Feature Stories Archives - 91��

91�� Honors McKee’s 30 Years of Service to Office of Development

Marketing — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 13:17:41 +0000

After serving 30 years as Coordinator of Research and Records in the 91�� Office of Development during an unprecedented time of growth, Brenda McKee has retired.

McKee saw many significant changes over those 30 years. When she arrived in the fall of 1993, Anderson had just graduated its first four-year graduates since returning to baccalaureate status. She served under several presidents, including Dr. Lee Royce and most recently, Dr. Evans Whitaker. During Dr. Whitaker’s years, she saw Anderson become a comprehensive university and more academic degrees offered than ever before.

She also feels privileged to have been a part of successful multimillion dollar campaigns, which included major improvements to the Rainey Fine Arts Center as well as construction of Thrift Library and the G. Ross Anderson, Jr. Student Center.

“For 30 years, Brenda has been the heart and soul of the Development Office at 91��,” said Senior Vice President for Development and Presidential Affairs Wayne Landrith. “As Coordinator of Research and Records, she has been responsible for keeping our records organized and up-to-date, and she has done so with meticulous attention to detail. We are so grateful for her dedication to serving the Lord and helping 91�� fulfill its Christian higher education mission.”

While she served in the same position for 30 years, that role evolved over time as major system upgrades took place and new technology became available.

“I came to work in September of ‘93 and in July of ‘94 our data was uploaded into the new Raiser’s Edge software. That was probably one of the highlights of my time at Anderson, being able to work with Blackbaud on getting that new software program up and running and all of the data downloaded,” McKee said. “There were a lot of hours involved, but I enjoyed being able to do that. I was also charged with processing and receiving all the contributions that came into the University and preparing the reports of all of our support we had received.”

In terms of technology, digital records went from being stored on a local server to the secure cloud-based system currently in use. And then there was the major shift to increased online giving in 2016.

“It was amazing, the major increase we saw with online donations,” McKee said. “More and more, contributions are coming in online versus by check.”

One thing that has not changed in those 30 years? The wonderful relationships that McKee enjoyed with her colleagues in the Office of Development and the campus as a whole. Some of those relationships go back to her days in the classroom at Anderson. Her first classes were in the mid-1980s and led to an associate’s in liberal arts in 1986. She remembers many of her professors from that first degree, some of whom are still at 91�� like Dr. Bob Hanley.

With the emphasis on adult education that led to the ACCEL program in the late 1990s, McKee went back to school in the evenings and earned her bachelor’s in computer information systems. She was able to use many skills learned in those classes to help her as she dealt with newer systems in her role in the Development Office.

Now that she’s retired, McKee looks forward to spending more time with her family. Her husband Dennis McKee, who worked 35 years at the 91�� physical plant, retired as its director in 2013. Dennis also served on the Anderson City Council for many years. The couple have four grown sons, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren who all live in Anderson.

McKee will also have more time to enjoy singing with the Vocal Matrix Chorus, a female barbershop harmony musical group associated with Sweet Adelines International. She and a few other ladies from Anderson regularly travel to Greenville for rehearsals and she plans to travel to the 2023 Sweet Adelines International Convention this October in Louisville. She also sings in the choir at Temple Baptist Church in Anderson.

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Alpha Leaders are There for Incoming Students

91�� — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:20:59 +0000

Heading to college for the first time is a huge step. That’s why it’s so important that every incoming 91�� student has someone come alongside them to support, encourage and guide.

Incoming 91�� freshmen all become part of an Alpha Group, a small group of new students led by an upperclassman—known as the Alpha Leader—that is assigned to a First Year Experience Class (AU101).

Upperclassmen student leaders have the opportunity to apply to be an Alpha Leader in spring of the prior year. It’s a highly selective process.

“This year we had 138 applicants and we hired 58 of those applicants,” said Associate Director of New Student Programs Sam Walker at the 91�� Office of Student Life. Alpha Leaders are on campus a week before classes begin to prepare for the incoming class, learning about leadership and sorting through the logistics while getting to know one another better as they prepare for the influx of students.

“We get to hire some of the best student leaders on campus and give our ‘A’ game to our incoming first year students… When that student arrives on move-in day, there is someone on this campus who is expecting them, awaiting their arrival, knows they are coming. I think that’s incredibly distinct, and as we grow as a university, to still have that integral piece of our first-year experience is irreplaceable.”

“Alpha Leading is really unique in the fact that we’re essentially the first impression of Anderson to these students,” said Gracey Jackson, a junior from Greenville majoring in Accounting and minoring in International Business. Jackson, who is in her second year as an Alpha Leader, looks forward to meeting her students.

