Every Monday from 4- 5:30 pm in room SDH224, the creative writing club CreativiTEA meets. Every student is welcome to join and share something that they have written with the club.
By: Sarah Williams
Every Monday from 4- 5:30 pm in room SDH224, the creative writing club CreativiTEA meets. Every student is welcome to join and share something that they have written with the club.
Members are not required to bring something, however. They can come just to listen, but are encouraged to share something eventually. The club accepts short stories, poems, film scripts, nonfiction pieces, and more. The only requirement is that it is limited to 4-7 pages. After reading a copy of the story, members provide feedback on the story’s highlights and potential areas to grow.
Wallis Metts
Communication professor Wallis Metts created the club recently. He was asked to teach fiction and nonfiction writing classes this semester. Students that were interested in writing but weren’t in any writing classes had no place to share their work.
“There was a need…I decided we will meet and see how it goes.”
Metts
The club’s name, CreativiTEA, comes from Metts’ love of tea. At meetings, he will have a kettle of hot tea, sugar cubes, and cups for the members.
The goal of CreativiTEA is to encourage students to write more and improve their writing skills. Metts said one of the ways the club does so is by giving the members a deadline. Once there is an expectation, it is easier to write.
Professor Gwen Hersha is also a member. She said the club is beneficial to students because it provides a place to share ideas with others. It also gives members different perspectives on their pieces.
Another goal of the club is to eventually share their works with the public. Metts said that he is thinking about publishing some of the pieces online or having a public reading in the future.
According to Metts, a key to a good story is knowing the beginning, middle, and end, with the ending being the most important. The story is a contract to the audience and the writer must conclude something or wrap up the loose ends. Having an ending in mind also keeps the story focused. The ending must complete the experience, or it breaks that contract.
Anyone who wishes to join CreativiTEA can show up at 4pm in SDH224 on Mondays. If they wish to share a piece, they should email Professor Metts beforehand so that he can make copies for everyone.
Alumni Jordan Kennedy spoke at Shop Talk last Friday, March 18th, in the Art Gallery Lobby.
By: Sarah Williams
The photo of Jordan Kennedy was provided by the Shop Talk poster.
Alumni Jordan Kennedy spoke at Shop Talk last Friday, March 18th, in the Art Gallery Lobby. Students and professors listened as she described her experience of graduating from college to landing her career as the Manager of Communication and Community Outreach for the Division of Victim Services at Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
In the last ten years Kennedy has:
Worked in the State of Michigan Governor’s Communication Office.
Been named Deputy Press Secretary for both Governor Rick Snyder and the First Lady.
Traveled with the Governor to handle Media Relation events throughout the state.
Served as Communication Lead for several of the administration’s key projects relating to agriculture, transportation, and rural economic development.
Kennedy’s Advice:
“It is really important when you get the internship or job to not be the person who asks the question that could be googled. Being an intern or hiring intern, be someone who is a self-initiator and problem solver.”
“Take every opportunity you have to pursue what you’re interested in.”
“Find what you are good at, leverage what you are good at, and use what you are good at to the point where people notice you are not there because they need you.”
Utilize YouTube, LinkedIn Learning, and other media sites; and teach yourself skills.
If you have the means and abilities and a job that provides health insurance, take time for yourself and visit a therapist. Kennedy says she has been visiting a therapist once a month for years and she regrets not doing it sooner.
Shadowing and internships are important because they provide experience that could change someone’s mind about their dream career.
Kennedy’s Story
Kennedy after the event. The round pin on her suit is her seal pin and it helps security separate the worker from the crowd at events.
Kennedy didn’t know what she wanted to do as an undergraduate. Her first idea was to be a wedding planner and then she wanted to be a journalist. After shadowing a journalist in the field, she decided against it. She became interested in politics.
She described herself as recluse and quiet, but that changed when she was recommended to join the Women and Leadership Conference. She helped with advertising, designing posters, and participated in sections at a conference. She noticed a woman who worked for the Governor’s office there.
“That sounds so cool. I should go and talk to her,” Kennedy told her friends. “I am going to ask for an internship.”
She introduced herself, explained her interest in politics, and asked for an internship. She was connected with one, graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Advertising and Public Relations, and “the rest was history.”
Kennedy thought she was getting an internship in the Communication Office, but she was actually going into Constituents Relations. She described Constituents Relations as a fancy way of saying customer service for the State of Michigan. She handled many complaints about what the Governor signed or vetoed and misdirected complaints meant for other departments. She took on extra responsibilities, like writing letters and “earned her stripes” at the office.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people wanted letters from the Governor for their grandmother’s 80th birthday,” Kennedy said.
After two semesters, she was hired full-time as a Legislative Tribute Editor and Writer. She took every tribute every lawmaker drafted. She would read and edit them and decide whether the Governor should sign them or not.
