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around the green – faculty and staff
– Appointed– Attended
– Exhibited/Judged
– Hosted
– Inducted
– Presented
– Preached
– Published
For position openings, please see www.bethelks.edu/careers
Appointed
Scott Befort, resident director for Warkentin Court. He has a B.A. in interpersonal and public communications from Oklahoma Baptist University, and was most recently employed by Prairie View Mental Health Services in Newton as a case manager and Adventure Course facilitator.
Chad Childs ’99, vice president for student life. He has a B.A. in natural science from Bethel and an M.S. in family therapy from Friends University. He was most recently director of prevention programs at the Regional Prevention Center of South Central Kansas at Mirror, Inc., as well as a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist for Reaching Out Counseling Center, a private practice he owns, sponsored by Hesston Mennonite Brethren Church.
Brian Epperson, associate professor of business and economics. He has a B.A. from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, an M.A. in organizational communication consultancy/speech from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma.
Lori Livengood, vice president for marketing and admissions. She has a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and a master’s degree from Friends University and most recently served as director of Bethel’s Office of Institutional Communications.
Erin Myrtle, communications coordinator for Institutional Communications. She is a 2005 graduate of Friends University with bachelor’s degrees in communications (publications) and graphic design along with a minor in marketing, and most recently served as marketing director/graphic designer for the Wichita Business Journal.
Clark Oswald ’03, associate director of admissions. He has a B.A. from Bethel in German and business administration and has worked in Bethel’s Office of Admissions since 2003.
Barbara Schmidt ’65, manager of KIPCOR’s Community Mediation Center, has been appointed to the board of directors for the Harvey County Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Task Force, Inc.
Dale Schrag ’69, Bethel’s director of church relations, has been appointed to an additional role as campus pastor.
Attended
Elizabeth A. (Buffy) Gatz, assistant professor of nursing, attended Mosby’s Faculty Development Institute for nursing instructors in Orlando Jan. 5-6. She also went to Day at the Legislature in Topeka Feb. 12, a day for nursing students to become more aware of the role nurses can play in development of laws for the health-care professions.
Sondra Koontz ’70, vice president for advancement, visited donors in Arizona in March and heard the Bethel College Concert Choir sing twice during their spring break tour.
Patricia Shelly ’76, professor of Bible and religion, attended MC USA Board meetings in Rochester, N.Y., April 15-18 and preached at Rochester Area Mennonite Fellowship April 19.
John Thiesen ’82, co-director of libraries, attended the Midwest Archives Conference in St. Louis April 29-May 2.
Exhibited/Judged
Rachel Epp Buller ’96, adjunct assistant professor of art, had a show of recent prints, “The Identity Series,” exhibited at the Hesston College Art Gallery in March and April.
Gail Lutsch, professor of art, had a screen monotype accepted into the 40th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition at the Hays Art Center April 24-June 5. The juror for the show was Jan Schall, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Lutsch also judged the paintings of, and gave a slide presentation to, the Kansas Art Guild at the Wichita Center for the Arts April 7.
Chuck Regier ’81, Kauffman Museum curator of exhibits, and Joel Gaeddert ’06 have completed the design and production of a traveling exhibit for ExhibitsUSA in Kansas City, Mo. The exhibit “Lee and Grant,” originally developed by the Virginia Historical Society, was reorganized as a traveling exhibit by EUSA and Kauffman Museum. David Kreider ’82, museum technician, and Rachel Pannabecker ’80, Kauffman Museum director, along with Mark Schmidt Andres ’83 and Abe Regier ’07, also contributed to the project by editing text, creating a mount and developing an innovative design for a crate that transforms into a display module.
Hosted
Fred Goering ’72, director of development, and Dave Linscheid ’75, director of alumni relations, hosted a reception for alumni and friends at Hope Mennonite Church, Wichita, March 20 after the Bethel College Concert Choir’s first performance on tour during spring break. Bev Goering ’72 and Alumni Council member Vicki Howard ’83, Halstead, helped host. Faculty and staff members Bill Eash, professor of music, Dale Schrag ’69, director of church relations, and Garrett Whorton ’07, admissions counselor, accompanying the choir on tour, also attended.
