veritas - april 2014

MEETYOUR RA's

A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF COLORADO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYVER TAS

8787 W Alameda Ave, Lakewood, CO 80226 TUESDAY, April 8, 2014

Congrats to this year’sO’Malley’s Alley winners and hosts >> Features, page 3

CAMPUS >> p.7Students have a blast at the February Formal and give back at the same time

SPORTS >> p.8CCU Speech and de-bate snags another national title. What will they do next?

Inside:FEATURE >> p.3Veritas sits down with new student body president, Kelli Klaus!

Features,pages 4-5 >>The 2014-2015 RA’s

have been selected!Find out who’s living where next year

MOVIES >> p.6Jackie Reister reviews Nonstop and Heaven is for Real for you!

<<

“For years Hollywood bent over backwards to reach spe-cial interest groups, be it feminists or environmentalists.

It has finally realized that there are 91-million evangelical Christians in America.”

- Phil Cooke

Regardless of Hollywood’s intentions for using the Bible in film, check out this guide to even more biblical epics you

might enjoy in the next few years >>

Hollywood’s interest in creating biblical epics is nothing new. In past decades, big-budget movies based on the Bible were extremely pop-ular. The 1940s to the 1960s birthed what is considered to be the golden age of Bible movies with slightly-hammy but top grossing films like The Robe (1953), Ben-Hur (1959), and The Ten Commandments (1956). With the exception of a notable few titles, such as The Prince of Egypt (1998) or The Passion of the Christ (2004), the biblical epic was, for a long time, deemed to be a relic of cinema’s distant past. Ironically, the steady decline of Church attendance in the US has coincided with a recent boom in the pro-duction and consumption of Bible-based films and televi-sion shows. Perhaps pews are being replaced with reclining movie theater seats, Bibles with popcorn bags, and ser-mons with movie scenes. The first episode of the mini-series The Bible drew the largest cable television audience of 2013. Films like Noah and Son of God, were much-anticipat-ed and are on wide release in theaters all over the world. The question is: Why now? Why is the consciousness of Hol-

lywood finally being turned toward the truth of the Bible? According to Ric Dol-phin of The Christians, com-mercial success of films like The Passion, “demonstrated something that had been largely ignored by main-stream Hollywood: that...there are still very many Christians who yearned for movies telling Christian sto-ries and espousing Christian values.” According to ana-lysts, this sudden awakening in the film industry can be attributed to two primary fac-tors: money and emotions. Phil Cooke, a Chris-tian media consultant adds that, “For years Hollywood bent over backwards to reach special interest groups, be it feminists or environmental-ists. It has finally realized that there are 91-million evangeli-cal Christians in America.” He argues, however, that the motivation for producing Bib-lical films is primarily finan-cial, and does not necessarily demonstrate a genuine change of heart in the film industry: “What’s happened is they’ve

understood it’s very good business to take Christians seriously, and this is a real serious market,” he says. This point definitely makes sense; there is precedent for bible-based movies to be economi-cally viable. For example, The Passion of the Christ remains the biggest independent film ever, earning over $600 mil-lion at box-office according to Hollywood Reporter, and The Ten Commandments re-mains the seventh highest-grossing film in history (after adjusting for inflation). But financial success in not the only thing motivating the production of these films. Neda Ulaby of NPR, in her article “This Year, Bib-lical Films Are Fruitful And Multiplying” asserts that the production of films based on the Bible peak in success after wars and times of general anx-iety because we tend to crave, “the foundational stories that comfort after collective trau-ma.” Unfortunately, this expla-nation seems to relegate faith to little more than an emo-tional crutch or passing fad.

Many people know of the movie The Passion of Christ that hit the box of-fice in 2004. As Christians, this movie has been loved and admired. Ten years later, a movie has rocked the world starring Rustle Crow and Emma Watson, however, this movie is of another bible story: Noah. Noah is a unique character who built an ark with two of every animal. God di-

rected Noah to this task to wash the earth clean for all of its sin. Noah obeyed, when the flood came the entire earth was covered with water. God prom-

ised he would never flood the earth again because of Noah’s obedience. From the movie’s trailer, Noah has a dream that inspires him to ac-tion. He gathers wood and builds an ark. People around him start to mock his goals, which turns into a war with Noah about his faith in God. Hollywood does put a spin on our fa-vorite books and stories to make them bigger, better, which may not always be historically accurate. Will this movie fully explore the depths God’s majesty and his justice; or will it be seen as another his-tory movie? See for your-self when Noah hits the box office on March 28.

