Martin Hall and Smith Hall are both receiving much-anticipated renovations and upgrades this summer. Martin was completed in 1958, and Smith was completed in 1964. This renovation will be the first that either hall has received.

VIEW A FLICKR SLIDE SHOW OF THE RENOVATIONS.

AU School of Theology honored Rev. Adrienne Holmes with the 2008 Distinguished Alumna Award, James Cook with the 2008 Distinguished Ministries Award, and Dr. John Aukerman with the 2008 Distinguished Service Award.

About 300 people at the Anderson University Heritage Dinner sang together in honor of David Coolidge and his wife, Shirley.

“God our maker, God most holy” rang through the L-shaped Shield Dining Room. The song was most appropriate since the verses were written by David Coolidge in 1962.

Anderson University has announced the installation of all-weather synthetic field turf and outdoor game lights at Macholtz Stadium located in the northwest corner of the university campus. The artificial field turf and lighting system at Macholtz Stadium will be ready for the fall 2008 athletic season.

“We are grateful to our football parents who have championed these improvements and provided some of the research needed to move the program ahead,” said Dr. James L. Edwards, president of Anderson University. “Our multi-sport program can benefit in many ways from a synthetic surface and lights. We have received helpful advice regarding this project from several alumni as well as our friends in the Indianapolis Colts organization who understand the usefulness of these facilities. This is but one of several improvements we hope to make to bring our outdoor facilities to a standard of excellence in the next several years.”

Anderson University was recently awarded a Spring 2008 Recycling Bin Grant from the National Recycling Coalition and the Coca-Cola Company. This fall, numerous bottle-shaped recycling bins will be placed around campus to promote recycling at AU.

AU was one of 75 grant recipients chosen from 1,100 applications and one of only two grant recipients in the State of Indiana. The recipients represent a cross section of community groups, local governments, colleges and non profit organizations across the country.

Anderson University has received a grant in the amount of $2,000.00 from the Indiana Humanities Council, in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant provides matching funds in support of a project, “Every Woman Has a Story: The Journeys of Immigrant Women in Indiana.” Initial funds for this project were provided by a Faculty Development Committee grant.

The project will be administered by Anderson University in collaboration with Indiana Diversity Women’s Network (IDWN). The project director is Dr. Maria Scott, a professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work, Criminal Justice and Family Science. Through this project, Scott, with the assistance of students and IDWN members, will collect stories of immigrant women’s journeys to America and their experience of adaptation and integration into Indiana communities.

AU will host “Celebrating the Gentle Strength of Unity” to kick of the North American Convention of the Church of God in the Ward Fieldhouse of the Kardatzke Wellness Center on Friday, June 20, at 7 p.m.

The event will be hosted by Anderson University President, Dr. James L. Edwards, with special guests Dr. Ann Smith, Dr. Mort Crim, Dr. Lauren Dungy-Poythress, Dr. Bill Gaither sharing “Gentle Stories of Strength,” and music performed by Jay and Amy Rouse, Ben Utecht and the Alumni Choir.

Covenant Productions at Anderson University recently produced A Ripple of Hope, an independent documentary which captures one poignant day in the life of Robert Kennedy and explores a little known act of personal courage and responsibility.

A Ripple of Hope premiered in Anderson and Indianapolis on April 3 and 4, 2008. It also aired nationally on PBS in the weeks following.

Anderson University has been selected as one of four winning institutions of the 2008 Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund competition, a competitive grant established by the Ball Brothers Foundation (Muncie, Indiana) and administered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI).

The School of Music at Anderson University is pleased to host distinguished guest faculty member Jean Ashworth Bartle, June 9-13, 2008, teaching the graduate course, The Child Voice: Developing Literacy in the Young Singer.

Ashworth Bartle is founder and director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus. Her contribution to the art of choral music for children has evolved over three decades into one of international distinction.