Bobbing Apples

Hello Blog Readers! This is poem I wrote a couple months ago, but it seemed good to share now that fall in the air. It is a sestina in form, meaning the repeating end words of the stanzas provide the rhythm and form.

Bobbing Apples

There were children here yesterday.

You can still see their pool toys bobbing,

Floating like bubbles on the water’s surface.

I stir it, with my hand breaking the ethereal tension.

The moment shatters into an echo

Which is amplified retrospectively by the pine trees,

The moment is received by the apple trees.

I picked off most of the fruit yesterday

But I dropped and bruised one apple, and heard it echo,

In the grassy fibers, it stays bobbing

Inside me I feel an ancient tension

Compelling me to take a bite. I leave it on the surface.

I buried that memory beneath the surface

Spurning the thought of both fruit and trees,

That fallen apple on the ground fills me with tension

Even though it happened as long ago as yesterday,

In my mind I see many apples endlessly bobbing

Up and down. The ripples from the apples echo,

Apples call to me from the past with an echo

Recalling my childhood when my face broke the surface

Splashing the bucket water and ending an apple’s bobbing

With the bite of my teeth, knocking it from the trees,

But I picked it only yesterday?

While others hang by their stems in tension.

I was too tired to break the tension

Those forgotten hanging apples haunt me like an echo,

But I picked them all down yesterday.

Surely I can walk outside and pick the fallen fruit off the earth’s surface

If only I could see the forest for the trees.

Instead, I float in my backyard pool, bobbing.

As a child I did more swimming than bobbing

Moved my hands though the water to disrupt tension.

As an adult, I just float on and look at the pine trees,

Out front an apple drops and its falling creates an echo

Sending ripples through the fibers of the grassy surface

I stir the water in the pool and whisper, “yesterday”

I continue my bobbing, each movement an echo

The apples still know tension just below the surface
Most of the apple trees lost their fruit yesterday.

Daniel Gillespie, August 2015

Welcome to Muse Blog 2015-1016

A Note from the Editor:   Hello Lions and welcome to the new Muse Blog for the new school year! Muse stands for Multnomah University Student Expression. This blog is a place for all students of Multnomah to express their lives through work such as poetry, fiction, short stories, essays, photography and interviews about areas of life. If you wish to submit anything or would like to be interviewed for a later post, please email multnomahmuse@gmail.com. This is the student lead blog, so it really does begin and end with the students! Thank you!

-Daniel Gillespie, Muse Editor, 2015-16
 SGA Communications Coordinator, 2015-16

Studying Business at Multnomah

Preston Brooks

by Laura Joy Griffith 

           What’s it like to be a business major at Multnomah University?  Three business majors, Lindsey Weaver, Preston Brooks and Grant Warner, share their experiences.

            Preston Brooks always knew he wanted to be a business major.  “Business runs the earth,” he says, “and I plan to use it as a tool to accomplish my goals.”  When he came to Multnomah, he immediately joined the business program.  Not so with Lindsey Weaver and Grant Warner: she switched in from elementary ed and he from pastoral.  For Lindsey, all it took was one elementary ed class and knew she needed to make a change: “I realized that teaching wasn’t my calling.  I had thought about being a business major before, and after thinking and praying about it I decided to switch.  I am so happy I made this decision.  I have always wanted to be a leader, but I didn’t quite know in which capacity.  Being in the business administration program has really helped me define what I want to do.”  Grant switched from the pastoral major when he “realized that [pastoral ministry] was not God’s plan for me and that business was a more appropriate major for me.”

Lindsey Weaver

            Business has turned out to be a good fit for Preston, Lindsey, and Grant.  What is unique about Multnomah’s business program sit the integration with faith.  Preston has enjoyed learning not just business concepts, but the moral implications and principles behind those concepts.  This, he says, is one of the strengths of the business professors at Multnomah.  Grant also appreciates the professors in the program: “They understand how the world works, and our classes are usually discussion- and student-led.”  Lindsey agrees that the professors are experienced and knowledgeable: “They make our classes extremely relevant to the world of business today, and that’s really exciting.”

            Preston and Lindsey agree that people in other majors sometimes get the impression that the business major isn’t about building up the kingdom of God—that it’s all about the money.  “In reality,” Preston says, “business is a powerful tool to spread the kingdom because of the resource of assets that can be shared.”  Grant would like to point out that some people also think the business major is really easy, but really it’s just fun.

Grant Warner

            One of the best things about a degree in business is that it is so versatile.  Preston wants to use his degree to work for a company in the world of athletics, maybe “a sport apparel company like Nike or a sports team like the Trailblazers,” he says.  “I plan to use my Bible Theology major in tandem, using the knowledge I have gained to change the nasty face that business has adopted.”  Lindsey wants to work for a large company, maybe as a department head or branch manager.  Grant doesn’t know yet exactly where God is leading him, but with a business degree, the possibilities are endless!

