The Tabor College

Connection

Signature

Campaign

UPDATE

Homecoming 2014

Driving for his Dreams

Friesen Family Tradition

Inside:

Fall 2014 • Vol. 69 / No. 1

From the President

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Follow along with Dr. Glanzer’s travels and campus hap-penings on Twitter. He can be found at www.twitter.com/presglanzer

President Jules Glanzer

Our Town. Our School. Our Time.

A homecoming theme means something a little dif-ferent to everyone. It’s meant to evoke emotion, nostalgia and inspiration toward one’s alma mater. Homecoming is a time for reconnecting, remembering and reflecting. For me, this year’s theme caused me to reflect.

Our Town. The hamlet of Hillsboro embraces having

a college. Our School. Tabor is a special place with a clear mission. Our Time. The world needs what Tabor has to offer. We have a strong commitment to uphold our mission to prepare people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and His kingdom. We believe that God wants us to be life transforming, academically excellent, globally relevant and decidedly Christian. Now is the time to be decidedly Christian.

Every day I strive to lead Tabor to be and remain decidedly Christian, but this challenge seems increasingly difficult. Being decidedly Christian is not the norm. Rather it seems that being Christian invites persecution. Even our freedom to live out our religious convictions seems to be coming under attack. While society turns away from God, Tabor desires to hold steadfast to being Christ-centered in all

aspects of life, having a passion for learning, promoting service to others, and having meaningful involvement in college and community activities. It saddens me to see institutions slip away from their Christian values in favor of taking an easier road. That’s not the road God has called us to take, and we must actively strive to have Tabor’s vision continue to be decid-edly Christian.

Homecoming always inspires me as I hear the stories of our alumni—stories of creativity, empow-erment, generosity and results. Stories of God at work in the lives of people. Stories of service, ac-complishment and purpose. Stories of grace, healing and wholeness. Tabor is blessed with a constituency that is decidedly Christian and alumni who are par-ticipating in the purposes of God with their voca-tional calling. Our alumni are living out our mission in God’s world.

The generosity of our people in response to the Signature Campaign is another example of the homecoming theme. The Hillsboro community has embraced the Center for the Arts. The college and all its constituents are joining in the task of gather-ing the resources to make it happen. And all of us agree that now is the time… Our Time… to build the Center for the Arts.

Our Town. Our School. Our Time. Hillsboro is a unique town. Tabor is a special place. Now is the time to remain true to our mission. Now is the time to be decidedly Christian.

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Fall 2014Vol. 69 No. 1

A magazine for Tabor College alumni & friends

EditorKatrina Hancockkatrinah@tabor.edu

ContributorAleen Ratzlaffaleenr@tabor.edu

Senior DesignerDiane Steinerdianes@tabor.edu

Student DesignerTaylor Janzen

Photographer/WebmasterVance Frickvancef@tabor.edu

Student PhotographerCourtney Reed

Sports Information DirectorAnthony Monsonanthonym@tabor.edu

Tabor College400 South JeffersonHillsboro, Kansas 67063620-947-3121www.tabor.edu

Tabor College Mission:“Preparing people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and His kingdom.”

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Connection

Lyndon Vix (Chair)Diana Raugust (Vice Chair)Theodore Faszer (Secretary)Brent Kroeker (Treasurer)Darrell Driggers (at-large)Craig Ratzlaff (at-large)Loren Balzer (at-large)Jose CabreraRoger EdigerRick EshbaughDel Gray (Faculty Rep.)Jeral GrossBrandon Johnson (Student Rep.)Loretta Jost

Mark JostDavid KarberMike KleiberJerry KliewerElaine KroekerBill LoewenNate LoewenDean NachtigallDennis PennerElaine Setzer-MaxwellTim SullivanWilbur UnrauRichard Unruh

Board of Directors:

Homecoming 2014 4

Performing Arts 10

Love of LEGO 12

Signature Campaign Update 14

Driving for his Dreams 16

Friesen Family Tradition 18

Holodomor Memorial 22

Ministry Quest 23

Sports 24

Campus News 30

A Bright Light on Dark Days 32

Alumni News 34

Tabor College in Wichita News 36

Upcoming Events 38

For current events & up-to-date news,go to www.tabor.edu/about/news

/TaborCollege

@TaborCollege

/taborcollege

/company/tabor-college

/taborcollege

/taborcollege

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Alumni Merit Award winners, Rhoda (Krause g’79) and Gil (g’64) Friesen Alumni Medallion Award winners, Dr. Kevin B. Wahl (g’04) and Dr. James E. Fisher (g’03), pose with President Jules Glanzer

President Jules Glanzer

Festival Dinner

Festival Dinner

David Vogel, John Luce, David Martens and Jon Wiebe sing at the Festival Dinner in Wichita

Ron Braun, vice president of advancement

Experience Homecoming 2014 all over againby watching our video online:

www.tabor.edu/experience/photos-and-video

Homecoming 2014

H o m e c o m i n g 2 0 1 4

Concerto Bella Voce performs in the Wohlgemuth Center during Music Fest

Concert Choir performs during Music Fest in the Wohlgemuth Center

Panel discussion: “Where Changes can Pose a Slippery Slope: The Future of Healthcare and Science” in the Solomon L. Loewen Natural Science Center

Katie Funk Wiebe book signing

Dutch Lunch

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Pictured from left: Susan Wiebe, Peggy Goertzen and Katie Funk Wiebe

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Homecoming Reunion Photos

1954 – Front row from left: Mary Ann (Epp) Kliewer, Eloise (Franz) Faul, Ruth (Wiebe) Friesen, CaroLee (Graumann) Derksen, Darlene (Seibel) Harder, Elvira (Kroeker) Plett; Back row from left: Vernon Kliewer, Wilbur Just, Lowell Ratzlaff, Eleanor (Reimer) Franz, Harold Franz, David Plett

1964 – Front row from left: Violet (Wohlgemuth) Dick, Judy (Loewen) Dick, Nancy (Friesen) Becker, Phyllis (Dick) Nickel, Bonnie (Graumann) Fadenrecht, Carol (Quiring) Dick, Marion Jo (Glenn) Entz, Nevonna (Thomas) Schroeder, Rose (Friesen) Buschman; Back row from left: Elaine (Karber) Franz, Wynema (Schmidt) Cessna, Lowell Neufeld, Roger Janzen, Gil Friesen, Norm Ewert, Roland Miller, Dave Deutschendorf, Larry Nikkel, Lorin Neufeld, Jerry Kliewer, Rod Wiens, Dennis Becker, Lawrent Buschman, David Schroeder, Dennis Buschman, Bill Kieper, Richard Harms, Don Schmidt

1973, 1974, 1975 – Front row from left: Vera (Reimer) Isaac, Ruth (Engle) Houghton, Darla (Hofer) Loewen, Becky (Wiens) Penner, Aleen Ratzlaff; Middle from left: Jules Glanzer, Rachel (Jackson) Fast, Janet (Epp) Heinrichs, Rita (Friesen) Loewen, Denise (Johnson) Hendrickson, Jodi (Thesman) Gossen; Back row from left: Galen Fast, Roger Penner, Jack Heinrichs, Roger Gossen

1974 – Front row from left: Becky (Wiens) Penner, Vera (Reimer) Isaac, Ruth (Engle) Houghton, Darla (Hofer) Loewen, Aleen Ratzlaff; Back row from left: Roger Penner, Jack Heinrichs, Jodi (Thesman) Gossen, Roger Gossen, Denise (Johnson) Hendrickson

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1989 – Front row from left: Darin Ediger, John Enns, Kristin (Dick) Spicer; Back row from left: John Dick, Neil Bontrager

1984 – Front row from left: Diane (Ediger) Cunningham, Debbie (Dalke) Dick, Susan (Franz) Koslowsky; Back row from left: Brad Cunningham, Betsy (Hendrich) Janzen, Mark Janzen

1999 – Front row from left: Mary Ellen (Janzen) Hodge, Nicole Friesen; Back row from left: Tim Hodge, Chris Glanzer

2004 – Front row from left: Heidi Braun, Andela (Kroeker) Jost, Amber (Willcox) Wolf, Jennifer (Johns) Henriksen, Rachelle (Regier) Fryzek, Tammy (Carlson) Thiessen, Jenny Goertzen; Back row from left: Jessica Eitzen, Megan (Ozias) Lady, Vance Frick, Jonathan Hullman, Kevin Wahl, Scott Friesen, Craig Penner, Esther Richert

Seniors Drew Pankratz and Rebecca Spahr pose for a photo after being named 2014 Homecoming Host and HostessLooking on from left to right are candi-dates Andrea Acker, Ryan Jorgenson, Kendra Flaming, Jesse Todd, Kimbra Lee Adams and Garrett Daugherty

Tabor students socialize during Homecoming

Board member Brent Kroeker (g’97) visits with future Bluejays at Druber’s in Newton

President Jules Glanzer and wife Peg join other alumni/friends at Druber's in Newton

Golden Alumni Brunch

H o m e c o m i n g 2 0 1 4

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A group of students, staff and alumni pose for a quick photo between bites of doughnuts at Druber's in Newton

Campus pastor Ryan Lee and daughter Miriam, 2, participate in the children's activities in the CRC

Executive Assistant to the President Staci Janzen and her son Koehn, 4, enjoy looking at his Junior Jays photo badge

Winning golf team: Eric Homes, Jeremy Glanzer (g’98), Matt Glanzer (g’01), Brad Shields (g’03)

Above: Olivia Kliewer, junior, (singing) was accompanied by Heather Loewen, sophomore

Left: Jesse Allen, senior, shares his testimony

Alexis Cain, senior, helps with children’s activities in the CRC

Derrick and Jenna (Friesen) Unruh's children, William and Caroline

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Tabor College Theater Department presented “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder for this year’s Homecoming.

The original score was composed by Tabor’s own Dr. Brad Vogel, pro-fessor of choral music and music director for the production. Inherent in the script was the singing of a few old hymns, which provided the inspiration for the compositions.

“Dr. Vogel’s compositions for the orchestra were a wonderful addition to the play,” said Laurel Koerner, director of theater. “It’s difficult now to imagine it any other way.”

Koerner praised her cast for their dedication and determination to make this a great performance.

“A lot was asked of this group, and they really stepped up and delivered a performance that was both funny and moving,” Koerner added. “The sense of ensemble that developed among the cast and crew made for a great rehearsal process and a strong show.

Our hope is that the audience left filled with gratitude for things that are easily taken for granted.”

