Fiji ready to present new founding fathers

As Fiji makes its strong comeback to the Ohio Wesleyan community, the excitement of solidifying their first pledge class in four years is almost complete. The soon-to-be brothers have participated in dinners at Buns, El Vaquero and played dodge ball to get to know each other.
Brett Pytel, Assistant Director of Expansion for Fiji, said over the past four weeks they have met with over 90 unaffiliated men on campus.
“These men ranged from freshman to senior status,” he said. “As of today, we have extended 24 bids which have all been accepted.”
Senior Mark Schmitter said joining Fiji is a really good opportunity because he is a senior, and Fiji was looking for upperclassmen to build a strong presence for the underclassmen to follow.
“The organization also really appealed to me in the way that members are expected to act and what they stand for,” he said.
This past Sunday, Fiji hosted a “Not for College Days Alone” invite-only dinner where 50 undergraduate candidates and over twenty graduates brothers attended at 1808 American Bistro.
This was the last event before Fiji finalized its founding father class.
Schmitter said the dinner held on Sunday night was great.
“The alums were very excited to see the new group of guys and spent a lot of time talking to us about what they had gotten out of the fraternity,” he said. “The food was fantastic as well, and it was just another great event put on by the Fiji graduates.”
Senior John Carlson said when he first arrived on campus his freshmen year, he didn’t think any of the fraternities on campus were a good fit for him.
“The philosophy and values of Fiji seem to align with my own which is why I decided to join,” he said.
Carlson said he thinks the benefits will include meeting a network of studetns he might not have otherwise been exposed to. He also said he looks forward to having the chance to be part of an international network of Fiji members.
“Students involved in Greek Life seem to have a tight knit bond with one another which I think is important,” he said.
“Next Thursday, we will host our first two official Fiji events,” said Pytel. “The founding fathers will be pledged into the fraternity on Thursday and later that evening we will host our ‘Evening with the Fijis’ reception in Benes Rooms A&B at 7:30 p.m.”
Freshman Taylor McGinnis said he thought it would be great to be a founding father for a fraternity.
“I think that being a Fiji member will be great at keeping me academically successful, while having a great social life and positive future,” he said.
Pytel said this is their formal unveiling of the founding father class and it is open to the entire OWU community.
“We will also be giving away our scholarships, awarding philanthropy money, and thanking the campus for hosting us during our time at OWU,” Pytel said.
Desserts and beverages are to be served, as well.
McGinnis said he is excited for this Thursday’s event.
“It will be really cool getting pledge in, and hopefully I’ll get a scholarship,” he said.
Schmitter said he’s really excited to have an event with everyone on campus (this Thursday night) and to have everyone there who has been so supportive of him going Fiji.
“I have already met a lot of great new people both in undergrad, and graduates,” he said. “The graduates keep pushing us to make sure we network with them once we graduate so it feels like not only are we getting this great experience now, but it will lead to even more opportunities in the future.”
Schmitter said that there are a lot of guys he knows pledging Fiji.
“Obviously some friends are already happily in other fraternities, but those who weren’t decided yet seem to be going Fiji,” he said.
Carlson and McGinnis also said that they have a good amount of friends who are also pledging Fiji.
Carlson said he thinks they have enough interested and committed founding fathers that the organization and hard work needed to make the fraternity successful will be evenly spread.
“Fiji is still in the early stages of the process, but as we move forward the decisions made to recolonize the fraternity will be consistent with the ideals and philosophy of the fraternity,” he said. “We had dinner with many OWU Fiji graduate brothers on Wednesday night where we learned more about what made the fraternity a success prior to the deactivation.”
Carlson said the founding fathers of Fiji plan to continue in the path of the graduates before them.
Join the soon-to-be founding fathers of Fiji Thursday night at 7:30 P.M. in the Benes Rooms A&B for “Evening with the Fijis.”