            So besides that awesome diploma, what kind of a lasting impact does the Multnomah business program leave on its students?  Grant declares that he has learned to work with other people well, which is an important skill anywhere but especially in the world of business: “I’ve learned a lot of teamwork, and it’s been great to apply what I’m learning in class to my current job.”  Lindsey has been struck by the impact for God a business leader can have: “It is really exciting to learn about how we can have just as much of an impact for Christ in the marketplace as a pastor can in a church.”  Preston has learned that knowledge is a key part of success, but also that “business is all about relationships.”

Hope, Heartbreak, and Healing: A Trilogy of Sonnets

by Laura Joy Griffith

I recently wrote three Shakespearean sonnets about three stages of growth in my life.  The metaphor changes slightly with each one, but they are meant to be read together.

Photo credit: Pinterest

Hope

Two years of winter ‘cased my heart in stone,

The frozen ground beside my frozen soul.

Content was I to live my life alone

As endless winter calmly took its toll.

Against my will the trees began to bloom;

The warmer weather nudged my heart awake.

Protested I, “But spring has come too soon!”

But still it comes with chaos in its wake.

The seed within my heart begins to grow;

Emotion dares again to show its face.

There seems to be a chance for me to know

The kinds of things that cause my heart to race.

With blossoms blooming, spring has come betimes;

My heart responds with hope and cryptic rhymes.

Heartbreak

Half-frozen, craving warmth, I ventured near

To see the dancing flames and hear their pop.

Extended hand, I took it in my fear.

My frozen self was telling me to stop.

But hope prevailed and to the fire I turned,

And in his arms my heart began to thaw.

Aware was I that I could soon be burned,

But risk was still the only path I saw.

The flames were hot; my spirit in me cringed.

I knew I’d have to tell him soon to leave,

But I hung on until my brows were singed.

He thrust me off; my heart had no reprieve.

I tasted fire and felt the sting of pain.

I needed love; he repaid me with shame.

Photo credit: Pinterest

Healing

Been running for too long; it’s time to stop

Forever fleeing from intrinsic pain,

For I can’t stay outside, can’t climb on top

Without cursing my heart as sure as Cain.

The rains will come when clouds are dark and full,

And sure all rivers do flow to the sea.

To have the part, I must accept the whole.

It’s only in the cycle I can see

That love is great, the faithless can be true,

That in the dark the light shines brighter still,

That desert skies are e’er the brightest blue;

In tragedy my cup of joy is filled.

I’ll never lock my heart in stone again;

It’s only through the fire I reach the end.

Bonnie Lundgren: Psychology Major

Second-year Multnomah Psych major Bonnie Lundgren answers my questions:

Why did you choose this program?

Bonnie Lundgren

Well, I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised when I realized I needed to take psychology to get into counseling. I was also a little uncertain because my mother has been emotionally advised as a child by a guy who was a war veteran and psychology major. I attended community college for over a year, and half-way through I had this summer where I complained repeatedly to God that I was tired of trying to pick a major. I asked for him to "just tell me" for several months... finally, he did. Grief counseling. For every other suggestion, I’d had an argument or rebuttal, but not this one. A few months later, God asked me to attend Multnomah, which I was familiar with because my mom was an alumnus. I found they had a program for me, and my doubts are gone. Taking psychology at Multnomah is amazing.

What do you like best about your program?

Well, I have had great professors - Dave Jongeward, Elliott Lawless, Brandi Walters, Garrett Baldwin. The perspectives they share encourage me to view human internal workings in a way which is respectful without letting people of the hook for sin. Getting to know other psych majors is fun, too, but it's definitely the best to be able to understand that God cares about psychology - he made us how we are, and now I get to honor him in my study of it!

What misconceptions do people in other majors have about yours?

That it's really a general degree... just for fun, maybe, or so you can put something official on your transcript. I also find that I'm viewed as looking for the opportunity to psychoanalyze every person I meet, which just isn't true. That misconception has had me hesitant to share things I notice, even with those closest to me. I'm working on it, though. If I wasn't in this major, no one would question my observations about others' personalities and behaviors.

How do you hope to use your degree?

Obviously, I'm looking forward to several years of additional work to get established as a counselor. My heart for reconciliation and healthy processing of traumatic events, coupled with tires to Crisis Response International (who have been working with Syrian refugees lately) may lead me towards short-term disaster-based overseas ministry. But we'll see. It depends a lot on my husband, and who knows? We could have little ones to factor in by then.

How have you been impacted by being in this program?

I've learned to recognize certain negative behavior patterns in myself and others, cultivated empathy for the broken, remembered that even secular experts may have some truths to share with the rest of us (if we can humbly accept that and discern what is true versus misinterpretation), and I have gained greater longing to see God's redemption fully unfold on earth as it is in heaven.