“I get to cheer them on and help them walk through what it looks like to have a good relationship with the Lord and get them connected to different ministries. One girl in particular reminds me a lot of myself from my freshman year, so I’ve been able to mentor and lead her through that.”

Having that kind of relationship right from the start can make a huge difference. Just ask Tate Sigmon, a sophomore Christian Studies major from Asheville, North Carolina.

“My first day of freshman year, I lost my mom, so my Alpha Leader Carter Lacy met me on the second day,” said Sigmon, who is now an Alpha Leader. “He immediately prayed with me and it was just like he was already there for me, and the rest of the year we grew a lot closer and he’s also still an Alpha Leader. It’s cool that God placed him in my life and that we could continue to grow.”

“Really connecting with students can look like so many different things,” said Alex McCain, a sophomore from Pelzer majoring in Secondary Social Studies Education and an Alpha Leader. “Something that’s really easy for me is… a lot of my guys play sports, so I just talk with them about sports a lot, but then you kind of have to take an interesting approach to some of the students you may not have a ton in common with, but those relationships end up being the best, because you’re pursuing that relationship a little bit harder.”

When Caroline Bryant was entering 91�� as an incoming freshman from Greenville, her Alpha Leader was Karsen Bryan. Both being education majors, they hit it off quickly.

“A really sweet thing I’ve gotten to experience with her is she’s still my BCM leader, so she served me not only in the Alpha Leader role but also in the BCM role during my freshman year,” said Bryant, who is also now an Alpha Leader. “Getting to see all of the different aspects of mentorship she brings to my life has been huge and she’s had an integral part of how I am as a Christian today.”

“Something the Lord has taught me a lot was the fact that we’re all coming to college, we might say we’re coming here for school, we might say we’re coming here for sports, but every single one of us is here for relationships,” said Alpha Leader Josh Gilliam, a finance major and Christian studies minor from Columbia. “It’s what everyone wants, what everyone desires and really what everyone needs. Something I’ve loved about this position is I’ve been able to be that relationship for a lot of my students.”

“Every year has looked a little different, but one of the main things that stays super consistent is the fact that we’re not just here to love on the students but we’re also here to remind them of who Jesus is with wherever they’re at,” said Caroline Gallman, a third-year Alpha Leader who is a senior from Greenville majoring in Marketing and Finance. “It’s cool we’re in a school where it’s okay to talk about scripture and encourage students in that way.”

“I think something that makes Alpha Leaders distinct and that I love about the position is their primary role is just to be a great friend,” Walker said. “In a lot of other student leadership positions, you might be someone who is enforcing policy, you might be someone who is pulling together academics or athletics, but being an Alpha Leader just comes down to being a really, really great friend.”

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Class Explores the History and Psychology of Monsters

91�� — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 19:25:36 +0000

There’s a class offered at 91�� where students face their fears—well, in a manner of speaking.

Students in Dr. Candace Livingston’s CON 310 class, “Monsters: The Life (and Afterlife) of Monstrous Creatures,” are learning how to appreciate, analyze, question and critique monsters that appear in history and contemporary society. The class explores monsters as they’ve appeared in art, books, motion pictures and other forms.

Chewbacca in “Star Wars” is physically strong, but creator George Lucas gave him some likable qualities, too. On the other hand, there are malevolent monsters like the one in the movie “Alien.” Then there are also monsters by transformation, such as when Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. Some monster flicks deal with size, such as King Kong, the giant ape who’s the subject of a pioneering cinematic special effects masterpiece. Other elements of horror deal more with quantity, such as armies of Orcs in J.R.R. Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Some have sort of a cute factor, like Gremlins, wreaking havoc in numbers.

Sometimes “monster” is a term ascribed to a candidate’s political opponent or an abusive or violent person—that gets discussed, too.

“Monsters have a lot to teach us,” said Dr. Candace Livingston, who is an Art History professor in the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91��. “As students learn early in the course, the very word ‘monster’ reflects this; it comes from the Latin verb ‘monstrare,’ ‘to show.’ To use another word from that same root, monsters always demonstrate something to us.”

Dr. Livingston was inspired to create the class out of a fascination she’s had with monsters since her childhood. In this class, she shows her students how monsters can be a powerful way to analyze society.

“We discuss how monsters have been used metaphorically throughout history to represent people who challenge society’s expectations, and how the very word ‘monster’ is utilized in propaganda even now to create fear and mistrust of people unlike ‘us.’ We analyze how monsters can be used to divide us and feed our social fears or how, conversely, they can teach us empathy for the marginalized and misunderstood,” she said.

