A Funny Thing Happened After the Ballgame
VIEW PICTURES FROM THIS EVENT
More than 200 AU alumni reside in the greater Louisville area, making it a natural choice for the next alumni gathering. So, we headed south for this Friday evening gathering at the Louisville Bats baseball game.

Beforehand, though, the Davises met up with Paul Mumaw and his family at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, where Paul serves as one of the pastors. SECC is a megachurch unlike any I’ve ever seen before, and I marveled at their campus facilities as well as the programming that Paul described. This might make a great location for a future Louisville alumni gathering.

That evening we headed to the game at Louisville Slugger Field, which is a very nice, newer, family-friendly baseball stadium that sits right on the banks of the Ohio River. We had reserved a meeting space in the concourse where our group could gather and reconnect prior to the game. Friends started arriving around 5:30 p.m. and we spent the next hour or so sharing stories and catching up with each other.

Attendees ranged from Bernard (’59) and Annalee Mendenhall (’54) to current AU junior Caleb Cunningham and his family, and lots in between. Several kids tagged along too – some members of the AU Class of 2025 were already busy discussing roommate preferences. Overall we had almost 60 in attendance. Great turnout for this first-time event! Below is a list of who came. (see group photo)

Unlike the monsoon conditions at the Dayton alumni gathering a few days earlier, we had nothing but sunny skies in Louisville; too sunny, perhaps – as the record-tying temperatures hovered in the mid-90s. So, we all loaded up on sodas and lemon ices as we headed for our seats on the Patio Deck in right field. The ballgame became a backdrop for lots of fun conversation and family frolicking. When all was said and done, we left as a more connected group. (And the Bats won, 8-2.)

But the reunion wasn’t over! After the post-game fireworks show, my four-year-old daughter, Jillian, and I walked back to the hotel ready to crash for the night (Marlo and our baby, Lauren, had left the game in the fifth inning or so). As we waited for the lobby elevator, another family of five approached. The dad saw the logo on my shirt and hat and asked if AU stood for Anderson University. Assured that it did, he smiled and revealed that he, too, was an alum from out of town – but he wasn’t in Louisville for the ball game. It turns out that Brian Yost (BA ’86) from Sarasota, Fla. and his family were passing through Louisville earlier that day and had a run-in with another vehicle on I-65, necessitating this unplanned pit stop while the car was being repaired.

Brian revealed that he ran around in conspicuous circles during his AU days, including with now-V.P. of Student Life, Dr. Brent Baker. In a few encounters during the rest of our brief stay (at breakfast on Saturday morning, poolside with the kids, etc.) Brian and I talked about AU days and played the “degrees of separation” game. This chance meeting-turned-new-friendship was a poignant reminder of how powerful and special our alumni network really is. Good luck on the rest of your journey, Yost family!

The Davis family had plenty of drama of our own as we headed home on Saturday. After leaving Louisville around 1 p.m., we cruised north toward Anderson and covered about 40 miles until traffic on I-65 came to a standstill – for more than an hour and a half. We figured it was construction or a bad accident of some kind. It wasn’t until we finally reached the Seymour exit that we found out the interstate was closed due to flooding.

Along with the caravan in front of us, we were redirected onto back roads, and finally onto a state highway … which was also closed due to flooding. Using a road atlas and a GPS navigator, we spent the next several hours trying to find a way home, to no use. There were simply no roads from the southern Indiana heading north, that were fully passable (at least if you weren’t driving a Hummer). So, after finding out that there were also no vacancies at hotels in the area, we retraced our steps back to Louisville, then up through Cincinnati to Dayton where we arrived near midnight and spent the night at the in-laws (and where I am currently writing this blog). Maybe we’ll make it back to Anderson someday …

Ben, Marlo, Jillian and Lauren Davis
Angela (Cox), Michael and Braedon Reynolds
Paul, Jenny, Joel and Luke Mumaw
Ann Taylor
Ken Cordle
Margaret Harlow
Vanessa and Corey Giancola
Angela (Leichty), Chris and Burke Thomas
Dan Skinner
Mary and Stephanie George
Bobby Dobson
Pete and Rhonda (Dalton) Compise
Shandra (Mitchell), Jeff, Samantha and John Holbrook
April (Fair), Helier and Amelia Rodriguez
Sarah (Williams), Ben Hardman and family
Betty Baylor
Elnora Leim Kuehler
Bernard, Analee and David Mendenhall
Chelsea (Melnik), Jeremy, Maddie and Carter Graham
Dwight and Dottie Hargett
Caleb, Erin and Steve Cunningham
Chris, Leasa and Cameron Ball
Amy (Jacobus), Shawn, Julianna and Saylor Sizemore
Carl and Mary (Kagin) Kramer

