A Blessed Community Building Community DR

WINTER 2012 A Blessed Community Building Community DR. HENRY SMITH For the past couple of years we have purposefully sought to increase multicultural diversity at Indiana Wesleyan University. One day while praying for a Christ-like community that honors him, I felt God revealed to me something I should have seen before – IWU should more clearly reflect the Kingdom of God by welcoming, embracing and including others from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. A Diversity Task Force was formed in June of 2010 and met regularly to prayerfully understand and chart a course of action. The task force charge was to examine and recommend a holistic, integrated and intentional approach to enrich a campus culture that welcomes all students and faculty of multicultural diversity and international origins. We felt it was essential to commit to providing a learning experience that fully engages students and faculty of diversity in curricular and co-curricular education and spiritual formation rooted in the Wesleyan tradition. During that spring, Dr. Pete Menjares from Biola University conducted a diversity audit that enabled us to see ourselves more clearly, and he made many useful recommendations. The work of the task force and the audit led to a standing Multicultural Enrichment Council that is guiding our future course of action. We are learning. We have learned that changing community is not easy and will not just happen naturally. We have learned that most of us do not know how to make desired change in multicultural diversity – but we are trying. We have learned that not everyone thinks this is important, and some will oppose the change. I was deeply saddened and felt physically sick to learn of some intentional acts, defined as hate crimes, which happened on our campus late this fall. Clearly, these acts remind us of prejudices that still exist in our community. But, we are making progress. In the College of Arts and Sciences, where the greatest need seems to be, more students of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities are enrolling than ever before. We are aggressively seeking additional scholarships for multiculturally diverse students, and this fall’s incoming class of faculty is a strongly diverse group of hires. Over the years the College of Adult and Professional Studies has had a solid commitment to diversity, as well as the School of Nursing. Recent enrollments and hires in Wesley Seminary are commendable. Yet, we are not where we want to be. This is not just the “trend of the year;” this is something that I passionately believe God desires for IWU. Our community should be a safe place where ideas are shared, hearts are bonded and life lessons are learned. I believe we can only achieve the best of those ideals when we are inclusive. I know there will be challenges and setbacks along the way, but I dream of a day when diversity is such a part of who we are that no one talks about it – it is in our DNA. Or perhaps when we do talk about it, the context is the chance to share with others what has happened here and to celebrate what God is doing in our midst. PRESIDENT OF INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT Indiana Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered academic community committed to changing the world by developing students in character, scholarship and leadership. 2 WINTER 2012 TRIANGLE feature stories 4 Change of Plans for Seminary Student Charleston Sanders initially came to IWU to attend Wesley Seminary but wound up instead as the director of Multi- cultural Recruitment. 8 Two Alumni Honored at Homecoming Homecoming 2011 included the naming of two campus landmarks to honor the long-time service of Harold Bardsley and Millie Troyer. 4 14 A Boost from Upward Bound Upward Bound started Marlon Mitchell down a long track in higher education that has led him to IWU’s adult education division. 16 Using Science to Feed the Poor After living amid poverty in the Philippines as a child, Grace Ju Miller felt called to use her biology education to help feed the world’s poor. 8 feature sections 18 Wesley Seminary at IWU 22 Athletics 26 Campus News 14 32 Alumni News 16 2011-2012 Verse of the Year "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 ON THE COVER (LEFT TO RIGHT): Charleston Sanders, director of Multicultural Recruitment, visits with students Micah Spencer, Cathy Mangan and Jessica Eifert. INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY | TRIANGLE | Winter 2012, Vol. 92, No. 2 PRESIDENT Dr. Henry Smith | EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Dr. Keith Newman | ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION Janelle Vernon | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alan Miller | PRODUCTION Jennifer DeBoy | PHOTOGRAPHER Jer Nelsen ‘09 The TRIANGLE (issn 10666893) is published quarterly, free to alumni, by Indiana Wesleyan University. Second-class postage paid at Marion, Indiana, and additional cities. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Indiana Wesleyan University, 4201 South Washington Street, Marion, Indiana 46953-4974. WEBSITE: indwes.edu INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 3 Ordered Steps Divine Guidance Leads Sanders to IWU Charleston Sanders already had undergraduate and Admissions department was that he could not juggle the graduate degrees in music from Indiana University- demands of the Seminary and a new full-time job. Bloomington, when he decided to explore the idea of “I officially became a seminary dropout,” he says. “But working on a seminary degree. I haven’t abandoned the hope of still getting a seminary “Guess what the first name was that popped up on the degree.” Internet?” Sanders said. “You guessed it; Wesley Seminary Sanders grew up in an inner-city neighborhood in at Indiana Wesleyan University. I had never been to Marion Indianapolis where his father was, and still is, a pastor. “We and didn’t even know IWU had a brand new Seminary.” were poor, but we had a solid upbringing,” Sanders said. Sanders came to the Marion campus for a visit, decided to “Going to church wasn’t an option, it was a requirement.” apply to the Seminary and was accepted. He signed up for A state-sponsored program called 21st Century Scholars his first classes in the summer of 2010. was Sanders’ ticket to college. Students who enroll in the “In some kind of way, the resumé I turned in with my program as eighth graders are guaranteed full tuition at a Seminary application found its way to the Admissions state college if they maintain good grades and stay out of office,” Sanders said. “Before I knew it, I was being trouble. interviewed for a newly created position as director of “I was in the first class statewide to graduate as 21st Multicultural Recruitment.” Century Scholars,” Sanders said. “If it was not for that, I He was offered, accepted the job and began work in would not be doing this interview today. My parents could August 2010. simply not afford college.” “I didn’t know that the wheels were turning in regard to While the scholarship program got Sanders into college, diversity on the IWU campus or that a multicultural task it was his God-given musical ability that kept him there and force already had been formed,” Sanders said. “God really helped him to succeed. ordered my steps by first leading me to the Seminary.” “It became obvious that my calling and my heart was The first thing Sanders realized after landing in the with ministry, but I was sure music would be my tool of 4 WINTER 2012 TRIANGLE Charleston Sanders talks with students he helped bring to IWU. ministry,” he said. “There was a lot of music in our home. That gave me the foundation for my spiritual walk but also for my musical gifts. “I began playing the drums when I was 3 years old. I beat on bongo drums and even on oatmeal boxes. By the time I was a teenager, I played the piano, the Hammond organ, trombone and the bass guitar,” he said. “God really ordered my steps.” After earning his undergraduate degree in music at IU, Sanders got married and applied for a job with an insurance company. When the job fell through, he found himself His journey over the last 10 years prepared him well for asking, “What am I going to do now?” his ministry in multicultural recruitment. A professor at the IU School of Music answered the After earning his master’s degree, Sanders worked as the question by offering Sanders a full-ride scholarship to associate director of Admissions for the IU music school. return to college for a master’s degree in jazz studies. He later moved into multicultural recruiting for the entire “At that point, I knew God was in it,” Sanders said. “You IU-Bloomington campus. From there he went to Ivy Tech don’t get offered a full-ride scholarship a few weeks before College where he ran a college readiness program with the school starts. From there, everything that I have done has Indianapolis Public Schools. made room for the next step in my life.” INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 5 “I consider my job at IWU a type of ministry because I see myself helping people to navigate their way through higher education and, perhaps, to their life calling.” While he loves what he is doing at IWU, Sanders said higher education is only one of five dimensions of his life. “In addition to now being a college administrator, I also am a husband, a father, a minister and a musician,” he said.

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