“I didn’t just learn about monsters,” said Taylor Harrison, a recent graduate who took Dr. Livingston’s class and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Art and Design Department. “I think that course taught me the most about myself, which is interesting considering the range of courses I have taken. If you dig in and grapple with the content, it forces you to be reflective in a really challenging but growth-inspiring way.”

Getting back to this article’s first sentence about facing one’s fears—Students in the class study the psychology of fear and why we fear the things we do, both as a society and as individuals. They explore these feelings in a journal kept over the course of the semester. As a final project, students create and present to the class a monster that gives physical form to a personal fear.

When he took Dr. Livingston’s class, Curtis Shirkey learned how during certain time periods there are spikes in certain monsters.

“Vampires were popular at one point, zombies or Kaijus (Japanese monster subgenre) were popular in the 40s and 50s. There are worldwide events that were happening at the time that these monsters embodied the fear that was associated at the time. Now whenever I watch a horror movie, I’m like ‘What is this monster a representation of that we’re facing today?’”

Watching the television show “Finding Bigfoot” captivated Stelan Martin when he was a kid.

“At first it scared me to death. I was not a fan of something lurking outside, especially where I’m from, because of where I am… a lot of woods, surrounded by the lakes as well,” said Martin, who grew up in rural northern Oconee County, South Carolina. “You learn from those shows that Bigfoot liked to stay in the woods and they also know how to swim—as a kid that concerned me a lot.”

Martin, who’s playing the lead role in the upcoming AU Theatre presentation of “Frankenstein,” took Dr. Livingston’s class in the fall 2022 semester. He feels that taking the class helped him to get into his role as the famous fabricated monster.

“I would not have auditioned for the creature if I had not taken her class, because of all these monsters that we discussed,” Martin commented. “You learned the human side of those characters—especially when the auditions came around for ‘Frankenstein.’”

(“Frankenstein” will run Nov. 3-11, 2023 in the Belk Theatre of the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91��.)

Another thing about the class—a student can opt out of viewing a horror film if they feel it’s too scary—the class offers them viewing alternatives.

“My hope is that what we do over the course of the semester helps students not only appreciate the monster media all around them in culture on a deeper level but also learn to identify and analyze their own fears, and perhaps to understand and better manage them. It’s a tall order, but monsters can do all these things and more,” Dr. Livingston said.

This course devoted to monsters is a Connections course. Connections courses at 91�� use the tools of multiple fields to examine a topic of broad interest.

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Center for Career Development Provides Students, Grads with Ingredients for Success

91�� — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:44:50 +0000

The 91�� Center for Career Development exists to equip students with career competencies so they can achieve success in serving wherever the Lord calls them.

The Center for Career Development is taking strides toward being more convenient for 91�� students, having recently moved its offices to the G. Ross Anderson Jr. Student Center and communicating on digital platforms where students are.

“We take very seriously the idea that choosing a career must involve a student’s purpose and what they are called to do for the world,” said Associate Vice President for Student Development Robyn Sanderson. “Our approach involves finding the competencies a company wants to see from prospective employees and figuring out how to develop those competencies in our students. The goal is to holistically equip them not just for a career, but for their unique calling.”

AU PRO, an initiative of the Center for Career Development, helps students prepare for the working world, offering experiences to help them improve written and oral communication skills as well as conveying a professional image—all through a servant leadership lens. According to Coordinator Lewis Hightower, AU PRO offers student career coaching and discipline-specific events where students can learn from employers about what a particular career looks like. AU PRO’s Signature Series is a group of seminars held throughout the semester whose topics include writing professional emails, writing and editing resume, communication strategies, interview strategies, networking strategies and online image.

Graduate school bound students can also turn to the Center for Career Development as well, to help them prepare in the process of being accepted into any of a variety of graduate programs.

Communication-wise, the Center for Career Development moved from doing a biweekly email to regular posts on Instagram at , where videos, job search tips, employment opportunities and news about upcoming events are constantly being posted. According to Center for Career Development Office Manager Jensen Barker, the center used to send out regular emails, which were harder to track and less engaging for students, so their staff wanted to build connections with AU students in a fun, interactive way. Since students always engage on Instagram, they concluded that’s the place to be. With the help and support of the staff, she and the CCD student employees produce videos on various topics ranging from job search tips to skills that will help a new employee navigate their workplace and avoid harmful pitfalls.

In addition to the offices at the Student Center, the Center for Career Development is also available during certain hours and days at the Thrift Library. Center for Career Development staff help students find on-campus jobs and internships and hold workshops and seminars throughout the year.

On-campus jobs can be valuable to students, according to Center for Career Development Director Dr. Wendy Smith.

