At 10:30 p.m. last Monday night, a little under 200 Covenant students gathered to witness the second annual Ghetto Fight Night. Over 20 vehicles circled up at Shadowlands with their headlights focused on the center of the dusty, make-shift ring. Geared up with boxing gloves and headgear, a match-up between two RAs kicked off the event, closely followed by two more matches. Each fighter looked like he was having loads of fun.

Sophomore Matthew Higgins noted that the fights were all done “for the love of the sport, no grudge matches; it was always friend fighting friend or stranger fighting stranger. Also, a lot more people showed up than expected; the atmosphere was electric.”

Certainly more people showed up than last year. The first Ghetto fight night began when freshmen John Eger and Eric Cromartie planned to box one another. Word got around and students lined up at Ghettos door wanting to witness the show down.

This year Ghetto wanted to expand the event by allowing more people to come and watch. They wanted it to be a fun thing, “something that was a spectator event rather than just a participation event,” Higgins said, so they moved it off the hall to Shadowlands where there would be more room to fight and more room for students to cheer. However, as sophomore Lauren Shumaker said, “with more people also comes more attention and more chaos”.

After Abby Sherratt, Carter Residence Director, caught wind of the fights, she notified the campus security guard who headed down to break up the fights. “It was a liability thing” said Sheratt, “just in case anyone got hurt.”

The campus guard drove to Shadowlands and stopped everything during the third fight between sophomore Matthew Higgins and freshman James Marshall. After the guard told everyone they had to leave, students piled into their cars and headed down to Carter field to finish the fights.  At around 11:20 p.m. over 20 cars pulled into the Carter soccer fields in the middle of the residential neighborhood of Farland.

“At this point things were a bit chaotic; no one knew where to circle up the cars to continue the fight,” Shumaker said. Soon after, Sherratt and Joel Rietema, Andreas Resident Director, appeared on the scene and told everyone that they had to leave. Students dispersed and that is where the night ended.

Will there be another Ghetto Fight Night next year? No one quite really knows for sure, but whatever happens may need to be executed less chaotically. According to Greg Ford, head of Campus Security, there was an estimated $3000 in damage done to a security vehicle which included a dented hood, cracked window, and damaged fender.

Third North of Carter Hall is giving up their turf in exchange for a brand-new Third South, which received
renovations such as a new paint job, tiled floors, and plumbing.

Halls Third South in Carter and Gallery in Founders have been closed all year long. Next year, Third South is reopening with a fresh paint job, new tiled floors and plumbing, and repaired wiring.

Third North will be vacated and renovated in the next year in its stead. Gallery and Third South were initially closed because of a combination of unnecessary space and need for repairs.

For now, Gallery will remain closed until further notice, commented Emily Ford, Assistant Dean of Students, who lauded the girls of Third North for remaining mature in the news of their hall closing.

Ford and others from Student Development have been making such decisions in the past few weeks, but she said that decisions are fluid and unpredictable. “I want to be quick to communicate but I don’t want to have to go back on what I said,” Ford said.

News of the closing broke right after spring break. While it surprised the Third North girls, they received squatting rights to Third South, and junior Becky Valkenberg, next year’s RA of Third North, pointed out that it would be bad stewardship to wish the girls were on their current hall with a newly-refurbished Third South nearby.

According to freshman Gabi Washburn, the one major downside to moving to Third South is that the hall has only one four-man room while Third North has three four-mans.

With differences aside, Third North’s attitude remains positive. “Third South could become kind of a ghost town if they left it for another year–there’d be no identity,” Valkenberg points out. She also hopes to make sure the supplanted members from Third North bring their traditions in and enjoy the mixed feel without making new freshmen feel out of the loop.

Ford says that the college hopes to renovate Second, Third, and Fourth South in Carter this summer. With the prospect of these halls’ new make over, Ghetto and Third North become the last to receive rennovations.

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Marvin Olasky, bright red tie and all, spoke to students in chapel about social justice, and he met with students later that afternoon for a follow-up discussion. He also provided valuable insight into proper Christian thought, particularly as it applies to journalism.

On Friday, March 19, Marvin Olasky, Provost at King’s College and the Editor-in-Chief at WORLD magazine, spoke to students in chapel about the concept of social justice. He asked students if they were like Glenn Beck, the controversial right-wing talk show host, who urged the church to completely abandon the idea of social justice and if it is our responsibility to simply be ministered to, rather than ministering to others? Or are they more like Jim Wallis, the more liberal Christian and editor of Sojourners magazine, urging the church to wholeheartedly embrace the issue? Should ministering in the world to rectify social problems be one of our primary concerns as Christians?

Whatever the case, how the concept of social justice is used is extremely important. Olasky described two kinds of relationships, giving for the sake of eventually receiving back, or giving with no desire to ever receive back. What is our motivation in seeking social justice? He also noted the difference between social justice coming from the church and community versus coming from the government. Often, government sponsored social justice can end up hurting more than helping—for instance, if welfare checks are used to purchase alcohol instead of food or baby formula.

Assistance that comes directly from the community or from the individual can have a more direct, focused impact. Considering all of this, it is vital that we define social justice Biblically and discern carefully what people mean specifically when they urge social justice.