Student-run Facebook page gives OWU spin on Internet memes

Ohio Wesleyan student camaraderie has found a new form on the Facebook page, “OWU Memes.”
Envisioned by sophomores Jordan Grammer and Maria Jafri, the memes on the page include random stock images with witty captions where students can express their opinions about the university.
The page, owned by both Grammer and Jafri, was created on Jan. 20. The page had immediate popularity with 350 fans within its first 24 hours. Today the page has 764 followers and is growing each day.
“We saw colleges across the country start to create these pages and we wanted to bring the fun to OWU and hopefully bring our community together over some good laughs,” says Grammer.
“I’ve seen isolated OWU-related memes pop up here and there, but it wasn’t until I saw the success of the college pages that I thought it’d be a great idea.”
And, so far it is. The reaction to the page has been a positive one.
Junior Andrea Kraus said she thinks the page is “funny and silly,” and named her favorite memes: “SLU girl and the one that says, ‘Put the flags up. Prospies are coming.’”
Senior Courtney Durham said she enjoys creating and submitting memes.
“It’s funny when people have shared humor, everyday things that we share and can poke fun at,” Durham said.
When asked what his favorite meme was, Grammer said, “I don’t have a favorite one specifically, but I really enjoy the memes the entire campus can relate to such as the amount of squirrels or Linda in University Hall, rather than an inside joke between a small group of people.”
Not everyone had good things to say about the page.
“I think it’s funny and a little exaggerated but occasionally hurtful,” said sophomore Kati Sweigard. “Some of the Greek ones are a little offensive, as an affiliated woman, because you can perpetuate stereotypes.”
Senior Jon Rux said he is not a fan of the page.
“I think it’s an attempt at OWU students trying to be funny and it’s a fail,” he said.
Rux did admit that the meme with Boromir, from the Lord of the Rings series, saying, “One does not simply live off campus” was his one and only favorite.
Erin Sayegh, another avid follower of the page, and blunt critic, said she thinks that some of them are “very on point, but some people just aren’t funny and shouldn’t write them.”
She said she hopes the page goes on to be written by people who “understand humor and irony.”
Even with her criticism, she couldn’t wait to open the page while answering questions.
Grammer said that he receives rave reviews, but some topics brought up by the memes have raised conflict.
Some projects such as the fountain on the JAYwalk are already controversial and when they are brought up on the page, arguments often begin.
Grammer and Jafri constantly face the issue of controversy when posting the memes.
“I’ll admit that some of our jokes are more controversial than others,” Grammer said. “We always try to keep things under control and foster healthy discussion without bringing backlash to the page or the administration—and we won’t post certain things if they are just way too offensive or in poor taste.”
But for now, the page remains up with the fan base growing day by day.
With favorite feature memes such as “Good Guy Greg,” “Scumbag Steve,” “The Dos Equis (beer brand) Guy,” and “Annoying Facebook Girl,” OWU Memes also includes some of the students own creations, while still encouraging them to send more.
Submissions can be posted directly to the Facebook page or emailed anonymously.

Pitch Black shines light on competitive talent at ICCA

The ladies of Pitch Black, OWU’s female a cappella group, competed against 10 other groups at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) on Feb. 25.
The competition was held at Kettering High School in Kettering, OH.
The group sang “I Want You To Want Me” by Letters to Cleo, “I’ll Fly Away” by Alison Kraus and Gillian Welch, and a piece combining “Not Over You” by Gavin DeGraw and “Someone Like You” by Adele.
Senior Emily Knobbe said she felt the group sang well for their first time competing and incorporating choreography into the performance.
“We learned a lot about the quality of a cappella outside of OWU. Choreography was a big part of the judging, and this was our very first experience with choreography, so it was a lot to take on,” said Knobbe.
Junior Clare Edwards, president of Pitch Black, said she was glad the group was able to travel to a competition such as the ICCA, since the last time the group performed off campus was at Denison in the fall.
“The competition was really fun because we got to meet other groups and sing our sets for each other,” she said.
Edwards said the two groups who went on to the next round were “Buck That,” the men’s group from The Ohio State University, and “The Rip Chords,” an all women’s group from The University of Illinois.
Senior Julia Alkon said the experience was more about group bonding than winning, and the group sang well regardless.
“Although I really enjoyed getting to perform together in front of judges and a big audience, the best part was having the opportunity to be part of something like this and getting to hear all of the other groups,” she said.
Knobbe said she has high hopes for the ladies of Pitch Black as competitors in years to come.
“The winning groups were from very large schools, so we feel proud to have pulled off what we did, coming from such a small school. In future years, the group will have more practice with incorporating choreography into our set. We also were able to see the extremely high energy levels of many of the groups, and we will work even harder to meet that level,” she said.