Back row from left: Ben Schmidt, junior; Michael Adamyk, senior; Clayton Bauer, freshman; Jesse Todd, senior; Reuven Isaac, freshman; Dawson Waltner, senior; Michael Wager, junior; Maryn Robson, freshman and Gracie Funk, freshman; Front row from left: Kari Schmidt, fresh-man; Olivia Kliewer, junior; Michael Beye, sophomore; Heather Loewen, sophomore; Ryne Preheim, freshman; Cheyenne Derksen, senior; Molly Wiebe, freshman; Andrea Acker, senior; Noah Bartel; Samuel Klein, senior; Paul Glanzer; Alisa Ediger, freshman; Ashley Birkey, freshman and Kyvie Lahman, senior

Our Town

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“The Joy of Music” Piano Extravaganza

Tabor College’s Concert Choir and Concerto Bella Voce per-formed “With Praise & Thanksgiving” Sunday evening, Nov. 22, at Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church to support the Hillsboro

Area Ministerial Association.

“We enjoy the opportunity to partner with the Hillsboro Area Ministerial Association in serv-ing the community through this con-

cert,” said Dr. Brad Vogel, professor of choral music at Tabor. “Good art should always enrich, and this partnership has the potential to enrich both spirit and body.”

The Hillsboro Area Ministerial Association exists to coordinate ministries within Hillsboro area churches. One significant ministry is to provide assistance to people in need. Donations to the fund help several hundred people each year—many local people with rent, food and utility bills, plus transients who need assistance get-ting down the road.

Food donations are also welcome for Main Street Ministries Food Bank.

For more information, visit its website: mainstreetministries.net.

“With Praise and Thanksgiving”Presented by the Tabor College Music Department & Hillsboro Area Ministerial Association

“The piano extravaganza is an event we do every other year, focusing on literature that includes the piano in various ensemble arrangements—duets, duos, trios, quartets. This year we performed a piece with one piano and 12 hands.” – Dr. Sheila Litke, professor of piano

Back row from left: Dr. Sheila Litke, Dr. Bradley Vogel, Dr. Bruce Heyen, Jared Janzen, junior; Middle row from left: Jennifer Epp (g’02); Janae Rempel (g’10); Emily Olson (g’10); Kyndra Vix, sophomore; Maryn Robson, freshman; Krista Neifert, senior and Zach Neumann, junior; Front row from left: Abigail Kliewer, freshman; Kaitlyn Rempel, sophomore and Heather Loewen, sophomore

Zach Neumann, Heather Loewen and Krista Neifert

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In early June, Tabor alumnus Brett Thiessen (g ‘03) was fea-tured on several mainstream college football websites for his work with LEGO. Big Ten Network (btn.com), CBSSports.com and Yahoo! Sports (sports.yahoo.com) all told the story of Thiessen building college and pro football stadiums out of LEGO for fans across the country. He has built replicas of Michigan Stadium, University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, USC’s LA Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium, Notre Dame Stadium, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, MetLife Stadium and more.

Thiessen, whose love for LEGO began when he was a child, certainly didn’t think he would ever make any money off his hobby. Thanks to social media, his story went viral and now football fans across the country are asking him to build their next piece of memorabilia.

While re-creating football stadiums was not what he started building, Tabor alumni and friends will recognize his first few projects—the buildings on our Hillsboro campus.

When did you start constructing the Tabor buildings?I hadn’t picked up a LEGO for years when, a few years ago, I

saw an article about LEGO launching a free program where you could build sets using the program and then order the parts directly from LEGO. This immediately piqued my interest as it allowed for a lot of criteria with no money out of my pocket up front. When I used the program, I couldn’t decide what would be a good project to begin with until I eventually chose the H.W. Lohrenz building. After spending some time designing it, I was hooked and immedi-ately continued moving through the campus until I had a design in place for virtually every major landmark.

Explain how you get a pile of LEGO to look like a stadium or building.

Initially, the biggest challenge is getting the scale right. Once that has been set, the rest of the building falls into place. To begin designing them, I just look at a lot of pictures to capture as many details as I can and then begin placing and replacing

Love of LEGObricks until I am happy with the look. Once I have a design completed, I have to order the pieces. By the time I decide to move from the computer design to actually building the set, LEGO stopped shipping sets directly. After some research I found a site called Bricklink that works like eBay for LEGO.

From the design, I will place a handful of orders to get all of the pieces I need (none of the stores on Bricklink carry every piece). With all the pieces in hand, I can generate the building instructions automatically. If it’s for an order, I’ll sort and box up all the parts and then ship the set and email the building instructions.

What was the feedback from your family/friends?My wife, Tammy, was actually the biggest encouragement to

me for starting this as a business. At a certain point, the Tabor buildings were taking over our basement, and when I told her I wanted to diversify by building a large Michigan Stadium, she asked if maybe I would enjoy building it and then selling it. That way I could do the “fun” part of designing and building the set, and we didn’t have to find a space to display a 30-inch by 30-inch football stadium somewhere in the house! After I got a lot of good responses on the stadium, I decided to start designing more. Designing college football stadiums out of LEGO is either the coolest nerdy thing I think—or the nerdiest cool thing.

What was the first stadium you built? How much did it sell for?

Aside from growing up in a Tabor home, Michigan was always my favorite major college. I actually write for a Michigan blog and posted something about the project, which was where I solicited the initial interest. I had a lot of interest in the project, but as any-one who has bought them before knows, LEGO are not a cheap hobby. I sold the original prototype for $1,000. After doing a few more, I now make and sell two sizes. I have a “smaller” set that is usually around 1,500 pieces that sells for $500 and the original/larger set with 3,000-4,000 pieces sells for $1,200 now. The cost of each design can vary pretty wildly depending on the pieces and quantity involved.

What is the time involved for building one of your stadiums?

I can put together a design much more quickly now than when I first started. I would say the small designs

Thiessen designs his next LEGO project with a computer program

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla.

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take about 10-20 hours of design time, and I can assemble them in about 10 hours or so. The larger sets are considerably more. The larger sets can capture a lot more detail and nuance and obviously have a lot more pieces and struc-ture to support. I haven’t put a clock on what it takes to design and assemble one, but it’s defi-nitely an investment.

What happened when CBS Sports, Yahoo and other mainstream media outlets picked up your story this summer?

After I sold the original set, I decided to launch a “business” selling more sets. I didn’t commit to market-ing it or doing anything to push it. I just put it online using Etsy.com, since I could set up an online store front very quickly and easily. I did that last year over Christmas and over the first five months of the year, something like 3,000 people found my shop and looked at the stadiums I had listed. I sold two sets during that period.

One day in early June I saw on Twitter that the University of Nebraska tweeted a link to an eBay listing for the entrance to its Memorial Stadium made out of LEGO. Nebraska’s football stadi-um happened to be one that I had already designed, so I respond-ed that the whole stadium was available, too. They retweeted that and it eventually was seen and retweeted by several national col-lege football writers from “Sports Illustrated” and other publica-tions. Over the next two days there were short write-ups in about a half-dozen national outlets, and I had about 50,000 people look at the site over that two-day span. I think I got 10 new orders during that time and another 10-15 since then.

The next two months were very chaotic as I had no idea how to scale the business. During that time I ordered about 50,000 LEGO pieces in over 100 separate orders. Keeping the parts organized, doing test builds of sets and making sure I

hadn’t miscounted and shorted any orders was a second full-time job. For most of June and July, I was getting up at 3 a.m. to work on things just to keep up. Thankfully things have slowed down, just as soon as I figured out the best way to manage the ordering and building.

What’s been your favorite part of this process so far?Any time you can make a little bit of money off of a hobby you

love, it’s a good thing. I might have gotten a little too much of a good thing, but looking back, it was a fun two months, now that it’s over. I have also enjoyed having a little opportunity to become entrepreneurial. Finding an online place to host the business, figur-ing packaging, buying supplies, dealing with customer service, all for something I created, was a really great experience.

Would you like to continue to expand and grow it into a bigger business?

For the most part, I am pretty content to keep it as a hobby. There are some real issues with scaling this business. It’s an expen-sive product, I don’t have any control over my product supply and it’s surprisingly labor intensive. With that said, if I knew that it was a possibility to build LEGO sets for a living, I would have a hard time turning that down.

To find out more information on Thiessen’s LEGO stadiums, check out his work at: www.etsy.com/shop/StadiumBrick Follow him on Twitter @The_Mathlete

Thiessen poses with his LEGO model of the H.W. Lohrenz Building.

Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

Historic Church

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The Signature CampaignHistoric Timeline:• 1966 The dream of a

performance auditorium was envisioned

• 1983 An auditorium was part of library campaign

• 1990 The Wohlgemuth Music Education Center was completed without an auditorium

• March 2012 The $16.2 million Signature Campaign began

• October 2012 Lead gifts received

• November 26, 2013 Grant request submitted to the Mabee Foundation

• January 15, 2014 Mabee Foundation issues Tabor a 12-month challenge

• February 22, 2014 Public phase announced at President’s Dinner in Hillsboro

• November 26, 2014 Mabee Foundation notifies Tabor of a $1 million gift to be awarded

By the Numbers 2,198 Total number of donors

23 Gifts of $100,000 or more

4 Gifts of $500,000 or more

Future Timeline:• Groundbreaking is tentatively

scheduled for May 2, 2015• Occupancy is tentatively

scheduled for Fall 2016• Dedication is tentatively

scheduled for Homecoming 2016

The Signature Campaign – $16,200,000

Prayer of Thanksgiving“Dear Lord, we enter into Your courts with humble praise.

Again You have shown Your mighty hand and touched the hearts of many people.

You have moved them to respond with abundant generosity.

You have guided, directed and blessed our efforts beyond our expectations.

May Your name be praised above all names!

Amen

Center for the Arts, $9,000,000

Campus Enhancements, $2,550,000

Facility Endowment, $1,350,000

Tabor Fund, $3,300,000

To finish the campaign we need to raise $3,400,000 for:• Tabor Fund• Facility Endowment• Campus Enhancements• Where Needed Most

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From the PresidentMy heart is full of Thanksgiving to God for what He has done through the constituencies of Tabor. I am thankful for each person that has and will contribute to the Signature Campaign. Our partnership with them is a strong witness of the work of God in the world. I am confident that He, through our partnership, will complete the work.

– Jules Glanzer Tabor College President

t a b o r . e d u / s i g n a t u r e - c a m p a i g n

Ray & Aldina Franz"When I was at Tabor, I sang in the choir and we met in the chapel. Herbert C. Richert was our director; wonderful memories." Ray says the Center for the Arts has unified the entire Tabor community. "Aldina and I support this project because it brings students together and provides a place for the whole Tabor community to gather."