What are you looking forward to about the rest of your time in this program?

As many fascinating classes as possible and, surprisingly, for another Lawless test... that man has a hidden genius for making students snicker over what should be simple multiple-choice questions. Until then, grace from my soul, spirit... and/or mind, to each of my reader's.

Meet Daisy Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan: The Dual Nature of Fitzgerald's Heroine

by Laura Joy Griffith

            Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby utilizes the literary techniques of paradox and oxymoron in many instances.  Keith Gandal calls “Gatsby’s famous doubleness…a chivalrous lover and cold-blooded killer” (qtd. in Hays 1).  Perhaps Fitzgerald’s most brilliant use of “doubleness” is in the character of Daisy Buchanan, a woman loved and desired by many.  The two key people in Fitzgerald’s novel who want Daisy for their own are her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her beau from her single days, Jay Gatsby.  Tom and Gatsby do not see the same Daisy, however.  I assert that Daisy’s two selves are linked to the two men in her life and her deliberation between the two men is really a deliberation between two selves; Daisy could have a happy, successful relationship with either Tom or Gatsby if she killed the other self and became a unified person.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire,
and Joel Edgerton in The Great Gatsby (2013)

            Daisy’s two personalities are represented in the novel by her two hair colors.  In 1972, columnist Sheilah Graham complained that Ali McGraw could not play Daisy because McGraw had dark hair and Daisy had blond hair (Korenman 1).  Graham made the mistake, however, of only seeing one side of Daisy.  She saw only Tom’s Daisy, who is blond, and passes on her blond hair to her daughter.  When Daisy’s daughter makes a brief appearance in Chapter VII, Daisy mentions her “yellowy hair” (Fitzgerald 123) and then later asserts, “She looks like me.  She’s got my hair” (124).  In this scene, Daisy is at home with her daughter, who is of course Tom’s daughter, and so in this moment Daisy is living in the self that belongs to Tom, and she is happy.  This self is symbolized by blond hair (Korenman).

            In contrast, Gatsby’s Daisy is symbolized by dark hair.  In a description of Daisy and Gatsby’s time together before he left for the Great War and before she married Tom, Fitzgerald writes, “Now and then she moved and he changed his arm a little and once he kissed her dark shining hair” (Fitzgerald 157).  In this scene, then, when Daisy is living in this self, she has dark hair; she is Gatsby’s Daisy and she is happy (Korenman). 

            Daisy’s two personalities, while symbolized by light and dark hair, are also represented by East and West Egg.  East Egg is where old money is a cause for pride and new money is a cause for disdain.  It is where cool elegance and projected innocence are the expectations of a respectable woman.  It is where Tom and Daisy live, and it is where the blond Daisy—Tom’s Daisy—is most comfortable.  In contrast, West Eggers usually have new money.  Gatsby lives in West Egg, and his parties are filled with producers and actors, people climbing the social ladder.  Being respectable is less important in West Egg; Gatsby describes his guests as “interesting people…People who do interesting things.  Celebrated people” (Fitzgerald 96).  Only Daisy’s dark-haired self is comfortable in West Egg.  When Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsby’s parties together, Daisy is only happy when she can get away from Tom and her blond self and live in her other self—when she can be Gatsby’s Daisy.  Nick says he knows “that except for the half hour she’d been alone with Gatsby she wasn’t having a good time” at Gatsby’s party in West Egg. 

            Daisy experiences a lot of grief from trying to live in both selves simultaneously.  When Gatsby reenters her life and demands that she leave her husband, “go to [him] and say: ‘I never loved you’” (Fitzgerald 116), Daisy is being pulled in two directions, and it is not just about two men.  It is about two selves. As we have seen, Fitzgerald clearly presents Daisy as a split person and those two Daisys—the blond Daisy and the dark Daisy—are linked to Tom and Gatsby, respectively.  As long as she only has one man in her life, she can focus on one self.  That is why she managed to survive the years between her marriage to Tom and the reentrance of Gatsby into her life without confusion.  She could put the dark-haired, West Egg, Gatsby’s Daisy in the past and live as the blond, East Egg, Tom’s Daisy.  Likewise, at Gatsby’s party, when Tom is not there and she is only with Gatsby, she is also happy because she is released from the pressures of the high-class Daisy. 

            Fitzgerald says that when Daisy decided to marry Tom instead of waiting for Gatsby to return “there was a certain struggle and a certain relief” (159); the struggle was between her two selves—the one who would wait for Gatsby and the one who would do what was expected of her and get married to this well-off gentleman—and the relief came when she chose one and followed it.  The struggle Daisy experienced is dramatically expressed in Jordan’s story of the day before Daisy’s wedding.  Daisy gets drunk and, clinging to Gatsby’s letter in which he promised to return for her, tells them she has changed her mind.  “She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls [Tom had given her]. ‘Take ‘em downstairs and give ‘em back to whover they belong to,’” (81).  But when the women sober her up and force her to behave, she rejects Gatsby’s Daisy and lives as Tom’s Daisy for years—until Gatsby comes back.

