Messiah College News Archive

For the second year in a row, Messiah College has been named to Washington Monthly’s top ten list of colleges and universities for hours spent in community service, service-oriented scholarships, and graduates entering the Peace Corps. With this criteria, Messiah ranked sixth nationwide among baccalaureate colleges.

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Aug. 10, 2011) — On Aug. 3, Messiah College joined representatives from 195 higher education institutions nationwide in Washington D.C. for the launch of the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, an initiative of President Barack Obama to mobilize college students of diverse religious backgrounds for community service. Read the rest of this entry »

 Members of the Class of 2011 set a goal of raising $7,002 (which is the reverse of the year they started at Messiah College: 2007) to fund a restoration project on the Yellow Breeches Creek. More than 68% of seniors gave a total of $7,065.18 to the cause. This makes them the most generous class in College history in both categories of dollar amount and participation! 

The senior gift will be used to build a deflector downstream of Messiah’s beloved covered bridge. The deflector will function as a deterrent for erosion but also as a put-in and take-out spot for water recreation. These efforts are a part of a larger Yellow Breeches Restoration Project directed by David Foster, associate professor of biology and environmental science, and will begin this summer. 

Though erosion of the Breeches’ banks has been an issue for years, this gift couldn’t come at a more convenient time. A record setting rainfall this spring has caused the Breeches to flood more than usual. The overall restoration efforts intend to counteract flooding and other causes of erosion to preserve the Breeches for years to come.

 This is the third year that Messiah’s senior class has raised funds to further a sustainability project either locally or abroad.

You can read more about Foster’s overall plans for the restoration project as described in a recent Swinging Bridge article.

GRANTHAM, Pa. (May 23, 2011) — Messiah College has been named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, a distinction recognizing institutions of higher education for their support of volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. Read the rest of this entry »

 Student Joshua Matthews won first place for his essay – “Finding Purpose”—in the 7^th Annual Be the Star You Are! essay contest sponsored by US Bank. The winning essay can be read at www.bethestaryouare.org/Read/Contest.html.

Students Alison French, Sarah Leonard, Brenna Stewart, and Kaitlin King were each recognized with honorable mentions for the essays they submitted to the national essay contest sponsored by Be the Star You Are, an organization committed to empowering women, families, and youth-at-risk through improved literacy and positive media.

All awardees were students in Jenell Paris’ Intro to Anthology course and wrote about the service-learning experiences.

 KNO Clothing, a line of sweatshirts and t-shirts, is the joint effort of alums Anthony Thomas and Stephen Caldwell. Portions of the proceeds from the sale of the apparel (available at knoclothing.com) will be returned to the Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg to provide resources for homeless individuals. KNO Clothing will also donate a piece of clothing to the shelter for every item it sells.

Senior Melissa Lewis and Mathematics Professor Angela Hare were each recognized with the Barnabas Servant Leadership Award for their outstanding service to Messiah and the broader community.  The awards were given a special leadership banquet on April 11. Alumnus Andrew Samuel `84, president of Graystone Bank, was the invited speaker.

Melissa Lewis is senior nursing student from Grottoes, Virginia.  During her time at Messiah, she has been afforded many opportunities to learn about what it means to love others and to live out the example of the servant hood of Christ. Some formative experiences in her understanding of service include nursing clinical experiences and a semester abroad in Belize. Her desire to serve and “wash the feet” of others has grown significantly during her time as a student. Over the course of her four years here, she has volunteered at Messiah Village, Joshua Farm, Harrisburg Salvation Army afterschool program, Tabitha’s Knitting ministry, Delta Ministries, and the Area M Special Olympics through the coordination of the Agape Center. She has also tried to seek out opportunities to serve in other ways in the Messiah College community, such as serving food at the Grantham Church Eat-N-Run ministry, working as a Peer Group Leader, and serving as a Resident Assistant. She currently lives in the Social Justice House, where she seeks to inform fellow students about the needs of others worldwide.

Angela Hare has been teaching at Messiah College since 1996 and is currently associate professor of mathematics and the mathematical sciences department chair. In 2006, she traveled to West Africa with a Collaboratory team and since then has committed herself to helping Messiah College students develop the skills of their major through partnership with the Center for the Advancement of the Handicapped in the village of Mahadaga in Burkina Faso. Dr. Hare and her students have written, produced, and delivered books, games, technology, and materials for the blind to this school for more than 200 children with disabilities. Over the next three years, beginning this summer, students in the Collaboratory Education group will work with local staff and youth to lead a one-month summer school program for children in Mahadaga, strengthening their literacy and arithmetic skills. Dr. Hare says that she has had a lot of new things to learn in this international partnership. The most important thing she has learned is that God honors small steps of faith and is faithful to go before us

In the weeks since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the island nation of Haiti, Messiah College students and employees have been participating in several initiatives to assist the impoverished country. Through a loose change drive and direct donations, more than $5,400 has been collected for Mennonite Central Committee.

In addition, a large storage container on campus already houses 145 relief kits for Mennonite Central Committee to ship to Haiti. The kits, containing a variety of personal hygiene items, are being assembled and donated by Messiah students and employees as well as central Pennsylvanians, thanks to a promotional effort by local television station ABC 27.

Messiah employees surpassed their goal of $33,000 to raise more than $36,700 for the United Way of the Capital Region. The organization hopes to raise a total of $10 million so that it continue providing valuable life-sustaining services to locals struggling in these difficult economic times.

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.

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.