– Ray Franz, retired Hillsboro business owner

The Signature Campaign

$16,200,000

Campus Enhancements

Your Tabor Fund at workThe Signature Campaign Completed In Process

The Leadership Phase Hired an Architect The Mabee Challenge Building Committee Appointed Detailed Drawings & Plans Realizing a Fifty-Year dream Prayers for God’s Leading Seeking final $3.4 million

RemainingNeeded

$3.4m

Gifts &Commitments

$12.8m

ScriptureI thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

– Philippians 1:3-6

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Walking up to meet Will Wolf at Java Jays in September, I couldn’t believe this 21-year-old junior at Tabor College would have the ability to get in a race car and drive it 180 mph, under control, and be alive to tell about it. But he can and has been able to race cars nearly his entire life.

Wolf was born into a racing family. His grandfa-ther, Marv, was competing in SCCA road racing in the 1960s. Wolf’s father, Steve, used his mechanical abili-ties to earn an education.

“That’s how he paid his way through college,” Wolf said. “He took apart cars and sold parts.”

The pedigree was there to drive, but Wolf’s grand-ma, Sana, had a major say in how her grandson was going to be brought up in this racing family.

“When I was born, my grandma said, ‘We’re going to start him in go-carts and do it the right way,’ so that’s how I started, my brother (Ben) and I both.”

Wolf grew up in Lenexa, Kan., and was put into a go-cart at age 3. Most 3-year-old boys I know can barely go to the bathroom by themselves, let alone

operate a machine with a gas pedal and brake.

By age 5, Wolf was already racing competitively.

“It was fun,” he said.Many would say he didn’t

have a choice and was forced into the driver’s seat. He dis-agrees.

“Once I had a choice, it’s like, ‘Well I’m good at it and enjoy it, so I’m going to keep

Driving for His Dreams

doing it.’ I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”It has been a massive investment of time, money,

patience, energy and strength for Wolf and his family.“Since I started, my dad’s put thousands (of dol-

lars) into it, since I was 5, since 1998,” he said.Wolf couldn’t tell me how many races he’s com-

peted in over the years—just too many to count. What he could tell me was how many he’s won—more than 200 at several different levels.

In June, he was named one of 18 finalists in the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge, which he went to Charlotte, N.C., for three days to compete in, to become the next development driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, a premiere NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Although he didn’t win that competition, he caught the eye of several ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series teams and began testing for them in August.

In early September, a few weeks into his third year at Tabor, Wolf stepped away from his studies and drove to North Carolina to do a short track test—sev-eral practice sessions around a racetrack, less than four-tenths of a mile.

Five days later, he drove to Kentucky to do another test. But the track was wet and the test was post-poned until the next day. He didn’t make it back to Tabor until the end of the week.

Despite all the travel, his racing sea-son was successful.

“I’ve just always been taught I have to work for it,” Wolf added. “A lot of these guys that are there now were just handed it—handed the money, handed the sponsors, handed their cars, didn’t have to work for it. So I’ve been putting together proposals, contacting different compa-nies trying to make it happen.”

All photos courtesy of Will Wolf & family

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“I had eight starts in the Midwest Division SCCA IT7 class and won seven of them and finished sec-ond in the other one,” he said. “At the awards ban-quet in January, it looks like I’ll receive Rookie of the Year for this series and possibly Driver of the Year, too. I got approved by ARCA to run the ARCA Series Finale at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 3rd, but we came up about $20,000 short on sponsorship. We had $45,000, but unfortunately that didn’t allow me to run that race.”

The juggling act he has between his racing career and college is challenging.

“It’s hard—I have to talk to all my professors and find out what I’m going to miss in terms of class and assignments,” he said. “These last three weeks (in September) have been real tough, because I’ve had to go through the approval process, which means I have to do stuff during the week.”

Wolf claims his choice to come to Tabor involved divine intervention.

“I was going to run track, then came on my visit,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘I don’t really want to go in the middle of nowhere.’ So I woke up one day and I felt like that’s where I need to go. It was definitely a God thing.”

Wolf competed on the track team for just over a year. Last year, after two knee surgeries, his health prevented him from competing, but he decided to stay at Tabor. Wolf’s parents encouraged him to finish his education.

“If you ask Jim Paulus,” he said referencing Tabor’s vice president for student life, “I’ve tried to leave 50 million times and it never worked.”

Wolf, a sport management major, is set to graduate in two years.

“I can use that after I’m done racing also, as motorsports management.”

Wolf thinks he will finish school, but it won’t be easy.

“I will be running full-time in SCCA E-Production going for a national championship,” he said, “as well as running several other series such as the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and hopefully some NASCAR K&N and NASCAR Truck Series races. There is also a possibility of running some open-wheel stuff through the Mazda Road to Indy program.”

Wolf’s goals and dreams date all the way back to his childhood.

“Since I was 5, I’ve always wanted to have a NASCAR record of eight championships—eight Sprint Cup Championships because Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty have seven and they hold the record.

“As I’m realizing how close I am, my goal is to just get one. Get to the top level and get one champion-ship right now.”

Wolf’s Midwestern values are guiding him as he pursues his passion on the racetrack.

“I’ve just always been taught I have to work for it,” Wolf added. “A lot of these guys that are there now were just handed it—handed the money, handed the sponsors, handed their cars, didn’t have to work for it. So I’ve been putting together proposals, contacting different companies, trying to make it happen.”

One thing he didn’t try to make happen before coming to Tabor was become a Christian.

“Before I came here, I wasn’t really religious at all,” he said. “Then my freshman year, actually on my birthday at SP&D (Share, Prayer & Dare) is when I got saved. Since then, Brandon Johnson, Drew Pankratz and all those guys have just been right there with me and helping me.”

With his eternal future now secure, his immediate future is likely in Charlotte.

“I plan to finish out this year and next year at Tabor, get my degree and then move to North Carolina as I pursue a career in motorsports,” he said. “Recently I was contacted by a USF2000 team that wants me to test for them in December in California. This series is part of Mazda and IndyCar’s “Road to Indy” program, the series that runs the Indianapolis 500. If I end up running that test in California, I’ll be there Dec. 17-18 and then fly to Daytona for the ARCA test on Dec. 19-20.”

At this point, no one can stop him.

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According to the registrar, Tabor College has graduated 106 students with the last name of Friesen. Twenty-five of those have come from one family. Here is their story.

The patriarch of the family, Jacob Wall Friesen, was born Dec. 14, 1883, in Sagrodofka, South Russia. According to a Friesen gene-alogical sketch, sometime between 1883 and 1895, Jacob’s parents, Jacob (J.C.) and Cornelia, made a transglobal move with their seven children from Russia to Minnesota. J.C.'s parents had settled in Minnesota, but he didn't want to stay there. The family, including J.C.'s parents, eventually settled in the plains of Kansas in a two-room house. In the fall of 1890 the family moved to a farm near Lehigh where Jacob and Cornelia had two more children.

As a young man, Jacob Wall Friesen moved to a 40-acre farm of his own in Lehigh, Kan. On Oct. 7, 1909, at the age of 25, he mar-ried Maria Funk in Lehigh.

In September 1910, tragedy struck the couple when their first child, Rebecca, died two days after she was born. Just over one year later, on Christmas Day, while giving birth to their second daugh-ter, Marie, both mother and baby died. Maria was only 29 years old.

Jacob healed his broken heart in June 1912 when, at the age of 28, he married his second wife, Kathrina (Harder) Friesen, who was born May 18, 1891, in Alexanderwohl, Molotschna, South Russia.

The two of them would be abundantly blessed and go on to

For this Friesen Family – It’s a Tradition to go to Tabor

have 12 children: David, Arthur, Esther, John, Jacob, Ruth, Calvin, Martha, Herbert, Franklin, Paul and Marvin.

In the fall of 1936, the tradition of attending Tabor College began with their fourth child, John.

At the time, the six Friesens were living in Inola, Okla., 250 miles from Hillsboro. Jacob was a pastor at a small, Mennonite Brethren church, and Jacob’s mother, Cornelia, lived in Hillsboro. With the family frequently visiting her in Kansas, the decision for John to attend the Mennonite Brethren college was easy.

“I think the folks must have encouraged him to go because we lived in Oklahoma,” Calvin said. “John went because Dad and Mom thought it would be good for him.”

Once John came to Tabor, the rest of his siblings followed suit—then some of their children, followed by several grandchildren. Siblings John, Ruth, Martha and Franklin all attended at least one year. Brothers Jacob, Calvin, Herb, Paul and Marvin all graduated from Tabor.

Calvin was an Army medic and came home to only one option for college.

“I’d been in the service for two years and I got discharged in August (1946) and frankly I didn’t know what else to do, so I went to Tabor,” he said with a smile.

His sister Martha was already at Tabor and Calvin said he fit right in.

Back row from left: Martha, Hannah, Jake, John, Esther and Cal; Second row: Art, Jacob, Kathrina, Ruth and Herb Front row from left: David, Paul, Marvin and Frank

Family photos courtesy of Friesen family.

(Friesen Family Tree on pages 20-21)

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Anna Friesen, senior

“A lot of friends from the service were there and it was great,” he said. “I enjoyed Tabor. I really did. It was a good experience.”

On Oct. 7, 1948, Calvin married the love of his life, Betty (Suderman) Friesen, and the two had four children. Their three boys—Larry, John and Joel—all attended Tabor. However, in spite of the family tradition, neither Calvin nor Betty pushed their boys to become Bluejays.

“In our case, Larry decided to go, and it was automatic that Joel and Rick went,” he said.

Every one of their boys paid their way through school.“We never paid a dime for their tuition,” Betty added.Calvin’s granddaughter, Anna Friesen (Joel’s daughter), is current-

ly a senior at Tabor, majoring in education. She will graduate in May.“I came here on a visit and I was just very comfortable,” Anna

said. She stayed with a second cousin, Emily (Friesen) Wuest, Herb’s granddaughter. “We hung out that night, and I was like, ‘This is so fun.’”

In an effort to be different from most of her family, Anna had considered attending another college. She wanted to go into nurs-ing, but when she decided to switch her major to education, Tabor was the choice for both academics and athletics.

“I really enjoyed the soccer team,” she said. “The soccer ladies are amazing, so that’s been like a close family.”

Those in the Friesen family who chose not to attend Tabor are subject to teasing.

“Only one of my cousins in my immediate family didn’t go to

Tabor, so we would always give him a hard time,” Anna added smil-ing.

That would be Brian Friesen, Rick’s son, who went to the University of Oklahoma to work on his doctorate in astrophysics. But, according to Anna, he’s been forgiven.

While we can’t verify there has been someone from this family at Tabor since 1936, Anna did confirm that there has been someone here the past two decades.

“My oldest cousin (Lisa) is about 18 years older than me, so ever since I was born, there has always been someone in my family attending Tabor,” she added. “Because of this, I have a lot of mem-ories going up to Tabor or going to watch Tabor sports in Wichita.”