“Supervisors work around a student’s schedule and they care about their development,” she said. “It’s a win-win for students who work on campus for a variety of reasons. We focus on the students should be able to develop while in an on-campus position—career and self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork and technology. I feel like we’re on the front end of that and I’m proud of Kathleen Smith (on-campus student employment coordinator) and Morganne Tankersley (on-campus student employment program manager); they’ve done a great job.”

One powerful tool the Center for Career Development offers is Handshake.

“Universities across the U.S. use Handshake, which functions similarly to Indeed.com but is designed specifically for university students and serves as a central hub for all things related to job searches,” Dr. Smith said. “Students make appointments through Handshake and search for full-time, part-time, internships and on-campus positions. We have over 7,000 employers on Handshake with 62,000 open positions, including full-time, part-time and internships. Smith added, “Internships are valuable because, according to recent research by NACE, paid interns averaged 1.61 job offers.”

The Center for Career Development has also come up with new events, such as Cookies, Coffee, and Critiques, a come-and-go event in the banquet hall of the Student Center where students can connect with others committed to their success. Students drop in for a 15-minute session with a career coach, have their resume or cover letter reviewed, and can grab some coffee and cookies.

Here’s a schedule of upcoming events from the 91�� Center for Career Development:

Let’s be Real: A Look into Deception Theory w/Cassie Webber – October 2, 2023, 10:10 a.m.
J.C. Penney Suit-Up Event, 30% off professional attire, Anderson Mall, October 10, 2023, 4-7 p.m.
Cookies, Coffee, and Critiques, Come-and-Go Resume and Cover Letter Reviews, Banquet Hall – October 16, 2023, 2-4 p.m.
So, You Want to Go to Graduate School? Crafting Stellar Graduate School Application Essays, SC 302, November 13, 2023, 10:10 a.m.
Free Headshot Event, SC 304, November 14, 2023, 2-4:45 p.m.

91�� Center for Career Development

The Center for Career Development prepares students to live out their Christ-centered purpose and to pursue career readiness to make a difference in their communities, cities and professions. The Center for Career Development seeks to cultivate student’s unique purpose through personalized coaching and corporate experiences to empower ownership in the life-long journey of personal and professional development.

For details about services the AU Center for Career Development offers or to schedule an appointment, visit their website here.

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Thrift Library Enters Academic Year with New Director, Enhancements for AU Community

91�� — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 14:06:45 +0000

For Dr. Melanie Croft, a love of reading and learning from an early age started her on a natural progression that led her to her current role as Director of Library Services at 91��.

“I think the love of reading began when I was a kid. I lived in the library,” she said. “When I was really young, we lived in a tiny town in Northern California—500 people—and we had a one-room public library that was open maybe two days a week. I love learning and so it was a natural evolution. I was an elementary teacher, then I went into library science, was a high school librarian, a district librarian and a professor and now I’m here.”

Dr. Croft earned a BS in Liberal Studies from San Diego Christian College; an MA in Education in Teaching, Learning and Technology from Point Loma Nazarene University; an MA in Education, School Librarianship from Azusa Pacific University; and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Liberty University.

Prior to coming to Anderson, Dr. Croft served on faculty at the University of West Georgia and Fresno Pacific University. She was also Coordinator of Learning Resources as well as Library Media Specialist for a school district in California. She is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Library Association, Association of Christian Librarians and the South Carolina Association of School Librarians. She has received numerous academic and professional honors and has published various articles in her field.

Library Enhancements

Thrift Library continues to support the needs of 91�� students, faculty and staff for comprehensive services to aid in research. Added to those services are a mobile app and a 24/7 online librarian.

A new self checkout mobile app, AU Thrift Library, offered through Meescan, is streamlining the checkout process while offering a one-stop hub for Thrift Library’s online resources. And while Thrift Library’s website has always been available 24/7, patrons can now access professional librarians around the clock through Chatstaff.

According to Dr. Croft, Thrift Library continues to provide guidance to students all along their academic journey. But of course there’s more to students researching online than just going to a search engine.

“Even though they’re considered digital natives because they grew up on devices, that doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to find the right kind of information, so that’s our job—to teach them how to do that,” she said. “What we teach is information and media literacy, which is a great need now, especially with generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) on the scene. Students more than ever now need to be taught how to discern what is real and what is not real online, not just what is going to meet your information needs. Where did that information come from? Can it be trusted? Should you use it? Then, how do you use it and give credit for it? There’s so many dimensions to it now, there’s so much online—it’s just made life more complicated. It’s easier to get to it but learning how to use it all is complicated and requires quite a bit of instruction.”

