The Office of the Chaplain has been awarded a $6,000 grant to allow Wilson students to continue partnering with a central Pennsylvania Presbyterian relief organization, Lend A Hand, to undertake disaster relief trips in 2019.
The grant was awarded by the Synod of the Trinity, Presbyterian Church (USA), which oversees 16 Presbyteries in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The Synod has provided the chaplain’s office with an annual gift for more than 25 years, but this year, the process was different. “The Synod redefined its giving program this year as a competitive grant for campus ministry,” said Margaret Light, Wilson director of corporate and foundation relations. The result was a grant that is significantly greater than in the past.
“I was stunned to get $6,000,” said the Rev. Derek Wadlington, the College’s Helen Carnell Eden Chaplain. “I think this is a tremendous opportunity and I’m grateful for this funding, which allows us to engage students in a service-learning activity that will return tenfold on its investment.”
Last January, Wadlington and nine Wilson students worked with a dedicated group of volunteers in the Lend A Hand group−a disaster relief team coordinated by the Synod’s Camp Hill, Pa., base−to help families in Princeville and Tarboro, N.C., where the communities are still struggling to recover from 2016’s Hurricane Matthew. The funding for that trip was pieced together with a collection taken at the 2017 Christmas vespers service and money provided by President Barbara K. Mistick’s office, Wadlington said.
With the new funding, Wadlington said his office will be able to take two relief trips in 2019. He plans to lead a return trip to North Carolina over the upcoming January-Term and another relief mission over Alternative Spring Break in 2019, the location of which has yet to be determined.
The disaster relief trips are important, not just in helping Americans in need, but also in terms of developing Wilson students’ character, according to Wadlington, who said working with the Lend A Hand volunteers last January was an “awesome” experience for students. “It educated and empowered a number of students who went on the trip in a way that was transformative for them,” he said. “It also exposed them to a group of people who give because of their faith … and also offered conversations to folks who want to talk about faith and spirituality. I do believe that spiritual growth and discernment should be part of their college time.”
Wilson College senior Wendy Arispe will host her capstone art exhibition from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Bogigian Gallery in Lortz Hall on the Wilson campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
Arispe is majoring in graphic design, with a secondary emphasis in photography. Her capstone project focuses on human emotion, incorporating poetry, photography and poster design. Additionally, a series of her photographs will be on display.
Early in her student career, Arispe was introduced to the work of American photographer Minor White. “It was then that my interest in high-contrast (infrared) photography and the beauty of the formal elements began,” she said. “I enjoy the drama that high contrast creates in a photograph and with the use of infrared film, I am able to capture dream-like images and various patterns of light in nature.” The Bogigian Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For additional information or an appointment, contact Professor of Fine Arts Philip Lindsey at 717-264-4141, Ext. 2783, or philip.lindsey@wilson.edu.
The John Stewart Memorial Library (JSML) at Wilson College will host the Glass Room Experience - a portable, pop-up exhibition on data and privacy - through Dec. 10. The exhibition, which uses art objects to raise awareness about technology and its impact on our lives, is free and open to the public.
Described as an art exhibit, learning experience and powerful statement on the role of technology in our daily lives, the Glass Room uses art objects to make issues involving online privacy and data collection accessible and tangible.
"See what scale of the company behind the platform you use every day, understand what data can be gleaned from your selfie, and figure out what you're agreeing to with the privacy policies you rarely read," according to the Tactical Technology website, which further describes the Glass Room as "an immersive ‘tech store with a twist’ that disrupts our relationship with technology and encourages visitors to make informed choices about their online life."
Visitors can check out the exhibition on the first floor of the library during normal operating hours. The JSML is open Mondays through Thursdays from 7:45 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 11 p.m.
More than 60,000 visitors have visited the Glass Room exhibitions around the world. For more information about the exhibition, visit theglassroom.org.
Las Posadas, a Mexican Christmas tradition, will return to Wilson College on Thursday, Dec. 6, beginning at the Brooks Science Complex. Free and open to the public, the event will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Las Posadas is a re-enactment of the story of Christ’s birth, following the journey Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus. When they were unable to find lodging in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary sought shelter in a stable, where Jesus was born.
