Author: iwualumni

The Community of Indiana Wesleyan University shows support and care through prayer and contributions. The call for support has been championed by The Wesleyan Church, names Dr. JoAnne Lyon, General Superintendent. At IWU the call was echoed by Dr. Jim “Umfundisi” Lo, Dean, Office of the Dean of the Chapel. The students and faculty are responding. Now it is our turn, the alumni. We are part of the IWU community!

This post encourages all of us to respond in an effort to be part of the solution. So much news has been centered on this tragedy. It is our turn to provide hope through the combined response of our community. The following is an open letter from Dr. Lo. Please respond to this need. Let’s show that the IWU community cares!

GIVE NOW!

A cry for help – an open letter from Dr. Jim “Umfundisi” Lo:

Dr. JoAnne Lyon, General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church contacted me to see if I would consider asking our academic community to donate funds to help Kamakwie Hospital in Sierra Leone purchase an ambulance. A major reason for her request stems from the spread of Ebola in this western African country. The number of individuals needing to get to the hospital for medical care has been immense. But Kamakwie only has two ambulances which are not able to keep up with the demand of going out and bringing to the hospital all those who need to get there. From what I am told, these two ambulances are getting old and soon will need to be replaced. The need for a reliable ambulance is URGENT- and the Ebola crisis has made it imperative that they get one as soon as possible.

Dr. JoAnne shared that the ambulance they would like to purchase costs in the neighborhood of $30,000 US. She shared, “Jim, the reason I am contacting you is because of the desperation of the situation. I am hoping the generosity of IWU will once again surface

As I listened to Dr. JoAnne share, I thought to myself, “I am too busy to get involved in this.” But the Lord checked my spirit very quickly. There are people dying each day due to Ebola. I hear the crisis is severe. It would be easy to say I am too busy with other things that are on my calendar for me to give much attention to this project… but the Lord impressed upon me the urgency of this need for an ambulance… it could mean life or death for someone… do I care enough?

At first I was thinking about only asking our residential students to give, but I sense God would be pleased to throw the net even further, to include asking faculty, staff, administrators and even IWU alumni. I sense God is calling our academic community to respond to this critical need during this time of crisis. It is for this reason I am approaching you with two “calls”

Call one: I am calling us to prayer. When asked what is the number one thing American Christians can do to help, those in Sierra Leone quickly answer, “Please remember us in prayer.

Call two: I am approaching you, asking if you would pray about donating to the purchase of an ambulance.  $30,000 seems like a lot. But if we all commit to giving something, I sense we can meet this goal. I was thinking, if 3,000 gave $10 we could easily meet this urgent need. Will you join me in giving to this project?

Will join me in praying and giving to this needy cause?

Rev. Dr. Jim “Umfundisi” Lo+
Dean of the chapel- professor of Religion
Indiana Wesleyan University

GIVE NOW!

Indiana Wesleyan University Alumni has created an e-newsletter that brings all the social media applications into one location. This weekly newsletter provides news, stories, updates about IWU as well as information about world affairs.

To sign up is easy. Go to the newsletter and enter your email address in the box provide on the site.

Send us updated information and stories to alumni@indwes.edu.

Here at the Alumni House, we have been blessed to have some amazing student workers. They work behind the scenes to help us put on events, such as homecoming, and to keep the office running day-to-day. Over the next few weeks, we will be featuring the stories of each of our student workers. To start, Junior Kaileigh McCann will share her experiences at IWU and in the Alumni House.

Over 800 miles traveled, and 7 college visits in 3 days, I was finally ready to make one of the most important decisions about my future.

I could say that it was the beauty of the campus, or how impactful the chapel service was on my personal faith that made me choose to come to Indiana Wesleyan University. Those things probably added to my experience at IWU that led to my ultimate decision, but there was no way that IWU could have marketed itself to me any better that would have affected my decision. I chose to attend IWU because I had an overwhelming sense of peace and belonging as soon as I arrived on campus. (Later, I found out that my parents were also experiencing the same feeling.) It could seem cheesy to say, but I believe that God led me to come to IWU. Many of the other schools I visited seemed to be only Christian in name rather than practice. At IWU, the authentic spirit of Christian community can be felt by everyone on campus. This authentic feeling and God’s presence helped me both feel at home and at peace about my decision to come to IWU.