Orchesis fills hearts, minds, seats

The audience roared and applauded at this year’s 2012 Orchesis performances presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the Chappelear Drama Center March 2 and 3.
Orchesis is OWU’s student dance company. Orchesis provides company members with the opportunity to perform their own choreographed pieces, and work with guest and faculty choreographers to showcase their talent. Each piece performed Saturday displayed a wide array of emotions. Pieces explored suvh topics as stress, disaster, the military and sexual violence.
Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance, Marin Leggat, artistic director of Orchesis said the rehearsal process was not without its challenges.
“I think the more complex part of organizing the concert was scheduling. There are 22 dancers, 8 choreographers, 6 lighting designers and an entire technical crew whose schedules need(ed) to coordinate to get things done on time. Choreographers rehearsed 3 hours every week, and often ran into schedule conflicts when their dancers were involved in other academic and extra-curricular activities.”
“I remember Pledge Week was especially challenging, because our guest choreographer, Kristen Groves, was setting her dance on eight dancers that week. Most of these dancers had to plan well ahead of time to be able to participate in Pledge Week and attend all of Kristen’s rehearsals,” said Leggat.
The show drew a full house both nights.
“I was thrilled, but not surprised, by our large audiences. The students have worked so hard since mid-October, and are really proud of the work they’ve done. I knew they would spread the word to get their friends, families and faculty to attend. I’m glad so many people got to celebrate these students,” said Leggat.
The performance consisted of vibrant costumes for each set piece, as well as different lighting sets all coordinated to make the overall expressions of the dancers reflect on the audience.
“I thought the costuming and lighting looked stunning. We had a wide range of colors, fabrics, styles and moods from dance to dance. Jackie Shelley did a lovely job coordinating those costumes. Under the guidance of Glen Vanderbilt, student lighting designers Dave Winnyk, Ed Howland, Nathaniel Barber and Andrea Kraus created a new world for each dance,” said Leggat.
The dancers endured long practices in order to perfect each move and be in synch with one another. With all of that hard work and dedcation, came a slight injury for Freshman Victoria “Buzzy” Biddinger. Weeks prior to the performance Biddinger dislocated her knee cap.
Biddinger said, “I took a few days off, but jumped back in when the swelling went down. My knee was starting to feel better, until I did it again during Yvonne (Hendrick’s) piece on Monday (of technical rehearsal week). My knee made a loud ‘pop’ and the instant pain made me feel queasy. I went to the doctor the next day and he said that I was going to need an MRI because he was concerned about my ACL. This made me super stressed because I’ve already gone through two ACL surgeries. I was really struggling with walking, so I told Marin that my gut feeling was that I wasn’t going to be able to perform. I was in five pieces and they all had to be changed a little bit, due to my absence. It was really hard to sit out and watch because I love being on the stage and have been training since October for Orchesis. However, the cast was so supportive of me and still made me feel important.”
Biddinger later got an MRI and was told she had a large tear in her meniscus, and that her ACL was fine. She got approval from her doctor that she would be able to dance on it but it would be very painful.
“I iced, elevated, took ibuprofen, and jumped into rehearsal Thursday night. I had to be taken out of April (Warner’s) piece because of all the jumping and intense movements, but I got to be in the other pieces with slight changes. My knee was a bit tender, but I had an amazing time Friday and Saturday on and off the stage. I’m so incredibly happy that I got to have this experience and I will treasure these memories forever,” said Biddinger.
Students who attended the performances were impressed by the intricate dance moves but, more importantly, the skill of the dancers.
“I attended the performance because it was required for my Intro to Dance Technique class,” said senior Kellianne Devine. Overall I thought the performances were unique and well designed. The lighting and the music really completed the dances.”
“There were key dancers like April Warner and Yvonne Hendricks that I especially enjoyed watching. Their passion for dance was shown in every move and expression,” said Devine.
Senior Yvonne Hendricks acted, danced and choreographed her own piece called ‘Human’.
“I loved dancing in it and I had so much fun on stage with my dancers. The reactions of my dancers made it worthwhile,” said Hendricks.
Sophomore Emily Hostetler was another student who was a choreographer and dancer in the performances.
Hostetler said, “It’s so hard to choose my favorite dance. All of the dancers and choreographers worked their butts off for this show. My favorite dance to watch had to be Kristen’s piece. Everyone who wasn’t in her piece would dance to the music back stage. My favorite piece to dance in had to be Yvonne’s piece. African dancing is definitely not something I thought I would ever do, but it was an absolute blast.”
This year’s Orchesis performances were successful due to the use of publicity on campus.
“I think the performances went extremely well. We had quite a few dancer injuries but everyone pulled through and put on one of the best Orchesis shows we have had in years. I was so impressed by the OWU community showing their support and selling out two shows. It’s such a great feeling when people appreciate the months of work you put into something. The show, the experience, the people, everything surpassed my expectations. What I thought would be a good show turned into a fantastic performance,” said Hostetler.