            Then Daisy is faced once again with a battle between her selves.  On the day when it is exceedingly hot and they all go into town, Gatsby keeps trying to force her to make some sort of a decision.  He assumes that she chooses him—that she chooses the dark-haired Daisy.  To him, it is all about who she loves, but for Daisy, it is about who she wants to be for the rest of her life; she is not ready to make the decision just yet, so she keeps trying to change the subject and keep everyone happy (Fitzgerald 120-143).  Daisy is still sitting on that fence when tragedy strikes and the decision is made for her.  When Gatsby is killed, his Daisy dies with him.  With no Gatsby, she has no reason to be the dark-haired Daisy he loved.  She fully becomes Tom’s Daisy, then, and was finally unified for the first time since Tom had entered her life and demanded that she be someone other than the girl she was to Gatsby. 

            The direction Daisy ultimately goes explains why Sheilah Graham in 1972 claimed that Daisy is blond.  Graham is not alone.  Joan S. Korenman writes, “What is curious is that, although the dark and fair descriptions seem fairly well balanced, most readers come away from the novel convinced like Sheilah Graham that Daisy is blonde” (3).  Daisy is portrayed in all four main film adaptations of The Great Gatsby (1949, 1974, 2000, and 2013) with blond hair (IMDb).  Korenman claims that this is because the descriptions of Daisy are accompanied by imagery which is linked to blond hair: Daisy is constantly surrounded by gold and white; Gatsby says her voice sounds like money, which is connected with gold (3).  I would add that readers remember Daisy as blond because the blond Daisy is the Daisy we are introduced to at the beginning of the novel (before she reencounters Gatsby) and the Daisy we are left with at the end (after Gatsby’s death).  The Great Gatsby begins and ends with Tom’s Daisy. 

            Korenman claims that Daisy is “both cool innocent princess and sensual femme fatale, a combination that further enhances Daisy’s enigmatic charm” (5).  Daisy could be either of these selves—indeed, through most of the book, she is both of them.  Living on a knife edge, Daisy’s life was one of constant confusion, deliberation, and struggle.  Because each self was connected to a man, however, it was not simple for Daisy to choose one and live in it.  Torn between the blond, high-class, respectable wife Tom wanted her to be and the dark, sensual, interesting woman Gatsby wanted her to be, Daisy was on the verge of ripping in half until an unexpected turn of events forced her to become one and not the other.  Ultimately becoming Tom’s Daisy and rejecting Gatsby’s Daisy—rejecting West Egg along with it—Daisy Buchanan achieves the oneness she needed all along.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier, 1992. Print.

Hays, Peter L. "Oxymoron In The Great Gatsby." Papers On Language & Literature 47.3 (2011): 318-325. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Apr. 2013.

IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2013.

Korenman, Joan S. "'Only Her Hairdresser …': Another Look At Daisy Buchanan." American Literature: A Journal Of Literary History, Criticism, And Bibliography 46.4 (1975): 574-578. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.

Coffee with Dr. Harper

Dr. Harper
multnomah.edu

by Laura Joy Griffith 

           I am sitting at a round table in the back of Roger’s Café when Dr. Brad Harper comes striding into the coffee shop, waving at students and looking around for me.  Once he finds me and is settled into the chair next to me with a latte to warm his hands, I begin to ask him questions I think will be on the hearts of Multnomah students: “What do students talk about when they come to your office?”  After a moment of thought, he looks me in the eyes and tells me that at least once a semester, a Multnomah student comes out to him, confessing that they struggle with same-sex attraction.  Usually, he says, they have not told anyone else.  This, he presumes, is because being gay is taboo in the Multnomah culture, but he has always been open about the fact that his son is gay and that they have a great relationship.  “What do you say to them?” I ask, to which he replies simply, “Mostly I listen and assure them of God’s love.”  Listening and affirmation are key, he insists.  His job is not to give them answers so much as to walk with them as they explore what it means to live a life that honors God and find friends who love them for who they really are.Some Multnomah students—undoubtedly more than we presume—struggle with being gay.  

            A more mundane struggle—but one that is just as real and troublesome—is the difficulty so many students have with the school system.  Dr. Harper says that his ideal environment for teaching theology would be at a cabin in the wilderness with fifteen students who live together and work for their own survival.  But we don’t get to learn theology in that environment.  Instead, we learn it in eight o’clock classes and from Grudem’s Systematic Theology and by citing sources in MLA format.  This system works great for some students, but for many students, it seems to be constantly undermining their ability to succeed.  Realistically, Dr. Harper says, sometimes you just have to suck it up and jump through the hoops, because the ideal environment is impractical.  Nonetheless, both students who excel in the system and those who struggle must also remember that getting good grades is not the most important thing in life.  “You have to be careful not to equate success in the system with success at education or success in life, “Dr. Harper says.  Just because we’re good at school and work well in the system doesn’t mean we’re getting a good education.  We need to ask ourselves, “What does it really mean for me to be educated?”  It probably doesn’t mean getting straight A’s. 

