Weather Related Issues: Thanks for your patience

I want to thank each of you for your patience during the recent unprecedented weather that has gripped our region. During this time, the College was impacted on a number of fronts including frozen and broken pipes in various areas of the campus as well as the loss of power and Internet services.

First Energy, the power provider for this region, suffered a number of outages that affected many of our communities. The last outage was a planned one that allowed First Energy to upgrade its local substation to help reduce (hopefully eliminate) the frequency of outages. Most recently Frontier Communications, the major telecommunications provider in the State of West Virginia, had a number of outages that affected its ability to provide Internet services to thousands of customers in the Northern Panhandle of the state. The most recent outage of yesterday and last evening was due to a splice in fiber optic lines located on Rt. 88 South.

Frontier technicians spent yesterday and all evening in a wooded area under tents heated by propane heaters to repair a section of line with 36 different fiber connections. While we were unhappy with the lack of Internet connectivity, and we have shared those concerns with Frontier representatives, we also recognize the difficult conditions under which their employees had to work in order to repair the damaged fiber lines. Our Information Technology staff is currently implementing a plan to add a redundancy layer to our ISP network to ensure that at a minimum, we are able to continue to have access to email during any future outages. Although these backup systems are not in place yet, we have begun the planning process and expect to have the implementation completed in a timely manner.

Finally, as I thank each of you for your patience, I would be remiss if I did not thank Ted Williams, Director of the Physical Plant, and his entire team who have worked long hours to ensure that campus services remained operational. When you see Ted and other members of the physical plant staff, please thank them for their hard work and dedication to Bethany.

Now let’s hope spring arrives early this year!

Communications and Media Arts student Whitney Lewicki leads the production of this month’s “For the Record” in the Bethany Broadcasting Network studios in the Grace Phillips Johnson Visual Arts Center.

Enjoyable visit with three of our favorite recent women's basketball alumni -- Anne Wilson, Audra Droginske and Katelynn Hackathorn -- between games of Saturday's m/w basketball doubleheader with Waynesburg.

Five inches of fresh snow outside, but a warm welcome inside the Center for Enrollment in Bethany House. Saturday was check-in day for transfers and mid-year freshmen. Hanna-Elisa Sautmann of Heidelberg, Germany, received a warm Bethany welcome from Jason McClain (Director of Financial Aid), Mollie Cecere (Director of Enrollment), Andrew Lewis (Director of Residence Life).

Bethany College Trivia

Q: When were Comprehensive exams started at Bethany? 

A: A system of comprehensive exams was developed and implemented by the administration and faculty of the College in 1933. Since then, nearly 11,000 Bethanians have continued the tradition and passed their comprehensive exams in order to proceed to graduation.

Four years ago, Professor Kathy Shelek-Furbee (Chair/Professor of Social Work & Advisor to Kalon) and I were first introduced to Amber Ridings as a new Kalon Scholar. Today we celebrated her completion of Senior Comprehensive Exams with distinction. A native of Inwood, WV, she was one of our most accomplished student leaders.

First stop on the Senior Comprehensive Exams celebration trail: With distinction--Peter Franklin, accounting major from Allison Park, PA. I’ve had the pleasure of observing his Bethany experience the past four years first hand as he has worked as an Associate in the Office of the President. Also pictured: Professors Virgil Thompson and Anju Ramjee (Sorry, the 1 degree temperature outside forced me to greet him inside)

Dr. John Mattox, center right, the Curator of the Underground Railroad Foundation, was the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speaker at Bethany College. He spoke on the history of the Underground Railroad in the area. Pictured: Atraile Brown, left, President of the Black Student Alliance, Dr. Mattox, and Jerry Stebbins, Dean of Students.

With upperclass student leaders Monica Westerheide (left) and Anne Taylor at the freshman dance they organized Friday night in the lounge at Phillips Hall.  A wonderful way to warm up a freezing cold night on campus.

Enjoyable visit today with legendary Bethanian Dr. Rodney Hurl ('52), long-time Trustee and supporter, at his home in Marysville, Ohio.