Women’s Ultimate team shares family bond

Female students looking for a unique, club sport experience on campus can find it in the women’s Ultimate Frisbee team. These women who make up the team call themselves“Yetis.”
The back story on the name of the team is described as follows:
“One day an OWU woman was on a spirit quest in the Himalayas. She journeyed to the highest point of the highest peak in order to project optimal yodeling when she encountered her spirit animal, the Yeti. The Yeti advised her to return to her homeland and spread the word of Ultimate Frisbee in order to extend peace and good times.”
The Yeti’s story is found on the team’s website.
Since it was founded, the group has grown significantly and competed in multiple events.
“We have around 15-20 girls that consider themselves Yetis,” sophomore Alex Kerensky said. “We go to a lot of tournaments, usually around five a semester.”
Kerensky said that while the Yetis compete in both the fall and spring semesters, the fall semester competition is not as demanding as the spring.
“The fall semester tournaments are more laid back,” Kerensky said. “They are not sanctioned with USA Utimate, but they are still competitive. Their purpose is to help the new players really understand the game and give everyone an opportunity to play some awesome Ultimate.
“In the spring, the tournaments are sanctioned and our scores are factored into a ranking system that will determine placement in sectionals in April.”
Last year, the Yetis won sectionals and continued on to the regional tournament. They performed well despite the absence of many upperclassmen who attended graduation that weekend.
“(I)t was really awesome,” Kerensky said.“We went to Regionals … Still, with a mainly underclassman team, we competed and gave the other teams a run for their money.”
Junior Amanda Fawcett said the team has developed chemistry that helps them to perform collectively and successfully.
“There is something about the chemistry of our team that is indescribable,” Fawcett said. “There is so much love and respect on and off the field, and we have an awesome time playing together.
“Although we have gotten more serious about our game over the past couple of years, we maintain the outlook that as long as we play our hearts out, we are satisfied no matter what the outcome of the game is.”
Kerensky said the team schedules practices to work with each teammate’s obligations and commitment level.
“Practice times are currently changing to meet people’s busy, busy schedules and the commitment is totally up to you, but there is a more expected commitment in the spring semester,” Kerensky said.
“Honestly, the sport is so awesome…you grow to love it and commitment comes naturally,” she said.
The team is always looking for new members and Kerensky said the team provides a unique balance between competing and liking the sport.
“We are really open and always inviting new members to come play with us,” Kerensky said. “We have a great balance between having fun and being competitive. Lots of girls find it very refreshing compared to their ultra competitive and aggressive team sports in high school or even college.”
Fawcett agreed with Kerensky and said it is the attitude of the team that balances having fun with being competitive.
“I’m actually currently studying abroad in Heidelberg, Germany, and although I’m having the time of my life, playing Ultimate with the Yetis is what I miss the most,” Fawcett said. “That’s part of what makes being a Yeti so enjoyable. There is so much room to have fun, and we always manage to do so.”