Dr. Croft noted that Thrift Library plans to launch an instructional resource called Library DIY that includes video tutorials to help students and faculty navigate research projects and papers. The tutorials will deal with scholarly research, citing sources and using APA (American Psychological Association) style and other styles in writing.

“It’s really just a lot of self-directed learning, so that if they are able to take care of the basics themselves. It’s just foundational stuff they need to know about library research. Then when they work with our librarians on consultations, which we are offering digitally or in-person. We can work on the more advanced things with them,” she said. “My goal has been to simplify everything, because there is information overload in the world now. I want to put what you would actually need. Just a list of links, the hours and the search tools.”

Thrift Library has also signed new agreements that improve resource sharing with other libraries. Dr. Croft says 91�� has signed reciprocal borrowing agreements with the Association of Christian Librarians and ATLA—both Christian library organizations.

“Now all of our students, faculty and staff have the ability to visit institutions that belong to these programs all over the United States. We’re working on expanding access to what’s available out there,” she said. “We of course have access through all of the academic libraries in South Carolina.”

While books remain an important part of Thrift Library, digital assets are a high priority.

“Since I got here I started working on looking at all of our database subscriptions, which is the biggest part of our budget—all those online resources—reprioritizing those, because we have so many new doctoral programs. We needed more scholarly research types of sources. We spent some time going through what we already had and if it wasn’t being used, we let it go,” she said. “We invested in quite a lot of good resources and some that the professors had been requesting. That’s been a great change, because we were doing a lot of interlibrary loan requests where people would find the abstract to something and then have to request it, which showed that we needed more robust databases.”

Thrift Library is also part of a local group of public and academic libraries called OPAL (Oconee, Pickens, Anderson Libraries). The directors of each of these libraries meet periodically to collaborate on shared professional development opportunities, promotional events, and how to increase access and usage of our libraries.

OPAL organizes events throughout the year, including an upcoming co-sponsored by Thrift Library, with author Ron Rash for his new book, The Caretaker, October 6, 2023, hosted by the Pickens County Library System at Hampton Memorial Library in Easley, South Carolina.

While looking to the future, Thrift Library is also honoring the past, preserving more than a hundred years of Anderson’s history in an archive. Efforts are underway to organize donated items and other things that document the university’s history.

“Kenzie Barnett, who was an AU graduate, graduated with a degree in History two years ago, got her library degree and she’s now our official archivist,” she said. “She’s working on getting all of that organized, and eventually it will be put online where some things can be accessed digitally. There are photos, university newspapers, newspaper clippings about AU, yearbooks, programs from concerts and theatre productions—basically anything tied to the history of AU.” Dr. Croft noted that the collection even includes an electronic piano once used by Grammy Award-winning artist Johnny Mann, the namesake of the Commercial Music center in the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91��.

All of the Thrift Library resources are available at their website.

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Campus Projects: Football Operation Center Takes Shape, Extensive Updates to Campus, including Housing

91�� — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 18:55:12 +0000

While students and their academic projects may take a much-deserved break over the summer, campus construction projects just keep on rolling! 91�� has many current projects in the works, all designed to make campus a more innovative and welcoming place for new, current and prospective students alike.

Upgrades At Abney

Home to Trojan Basketball and Volleyball, Abney Athletic Center is the hub for indoor sports at 91��.

“For the last five years or so, we’ve kind of redone that Abney Athletic Center,” said Vice President of Athletics Bert Epting. “That includes a new floor, new paint, new lights, and we just completed a new sound system.”

Epting is thrilled about the renovations and believes they’ll be a great addition for the volleyball team this fall and the basketball teams in the winter and spring.

Nature and Nurture

A great expansion to the meal options last year was Troy’s Food Truck, and this year, students will have the option of an additional food truck.

“We’ll have another food truck stationed at the Athletic Campus this year,” said Capital Projects Coordinator Tina Beers. “It’s going to be part of our civilian outdoor eating area that’s opening up this fall. It will be right as you leave the facilities office that will actually be a different area for students to have food.”

Beers is excited for students to have more variety in what food is available to them and thinks the location will be a great way to serve large portions of the student body.

“I think having another meal option out here will be great for athletes after practice as well as students in classes in the Athletic Campus buildings. It will also be closer to College Parke and Heritage Townhomes, so those students will be able to come here and not have to go all the way to campus if they’d like to,” said Beers.

But food isn’t the only thing that’s being expanded over the summer.

“At the end of July, we’ll also start working on the Rocky River Nature Trail,” said Beers. “We’re doing extensions on the nature trail platforms. We have one phase one and phase two scheduled, so as long as phase one goes well, that will extend the viewing area for the classrooms as well as different camps and people in the community. It’s a really awesome project.”

Building Expansions

Several buildings around campus are also receiving upgrades and expansions.