After Anna graduates in May, there will be a drought of Friesens at Tabor, at least from this family, for the next six years.

“I am the last of my cousins to go to Tabor, so after I graduate it’ll be the first time my family hasn’t had connections to Tabor in a long while,” she said.

The next potential Bluejay is Jeff and Amy’s daughter, 12-year-old Josie, a seventh grader in Lewistown, Mont. If Josie decides to come to Tabor, she will be a freshman in the fall of 2020.

Anna hopes that Josie and all of her younger cousins will decide to continue the Tabor tradition.

“Go Friesens!”

To learn more about the Friesen family, Herbert wrote a book titled Quiver Full of Arrows to capture the essence of their long history.

Cal and Betty (Suderman) Friesen on their wedding day in 1948.

From left to right: Marvin, Paul, Frank, Herb, Martha, Cal, Ruth, Jake, John, Esther and Art

From left to right: Marvin, Art, John, Jake, Herb, Frank, Cal and Paul

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Jacob & Kathrina (Harder) Friesen

David (died at age 10)

Art – married Hannah (Penner) Friesen

Esther – married Waldo Friesen

John (1st to go to Tabor – went 1 year) – married Mary (Eisenbise) Friesen

Jacob (graduated) – married Ruth (Berg) Friesen

Ruth (went 1 year) – married Harold Voth

Calvin (graduated) – married Betty (Suderman) Friesen (went 1 year)

Martha (attended 2 years) – married Richard Ainley

Herb (graduated) – married Ruth (Wiebe) Friesen (graduated)

Franklin (went 1 year) – married Marjorie (Kliewer) Friesen (went 1 year)

Paul (graduated) – married Freda (Hartzler) Friesen

Marvin (graduated) – married Marry Ellen (Kauffman) Friesen

Friesen Family Tree

Color Key:

Black Indicates “did not attend Tabor”

Red Indicates “went to Tabor”

Green Indicates “third generation, did not go to Tabor”

Purple Indicates “graduated from Tabor”

Blue Indicates “fourth generation that did not go to Tabor”

Second Generation

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David (died at age 10)

Art – married Hannah (Penner) Friesen

Esther – married Waldo Friesen

John (1st to go to Tabor – went 1 year) – married Mary (Eisenbise) Friesen

Jacob (graduated) – married Ruth (Berg) Friesen

Ruth (went 1 year) – married Harold Voth

Calvin (graduated) – married Betty (Suderman) Friesen (went 1 year)

Martha (attended 2 years) – married Richard Ainley

Herb (graduated) – married Ruth (Wiebe) Friesen (graduated)

Franklin (went 1 year) – married Marjorie (Kliewer) Friesen (went 1 year)

Paul (graduated) – married Freda (Hartzler) Friesen

Marvin (graduated) – married Marry Ellen (Kauffman) Friesen

(son) Marion (went 1 semester)(daughter) Carolyn(daughter) Sharon

(son) Don (went 1 semester)(son) James

(daughter) Juanita(daughter) Judith(daughter) Kathryn(son) John(daughter) Suzanne

(son) John(daughter) Eileen (attended Tabor)(son) Gary(son) Kenneth

(son) David(daughter) Martha(son) John

(son) Larry (went 2 years) married Judith (Nelson) Friesen(son) Rick (graduated) married Madelyn (Reimer) Friesen(daughter) Sherry (died as an infant)(son) Joel (graduated) married Beverly (Funk) Friesen (graduated)

(daughter) Margaret(daughter) Cheryl(son) Richard

(son) Stan (went 2 years) married Diane (Hoffine) Friesen (graduated)(son) Bradley (went 1 year) married Nancy (Crary) Friesen(son) Daniel (went 1 semester) married Helen (Lepp) Friesen(son) Ronald married Laurie (Eskenazai) Friesen(daughter) Julie (graduated) married Gerald Reimer

(daughter) Lisa(daughter) Gwenn

(daughter) Cynthia (graduated)(daughter) Rachelle

(daughter) Kristina(daughter) Sandra(daughter) Marilyn(son) Steve

(grandson) Bryan (graduated)(granddaughter) Amy (graduated) married Randy Wertenberger (graduated)(granddaughter) Laurie

(granddaughter) Lisa (graduated)(grandson) Jeff (graduated) (wife) Amie (Lefevre) (graduated)(grandson) Scott (graduated) (wife) Morissa (Seidl) (graduated)

(grandson) Michael (graduated)(grandson) Brian

(grandson) Aaron (graduated)(grandson) Adam(granddaughter) Anna (attending now, will graduate in May 2015)

(granddaughter) Heidi(grandson) Dustin (graduated)

(grandson) Benjamin(grandson) William(granddaughter) Sophia

(grandson) Andrew(granddaughter) Emily (graduated) married Alex Wuest (graduated)(grandson) David (went 1 semester)(grandson) Timothy

(granddaughter) Jasmine(granddaughter) Talia(granddaughter) Tamara(granddaughter) Nakoma(granddaughter) Melody

(granddaughter) Katrina(granddaughter) Kendra

Third Generation Fourth Generation

(Fourth generation of family tree is incomplete.)

22

Holodomor is defined as “murder/death by hunger,” as was the case in 1930 when Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, forced a famine on the people of Ukraine. This heinous act caused millions to die, which included 250,000 Mennonites. Some were executed, others starved and the fortu-nate ones fled to Western countries.

Holodomor Memorial

“Holodomor Memorial,” carved and donated to Tabor College by John C. Wiebe of Trinidad, Calif., was inspired by the tragic events in South Russia from 1930-1933. Carved from a charred stump found in the Trinity Alps of northern California, this sculpture is symbolic of suffering worldwide and rep-resents those who died tragically.

“Although I am not superstitious, it was almost as though I had been haunted from the time the Holodomor sculpture took form in our back yard, under the red-woods. Often, to my surprise, significant information about the post Revolution Mennonite diaspora seemed to fall on my desk. Horrifying episodes of history have been swept under the Western rug. Yet, even in those terrible times, there was hope when organizations such as Mennonite Central Committee were formed in the United States and Canada.” – John. C. Wiebe, sculptor

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Ministry Quest is a year-long, two-stage program for high school students, ages 16-18, who are curious about exploring God’s call and their potential for min-istry and leadership.

The first stage of the program, “Charting Your Course,” opens with a retreat, which includes 13 men-toring sessions with a leader from their home church and three ministry observations. “Setting Your Sail,” the second stage, includes 13 more mentoring ses-sions, various leadership/gift inventories, a leadership project and a closing retreat.

“Ministry Quest helps young people discern God’s call on their lives,” said Dr. Wendell Loewen, Ministry Quest director. “It helps them develop leadership skills and discover their gifts, strengths and passions. This process empowers students to effectively live into their call.

During the year, MQers as they are called, will be connected with a mentor from their home church selected by the student and their youth pastor or pastor. The mentoring meetings occur about twice a month, for a total of 26. The program provides a basic curriculum that focuses on their growth in Christ and understanding of who they are as leaders.

“Ministry Quest participates in a long-term process of raising a new generation of leaders,” Loewen added. “We are about planting trees, not gardens. It takes years for an apple tree to develop and bear fruit, but results are long-lasting and continue to yield fruit sea-son after season.”

As a way of giving back, students in the program will complete a leadership project in their home church or local community. They will assess current needs, evaluate resources, then organize, plan and direct a program or event designed to meet a specific local need.

“One of the church’s primary tasks is to identify, nurture and send future leaders into the world,” he said. “We want to give churches an avenue to help them do exactly that.

Ministry Quest:Hear, Love, Live the Call

“Ministry Quest helps young people discern God’s call on their lives,” said Dr. Wendell Loewen, Ministry Quest director. “It helps them develop leadership skills and discover their gifts, strengths and passions. This process empowers students to effectively live into their call.

www.ministryquest.com

“Ministry Quest is a year-long leader-ship program that will change you and rock your world. God has called each one of us to love others—to show Jesus to the world and that is everyone’s call-ing. I have learned a lot about what God’s call looks like, but my personal calling, there’s still a lot of discov-ery that needs to take place.” – Tena Loewen, sophomore

“All throughout scripture, God calls ordinary people to do amazing things for His kingdom. God gives ordinary people extraordinary abilities to meet unique opportunities. The world needs godly leaders.” – Dr. Wendell Loewen, Ministry Quest director

For more information about this program, contact Dr. Wendell Loewen at (620) 382-6546 or email him at wendelll@tabor.edu.

24

The Tabor College football team closed out the 2014 season with a 7-4 overall record, 5-4 in KCAC

Football Team Ends Season Ranked No. 24play and ranked 24 in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll.

The Bluejays’ season was a bit of a roller coaster. Tabor began the year with four straight wins and a No. 3 ranking in the Top 25 Poll—the highest in school history. One of those wins was a 27-17 victory on the road over Missouri Valley College, which was ranked No. 5.

Tabor lost three of its next four games, but con-tinued to hold onto its national ranking as they sat at No. 24 heading into November. While the Bluejays would go on to win their next two contests to move up to No. 18 in the polls, a heartbreaking loss to Ottawa University in their final regular season home game left them outside the NAIA playoff picture.

Multiple injuries plagued the Bluejays for most of the season. Tabor lost two quarterbacks early with severe injuries, and several other key players on both sides of the ball.

“We had a lot of young players contribute to another Top 25 finish,” said Mike Gardner, head football coach. “We look forward to continue being nationally ranked in 2015.”

Tabor will return 11 of these 16 players, as well as quarterbacks Simon McKee (SR/Halstead, Kan.) and Jordan Bernhardy (FR/Moore, Okla.) in 2015—making the future of the program a bright one for the Blue and Gold.

Follow Bluejay Sports on Twitter@GoTaborBluejaysGet scores and results from Tabor sports sent to your cell phone. Find the Twitter logo at taborbluejays.com.

w w w . t a b o r b l u e j a y s . c o m

First Team All-KCAC:Matt Buckman (SR/Eureka, Calif.)Ben Gardner (JR/Hillsboro, Kan.)Derrick Lawrence (JR/Houston, Texas)

Second Team All-KCAC:D’Marco Smith (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas)Dimitri Bowie (FR/Arp, Texas)Matt McElroy (SR/Phoenix, Ariz.)Shawn Johnston (SR/Arcata, Calif.)Trey Geiger (FR/Olathe, Kan.)

Honorable Mention All-KCAC:Marshall McShan (FR/Millville, N.J.)Owen Cole (SO/Freeport, Fla.)Torrey Gill (JR/Olive Branch, Miss.)Colin Hodges (SR/Medford, Ore.)Donnell Davis (SR/Friendswood, Texas)Dylan Delk (JR/Peabody, Kan.)Jason Daughtry (JR/Red Oak, Texas)Jared Slavens (SO/Piedmont, Okla.)

