Morningside Connect

Morningside College sweethearts have been sharing the love this month. We have had multiple couples share their love story with us and we would like to share them with you.

The couples have shared with us how they met. Along with photos of of them back then and now.

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Tim and I met when I was on my college visit in 2007. The volleyball girls took me to “The Football House.” That’s where it all started! I’ve always had a thing for quarterbacks! After meeting, we stayed in touch on social media. Tim had no idea I decided to come to Morningside College because of him! Fall of ’07 Tim and I would bump into one another on campus, sporting events and parties! We started dating in November 2007, we were married in May 2011; and now in February of 2015, we have a 13 month old daughter who is our whole world! Thank you Mside for helping me find my love!

 Christina Richard ’11

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Jason and I met in 2000 while he was at Morningside – I was headed to UNI but after coming home every weekend to see him I knew it was short lived. He persuaded me to transfer to Morningside and the rest is history! We lived in Omaha for 10 years, had 3 boys there, and then came back to the Sioux City area and welcomed our little girl. We talk about Morningside often with our kiddos and would love for them to attend some day!

Cheri Gehling ’03

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Tyler and I met my freshman year (2004) in college choir and we will celebrate our 5th year of marriage this June with our two little girls age 3 and 9 months!

Amanda Schnuckel ’08

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First time I noticed Marilyn, she was working in the Commons on the food service line. They say the best way to a man’s heart…nope, it was the mini skirt! I asked her to join me at an “ice cream social”. And, that was that. She is wearing her DZ pledge beanie in the “then” pic. Now pic with our daughter Marissa.

Charlie Leissler IV ‘ 75

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Ray and I met in Morningside marching band in 1980 and started dating the next spring. We were married in 1984 and have two grown daughters – one is a 2010 Morningside grad. We enjoy attending Homecoming festivities whenever we are able to make the trip.

 Jan Harris ‘ 83

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Andy and I met in the 2006-07 school year. We were both members of the track team. After almost 8 years together, 4.5 years married, and surviving our 1.5 year old twins, we couldn’t be happier.

Jordan Edison ’09

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Chris and I met at Morningside in December of 2006. He graduated in 2008 and I graduated in 2010. We got married October 1, 2011. We now live in Des Moines with our 5 month old baby girl.

Katie Rae Lee ’10

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Austin and I met during RA training at the YMCA ropes course in 2009. He proposed to me in front of the pergola in 2011 and we got married in 2012. This past December we welcomed our handsome little boy into the world. Thank goodness for Morningside College, where we fell in love!

Kelsey Todd ’12

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Cameron Scott and I met during my freshman summer at Mside College in 1997. He was going to be a junior, and I, a sophomore. Cameron played basketball for Morningside College. We dated all through the rest of our college years. Cameron graduated in 1999, and I graduated in 2000. We then married in 2003. We now have three boys together and continue to live in the Sioux City area.

Nicole Scott ’00

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Jason and I met at freshman moving in weekend in 2006. We started dating shortly after. We were married in 2010 after graduation and Jason joined the military in 2011. I have stayed in MN while he was stationed in many different places. He has re enlisted for another four years and I will finally join him in May. We are so grateful for our time at Morningside, and can’t wait to visit again with a family.

Phia Magill ’10

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I met Ashley(Danner) Heine freshman year in Professor Reid’s The Examined Life. Ash and I had many long, late night conversations under the clock tower. We officially started dating at the Homecoming dance, October 3rd, 2005, I purposed October 3rd, 2008. Keeping the Homecoming tradition alive we got married October 3rd, 2009 and stopped by Taste of Morningside and the clock tower. Now, after almost a decade together we always celebrate our anniversary at Morningside underneath the clocktower. When it works out that Homecoming falls on the weekend of October 3rd, it’s an added bonus, like last year when our youngest daughter got to celebrate her first Homecoming on our anniversary.

Russell Heine ’09

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Throughout the course of a student’s stay at Morningside, faculty or staff on campus (including myself and Gene Ambroson), may reach out to alumni regarding connecting with students, providing targeted career advice, or even sharing job leads.

Whenever providing networking contacts or job leads for students, it is important to make sure you feel comfortable with the process.  When working with students you don’t know well, I would recommend taking some time to get to know them via phone, e-mail or in person, as well as have them send you their resume.  This allows you to get to know them better, while getting a handle on what their overall goals and aspirations are.

Don’t be afraid to ask a student to do some research and get back to you, or to get a recommendation from a faculty member.  This can be a good indication if the student will be able to follow up with others in a timely and respectful manner, and works toward you feeling more comfortable in recommending or referring someone for a position.

Remember that your job in this respect is to be a facilitator and a connector.  It is ultimately up to the student to impress the contact with their experience, personality, and skills; your involvement is to simply connect the student to the person/opportunity.