“Right now, we’re working on the College Parke Townhouses Phase Two, which will be open this fall for housing,” said Beers.

Phase Two (aka College Parke West) is an additional space to the College Parke Townhouses located behind the existing units. It will offer 96 additional beds and more space to house upperclassmen.

“We also have some office renovations and reshuffling going on,” said Beers. “We are renovating Watkins lab 208 and clearing space for eight or so new offices. We’ve just moved a lot of the offices for faculty and staff, especially with the four new offices we just got at Chiquola downtown.”

The Athletic Campus

Since last year, the Athletic Campus has seen the greatest amount of growth and development.

“We finished our beautiful track and field spaces about a year ago,” said Epting. “Since then, we’ve hosted six track meets and between 5,000-8,000 student-athletes, so that’s pretty neat.”

“We’ve also finished building out our strength and conditioning space, which has 10,000 square feet of turf and 10,000 square feet of space for strength and conditioning equipment.”

The Future of Trojan Football

However, the central focus of project development this summer is the Trojan Football Operation Center.

“It’s exciting to see it transform day-by-day,” said Beers. “It’s just a huge impact, both to the school as well as the community. And it’s a beauty.”

The Operation Center will function as a multi-purpose facility. It’s 43,622 square feet and will contain football offices, media rooms and locker rooms for home and visiting teams for both football and softball. It will also have new spaces for strength and conditioning, athletic training, sports medicine as well as classrooms.

“It’ll be done sometime in early August,” said Epting. “And then we’ll start fully utilizing those spaces probably sometime in September. We’re really excited about having more space and everything this center will offer.”

Epting believes that football will have a great impact on 91�� and serve to bring the community together like never before.

“You think about the 125 men that will be here competing and you think about the coaches and the families and about Saturdays in the fall and being able to go to a Trojan football game. I think it really will bring a different feel for our entire university. I think you have more students who want to come because we have football.”

There are lots of projects to keep up with at Anderson, but the work never stops. The University is always changing and always improving, doing its best to provide for its ever-growing student body.

“Ultimately, we’re just putting one foot in front of the other,” said Epting. “We’re trying to do the best we can with what God gives us and our resources and those who come alongside us.”

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Onward and Upward: Base Camp 2023

91�� — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:40:07 +0000

Entering college is a big step—kind of like climbing a mountain.

As with a mountain ascent, there’s a Base Camp for incoming students to help them proceed with confidence on one of life’s most important journeys.

91�� has 20 Base Camp guides and eight support staff who are ready to welcome incoming students into the Trojan community and introduce them to the place they love. But beyond simply giving instructions, these guides are eager to share all that’s special about college life at 91��.

A big Base Camp bonus is getting to know other students, as well as professors and staff members before the new academic year starts.

“For me, it’s just the relationships,” said Base Camp guide Ian Thomson, a rising junior from Greenville, South Carolina who is majoring in biology. “You meet so many different people from different walks of life and people you might not have thought in high school that you’d be friends with. Here you are connecting with people that you just wouldn’t normally be around and I think that’s what’s so cool about college.”

Base Camp guide Tori Goldsmith of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, remembers how nervous she was when she was starting college. Goldsmith, now a rising sophomore who is majoring in elementary education, appreciated how her Base Camp Guides went beyond just being transactional—they became friends.

“I’m excited to help them know ‘it’s going to be okay, we’re here for you.’ We want to make connections with you and make that transition as easy as possible, because for a lot of people… this is the first time they had a sleepover with somebody before, so moving completely away can be really scary,” Goldsmith said. “I come from a pretty small town, so I’m used to the community aspect of ‘everybody knows you’ and at Anderson I feel like that carries over because you cannot walk from your room to the caf (AU Culinary Center) without seeing probably five people you know, and they’re all going to stop and say ‘hey’ to you, and they’re all going to ask you ‘how’s your day been?’”

Goldsmith’s encouragement to students is “not to worry about feeling like such a small fish in such a big pond but knowing that like everyone else is just swimming right along with you.”

About being a Base Camp guide, Thomson commented, “Last year I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I knew I was going to be doing orientation, obviously, but I just didn’t realize how close I would get with the team that I’d be working with. Just kind of stepping out of the shell that I was in, I realized during Basecamp just how capable I am of interacting with people.”

For Director of Student Involvement and New Student Programs Gabby Morgan, along with Associate Director of New Student Programs Sam Walker, Base Camp is student-focused by its very nature.

“It might seem scary at first, but these leaders—our guides—are built in friends for them through the day who are going to lead them through the day and who are going to be resources for them come the fall,” Morgan said.