25

Everything Happens for a Reason

The Tabor football team pauses to pray for "Big Mike" after their Homecoming game against Friends University

Sophomore Mike Andrews is a 6-foot, 340-pound defensive lineman from Dallas, Texas. He’s known on campus as “Big Mike,” with a personality and body to match. There is something about this 19-year-old, gentle giant that makes people gravitate toward him.

Andrews found his way to Tabor because of defen-sive coordinator Steven Miller.

“He really showed a lot of interest in me and made me really feel at home,” Andrews said about his coach. “He’s just a great guy to be around.”

Andrews also had a friend—Colby Forshee, a

freshman running back from Mesquite, Texas—who was playing football at Tabor.

“The whole environment—it seemed really wel-coming, and I felt like I could grow as a person and the football program was also good as well.”

Early on in his first semester, Andrews noticed something on his body that didn’t seem right.

“I had a couple of tumors pop up in my neck, in my shoulder area, and they were actually pretty concerning,” he said. “I thought they were just from weight lifting, so I went to go get them checked out a few weeks into the season. The doctor just told me ‘If it continues to bother you, come back.’”

Andrews did return to the doctor and had a biopsy done to determine if anything was wrong. The results were devastating.

“In a week’s worth of time, they told me it was Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” he said.

No time is a good time to hear you have cancer but, for Andrews it couldn’t have been worse.

The football team was 9-2, preparing to play Benedictine in the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series.

“We were actually getting ready to go into the playoffs,” he said, “and I had my biopsy done that week, and I was getting ready to come back. That’s when they told me it was cancerous.”

As you can imagine, the news shocked everyone. Andrews called his mother, but didn’t tell her about the diagnosis. But she already knew about her son’s cancer, so she immediately flew up to Kansas to be with him.

“The first thing she told me, when I got in the car, was that they found out it was cancerous,” he said. “There was no sugar-coating it.”

Andrews said he didn’t feel sorry for himself or wonder why this was happening. He was worried about his team.

“I was hurt more because I didn’t want to let my team down,” he added. “I just wanted to continue, and I was just more concerned about the people around me, more than myself.”

His teammates could not fathom that “Big Mike”— the teammate who could make them laugh, yet put a nasty lick on a running back—could be fighting for his life.

“It was actually pretty hard on them,” he said. “I went down there and told them the same day. It was just a lot of tears. I’m very energetic. I keep you laugh-ing, so it was pretty tough.”

With the diagnosis, Andrews’s football season was over. His focus now was on beating cancer.

“I couldn’t work out or anything,” he said. “I came back to finish my finals during December (2013) and I went back home. Three weeks after I got home, I was doing treatments and I was doing them every two weeks. After that, they were like, ‘You just got to sit out.’ There’s nothing I could really do because they didn’t know if it was activity induced.”

With football on hold, he didn’t let his education take a backseat during his treatment.

(cont. on next page)

26

Everything Happens for a Reason (cont.)“I took classes online at a community college (in

Texas) because I still had plans to come back and attend (Tabor). I knew I was going to be alright. I did that and continued to pray and hope for the best.”

Eight months later, his prayers were answered and Andrews received great news.

“June 16-17 (2014) they found out that I was in remission,” he said with a smile, “and they seemed as if it was all gone, so I came back (to Tabor).”

A miracle—Andrews’s body was free of cancer—or so he thought.

In September, he went in for a Positron Emission Tomography test or PET scan, which is an imaging test the helps reveal how tissues and organs are functioning.

What it revealed was the tumors had returned. “Then I’m at square one again, just doing more

treatments,” he said. Last season, Andrews played in all the regular sea-

son games and recorded five tackles. This season, he played in only three games.

“Right now, as far as football, it’s on the back burner,” he said. “That’s not really my main focus. It’s more just getting my health stronger, getting better and doing the best that I can in school. It’s truly hard to do school and to do treatments, but I’m just trying my best, that’s all I can do.”

Since going through such a traumatic ordeal, his faith in God has changed.

“Truthfully, it has gotten stronger,” Andrews said, “because before I can honestly say I wasn’t the best

church-goer or the best Christian, but ever since this happened I just knew myself, I had to put faith in God.

“I attend church almost every Sunday. I’m doing a lot better in that. I read His Word as much as I can. I just let God take over. I stopped making it about myself. If I’m feeling a certain way or I’m feeling sick, I just say, ‘Help me God.’ There’s nothing else I can do.

“Truth be told, the medicine can’t do it either. It’s all in God’s plan. God put it in you. He’s the only one that can truly take it out.”

In November, Andrews had another PET scan. The cancer was gone. Another miracle—all of the tumors disappeared again. He is scheduled to have a stem cell transplant in January and then likely another PET scan later on in the year.

Fighting and beating cancer not once, but twice, Andrews has matured. He can speak first-hand about preventative medicine and battling an ugly disease.

“If something seems wrong, definitely go get it checked out, but don’t expect it to be easy if you’re going through it, because it’s not going to be,” he said. “The best thing you can do is just keep a posi-tive attitude. I know that’s easier said than done. Just find something that keeps you happy. Don’t let it get into your mind. That’s the only thing that really gets me is when I go in there—I put what I’m going to feel like after the chemo to what I felt like before. When I see the medicine, I can already start getting sick, just because I know what it’s going to do. It’s not more a sickness of the body; it’s more sickness of the mind to me. If looking at needles and medicine can get you sick, then you got to get your mind ready and that’s where I’m at now.”

Andrews will not be coming back to Tabor for the spring semester. He’ll be taking more online classes at the Cedar Valley College in Dallas. But his long-term plans are to graduate as a Bluejay.

“It’s a possibility,” he said. “If it’s in God’s plan, then it will happen. If it’s not, it is what it is, but hopefully that’s what I’m planning to do. Just taking it day by day, just praying that I can get a degree from here.”

He is majoring in psychology and social work. He wants to help at-risk youth by being a mentor and a role model. God has given him a tremendous story of faith, perseverance and hope. He knows now that in life, everything happens for a reason.

“Have faith in God—that’s all you can do, there’s nothing you can change,” Andrews said.

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After a difficult pre-season schedule, the men’s soc-cer team finished with an overall record of 6-13 and fifth in the KCAC at 5-4. But the post-season was short-lived with a disappointing 4-3 loss to Friends University in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

The Bluejays had some excellent performers on both sides of the ball. Starting forwards Bransyn Felty (SO/Hutchinson, Kan.) and Philipp Wahl (SR/Bruehl, Germany) tied for the conference lead in points dur-ing conference play. Felty led all players in goals (16) and Wahl led in assists (9). Both were recognized as Second Team All-Conference players. Alberto Checa (SR/Miami, Fla.) and Jose Lopez (JR/Perris, Calif.) were also recognized as Honorable-Mention All-Conference at forward and midfield respectively.

On the defensive side, Dominique Mays (JR/Bellevue, Neb.) was recognized as First Team All-

Conference for his tremendous work leading the defense as a central defender. “We were a really young team this year with 23 freshman and sophomores,” said Grant Brubacher, men’s head coach. “I look forward to the future with this group.”

Men’s Soccer

The Bluejays fin-ished the year with an 11-5-3 record, includ-ing a 5-3-1 record in the KCAC. The 11 wins are the most in over a decade for Tabor women’s soccer.

“This team over-came so much adver-sity with injuries and loss of key players,” said Ian Thomson, first-year head coach. “We never flinched and never looked for excuses. Our players stepped up big time. We were not a collection of individuals—we were a family and played for each other.”

Jessica Renzelman, senior from Ione, Calif., was a First Team All-KCAC selection. Jordan Walters, fresh-man from Highlands Ranch, Colo., was named to the Second Team. Anna Friesen, senior from Wichita, Kan., and Ashtyn Stephens, junior from Midlothian, Texas, earned Honorable Mention honors.

Women’s Soccer

The volleyball team finished the season 12-19 over-all and 9-9 in KCAC play. The sixth-seeded Bluejays fell short in the KCAC quarterfinals with a loss to third-seeded Ottawa University 18-25, 10-25, 20-25. The match was also the final one for seniors Madison Hoover, Daniele Wendland and Whitney Maple.

“The season was full of great battles and growth,” said Amy Ratzlaff, head volleyball coach. “We com-peted well against top teams with a lineup full of new players. The student-athletes worked very hard to accomplish goals and raise their lev-els of play as the season progressed.”

VolleyballKCAC Post-Season HonorsAll-Conference First Team

Tena Loewen (SO/Hillsboro, Kan.)Katelin Horstick (JR/Richmond, Kan.)

All-Conference Second TeamWhitney Maple (SR/Enid, Okla.)

All-Conference Honorable MentionMadison Hoover (SR/Circleville, Kan.)

All-Conference Champions of Character Daniele Wendland (SR/Saint John, Kan.)

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Bransyn Felty, sophomore

Hannah Simmons, sophomore

Whitney Maple, senior

Tena Loewen, sophomore

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SwimmingHistory was made this fall as the men’s and women’s swim team

dove into the pool for their inaugural season at Tabor. The Bluejays were victorious at their first swim meet, which took place Oct. 4 in Osawatomie versus St. Gregory’s University (Okla.).

In their first three meets, five women’s relays and three men’s relays qualified for the NAIA national championship in Oklahoma City, March 4-7. In early November, the women’s team had the opportunity to swim against the University of Kansas and the University of Illinois in a meet that aired on ESPN3. While the out-come was predictable, the experience was invaluable.

“The decision to introduce swimming into the Tabor communi-ty has been a blessing to all involved,” head coach Nate Duell said. “We are confident that our men and women are doing the right things to help our program and the Tabor family grow.”

Both our men’s and women’s cross country teams performed well in the KCAC Championship meet. The men placed seventh and the women fifth. Seniors Hannah Holmes, Joel Allen and Garrett Daugherty

qualified for the NAIA National Championship meet. Allen and Daugherty have each competed at cross country nationals before, but this is the first time for Holmes to qualify.

Daugherty, Tyler Parrish, sopho-more, Phil Magos, senior, and Josh Richert, sophomore, each had their best races of the season. The entire

women’s team had their best race of

the season, with Jessica Vix, senior, running a lifetime best. They also outperformed several teams, which started out the year ahead of them.

“My first season with our teams has been very rewarding and enjoyable,” said Eric Schwab, head cross country coach. “Our athletes are eager to train and get better. Both our teams competed very hard throughout the season and I am really proud of them. They have represented Tabor College like champions.”