Exodus: Gods and KingsDirector/ Studio: Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator, Prometheus)/ 20th Century FoxStarring: Christian Bale (American Hustle) as Moses, Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as JoshuaPlot summary: A “grittier”account of Moses' hand in leading the Israelite slaves out of Egypt.Expected release date: December 12, 2014

ResurrectionDirector/ Studio: Kevin Reynolds/ LD EntertainmentPlot summary: An agnostic Roman soldier is sent to in-vestigate Christ’s death. Described by LD Entertainment as "Gladiator in tone but with a mystery bent".Expected release date: Easter 2015

The Redemption of CainDirector/ Studio: Will Smith/ Sony PicturesPlot summary: A less-than-literal re-imagining of the Biblical tale of the first murder – with “a vampiric twist.” Expected release date: Summer of 2015

Mary Mother of ChristDirector/ Studio: Alister Grierson / Lionsgate FilmsPlot summary: Billed as a prequel to The Passion, ex-ploring Mary's life at ages 8, 15, 19 and 27. Script by Benedict Fitzgerald (The Passion of the Christ) Expected release date: Slated to release in 2015.

Ben-Hur (a remake of the 1959 film)Director/ Studio: Timur Bekmambetov/ MGMPlot summary: Slightly different from the 1959 version. Script was rewritten by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave).Expected release date: TBA; casting and production to start “soon”

Jesus of NazarethDirector/ Studio: Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls)Plot summary: Deadline describes it as possibly “the most controversial look at the life of Jesus Christ since Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation Of Christ.” Written by Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction).Expected release date: TBA; still in pre-production

Resurrecting the biblical epic

God and Bible stories are coming to the movies?

Is there a reason behind the boom in Bible flicks?

NEWSVERITAS2

BY DANYA GRANADO Contributing Writer

BY CASSIE STRINGERStaff Writer

“All the performers danced their hearts out.”- Emmalee Adams

Here at CCU we love the people who in-spire us, like our teach-ers, RA’s, not to mention our wonderful President Armstrong. These figures encourage us to grow and succeed in all areas of life. Who connects us as a student body socially and commutatively? Our very own new Student Body President Kelli Klaus. Kelli is a sophomore here at CCU, hailing from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This will be kelli’s first involve-ment with student govern-ment at CCU. She states, “I love a challenge. JoAn-na Hillman [current stu-dent body president] has taken me under her wing.” “I love CCU and I want to be a voice for CCU,” Kelli commented. She wants to be available to the students as that voice. One of her orders of business is the schools Wi-Fi, “I absolutely know the Wi-Fi isn’t reliable.” She states. “ I want to set up routers in most build-ings like student union.” She would also like to provide easily accessible information about the new construction. As our new president she will share the new developments with students as the cam-pus watches CCU grow. She also states “ I want to suggest the use the of resources such as week-end events, the mascot, and the music in the gym.” Kelli Klaus is the overall voice for as students. She is here to stay, and more importantly, to serve.

How would you like to win a free limousine ride to dinner at the Cheese-cake Factory in Downtown Denver with your friends? This grand prize of CCU’s O’Malley’s Alley is com-peted for every spring. The customary event is coordi-nated by the University Pro-gramming Council’s (UPC) Traditions Coordinators who also plan King Cougar in the fall. O’Malley’s is a lip-syncing dance contest that has become a long held spring tradition at CCU.This year, O’Malley’s IN-SANITY theme set the stage for the most intense dance competition in the Denver Metro Area. If you are un-familiar with INSANITY, it’s notorious for its max inter-val training in which work-ing out happens in long bursts of maximum-intensi-ty exercises, making it one of the hardest workout pro-grams on the market today. On the evening of Thursday, March 13th in the CCU Event Center “world renowned” fitness instructors—juniors Baylee Rogelstad and Lo-gan Fowler—sought a group with the best skills to compete to join the elite

