Building Community at Croptoberfest

/ Ryan MacDonald / Leave a comment

Recently, Concordia held its third annual Croptoberfest, designed to celebrate autumn and build community across campus.

Many students look forward to Croptoberfest each year. The festivities change but several activities remain constant such as food, music, games and crafts.

This year, students were treated with s’mores, caramel apples, and donuts courtesy of the Chemnitz staff. Additionally, there was live music presented by Concordia student Ethan Danz and Concordia alum Hayden Michael Lukas which highlighted the activities. Those in attendance listened and sang along, adding to the positive mood of the evening.

Several students offered words of praise for the atmosphere of the event.

“I had such a good time! The food was great and I loved getting my picture taken with my friends at the photo booth and jamming out to the music,” one said.

According to Resident Director in charge of Croptoberfest Manda Kelly, the event originated as “Choptoberfest” at Spring Arbor University and she brought the tradition to the Wisconsin campus three years ago. Kelly is pleased about this year’s event and her staff’s ability to deal with poor weather.

“It went very well, considering the fact that it was inside as opposed to outside because of the rain. My staff had to really figure things out and bring it together and they did a great job with that,” Kelly said.

Kelly also said about 350 people were in attendance and there were positive reactions to the festivities, becoming a tradition that builds community and brings people together.

“I think making it that tradition piece is very important. We have a couple of events like Skit Night that there is a lot of hype for and people look forward to every year and that is what I want Croptoberfest to be. We have been seeing higher numbers because upperclassmen are telling freshmen what a great event it is each year,” Kelly said.

Croptoberfest will continue to be an annual October tradition which builds community next year.

Dave Coulier Event a Major Success at CUW

/ akarsten3 / Leave a comment

Over 550 CUW students, faculty, and staff enjoyed a blast from TV past Oct. 3, when comedian and actor Dave Coulier visited campus.

The beat the expectations held by the organizers of the event, CUW’s Campus Activities Board (CAB). The crowd packed the Todd Wehr Auditorium on the CUW campus, and laughs could be heard pouring out of the room. In addition to a hilarious comedy routine, Coulier held a Q&A session including funny questions, and questions about his career.

“When we got in contact with Dave’s agent over the summer, we were nervous and hesitant, but so excited for this new opportunity to bring such a big name on campus.

Seeing the excitement since the beginning of the school year was huge for us. To have people waiting outside four hours before the event even started proved itself how successful the event was. It was such a fun night to see over 550 people – both faculty and staff – coming together for a good laugh!” CAB’s Kimberlyn Skibbe said. CAB staff members, who are all undergrad students, planned and staffed the events.

According to Skibbe, it was exciting for CUW to be able to invite a high-profile individual like Coulier, who starred for many years as Uncle Joey on the hit sitcom “Full House,” the Netflix reboot of the hit, “Fuller House,” voiced many cartoon characters, and even hosted his own series on Nickelodeon.

In addition to inviting comedians and performing acts, CAB plans other events for CUW students. CAB plans CUW’s Homecoming celebration, hosts trivia challenges, movie nights, and many off-campus day trips.

CAB also invite students to become members of the board, allowing them to plan or contribute ideas for campus events. CAB said they were encouraged by the excellent turnout to the comedy act, and hopes to capitalize on its success to build momentum for the year of events ahead.

 

 

Introducing: Dr. Ferguson

/ joshuakarolus / Leave a comment

Dr. Ferguson is the Director of Christian Service and an Associate Professor of Communication. He has been with CUW since 1991 and has had of different positions, Chair of the Communications department and was also elected as the President of Faculty.

As Associate Professor of Communication, Dr. Ferguson teaches interpersonal communication, group dynamics, servant leadership, public speaking, and conflict management.

“Living my faith – displaying the love of Jesus in words and actions” said Dr. Ferguson about serving others as a Christian.

The Director of Christian service was a new position when Dr. Ferguson assumed that role. This position deals with volunteering and campus service activities.

Dr. Ferguson also works with non-profit organizations and connects students with those organizations. If students groups are looking for service projects, Dr. Ferguson is able to help them find one.

Working with faculty, Dr. Ferguson is improving service learning in CUW. A Christian Service Learning & Leadership minor is currently being worked on.

He educates the CUW community about why service is important, tracks service hours during the week, and posts volunteer opportunities online.

The benefits coming from student service include increased awareness of social issues, discovering new opportunities for vocations and non-profit careers, and growth in one’s faith with a better understanding of what it means to serve, said Dr. Ferguson.

Last year 11,000 service hours were reported. Dr. Randall Ferguson can help get students and faculty involved in service in the CMLT Office.

The New ACHA Hockey Program

/ Israel Mitchell / Leave a comment

This year at CUW, the ACHA hockey program has been introduced by our Athletic Department, and it has a lot of hockey players excited.

