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Faculty Spotlight: Ejenobo Oke >
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ISSUE #5 JANUARY 2007
I bring you greetings for the New Year from friends and alumni of Manchester College.
A college campus covered with snow is a most beautiful sight, but more important than a picturesque campus are relationships that are forged during the college years. Graduates of Manchester College are no different than graduates from other institutions. It’s all about relationships; it’s all about giving back.
Manchester College alumni know what giving can do. The development of the College and its significant connection to graduates continues to be a vital link that is strengthened with each graduating class. Alumni giving has been the foundation for success with each new project the College has undertaken. Manchester College alumni giving in 2006 was at 30.2 percent, while the percentage of alumni making gifts nationally declined to 12.8 percent, according to a March 2005 survey conducted by the Council for AID to Education at the Rand Corporation. Manchester College continues to emphasize the role of alumni giving to ensure its future.
Manchester College students need the support that makes good teaching and learning possible. Philanthropy allows students to broaden their minds, sharpen their skills and aspire to great things — only because others have given back and shared their resources.
Literally hundreds of donors make gifts annually for student scholarships. These funds are often given as a way of saying ‘Thank you’ for what Manchester College has given its graduates. Nearly every student has received a scholarship supported by contributions from alumni and friends of the College. Our graduates choose to make gifts to our scholarship fund because they believe in our mission.
You are always welcome to visit the Office of College Advancement at the College. Its mission is to build relationships and resources in a manner faithful to the Manchester College mission, tradition and culture.
On behalf of the Manchester family, we wish you a wonderful New Year.
Michael Eastman
Vice President for College Advancement
It’s time for a family gathering … popcorn, sodas, tax returns and W-2 statements. Yes, it’s FAFSA season! Time to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for 2007-2008. Filing the FAFSA (if you haven’t noticed by now, financial aid is a world of acronyms) is an annual event in the homes of college students who receive financial aid, whether it be grants and loans from the federal and state governments or from Manchester College.
Completing the FAFSA can overwhelm some families, but there is help available! Those who are comfortable with technology can complete the form online (www.fafsa.ed.gov). Those who like the look and feel of paper can complete the paper version. Regardless of the medium you choose, the form guides you, step by step. In the income section, for example, you are actually directed to specific lines on your tax returns to find the appropriate answers.
March 10 is an important date for Indiana residents. The FAFSA must be received at the processing center by March 10, 2007 to be considered for state grant eligibility. Even non-residents should file in March so that there are no delays in getting financial aid information.
If you need help with the FAFSA process, you have several options. College Goal Sunday is an event that is held at a variety of locations across Indiana. The date this year is Feb. 11, and there is opportunity for help on specific questions or the whole form. You can also call 260-982-5066 or e-mail the Manchester College financial aid office at sfs@manchester.edu — we’d be happy to help!
Gina Voelz
Director of Student Financial Services
Work continues to move rapidly in preparation for students to move to their new dining facility after spring break. The kitchen is nearly complete including newly installed kitchen equipment. Flooring is in place, the walls painted and fixtures have been hung. It is really feeling like home! The bulkheads that form the ceiling around the new serving areas give you a sense of the final shape of the counters, which are on site and will be installed soon. After final testing by the contractor in mid-February, the kitchen staff will begin training.
The student dining room is completely enclosed in glass, and finishing touches are being installed. Walking through the room, you really get a feeling of openness with a beautiful view looking out the two-story wall of windows. The heating system is operating in both the kitchen and the dining room. Furniture for the building was ordered just before Christmas and will be here by mid-February, in time for students to use upon their return from spring break.
The new site of the Campus Store, which will be moved during spring break as well, is also taking shape. A fireplace has been installed that will be shared by both the Campus Store and The Oaks snackbar. The Mail Room is also complete and will be moved at the same time. The meeting rooms upstairs are also progressing nicely and will be ready for meetings in mid-May.
Two video cameras overlooking the serving area and the dining room will soon be installed with live feeds viewable on Manchester's website. We hope to be able to show live progress as we near completion. This project is exciting and we hope that these two cameras will give you a taste of good things to come.
Chris Garber
Director of Operations, Physical Plant
Faculty Spotlight: Ejenobo Oke
Ejenobo (Jena) Oke is a 1997 Manchester College graduate and has returned to campus this year as an instructor in the Art Department. Here are some of her reflections on returning to campus in a new role.
Once and again
In my last days as a student at Manchester College, my thoughts were mostly occupied with the leaving that would soon happen, the leaving where I would step away from my home here. Manchester was the first place in this country where I could honestly say that I fit. I had worked so hard to find a place where I could belong. Like a pebble in a flowing stream, I was finally anchored. I had built my place by holding my ground, standing firm, and making the waters curve and flow around me. I created patterns of flow, however small, just by being there. I loved the place I found at Manchester.
Now here I am, years later, standing on Manchester soil once again. My return was not what I expected. I have been greeted by smiling faces, warm embraces and humbling memories. Old friends and former professors, now colleagues, have not only welcomed me back, but have shared remembrances that made me realize that my presence and my actions from so long ago were not erased by my leaving.
I am so grateful for the chance to come home to Manchester College, and I am thrilled with the opportunity to teach and learn once again. Although I carry the title of instructor, I still see myself as a student (though I most often feel like I am caught somewhere between the two). I find myself scanning the faces of every group of students I pass, greedy for new memories, yet hoping to see a familiar face, another student from my days here. But these faces are familiar for a different reason. In the midst of so many new experiences, every now and again, I am hit with something old and familiar that mixes with the new. And I like the way it fits. I’ve found my place once again.
Questions? Feedback? E-mail familyconnections@manchester.edu.
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