26 February 2010

To celebrate the groundbreaking of the new WAU Music Center, the Department of Music is inviting all choristers from any year of membership at Washington Missionary College, Columbia Union College or Washington Adventist University for a triumphant reunion and concert during Alumni Weekend, April 9 & 10.

The four living past choir directors, Larry Otto, Bob Young, Leland Tetz, and Jon Gilbertson, have been asked to return to the University to help direct a gala concert on Sabbath, April 10, at 3:30 pm in the Sligo Church sanctuary. The New England Youth Ensemble of Washington Adventist University, under the direction of Dr. Virginia Gene Rittenhouse—whose numbers will also swell with past members returning for the occasion—will accompany the mass reunion choir.

Planners hope that many singers come to represent as many eras of the University’s choral program as possible. Those who sang under Minnie Iverson Wood, Paul Hill, Lyle Jewell, Glenn Cole, and others, are especially invited to represent the hard work and dedicated teaching of professors who are no longer living to witness the event.

A reunion choir and orchestra rehearsal is planned for Friday, April 9, at 8:30 pm in the Sligo Church Sanctuary (immediately following Alumni Vespers). The repertoire for the occasion will be rehearsed under the leadership of the living conductors present.

Bring your best voices and join in the celebration of music making through the years on the campus of WMC, CUC, WAU. All former choir and NEYE at WAU members are welcome.

For more information contact the Department of Music at 301-891-4025 or send them an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

17 December 2009

We regret to announce the passing of WAU Alumnus, Adrian Theophilus Westney, DD, 82, who died last night after a brief illness. Westney, a pastor, chaplain, educator, and administrator, served the Seventh-day Adventist Church with distinction for more than 60 years.

Before coming to the United States in 1960, Westney planted churches and pastored in his homeland of Jamaica, as well as in Barbados and Guyana. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) in Takoma Park, Md., a Master of Arts in Religion from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University (Mich.), and a Doctor of Divinity from Howard University in Washington, D.C. He subsequently pastored in Virginia and directed Youth Ministries for Allegheny West Conference. In 1969 he accepted a call to serve as principal of Pine Forge Academy in Pine Forge, Pa., where he hosted the first alumni homecoming weekend. From 1976-89 he served as associate director of education for the Columbia Union Conference, and then went on to direct Public Affairs and Religious Liberty until his retirement in 1995.

Though retired, Westney continued his advocacy of religious liberty in an associate capacity. He helped many members in the Columbia Union obtain workplace religious accommodations and organized a number of religious liberty rallies that informed church members about their constitutional rights. He also started and faithfully hosted “Talking About Freedom,” a weekly radio program addressing religious liberty issues that aired on WGTS 91.9.

“We appreciated Dr. Westney so much, and will remember him for the lasting contribution he made by assisting and protecting the religious freedom of so many church members across our union,” says WAU Board Chair, Dave Weigley.

“Dr. Westney will be sorely missed,” added Walter Carson, union vice president and general counsel. “He was a Christian, a gentleman, a champion of religious freedom, and a dear friend.”

Westney is survived by Lizette, his wife of 56 years, three adult children—Adrian “A.T.” Westney, Jr., Gloria Westney Hughes, MD, and Marcel—and five grandchildren.

FUNERAL INFORMATION

Funeral services will be held Friday, December 18, at 10 a.m. at the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hyattsville, Md., preceded by a 9 a.m. viewing. The interment will take place at George Washington Cemetery, 9500 Riggs Road, in Adelphi, Md.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations to the Adrian Westney Scholarship Fund. Cards may be addressed to Mrs. Lizette Westney, 1206 Prospect Street, Takoma Park, MD 20912.

Written by Karen Porter | 19 October 2009

“I was totally surprised at the award, and appreciated the recognition,” Roth said. His wife, Doris (B.A.,’50), and several family members and friends celebrated with him at the awards presentation on October 17, 2009.

In his nearly 60 years of professional experience, Roth has significantly contributed to reporting Seventh-day Adventist Church news and features in the denomination and in the public press. A reporter, editor, press relations specialist, book author, and special events organizer, he has worked at every level of the church organization, from his local congregation to the General Conference.

Roth’s love of writing and editing began in 1944, when he edited his school’s paper at Greater New York Academy. During his college years at Washington Adventist University (then Washington Missionary College) in Maryland, this love continued as he worked at the College Press, joined the staff of the Sligonian, the school paper, and in his senior year edited the paper.