Women’s lacrosse extinguishes Comets

Women’s Lacrosse beat Olivet College 16-2 on Saturday, Mar. 2 at Selby Stadium.
The game marked the second pre-season non-conference match of the year for the Lady Bishops.
Less than a minute into the game, junior attacker Annie Swanson scored, giving the Bishops a 1-0 lead. Ohio Wesleyan kept up this momentum going on a 9-0 run. The Comets did not score until 10:38 left in the first half.
The Bishops rallied back quickly with 3 more goals, leading the way 12-1 going into half time. The Comets would only score once more in the second half; it was not enough to fight off the Bishops, who went on to win 16-2.
Swanson led the team with 4 goals and 2 assists.
“We worked together in a way that I have yet to see out of this team in my two previous seasons playing lacrosse at OWU.”
Head Coach Margaret Grossman said the win was a team effort. There were eight different players who scored and six players who added assists. Freshmen Abbie Love scored the first three goals of her career and Saige Bell scored her first two as well.
“Everyone worked well together,” Grossman said. “It did not matter what combination of players was on the field. They all worked together and contributed for the entire 60 minutes.”
Once a 12 goal differential is reached in the 2nd half, a running clock will begin. The clock is not stopped for timeouts or referee calls, according to the NCAA Lacrosse rulebook.
Junior Meredith Wholley, who had two goals and an assist, said this running clock was one outcome the team hoped to achieve.
“Our goal for this game was to get a running clock because we did understand that the other team was not as skilled,” she said. “What made us so successful was focusing on making good plays, and then showing our sportsmanship at the end by not scoring when we were up.”
Swanson said the running clock really validated the team’s hard work.
“It felt great to have our first running clock game of the season,” she said. “I think it proved a lot to ourselves that we are better than we were last year and will continue to improve. It meant that the talent is there and our hard work in the preseason is paying off and will continue to do so if we keep up the same intensity.”
Grossman said the team is constantly improving.
“Overall we did exactly what we had planned to do (to) get better.” she said. “We are going into every game with the mentality that win or lose, we are going to get better.”
The Bishops next game will be in West Balm Beach Fla. against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Grossman said after the win she has a good outlook on the rest of the season.
“If this continues and we stick with the plan to control the tempo of every game as well as continue to get better with every practice and every game, I foresee the rest of the season shaping up to be the successful season that all of us want,” she said.