Fourteen of Tabor College’s 16 varsity athletic teams earned the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Scholar Team Award for their academic efforts in the classroom during the fall and spring semesters of the 2013-2014 academic year. Each team must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the academ-ic year in order to receive this award.

“Part of the mission of the athletic department is to support learning,” said Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Rusty Allen. “Our coaches work hard to impress upon their athletes the impor-tance of excellence in the classroom. God has blessed us with tal-ented athletes and students. I am proud of our coaches and players and look forward to continued academic excellence.”

The Tabor College football team was one of only four football teams in the NAIA to have won this award during the 2013-2014 academic year. Head football coach Mike Gardner said he is proud of his guys for their hard work off the field.

“This is a great accomplishment and something we’ve been striv-ing for since I returned four years ago,” Gardner said. “I’m proud we have been able to attract players who have bought in academically

to Tabor College and their futures apart from football. It’s been great to work with these guys and see a lot of winning on the field and in the classroom.”

Below is a list of cumulative GPAs for each varsity team:• Football – 3.01 • Men’s Cross Country – 3.44• Men’s Indoor Track & Field – 3.09• Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – 3.05• Men’s Soccer – 3.05• Men’s Tennis – 3.28• Softball – 3.18• Volleyball – 3.47• Division II Women’s Basketball – 3.45• Women’s Cross Country – 3.70• Women’s Indoor Track & Field – 3.66• Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – 3.61• Women’s Soccer – 3.26• Women’s Tennis – 3.62

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country

14 of 16 Tabor College Varsity Sports Teams Receive NAIA Award

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Hannah Holmes, senior Joel Allen, senior

Garrett Daugherty, senior

29

Tabor College welcomed Daniel Dick as the newest member of the athletic department coaching staff. Dick was hired as the new Bluejays bowling coach in August.

“I am excited to get the bowling year underway and begin training with our new recruits and returning players,” Dick said. “I am blessed that I have been given this opportunity and am hum-bled to become part of the Tabor family.”

Rusty Allen, vice president of intercollegiate athletics, said, “Coach Dick brings a wealth of bowling experience as a coach and as a player. We believe our bowling program has tremendous poten-tial for growth and we believe he is the right person to give the needed leadership.

“Coach Dick’s Christian commitment and his enthusiasm for the integration of faith and athletics are impressive and important to the overall mission of the Tabor athletic department.”

The Kansas native grew up around the sport of bowling. His family has owned Sunflower Bowl in Topeka since 1980.

“We held numerous city and self-promoted tournaments yearly, while filling the house with nightly leagues,” Dick said. “I acted in all capacities of running the business to include inventory, procure-ment, cook, maintenance technician, pro shop operator and cus-tomer service representative.”

Dick was a bowler at Wichita State University from 1987-1992. He then worked as an associate coach for two years at WSU prior to joining the U.S. Army in 1994. Upon his retired honorable discharge from the Army in 1996, he joined the Shocker Bowling Program again as the full-time assistant coach in charge of player development.

“I coordinated training activities for the student-athletes,” Dick said. “I developed the first collegiate bowling comprehensive physi-cal training program at WSU, which increased players’ strength,

health, gaming endurance, all while tracking their performance. I was active in student-athlete recruitment, university orientations, program promotion, fund-raising, inventory and procurement.”

As part of the head coaching staff, Dick led the WSU men’s team to victory at the 1998 National Collegiate Bowling Championships.

Dick has held a variety of jobs while working for the U.S. Postal Service since 1999. But an injury to his right foot and the recovery process within the past year prompted some soul searching regarding his professional career.

“It was divine timing that Tabor College was in need of a new head bowling coach,” Dick said. “Upon seeing the online posting, I immediately spoke to my wife about the opportunity. The fact the bowling coach position was at Tabor College, a Christian liberal arts college, was like God setting off all the bells, whistles and fireworks to guide me in this direction.

“From this moment, I truly felt God had great things in store for my family. My family has known for some time now that God was prepping us for a life-changing event. We didn’t know what it was, when it was going to happen, or where it would lead—we just knew it was coming.”

Dick moved to Hillsboro with his wife of 21 years, DeAnna; 18-year-old daughter Gail; and godchildren 8-year-old Joshua and 7-year-old Jocelyn.

“We are blessed to be coming to such a wonderful God-loving community,” he said.

Head baseball coach Mark Standiford was named the 2014 American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond Regional Coach of the Year for the Plains Region.

Standiford was one of 10 NAIA coaches to win the award after his Bluejays qualified for the school’s first-ever trip to the NAIA College World Series this past

May in Lewiston, Idaho. While at the World Series, the Bluejays advanced to the final six before being elimi-nated just two victories short of the national champi-onship game.

The 2014 Bluejays also won their third consecu-tive KCAC regular season title, the KCAC tournament title and the school’s first-ever NAIA Opening Round Tournament Championship. Tabor finished the year ranked No. 6 in the NAIA Top 25 poll—the highest finish for any KCAC baseball team.

“This award is a tribute to the type of players we had in our program this year,” Standiford said. “This award is more about them and the efforts they put forth this season than it is about me as a coach. It’s always nice to be honored, but I could not have accomplished what we did last year without great players and the support of the school and my family.”

In his six seasons at Tabor, Standiford has amassed an overall record of 235-107 and a KCAC record of 114-47. He’s had just one losing season in the KCAC.

Tabor College Hires New Bowling Coach

Standiford Named ABCA/Diamond Regional Coach of the Year

30

For the fifth year in a row, athletes from Tabor College are participating in the NAIA Champions of Character program. This program encourages students to serve the common good and provide servant leadership for those in the community. The core values for Champions of Character are integrity, respect, respon-sibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

This year the entire athletic department participated in a reading program for local schools. Each Tabor athletic team

sent eight to 10 athletes to read for students weekly at Marion Elementary School and Hillsboro Elementary School. The pro-gram began on Sept. 17 and ran through Nov. 19.

Karol Hunt, associate athletic director and coor-dinator of this program, encour-

ages students to participate for various reasons.“Outreach is an important component of Champions of

Character,” Hunt said. “It’s a focus on campus, but we want to have

an impact in the community as well. With Tabor being in a rural community, we wanted to develop a Champions of Character pro-gram to highlight the resources available to us – that led to forming a reading program for Hillsboro and Marion elementary schools.”

The athletes read books that the NAIA has identified, but some schools also supplement with other quality character-building selections.

“The Champions of Character reading program has been tre-mendously popular at HES,” said Evan Yoder, principal. “Our stu-dents clamber for the opportunity to sit with their Tabor College athletic heroes and listen to them read during our lunch time. This is a wonderful program!”

Justin Wasmuth, MES principal, agrees.“Our students love having someone that engages them in an

activity, like the lunch reading program,” Wasmuth said. “It does help that they are athletes, but it gives them another role model to look up to and be excited to connect with.”

The athletes appreciate interacting with students and show-ing them how important reading is to their education.

“Getting the opportunity to read to elementary students is a great way to give back to the community,” said Lauren Massey, Tabor senior softball player. “Spending time with children around the area was so much fun for both us and them.”

Tabor has been a Five Star Champion of Character Institution for five consecutive years.

The athletes will continue this program next semester begin-ning in February.

For the second year in a row, Tabor College has been ranked 97th by Washington Monthly magazine in its Baccalaureate College Rankings. It is the third year in a row that Tabor was ranked in the top 100.

“Being ranked by Washington Monthly is an honor,” said Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor College. “It is the one ranking that demonstrates that we are fulfilling our mission. For a national magazine to recognize that we are contributing to the good of soci-ety is telling the world that we are accomplishing our mission of preparing people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and His kingdom.”

Washington Monthly is a bi-monthly magazine that showcases government, education, politics and social service. It ranks schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

Tabor is committed to helping students achieve success in the classroom, in athletics, in the arts and in service projects. Tabor has several on-campus programs that help students become more

involved with each other and surrounding communities.• In the academic year 2013-2014, 45 percent of Tabor students

received Pell Grants.• In the fall of 2013, 25 percent of students were minorities, 3

percent were from countries other than the United States.• Tabor provides educational opportunities in Europe, Bolivia,

India, Belize, Peru, Asia and the Dominican Republic, broad-ening students’ worldviews.

• All incoming freshman complete a service project their first day on campus.

• Ministry Quest’s influence continues to shape lives. The high school discipleship program is designed to help students dis-cern God’s call and develop their leadership potential.

• Campus Ministries Council provides ministry and ser-vice opportunities for students including the follow-ing: Challenging, Helping and Understanding through MentorShip (CHUMS), a program matching Tabor students with local elementary school students to meet with them, mentor and tutor; Wichita Urban Ministry Plunge (WUMP); and Share, Prayer & Dare (SPD).

Tabor College Ranked in Top 100 by Washington Monthly Magazine

Tabor College athletes read to local elementary students

Greg Munetz, sophomore from Bellerose, N.Y.

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Alumnus Rod Hamm has accepted the position as the new director of alumni relations.

“I am very excited to be coming back to Tabor College as the director of alumni relations,” Hamm said. “I look forward to the opportunity of connecting with alumni and friends of the college and sharing with them what is happening on our campus.”

Hamm has a strong passion for the Tabor College constituents and community. He graduated from Tabor in 1983 with a bachelor of arts in health and physi-cal education. He served as an admissions counselor at Tabor from 1989-1995 and was also head women’s basketball coach from 1992-1995. In 1995, Hamm was promoted as a physical education/health instructor and also became the Bluejays’ head women’s soccer coach and head women’s softball coach.

In 1998, Hamm left Tabor to work for a local print-ing company, Baker Bros. Printing, where he worked in sales and handled administrative duties. Finally in 2011, Hamm took his experience down the street to become a sales representative for Midway Motors.

Hamm’s outgoing and energetic personality makes him the perfect fit for his new role at Tabor.

“Rod has a passion to serve our alumni and help

them connect to each other and the college,” said Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor College. “He knows so many of our alums by name and has followed them in life.”

Hamm joins two family members already employed at the college. His wife, Brenda, works in admissions as campus visit coordina-tor and their son, Derek, is an assistant profes-sor of graphic design.

As director of alumni relations, Hamm’s familiarity with the Tabor family is a benefit.

“We welcome Rod to this new role that will include engaging Tabor alumni in efforts to connect them better to each other and to our campuses,” said Ron Braun, vice president for advancement at Tabor College. “Rod’s experi-ence and knowledge of generations of alumni will serve him well in this position.”

Hamm is an active member of the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, Kiwanis Club and Hillsboro Convention & Visitors Bureau. He has served as a commentator for Tabor College Internet broad-casts, as Hillsboro High School Booster Club chair and as Hillsboro High School Site Council chair.

