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| Nobody writes about all the money from Marvin Schwan, so he could attach his name to the copper top chapel and other buildings for the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie. Also - Wisconsin Lutheran College, and other brick and mortar efforts were to absolve Marvin for the way he abandoned his wife - and the tragic result for her. Hush hush. Do not talk about it, so they lay their holy blame on someone else. I have written many times about the greedy management boards lusting for buildings with no regard for the decline in enrollments. WELS is no different from the ELS. The millionaire donor wants to marry the lady he was living with? No problem! A fake pastor the same? No problem! The LCMS is also no different. Marvin laid his anointing and anointed hands on the Schwan Timothy and Titus Chapel at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis - to the tune of $1 million. But lo! He also bought a campus for them, which the seminary bought from him! The Free Press MANKATO — The Glen A. Taylor Foundation has donated an undisclosed “substantial” amount to Bethany Lutheran College to help fund the ongoing construction of the Bethany Activity and Wellness Center, according to the college. The 84,000 square-foot multipurpose facility remains the biggest construction project in Bethany history and will provide recreational space for students and the Bethany Vikings athletic program. The center at the private college also will offer the Greater Mankato community an open-to-the-public quality fitness and recreational space, indoor and outdoor. Youth sports teams and community groups in the Mankato area will be available to rent the space for use as well, stated a news release. The $16.7 million center is expected to open early 2023. Bethany Student and Faculty Statements |
I am very disappointed in Bethany Lutheran College (ELS), Mankato, for removing their history and philosophy departments in favor of sports. I cannot imagine a more un-Luther-an thing to do, beyond removing theology and the Biblical languages. And if we think this will not affect Missouri, let’s remember this college was the alma mater of the Preus brothers (Jacob and Robert).
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It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the Bethany administration will eliminate my coaching position starting in the 2024-2025 school year. I did not agree with this decision.
There will no longer be a Speech and Debate Team coach. They hope the team will carry on as a student-run program. No details on how that will work were provided. I will be moving into the classroom full-time.
To my team, sorrow is too light a word for what I feel. I love you all.
To the Bethany Speech and Debate Team alumni, I thank you for making the last 22 years wonderful. Every year was a different collection of personalities that harmonized together to form a team bond I have always admired. There was never a dull moment. Well...maybe while waiting for awards to start. Thank you!
To my fellow coaches and colleagues, thank you for your support of the Bethany team and the tournaments we hosted. I have always argued that Speech and Debate is the most educational activity on a college campus. You have made that possible for thousands of students. Keep fighting the good fight. Feel free to add me to your judging pool!
Please remember the power of the spoken word! Please continue to shine this beacon of knowledge and understanding, even as that beacon goes out at Bethany.
I have been truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing activity for so long!
--Jon Loging
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Laura Henry
History, philosophy, social studies, Latin, interdisciplinary studies, theater major and minor, speech have all been cut and debate has been reduced to a student led extracurricular, the choir tours have been reduced in scope as well. That is what I have gathered through my conversations with other alumni.
We are all waiting for an official statement or explanation/justification from the board of regents. 🤷♀️
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15 hours ago
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Well said, please consider sending this to the regents and administrators of Bethany Lutheran College
Katie Skogen
19 hours ago
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The Bethany discussion that has exploded this week concerns more than the theatre, history, philosophy, etc. departments. It *is* about those, but it is also so much deeper.
Why do we palpably feel such great passion and lament in the words of those involved with the Bethany theatre, history, and speech programs over the cuts recently made? I suspect it is because these students were allowed to grapple with works by some of the greatest thinkers and writers of all time. When a person plumbs the depths of truth, beauty, and goodness found within such works, the impact is soul deep. The key that unlocked this impact, however, is that these students were not just handed a great work and then left alone to wonder, "What does this mean to me?" No, a professor, unashamedly anchored in Scripture, carefully and enthusiastically led students through every work. From the professors' decades-long impact, it is clear that their anchoring in Scripture was not just something they left at church after service on Sunday, something that had little to do with their 'real' life. Life in Christ was all of life, not something merely sprinkled in alongside the language of the world. Through that Christian lens, armed with Scripture and beautiful art, they taught students how to better love what is worth loving and to better hate what is worth hating. It is nearly impossible to shake off the formation such an education gives. Hence, such heartfelt grief and lamentation.