            At Multnomah, we question and analyze so many of the beliefs we have grown up simply accepting.  Often it feels like the very foundations of our faith are being shaken.  (Wait, premillennialism isn’t the only view??!)  But through it all, we never want to lose our faith in the good God of the Bible.  According to Dr. Harper, Multnomah provides an ideal situation to explore without getting lost.  “Honestly,” he says, “I think you’ve got one of the best places on the planet to do that, now in 2015.”  Multnomah professors are careful to provide honest representations of opposing views, rather than setting up straw-man arguments.  Students need to realize how legitimate other views are so that when they get out into the real world, they don’t question the reliability of their teachers.  Multnomah is safe, Dr. Harper says: here you won’t be judged for asking questions, and you won’t be allowed to wander off into pluralism.  Multnomah encourages students to foster their relationship with Christ, keeping love for God and others at the center.  Bottom line?  “Hang on to Christ.  It’s not about the answers to all the questions.”

The Best of Instagram

Multnomah students like Instagram, and so do we!  Here are some of the highlights of this year.  To see more, follow @multnomahmuse!

Matching baristas in Roger's Cafe!  @beckaleckka

Stopping to smell the roses.  @brennajanecoy

Laughter and coffee is what it's all about, right?  @brittsyjanae

We do get some beautiful sunsets here at Multnomah.  @jraeellen

The pink mist is upon us.  @mirandagrace94

It has been a big year for Multnomah athletics.  Mostly because this picture exists.  @muhomecourt

Our men's basketball team played their best game on the road this year--at Regionals in California.  @prestonbrooks144

Taking a moment on the shores of Japan.  @schindernizzle

Phidias' Zeus

by Hogan Schaak

Stone carved by patient visionary

Rounded and rigid and strong,

Why in the form of man

Do you vaunt yourself so long?

Not borne out to be buried

Or ere to woman married.

Eternal bachelor - Stealing lusty views.

Actor - ever waiting on your cues.

In image lies your trick,

Upon your vestige is your power.

For if frame by man be reached

Can not same greatness then be breached?

Eyeless. - beholder reflected in you,

Filling breasts with empty air

Till every head bears Caesar's wreath

And reigns - desert dwelling Chief.

You confidently scorn us

While inspiring with hope.

Gazing fraily feel I safety,

But too long wraps rounded rope.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure,
about 42 ft tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around
435 BC.  No copy of the statue has ever been found, and
details of its form are known only from ancient Greek
descriptions and representations on coins. (Wikipedia)

Student Ministry Report: Colin Fenn

by Laura Joy Griffith

Colin Fenn

 

          Multnomah senior Colin Fenn is an intern with the Clark County Fire Department Chaplains, where he gains valuable experience for his career as a Navy Chaplain.  Colin’s involvement may qualify as a student ministry, but it is a lot more serious and demanding than the average student ministry.  “Chaplains respond to trauma within Clark County,” Colin explains, “at any time, anywhere in the county.”  It is not an easy task.  “When I go on call, I pray that I don’t get a page.  I pray for a quiet day where I don’t do a thing.  When I do get a page, I dread arrival.  Because when I’m doing my job, something horrible has happened.  Somebody has lost their husband.  Their wife.  Their child.  Their family.  Often in a violent, or unexpected way.  I’m glad that somebody is there to help ease the pain…I’m honored that God has chosen me to have a role in that.” 

            Colin’s ministry allows him to have a profound impact on people in need: “We make the immediate aftermath of a tragedy much easier to bear,” he says.  “We help [those involved] gather their support network, contact pastors, give encouragement and comfort as much as we can…Our impact is largely unseen, and hard to measure.  Sometimes it’s great, and sometimes we walk away wondering if we did any good at all.  But we do our best to make the lives of people affected by tragedy a little easier.” 

            Those involved in tragedy are often traumatized, but it’s not easy for those that must respond, either.  Spending so much time witnessing the aftermath of horror would be difficult for anybody.  “A unique challenge is keeping yourself emotionally healthy by separating yourself from the situation that you’re in, and still remaining empathetic as a means of support for a grieving family.  It’s necessary to be able to talk to a grieving wife or mother one minute, clean up a gunshot suicide the next minutes, and then, when finished, be able to go home, shower, and eat dinner and not take any of that home with you.”

            We are all grateful for people like Colin who are willing to face these challenges in order to help the hurting, for we would not want to have to deal with all the things he deals with.  “The things we do, see, and deal with are not for the faint of heart,” he says.  “It is the world, in all its brutality, uncensored.”  That is certainly not your average student ministry.

