Never a dull summer day
By Kim Ousley
Lazy summer days at Anderson University are rare. Just ask Cheryl Shank, director of conference and performance events. Once students leave the dormitories in May, rooms fill up again with youth and adults attending conferences and camps. And the numbers are growing every year.
“When I first began [in 1988], it was a very manageable position for one person,” says Shank. That year, the school hosted 32 events. Now the campus boasts 40 conferences in the summer alone, and that doesn’t include smaller events such as wedding receptions and banquets. Year-round AU hosts between 250 to 300 events, and 85 percent of the business is recurring. Revenue from these events is used for student tuition, new equipment or facility repairs.
During one particular weekend in June, Shank and her staff welcomed 377 boys and 40 coaches for the weeklong Bishop-Dullaghan Foot-ball Clinic and 1,600 youth and leaders attending two Christian conferences, and hosted the MBA banquet, a wedding reception, and an orientation and registration weekend for incoming freshmen.
In the middle of all this, Shank fields calls on her phone and walkie-talkie. A beehive in a dorm room needs removed, and a group of football players can’t find their meeting room. With a smile and calm voice, she directs her staff.
“You find that the goals of your clients become your goals,” says Shank. “Many times we’re partnering in ministry and other times we’re partnering in business ventures. At any rate we want to present the campus in the most positive light possible because the impact is far reaching when these people come.”
Sarah Tyner, a junior majoring in athletic training, is staying in Martin Hall overseeing all the needs of the players and coaches of the Bishop-Dullaghan Football Clinic. They refer to her as the “ice queen” since her main duty is to provide plenty of ice during their practices in sweltering heat and humidity. Her room, with the only air conditioner on the first floor, is visited by players during breaks.
Hosting conferences is a great way for young people to become acquainted with AU. Christ In Youth (CIY) holds four events a year on campus. Student Jessica Rocco actually came to AU after one such event.
“I attended a GO MAD convention for CIY at Reardon Auditorium,” says Rocco, a junior majoring in Bible and a native of Bedford, Ind. “I had a call to ministry, and after that weekend I knew I wanted to come to AU.”
It’s the entire package of the AU community and the work of Shank and her staff that brings conferences back. Josh Finklea, director of the Believe Junior High programs says Shank’s staff always goes out of the way to provide everything his group needs.
“When it came to Indiana, AU had what we needed such as space and location. It’s just an incredible place to hold a conference,” says Finklea.
