Anne Spence receives surprise honor at Silver Shield award ceremony

Maria Bundrick presents Anne Spence with roses.

Faculty, staff and students gathered April 5, 2013, for the Council of Commendation Banquet, an event honoring students with Evangel University’s highest award for character and Christian service, the Silver Shield.

Each of the students honored had been nominated by a faculty or staff member who joined them for the dinner and awards ceremony.

While most in attendance thought the purpose of the night was only to pay tribute to the students, there was an additional — surprise — agenda item for the evening designed to honor a woman whose contributions to Evangel University have spanned decades and impacted thousands.

Following the introduction of the Silver Shield Award winners, Dr. David Bundrick, vice president for student development, made the unexpected announcement that Evangel’s board of directors had resolved to name a distinctive Meritorious Christian Character and Service award in honor of Mrs. Anne Spence, wife of Evangel University President Robert H. Spence.

President Robert H. Spence looks on as his wife, Anne Spence, addresses the crowd after being honored during the Council of Commendation Banquet.

A surprised Mrs. Spence received the news while grasping her husband’s hand.

Missouri Senator Bob Dixon was on hand to present a framed resolution from the state senate recognizing the evening’s events.

Two of the Spence’s children, Dr. Jon Spence and David Spence, attended to applaud their mother for her achievements in 39 years as the first lady of Evangel.

Dr. Jon Spence spoke to the crowd about the character and faithfulness displayed by his mother over the years and called her “one of the last of the southern belles.”

Mrs. Spence has been a driving force behind the Evangel Ladies Auxiliary for many years. She was instrumental in the group’s fundraising efforts for the purchase of the Chapel auditorium’s Schantz organ and founded an intercessory prayer ministry.

“Anne is the epitome of conscientiousness,” Dr. Robert H. Spence says. “Her life principle has been to serve God, her family and Evangel in ways that will glorify the Lord and bring honor and happiness to those around her.”

After receiving roses and a glass dish bearing the Evangel seal, Mrs. Spence stepped to the front and presented the first-ever Anne Spence Award for Meritorious Christian Character and Service to students.

Senior Jessica Rumfelt, a Recreation major, was the first recipient. She had been nominated by assistant basketball coach and assistant professor Dawn Neal.

The Bolivar, Missouri, native traveled to Guatemala with Neal for a women’s basketball team service trip in May 2012. Rumfelt worked in extreme heat to paint lines on an outdoor basketball court for local children and led them in basketball drills during a camp.

“Anne Spence is the most kind, genuine, loving person I’ve ever met” Rumfelt says. “It’s such an honor to receive an award in her name.” 

Seth Bailey, a senior from Harrisonville, Missouri, was the first male recipient after nomination by baseball head coach Lance Quessenberry. Bailey is an Exercise Science major who has been voted the player who “I would want my son to grow up to be like” among teammates for two consecutive years.

The other nominees, who received a Council of Commendation certificate  and a cord for graduation, included Shelby Davis, Mehleena Edmonds, Jocelyn Green, Barbara-Ruth Hickey, Lauren Owsley, Javier Rodriguez, Junior Ruckdeschell and Kyle Smith. 

“I was honored to be nominated for the Silver Shield Award,” Davis says. “I hope that one day I can serve just as much as she [Mrs. Spence] has and leave a legacy wherever God places me.”

For more, visit the 2013 Silver Shield Awards photo album on Facebook. 

2013 Silver Shield Award recipients (left to right): Shelby Davis, Javier Rodriguez, Lauren Owsley, Barbara Ruth-Hickey, Kyle Smith, Jocelyn Green, Seth Bailey, Junior Ruckdeschell, Jessica Rumfelt and Mehleena Edmonds.

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Evangel honor society Alpha Chi receives exclusive “Star Chapter” recognition

The Evangel University Alpha Chi officers are pictured with EU President Robert H. Spence at the Fall 2012 induction ceremony. From left: Rintu Thomas, Kayla Jordan, Jonathan Mussetter, Lacey Mussetter, President Spence, Dr. Laynah Rogers, Dr. Dale Scheusner and Shari Hewes.

The  national college honor society, Alpha Chi, has recognized Evangel University’s Alpha Chi Missouri Rho chapter as a “Star Chapter,” a yearly award given to only 15 percent of the more than 300 chapters throughout the nation.

Alpha Chi is an honor society designed to promote scholarly activity and community service within its membership, which is open to the top 10 percent of juniors, seniors and graduate students.

Dr. Dale Scheusner, EU’s Alpha Chi co-sponsor, says the Star Chapter award recognizes Evangel as one of the top Alpha Chi chapters in the nation for student leadership and involvement. 

“It means the chapter is doing what it is supposed be doing,” he says. “The local Alpha Chi is serving as a model for other chapters in the national organization.  What a great way to be a Christian witness.”