Fast-forward three years and one major change later, my name is Kaileigh and I am a junior Business Administration and Marketing double major at IWU. I love being a part of the Business division. There is a fantastic group of professors that genuinely care about their students and their future at IWU and in the job field.

I have worked in the Alumni/Church Relations office since freshman year. It was daunting as a freshman to be over 6 hours from home with no friends or contacts already at IWU. Thankfully, I applied for a job and met the wonderful people who work in the Church Relations and Alumni Office. Not just because I have made a lot of friends, I enjoy being a part of the Alumni Office because it is so important to connect IWU’s present to its past in order to have future success.

At the beginning of October, I had the pleasure of being able to participate in Homecoming as both a part of the Alumni Office and the Student Alumni Association (SAA). Each alumna has a unique and important story to tell not only about their time at IWU, but how IWU continues to affect them. Through the Alumni Office and SAA, I have the ability hear those stories and share them with other current students. Being able to interact with alumni and learn how they have shaped the school’s legacy inspires me to continue to pursue excellence in the hope that one day I could also affect the school and the surrounding world like they have.

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

If you missed Homecoming 2014, here are some highlights.

This year, we combining homecoming with the annual Society of World Changers Convocation, so our special guest for homecoming chapel was senator Elizabeth Dole. We enjoyed the traditional Homecoming Banquet, reunions with the McConn staff, young alumni and class reunions. Also the Hodson Science Colloquium as well as athletic events and tours of the campus at their finest. There was a concert by Shawn McDonald joined with alumni, Josh Lavender ’12 and Jordan Brown ’12. The events ended with a rousing conclusion with our own IWU Chorale opening the concert with Michael W. Smith!

The Homecoming events kicked off on Thursday with the Ott Hall of Science and Nursing – IWU Chorale. See the Ott Hall of Sciences and Nursing Building.

This year the Society of World Changers was part of Homecoming Chapel. The induction of Mrs. Elizabeth Dole was a special tribute. View the induction of Mrs. Elizabeth Dole.

Class reunions began on Friday with members of the classes of 1964, 1959, 1954 as well as others from 1948). Sharing stories and singing Marion College anthem – “Cheer, Cheer for Marion College”. Also joined by several members of the classes who formed a quartet reunion of 1964-1966. View their songs here:
Quartet song one.
Quartet song two.

The Homecoming Banquet was filled with many wonderful surprises. Welcoming back many former Chorale members and current students we enjoyed a the combined choir. Homecoming Banquet with Chorale and Alumni

Students and Young Alumni were able to attend a concert on Friday night by Shawn McDonald joined with alumni, Josh Lavender ’12 and Jordan Brown ’12.

Saturday was filled with many other class and affinity reunions like our decade classes and McConn reunion with Young Alumni events. Of course our sports teams were also carrying on our school spirit. Here are some highlights;

Men’s Soccer Recap
Women’s Soccer Recap
Women’s Volleyball – Friday Recap
Women’s Volleyball Saturday Recap
Even though our cross country was on the road – Cross Country Recap

The weekend concluded with a concert by Michael W Smith – Joining Michael W. Smith, IWU Chorale and former member (alumni) sang together.

Be sure to check your schedules and plan to attend Homecoming 2015 – Oct. 2 and 3. We will celebrate the following reunions and affinity groups –
1955, 1960, 1965 as a cluster as well as the decades of 1975, 1985, 1995 and a cluster reunion of the classes of 1989, 1990, 1991. We will enjoy the gathering of the former staff and young alumni reception events. We welcome alumni and friends back to campus for yet again another induction of the Society of World Changers chapel, concerts, homecoming banquet, and much more.

Watch for more details in the upcoming Triangle magazine.