“I knew my strengths,” Kennedy said. “I knew I was good at writing. I knew I was good at copyediting. I knew I could find a way to leverage my skills to be really useful to them in the small little square of the Executive Office.”
After a couple of years, the Governor had to run again for office and Kennedy volunteered for his re-election campaign. She made many connections and was recommended to work in the Communication Office as well.
She learned how to be assertive when saying “no more questions” at press conferences. She worked with reporters and was interviewed by news stations and radio broadcasters.
She was also asked to work with the First Lady. She hosted large statewide events and created content for Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Survivor, and Campus Sexual Assault Awareness. She found her passion for being a Public Servant and she wanted to make policies that benefited people.
She took a job at the Department of Health and Human Services where she is now. She serves as the Manager of Communication and Community Outreach for the Division of Victim Services.
The next Shop Talk and last one for this semester will be held on April 1st and feature current Seniors and their works. It will be held in the Ganton Art Gallery Lobby from 10am to 11. Drinks, food, and games/prizes will be provided.
Comment your thoughts on internships and plans for after graduation!
A worn green armchair sits in the corner surrounded by shelves of encyclopedias, devotionals and Biblical commentaries. Papers, reading glasses, three used mugs and a ping pong ball are scattered on a desk across from it.
By Kayla Williamson
A worn green armchair sits in the corner surrounded by shelves of encyclopedias, devotionals and Biblical commentaries. Papers, reading glasses, three used mugs and a ping pong ball are scattered on a desk across from it.
Some consider it a safe space to talk about their sexual identity.
“I don’t know how, but some [students] have chosen to come talk to me about it,” University Chaplain Brian Kono said. “As they sit in that chair and talk, I try to never make my opinion or my belief stand above the person or my relationship with them.”
The bulk of their conversation is not about what the Bible says about sexuality, but how they are processing this with their family, what shapes their identity, why they think God made them this way.
It is a conversation full of questions and listening.
It is a conversation an estimated 9.5 million Americans have had, according to a study by the Williams Institute in 2014.
It is conversation the Spring Arbor University (SAU) administration is trying to cultivate.
Living on a school campus that prohibits homosexual behavior creates a student perceived barrier to cultivating an environment of welcome conversation and loving support. Bridging that gap while maintaining student handbook rules is a challenge administrators like Kono are trying to overcome.
[It] was very revealing to me that a student didn’t think they could come out to me or an administrator without there being some sort of response from us. – Kim Hayworth, VP for Student Success and Calling
Whether the attempts land successfully or not depends on the level of trust at an individual level.
“I hope that it’s because they trust me,” Kono said. “They know my heart. It’s not unique to me. You know those that you trust because of the good conversations you have with them.”
The role of community standards
In a meeting with students, a girl asked Vice President for Student Success and Calling Kim Hayworth if someone has ever come out to her.
Her answer: absolutely.
“She was shocked, and her shock shocked me,” Hayworth said. “That was very revealing to me that a student didn’t think they could come out to me or an administrator without there being some sort of response from us.”
For Hayworth, the challenge was realizing student perception of administration—that if someone came out to an administrator, unknown concequences await. She realized the effort she and other administrators will have to do to overcome urban legends or the label of “administration.”
Both she and Associate Vice President for Student Development and Learning Dan Vanderhill emphasize the difference between identifying as LGBTQ+ and participating in LGBTQ+ behavior.
The Student Handbook states, “All students, regardless of age, residency or status, are required to abstain from cohabitation, any involvement in premarital or extramarital sexual activity, or homosexual activity (including same-sex dating behaviors). This includes the promotion, advocacy, and defense of the aforementioned activities.”
“I hope people understand that it’s not against the rules to be LGBTQ any more than it be against the rules for someone to want to have sex outside of marriage,” Vanderhill said. “It’s against behaviors which are clearly stated in the handbook. I think they’re fair expectations even if there’s room for disagreement on them.”
I don’t believe we should interact with, like this calculus in my mind of how I should interact or approach you. To me that is very unhealthy. It’s like a false reality that we create when we affiliate with each other in that manner. – Kim Hayworth, VP for Student Success and Calling
How will we engage with the other?
A group of administrators and faculty started meeting at the beginning of fall to brainstorm how to be intentional with conversations.
It is both the school and an individual’s responsibility to create safe spaces where students can feel comfortable approaching someone, Hayworth said.
“I don’t believe we should interact with, like this calculus in my mind of how I should interact or approach you,” Hayworth said. “To me that is very unhealthy. It’s like a false reality that we create when we affiliate with each other in that manner.”
