Bob Green with MC president Michael Schneider

Reflecting on all the relationships he formed during his time as a professor at McPherson College, Bob Green, emeritus professor of English, was inspired to establish a permanent scholarship for first-generation students in need of financial assistance who attend McPherson College.

“I gained a lot as a teacher at McPherson College,” Green said. “I worked with people of faith and skill. I have gratitude for the people I worked with while I was there.”

Green, who lives in Wichita, was assistant professor of English for 27 years before retiring in 1993. His wife, Gayla, also worked as a library assistant in Miller Library and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from McPherson College in 1983. Green said, due, in part, to her critical management of their finances, he and his family realized it was within their resources to fund a scholarship and worked with the McPherson College Advancement Office to establish the Bob and Gayla Green Endowed Scholarship to honor his wife who passed away last year.

“As a professor, I always encouraged my students to think,” Green said. “My career was over by the time Siri and Alexa came on the scene, but they can’t answer questions like ‘why am I here?’ You have to do some thinking about that.”

He said that some of the most memorable times for him were when students would come back to campus, sometimes after as long as 20 years, and tell him they still remember what he taught them and how it made a difference in their lives.

“Professor Green literally taught me how to write. My writing abilities have been foundational to my career,” said Ted Bray, a 1992 McPherson College graduate. Bray, a marketing executive with over 25 years of experience, has held leadership roles with prominent technology companies, including Accenture, Oracle, and AT&T.

“There were many times, especially during the Vietnam War when issues were raised on campus, that I was able to sit down with students and have a dialogue and real conversations,” Green said. “I had the opportunity to build relationships over the years that I value.”

It was not surprising to colleagues, like Kim Stanley, professor of English, that Green would find a way to continue to support McPherson College students long after he left. Stanley had the office next to Green’s and has known him for the 32 years she has been at the college.

“It’s just like Bob to think of yet another way to be useful to students,” she said. “Bob was always the quiet person everyone could rely on to listen and provide carefully considered advice. He took a strong personal interest in his students.”

With the endowed scholarship, Bob and Gayla Green’s legacy will continue to support McPherson College students into the future.

Fiber Studio in Wichita is featuring the work of the McPherson College art and design faculty in an exhibition now through December 11. Art faculty will be at the studio on November 5 and December 3 to discuss their work.

The exhibition was originally on display at McPherson College in September and features sculpture, photography, graphic design, painting, and digital performance art. Faculty participating in the exhibit include Kelsy Gossett Dennis, Michaela Valli Groeblacher, David Harmon, Nathan Pollard, and Dee Erway-Sherwood.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to take our exhibit to Wichita. The Fiber Studio gallery frames our works beautifully and allows us to reach out to a wider audience,” Valli Groeblacher, associate professor of art and gallery director at McPherson College, said. “The title of our show, “Title in Progress,” was meant to communicate that we all are works in progress, that our artworks are always in progress, and that, as a group, we have fun together. We are a great team!”

In addition to the exhibit, Professor Valli Groeblacher and Kim Stanley, professor of English, presented a workshop at Fiber Studio for teachers attending the Kansas Art Educators’ Association annual conference. They spoke about teaching creativity in art and writing.

Fiber Studio is located at 418 South Commerce in Wichita and is open by appointment or on final and first Fridays of every month from 6 to 9 p.m.

McPherson College is deeply saddened by the loss of longtime assistant coach for the Bulldog men’s soccer team, Reed Hardgrave, who died suddenly October 25, 2021.

“We are heartbroken in the athletic department,” Chandler Short, McPherson College athletic director, said. “Reed was an important part of our athletic program and he will be missed greatly. We are working closely with his family to offer them support during this sad time.”

Hardgrave graduated from McPherson College in 2002. He was an integral part of both the men’s and women’s soccer program for the past 20 years. As a student-athlete, Hardgrave played for the Bulldog soccer team for three years and was an NAIA Academic All-American. Hardgrave worked at Ferguson Production in McPherson for over 20 years, working his way up to vice president of the company. He also was active in the McPherson youth soccer serving as vice president for the McPherson FC, a local soccer club.

“Words cannot express how I feel at this moment. Our soccer program lost an amazing guy too soon, and I lost a good friend,” Doug Quint, men’s soccer head coach, said. “For two decades Reed has touched so many lives here at McPherson College. Everyone that knew him loved him. He was the life of the party everywhere he went and we will certainly miss him. My heart breaks for his family.”

Funeral services will be held Thursday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. at the McPherson Church of the Brethren with a visitation scheduled on Wednesday, Nov. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Stockham Family Funeral Home.

“The McPherson College soccer family lost one of its favorite coaches,” Mark Olson, women’s soccer coach at McPherson College, said in a statement on Twitter. “Reed was like the favorite uncle for so many players over his 20 plus years coaching for both men’s and women’s Bulldog soccer teams.”

