Ottawa University

OU's Arts and Ministry Weekend Celebrates Programs, Alumni

OTTAWA, Kansas - The blanket of April snow that fell last weekend could not dampen the spirit of celebration that filled the Ottawa University campus Thursday - Saturday, April 12-14 during its Celebration of the Arts and Campus Ministry festivities.  The weekend culminated with Saturday's "Celebration Sing," with over 140 attendees and approximately 60 alumni joining voices in a reunion choir directed by alumnus and former music department chair Stanley DeFries ('50). 

The celebration weekend began early, on Thursday morning, with a drama presentation for students of Ottawa's Garfield Elementary School.  Co-owner and writer/director/actor Jon Copeland (‘90), of Martin City Melodrama in Overland Park, and his cohort Jeanne Beechwood, delighted the children with their original drama, "Harriet Hopperdoodle's Hair-brained History Test."  The duo seeks to both entertain and educate through their vaudeville-styled children's productions. 

Thursday evening provided a precursor to Friday's Meeker Award Banquet with John Mark Lambertson's (‘78) historical presentation on Jotham and Eleanor Meeker, the pioneer American Baptist missionaries to the Pottawatomie and Ottawa Indians.  The couple's lives of service paved the way for the foundation of Ottawa University, and each year their legacy is honored when OU presents its Meeker Award to like-minded servant leaders.  This year's recipients were Glen and Rita Chapman, life-long American Baptist missionaries to the Congo. They were selected in part for their "exemplary leadership, ingenuity, and compassion in meeting both the spiritual and physical needs of the Congolese people."  Rita noted, however, that, "This award could have gone to any one of the American Baptist missionaries we serve with.  We're very proud to be part of such an outstanding organization."

Many who attended the Meeker Award Banquet made their way through the snow to the Larry D. Peters Auditorium for Friday's performance of "Broadway Plays OU," which featured a tapestry of Broadway tunes, student talent, and local artistry woven together by the original theatrical direction of Terrance McKerrs and musical direction of Mary Baker.  OUTheatre director Jeanne Chinn has worked with McKerrs and Baker in the past and brought them together again for the production, which received rave reviews from faculty, alumni and the media alike.  According to a Topeka Capital-Journal review by Bill Blankenship in the April 14, 2007 issue, "All of the OU students brought a vitality and pizzazz to their performances," and "the ...guest performers ... were stellar."  He noted that he "was particularly impressed by the comedic skills of [students] Diller and Crawshaw."  

Throughout the weekend, those who attended the Celebration had opportunity to view "Art from Our Past" in the Mammel Art Center.  Highlighted artists included John Boyd Martin ('58), William Howe ('51), Frank Lemp ('72), and Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton ('79).  Returning alumni could also choose from a variety of art and ministry workshops presented by faculty, visiting artists, and students, or visit classes in subjects related to the weekend. 

Saturday saw the largest turnout of alumni, as President Dr. Fred Snow had hoped for and encouraged in his March newsletter.  The day's luncheon featured keynote speaker Jane Chu, CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City.   She applauded the University for rekindling its arts legacy and stressed the positive carryover of the arts into our everyday social and working lives.  "Ottawa University and the Kauffman Center are the same in that they are both centers for creativity and for promoting connections between people" said Chu.

The weekend Celebration was topped off with performances by current and former students and faculty during the "Celebration Sing."  The OU orchestra and chorale performed a variety of pieces to demonstrate the strength of the University's current music program under the direction of Steven McDonald and Annette Oh.  The hand bell choir, under the direction of Blakely Bunning, also performed.  Alumni Eboni Fondren (‘00) and Millie Edwards Nottingham  (‘76), who have both made names for themselves on the Kansas City Jazz and Blues circuit, held the audience spellbound with their respective renditions of "A Sunday Kind of Love" by Etta James and "If I Had My Way" by Frank Wilhorn. 

Finally, when the 50+ alumni took the stage as part of the reunion choir, raucous OU pride reverberated throughout the chapel.  The spiritual selections, which included "In This Very Room," "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name," and "In Solemn Silence," perfectly blended art and worship to provide a fitting close to Ottawa University's first annual Celebration of the Arts and Campus Ministry weekend.  Director Stanley DeFries said, "After giving 33 years to OU, we feel this weekend represents a renewal, a revival, a strengthening of the fine arts at OU!"

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

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