This is the fourth time Evangel has received this recognition since 2010.

Scheusner says Evangel’s chapter leads on-campus academic events such as the Faculty Research Forum in the fall and the Student Research Forum in the spring. Student members also engage in a variety of service projects throughout the community, present research at the national Alpha Chi convention and serve as Alpha Chi representatives on the national level. Evangel’s chapter holds a ceremony to induct new members each semester.

“We truly enjoy working with [student] officers and watching them take leadership on campus,” Dr. Laynah Rogers, Alpha Chi chapter sponsor, says. Rogers has been Evangel’s chapter sponsor since 2000 and has also become involved on the national Alpha Chi leadership team.

Rachel Nordquist, Alpha Chi member and junior, says her involvement with Alpha Chi has given her the opportunity to learn from her peers and see the work of departments and majors beyond her own. She said she feels honored to be part of a chapter to receive this recognition.  

“It is inspiring to see the hard work that other students are putting into their education,” she says. “For me, this points to not just the excellence of Alpha Chi, but mainly to the excellence of Evangel as a whole.”

The Alpha Chi National Office will honor Evangel’s chapter with a certificate and proclamation at the Alpha Chi National Convention, which will be April 4 through 6 in Nashville, Tennessee. Rogers says Evangel’s chapter will also be the regional representative competing for the President’s Cup, a traveling trophy given to the best program in the nation. Rogers says Evangel took home this award in 2009. 

“All of us can take note of this achievement and extend congratulations to the members, Dr. Rogers, and those who work with Alpha Chi,” says Evangel University President Robert H. Spence.

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Evangel honor society Alpha Chi receives exclusive “Star Chapter” recognition

The Evangel University Alpha Chi officers are pictured with EU President Robert H. Spence at the Fall 2012 induction ceremony. From left: Rintu Thomas, Kayla Jordan, Jonathan Mussetter, Lacey Mussetter, President Spence, Dr. Laynah Rogers, Dr. Dale Scheusner and Sheri Hewes.

The  national college honor society, Alpha Chi, has recognized Evangel University’s Alpha Chi Missouri Rho chapter as a “Star Chapter,” a yearly award given to only 15 percent of the more than 300 chapters throughout the nation.

Alpha Chi is an honor society designed to promote scholarly activity and community service within its membership, which is open to the top 10 percent of juniors, seniors and graduate students.

Dr. Dale Scheusner, EU’s Alpha Chi co-sponsor, says the Star Chapter award recognizes Evangel as one of the top Alpha Chi chapters in the nation for student leadership and involvement. 

“It means the chapter is doing what it is supposed be doing,” he says. “The local Alpha Chi is serving as a model for other chapters in the national organization.  What a great way to be a Christian witness.”

This is the fourth time Evangel has received this recognition since 2010.

Scheusner says Evangel’s chapter leads on-campus academic events such as the Faculty Research Forum in the fall and the Student Research Forum in the spring. Student members also engage in a variety of service projects throughout the community, present research at the national Alpha Chi convention and serve as Alpha Chi representatives on the national level. Evangel’s chapter holds a ceremony to induct new members each semester.

“We truly enjoy working with [student] officers and watching them take leadership on campus,” Dr. Laynah Rogers, Alpha Chi chapter sponsor, says. Rogers has been Evangel’s chapter sponsor since 2000 and has also become involved on the national Alpha Chi leadership team.

Rachel Nordquist, Alpha Chi member and junior, says her involvement with Alpha Chi has given her the opportunity to learn from her peers and see the work of departments and majors beyond her own. She said she feels honored to be part of a chapter to receive this recognition.  

“It is inspiring to see the hard work that other students are putting into their education,” she says. “For me, this points to not just the excellence of Alpha Chi, but mainly to the excellence of Evangel as a whole.”

The Alpha Chi National Office will honor Evangel’s chapter with a certificate and proclamation at the Alpha Chi National Convention, which will be April 4 through 6 in Nashville, Tennessee. Rogers says Evangel’s chapter will also be the regional representative competing for the President’s Cup, a traveling trophy given to the best program in the nation. Rogers says Evangel took home this award in 2009. 

“All of us can take note of this achievement and extend congratulations to the members, Dr. Rogers, and those who work with Alpha Chi,” says Evangel University President Robert H. Spence.

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Pranab Das receives $200,000 research grant

Templeton Foundation supports physics professor's international research project.

Professor Pranab Das

*****

Pranab Das, professor of physics, has been awarded a $200,000 research grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

The grant, titled "Higher-Order Properties of Complex Systems in Multi-Disciplinary and Multi-Cultural Contexts" will run from late 2013 through 2016. Award funds will support Das' research combining the dynamics of complex systems, the physics of emergent properties and philosophical work on emergence. The overall goal is to provide new insight across disciplines with implications for the study of science and religion. This work is expected to lead to the publication of a monograph and several papers.