Student Athlete: Trevyn Roberts

#1 Trevyn Roberts
gomulions.com

by Laura Joy Griffith

Freshman guard Trevyn Roberts has been playing basketball for nine years and college ball for one.  A psychology major, Trevyn has worked hard in the classroom and on the court his first year at Multnomah.  What does he like best about basketball?  “Winning,” he says.  And what does he like best about Multnomah’s team?  “They are fun,” he says.  “My teammates are fun, coaches are fun.”  And they’re nice.  Trevyn thinks that a lot of other people have the misconception that Multnomah basketball players are jerks, but he is emphatically against that: “We’re all nice guys, I promise.”

The best way for Multnomah students to support their athletes is to show up at the games.  Trevyn says it would mean a lot to him and his teammates if their fellow students would “go to the games and cheer as loud as possible and stand up and everything.”  It’s a good idea!  There are no more varsity home games this season, but Multnomah’s JV basketball team will be playing today (Monday the 23^rd) at 5 o’clock and tomorrow (Tuesday the 24^th) at 7 o’clock, here in Lytle Gymnasium.  Come out and lose your voice supporting Trevyn and his team!

Student Athlete: Lexie Govert

Lexie Govert
gomulions.com

Name: Lexie Govert

Year: Junior

Major: Psychology

Position: forward

Number: 4

How long have you played basketball? 13 years

What is one of the most challenging things about your sport?

The conditioning is always the toughest thing, but it’s worth it when it comes to game time.

What do you like best about Multnomah’s team?

I love the environment of encouragement and respect that we have for each other, and that is modeled by our coaches.  They’ve really set that tone, and I’ve greatly appreciate them and my teammates.

What misconceptions do other people have about your team?

Well, one misconception is that since no one really comes to MU specifically to play women’s basketball that we are not serious about it.  I don’t just speak for myself in that we are serious about it.  We are here to compete and play as hard as we can.

How can the Multnomah student body support your team?

Well, the obvious answer is come to the games!  I’ve appreciated the crowd we’ve had, it helps so much in games to have people in your corner rooting for you.

You've already played your last home game for this season, but there's always next year!  What are you looking forward to about next season?

            I’m looking forward to being able to play again especially with some of my teammates who                        were unable to play this year.  I am also excited for the new (and tall) recruits who will be an                     addition to the team.

Lizzie Sheppard Took a White Supremacist Pastor to Court and Won

Picture from the Oregonian,
August 20th, 1955

by John Lussier

August 8th, 1955 — Lizzie Sheppard, an expecting mother, and her four kids, were walking the 15 blocks home from the Well-Baby health clinic in North Portland after getting booster shots when they encountered Elbert Riddick, an Episcopal priest. Lizzie’s oldest boy, Jimmie was riding his bike ahead of the family, when Riddick, raking leaves on the sidewalk, told the boy and his family that they couldn’t go past him.

“I don’t want black people walking on my sidewalk.”
“What do you mean?” said Lizzie.
“I mean you black niggers,” replied Riddick.
“That’s not very Christian-like to say something like that… I don’t even know you and you don’t know me,” she replied.
“Get those kids and the bike off my sidewalk and into the street,” said Riddick.

Sheppard tried to push the bike around him and go on but Riddick began to hit her and her 5-year old son Charlie with the rake he was holding. The blows knocked her glasses to the ground, and left welts on her and her son even weeks later.

“I was hollering I guess, but when I saw he was hitting the child I decided I’d better have some help,” said Lizzie, courageously not backing down.

It was at this point a truck driver, having witnessed the scene, stopped and told Riddick to leave Sheppard alone. A neighboring household let Sheppard use their phone to call the police, having to lock Riddick out of the house after he gave chase.

The Rev. Elbert Riddick, 58 at the time, explained to a police office later that he had “…moved out of the colored district to get away from the Negroes.”

Riddick came to Portland in 1937, and had previously been ticketed by police for public disturbance. In 1953 he was the chairman of the Civil Freedom Committee, a local group that had tried unsuccessfully to get Oregon’s public accommodations civil rights law repealed. The law made it illegal for businesses like restaurants, hotels, etc. to discriminate against non-white customers. Riddick’s group believed that their civil freedom was being breached if public services had to cater to African Americans and others. He was part of a long line of white men and women who would seek to use public policy and opinion to enforce racist beliefs.

Riddick was angry at “Negroes,” because they “…sent their women and helpless ones to parade along the street to get people used to them… then they buy in.” Later at trial he would accuse the Urban League of “breaking down barriers so that Negroes could move into neighborhoods occupied by white persons.”

Despite an anonymous threat against her that she “…had better close up and get out of town” Sheppard brought Riddick to court. He was charged with assault and battery, given a bail of $250 (A little over $2000 now), and released.