There has been a partial Decker Hall power outage affecting classrooms, offices as well as computer and network systems. Anderson University computer and network systems are down across campus. Classes will be conducted per normal schedule. Decker Hall classes may be moved. Please check your Decker Hall classroom to learn if there is a notice of a new location. All employees should report to work per normal schedule. Please continue to check the AU Web site or campus voicemail for updates.

Anderson University is a private Christian university of 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students in central Indiana. Anderson continues to be recognized as a top Christian college: in 2008, U.S. News and World Report ranked Anderson University among the best colleges and universities in the Midwest for the fourth consecutive year. Established in 1917 by the Church of God, Anderson University offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and graduate programs in business, education, music, nursing and theology.

Anderson University will sponsor the OrangeHaus Music Business Camp, July 15-19. The camp will allow students to have one-on-one interactions with some of the best talent in the Christian music business industry. The OrangeHaus Music Business Camp is designed for high school students, ages 14-18. The experience will help students discover what it takes to be a working professional in the field of music business. Developed by the music business faculty at Anderson University, the summer program offers 3 and a half days of classes in record production, artist development, songwriting, and music marketing.

Students volunteered over 27,000 hours during the 2006-2007 academic year, according to Stuart Erny, director of Campus Ministries. Erny has been working for the last three years to combine the volunteer hours of campus ministries, Tri-S, social clubs and athletics. This growing list is a testament to how students are willing to implement the university’s service mission. This number is only a rough estimate and is likely to be higher due to clubs and organizations on campus that do not submit their hours.

Anderson University administrative offices will be closed to observe the Christmas and New Year’s holidays beginning Friday, December 21, at 5 p.m. and will re-open on Wednesday, January 2, 2008. Campus security officers will maintain normal hours during the extended holiday.

The Development Office will also be open December 27, 28 and December 31 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. to accept year-end contributions. Persons desiring to access the AU Development office during this time will need to enter Decker Hall through the southwest door of the building breezeway. Directional signs will be posted for visitors. The Development office is located on the second floor of Decker Hall. Please call the Development office at 765-641-4053 or 1-800-421-1025 for more detailed information.

Anderson University students past, present and probably future gathered along University Boulevard Saturday for the Ravenfest street fair.

Held as part of AU’s Homecoming weekend, the fair included students selling everything from cookies to dates with college-aged men to raise money for their various campus organizations.

Junior Meredith Christopfel was manning a booth selling T-shirts and work by students artists. She said she appreciated having a relaxing setting in which to celebrate the university’s traditions.

Anderson University will be hosting two panel discussion sessions this week on banned books in the Nicholson Library as a part of Banned Book Week.

“The Panel Discussions during Banned Books Week focus on two areas—the American Constitution and religion—both of which touch the lives of each and everyone of us today,” said Janet Brewer, Director of Nicholson Library. “I think we tend to take the freedoms we enjoy for granted, and as a part of an academic community, it’s important for us to discuss the intersection between what we read, or watch in a movie or listen to on our iPods, and these freedoms.”

Jasmine Lee, 18, and her two younger sisters would fight all the time when she still lived at home, but when it came to the love and compassion the sisters had for each other, they would do anything for each other.

“We’ve had to stick kind of close because there’s no immediate family out here,” the Anderson University student said.

Not only are they close to each other and their parents, but Lee said that spending time with her family makes her a happier person.

AU alumnus Steven Curtis Chapman is returning to AU in concert on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. with Sanctus Real in Reardon Auditorium.

The tickets are $25 for Artist Circle, $20 reserved and $18 for students with valid student ID or groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased at the Reardon Box Office, by phone at (765) 641-4140 or through TicketMaster.

Jacqueline Burgher glanced around Mocha Joe’s, observing her surroundings for a moment. “No other school I looked at had the sense of community that AU does,” she said finally. “AU has a feel, an atmosphere.”

Jacqueline is a freshman at AU this year from Butte, Mont. Her sister Laura, a junior education major, played a role in Jacqueline coming to AU. “Since Laura left two years ago, I realized how much I want to be near her, ” explained Jacqueline.