Night on the Town
Over 300 students packed the New Ulm Armory for one of the most anticipated events of the year. With a chocolate fountain, a photo booth, live MLC Jazz Band music, games, and 600 cake pops, Night on the Town was an unforgettable event. “My favorite part was getting all dressed up and seeing everyone look fancy!” says sophomore DeAndre Parker (MVL / St. Paul’s-St. James MN). “And dancing with friends is always a blast and a half!”
Night on the Town is made possible every year by Anchor, MLC’s service club. Anchor member Lindsay Hughes (KML / Good Shepherd-West Bend WI) describes the event as “a great way for our campus family to have a fun night together, while also raising money for a good cause.” This year over $1,700 was raised for Maggie (Schultz) Schwartz (Luther / St. John-La Crosse WI), an MLC student who is battling cancer. Her brothers and sisters in Christ continue to keep her in their prayers and are thankful for the opportunity to support her through Night on the Town.
Work, Play, Arbor Day
New Ulm’s warm weather is here to stay, and that can only mean one thing—Arbor Day! Last week, the entire student body split into groups to tidy up MLC’s campus, local parks, and the homes of shut-ins and professors. The students were ecstatic to spend some time in the sun and skip a day of classes, but Senior Class President Tom Nicholson (Portage HS / Cross of Christ-Portage WI) reminds us that there’s even more to Arbor Day than that.
“The true purpose of Arbor Day,” Tom says, “is to build community between students and faculty, between upperclassmen and underclassmen, and between MLC and the residents of New Ulm.”
As students worked alongside one another, they were also able to appreciate both MLC’s beautiful campus and God’s amazing creation. Their hard work paid off in the afternoon when they enjoyed activities like volleyball, spikeball, softball, soccer, and disc golf.
Tom concludes, “We hope that the friendships fostered on Arbor Day by working toward a common goal, whether longstanding or brand new friendships, will last a lifetime.”
In Image: Christina Kapellusch (ALA / Paradise Valley-Phoenix AZ), Adam Stevens (FVL / Trinity-Neenah WI), and Alex Lindemann (LPS / St. John-Lewiston MN) worked together on Arbor Day.
Ambassadors – The Face of MLC
If you visit MLC, you might wonder, “Who are those snazzy students walking around in khakis and red pullovers?” It’ll only take the moment one of them says “hello” for you to realize that those friendly faces are MLC’s student ambassadors.
These 12 representatives have responsibilities that include giving tours, doing office work, finding students to host high schoolers, and going on admissions trips. Ambassador Leah Nass says, “I like telling kids about MLC because I really enjoy it here. It’s fun sharing that with other people!”
“I like interacting with high schoolers that come to visit because when I came for a Focus trip, I looked up to the student ambassadors,” adds Jacob Roecker, “and it’s cool that now I’m able to be in that position.”
With their servant attitude and constant encouragement to the next generation of public ministers, the MLC ambassadors are truly an important part of the campus family.
Back row: Eric Dorn (ILHS / Trinity-Crete IL), Luke Rothe (LPS / St. Matthew’s-Oconomowoc WI), Leah Nass (Manitowoc LHS / St. Paul-Howards Grove WI). Middle: Monica Pappenfuss (LPS / St. Mark’s-Watertown WI), Katie Zietlow (LPS / St. John-Montello WI), Aaron Markgraf (WLA / Beautiful Savior-Cincinnati), Jacob Roecker (WISCO / Trinity-Waukesha WI), Gina Radue (WISCO / Mt. Calvary-Waukesha WI), Stephanie Rockhoff (Shoreland / Friedens-Kenosha WI), Morgan Shevey (LPS / St. Paul-Muskego WI). Front: Megan Lemke (Shoreland / St. John-Jefferson WI), Hannah Paustian (MVL / St. Paul-New Ulm MN).
Treats & Tempera
Megan Fury (LPS / Christ the Lord-Houston TX) and Taylor Weber (KML / Bethlehem-Menomonee Falls WI) had fun painting at Art in Ministry’s event.
A new club has appeared on campus: Art in Ministry, also known as AIM. To introduce themselves to the rest of the student body, AIM recently hosted an event they called “Treats & Tempera.”