dance hall of fame. By the end of the event, they found their shining stars.“O’Malley’s Alley was so fun to plan with Elyssa Her-nandez this year. All of the performers danced their hearts out,” commented Emmalee Adams. It was a tight competition with sev-en groups battling for the number one spot. The event opened strong with CCU’s Women’s Soccer Team who danced to upgrade all past acts and competing teams. Followed by the la-dies was a trio of boys who performed an MC (Miley Cyrus) Evolution, humor-ously depicting the pop star’s early years with “The Climb” and “Hoedown Throwdown” to her re-cent “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.” Danny and Sandy came next, with a charming duo to “You’re the One That I Want” from America’s loved musical Grease; the dance tricks of the pair impressed and awed the audience. Then, a group of five boys, also known as the Passion Fruit Ninjas, debuted how to dance at CCU with moves

such as the sprinkler, the head bounce, the wobble, the fist pump, and even the chicken dance. The largest group of the evening, The Discipleship Advisors, syn-chronized their moves to a VeggieTales song and boo-gied with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Succeeding the DA group was a collection of girls who marked themselves as bad to the cone by portraying CCU students stealing ice cream from the cafeteria; luckily, they danced their way out of receiving disci-plinary steps from Jonathan Dibenedetto only to walk away with a warning. The final act of the night was The Cayts—the winners of last year’s O’Malley’s—who creatively intertwined traveling through time to end up on the INSANITY stage as old women who hysterically got their jig on. The judges of IN-SANITY included CCU faculty (Susan Pahlau and Jason Ney), staff (Nancy Miller and Derek Zeller), alumni (Kelsey Bradley and Chase Donald), seniors (Joanna Hillman and Tony

Black), juniors (MacKenzy Troutman and Luke Bur-gard), sophomores (Jordan Masters and Andy Corzine), and freshman (Michaela Farley and Josh Block). They decided on the top three final contestants of O’Malley’s Alley 2014. In third place was the act of Danny and Sandy (Shane Cohen and Kristen Cray) who were gifted $25 to Zinga! Frozen Yogurt. The runner up was The Cayts, the group was composed of juniorsMadison Eshel-man, Lizzy Colburn, Leah Vogel, and Madeleine Manning who received a $50 gift card to the movies. In first place was the MC Evolution with Brett Lan-denberger, Michael Reu-ter, and Trey Gass. The three boys enjoyed a ride to the Cheesecake Fac-tory in Downtown Denver in a stylish Porsche Cay-enne Stretch Limousine.

A special thanks to Em-malee and Elyssa for all of their hard work in making O’Malley’s Alley INSAN-ITY 2014 a thrill and fes-tivity for our university!

Veritas sits down with CCU’s new student body president

Meet your new president:Kelli Klaus

The “Insane” Night of O’Malley’s Alley 2014Highlights from CCU’s annual lip-syncing competition

BY CASSIE STRINGERStaff Writer

BY ALI WEBERContributing Writer

ABOVE: (center) Brett Landenberger, Michael Reuter, and Trey Gass took home first prize this year with their original performance, “MC Evolution” (Photo Credit: CCU Student Activities via Facebook)

FEATURESVERITAS 3

Resident Assistants - the ones who willingly take on the role of mom/dad for a group of college kids. Being an RA is not an easy job, and CCU’s Residence Life only picks the most qualified students to take on this noble responsibility. After rounds of rigorous in-terviews and essay submissions, the Resident Assistants for the 2014-2015 school year have been chosen. We asked these amazing individuals to share a little bit about themselves and about their hopes for the residents they will be in charge of.

BY MADDIE LEWISStaff Writer

new RA’sMeet your WAITE HALL

GhettoPeter Yeung

BoondocksMicayla Lansing

“I can’t wait to invest in my girls and watch them grow spiritually over the course of the year! It is an absolute honor to have the op-portunity to be a part

of that process.”

SandlotLeolani Axiotis

“I’m really excited to be able to invest in the lives of the incoming

freshmen!”

CockpitEthan Laing

“I’m excited about being back in cockpit and leaving a legacy, and helping young men establish who

they are.”

Quik StopMorgan Birren

“I look forward to building relationships with the girls in my

stairwell and leading them through life with

Christ!”

HARWOOD HALLBarracks

Jackie Riester“I’m looking forward to building lifelong

relationships with new freshmen.”

HighlandsKatie Loeppke

“I am looking for-ward to serving the girls who will live in my stairwell, learning from them, and seeing where God takes them throughout their jour-

ney at CCU!”

JunkyardJake VandenBrink

“I look forward to get-ting to kick it with my residents, and whoop up on them in fifa.”