This “thinktank” as they call themselves, has met with students to tell their own stories and the stories of others. By listening to these students, they hope to create more events and opportunities to cultivate community engagement with each other. Next Monday’s chapel speaker, Adam Mearse, and the following dorm talks that night are efforts to “elevate” the conversation.
Yet there is a barrier between the LGBTQ+ community and the non-affirming. SAU is built on the Free Methodist heritage, which does not affirm the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. So how can the SAU community engage with each other without forgetting that heritage?
I see both students and staff faculty just get into this comfortable rut. When we’re in stressful day-to-day things, we just want to sit with people we know at the DC instead of meeting someone new and taking time to listen. – Anna Tabone, Career Advisor
“I don’t have a good answer because I think it can be interpreted as a very painful thing to be non-affirming, but I do believe there’s ways to be so loving and non-affirming,” Tabone said.
Kono is still wrestling with how to best advocate for the other on campus.
“This is a difficult conversation to have,” Kono said. “The weight of the tension that comes is something that I feel very greatly. It becomes a weight. Yes, it can become a negative thing, but I feel it because of the weight of importance that we, as a community called Christian, try to engage these conversations well.”
Strangers Like Me – Anna Tabone’s Story
In high school in 2002, Anna Tabone had a crush.
She and her friend Joe had agreed to go to prom together. A week before the dance, he told her he was gay.
That was the first time Tabone was challenged by what her conservative upbringing had taught her about the lifestyle of the LGBTQ+ community.
“But we went to prom together [with] one of our gay friends and one of my best friends, and it was a blast,” Tabone said. “In that sense, Joe is not an ‘other’ to me. [He’s] someone I really knew and really cared about.”
As a former Resident Director (RD), Community of Learners (COL) leader and now Career Advisor, Tabone has taught and mentored several students in the LGBTQ+ community. She has had students who came out to her as an RD, as someone who will walk with them before they are ready to come out to anyone else.
“That, I feel was maybe one of the most treasured gifts, to have a student trust you with their real self,” Tabone said. “[It] still really chokes me up.”
Engaging with the LGBTQ+ community, or anyone considered “other,” is a fundamental Christian action, not just a principle, Tabone said. They become less of a stranger if their story is told and they are in an environment where they can be themselves.
Engagement starts in small ways, Tabone said.
“I see both students and staff faculty just get into this comfortable rut,” Tabone said. “When we’re in stressful day-to-day things, we just want to sit with people we know at the DC instead of meeting someone new and taking time to listen.”
Caitlin Stout, class of 2017, grew up in Jackson and first learned about SAU through her church.
By Elise Emmert & Celeste Fendt
Caitlin Stout, class of 2017, grew up in Jackson and first learned about SAU through her church. The Spring Arbor University (SAU) students in her youth group were part of what convinced her to come to school here. Stout said the idea of having a Christian community on campus also drew her in.
During her four years here, Stout said she grew significantly in her faith and as a dedicated supporter of social justice.
“A lot of [my growth] has been a result of the fact that this has been a very difficult place to be a gay Christian,” Stout said.
For members of the LGBTQ+ community at SAU, finding support in the form of a leader or mentor can be challenging because of limits imposed by the student handbook and community guidelines.
Stout said what helped her through the difficult times was the realization that she was not alone, and the group of friends that was alongside her showing support.
“I always kind of joke that SAU has made me a better Christian but not in any of the ways they intended to,” Stout said. “The LGBT community, both on this campus and at large, has kind of been the group of people who have shown me what church should look like.”
The LGBT community, both on this campus and at large, has kind of been the group of people who have shown me what church should look like. – Caitlin Stout, class of 2017
According to senior W. Cody Pitts, the LGBTQ+ community works mostly underground. But this, he said, is not because of harassment from other students.
“A lot of people that I think go here who are in the (LGBTQ+) community love our community and love the people here,” Pitts said.
Pitts came to SAU wanting to be an activist for the LGBTQ+ community on campus, and spent his sophomore year questioning different things about himself and how he identified before coming out to a few close friends and family.
Later, after working as an RA his sophomore and junior years, Pitts left the job behind since he decided he could no longer continue to agree with everything the school stood for, a contract requirement for student leaders.
Since coming out publicly, Pitts came to be a type of leader to other students on campus who came to him with questions. He also said he has been “a lot happier” this year than he had been in the past.
Ben Coakley, an SAU class of 2017 alumnus, said most of the people he encountered while on campus were willing to have conversations with him concerning sexuality, even when they were non-affirming. Large-scale conversations, he said, probably did not happen as often because people were afraid of upsetting others with their ideas or opinions.
Coakley said he felt “different” growing up, but didn’t know anyone who identified as LGBTQ+ and didn’t have the language to describe what he was feeling. This kept him from being able to have a conversation with himself about sexuality until he met students his freshman year who identified as gay.
