Bluffton University

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A $150,000-plus gift from former student-athletes, fans and friends of Bluffton University ensures the naming rights to a new softball press box facility will recognize a female Bluffton Athletics Hall of Fame inductee. Construction for the Coach Kim Fischer Press Box will start in May 2023. The project, with a total cost of $300,000, also includes new restroom facilities and cement bases for spectator seating.

“We are grateful for the generosity of former students, players, and friends who have decided to honor Coach Fischer in this way,” said James Grandey, athletic director. “It is obvious that Kim has had a profound impact as a coach. The softball press box will be a great addition to our softball field.”

The 5,500 square foot, two-story building will feature two fully accessible, unisex restrooms on the ground floor with press facilities on the second floor which will enhance streaming abilities and media coverage. This is the first athletic building named after a woman on Bluffton’s campus and the only facility to be exclusively used for women’s sports. It will improve the game-day experience for both players and fans. The upgrades will allow Bluffton to host high school games which increases Bluffton’s support of the local community.

CONTINUES WITH REUNION PHOTO

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Bluffton Bread Company spring sales are underway at https://shop.blufftonbreadcompany.com. Three flavors are available through Feb. 28:

Birthday Bread, $15 for a regular sized loaf or $25 for a bundle of five mini loaves

Triple Chocolate, $12 for a regular sized loaf or $25 for a bundle of five mini loaves

Asiago Cheddar, $12 for a regular sized loaf or $25 for a bundle of five mini loaves

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BLUFFTON, Ohio – Dr. Da Eun Choi, accompanist and music instructor at Bluffton University, will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, 2023, in Bluffton’s Yoder Recital Hall. Featuring pieces by Mozart, Brahms, Debussy and Liszt, the solo piano recital will showcase her musicality and technical skill.

A native of South Korea, Choi began piano lessons at the age of 4 and gave her debut, public, solo recital at the age of 15. She has a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas at Austin and was a recipient of the Sidney M. Wright Endowed Presidential Scholarship. Choi’s recent performances include solo recitals and chamber concerts in Texas; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Italy and Korea.

The recital is free and open to the public.

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BLUFFTON, Ohio—Dr. Tasha R. Dunn, associate professor of communication at the University of Toledo, will share “Social MEdia: The Challenges and Possibilities of Authenticity in the Digital Age,” at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Yoder Recital Hall.

During the presentation, Dunn will highlight the increasingly dynamic relationship between social media and authenticity, along with the challenges and possibilities of this phenomenon for civic engagement.

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By Jenia Freewalt
Bluffton University sports information assistant

CINCINNATI--On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Bluffton University track and field team traveled to Cincinnati to compete at the indoor facility on the campus of Mount St. Joseph University. The Beavers were back on the track after having to take a weekend off due to illness.

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In the wake of World War I, the U.S. Bureau of Naturalization inserted a new question into the application for prospective citizens: “If necessary, are you willing to take up arms in defense of country?”

Dr. Duane Stoltzfus, professor of communication at Goshen College, discussed the immediate impact the question had on pacifists during “Love of Country Distilled to a Question: When Pacifism Becomes a Litmus Test for Citizenship.” The Feb. 7 presentation in Yoder Recital Hall served as Bluffton University’s C. Henry Smith Peace Lecture for 2023.

“Well-meaning but overzealous government officials, with WWI on their minds, added a hypothetical question to test the loyalty for incoming foreigners,” explained Stoltzfus. “The question should be recognized as having little value and of flying in the face of the nation’s historical commitment to C.O.s.”

Mennonites, who had previously been welcomed warmly for their farming skills, and other conscientious objectors now faced courtroom battles, judges who had the power to grant or deny citizenship at will, and even the Supreme Court.

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