The college encourages students to seek guidance if they need help through the grieving process. The Student Life Office can be reached for multiple methods of support during this difficult time. Students can also reach out to McPherson College’s professional partners at Client Centered Counseling by calling 620-241-2300.

McPherson College announces the recipients of the 2021-22 Teaching Awards. The college presents the awards each year at the annual Honors Convocation to one tenured and one non-tenured faculty member. This year’s recipients are Dr. Shane Kirchner and Matt Porter.

A committee of three students and last year’s teaching award recipients reviewed a record of 75 nominations in each category from students and faculty colleagues to select this year’s honorees.

The committee selected Dr. Kirchner, professor and chair of teacher education, for the tenured award. Described in one nomination as “definitely leads by example,” Dr. Kirchner models the mission of the program he leads, which is to develop service-oriented educators.

Nominations from his students included appreciation for the interest he takes in them and comments about his contagious, positive attitude. One student’s most memorable class session was when Dr. Kirchner, in dress pants, suit coat, and tie, turned a cartwheel in front of the class. “He deserves this award for the dedication, passion, and enthusiasm he brings to every class,” one nomination said.

This year’s non-tenured award recipient, Matt Porter, is an assistant professor of business. The selection committee identified three consistent themes seen in the nominations for Professor Porter. His students appreciate the quality of their classroom experience, his interest in their success, and are grateful for the lengths to which he has gone to accommodate them during the pandemic.

One nomination stated, “He has gone above and beyond to support students all the way through COVID. Professor Porter has paid for things like cameras and boards that work online so that students can experience the same learning at home or in quarantine as they would in class.”

The chief advisor for COVID-19 coordination for Kansas, Dr. Marci Nielsen, will speak to Health Science classes and students at McPherson College on September 16. Dr. Nielsen has been an advisor to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly since January 2021.

She will speak via Zoom to students in two classes as well as to Health Science Scholars and members of the Pre-Health Professions Club during lunch. Her topics will cover community health, health policy, as well as community outreach and why it is important to public health and population health.

“We are thrilled to welcome a speaker like Dr. Nielsen who can give our students great insight into the community health,” Dr. Nick Baldetti, director of healthcare initiatives at McPherson College, said. “Her broad range of experience and her educational path is the perfect example for the students in our program.”

Prior to her role with the Governor’s Office, Dr. Nielsen served as vice president of policy and strategy for the Government Employee Health Association. Her experience developing health policy includes executive roles at federal, state, and association levels, as well as academic leadership roles. During her career, she has served as vice-chancellor of public affairs and faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center, CEO of a national primary care association, director of the State of Kansas health care agency, and health lobbyist for the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC. She received her Ph.D. in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, her MPH from George Washington University, and her undergraduate degree from Briar Cliff University.

The Health Science program is in its second year at McPherson College. The program offers majors in health science and healthcare management and matches students with a wide variety of hands-on educational opportunities developed through partnerships with local healthcare agencies like the McPherson Hospital. The program focuses on creating health-related career pathways for students while engaging within the community and offers annual Health Science Scholars awards of $27,000 to its top students.

Dr. Nielsen was among the consultants who worked with the college while developing the new academic program.

In the world of college bands in Kansas, an invitation to play at the Kansas Music Educators Association’s (KMEA) state convention is the highest honor and a milestone accomplishment. At the next statewide convention in February, McPherson College will have two bands performing.

Both the MC Concert Band and the MC Jazz Band were selected to perform at the music convention on February 25-26 at Century II in Wichita. This will be the third time in the past five years that the concert band has been selected and the first time for the jazz band.

Bands are selected to perform through a “blind” audition process and no ensemble can be selected in consecutive years. This year, McPherson College will be the only private college or university concert band or jazz band to perform among bands from much larger state schools, according to Kyle Hopkins, McPherson College director of bands and associate professor of music.

“Having both the concert and jazz bands selected to perform at KMEA is an unparalleled achievement for our program,” Hopkins said. “It’s rare that a band from a private college gets selected to perform at all, and even more rare for two bands from the same school!”

Hopkins said that despite the necessary precautions taken last year due to the pandemic, senior band members helped create a positive atmosphere that enabled the entire band to make progress musically.

“I give a great deal of credit to the band leadership who, despite all the challenges of last year, set a foundation for our band to achieve this remarkable accomplishment,” he said.

The MC band program consists of 40 students from many academic programs and features a variety of ensembles including the concert and jazz bands, a tailgate band and drumline, and a steel drum ensemble. The band’s first public concert this academic year is on November 14 at 4 p.m. in Brown Auditorium. The tailgate band and drumline will perform at the Homecoming tailgate and football game on October 2.