Missing First Monday?

We are, too!  While Bethany searches for an alumni director, we're working to improve our email communication with alumni and friends. We'll be implementing new tools so emails more closely match your needs and interests. We'll roll out a new "First Monday" with the hiring of a new alumni director.

In the meanwhile, there's just too much going on at Bethany to wait. In the interim, we'll send you these occasional updates.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Send your feedback to me at lindc@bethanylb.edu

--Colene Lind, Director of Communications

Yielding Students for Bethany College

Do you have great stories about your Bethany days? Do want other students to reap the benefits of a Bethany College education? Then join us for a Bethany yield event, hosted by a Bethany alumnus near you.

Alumni and friends are invited to these receptions for prospective students and their parents. Each event will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. An admissions representative will attend. Click through for a list of locations and dates.

Please let us know at least one week prior if you will attend. To RSVP, email Richard Strange, coordinator of alumni student recruitment at stranger@bethanylb.edu

…and thanks to all who helped recruit this fall through college fairs, including: Sarah Swanson Bieber 84;  Leon Burch 64;  Ede Ericson Cardell 86;  Steve Carr 70;  Larry 62 and Kerstin Reinholdsson 61 Danielson;  Luella Cox Hilston 55;  Gary Hilt 70;  Larry Holdren 94;  Ann Kahmeyer Larson 78;  Gregg Mahlmeister 79;   Donald McDaniel 86;  Brice Musgrove 86;  Ruthanne Mussetter 82  David Nelson 67;  Carol Ostlind 81;  Kim Lundgren Pigorsch 79  Kay Rudder 87 and Elizabeth Studtmann Steele 79.

Come Meet the Candidates

Our search for a new associate director of development for alumni programs is going well. Three candidates will interview on campus Feb. 24, 27 and 28. At 2 p.m. each day, an alumni coffee will be held in the Sjogren Center. All alumni and friends are welcome to join us for these coffees to meet the candidates and hear candidate presentations. Evaluation sheets will be provided and considered carefully by the interview committee. For more information, contact Karen Humphrey.

Opera Star Stirs Excitement for 125th “Messiah”

Grammy-award winner Håkan Hagegård will sing the role of Jesus in the Bethany Oratorio Society’s Good Friday performance of “St. Matthew Passion.” The performance is one of only four Hagegård will make in the United States during this, Hagegard’s last year of performing. He plans to retire at the end of 2006. As the 2006 Distinguished Pearson Professor of Swedish Studies, Hagegård will teach master classes while in Lindsborg and perform with the Bethany College choir. Click through for more on Hagegård and his Lindsborg schedule.

Tickets for the 125th season of “Messiah” and for “St. Matthew Passion” are now on sale. Call (785) 227-3380, ext. 8301 for tickets.

New Scholarship Honors Bergstroms

The families of Shawn and Dinah Bollinger Bergstrom have established a scholarship at Bethany: the Shawn and Dinah Bollinger Bergstrom Scholarship. You may recall that these vibrant alumni, Bergie ’94 and Dinah ’98, were killed tragically in an auto accident in August 2005. Gifts may be sent to the Bollinger Bergstrom Scholarship at Bethany College, 421 North First, Lindsborg, KS 67456.

Homecoming 2006

Make plans now to attend the 125th Bethany College Homecoming celebration, Oct. 13, 14 and 15. Highlights include an all-alumni banquet and all-band and all-choir reunions and concert. All alumni will receive schedule and registration information in the summer issue of the Bethany Magazine, and an event schedule and registration information will be posted on the Bethany Web site. More soon!

Thank you for giving back.

Thanks to our alumni and friends, fundraising efforts are ahead of schedule for 2005-2006—and we want to surpass our goal. Many have made gifts in honor of a friend or mentor to celebrate the college’s 125th year. If you would like to support the college while honoring someone who made a difference in your life, contact Karen Humphrey.

Others have received calls from our tele-FUNd crew. This year’s callers are students Marsha Weber, Laura Callahan, Mariah McDowell, Kimberly Streit, DeAnna Mowery and Jerri Zehnder. Thank you for your pledges!

Swedes Basketball Peaking Late in Season

After starting the season with a six-game losing streak, the women’s basketball team now is on a six-game winning streak with a KCAC record of 13-3 and an overall record of 15-10. The women are second in the KCAC behind conference rival Tabor College.

The men’s team is tied for second in the KCAC with Ottawa University. In the KCAC the men have a record of 10-6 and are 16-10 overall.

The Swedes next face Southwestern College Feb. 15 in Winfield and finish the regular season at home Feb. 18 against McPherson College. You can listen to game broadcasts live online. Go Swedes!

Bethany Update is published by Bethany College. Copyright Bethany College 2006. Send questions, submissions or address corrections to lindc@bethanylb.edu .