An exciting element of the project involves collaboration with international scholars in bio-semiotics (Charles University, Prague), Indic philosophical traditions (JNU, Delhi), and Japanese philosophy and spirituality (Nanzan Institute, Nagoya). Collaborating scholars will visit Elon and offer colloquia, class visits, etc. and Das will travel to each site during the course of the grant period.

This grant was awarded through a highly competitive process beginning with a pre-proposal in March of 2012, invited submission of a full proposal in September, and staff and outside peer review in the fall. Overall, the Foundation reports that only about 10 percent of applicants were awarded funding during this grant cycle.

Das recently served as principal investigator and executive editor for the International Society for Science and Religion Library Project and was previously P.I. and program director for the Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality program. The manuscript for his textbook in science and religion is currently under review with Yale University Press.

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by Pranab Das, Faculty Last Updated - 2/8/2013

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Brett Evans '13 receives undergraduate paper award

Winners receive a cash prize and financial support to attend ASIANetwork’s Annual Meeting to receive the award in person.

Brett Evans '13 and Assistant Professor Amy Allocco

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Brett Evans ‘13 was recently awarded ASIANetwork’s Marianna McJimsey Award, which recognizes the best undergraduate paper focused on Asia.

Evans will receive a cash prize and financial support to attend ASIANetwork’s Annual Meeting to receive the award in person. His paper will also be published in the spring 2013 edition of the peer-reviewed journal ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts.

ASIANetwork, a consortium of more than 150 North American colleges, “strives to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education to help prepare succeeding generations of undergraduates for a world in which Asian societies play prominent roles in an ever more interdependent world.” The annual prize honors the service of Marianna McJimsey, the first executive director of ASIANetwork and the first editor of ASIANetwork Exchange.

The paper, “Ideologies of the Shri Meenakshi Goushala: Hindu and Jain Motivations for a Madurai Cow Home,” focuses on a cow home, or goshala, which is jointly run by Hindus and Jains in the South Indian city of Madurai. It analyzes the commitments underlying the establishment of this sanctuary and highlights the divergent visions of the goshala’s purpose and future that were articulated by the institution’s Hindu and Jain members.

Evans has studied abroad for a semester in Madurai, where he lived with a Jain family and carried out research on contemporary Jain practices related to nonviolence. A Lumen Scholar and an Elon College Fellow who is majoring in religious studies, Evans has been researching the Jain religion for the past two years under the direction of his mentor, Assistant Professor Amy L. Allocco in the Department of Religious Studies.

He began his project by interviewing first- and second-generation members of the Jain community in Raleigh, N.C., about animal ethics and followed this fieldwork with more than six months of ethnographic research in India focused on this tradition’s commitment to nonviolence.

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by Amy Allocco, Faculty Last Updated - 1/2/2013

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Brett Evans '13 receives undergraduate paper award

Winners receive a cash prize and financial support to attend ASIANetwork’s Annual Meeting to receive the award in person.

Brett Evans '13 and Assistant Professor Amy Allocco

*****

Brett Evans ‘13 was recently awarded ASIANetwork’s Marianna McJimsey Award, which recognizes the best undergraduate paper focused on Asia.

Evans will receive a cash prize and financial support to attend ASIANetwork’s Annual Meeting to receive the award in person. His paper will also be published in the spring 2013 edition of the peer-reviewed journal ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts.

ASIANetwork, a consortium of more than 150 North American colleges, “strives to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education to help prepare succeeding generations of undergraduates for a world in which Asian societies play prominent roles in an ever more interdependent world.” The annual prize honors the service of Marianna McJimsey, the first executive director of ASIANetwork and the first editor of ASIANetwork Exchange.

The paper, “Ideologies of the Shri Meenakshi Goushala: Hindu and Jain Motivations for a Madurai Cow Home,” focuses on a cow home, or goshala, which is jointly run by Hindus and Jains in the South Indian city of Madurai. It analyzes the commitments underlying the establishment of this sanctuary and highlights the divergent visions of the goshala’s purpose and future that were articulated by the institution’s Hindu and Jain members.

Evans has studied abroad for a semester in Madurai, where he lived with a Jain family and carried out research on contemporary Jain practices related to nonviolence. A Lumen Scholar and an Elon College Fellow who is majoring in religious studies, Evans has been researching the Jain religion for the past two years under the direction of his mentor, Assistant Professor Amy L. Allocco in the Department of Religious Studies.

He began his project by interviewing first- and second-generation members of the Jain community in Raleigh, N.C., about animal ethics and followed this fieldwork with more than six months of ethnographic research in India focused on this tradition’s commitment to nonviolence.

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by Amy Allocco, Faculty Last Updated - 1/2/2013

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