At the trial Riddick claimed that the issue at hand was over whether “a white man in front of his own home should have to be crowded off his own sidewalk” and that Sheppard should not “parade in neighborhoods where she did not live”. After being found guilty of assault and battery he was fined $50 (about $436 now).

Riddick would later go on to appeal the decision. He said that,

“A man in my position should command some respect. I gave her as much clearance as possible but there wasn’t room for her and the bicycle to get by. When she saw that I would not give way, she apparently ran into the street to attract attention. Then she started dancing and screaming.”

Picture from the Oregonian, August 27th, 1955

He felt that Sheppard and her children should walk on the street since he was working on the sidewalk. “…when in front of my own home I do not feel I must be crowded off the sidewalk. I simply do not give ground!”

Riddick’s stroy was that the pregnant woman had shoved the bicycle against him, and then, seizing the rake from him, hit herself and her son.

“There was no intention on my part—after all, I am a clergyman and it would be difficult for me to strike anyone—to hit her son… His mother lunged at me for the rake. Quite frankly I have never before been attacked physically by a woman, and it was inconceivable a Negro woman would attack a white man. I was astonished.”
At each hearing a number of witnesses reported that Riddick had attacked Sheppard in an “unwarranted and vicious” manner.

After a retrial, and a number of delays by the defense, Riddick was again found guilty by a vote of 11 to 1. Sheppard later went on to sue the Rev. for $5000 in damages for emotional trauma and physical damage.

Riddick died in 1961 having lost this case and leading a dwindling congregation at his home. The Episcopal church eventually had denounced his actions and had removed their name from his church. Even after the trial Riddick continued to hold communion and officiate at local weddings.

Lizzie Sheppard passed away only recently. She went on to become a community worker at the Albina Neighborhood Service Center. There she and other community workers, like Otto Rutherford, worked to house, feed, and serve their community.

In her book Dancing with God: The Trinity from a Womanist Perspective Dr. Karen Baker-Fletcher talks God’s presence in a world of crucifixion and suffering. The Triune God, Parent, Child, and Holy Spirit, dances in the world, overcoming evil through healing. Suffering isn’t something that God redeems, but overcomes. He opens this dance up to his people, asking that they join in on overcoming evil with good. They do so by healing the world, seeking justice in the power of resurrection, and fighting suffering with the courage of God. Lizzie Sheppard is an example of this courageous and healing dance.


The Oregonian reported heavily on this story and made this piece possible. Access was made possible through the Multnomah County Library. All quotes, photos, and accounts of the trial came from the following:


The Oregonian, Aug. 20, 1955, pg. 1, 6; Aug. 21, 1955, pg. 6; Aug. 27, 1955, pg. 1; Sep. 3, 1955, pg. 7; Nov. 11, 1955, pg. 6; March 22, 1956, pg. 28; March 23, 1956, pg. 1; April 30, 1961 pg. 35; April 15, 1966, pg. 6; Feb. 12, 1968, pg. 28

Connect with John Lussier by following him on Twitter: @JohnLuce.
Original blog post: https://medium.com/theology-of-ferguson/lizzie-sheppard-81c82a6c52c9

Student Athlete: Tyler Bickley

by Laura Joy Griffith

Tyler Bickley, a junior shooting guard on Multnomah's men's basketball team, answers my questions!

Tyler Bickley #4
gomulions.com

Major: Business
How long have you played basketball?  6 years

What do you like best about it?

My favorite thing about basketball is the relationships you build with your teammates.  Throughout the ups and downs of the season, you struggle alongside one another, building each other up and competing against other teams.  But the most satisfying part of basketball is when you win as a team and celebrating your victory together.

What is one of the most challenging things about basketball?

The most challenging part of this sport is getting everyone on the same page and working together.  Many times you have one or two people who want to do their own things and it throws off the cohesion that the team has.

What do you like best about Multnomah’s team?

What I like most about Multnomah’s team is that we are all brothers in Christ.  That is a unique element that Multnomah sports in general have over other programs.

What misconceptions do other people have about the Multnomah basketball team?

I think a lot of people see us as “too cool” to hang out with non-athletes.  I think this misconception comes from the bigger, D-1 schools where their athletes get pampered and treated as royalty.  The reality is, at Multnomah, we get treated exactly the same as the non-athletes, no special benefits, same amount of homework, same grading scale.

How can the Multnomah student body support your team?

The best way to support our team is simply coming to our games.  Having a good crowd at our home gym is a huge encouragement and advantage in games.

What is your favorite memory from this season?

              My favorite memory of this season so far was when our JV basketball team beat Concordia’s
              JV team on their home court.  That was only the second time in our school’s history that    
              we’ve beat them and we still have one more game against them this season.

