new church life: november/december 2017
establish The Open Door Mentoring Fund for Secondary Schools
administration to recognize and support faculty and staff establishing
meaningful relationships with students outside the classroom
Class of 1967, Charlotte Huft: Memorial grove of dogwoods; ANC
Student Scholarship Fund
Class of 1957, Gerald Halterman: To the Girls School to complete its
Conjugial Love study and begin work on Growth of the Mind; to provide for a
religion teacher to get a college degree in human sexuality; to the Bryn Athyn
College Scholarship Fund
Bryn Athyn College
Plans were announced at a Friday evening Alumni and Friends Reception
for a new Student Union and Conference Center. (See the report above for
the Academy Board of Trustees.) Presentations were made to this year’s
Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Volunteer.
Distinguished Alumni
Bryn Athyn College honors Distinguished Alumni who have achieved
personal and professional success by practicing the values of New Church
liberal arts education and by contributing to the communities where they live
and work. This year’s honorees are:
Curtis Childs (AA 2006): Curtis transferred from Bryn Athyn
College to Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, where he
earned a degree in communications. His career path led – through
several diverse jobs – to his passion: Swedenborgian outreach. He
started with NewChurch LIVE, eventually heading KidsLIVE,
which helped him distil Swedenborgian concepts for the minds
and loves of children. He began working in online video in 2011
and was hired by the Swedenborg Foundation to build digital community and
exposure for the Writings through the web. He is Digital Media Producer and
his OffTheLeftEye YouTube videos are seen throughout the world. His projects
have amassed more than 400,000 Facebook “likes,” nine million YouTube views
and 74 million viewing minutes. Seeing so many people around the world
embracing Swedenborg’s message is a constant source of wonder, inspiration
and gratitude. He lives in Bryn Athyn with his wife, Brooke (Herder), and
their daughter.
Becca Synnestvedt Smith (BA 2003): Becca graduated from
Bryn Athyn College with a degree in French and English and
recently earned a Master’s in Arab Studies from Georgetown
University. She worked for six years as a defense and national
security analyst after obtaining a Master’s in International Affairs
from George Washington University. She spent four of those years
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