Your Mom’s HouseMarina Roy

CornerstoneMacy Lenihan

YETTER HALLLighthouse

Riley Zwicker“I am looking forward to meeting all of the

freshman girls who are going to be in my stair-well. I am so excited to know their stories and see how God impacts

their lives.”

ShelterMichael Lucero

“I am most looking forward to the great

experiences and awe-some relationships that I know will come out

of next year! “

TreefortShayna Hermans

“I am blessed to be a freshman RA, so I am excited to make them feel at home in this

amazing community here at CCU and to

help them deepen their relationship with our

amazing God.”

RED CLOUDRed Cloud 1

Kade Bauman“I look forward to hav-ing the opportunity to lead others in a posi-tive direction and to

create lasting relation-ships.”

Red Cloud 2Hannah Jones

“I am really looking forward to putting my extensive collection of atypical hats to good

use.”

Red Cloud 3Kjierstyn Rold

“I am looking forward to some great com-

munity and fun times. I am excited to return and apply all I have

learned from this past year!”

SNOWMASSSnowmass 1

Larissa Bloom“I’m looking forward to being an Upper-

classmen R.A. and see-ing how it is different from Freshman! I’m

looking forward to an-other year on ResLife! Lastly, I’m looking for-ward to being on team

PlexyRedSnow with Debo as my R.D!”

Snowmass 2Luke Paulin

“Doing so many manly events that all of cam-pus wreaks of testos-

terone.”

Snowmass 3Melody Cantwell

“I will be an upper-classmen RA, so I am really excited to have one-on-one relation-ships with my resi-

dents, in addition to planning and adminis-trating events and ac-tivities. I look forward to being a part of the Residence Life team, and I am honored to

be a member of CCU’s student leadership for

next year. “

KIT CARSONKit Carson Lodge

Akeela Thoen

Kit Carson La Mesa Molly Brandt

“I’m looking forward to just living life with

a group of girls— from the most serious of

matters to the silliest of times.”

Kit Carson SummitMargo Walker

“I am looking forward to what the Lord is go-ing to do. I know that sounds like the clas-sic answer, but I am

excited to see who he brings to summit, who

he will provide for RAR’s, what fun events the girls will love, and just getting to know

them!”

LA PLATALa Plata Basement

Kyle Keust“Next year I am really looking forward to us-ing the position of RA to build up my alter

ego as mild mannered college student Kyle Kuest, while saving

the world in between classes as a part of the

Justice League.”

DUPLEXES Logan Fowler

“Continuing to pre-serve CCU community through service to resi-dents! And making the duplexes the coolest

part of campus.”

Melanie Predolich“I’m excited to get to know each of them,

and have bbq’s in our backyard, go on ad-ventures, and have a great year of commu-nity together. I’m also thrilled to get to work with Logan Fowler!

The duplexes are going to be the place to be

next year!”

WEST CAMPUSMarley Burton

“I am looking forward to learning from all the residents. I can’t wait to spend time

with them, get to know them as well as the Residence Life Staff as a whole. God has crazy amazing things

in store for next year! “

Kyle Scott“What I am looking

forward to the most is seeing how God is go-ing to use me to be a

light to the upperclass-men on West Cam-

pus. I believe God has amazing things plan

for West Campus next year and I am excited to watch Him work!”

La Plata CaveJames Lewis

La Plata 3rd FloorTrey Gass

“I am excited to get to start a new stairwell and new traditions at

CCU.”

FEATURESVERITAS4 FEATURES

VERITAS 5

The film, Heaven is for Real is based on the book by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo Heaven is for Real, is aboutalittleboy’sjourneytoheaven and back, and howhis experiences affected his family, his community, andtheworld. Iwas given theopportunitytoviewthisfilmataprescreeningandIcan-notwait to see itagainwhen it is released in theatersApril 16, 2014.Thismoviewas fantastic! It waswellmadeandthecastingwasimpressivewith,GregKinnearasToddBurpo,KellyReillyasSonjaBurpo,andConnorCorumasColtonBurpo.TherewerealsoappearancesmadebyMargoMartindaleandThomasChurchaswell. Ifyou’vereadthebookitwasverysimilar.Iwasimpressedby howwell RandallWallace, the director,wasabletoportraythevisualaspects,thatweresocru-cialtothebook,withouttakingawayfromtheelementof imagination and mystery that cannot be attainedwhendescribingheaven.Thefilmalsopresentsseveraltopics that can easily be relatable to any life. There-fore, you will take away from the film anything thatyoudecidetoputintoit;meaningthatthisfilmisdefi-nitelya tool fordiscipleship,but itcanonly influenceyou asmuch as you allow yourself to be influenced.IfyouarepronetotearsthenIwouldsuggestbringingthetissues,forbothtearsofjoyandsadness.Igivethisfilma5outof 5 and recommend this for anyage! Ialsohighlyrecommendthebookthefilmisbasedon.