Walker, who is a 2020 AU graduate, said, “91�� in general is a place where people genuinely want to come. This is a university that students want to be a part of… A lot of them perceive this as a great place to be, but they really have no idea just how special these next four years are going to be—and we’re the very first taste of that. I think that’s a really special opportunity.”

Students register for Base Camps by major, so incoming freshmen will meet not only faculty in their area of study, but will meet more of their peers in the same or similar programs.

“We have made adjustments to how students register at Base Camp in terms of majors, so we have seen a need and a want from students to have more connections with people in their major, specifically at Base Camp,” Morgan said, noting that at Base Camp’s Meet Your College session, incoming freshmen learn what it’s like to be a student in that major alongside of other students in the same major.

Base Camp dates:

Session 1: Jun 20, 2023
Session 2: Jun 21, 2023
Session 3: Jun 22, 2023
Session 4: Jun 23, 2023
Session 5: Jul 18, 2023
Session 6: Jul 19, 2023
Session 7: Jul 20, 2023
Session 8: Jul 21, 2023

Details about Base Camp and a registration form can be found here.

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Great Purpose, Greater Community: ACSD Comes to Anderson

91�� — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 17:17:51 +0000

91�� had the privilege of hosting the 2023 ACSD (Association of Christians in Student Development) Conference June 5-8.

This year’s conference theme was “Great Purpose.” Participants attended engaging keynote speeches and took part in professionally-led workshops focused on enhancing campus life and student development.

The keynote speakers, Hosanna Wong, David Guthrie and Stephanie Shackleford, delivered insightful lectures on the theme of “Great Purpose” and explored topics such as finding purpose through work and living a purposeful life.

At the workshops, educators discussed a variety of concepts, ranging from creating campus-wide diversity and inclusion to student mental health and physical well-being.

“I attended last year’s conference,” 91�� Residence Director Jose Brown said, “and it is honestly super helpful for forming relationships with other people that are doing the same work you are and taking and implementing ideas through the workshops that give practical advice on how to navigate different situations and supporting different groups of students.”

All the workshops echoed the conference theme “Great Purpose, ” to “embody the Kingdom of God in the institutions where we serve, helping students to understand that their ultimate purpose is to give glory to God by using their education to advance The Kingdom.”

In addition to these enriching sessions, the conference provided ample opportunity for attendees to network, establish inter-university relationships and foster a stronger sense of Christian community.

“I like that at ACSD there are so many like-minded individuals, and then I also really like that there’s people who are not thinking the way I’m thinking. They don’t look at this job and approach it in the same way that I approach it. But, we still get the opportunity to learn from one another. It shows diversity in the people that are in this field, and ultimately shows the bigger picture of the community of God and how, even in this, we can be different and still be given the same calling,” said Brown.

Alongside job conferences, networking events and conference lunches, participants enjoyed leisure activities like pool time, sand volleyball, spikeball and yoga.

The ACSD 2023 Conference was a harmonious blend of fun and worship. It offered numerous opportunities for networking with like-minded institutions and individuals. Most importantly, it strengthened the commitment of faculty members to return to their respective colleges with renewed determination to better serve their students and campuses.

“I think the like-mindedness with ACSD is this idea that we are all doing this for a bigger purpose, and leaning into this year’s theme, a ‘Great Purpose,’ and that is God’s Kingdom work. So, I think one of the things I like about the networking is getting to know people and getting to learn from people, getting to encourage and be encouraged by people.”

Brown wholeheartedly recommends ACSD for anyone interested in connecting with peers and growing in their ability to better serve their students.

“I would definitely recommend that people come to this. ACSD is amazing and I really believe in it. I think it’s helped me as a professional so, so much, and I really think there’s no better opportunity to connect with people who just understand what you do.”

Details about the conference are online at /acsd2023.

ACSD is committed to assisting student affairs professionals to stay current and relevant in the quickly changing environment of higher education, and Christian higher education in particular. More details can be found on their website at .

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91�� Welcomes ACSD 2023

91�� — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 19:01:46 +0000

91�� is excited to host the Association of Christians in Student Development (ACSD) annual conference June 5-8, 2023.

More than 450 student development professionals from 95 different colleges and universities across the country are expected to attend the conference, which will feature internationally-renowned speakers and top educators leading workshops that reflect the conference theme of “Great Purpose.”

The conference will feature Hosanna Wong, international speaker, best-selling author and spoken word artist; Dave Guthrie, senior director of program development for Portage Learning; and Dr. Stephanie Shackleford, writer, researcher and coach.

Workshops will cover an array of topics exploring ways student development professionals can help students have a strong start, promoting spiritual and physical wellbeing to help them fine-tune their futures. Additional topics will include data-informed decision making, preparing the next generation of women leaders, and creating a healthy campus community that reflects God’s love.

