Messiah Homepage News Archive

Richard Hughes, Senior Fellow at the Ernest L. Boyer Center at Messiah College, will assist the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) with its continuing research on the theological exploration of vocation—newly funded by a $2.4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.—the second largest grant in CIC history.

Hughes will specifically assist in the research component that examines “The American College Presidency as Vocation.” From 2005 through 2009, the CIC held year-long seminar series on Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission, aimed at helping college presidents, and those who aspire to presidencies, to align personal vocation and institutional mission through their work as leaders of independent institutions of higher education. The Lilly grant will allow the CIC to hold four additional, similar leadership development seminar series over the next five years for academic leaders in private higher education.

Hughes and William V. Frame, CIC senior advisor and president emeritus of Augsburg College, will interview past participants from the 2005-2009 seminars, seeking tangible evidence as to whether the program has made positive contributions to the satisfaction and durability of presidential life in America’s small and mid-size private colleges and universities. The research results will be shared with presidents and prospective presidents, their spouses, and others in all sectors of higher education, and will result in the publication of a new book, “The American College Presidency as Vocation.”

The final component of the CIC’s grant project will establish a “Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education” over six years. This initiative will connect colleges and universities who are committed to a sustained exploration of vocation through national and regional conferences, an exchange of resources and participation in online networking services.

For more details, read the CIC news release.

Read the related “Patriot-News” op-ed by Richard Hughes, Senior Fellow at the Ernest L. Boyer Center.

This group of community leaders screened the film, “The Power of Forgiveness” to explore its lessons for the city of Harrisburg and the broader community. The event, held on Oct. 31, was sponsored by the Ernest L. Boyer Center at Messiah College, in collaboration with WITF, Central Pennsylvania’s public broadcasting station, and the Central Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal Church.

Produced by Martin Doblmeier, founder and president of Journey Films, “The Power of Forgiveness” is a documentary that explores how genuine forgiveness can change relationships within a given community. This film won the Sun Valley Film Festival’s Best Film Award, the Silver Screen Award from the International Film and Video Festival, the Wilbur Award and the Christopher Award. As the film’s web site describes, it includes “feature stories on the Amish, the 9/11 tragedy and peace-building in Northern Ireland, along with interviews with renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, best-selling authors Thomas Moore and Marianne Williamson and others. The film also explores the role forgiveness holds in various faiths traditions.”

Following the screening of the film, which was held at WITF’s studio in Harrisburg, community leaders engaged in conversation, along with the film’s producer, discussing the implications the film’s themes hold for the Harrisburg region. The event was facilitated by Nathan Baxter, bishop, Central Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal Church; Kathleen Pavelko, president and CEO, WITF; and Richard Hughes, senior fellow, Ernest L. Boyer Center, Messiah College.

Messiah College artist-in-residence and renown jazz saxophonist Tim Warfield was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center’s Oct. 26 awards gala honoring humorist Bill Cosby with the 12th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Warfield will perform with the Terell Stafford Group, featuring Bruce Barth, piano; Eric Wheeler, bass; and the legendary Mickey Roker on drums. Other guest performers include Jerry Seinfeld, Wynton Marsalis, and Rita Moreno. The program will be taped and air on PBS stations nationwide on Nov. 4.

Messiah professors Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen have been recognized with the prestigious Lilly Fellows Program Book Award for their book, “The American University in a Postsecular Age.” According to award’s criteria, “The biennial Lilly Fellows Program Book Award honors an original and imaginative work from any academic discipline that best exemplifies the central ideas and principles animating the Lilly Fellows Program. These include faith and learning in the Christian intellectual tradition, the vocation of teaching and scholarship, and the history, theory or practice of the university as the site of religious inquiry and culture.”

Douglas Jacobsen, professor of church history and theology, and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen, professor of psychology, were confirmed as the winners of the 2009 award during the first week in October. Their book, “The American University in a Postsecular Age” (Oxford University Press, 2008), offers a “groundbreaking set of essays” that explore the implications of religion as a “pervasive and creative force” in American higher education and its influence on teaching and research in the broader academy. The Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, based at Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, seeks to “strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning for the 21st century.”

The Central PA Blood Bank recognized Messiah for donating more blood than any other local college this spring semester. The campus community donated 182 pints this spring and 412 pints, or 51.5 gallons, this academic year.

Barnabas Servant Leadership Awards recognize James Krimmel for providing fraud prevention and detection workshops internationally, and Jessanna Hall `09 for coordinating youth mentoring and prison ministries.

Krimmel is a professor of accounting at Messiah. He has worked extensively with Hope International and World Vision. Hall is a student leader at the Agape Center for Service and Learning. In addition to her role as Youth Mentoring and Prison Ministries coordinator, Hall co-founded “Project B,” a ministry to the homeless.

Messiah employees generously donated $31,000 to the United Way as part of the College’s annual pledge drive.

This year’s donation total reflects a nearly 7% increase in giving.

For more than 10 years, College employees have been encouraged to donate to the United Way during an annual pledge drive. The United Way of the Capital Region touches many central Pennsylvanians in need by funding important programs administered by local non-profit organizations. Many of the organizations supported by the United Way are also served by Messiah students through placements by the Agape Center for Service and Learning.

The College was recognized for annually hosting Area M’s Special Olympics and for volunteering more than 58,000 community service yearly.

Messiah’s nomination highlighted that “Messiah College promotes community awareness by teaching their students to build community and to champion the rights of others less fortunate. Last year students volunteered more than 58,000 community service hours.”

Furthermore, “the College has totally opened their arms to Area M and has become an integral part of our world. The entire campus participates in the games from the college president to the maintenance staff to the students. We would not be able to help as many athletes as we do, if it was not for the fantastic dedication and support we get from the college. They are our HEROES!”

“Harrisburg” magazine’s list of “savvy, active, and enlightened older adults” includes Robert Ives, a retired educator who taught at Messiah for 33 years.

According to the magazine, the S.A.G.E. Awards program “was designed to acknowledge our region’s older adults for their spirit and service and affirm the positive legacy they leave for future generations.

A state grant funds further development of WERCware, a device that allows individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s to have a virtual coach in their places of employment.

Read more about this Collaboratory project.