Men’s basketball lose in final minutes of NCAA tournament

Editor’s Note: Coverage of this game is based off of a live video stream.
The Bishops tentative dominance over the Hobart Statesman was apparent from the beginning. After overcoming a small, 4-point Senator lead, the Bishops were on top almost the entire game—except for when it mattered. At the end.
With 47:02 seconds in the game to go, the Bishops still had a 4-point lead. By 24:40 seconds, they were down by 1 point. And, by the end of the game, with a last ditch timeout, the Senators finished their 10-point streak and took the game from the Bishops, pushing the final score to 64-60.
The Bishops may have been upsetted in the last few minutes, but their plays still packed heat.
With over six minutes left in the first half, senior wing Tim Brady gets the court to himself, and hammers in a slam dunk.
Later, after halftime, junior guard Andy Winters and Spalding work together to dunk another basket.
With under two minutes to go in the second half, Winters tries to save a ball for the Bishops, goes beyond the court, and lands on an NCAA table, startling staff officials and ripping off the table’s covering.
Junior post Greg White said that OWU had a decent strategy–to not give Hobart any possessions. He said executing that strategy was the hardest part of the game.
“Coach Dewitt has consistently mentioned that we need to play for 40 full minutes and not take any possessions off, but we let a few possessions get out of our hands and did not convert some key shots and did not convert some key defensive plays,” he said.
White said this about the game, the team overall, and its future:
“Regardless of the outcome, and knowing that we fell short of our goal to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament, it has been a good season for our basketball team and we look to carry our momentum and experience over to next season, and work on our individual and team weaknesses in the off-season. We will have everyone back on our team but our graduating leading scorer, Tim Brady, who will be greatly missed, as his offensive game and leadership will be a challenge to replace.”
Coach Michael DeWitt said the season was successfull overall.
“In the last three minutes, we simply didn’t continue to do the things we had done all game,” he said. “We made some mental mistakes, and a good team like Hobart will take advantage of those mistakes. It was a disappointing end to an excellent season. We overcame a lot of obstacles and deficiencies to have success because of our great effort and team chemistry.”
Winters said the team was not concentrated. “We lost focus the last few minutes,” he said. “We had the lead the entire game and all it took was a couple of back to back plays to get them the lead. We fought very hard for the majority of the game but did not close it out and it cost us. As a captain of the team I feel responsible for (the) outcomes of our games … A great thing about the guys on our team is no one points fingers for any loss … I wouldn’t ask for a better group of teammates and people to be with this year.”
This matchup concluded OWU’s men’s basketball season. The Bishops went 11-5 in their conference matchups and 20-8 overall.

Water polo club being restarted, new captains to bring sport to the Midwest

Two students are reviving the OWU water polo club and said they hope to spark an interest in the sport on campus.
Freshmen Marcus Ramirez and Matthew Mahoney, both members of the swim team, are in the process of reviving the water polo club as a way to continue a sport they both played in high school and stay active in the off season.
“It’s a way to cross train and provides a constructive way to stay in shape,” Mahoney said.
“It provides students an opportunity who played before college another chance to play.”
Ramirez, who is from the West, and Mahoney, who is from the East, bring different perspectives on the sport because they have learned different styles of the sport.
Ramirez, who played in high school in California, said it also gives other students at the school an opportunity to participate in a new and different sport that they may have never played before.
“It is very popular on the East and West Coasts, but there isn’t enough interest in the Midwest,” Ramirez said.
However, the sport is popular enough for there to be other college club teams in the central Ohio area to play.
The club does face some issues with attendance.
There are currently only 10 members in the club, which is under the amount that Ramirez and Mahoney would like.
Ramirez said that a regulation team needs seven players in the water, but more are needed for substitutions and practice scrimmages.
“We want more (members) to join to have substitutes and different skill and experience groups for practice,” Ramirez said.
Member participation and time was an issue with the club before it momentarily dissolved.
Senior Anne McComas, the president the last time the club was around, attributed lack of member participation at practice times and starting the club right up after swim season to be difficult for the club’s reputation.
However, McComas is positive about Ramirez and Mahoney’s attempt to revive the club.
“There are a few people who are very excited about starting the club which gives it a much better chance of being successful,” McComas said. “I left the club due to swimming related injuries.”
“There weren’t enough people to keep the club going,” she said. Hopefully there will be enough people that show up to practices to make the club a continuing success.”