Miriam (Klassen) Kliewer has been named the new coordinator for Tabor College’s Lifelong Learning pro-gram. She replaces Connie Isaac who retired in May after serving in the position for 20 years.

“Miriam is filling some big shoes,” said Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor College. “I am confident she will bring creativity and energy in offering excellent educa-tional programs for the seniors in our community.”

Kliewer grew up in a pastor’s family. From a very young age she learned the value of service to people for the glory of God. She graduated from Tabor College in 1990 with a degree in business/communica-tions and then earned a degree in elementary educa-tion. While at Tabor, she met her husband, Wayne, and the two were married in 1989. For several years they resided in Hillsboro where she served in several positions, including interim Tabor Bookstore manager.

In 1993, the couple moved to Lakewood, Colo., where the majority of the next 20 years was spent rais-ing their four children, Mariah, 19, Joshua, 16, Caleb, 13, and Hannah, 12. She began homeschooling the children from the very beginning while also training

to become a certified massage therapist.For the past eight years, Kliewer ran

a private massage business, continued homeschooling her children and served as women’s ministry leader at their church in Colorado. These experiences strengthened her passion to serve, exercise her creative gifts, be organized and plan events of various sizes.

Kliewer welcomes the opportunity to serve seniors who want to continue learning.

“I am so excited to use my God-given gifts and talents to serve the mature adults of this community, as well as to serve Tabor College, a place that means so much to me and my family,” Kliewer said. “I also want to give my best to carry on this important part of Tabor’s outreach to the community and to bless the people who have faithfully attended and sup-ported this ministry for many years.”

Rod Hamm Named New Director of Alumni Relations at Tabor College

Miriam Kliewer namedCoordinator for Lifelong Learning

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Colorado native John Garcia Jr. never intended to come to college in Kansas, but through a couple of connections, he became a Bluejay.

Garcia’s high school football coach, Kerry Denison, attended Tabor in the 1970s and his friend, Mike Beach, also played football for the Bluejays. Between

A Bright Light on Dark Days

the two of them, Garcia decided to hop in his car and head to Hillsboro.

“I went out on a visit, fell in love with it and knew it was the place for me,” Garcia said.

Garcia left the only home he’d ever known in the fall of 2003 and committed to play tight end for Tabor.

“At first it was a culture shock, just being from Denver,” Garcia said. “You know I didn’t realize what I got myself into when I went out there but, by the end of it, it really became home.”

He said the people in this rural Kansas town treat-ed him like family.

“Just the small-town community-feel, just the way that people care for each other and really do life together in the community as a whole—not just the people at the college, the people in the town of Hillsboro.”

Garcia spent a total of six years in Hillsboro—four going to school and playing football, the other two

“I was raised in a Christian home, with Christian parents,” he said. “My grandpa was a significant role model and big influence in my life. I always knew the truth that Christ came to save us, but He didn’t become my own per-sonal Savior until I went out there (Hillsboro) and got to know Christ on a personal level. I feel like Tabor was a place where I really got to know Christ as my own.”

Shayley, John, Brody, 1, Layla, 4

Courtesy photo

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working as an assistant coach for the football team and on the grounds crew. He met his future wife, Shayley Scherrer, at Tabor, who is two years younger.

Garcia majored in social science, with a concentration in sociological practice and graduated in May 2007. The very next month, he married Shayley. She graduated from Tabor in 2008 with a double major in social welfare and psychology. Garcia had his personal life squared away, but his professional life was still up in the air.

Garcia said he dreamed of working in law enforce-ment and that it was “something I knew I always wanted to do.”

He applied to two police agencies—one in Colorado and the other in Newton, Kan. In June 2009, the Longmont (Colo.) Police Department called Garcia and offered him a job. He took it and finally moved back home.

Garcia’s years at Tabor have been such a benefit to his career with the Longmont PD, working as a patrol officer and a sniper on the SWAT team.

Garcia was a Christian before he came to Tabor, but his faith grew during his college years.

“I was raised in a Christian home, with Christian parents,” he said. “My grandpa was a significant role model and big influence in my life. I always knew the truth that Christ came to save us, but He didn’t become my own personal Savior until I went out there (Hillsboro) and got to know Christ on a personal level. I feel like Tabor was a place where I really got to know Christ as my own.”

The majority of crime in the Longmont area is drug-related and there’s a lot of domestic violence. Garcia says his strong faith in God gets him through every day.

“In this line of work, you see people on their worst days and that’s what you deal with,” he said. “I don’t know how somebody could do this job without that, because at the end of the day, that’s the hope when

there is no hope. That’s the light in the darkness—just knowing what Christ sacrificed for us no matter how bad that day is, there’s always hope at the end of the road.”

Hope is what many of the people he encounters every day truly need, but some days all he can do is be a bright light in a very dark moment in their lives.

“You can’t help everybody,” Garcia said. “People have got to want help. You just have to lean on God, trust that God’s going to do that work and plant that seed.”

Garcia said he’s planted a lot of godly seeds within his work family and he’s reaping the rewards.

“The brothers and sisters that I work with and the people that don’t know Christ—watching them try to deal with some of this stuff and just being there for them,” he said. “You have more opportunity to help your brothers and sisters that you work with than nec-essarily people on the street.”

Garcia and his family haven’t forgotten their Kansas connection—they drive back to Hillsboro once a year.

“As weird as it sounds to people here, every fourth of July we go back and vacation in Kansas. It really did become home.”

When they come to Kansas next July, they will be bringing one more Garcia with them. They are expect-ing their third child in April.

“We are looking forward to bringing the new addi-tion to our family back to the place where it all began for us.”

MarriagesNathan Vogel (g’14) and Mallea Berglund (g’14), Gettysburg, S.D., Aug. 2, 2014

Andrew Sensenig (f) and Erica Buller (g’03), Hesston, Kan., July 26, 2014

Silas Pederson (g’14) and Micah Leake (g’14), Hillsboro, Kan., July 19, 2014

Aaron Garza (g’14) and Justine Langer (g’14), Gettysburg, S.D., July 12, 2014

Zachary Goodrich (tcw g’14) and Janelle Rust (g’14), Whitewater, Kan., July 18, 2014

Trenton Wilker (cs) and Brittany Hofer (g’14), Wichita, Kan., July 7, 2014

Archie Eutsler Jr. and Cherise Stangohr (g’08), Wichita, Kan., July 5, 2014

Ryan Loewen (g’14) and Rachel Goering (g’13), Newton, Kan., June 21, 2014

Timothy Zechman and Janeal Goering (g’85), Fremont, Neb., June 21, 2014

Noah Collins (g’12) and Julia Carlton (g’11), Hesston, Kan., June 14, 2014

Justin Moore (g’11) and Julie Hart, Wichita, Kan., April 12, 2014

Carlos Labriel and Sarah Liborio (g’03), Jaco, Costa Rica, Nov. 10, 2012

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Alumni NewsBirths/AdoptionsDaniel (g’10) and Sara (Schall g’07) Sigley, Hillsboro, Kan., a boy, Titus Alexander, Oct. 22, 2014

Matthew and Tina (Frick g’11) Clark, Wichita, Kan., a girl, Raya Elaine, Aug. 24, 2014

Ryan (cs) and Amanda (Edington g’02) Lee, Hillsboro, Kan., a boy, Jonah Jeffrey, Aug. 15, 2014

Joseph (g’09) and Whitney (McDonald g’13) Wuest, Hillsboro, Kan., a girl, Tatum Danielle, Aug. 5, 2014

Grant and Carly (Kroeker g’10) Hiebner, Grand Island, Neb., a boy, Caden Thomas, July 21, 2014

Aaron and Jana (Schroeder g’98) Schantz, Wichita, Kan., a girl, Juliet Dahl, July 16, 2014

Carson (g’06) and Ashley (McKillip g’07) Greenhaw, Aurora, Colo., a boy, Atticus Lamoine, July 8, 2014

Samuel and Amy (Lautt g’01) Ongstad, Harvey, N.D., a girl, Keziah Joy, June 9, 2014

Benjamin Bravo Hernandez and Monica (O’Rourke, g’00) Bravo, Fresno, Calif., a boy, Samuel David, May 27, 2014

Kiyoshi and Jennifer (Wall g’01) Yamazaki, Albany, Ga. a boy, Caden Koji Richard, April 14, 2014

Chad and Cassondra (Huxman g’09) Basinger, Pretty Prairie, Kan., a girl, Aubrey Denise, April 11, 2014

Eric (g’09) and Danielle (Friesen g’08) Weinbrenner, Wichita, Kan., a girl, Presley Rose, March 27, 2014

Andrew (g’02) and Carolyn (Voth g’04) Regier, Lenexa, Kan., adopted a girl, Dominika, Oct. 18, 2011

Robert (g’06) and Erica (Hemmert, g’06) Haude, Hillsboro, Kan., a boy, Deacon, Nov. 21, 2014

DeathsDan Thiessen (g’69), Bakersfield, Calif., Nov. 1, 2014

Ronald Voth (g’75), Halstead, Kan., Sept. 22, 2014

Dr. Arthur Wiebe (fs’42), Fresno, Calif., Sept. 14, 2014

Arnold Dietzel (ff) Hesston, Kan., July 4, 2014

Aubrey Basinger Samuel O'Rourke Bravo Raya Clark Atticus Greenhaw

Caden Hiebner Jonah Lee Keziah Ongstad Caden Yamazaki

Collins/Carlton Eutsler/Stangohr

Goodrich/Rust Moore/Hart

Sensenig/Buller

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a l u m n i n e w s

CODES g – graduate fs – former student cs – current student f – faculty ff – former faculty st – staff fst – former staff tcw – Tabor College Wichita

please send usyour wedding& baby pics!Please write your name on the back so we can return your photos!

E-mail your pictures & news to alumni@tabor.edu.

Brittney (Hadden fs’09) Gallaway, Hillsboro, Kan., July 4, 2014

Lorene Jost (fs’73), Hillsboro, Kan., June 22, 2014

Jona Baltzer (g’59), Hillsboro, Kan., June 21, 2014

Willis Kleinsasser (g’50), Reno, Nev., June 2, 2014

Esther (Brandt fs’75) Born, Abbotsford, B.C., Canada, March 18, 2014

Alumni News – 1960sGilbert (g’64) and Rhoda (Krause, g’79) Friesen, from Westminster, Colo., were this year’s recipients of the Merit award.

Dr. David J. Schroeder (g’ 64) participated in the 62nd International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine held in Mexico City October 12-16. Dr. Schroeder is a member of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. Membership in the academy consists of a select group of professionals chosen for their expertise and leadership in the field of aviation and space medicine.

