a nationwide population shift decreases the prospective applicant pool. The College is responding by strategically targeting recruitment efforts in areas of the country where applicants are plentiful.

Read “Colleges adjust enrollment strategies.”
Read “Dickinson sees decrease in applications.”

“Women-CONNECT” magazine recently profiled President Kim Phipps among other female leaders in higher education in their Summer issue. Phipps shares in the article about her early exposure to injustice and how that helped to shape her passion for hospitality and her love for higher education.

The article closes with, “The compelling vision that Dr. Phipps articulates for Messiah College provides our region with a template for improving our community. Her concept of hospitality has energy and action behind it….It inspires each one of us to take responsibility to create an environment in our learning institutions, communities, and homes, to actively welcome and value each other.”

The Catholic Witness, a newspaper of the Diocese of Harrisburg, features the efforts of Ray Norman, dean of the School of Mathematics, Engineering, and Business, and several students as they design, build, and implement water pump structures and latrine systems to assist disabled people in Mali, western Africa. The College’s chief contacts in Mali are four Sisters of the Annunciation who train village women in a variety of skills.

Read “Messiah College collaborates with sisters to assist disabled in Africa” on page 16 of the May 22 Catholic Witness.