Studying abroad in Delaware, Ohio, this spring break? Service is only part of the joint service learning trip for Japenese and OWU students

OWU will team up with a Japanese university for a different kind of spring break.
Instead of participating in a “normal” spring break trip, 21 Ohio Wesleyan students have chosen to take part in the first ever reverse mission trip on campus.
This trip, termed Joint Service Learning, will also include 12 Japanese students from the OWU sister school Aoyama Gakuin University in Shibuya, Japan. Aoyama Gakuin is a Methodist University founded on many of the same principles as Ohio Wesleyan.
Barbara MacLeod, an OWU economics professor, said seven different countries will be represented by all of the students involved. She said the Japanese students will be arriving in Ohio on Thursday.
Instead of visiting another school or community, OWU students will be staying in Delaware and working with the students from Japan. Thus, the experience is termed a “reverse” mission trip. While on campus, the
OWU and Japanese students will build a house through Delaware County Habitat for Humanity.
On the first Sunday of the trip, March 11, OWU Chaplain Jon Powers said there will be a commemoration service for the first anniversary of the 2011 tsunami which hit Japan last March 11 at 2:46 p.m.
“We will hold our memorial service during that hour, beginning at 2 p.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church across the street from Chi Phi,” Powers said. “The Japanese students and their chaplain, Reverend Paul Shew, will be conducting the service, which will be open to the public.”
Powers, along with Sue Pasters, OWU director of Community Service Learning, co-founded both the OWU chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Delaware County Habitat for Humanity in 1989.
Powers said the idea for this type of a trip came about years ago when he met with Shew to explore the possibility of a “reverse mission team.” He said it has taken this long to hit the right time for this kind of a trip.
MacLeod took a trip to Japan last year and was inspired to plan the experience. MacLeod said she met up with some of OWU’s sister schools and Shew during the trip. From there the idea became a reality.
MacLeod said the team would not have been allowed to work in Japan because of the strict building codes. Takumi Shimizu, an exchange student from Japan who is studying at OWU and participating in the trip, said a builder must have a construction license to build a house in Japan.
“We have so many earthquakes, and if you are not a specialist in constructing, the buildings won’t be able to stand earthquakes. But in the U.S., there is no such law. I thought this to be a great opportunity to do something I can’t back in my country,” said Shimizu.
Anthony Harper, a senior member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, said he found out about the trip through Alpha Sig’s Philanthropy’s Director Guanyi Yang. He said he worked with MacLeod on another program through a Theory into Practice into Theory (TiPiT) Grant called Nicaragua: International Business. He said he thought the trip was fun and informative.
“I knew working with Professor MacLeod again would be an informative experience, especially considering that it focused on local poverty,” he said. “Plus, I’ve visited Japan before and Japanese students hosted me during my stay in Japan; therefore, I thought it would be only appropriate to return the favor to Aoyama Gakuin University students.”
MacLeod said everyone will work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., then have some type of activity in the evening, including lectures from different service providers.
“With everyone involved, this is more of a community event,” she said.
MacLeod said this is not a typical spring break on campus, because the Japanese students and the OWU students will be staying with host families in Delaware. Powers said for the Japanese students, Delaware can serve as a solid example of a typical, Midwestern, college-town community.
“We can offer not only a Habitat build, but also the number one zoo in America (Columbus), a typical shopping mall (Easton), a visit to Amish country, and exposure to a major U.S.-Japanese partnership (Honda),” Powers said. “Plus (we can offer) family home-stays for each student, exposure to Dr. John Durst and his lecture about poverty in middle America, and exposure to some key poverty-related service agencies in Delaware like the Salvation Army, Common Ground Free Story, Family Promise, People in Need, Domestic Violence and Help Line, Vineyard Food Pantry and Andrew’s House.”
Harper and Shimizu both said they were excited for the trip.
“Getting to know and become friends with the Japanese students is what I’m most excited about,” Harper said. “I’m also very excited to help with Habitat’s mission statement and build houses, learn more about local poverty, and learn more about the family I’m helping out.”
“Since this is my last semester at OWU, I want this project to be the most memorable experience at OWU, and I am really looking forward to it,” Shimizu said.
An information page detailing the experience was used as background for this article.