During his freshman year, Coakley thought he was the only student wondering about his sexuality because he did not have anyone to talk to. Meeting other LGBTQ+ students on campus gave him a support system of people to talk to with whom he felt more at ease.
“The thing that I hate most is any student feeling like they’re alone and feeling like they don’t have a support system, for whatever reason,” Coakley said. “That should be a concern for everyone, regardless of your theology.”
I just want people to have conversation with the understanding that (for) someone you’re talking to or for someone in the room, this is personal for them – Ben Coakley, class of 2017
LGBTQ+ students not only face feeling alone on campus, but also face being afraid of coming out because of handbook guidelines. Because the handbook prohibits the defense or advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle, even something as simple as identifying as LGBTQ+ could be seen as breaking school policies.
An anonymous member of the LGBTQ+ community at SAU said the student body has been their biggest support system on campus. Not every student, however, contributes to this support.
The student said most SAU students have validated and protected the LGBTQ+ students, but others dismiss them.
“When it’s something that you can’t change about you, it really hurts when people put that down and say that it doesn’t exist,” the student said.
Dreams for the Future
Despite the difficulties LGBTQ+ students face on campus, some do have a vision for the future of the community.
For Coakley, progress is best found in visibility and dialogue. This means both acknowledging there are LGBTQ+ students on campus and allowing conversation about differing viewpoints to take place publicly.
“I just want people to have conversation with the understanding that (for) someone you’re talking to or for someone in the room, this is personal for them,” Coakley said.
The anonymous student doesn’t expect SAU to become affirming of the LGBTQ+ community anytime soon. But they hope it will become more open about this crucial topic by hosting panel discussions and creating a more inviting atmosphere.
Pitts agrees with the emphasis on representation, and hopes the school would eventually allow the LGBTQ+ community to form a group or organization where they could publicly affirm what they believe. With this, he said students could approach the group, start conversations and come to their own conclusions.
The goal is not necessarily to make the school change its values or beliefs. The Free Methodist Church does not affirm homosexuality, but Pitts said part of living in a contemporary world is being able to engage with people who disagree with you. A place for students to be out publicly and support the LGBTQ+ community without fear would embody that.
“It’s not really about what you believe,” Pitts said. “It’s about showing people love.”
It started with a girl her son brought home. It should have ended with a Facebook post. But that was not what God had planned for Michelle Cochran.
When Cochran first saw the mLive surveillance photo of a girl at a gas station, she kept scrolling. It was not until her son came home and asked her if she had seen the Facebook post that she realized it was her son’s girlfriend, Danielle. Danielle was addicted to heroin. She had been caught on camera robbing a gas station attendant at gunpoint.
“Sadly, my first reaction was, ‘okay, at least she’ll be away from my son,'” Cochran said.
But the next day brought a different outlook. That morning, Cochran listened to Adele’s “All I Ask” on her mp3 player when the lyrics, “there is thought to my role,” made her pause. Then, “it matters how this ends.”
“All I could see was her face,” Cochran said. “And it just broke my heart. I cried over that girl for three days, and then I went to the jail.”
Cochran asked Danielle if she could walk with her through the trial. From then on, Cochran never missed a court date and visited her every week. Danielle could have been sentenced to at least seven years of prison, but instead made it out with three and a half.
“For that,” Danielle said in a blog post, “God is good.”
Danielle’s story is not over. But many girls are not given a second chance like Danielle. They do not have someone willing to build a relationship with them or guide them post-addiction or trafficking or incarceration, so they go back to their unhealthy environments or addictions. They start the process over again.
When fighting addiction, patients have a 40 to 60 percent chance of relapsing, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A 2013 national study by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority on residential programs for victims of human trafficking found 37 operational residential programs in the U.S. specifically for human trafficking victims. That brings a total of 682 beds for an industry with an estimated 1.5 million victims in North America alone.
The freedom to choose their ending is a luxury that not many people have. While the issue may be broad and reach across the globe, Jackson county and Spring Arbor University (SAU) students and staff are working to stop the cycle.
Restoration
A year before Cochran met Danielle, she heard about Thistle Farms in Nashville, Tenn. where girls with similar yet varying backgrounds to Danielle attended a two-year residential program of healing and support. Cochran fell in love with it, but it was put on the backburner until November 2016 when she brought it up to Danielle by mere happenstance.
While in prison, Danielle met women stuck there because they did not have a home in which to live out parole. Or once they were released, the women would go back to their unhealthy environment.
“It gets me down, knowing these women long to do better and get stuck in this cycle,” Danielle said in a blog post. “They get out and end up somewhere that’s unhealthy for them. They feel unwanted and unloved.”