Katie Funk Wiebe (g’68), professor emeritus of Tabor College (1966-1990), was named the recipi-ent of the Leslie K. Tarr award for 2014 by the Word Guild of Canada, June 10. This award is given in honor of the late Leslie K. Tarr, journalist, editor and teacher. It celebrates a “major career contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada – help-ing position the church in Canadian society – lead-ing to a better understanding of Christianity.”

1970sJoyce (Friesen g’76) Herrington and her husband, Jim, recently moved back to the Houston area after five years in Germany where she taught at Black Forest Academy, a school for missionary children. Their daughter, Hannah, graduated in June, and will be attending Calvin College as a civil engineer-ing major. In approximately 10 months, they will move to Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, where they will work with a Georgian church, in addition to training and mentoring new missionaries for East West Ministries in Spain, Europe, Russia and Central Asia.

Marlene Ewert (fs79) along with her colleague, Debbie Robinson, opened a counseling office called Your Journey Counseling Services in the historic train depot in downtown Newton, Kan. Marlene is a licensed clinical marriage and family thera-pist, with a master’s in marriage, family and child counseling from the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary (now Fresno Pacific University). Marlene is also a registered play therapist-supervisor and a certified trauma specialist - clinical.

1980sDavid Martens (g’85) has accepted a position as part-time worship arts pastor at Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church and part-time director of contemporary Christian music at Tabor College. His responsibilities will be to develop, direct and recruit students to participate in premier traveling groups that will perform at churches, youth confer-ences and other venues.

Dr. Brian Wiens (g’87) has accepted a posi-tion as senior director of biometrics at Portola Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco, Calif. He and his wife, Marilyn (g’88), are relocating to California from Arlington, Texas.

Matthew Bush (g’88) has taken a new position as the corporate equipment manager at GA & FC Wagman, Inc. in York, Pa. They are road and bridge contractors that have multiple offices along the east coast with work reaching from the New Jersey shore down to the Carolinas.

1990sTyson Beshore (g’97) became the superintendent of Nevada R-5.

Tim Hodge (g’99) became a partner and sharehold-er at the Newton law firm of Adrian & Pankratz, P.A. He has practiced with Adrian & Pankratz since 2003.

2000sDr. James E. Fisher, MD (g’03), from Rochester, Minn., was one of the recipients of the Medallion award.

Dr. Kevin Wahl, DVM, ACVS (g’04), from Nampa, Idaho, was one of the recipients of the Medallion award.

Steven Deberry (g’06) was selected as the pastor for First Baptist Church of Pratt, Kan., as of Feb. 16, 2014.

2010sDavid Vogel (g’12) of Vogel Design, a Hillsboro-based digital and print design studio, was honored this month with three 2014 American Graphic Design Award certificates, recognizing outstanding new work and design excellence.

Erin Heizelman (g’13) is in Stockerau, Austria, for a two-year term with Operation Mobilization using her graphic design degree.

Hollister Wolf (g’14) became the sales administra-tive assistant at Barkman Honey.

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Tabor College in Wichita will launch an associate of science degree in business beginning January 2015.

This new degree will appeal to adult students who demand an excellent educational experience paired with the convenience of online classes—all in an affordable package supported by world-class customer service.

Brett Andrews, executive vice president of Tabor College in Wichita, says there is a need for people trained for this particular degree.

“According to government data, small businesses represent the largest growing segment of the economy,” Andrews said. “There is a need for employees of those small businesses to quickly get the skills they need to be successful. This program helps them meet that goal.”

The associate in business program will equip students with basic knowledge and skills to become informed, competent and confident leaders in any business position. Firmly grounded in the Christian faith, Tabor’s innovative curriculum will also challenge

students to develop personal integrity and values that will set them apart in today’s business world.

Andrews said he’s excited that Tabor can now offer business education at all three levels of degrees – associate, bachelor and master’s, both on campus and online. This will benefit a variety of adults, with varying educational levels.

“There is a large percentage of our population who would like to have a degree and already have some college education,” Andrews added. “This degree program was designed to make trans-ferring credit into our college very easy.”

In addition to business degrees, Tabor College’s Wichita campus offers classes on-campus and online in the areas of ministry, nurs-ing and general education.

Enrollment for the new program and others is now underway for courses starting in January.

For more information, call (316) 729-6333 or visit our website, online.tabor.edu.

Tabor College in Wichita Announces New Associate of Science Degree in Business

a d u l t & g r a d u a t e s t u d i e s

Nov. 9 several Tabor College nursing students were elected to membership in the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, as nurse leaders through Epsilon Gamma-at-Large Chapter.

The Tabor College registered nurses elected to membership were: Lisa Beggs from Garden City, Kan.;

Local Nurse Leaders Elected to International Honor Society

Evelyn Gharagouzloo from Woodbridge, Va.; Alyssa Kinderknect from Wichita, Kan.; Tak Yee Leung from Liberal, Kan.; Misty McReynolds from Maize, Kan.; Jennifer Pfluger from Wichita, Kan.; Kara Roszel from Wichita, Kan.; Connie Ruiz from Garden City, Kan.; Martha Slack from Peck, Kan.; and Samantha Smith from Andover, Kan.

“The honor society promotes and recognizes nursing excellence,” said Marlene Pietrocola, chair of the nursing program at Tabor College. “We are very pleased that registered nurses participating in our program have received this prestigious international recognition.”

Each of these registered nurses received her basic nursing education in another college, obtained licen-sure and then enrolled in the bachelor of science in nursing degree completion program at Tabor.

“These students have consistently demonstrated excellence in their academic work,” Pietrocola added. “I expect no less from them as they apply what they have learned to their practice as a baccalaureate pre-pared registered nurse."

Membership in STTI is by invitation to nurse pro-fessionals who have demonstrated achievement in nursing, hold a minimum of a baccalaureate degree and are registered nurses.

Pictured from left: Tak Yee Leung, Jennifer Pfluger, Dr. Marlene Pietrocola, Martha Slack and Kara Roszel

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Tabor College will offer a new master’s of busi-ness administration program with a concentration in accounting on the Hillsboro campus starting in July 2015.

This new MBA program will prepare students to take the CPA exam upon completion; it is a 10-month program consisting of 33 semester hours. Six hours would be taken in a hybrid format, part online and part on-campus. These courses will begin in late July and end in August before starting the fall semester.

A student will take 12 hours of coursework dur-ing the fall, an Interterm trip and then 12 hours in the spring, which will include three courses and a three-hour practicum. The estimated total cost of the program is $15,500, which includes the Interterm trip and a tablet or laptop computer with software needed for the program. Federal financial aid can be available for the program.

Norm Hope, professor of business administration, said there is a need for this type of program.

“The Tabor College business department is excited to provide current and future students the opportu-nity to earn their master’s of business administration in accounting on our Hillsboro campus,” Hope said. “This program sets us apart by offering a faith-based MBA, which prepares the next generation of account-ing professionals for a dynamic and changing business environment.

“Requiring domestic and international field experi-ence provides students opportunities to learn beyond the traditional classroom. The program prepares stu-dents for a career in public accounting or industry by providing real-world and classroom experiences.”

Most of the students matriculating to the inte-grated accounting MBA would come from the college’s existing undergraduate students. They would enroll at Tabor as freshmen, complete the undergraduate pro-gram in accounting and then complete the graduate course work for the accounting master’s. Students who are successful in completing the graduate program would have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. Tabor will not require the graduate management admission test for admission. However, students trans-ferring into the program for the fifth year must com-plete the requirements of the college’s undergraduate accounting degree before being able to graduate with the integrated MBA in accounting degree.

An important aspect of the program will be place-ment of students in community businesses, as well as with local economic development organizations.

As part of planning for the program, business department faculty will conduct a series of meetings with local business leaders and outline a plan for

Tabor College Announces New MBA Program in Hillsboro

working with Hillsboro companies as well as with community leaders on economic development projects designed to attract business to Hillsboro and enhance the performance of existing local businesses.

During the past few years, the business depart-ment has worked with community leaders on several such programs. Clint Seibel, director of Hillsboro Development Corp., has been the point person in the community as business classes have provided ser-vices for community economic development projects. Having more broad-based internship opportunities will round out the technical education of the account-ing curriculum.

“This is a win-win for Tabor and for our com-munity,” Hope said. “Students who pursue this pro-gram will have opportunities to do internships in the Hillsboro community and then have the potential to stay here after graduation to work.”

“The Tabor College business department is excited to provide current and future students the opportunity to earn their masters of busi-ness administration in accounting on our Hillsboro campus,” Norm Hope, professor of business administration, said. “This program sets us apart by offering a faith-based MBA, which prepares the next generation of account-ing professionals for a dynamic and changing business environment.”

Norm Hope speaks with a student

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• Friday, March 20 – First Mennonite Brethren Church, Wichita, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Sunday, March 22 – Emmanuel Mennonite Church, Meade, Kan. 10:30 a.m.

• Sunday, March 22 – New Life Church, Ulysses, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Monday, March 23 – Garden Valley Church, Garden City, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 24 – Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Scott City, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, March 25 – Dodge City Church of the Nazarene, Dodge City, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Thursday, March 26 – Sacred Heart Church, Park, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Friday, March 27 – North Oak Community Church, Hays, Kan. 7 p.m.

• Saturday, March 28 – United Methodist Church, Osborne, Kan. 6 p.m.

• Sunday, March 29 – First United Methodist Church, Pratt, Kan. 4 p.m.

• Sunday, April 12 – Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, Hillsboro, Kan. 4 p.m.

For more information about the Concerto Bella Voce Women's Choir & the Symphonic

Band & Chamber Strings Spring Tour schedules, visit blogs.tabor.edu/music.

Concert Choir Spring Tour Schedule

w w w . t a b o r . e d u / a b o u t / c a l e n d a r

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theater departmentspring play -The Secret In the Wingsby mary Zimmerman

performances aremarch 11-14 in thelab theaterin the basement of theH.w. lohrenz building

Upcoming Events

concerto bella Vocewomen's choir7 p.m.Sunday, March 29

concert choir4 p.m.Sunday, April 12

symphonic band &chamber strings4 p.m.Sunday, May 3

all concerts will be held at the Hillsboro mennonite brethren church, located at 300 prairie pointe.

We are excited to announce the launch of our new & improved website, www.tabor.edu, in early 2015!Be sure to visit our updated and easy-to-use website in the coming months for up-to-date information about the Bluejays! You will find a new calendar of events, alumni page, Signature Campaign updates and current news. We will also be showcasing more photos and videos.

jayshop.tabor.edu • (620) 947-3121 ext. 1351

Buy something for Bluejays of all ages!

Tabor College Connection400 South JeffersonHillsboro, KS 67063

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Please contact us if your address is incorrect: advancement@tabor.edu

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