Torch, Spring 2005

First CU Music Scholarship Marathon Raises $5,500 M ore than 50 Cedarville University music students were seen (and heard) throughout the Miami Valley region recently as they earned more than $5,500 for the new Music Student Scholarship Fund. Backed by 92 donors, the students gave a marathon of free area performances from January 28 through February 14. Their support came in the forms of by-the-minute sponsorships and flat donations. Sigma Delta Gamma, the University music student service organization, sponsored the scholarship drive. “The marathon, with the help of the rest of the music students and their sponsors, is our way of contributing to the future of music education at Cedarville,” said junior Emmett Robinson. To close the marathon, the Night Sky Coffee House in Troy, Ohio, hosted a special Valentine’s evening of music, art, and food. Senior Leah Morgan provided gentle harp music while faculty members Dr. Charles Clevenger, Terry Chamberlain, and Aaron Gosser crafted paintings which were auctioned at the end of the evening. This particular event raised more than $1,000 of the marathon’s total earnings. The Cedarville University Department of Music and Art will award the scholarship monies to music students with unmet financial need each year. Persons interested in making a pledge or donation to the fund should contact the Cedarville University Gift Planning Office at 937-766-7804 or 1-800-766- 1115. Cedarville Takes Part in Presidential Inauguration Activities A s President George W. Bush took the oath of office on January 20, Cedarville University students were watching — and being watched. Twenty Cedarville University College Republicans (CUCR) stood in the brisk Washington, D.C., air to see the Inauguration ceremony, while back in Ohio another CU student was on national television to give her Inauguration perspective. For the CUCR students, tickets to the Inauguration were a thank-you for their tireless support of the Bush-Cheney campaign. Junior Matt Shiraki, president of CUCR, explained, “We registered more than 200 voters, made more than 3,000 phone calls, passed out 10,000 pieces of literature for the Bush and Ohio Republican campaigns, and sent a total of 300 volunteers to assist at the President’s Ohio rallies.” The 20 students were just a handful of the hundreds of Cedarville students who donated more than 1,250 hours to election weekend activities. Shiraki noted, “Going to the Inauguration was a great way to cap off all the work we’ve been doing. … Just to see it with my own eyes, to hear the President swear to uphold the Constitution … that was the most rewarding thing. It’s pretty historic.” From the president’s swearing-in to the parade that followed and an inaugural ball, the students who attended agreed it was a memorable and exciting time. Meanwhile, back in Ohio, CNN set up shop in Young’s Golden Jersey Inn to find out what area voters thought of the Inauguration. They selected Cedarville junior Heidi Abraham to be a part of their live panel discussion. “I worked on the Bush campaign starting in May,” Abraham explained. “CNN called our local GOP chairman, asking for people in their 20s who worked hard for Bush, and he and others recommended me.” A Springfield native, Abraham was the youngest of the six Clark County residents who watched the Inauguration in the restaurant and gave feedback to CNN’s Carlos Watson. Topics included their perception of the speech, social security, health care reform, homeschooling, and how social values affected their views. “It was an amazing experience,” concluded Abraham, “and I’m very grateful I had the opportunity to do it. I would definitely do it again. I had to articulate what I believed and why and argue it against people who disagreed with me, so it was a very valuable experience.” Staley Series Examines Politics and Faith D r. Frank Beckwith, associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and associate professor of church- state studies at Baylor University (Texas), explored issues of politics and faith at the annual Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program Feb. 15-17. Beckwith’s theme was “Is Statecraft Soulcraft?: Law, Politics, and Faith in a Liberal Democracy.” He fleshed out his theme in sessions titled “Secularism, Faith, and the Clash of Orthodoxies,” “Abortion, Personhood, and the Jurisprudence of Neutrality,” and “Evolution, Design, and the Public Schools.” Audiocassettes, CDs, and DVDs of part or all of his series are available for purchase by calling the CDR Radio Network at 1-800-333-0601. Beckwith holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in philosophy from Fordham University and an M.J.S. from the Washington University School of Law. He is considered a leading expert in the history of philosophy (especially modern philosophy) and philosophy of science. In November 2004, he was elected vice president of the Evangelical Theological Society. The Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program is funded by the Thomas F. Staley Foundation of Larchmont, N.Y. This private, nonprofit organization seeks to support men and women who truly believe, cordially love, and actively propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ in its historical and scriptural fullness. Cedarville University thanks the Thomas F. Staley Foundation for making this annual lectureship program possible. 16 TORCH / Spring 2005 With their invitations in hand, a group of Cedarville University College Republicans poses at the Inauguration of President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Hannah Hermiz