That is where Cochran’s idea of a restorative home for survivors of addiction, trafficking, incarceration and exploitation would grow and come to fruition.
Cochran is the founder and president of SOAR Café and Farms, Jackson’s first home for women trying to escape “the bondages of slavery to addiction, emotional wounds, addiction and poverty,” as their vision statement states. The residency will provide mental and physical medical attention, education and personal/spiritual development to all the girls. Eventually the Café attached to the residency will be a place for the residents at SOAR to work, build their resume and gain new skills in a guided environment.
Graphic by Kayla Williamson.
The land for the program has already been identified, but until its official opening in the next year or so, SOAR is spreading the word and raising money by hosting a “mobile” café. They host house parties where guests are paired together to create a meal, and at the end all the guests and a SOAR representative share food and SOAR’s mission. SOAR representatives are also spreading the word and raising money by selling healing products and a cookbook with “items by inmates.”
Girls must apply to the program and will be evaluated by social workers to determine if they are capable of completing the program. If so, they will be entered into the program, and if not SOAR will work with community partners to make sure they are cared for.
The community of Jackson is working on all sides to fight the underground slavery in their backyards. SOAR is just one of many groups to be working on this issue.
“I think [God] wants captives free,” Cochran said. “To be a part of that is humbling. I think that as we work together as a community, each person or group or organization doing their part, at the very least we can make it highly uncomfortable for trafficking to exist in Jackson.”
Prevention
Cochran was not the only one looking at buildings for potential rescue homes. When the anti-human trafficking movement at Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church (SAFMC) called Set Free started to hone their sights on certain areas to tackle, the leader, Amber McKee, thought they were going to open a home for survivors. In fact, she was already searching for buildings.
Graphic by Kayla Williamson.
But before she could go any further, a community assessment of Jackson’s needs closed that door of helping survivors and opened it to working with kids most vulnerable to recruitment into human trafficking.
A year ago, when someone asked what Set Free did, the answer would take 10 minutes. Now they have decided to focus on a specific issue within human trafficking. A study of “The Just Church” by Jim Martin said the place where a church can have the most impact on justice work is where God’s will, gifts and talents of the group and a community’s need come together. So they held a community survey. With the help of Spring Arbor University (SAU) alumni Deja Williams, the group contacted schools, law enforcement, churches, nonprofits, government organizations and more to try and identify the gap in the community they could fill.
That gap was with vulnerable youth and teens. A study by the Polaris Project found the most common vulnerabilities in potential victims of human trafficking. Some of those vulnerabilities include kids in the foster care system, juvenile justice system or victims of abuse and neglect. Williams found that 35 percent of youth in Jackson have confirmed cases of neglect or abuse. Twenty-five percent live in poverty.
Out of that research came the idea of the Brave event. Originally sponsored by the Salvation Army in California, Brave events reach and empower teen girls in the foster care system.
“Brave is an opportunity for us to intersect with youth that are hurt and have been neglected,” McKee said, “to come into their life and tell them they are worthy. They’re created in God’s image.”
But they are not only focused on girls. Post-event, the Set Free movement is starting a mentorship program between its members and teens in the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI). It is a group of foster teens that meet every other week and are trained in “leadership, media and communication skills, including how to strategically share their story and present on panels” according to MYOI’s website.
By starting this new program, McKee hopes the Set Free Movement will help prevent youth from entering human trafficking in the first place. Through partnerships with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Salvation Army, public schools and more, the Set Free Movement has been able to raise awareness and educate students and other members of the community about the risk and vulnerability of those in human trafficking.
“There’s going to church and doing church things, and then there’s being the Church,” McKee said. “We’re outside of the boundaries of the church building, and we’re actually in community. It really feels like being the Church that God wants us to be.”
Justice
With a human trafficking conference at SAU, multiple programs and organizations addressing the issue and a dedicated task force connecting individuals from all of those groups, one would think Jackson County is riddled with brothels, girls on street corners and pimps ready to exploit anyone vulnerable.
Yet Jackson County has not prosecuted a single human trafficking case.
According to Jackson County’s Attorney Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka, building a case against human trafficking requires resources local law enforcement does not have. It is a challenge to gather enough time and resources to build a case against human trafficking or enough officers to mount a surveillance operation.
That is why the county depends on community groups like SOAR, Set Free and others to start the movement. With the support of the Jackson County Human Trafficking Task Force, which connects the people fighting human trafficking in Spring Arbor and Jackson, the community is able to see, support, and fight together to help Jackson become “a community known for freedom,” as Cochran puts it.
The more diverse the backgrounds and talents of the task force, the better. A couple of FBI agents attended the last task force meeting, and Jarzynka sees the potential to start the offensive.