Olasky also sat down with students for a more informal meeting in the afternoon, which senior Will Young described as “enjoyable, casual, and conversational.” Olasky touched on the topics of the current state in politics and on Christian journalism. Regarding politics, Olasky counted off a number of times when things seemed to be going downhill in the United States but also expressed faith in the democratic system and optimism that America would manage to fix itself over time.

“His attitude about being realistic/skeptical about politicians—but not cynical—was valuable to me just because I’ve been disappointed by both parties numerous times,” said senior Nathan Davis. Regardless of whether partisanship is completely dead, there is always a silver lining.

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Professor Paul Hesselink, along with other faculty and students, listens attentively as this year’s NickBarker Writer-in-Residence, James Schaap, gives a reading and inspires all attending to “write from the heart.”

If you’re going to be a writer, it has to come from your heart.

by Lianne Visser & Hannah Cohen

On this past Tuesday evening, Dr. James C. Schaap, the current Nick Barker Writer-in-Residence, gave a reading of some of his short stories in the lower level of Brock Hall. There were about thirty people present, including Covenant students, President and Mrs. Nielson, English professors, staff and community members, and also Schaap’s wife Barbara.

Professor Sarah Huffines introduced Schaap to the audience, mentioning his many published works, awards, and current teaching position at Dordt College.

Schaap read two stories.  The first story, “Pilgrim,” will soon be featured in IMAGE, a Christian journal for the arts.

“Pilgrim” is a story of the badlands, about an ex-pastor and current photographer named Ray Martin who struggles to cope with the grief of separation from his wife and the miscarriage of their children. One day while taking a walk to take pictures, he happens upon a woman who has hung herself from the rafters of an old barn, triggering reflection about his wife coming to a similar end and moving Ray towards taking the first step in healing their relationship.

Bits of Schaap’s own experience are incorporated within this story. For instance, he has a niece who recently had twins. Their birth made him wonder what would happen if there had been complications in the pregnancy. Hence, the miscarriage in his story. Also, like the protagonist, Schaap is a photographer. He mentioned that he often wonders about finding something like a body in old barns he photographs. Schaap repeatedly noted that his stories are born out of scraps of experience and anecdotes, and expanded from there.
“It’s not a performance, but he tells his stories very well,” junior Nate Carl said.

The second story, “Mins the Scavenger,” is a selection from one of his “novel-in-stories,” a series of related short stories entitled The Secrets of Barneveld Calvary.

“Mins the Scavenger,” was more lighthearted and centered around a character named Mins De Boom, a Dutch immigrant and retired high school janitor who spends his afternoons pedaling along the highway collecting the trash and discarded aluminum cans found there. One day he comes across an unusual find—a scuffed-up black case with a viola inside. Magically, Mins plays a tune that he remembers from his childhood, though he has never touched a viola before in his life. However, when a townsperson calls looking for his daughter’s missing instrument, Mins knows he must surrender his newly beloved treasure. That evening, he goes to the secluded cemetery and plays the viola one last time before giving it back.

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This year’s Break on Impact team went to such places as Athens, Madrid, Brussels, and Yakama Indian Reservation, located in Eastern Washington. Pictured are a team at the ruins of Corinth (Top), in Madrid, Spain (Left), and eating lunch atop Mars Hill in Athens, Greece.

It all began early on Friday, March 5. Sixteen people shivered restlessly in Mac Circle, waiting for buses to arrive which would take them to the airport. This was only the beginning of their journey. Their final destination was Athens, Greece.

More students set out from Covenant later that day and the next. During spring break, 51 Covenant students and leaders went on RUF Break on Impact Missions trips to Athens, Madrid, Brussels, and Yakama Indian Reservation, located in Eastern Washington.

Many were greatly impacted by their experiences. “Going into the trip, I thought it would be a good experience but I never thought God would have blessed and used it in the ways He has and will,” said freshman Kimberly Gyger, who went to Greece.

In Brussels, senior Peter Yagel and others worked with the Muslim immigrant population. “We spent a lot of time doing cultural learning and speaking with pastors rather than doing evangelism. We learned how to pray for them. It’s important to not do long term damage with short term missions,” Yagel said.

The Yakama group “completed different tasks, including putting shingles on the roof, painting walls and ceilings of the office area, taking out the carpet of a house, putting in hardwood flooring, and constructing a walkway. A few people also helped pick up materials from an Indian’s house since he was evicted from his home.

“Every afternoon, we played with 30-40 kids. We were able to show them the love of Christ by playing jump rope, hopscotch, four square, and giving piggyback rides,” said junior Brooke Wilbanks.

In Athens, students spent time talking to university students. While with the Covenant team, I met a girl who came right out and said she did not believe in God, and wanted to know what we believed. As we explained the gospel to her, I could not help but experience some shock in the fact that she had probably never heard what we were saying before. As someone who became a Christian at a young age, it is difficult for me to comprehend living my life without Christ. I can’t even imagine how much harder life would be.

The next day, the guys on the trip, led by RUF Campus Minister Ron Brown, volunteered at Helping Hands, a local ministry which, that day, was helping refugees take showers.

“They would come in and get a number to wait their turn. While there, they drank some really sweet tea. We sat with them and talked with them as much as we could. It was really tough to communicate with most of the men I sat with. They were from Algeria. They spoke little English. With one guy I resorted to drawing on a napkin to communicate.  All of the men I spoke to were Muslim.  It was clear to me that they didn’t want to be in Greece and were trying to get to somewhere else,” Brown said.

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