TOMORROW, Tuesday, Feb. 3, Tyler and his teammates are playing against Portland Bible College here on Jim Skagen court at 7 p.m.  Come out and support your Lions!!!

MU Street Style

by Laura Joy Griffith

Fashion journalists like to do this thing called "street style," where they go out and take pictures of stylish people on the street, and then post those pictures to blogs or publish them in magazines to serve as inspiration.  I decided to do the same thing, only just on the Multnomah campus.  Below are snapshots of some of your most stylish classmates.  Lookin' good, Multnomah!

Adrie Bickley softens the black of her jeans, booties, and backpack
with lighter colors and gentler shapes on top.

Becka Naydiuk rocks a statement necklace with a simple and classic silhouette. 

Brenna Coy uses layers and an unexpected pop of color to liven up classic pieces.

Chelsea Kopp's casual jeans and plain top still look chic
when paired with a classic coat, black beanie, and TOMS.

It's a little bit backwoods-logger, a little bit Rebel Without a Cause: Clara DeHoog
pulls together rustic and rocker influences to create a classic-cool look.

No one can pull off all-black quite like Darth Vader, Severus Snape, and Josh McKinley.

Layers are key to TK Moffit's casual-chic style, in which his shoes,
scarf, backpack, and headphones all play a vital role.

Do you want to be featured in the next MU Street Style?  Tag @multnomahmuse or #MUStreetStyle in your Instagram pics or send your picture to multnomahmuse@gmail.com.  OR you may just get stopped in the hall, if your look is just that eye-catching.

Calling for Peaceful Reform

by Laura Joy Griffith

Martin Luther King Jr.

            Martin Luther King Jr. advocated peaceful reform.  Lately, the issue of race relations in the United States has been anything but peaceful.  Blacks have died at the hands of police.  Police have died at the hands of the vengeful.  Our country seems to be split down the middle, and I feel like I’m in the center of it all.  I hear people talking about how racist cops are.  A black man can’t put his hood up when he’s walking at night, or he’ll be singled out.  I hear cops talking about how dangerous it is for them right now.  Police have to defend themselves; it’s a dangerous world out there, as the police killings in New York have only served to emphasize.  If you’re like me, you’re probably sick of hearing pointless arguments; you just want peace.

            I think it is important for both sides to realize the bigger problems behind the individual incidents.  We spend so much energy “getting to the facts of the case” (Was the man armed?  Did the officer follow proper procedure?) and ignore the real issue.  Racism is still a problem in America.  Today we salute Martin Luther King Jr. for the work he did, and we are grateful for the progress that has been made in recent decades.  But there is still progress to be made.  Are individual Americans, including police officers, racist?  Undoubtedly, although it may be mostly subconscious.  Is the system racist, including the police system?  Undoubtedly.  Is killing cops the solution?  Of course not!

            What many Americans fail to realize is that police officers typically follow protocol.  If one of their choices is questioned, it may go to court; the court determines whether or not the officer has followed protocol.  An officer who has followed protocol will be acquitted.  Does that mean that whatever the officer did was okay?  Not necessarily.  It just means that he was trained to it, and he did it.  Maybe police procedure needs to change.  That can be changed.  But hatred and violence will not change it.

            I hope I speak in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. when I call for peaceful reform today.  I see racism all around me, in individuals and systems—in the dark parts of my own soul that I don’t care to talk about most of the time.  Let’s do something about it!  But, as Dr. King so famously said, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Fashion, Style, or Both?

by Laura Joy Griffith

Coco Chanel

            Coco Chanel said, “Fashion fades; only style remains the same.”  What is the difference between fashion and style?  Aren’t they both about wearing the right clothes—clothes that are in vogue?  I propose that fashion is about societal trends, but style is about personal expression.

            “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.  Fashion is in the sky, in the street.  Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”  Coco Chanel said that, too.  In the 1920’s, women began wearing short skirts to express their sexual independence.  It happened again in the 1960’s.  Cultural trends created clothing trends.  When society changed, so did fashion.  Every season, designers parade their creations up and down the runway, and magazine editors make this accessible in hundreds of pages of glossy photos.  Fashion changes every season, every month, every day, swayed by innumerable cultural influences.

            Nina Garcia said, “Style is a deeply personal expression of who you are, and every time you dress, you are asserting a part of yourself.”  Style is not about what fashion editors or bloggers are saying; it is about what you choose to put on in the morning.  Miuccia Prada said, “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world.”  Emma Watson said, “There’s nothing interesting about looking perfect—you lose the point.  You want what you’re wearing to say something about you, about who you are.”  What kind of person are you?  Your clothes tell your story.

            I find the distinction between fashion and style incredible freeing for someone like me with a tight budget.  Fashion is an expensive hobby; style is an acquired skill.  Vivienne Westwood said, “Buy less, choose well, and do it yourself!”  In other words, forget fashion—acquire style.