“With FBI agents who just attended our recent task force meeting, we are involved with discussions trying to organize a co-op effort with FBI and local law enforcement,” Jarzynka said. “So that’s encouraging. You need to do that if you want to be able to put a case together.”
Enforcing human trafficking laws by local government is also a challenge because of a lack of training and education, Jarzynka said. The laws are also so new that nobody knows about them.
Associate professor of sociology Jeremy Norwood agrees. He also sees a discrimination and corruption within the criminal justice system that prohibits the full enforcement of laws against human trafficking.
“Prostitutes are seen as perpetrators and not victims. Immigrant farm workers are seen as aliens rather than victims, and are revictimized by the system,” Norwood said.
The United States and other Westernized countries compared to the rest of the world have polarized views on this modern day slavery, Norwood said. Western countries think human trafficking is bad but are ignorant to its presence in their backyard. Other parts of the world see it as normal due to weak criminal justice systems and lack of resources.
That is why awareness and education are some of the first steps to fighting human trafficking. The Set Free Movement, Northwest High School’s Code Orange and counseling services like Flourish have those covered. Set Free is working on preventing vulnerable youth from entering the it. SOAR is the pathway to restoration. And the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and task force work with the legal side.
“It’s really quite beautiful to watch the community come together to do something about this issue because it’s just so vial,” Cochran said.
It takes a village to work together to fight slavery in one small part of the United States. But that does not mean the fight starts and ends here. All of these groups would not be where they are today without partnering with each other and connecting with others in the community to share stories, experiences and resources.
The Department of Biology and Chemistry upgraded one of its labs in Whiteman-Gibbs over the summer to create a more modern environment thanks to donors and a grant. Spring Arbor University (SAU) decided a renovation was needed because Whiteman-Gibbs was built nearly 50 years ago.
“The facilities are older than I would like and so I’m rejoicing that we have a refurbishing right now,” Bruce Baldwin, chairperson of the department of biology and chemistry, said.
The renovated space, officially named the Weatherwax Microbiology Laboratory, features new equipment for students and new surfaces to work on. The new tables provide more open sightlines for the professors to supervise the students. They will also get to interact more with their instructors as the new tables provide more working and walking space. New lights were also installed and changed from fluorescent to LED. The lights will last longer and are easier and safer to dispose of once they do go out.
Shortly after students finished the school year and moved off campus, the project began. Baldwin said the goal is to finish the renovations before classes begin. However, a backup plan is set in place for the lab’s first classes in case construction is not completed in time for school.
“You can never guarantee when a project is going to finish,” Baldwin said. “It’s a good target and you do your best and then you react if things don’t work out.”
In the middle of the 2016-2017 school year, SAU applied for a grant from the Weatherwax Foundation, the namesake of the new lab, with the hopes of renovating one of the labs in the science department to create a more modern, high-tech microbiology lab. The Weatherwax Foundation is a Jackson-based organization that provides funding to help strengthen various educational programs in the county.
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance and Administration Kevin Rose assured that the foundation funded 100 percent of the renovation.
Although the microbiology lab is currently the only space being funded by the Weatherwax Foundation, the plan is to eventually refurbish the other laboratory spaces in the building. Whether these plans will get the funding from the same foundation or elsewhere remains to be seen, but the hope is to receive additional donations after the school is able to demonstrate the functionality of the new lab.
Ever wonder how the school makes money and where tuition money goes? President Ellis answers all your questions.
How does the school generate income? And where does our tuition go?
Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief
One of President Brent Ellis’ priorities when he took the leadership role was fundraising and increasing endowment (the school’s savings and investments.) While the budget for Ivy League university Harvard is $78 billion and Spring Arbor University (SAU)’s rival, Indiana Wesleyan’s, 2016-17 budget is $178 million, Spring Arbor’s revenue and contributions in 2014 totaled $72 million.
As SAU continues to grow and expand, donor contributions, tuition and other supplementary projects are key sources of income, Ellis said.
The recent additions to campus–the new tennis courts, the E.P. Hart memorial for SAU’s founder, renovated locker rooms, English mural and nursing program–were all contributed by donors.
“Part of what you do within these donor relationships is people fall in love with the university and they have interests and they have passions that are focused in certain areas, so you really want to empower people to be involved in things they’re passionate about,” Ellis said. “I think every one of these gifts really is a manifestation of the person’s passion for Spring Arbor University.”
Ever wonder how the school makes money and where tuition money goes? President Ellis answers all your questions.
The Pulse (TP): You’ve actually worked in fundraising before you were president in Advancement right?
President Brent Ellis (PE): Yes I did. I still work in fundraising. (laughs) But for four years while Chuck Webb was president, I was the Vice President of Advancement. The chief fundraiser at the time.
TP: How do donations work? Do you go out and find donors for specific projects or do they come to you with projects?