During the Wilson celebration, children will walk on luminary-lighted paths around the campus, seeking shelter for their group. At the end, they will find safety in Laird Hall, where a celebration with prayer, music and authentic Mexican food provided by Veroni Cafe, Chambersburg, will conclude the Las Posadas celebration.
Learning Campus, Wilson’s after-school tutoring program for migrant children, is hosting and co-sponsoring the celebration, along with the Wilson College Choir, Spanish department, Spanish Club, Muhibbah Club, Learning Campus Club, chaplain’s office and the Office of Student Development.
Learning Campus sponsored the first Las Posadas re-enactment on the Wilson campus in 2017.
Wilson College will host the 9th annual Handmade for the Holidays event from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in Lenfest Commons. The event will feature handmade items from local craftspeople. This year’s items for sale include ceramcs, jewelry, handwovens, paintings, Shaker boxes and utensils, handmade books, fine soaps, candles, art quilts and photographs. Ten percent of the proceeds from Handmade for the Holidays will benefit the Cumberland Valley Breast Care Alliance.
The Wilson College Choir will present its annual Christmas concert, "Happy, Happy Holidays" at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, in Thomson Hall's Alumnae Chapel. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature singing, handbells and dance, including choir performances of Glow, Huron Carol, Parade of the Wooden Soliders and the 12 Days AFTER Chriustmas. The audience will be invited to join in singing traditional carols.
The annual Christmas vespers service at Wilson College will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, in Thomson Hall's Alumnae Chapel.
The service will feature scripture readings by students, faculty and staff; a brief sermon by Wilson's chaplain, the Rev. Derek Wadlington; and three songs performed by the Wilson College Choir. In addition, everyone will sing carols, including O Come O Come Emmanuel, What Child is This, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, Night of Silence/Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard on High.
An offering collected during the evening will go to several local nonprofit agencies that have partnered with the college in service-learning portions of students' First-Year Seminar.
After the service, refreshments will be served in the newly remodeled Sarah’s Coffeehouse on the lower level of Lenfest Commons.
Wilson College recently announced the winners of the college’s 8th annual juried high school student art exhibition. The top three winners are all students at Greencastle-Antrim High School:
• First place - Hannah Brechbiel, a 10th-grader, won a $200 prize for her stoneware sculpture of a skull entitled Dexter Skull. • Second place – Senior Collin Horan won a $100 prize for his photograph, Chimes. • Third place - Madison Sherrill, also a senior, won a $50 prize for a graphite and charcoal drawing called Zoe’s Portrait. • Honorable Mention – Kaila Gray, a GAHS 11th-grader, for a ceramic piece entitled William Allen Carter. • Honorable Mention – Liam Halsey, a senior at the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown, Md., for his plastic spoon sculpture, Spoons.
Wilson received more than 140 submissions of artwork from students in Franklin, Fulton, Adams and Cumberland counties in Pennsylvania and Washington County, Md. Twenty-four entries were chosen for the exhibition, which is on display from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in Wilson’s Bogigian Gallery, which is located on the second floor of Lortz Hall. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will continue through Dec. 7.
Wilson’s dance ensemble, Orchesis, will present its fall performance at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. The show, which is open to the public, will be held in the Appenzellar-Buchanan Dance Studio in Davison Hall.
Performances feature dances choreographed by undergraduate students, with guest performers from Shippensburg University. Tickets are available at the door and prices are $10 for general admission and $3 for seniors and students with I.D. Children under 12 get in free.
Author Alicia Drumgoole will read from a selection of her works of fiction as part of the Wilson College Writers Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in the college’s Hankey Center. The 30-minute reading is free and open to the public.
Drumgoole, an assistant professor of English at Hagerstown Community College, recently published her first novel, Premonition, under the pen name Agnes Jayne. She holds bachelor’s degrees in English and political science from Binghamton University and a graduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany. She began her writing career as the Richard J. Roth Journalism Fellow at the New York State Senate and, in addition to her novel, has published short works of fiction and poetry in various magazines.