Inducted
Elizabeth A. (Buffy) Gatz, assistant professor of nursing, was inducted into Cambridge Who’s Who Executive, Professional and Entrepreneurial Registry for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in all aspects of nursing education.
Presented
Rachel Epp Buller ’96, adjunct assistant professor of art, presented the paper “Nursing Journeys and the Infant-Collaborator” at the annual conference of the College Art Association in February in Los Angeles. She presented “Collecting recollections: Memory and memorialization in the work of two contemporary printmakers” April 3 at the Midwest Art History Society conference in Kansas City.
Brett Dewey, assistant professor of Bible and religion, Dale Schrag ’69, director of church relations, and Patricia Shelly ’76, professor of Bible and religion, made presentations and participated in an all-day faculty workshop on “Teaching about Religious Diversity on Mennonite College Campuses in Kansas” Feb. 21 at Hesston College. The workshop involved 12 faculty from Bethel, Hesston and Tabor Colleges and was funded by a mini-grant from the Wabash Center. Mark Jantzen ’85, associate professor of history, also participated in the workshop.
Gary Flory, director of KIPCOR, along with Libby Schrag ’98 and Alison Replogle, presented a session at the Wichita State University Social Work Power Conference March 6. The conference was on “Countering Violence” and the session was titled “Restorative Discipline in Schools: Strengthening Community through Accountability.” At the Kansas Rural Water Association annual convention March 24-25, Flory presented an all-day workshop on “Resolving Disputes in a Neighborly Way” as well as a session on “One Response to Territorial Disputes: A Kansas Case Study” about the process he used in eastern Kansas to resolve a major dispute between a city and a rural water district. Flory also helped design and facilitate a community forum on “Forgiveness and Restorative Justice” sponsored by the Garvey Institute of Law at Friends University April 4 and attended by Wichita community leaders.
Sondra Koontz ’70, vice president for advancement, gave a presentation about fundraising entitled “It’s All about Relationships” to the women’s circle groups of the Bethel College Mennonite Church Feb. 17.
Don Lemons, professor of physics, presented a Faculty Seminar March 31 entitled “Plasma Physics, Plasma Simulation and My Work.”
Patricia Shelly ’76, professor of Bible and religion, presented “Food for Thought: A Biblical and Theological Look at the Global Food Crisis” at the Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office Hunger for Justice Seminar in Wichita March 29.
Toby Tyner ’07, associate director of development, represented the development office at the annual Agri-Urban meeting at Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, and at the MMA Stewardship University, held on campus Feb. 21.
Robert Yutzy, coordinator of congregational ministries at KIPCOR, taught a four-part Wednesday evening training on interpersonal conflict in February and March at Journey@Yoder, the Yoder campus of South Hutchinson Mennonite Church.
Preached
Brett Dewey, assistant professor of Bible and religion, gave the Bethel College Sunday sermon, “Death and Hope,” at Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, Goessel, March15. He delivered the Palm Sunday sermon at New Creation Fellowship, Newton, April 5.
Robert Yutzy, coordinator of congregational ministries at KIPCOR, preached at First Mennonite Church in Newton Jan. 11 and at Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church in Harper Jan. 18 and Feb. 22, where he also co-led a three-part Lenten series with his wife Luann.
Published
Martha Peterka, professor of Spanish, had her article “El cuento epifánico como bildungsroman femenino” accepted for publication in the refereed journal Explicación de textos literarios, volume 36.
Penelope Adams Moon, associate professor of history, had her article “‘We aren’t playing that passive role any longer’: American women’s protest of the Vietnam War” published in Restaging War in the Western World: Noncombatant Experiences, 1890-Today (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009), 151-175.