PE: Both. At times projects are driven by the institution based on its needs. At times projects are driven by donors who have certain ideas of what they want to do, and then at times, like with the Kauffman Center, it’s, “I want to do something to honor Ken Kauffman, what could we do?” Really, it runs the gamut. And there are times we say no. I’ll just throw out a hypothetical. If someone says, “Brent we’re going to give you $20 million to build a science building, but we want you to teach these certain components of stem cell research” or something that could be controversial, we generally will say no. If it’s consistent with what we have set for priorities for the institution and allows us to fulfill our mission in greater ways, then by all means we’ll accept it. We will do that in a manner that it doesn’t impact student tuition, and we don’t divert tuition funds towards those projects.
TP: What does tuition actually go towards?
PE: The operations of the institution. Our operational budget is in the neighborhood of $70 million and tuition funds a portion of that broader operational budget. Tuition does not cover the full cost of running the institution. We have endowment dollars. We raise money. There are a variety of different things we do to have the income necessary to run the institution. The majority of the operational budget is personnel. Salary and benefits. It pays for our faculty and staff. The other big portions of it would be some of our licenses (i.e. Blackboard), computers we provide and infrastructure.
TP: Like Wi-Fi?
PE: Yeah, Wi-Fi. Athletic teams and coaches, it’s all through tuition dollars. Anything that is a consistent recurring cost on an annual basis, that is what tuition goes to, and nothing outside of that. I think tuition covers 85 percent of our operational funds. About 15 percent of our operational budget is outside of tuition dollars.
TP: One of the incomes of the school would be donors and tuition, and where does the rest come from?
PE: Endowment. It’s investments people make. We draw four or five percent on an annual basis from endowment to fund operational expenses. And then there are other auxiliary enterprises, like summer camps and leasing facilities.
TP: So tuition would be directly correlated with enrollment, and so as enrollment goes up or down the operational budget would go up and down?
PE: Yes.
TP: And so that affects how many professors we can hire or facilities we can update?
PE: Right. Some of the operational dollars go to what we call broadly deferred maintenance. It takes on different projects that would be helpful for maintaining facilities throughout their lifespan.
TP: How do you predict the budget? Do you know at the beginning of the year how many students come?
PE: We base our budgets on three year averages. So right now we already know what next year’s budget is going to be because we know what we’ve enrolled this year. Our new student class is up 20 students from a year ago, which is great. That then becomes the target for their recruiting efforts the following year.
TP: So it really depends on admissions, too.
PE: Absolutely. Enrollment is significant. Schools like Spring Arbor are often times referred to as tuition driven. We say we’re tuition dependent. Because we do depend on tuition dollars to run the institution. If all the students left, we wouldn’t have access to funds to be able to maintain the institution. There are some schools that would have significant endowments that say we’re really not tuition dependent. It doesn’t really matter what we charge, like Princeton or Yale or Harvard, they can charge whatever they want. Their endowments are so big that they can live off of their investments. It doesn’t matter. If they had years where they had zero students they could continue to operate. We couldn’t. We have to adjust our budgets based on our enrollments.
TP: So endowment is a really important part of your job as fundraising?
PE: Endowment is an enormous focal point to what we’re doing. When I came here seven years ago, our endowment was just under seven million dollars and our expectancies (potential future donations through wills) were about 18 million. Now our endowment has more than doubled, so it’s over 15 million, and our expectancies have gone from about 18 million to about 55 million which is great. We’re on our way, but part of the problem was, if you go back into the mid 80s, our endowment was about $250,000. There was a mentality for a lot of Christian institutions to say if you build endowment, you were removing your dependency on God to provide you on an annual basis what it takes to survive. I think God can provide endowment to provide, it’s still His provision. Whether it’s tuition dollars or endowment, it’s all God’s money. So I don’t agree with that philosophy so we’ve put a strong emphasis to try to build the endowment. The more we raise the better job we can do to keep tuition low. And I know it doesn’t seem that way. In the last several years the average increase has been at 3.5-5 percent, which is lower than the national average. I know it’s expensive, but we are in the bottom quartile of institutions. There are more than 75 percent of private Christian institutions that have higher tuition rates than Spring Arbor. We do intentionally try to stay in that bottom quartile to try and make it as affordable as possible.
TP: Why does it increase every year? Is it inflation?
PE: The primary driver to that is healthcare. It’s an issue institutions face outside of higher education as well. We don’t pay the highest salaries, so we try to provide more significant benefits. So, that’s what has been done. We know what our budget as far as targets for enrollment next year goes. We have no idea what the increase in our health care premium is going to be. So, all of that becomes very difficult to predict. That and technology are the two main culprits. As technology becomes better it costs more and people’s expectations of that increases. What was really rare and uncommon 15 years ago (i.e. Wi-Fi) is now expected.