The film, Non-Stop involvesanairmarshal,LiamNeeson, who is forced intoaction on an internationalflight to London to preventan unknown passenger ontheflightfromsucceedingina terrorist plot. This moviewasintense!Itwasdefinitelya psychological thriller, andat the end youwill have totakeafewminutestoconnectallthecluesyoumissedwhilewatchingthefilm.IamahugefanofLiamNeesonandhewascastedwellasanairmarshal.Thefilmwasthoroughlyentertainingwithgreatactionscenes,plottwists,andoccasionalhumorallcon-densedononeinternationalflight.Thereisalsoasurpriseappearance by recent academy award winner, LupitaNyong'o.Myonlycritiquewouldbethattherewerenotquiteenoughcluesforyoutopickuponwhilewatchingthefilmforyoutoreally"figureitout"beforethebigre-veal.Butstill,itwasagreatmovie,soIgiveita4.5outof5.

ABOUTTHEREVIEWER: Jackie Riester is a current freshman pursuing a major in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Elemen-tary Education. She lives in Lighthouse Bottom Right (yes, the one with Gibbs peering out of the window). She loves mov-ies, and her hobby is writing movie reviews for Veritas and also on her website: jackieoshow.snaplauncher.com

There’squiteabitofcontroversysurroundingthemovieNoah,releasedlastFriday,March28.ThisislargelybecauseDar-renAronofsky’sNoah is nottheNoahyoulearnedaboutinSundayschool,oreveninchurch,forthatmatter.Therewon’tbeanygiraffeheadsstick-ingoutofthetopofabathtub-shapedboat,nocomically-lengthywhitebeardonNoah’sface,andnorainbowcoloringpageforyoutotakehometoyourmotherattheendofthemovie.I’llputitthisway:ifyouhaveissueswithNoahbeingdepictedasanavidenvironmental-ist,adrunkard,aMad-Max-style-warrior,andaditheringmadmanwhomisinterpretsGod’sinten-tions,andpreferthetwo-dimensional,flannelgraftversionofhischaracter,donotseethismovie. Fromtheoutset,someChristianspraisedthefilmforearnestlyat-temptingtocarrythroughthemajorbiblicalthemesofthestoryincludingfamily,love,sin,God’sjudgment,theneedforrighteousness,GodasCreator,andGod’smercy.Ontheotherhand,somethreatenedtoboycottit,condemningParamountforpromotingthefilmasa“closeadaptationoftheBiblicalstoryofNoah’sArk”,whileatthesametimeallowingthedirectortoomuchcreativelibertywiththebiblicalaccount.Tobefair,Paramountdidreleaseadisclaimertocovertheirbases,saying:

“The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artis-tic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people world-wide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis.”

Inthemonthsleadinguptoitsrelease,screeningsforfaith-based

audienceshostedbyPara-mountyieldeddishearten-ingresults(read:violentverbalattacks).Thecritics,whowereinitiallyexpect-edtobeNoah’sgreatestproponents,wereout-raged.TheyespeciallytookissuewithNoah’sfamily*,withtheeleven-foot-tallrock-likeangelswithsixarmsandnowingswhofallfromheavenandhelpNoahbuildtheark**,andthedark,broodingtoneofthemovie***.WhileAlGoreandPETAprobablyhavingapartytocelebrateitssemi-liberal,soberenvironmentalmessage,GlennBeckdescribesthefilmas“disgusting”,“pro-animal”,and“stronglyanti-human”with“noredeemingvalue”,anddiscouragesfaith-basedaudiencesfromattendingascreening.“Ifyou’reaChristianyoushouldnotseethismovie!“isbeingchantedacrossallsocialmediaplatforms.Sothequestionremains:shouldwesupportNoah,orshouldweleaveittobeovercomebythedelugeofcriticismfromtheChurch?(Icouldn’tresistafloodjoke.) IcontendthatiftheChristiancommunityisgoingtokeepbludgeon-inganyandallearnestattemptsbytheoutsideworldtoappealtous,weshouldat the very least bewillingandabletoofferalternativesofthesamecaliberandqual-ity.Iwouldratherhaveaslightly-misguidedbutwell-madeinterpretationofaBiblestoryonthebigscreen(sothatIcanthinkcriticallyaboutit),thannoBiblestoriesatall. Iwouldalsocon-tend that those outside the Churchcanbeas(ifnotmore)earnestandtruthfulindepictingGod’sword.Wecan’tbesoquicktodemonizeeveryattemptofthe“secular”worldtosharein“our”world.Thereisno“us“or“them“;thetextoftheBibleisnotonly“ours”,butcanbe“theirs”,too.Further,theChurchisnottheonlyentitythatcanextracttruthsfromScripture,norisittheonly