As far as I know, there is no formal communication on what was decided or why. I appreciate those working to make difficult decisions, however, the decisions made are not in line with the written mission of Bethany. It is not possible to be a liberal arts college without scholarship in history and philosophy. These types of decisions do not appear out of thin air, so they must be part of a trajectory away from the liberal arts that began long before last week. Is it too late to change this trajectory? It would take such a great amount of unified effort and ingenuity and bravery. Perhaps the few who have given themselves to such individual effort and ingenuity and bravery have been sidelined and this time with the wind completely knocked out of them, or, perhaps, this is unsurprising to them, and, seeing the earnest solidarity of so many this week, they once again feel some wind in their sails. I don’t know, and I don’t know how to find out. Thank you to those who have seen this trajectory since the beginning and have fought it respectfully and eloquently.
Are those of us who are joining the conversation so late reaching for something that is already gone? Or is there some possible way to do the intense dialectical conversing and dissecting and reworking that would be inevitable to knock the college off its current path? Could we ever find where the trajectory changed course and begin at that common ground? The 2006-2007 Bethany Lutheran Faculty Handbook stated, “We consider a liberal arts education *fundamental* in achieving the college’s basic mission, namely, to enable students to grow in the grace and knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by means of the Gospel [emphasis added].” [1] Wow, the liberal arts as fundamental to growing in the knowledge of Jesus! Without unified agreement that a serious focus on history, philosophy, rhetoric, and the arts are worth our utmost effort to preserve, this quote is true for Bethany no longer. What would it take to get that back?
At the dedication of the S.C. Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center in 1990, President George Orvick emphasized the connection of the liberal arts to Christian education by quoting Ylvisaker, “Side by side with the general, the specific, and the Christian training goes the cultural, the indefinable something which adds richness, beauty, mellowness, and refinement. The source and wellspring of all true refinement is Christian faith, and no one is truly refined who does not own this faith. Christian education is therefore not true to itself if it does not include in its training some way to provide a mode of expression for this culture and appreciation of it in others.” [2] No matter the future, we know that leaders of Bethany once believed these things, we know there are some who love our dear Bethany who believe them still, and we can rejoice that God would ever use our institution to assist in the proclamation of the Truth of Jesus Christ.
O Jesus, Thou who often wended
Thy way of yore to Bethany
And there Thy mission-work attended
For dead and living lovingly,
Come help us make our Bethany
A humble place, O Lord, for Thee! [3]
[1] Bethany Lutheran College Faculty, “The Liberal Arts: Our Common Understanding (2002),” in Telling the Next Generation: The Evangelical Lutheran Synod's Vision for Christian Education, 1918-2011 and Beyond, eds. Ryan C. MacPherson, Paul G. Madson, and Peter M. Madson (Mankato: Evangelical Lutheran Synod Historical Society, 2011), 313-314.
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Jake Yenish
3 days ago
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It saddens me to hear that Bethany Lutheran College has decided to cut the theatre major and minor. On a professional level I spent 17 years at Bethany as a student and eventually an adjunct faculty member. I discovered my calling and career as an educator and theatre practitioner. In my time with there I helped produce approximately 70 shows.
On a personal level I had the opportunity to learn from the best human being I know, Peter Bloedel. Pete taught us in the classroom about plays and performing. On stage he taught us about excellence. And in all things Pete taught us about what it means to be a Christian in the Arts.
I want desperately for Bethany to reconsider this decision. To realize that the arts go far beyond the cost of the faculty and production budget. To understand that the arts are a reflection of the greatness of a society and that part of being made in the image of God is to reflect his nature as a creator.
It is a short sighted decision to undo the work of generations of Bethany students who have participated in theatre and the generations of Bethany community that have benefitted from said same productions.
If this decision stands the world will be a lesser place for it. And Bethany will be a lesser light shining in the darkness.
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[2] George M. Orvick, “Sermon for Dedication of the S. C. Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center (1990),” in Telling the Next Generation: The Evangelical Lutheran Synod's Vision for Christian Education, 1918-2011 and Beyond, eds. Ryan C. MacPherson, Paul G. Madson, and Peter M. Madson (Mankato: Evangelical Lutheran Synod Historical Society, 2011), 421.
[3] Ingebrigt J. BlÃ¥kkan, “Bethany (1928),” in Telling the Next Generation: The Evangelical Lutheran Synod's Vision for Christian Education, 1918-2011 and Beyond, eds. Ryan C. MacPherson, Paul G. Madson, and Peter M. Madson (Mankato: Evangelical Lutheran Synod Historical Society, 2011), 163.
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I recently discovered that Bethany Lutheran College is dropping their History and Theater majors. After dropping professors and other important majors in 2018 while I still attended I am shocked that this would happen again. Art, theater, and history are vital to the lifeline of a college. They are what makes a liberal arts education what it is. Without it, the rich education of the students at Bethany will be severely degraded. Makes you question what steps Bethany will take in the future to better the college. This is honestly such disappointing news and I encourage people to speak up and reach out.
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| Marvin Schwan was the patron saint of the LCMS-WELS-ELS. |