TP: One last question, so all of these five dedications, they have nothing to do whatsoever with parking passes and paying $50.
PE: Absolutely zero have to do with that.
TP: So the $50 goes straight to campus safety and the new parking lot?
PE: Nope, has nothing to do with the new parking lot. The $50 only goes towards campus safety budget and allows them to have some funds to make sure that we are a safe campus.
TP: So where does the new parking lot come from?
PE: That was part of the tennis court project. One of the things that we were required to do by Spring Arbor Township is to replace the parking lot that we lost. That was part of the project cost.
Ever wondered why there’s a 30,000 lbs rock at the front front of the school? Or how these donors discovered Spring Arbor when some of them are not alumni? President Brent Ellis explains the stories behind each facility.
Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief
The new tennis complex, renovated locker rooms, upstairs Sayre-Decan mural, rock entrance and nursing lab officially opened on Homecoming Day, Oct. 1.
Almost 100 percent of these five dedicated facilities were paid by donors, people who want to show their love and appreciation towards the school. None of the money to build these came from tuition.
Ever wondered why there’s a 30,000 lbs rock at the front front of the school? Or how these donors discovered Spring Arbor when some of them are not alumni? President Brent Ellis explains the stories behind each facility.
The Jones Tennis Complex
Who: Ron & Marvelle Jones and other donors
What: $1.3 million tennis courts and $250,000 in scholarships
Where: North of Ogle Villages
The Story: “Ron Jones, a new board member for SAU, and his wife love tennis and have a long history with SAU tennis alumni. That began to influence their interest in Spring Arbor. It was a real natural gift.” – President Brent Ellis
Varsity Locker Rooms for Basketball and Volleyball
Who: Faith Small (women’s locker rooms) and anonymous donors (men’s locker rooms)
What: $185,000 to renovate locker rooms
Where: Fieldhouse
The Story: “Trent Allen, who the men’s locker rooms are named for, had a relationship with the donor couple, and he passed away, which is why it is named for him. The women’s locker rooms were funded by Faith Small who was a board member who just passed away. It was eight or 10 months before she died that she had given the funds to renovate the women’s locker rooms.” – President Brent Ellis
“Word & Image” Mural
Who: Joel Varland, Roger Varland’s brother
What: Donated labor to paint a mural highlighting some of the influential authors of the Christian faith
Where: Upstairs Sayre-Decan Hall
The Story: “Joel heard that we were doing [the DC] mural a couple years back. He worked with Kimberly Moore-Jumonville and the faculty in the department of English and came up with who would make the wall and who wouldn’t make the wall.” – President Brent Ellis
E.P. Hart Circle
Who: Hal Munn, board of trustees, and anonymous donors
What: $40,000 memorial for EP Hart, the founder of SAU
Where: EP Hart Circle
The Story: “Hal Munn was one of the catalysts for the memorial when it was first raised in 2003. Two weeks prior to Hal’s death, I went to go see him just to pay my respects and he said, Brent I need you to promise me two things: first thing have a tenure of more than 20 years, be the president for more than 20 years. I said well that’s going to be up to our board. And he was like yes—you be committed. I said I am committed to this place. I’m glad I’m here and I believe in what this place is and he said the second thing is I want to give a legacy gift to complete the construction of the EP Hart circle. I said Hal, we’ll find a way to get it done. He made a very generous gift from his family. That gave us almost what we needed to get it done. We’ve gone out and raised and additional 15-20k to fund that circle as well. It’s not just going to be a memorial, but also an entrance, and that’s why you see the brick façade that says Spring Arbor University, lights, when you come into that entrance, you’ll now where you are. It also will serve as a nice welcome, entrance into the university, which I don’t think we have a entrance, where’s the front gate, where the front door. Now that will be the front door to the university.” – President Brent Ellis
Jaworski Clinical Simulation Center and Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Service Clinic
Who: Joe Jaworski, retired professor of biology
What: Clinical space (labs) to kickstart a residential nursing program
Where: Across M-60 in the old Physical Plant
The Story: “As we’ve been doing market research and where we’re losing students, nursing continued to be a place where we continued to lose students because people wanted a nursing degree from a Christian university, so we were losing students to Indiana Wesleyan, Huntington, etc. I could name 10 people that I know that did not go here because of the nursing program. One of our professors, Joe Jaworski, a 30+ year faculty member in Biology, left a significant portion of his estate to the university with the caveat that it would go towards benefiting the sciences. Through conversations with our science faculty arrived at the idea if we started a nursing program that would provide a consistent stream of students into biology and into chemistry and allow us to recruit some students that we’d been losing.” – President Brent Ellis