vesselGodcanusetodis-seminateHistruth.Lestweforget,Godusedadon-key,amurderer,andanadulterer.HesaidthatHecouldevengettheactualrockstosingHispraises.WhydowedoubtthatHecanalsouseanatheist? Noah’sco-screen-writerAriHandelsaysthat their interpretation of thestorywaslike,“...adialogueamongstpeople.Youseequestionsposedbythestory,what’sun-answered,whatseemstobeconfusingaboutit.Itmeansthatthestoryisalive.”So,whichengagesmorefruitfuldiscussionsinthesecularworldaboutChristianityandGod’splaceinourlives:filmslikeNoah,whichwasmadebyadirectorofdubiousreligiousaffilia-tion,butdaredtoretellthetaleofNoahinawaythatcanappealtobelieverandunbelieveralike,ORGod’s Not Dead,afilmwhichwasdescribedbyThe A.V. Clubastheequivalentofnotjust“preachingtothechoir,“but,“apastor,star-inginamirror,preachingtohimself”? Whydoweactwithzealtopreservebibli-calliteralism****,inlieuofpromotingtheunshakabletruthsofGod’sword?AndwilltheChurchbewillingtoengagewithculture,orwillweslinkawayfromit,too afraid to even touch it withaten-footpolebe-cause it threatens to offend us?

Ipraywechoosethefor-mer. ___*namelythatheentersthearkwithhisunmarriedsons,andsomegirlnamedIla**WhoseoriginmayormaynothaverootsintheBible,de-pendingonyourinterpretationofScripture.Formoreontheangels,checkoutNoah: For the Cruelty of Men,agraphicnovelwrittenbyAronofskybeforethefilmwasmade.***WhichshouldbeexpectedfromthedirectorofRequiem For a Dream and Black Swan, especiallyinourdark,post-9/11world****Truthfully,ifeveryBiblestoryweredepictedliterally,theresultwouldbeinappropriatetoshowintheaters.

BY Jacqulynne RiesterStaff Writer

BY Jacqulynne RiesterContributing Writer

REVIEW: Heaven is for Real

REVIEW: Non-Stop

OPINION: The Noah ControversyIn defense of the “least biblical“ Bible flickBY DANYA GRANADO Staff Writer

FEATURESVERITAS6

“My wish really lifted my spirits and showed me that there are people who care enough to provide hope through my

health challenges.”- Abi Gordon

SEE more pictures from the dance

Connect to Make-a-wish

Did you know that there is one dance a se-mester at CCU? The spring dance, or February Formal, was on Thursday, Febru-ary 27th in Downtown Denver at the prestigious Seawell Grand Ballroom located in the Denver Cen-ter for the Performing Arts (DCPA). The ballroom’s star-filled canopy ignited the room, and a 4-foot eye-catching disco ball shined and shimmered above the dance floor. An interesting activity at the Feb Formal was a virtual graffiti wall where guests got pictures taken and then digitally painted and decorated their images. If you wish to view photos of the dance, check out the CCU Student Activities Facebook page. Proceeds from the Feb Formal benefitted the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foun-dation is an international non-profit organization that grants wishes to anyone under 18 who has a life-threatening medical con-dition. There are four main categories of wishes that the foundation grants: I wish to have, I wish to go, I wish to meet, and I wish to give. CCU freshman Abi Gordon was a Make-A-Wish Am-bassador for the Feb Formal, as she was granted a wish a few years ago. Make-A-Wish Ambassadors are for-mer wish recipients who have been invited to spread the word of magic among a variety of audiences who often act as a bridge be-tween fundraisers and the foundation. Abi was be-stowed a wish from the or-ganization because of a he-reditary condition she has been battling since she was born called cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic, life-threaten-ing disease that causes the production of abnormally thick mucus which leads to blockages that result in re-spiratory infections. When mucus clogs the lungs, in-fections develop that even-tually ensue respiratory