Included is the Student Government Summit for outgoing and newly-elected student body presidents, vice presidents and student government to share resources, learn from each other and hear from experts on best practices in influencing their campus well.

Details about the conference are online at /acsd2023.

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Women’s History Month: Renberg’s Innovative Approach to Learning History Inspires

91�� — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 19:51:53 +0000

History isn’t just about the past—it continues to speak to us. Dr. Lynneth Renberg, assistant professor of history in the 91�� College of Arts and Sciences, shows students how to connect with history in engaging, thought-provoking ways.

“I think history has a lot in common with mysteries and with detective stories. You’ve got these fragments, these pieces of knowledge, and you have a kind of puzzle, so as much as possible I try to create spaces for students to do that themselves in my classroom,” she said. “This often looks a lot like interactive activities. This can look like using primary sources to put together the narrative on their own. This can look like using games that ask students to put themselves in the shoes of historical figures and try to understand motivations, worldviews from that.

I lecture for as much of my classes as I need to to give the context, to allow students to then do that detective work themselves, because I think that’s what makes history exciting. It allows for that exploration and for that kind of personalization of questions in a way that can be really fulfilling even if you don’t think you’re interested in history.”

Pursuing a lifelong interest

Dr. Renberg has always loved history, but was unsure of how exactly to incorporate that interest into a career.

“It wasn’t the first thing I went to to think about as a career, but once I started putting these pieces together of all the different things I loved, it became pretty clear teaching history was a good fit for me and my interests,” she said.

Dr. Renberg’s primary areas of research have focused on Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern era. She spent a year in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews studying modern European history; specifically nineteenth-century life, ranging from the Victorian monarchy to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, before doing her Ph.D. in medieval history.

She has also published and contributed to scholarly articles about medieval history.

In addition to history, dance has also been a big part of Dr. Renberg’s life.

“I had grown up as a dancer, and the fact that I could incorporate my love for dance with my love for history was really fun, so through working on dance halls, 1880 to 1920, I stumbled upon what became my Ph.D. topic and then my first book topic, which is dance and religion in medieval and early modern England,” she said.

Dr. Renberg has explored the complexity of dance, even as it has related to the church over the ages:

“How did we see this shift from where dance is something that the Psalmist calls for, that’s incorporated into Christian practice, Christian life and Christian worship towards the view a lot of us are more familiar with, that you see in movies… where dances are a bad thing for Christians to do?”

Beyond 91��, Dr. Renberg has teamed up with colleagues on an international scale. In fact, over spring break, she attended a collaborative conference symposium with academics, artists and activists in Oslo, Norway. They were working together to consider medieval understandings of religion, race, identity and belonging through the writings of 12th Century cleric Gerald of Wales. Participants included scholars and artists from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany, the UK, Australia and Canada.

“It’s been a really great opportunity to get to be involved! I think the most rewarding part so far has been the chance to get to know and collaborate with such a diverse international group. Hearing their perspectives has been incredibly enriching,” she said.

Inspiring students

Dr. Renberg feels blessed to have played an important role in the ongoing development of 91��’s history program to provide more opportunities that benefit students.

“I am really proud of the ways in which the history department as a whole, including Professor Roger Flynn, Dr. Ryan Butler, and Dr. Lindsay Privette has worked to expand the campus’s kind of engagement with history and its various aspects and facets. There has been a lot of growth in what our students have the opportunity to do through things like Phi Alpha Theta and through the Liberty Cap Society. That’s been really exciting to be a part of.”

In 2022, a group of Dr. Renberg’s students published the first edition of a new journal, Res Historica. This publication, put together by student editors and writers, showcases various facets of history that are relatively unknown. Dr. Renberg is excited about the possibilities as the publication reaches audiences beyond the classroom walls.

“Our first issue had eight articles. This time we have 11 articles, eight book reviews and a reflection piece, and we have two student editors who have been working with me,” she said. Dr. Renberg noted that the next edition of Res Historica is expected to come out this April.

“It’s really gratifying to watch students discover their gifts and their calling and who they are, and then go out and pursue that, and it’s exciting to see where that takes them,” she said.

Dr. Renberg wants her students (and the rest of us) to know that history has a lot to communicate in today’s world.

“History gives a chance to know God better through studying the past, through seeking out what has happened in the past, kind of changes, the story of humanity and then, in learning that story of humanity, a chance to love our neighbors, to understand ourselves better, understand the ways in which we fit into the world better and then the ways in which we can seek out and love those who are separated from us, either chronologically or geographically or culturally.”

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