CUW is changing from Junior Varsity Division 3 over ACHA Division 2, and it has senior hockey player Benny Serres pumped up for this upcoming season.

“I love the new ACHA hockey program. We finally get treated like collegiate athletes. We have more games this year than the last two years combined. The uniforms are better, and we have a nice new locker room,” Serres said.

Part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s mission is to ensure that every ACHA team is provided with quality resources.

The ACHA Hockey website states that are working towards making sure each hockey team is provided with quality game gear, and up to date amenities. (achahockey.org)

Serres is also excited about the opportunity to play new teams and being able to play in more road games. Serres displayed his joy over the new level of competition with the team now participating in Division 2 hockey.

“I’m happy for the roadies we get to go on this year. My first few years playing Junior Varsity, we played a couple road games, and they were fun. But this year we have more than ever and it’s exciting to be a part of this and be able to travel to other schools to play hockey. Also with us now being Division 2, the competition is going to be better and we welcome that challenge and we are ready to go out on the ice and prove what we are made of,” Serres said.

All in all, the new ACHA hockey program has had good publicity and is being received well from hockey players, and other students around campus.

The new program provides the hockey team with the opportunity to play in more games overall, and to compete at a higher level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing Pains

/ Connor Wagner / Leave a comment

New faces on campus share their tips on how to adapt to life on campus.
Moving away from home marks an important milestone in life. With the new change of scenery comes a new set of responsibilities, benefits and challenges. Whether forcing yourself not to hit the snooze button on your 8 a.m. alarm, or relying on friends to keep their minds off of home, the students new to Concordia’s campus have each found their own ways to adapt to life on campus.
For freshman Austin Evers life on campus can literally feel like a maze at times.
“The tunnel system was really confusing at first, there’s so many different routes you can take or little shortcuts that you just don’t know about during your first few days on campus,” he said “But after a couple weeks and with a little help from some of the older students on campus you start to pick up on where everything is and how to get there the quickest way possible.”
Although some students may be focused on finding their way to class, struggle with dealing with homesickness. Freshman Christian Mesa came to Concordia from La Quinta, Calif. Living over 2,000 miles away from home can have its drawbacks.
“I think the hardest part about being away from home is not seeing my brother all the time. He and I are really close so it’s hard to go from seeing him all the time to hardly ever seeing him,” said Mesa. “I think the thing that’s helped me the most is making a lot of close friends fairly quickly. One of my friends in particular, Adam Taylor, is an out of state student and we’ve become really close so it helps to have someone else who’s going through the same things that I am. It’s almost like he’s become my second brother.”
Although some students fill time with friends, others invest that time into being a part of a sports team. Freshman Nathan Hunt is involved in the football program.
“For me, like a lot of kids, the hardest thing about moving away is missing all the friends and the people you have back home. But being involved with football has let me keep my mind off of that because of how busy our schedule is and how much my teammates have really embraced me as part of their family. We’ve got a lot of guys on the team who have gone through the same things that us younger guys are going through right now and having them around really helps because we act as a support system for each other,” said Hunt.
As the semester continues, the new faces on campus will continue to grow, manage, and adapt to their new lives of Concordia students in different ways.

 

Safety at its Finest

/ Ryan MacDonald / Leave a comment

For Concordia students, seeing Campus Safety officers walking through the halls with guns on their belts can be intimidating.

However, the officers employed by the university go through extensive training to make campus as safe as it can be.

According to the security firm ADT, Concordia University Wisconsin has the safest campus in the state and the second safest in all the United States.

Director of Campus Safety Mario Valdes said the success of the department is due to the experience of the Campus Safety officers. The majority are former police officers from Ozaukee and Milwaukee County and they bring their professionalism to Concordia’s campus. The officers are friendly and approachable.

“We like to show them that we are concerned, we are friendly and no different then any other person, just have a different job to do.  A good reason why we are number one in Wisconsin is because we interact with the students, we talk to our students and convince them that they should contact Campus Safety when they see things that do not look right or suspicious. We like to mingle with the students and the staff and it works,” Valdes said.

Valdes also said interactions with Campus Safety officers can help prepare our students for the real world and interactions with other professionals.

Campus Safety officers do more than just patrol the halls. They present in classrooms, field questions from students and parents, deal with off-campus visitors and parking, help with special events and assist with problems students might have.

According to Valdes, although Campus Safety is equipped to deal with most situations that arise on campus, there are instances when they need to involve the police. Campus Safety officers have strong relationships with local law enforcement and work  with them to ensure the safety of everyone affiliated with Concordia University

Campus Safety have officers on duty 24/7 and will continue working to keep the Concordia community the safest in the state during the year.