Students like John Marquardt (Shoreland / Garden Homes-Milwaukee WI) enjoyed this night of snacking, socializing, and most importantly, painting. “It was a great opportunity for people to have fun and unwind in a creative way,” he says.
AIM’s president Grace Williams (Cyprus Creek HS / Abiding Word-Houston TX) and the other club members were thrilled with how the night went. “Forty-five people showed up, which was great!”
AIM has big plans for the future. “As a club, we want to provide an opportunity for people to use the gifts God gave them and to create works for campus,” says Grace. “We’re also working toward getting an art minor and expanding our artwork to local churches as well.”
2016 Thalassa Contest Announced
Awarded annually, Thalassa recognizes an Martin Luther College student or graduate who expresses clearly and beautifully, in image and word, a personal reflection on a ministry experience overseas.
MLC is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Thalassa award in 2016 by doubling the award to $2,000. The $2,000 prize will be divided equally between the winner ($1,000) and an international mission of the winner’s choice ($1,000).
Evangelism Day: “Your Kingdom Come”
“Evangelism Day is a day set aside so that the Spirit can fill the hearts of both faculty and students with excitement and gratitude,” says MLC President Mark Zarling.
“Excitement as we learn more about the amazing things the Lord Jesus is doing through the gospel. Gratitude as we think of almost 50 people who come to New Ulm and share with us the good news about the power of the Good News.”
The theme, “Your Kingdom Come,” echoed throughout the day in worship, workshops, and presentations, encouraging all our students.
“I liked hearing my professors talk about their ministries,” says first-year Bob Beaver (LPS / Holy Trinity-Okauchee WI). “They explained how our evangelism plans don’t always work out the way we think they will, but God always gets his work done.”
“When the presenters shared their personal evangelism stories it made me really excited to have similar experiences!” Jessica Friebe (MLS / St. Bartholomew-Kawkawlin MI) adds. “It really hit home with me that there are so many people out there who need to hear the gospel.”
“This day not only motivates us all,” President Zarling concludes, “but it keeps us grounded in our mission as a college and our connection to the Great Commission.”
84 MLC Student-Athletes Named Academic All-UMAC
ST. PAUL – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) released its academic honors from the fall semester, and 84 Martin Luther College student-athletes were named Academic All-UMAC. Those 84 honorees were the most of any school in the conference.
The Knights also finished with the highest team grade point average (GPA) in six of the eight fall sports. MLC finsihed with the highest GPA in:
- Women’s Cross Country (3.746)
- Football (3.023)
- Men’s Golf (3.44)
- Men’s Soccer (3.252)
- Women’s Soccer (3.708)
- Volleyball (3.596)
The 84 MLC student-athletes who received academic all-conference honors each finished with a GPA of 3.5 of better during the fall semester.
The conference set a new record with 466 academic honorees this fall. You can see the full release from the conference if you click here.
You can also see all of the individual award honorees if you click on this link.
MLC Day Planned for May 4, 2016
MLC Day will be a day of celebration for our college and all who support our ministry. With an emphasis on communication through social media, MLC Day will allow supporters across the globe to follow our activities online, share our message with friends, pray for our work of service, and give to support that work. Pray, Share, Give will be the focus of our second annual event held on May 4. That focus will also be a part of messages shared with MLC online ambassadors—social media followers of MLC interested in spreading the good news of the gospel and the good news of MLC’s role in that proclamation. Watch for more information!
MLC’s Low Rates Nationally Recognized
With your support through congregational mission offerings, the establishment of endowments, estate designations, and many direct gifts, Martin Luther College is able to keep educational costs for our students to a reasonable level. In fact, the student costs at MLC are low enough to attract the attention of Money magazine, Washington Monthly, and most recently USA Today. USA Today reported: “. . . the costs of getting that [college] education increase every year, far surpassing the college savings of many families. . . . Martin Luther College keeps costs low, with the average yearly cost of the school being $18,000. [Our total cost this year is actually $18,920.] Students graduate in an average of 4.4 years bringing the total degree cost to $78,600. This makes Martin Luther College very underpriced when compared to schools of similar quality.” What USA Today doesn’t realize is that our ranking is only possible through the support of WELS and our faithful donors. Thank you!