failure. Abi has undergone countless surgeries, numer-ous medical procedures, and several lung infections her entire life because of CF. Abi clarifies, “I have two to four lung treatments a day to clear mucus in or-der to prevent infection in my lungs. CF also impacts my digestive system in that my pancreas does not pro-duce the enzymes neces-sary for proper digestion; it causes serious stomach and intestinal problems, which is why I take enzymes with every meal I eat.” In all, Abi ingests over 50 pills a day to treat all of the problems CF instigates in her body. In April 2011, Abi

was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She wished to have a shop-ping spree. Abi received technological devices she’s enjoyed using for school and everyday life, such as a laptop, an iPad, a printer, a camera, and an Xbox 360. These devices ease and hearten Abi every time she uses them at the hospital or at home during treatments. The icing on the cake was a limousine ride to dinner with her family at her favor-ite restaurant, Old Chicago. Today, the life expectancy for someone with CF is late 30s to early 40s. At this point, no cure exists for CF. Abi hopes and prays that

one day CF will stand for “Cure Found.” She appre-ciatively indicates, “Make-A-Wish has made a huge impact on my life. My wish really lifted my spirits and showed me that there are people who care enough to provide hope through my health challenges.” Due to Abi’s granted wish, she was thrilled to find out CCU was working to benefit the foundation. She commented, “As a wish recipient, I have experi-enced firsthand the joy and great encouragement that comes with being granted a wish. For the majority of the youth granted a wish, their experience is usually

a positive turning point with their health problem because of hope for the future and fulfillment of a dream come true.” By sup-porting the Make-A-Wish Foundation, thousands of kids and teens have the opportunity to overcome their medical struggles. Abi is very grateful for the wish she received. Due to Make-A-Wish’s in-spirational influence on her life, she wants to en-gage in the organization to help spread hope and encouragement to other youth with life-threatening medical conditions. Cur-rently, Abi is relishing col-lege at CCU. She is work-ing toward a degree in health sciences with the vision of becoming a pedi-atric oncology nurse. She valiantly strives toward this aspiration every day de-spite the health problems she constantly endures. If you attended the Feb Formal, you benefitted this extraordinary organiza-tion! Please consider getting further involved in support-ing Make-A-Wish, and go online to research ways to help, such as a fundraising activity or volunteer oppor-tunity, at www.wish.org.

CAMPUSVERITAS 7

CCU February Formal Benefits the Make-A-Wish FoundationProceeds this year benefit a cause that has helped one of our ownBY ALI WEBERStaff Writer

ABOVE: Freshman Abi Gordon (right) poses with her twin sister, Ali Gordon at the Feb formalBELOW: Abi Gordon on the shopping spree she received from the Make-A-Wish Foundation

“Starting our program with our desire to ‘do it well; do it right; and do it for

His Glory,’ has been key to God blessing us.”

- Dr. Leland

BELOW: This year’s team poses with their awards at nationals (Photo credit: Megan Maruyama)

Colorado Christians’ men’s and wom-en’s basketball teams wrapped their sea-sons up at the NCCAA tournaments. The ladies ended their season in the NCCAA Central Regional tournament with a loss to Mid America Christian University, 71-78. The ladies finished their regular season with a 15-12 record. Men’s basketball was fortunate enough to make it all the way to the NCCAA national tour-nament, notching a bid after a loss in the cen-tral regional tournament. The national tourna-ment guaranteed a three game minimum, so the boys may have lost their first bracket game but they were able to edge out a win over Carver College, 88-82 to place 7th in the tournament. The boys left the tournament with a 1-2 record, closing their season with a final record of 19-14.