From the day his byline appeared over a feature story in the Sligonian to his present articles in this local paper, Roth has always had a story to tell.

During the height of the Vietnam War, Roth was the church’s chief reporter on the work of Adventists in Vietnam. Numerous articles under his byline documented events such as the visit of the Loma Linda University heart surgery team, and the closure of the church’s work in Vietnam and the evacuation of its associated personnel.

Roth’s personal relationship with the U.S. news agencies in Saigon was a key to the evacuation process for over 430 Vietnamese when South Vietnam fell to Hanoi in April 1975. Through his AP and UPI contacts, Roth learned the evacuation procedure for 36 women and children whom he escorted to Guam. On Guam, he located the U.S. Navy pressroom, where he composed a five-page, single-spaced description of his final hours in Saigon. This document served as a valuable resource that he and others used as a reference for later articles and books.

Much of Roth’s legacy as an Adventist communicator is the record of actions, events, news, and human interest stories published in the journals and newsletters he edited: the weekly Columbia Union Visitor, 1954-1965; Far Eastern Division Outlook, 1965-1975, and currently the AIMS Journal for the Association of International Medical Services, Loma Linda School of Medicine Alumni Association. He also edited several newsletters, including the Far Eastern Division Furlougher, and most recently the Calimesa News and Notes, which he edited for 14 years.

The SDA Periodical Index lists more than 420 articles published under his byline, primarily in the Adventist Review. However, the list is incomplete; it does not include articles he wrote for the Visitor and other church periodicals before going to Singapore in 1965 as assistant secretary and public relations director, nor the hundreds of articles he has written for non-Adventist papers.

Roth has written or coauthored four books including a story of a Borneo witch doctor who converted to Christianity called Mundahoi, and autobiographies of himself and his wife, Called to Serve, and has assisted and/or encouraged a number of other persons to write books of their own.

If asked, many Seventh-day Adventists would name Roth the PR person of the Adventist Church in the past 60 years. Few others possess his breadth of experience and length of service in communication and reporting for the benefit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

01 August 2009

It was Glenroy Palmer’s love of basketball that first led him to Columbia Union College (CUC, now Washington Adventist University).  While studying at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y., Palmer learned CUC was looking to recruit new players.  He met with Coach Dunbar, tried out for the team, and was offered a scholarship.

He graduated from CUC in 2006 with a degree in business marketing management and landed a job as a project manager with Ryan Homes, a residential home-building company. After suffering a layoff, Palmer then worked as a project manager for a commercial construction company, but that job did not feed his passion—it lacked interaction with other people. So he resigned, and took a position with a smaller commercial construction company instead, only to face another layoff.

“I took that as a sign… I need to follow my passion, not the money,” Palmer says.

Palmer’s love of basketball led him back to his alma mater.  By day, he gives back to young people by teaching financial literacy at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C.  By night, he moonlights as an assistant head basketball coach at Washington Adventist University.

Obstacles and Opportunities

Palmer describes his formative years as difficult, noting frequent moves to live with different family members and friends while his mother battled a drug addiction.  He attended nine different elementary schools before reaching fourth grade.

Palmer says he lives his life proactively, rather than waiting for things to just happen to him. He smiles as he recalls his first day of school as a second grader.  He was dressed and ready to go to school, but his mother wouldn’t get out of bed.  Knowing that he should be in school,  Palmer walked himself to school, and sat down in one of the classrooms, much to the confusion of the teachers, who didn’t know where he belonged, because he wasn’t yet registered.  This is just one example of the pattern that defines his life.

Even in hard times, Palmer persevered.  There was a three-week span during his senior year when Palmer, his mother, and sister stayed at a Bronx homeless shelter after an eviction.  He kept up his routine during that period, traveling from the shelter to his high school in Brooklyn, then basketball practice or a basketball game.  After all that, he headed to work at a McDonald’s in Manhattan, then back home and started over the next day.

He doesn’t regret any of the events that transpired during his childhood years because they made him into the person he is today.

“I’m glad I had the experiences I had, but I’m also glad it’s over,” he says.

While working for Ryan Homes, Palmer moved his mother and sister to the Washington, D.C. area to give them a change of scenery.  His mother started working at a Hyatt hotel as a housekeeper.  Now she’s the housekeeping supervisor. His sister attends the prestigious Duke Ellington School for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Palmer’s future plans include becoming a head coach of a basketball team. He would also like to open a non-profit organization aimed at introducing inner-city children to the world outside of their neighborhoods, a world ripe for exploration and opportunities to help others.