COVID-19 Catch Up
COVID-19 Catch Up
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NEWS
WNZR’s Lifeline 2025 Reaches $75,000 Goal, Welcomes New Participants
By Isaiah Cline
WNZR’s annual Lifeline fundraiser successfully met its $75,000 goal, thanks to the efforts of 30 student participants—18 of whom were new to the event.
Lifeline is a vital fundraiser that supports the campus radio station, giving students hands-on experience in broadcasting and community engagement. For freshman Ethan Hershberger, a worship arts major, this was his first time taking part.
“I was really excited to see what it was like to do a fundraiser for a radio station,” Hershberger said, “But I was nervous about making calls and asking the right questions. With all the other phones ringing, it felt chaotic at first, but I ended up learning a lot.”
Junior communications major Abby Almodovar, a Lifeline veteran, reflected on the impact of the event.
“During one of my past shifts, a listener called to share how much WNZR had impacted her life,” she said, “That moment stuck with me because it showed that our voices are reaching people and making a real difference.”
Senior strategic communications major Taylor Tyler joined Lifeline for the first time this year, eager to gain experience.
“I want to be an event planner, so seeing the behind-the-scenes of an event like this was valuable,” Tyler said.
With another successful year completed, WNZR’s Lifeline continues to provide students with real-world experience while strengthening connections with the community. As of March 31, the station raised a grand total of $79,910.
Checking in with the ENC Transfers
By Abby Almodovar
The student body saw an influx of new faces across every class this school year, each one transferring from quite a distance to Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Students from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts, share a similar story—in June of 2024, they received email correspondence from their board of trustees that the university would be closing. With this unexpected wrench to their plans, many decided to pursue the remainder of their degree in Mount Vernon.
David Penney, a sophomore, recounted that many people were surprised by the closure. Although students were generally aware of financial issues, no warning was given that their ability to return the following academic year would be lost. ENC referred students to three alternative schools who were willing to work with the students, and Penney was drawn to MVNU’s financial offer of free tuition.
Penney describes his transition as mostly positive, with an easy acclimation to the school’s social community. He said, “Some people had been going to ENC for more than just one year. Since I was a freshman, it’s a lot easier for me to come here with an open mind and be ready to meet new people.”
Jesse Smith had just completed his junior year before ENC shut down. “You go to college, and you have this idea in your head that you’re going to be there for four years,” he reflected. “So, it definitely was a little scary, because I was like, ‘I need to graduate.’ I had invested three years of my life with that school.”
Both transfers describe the academics at MVNU as an improvement, with Smith commenting, “I don’t even think I really expected to learn as much as I have.” For him, the decision to attend MVNU was determined not only by the scholarship but also his experience touring and meeting with faculty.
When asked about post-graduation plans, Smith responded with perhaps the same mindset that brought him here. Although he hopes to return to the east coast, Smith said, “I haven’t counted any opportunities out.”
Behind the Scenes of Student Revival: Speakers Share Thoughts on Theme and Messages
By Zoey Hover
As the school year quickly approaches its end, the annual spring student revival is not only a time for students to refresh themselves in God’s word amid the busyness but also an important opportunity for ministry majors to speak into their peers’ lives. This year, the revival centered on the theme “Beloved”—a message the student speakers sought to convey by agreeing to tie their sermons together with the book of John.
“The book of John talks a lot about love, and John called himself the ‘beloved disciple,’” explained senior speaker Alex Pittman, “It’s such a beautiful portrayal of Jesus and the way He acts and loves.”
Junior speaker Delaney Brinkman, who defined “Beloved” as being “truly seen and truly known and truly loved by God,” agreed that the book of John captures that theme well. “I love the narrative stories in John and how Jesus just truly cares for the people that the society at the time did not care about,” she said, “Jesus is treating people as the beloved, and he’s treating them against what the culture says.”
While the student speakers felt the same about the book of John, their messages took the theme “Beloved” in various directions. Pittman said he hoped that his message would remind his peers—a generation struggling with mental health—that they are loved by God. Brinkman, on the other hand, called her fellow students to remember that all people, even those they may not like, are beloved and to show love to those on the sidelines of society.
Aidan Hamilton, a junior, took his message in yet another direction by encouraging his peers to share the way God has loved them through their testimonies to others, even if they are afraid to. “People need hope in today’s age,” Hamilton said, “It’s something that is just so important to me that people would realize that, even if their testimony doesn’t seem like it’s good, it’s the greatest story that people can hear, that they have truly been brought to new life in Christ.”
After student revival, some of Hamilton’s peers approached him and told him that his message had helped them, which he found encouraging. “I definitely saw God moving through that,” he said. Similarly, Caitlin Rowe, a senior who attended student revival, said that Brinkman’s sermon had been very impactful–“I like when God challenges my expectations during student revival.”
No matter the theme or direction these ministry majors took their message, this movement of God in the lives of students is, in the end, what student revival is all about, and being able to witness that movement is the most they could hope for as they take to the stage to speak.