For the 2013-2014 season, the CCU Speech and Debate team finished in 1st place in Debate Di-vision 1 at the National Christian College Debate Tournament, making them national champions for the second year in a row. As if that achievement is not im-pressive enough, consider this: just two years ago, after the 2011-2012 sea-son, CCU finished 20th at that same tournament. The program is only a few years old, and that sort of expo-nential improvement is rare. So who gets the credit for the team’s suc-cess? “Short answer: God. And that isn't a joke,” says Dr. Chris Leland, Director of Debate. “I am convinced that starting our program with our desire to do it well; do it right; and do it for His Glory, has been key to God blessing us. There is also a core group of students who work hard, step up in com-petitive situations, have good minds, and like to engage with other people.” CCU’s debate pro-gram is a fairly recent de-velopment in school his-tory. “There have been student run efforts of a speech and debate team that date back as far as the early 1980's at CCU,” says Leland. “But, there has not been a fully devel-oped program until 2011.”In 2011, CCU’s debate pro-gram had just four team members, and gained one that first year. Only one of the four had ever done any form of competitive speech and debate. Yet for begin-ners, the small team still performed quite well. “We had some of our first suc-cess in that initial year and then we took off. Having coached at the top levels, I had no idea what to ex-pect, but for the first year, they exceeded my expec-tations,” beams the coach. Now two years later, the team boasts a roster with over four times the amount of members than it started with, and continues to ex-

cel in competition. Contrary to the pop-ular sports dictum, winning isn’t “the only thing” for CCU Speech and Debate. Though Dr. Leland does believe that his debaters have an obligation to com-pete well, he also empha-sizes that each competitor must present themselves in a manner that properly represents the name of the university as well as the God they believe in. “Do your best, do it in a win-some way, and keep your cool,” is the mantra he re-peatedly recites to his de-baters. “The wins will take care of themselves as long as we handle ourselves well and learn from each round of competition.” Having previously coached at secular univer-sities, Dr. Leland found joy in the transition to coach-ing at Colorado Christian University. “The caliber of student is higher, their basic commitment to the Lord is higher, our ability to use the speech and debate community as our mission field is wide open,” he says. But competing as a Christian institution in a secular arena is not without its challenges. “It makes it harder in some ways, since most of the secu-lar world uses language we deem unprofessional and out of line; some of the material and topics other schools may choose to present is very worldly; and some of the behaviors of other teams is below our standards,” says Leland.

Yet because of that restriction, there is an op-portunity for the team to witness. “...We get to be a light in a dark world,” says Leland. “To be respected as Christians in this set-ting, we have to do things with excellence and then present ourselves in win-some and attractive ways. The best comment I've gotten from other coaches this year is that their stu-dents enjoy competing against our team... [That’s a] great first step to be-ing that light.” The team will travel regionally along the front range this coming fall. CCU will host Christian College Nationals on campus in late March of 2015, and the debate team will again be attending the Pi Kappa Delta national tournament at the University of Ohio in early March of 2015. The team will be exploring some new types of events and styles of debate next year, so new tournaments may be included in the travel schedule to allow for that expanded competition.In addition to the coach-ing assistance the team already receives from CCU alumni and former debaters Matthew Lenell and Caleb Rawson, CCU will also welcome a new Asst. Director and teacher into the Communications Department next year. Though the team will lose three seniors (Victoria "Gabbie" Schneider, Ha-ley Littleton, and Andrew Wyckoff), it will more than

likely add six freshman in addition to any other cur-rent students who would like to join the team. With the towering stack of individual and teams wins that the pro-gram has brought home this semester, it would be hard to pick just one favor-ite moment. The one that sticks out in Dr. Leland’s mind is watching freshman Bethany Foster’s reaction to winning first place at a tour-nament awards ceremony. “My favorite mo-ment this year was to watch one of our freshman competitors in Impromptu Speaking, Bethany Foster (someone who had never done competitive speech before) beat out students from other schools...in finals to listen to the announcer click off the names of the other five members of our team in fifth, fourth, third, second place and then she realized she had won. She lit up! I remember having a conversation with her and

her mother at the beginning of school and her wonder-ing if she could even do it. I turned to her on our way to the van after that awards ceremony and said, ‘I told you that you could!’ ” That is just the na-ture of speech and debate; even if you have little to no experience, there is still a great chance that you can succeed. “If someone has a desire to learn how to do this activity, I can teach them how,” says Leland. “They still have to get up and do it, but in terms of the skill development there is a lot that can be taught.”

For more information, contact Dr. Leland at

cleland@ccu.edu

Cougars basketball comes to an end

No Argument: CCU’s debate team is only getting betterFEATURESVERITAS4

At the end of an award-winning season, Dr. Leland discusses the team’s success

Basketball season for both men’s and women’s teams ends on the up

SPORTSVERITAS8

BY ASHLEY BEHABETZStaff Writer

BY DANYA GRANADOStaff Writer