If you don’t have any current contacts or job leads, consider offering students resources and places you would recommend to find additional networking contacts or jobs in their preferred industry, including professional groups, industry memberships, or community events.

Remember that networking and providing job leads is a two way street.  Perhaps you or your company could benefit from the input and fresh perspective of a current college student.  Additionally, if you are able to refer an amazing student with one of your professional networking contacts, it can produce dividends for you and your company in the future. The end goal is to establish a mutually beneficial relationship.

Finally, if one of your professional networking contacts asks you for ideas in finding an intern or full time employee after graduation, utilize your resources!  Career Services is happy to promote these kinds of positions, and can even incorporate resume collections or faculty/staff endorsements.  Just contact Stacie at hays@morningside.edu or (712) 274-5032.

Stacie Hays

To make an appointment, please visit www.kroneadvisingcenter.genbook.com.

We are delighted to share with you, in the edition of the E-Newsletter, Valentines stories of alumni who, while at Morningside College, met, fell in love, and married.

What you need to know about Valentine’s Day.

With the help of the History Channel – here’s a brief look at Valentines Day:

The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

Did You Know?

Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!! AND CONGRATS TO THOSE SHARING THEIR “LOVE STORY!”

As the Alumni Board President, Adam Lloyd leads a group of alumni in decision making for current students and alumni with direct relationship to the college.

“We are trying to bring the college experience back to everyone,” said Lloyd. “We want people to stay engage with the school.”

The Chapter Program was first launch with the Denver Chapter and others programs soon followed. The chapters were started to help keep alumni engaged with the college.

“It’s just a place for the alumni to meet and gather and bring back memories,” said Lloyd. “That allows them to talk about their experiences.”

At the same time it allows the alumni board to show alumni the changes that have occurred on campus. They can be kept up-to-date with photos and stories of what has taken place back on campus.

“The Chapter Program is a way for us to bring the school back to them,” said Lloyd. “While I am in this role, I am going to do as much as I can because it’s been fun to be apart of.”

Lloyd graduated from Morningside College in 2004 with a double major in business administration and accounting. He came to Morningside College because, “it just felt like home.”

With all of this love in the air, we would love to hear how you met your sweetheart. Was it love at first sight? Did they take your breathe away? Are you Morningside College sweethearts? We would love to hear your story.

Comment below to let us know.

Morningside College Student Government President, Jack O’Brien, has been involved on campus since day one.

He started out his freshman year as a Freshman Representative on the Senate. The following year he was the Student Advocate. This year he leads student government as the president. However, that is not all he is involved in.

Jack also serves as the Sinfonia Fraternity’s secretary and is a resident assistant in the Plex. Outside of campus he is the Woodbury County Democrats treasurer.

During his time at Morningside College, Jack has made multiple changes on campus. He was heavily involved with starting a Transfer Student Union to help transfer students transition on to campus and feel more at home. This was done in an effort to help lower the transfer student drop out rates. There has also been a boost in groups on campus. The organizations available to join jumped from 27 to 42.

“Doing this job, I think this has been the biggest impact I have had on campus,” said Jack. Being in a position of authority and having this lucky position of getting to talk to students and articulate them to the board, faculty, and staff.”

Jack was also involved with the grand opening of the Krone Advising Center and the Buhler Rohlfs Hall. He was one of the selected people who got to cut the opening ribbon.

“That was very cool to be apart of that aspect of Morningside’s history, opening the first building in how many decades,” said Jack.

Jack’s days are filled with meetings, board meetings, classes, homework, work, and other involvements. Even when he gets the chance for some down time he still tries to make that time as productive as possible.

“Going to board meetings with the board of directors this last semester was really inspiring,” said Jack. It was really cool to represent something I really cared about.“

Despite his busy schedule, he has made the Dean’s List every semester. He also earned the opportunity to travel to D.C. for the summer of 2014 for an internship with the Senator Harkin. There he worked on labor and women’s issues.

“I got to meet nearly all of the senators last summer,” said Jack. “D.C. was really positive and productive.”

Jack has been involved with politics in multiple ways since he was six-years-old. It started out with him stapling signs and has grown into more since then.

“I remember when I was like six my Dad took me to campaign with him for Gore,” said Jack.

After graduation in May of 2016, Jack plans to attend law school. After he receives his law degree, he wants to work with child protection or sexual assault cases.

Many couples choose to have their engagement or wedding pictures taken on the lush green space at Morningside College. Rosanne Lienhard Plante and Chad Plante had their engagement photos taken in May 2014 on campus. They were wed June 21, 2014.

On January 10, 2015, their engagement pictures featuring Morningside College’s campus were selected by ‘The Learned Bride’ website to be featured on their engagement page. The website showcases wedding and engagement photography that shows the beauty of a college campus or museum. They also feature love stories that have a connection with educational experiences.

“I selected the Morningside campus for our engagement photos,” said Rosanne, “because it is ‘home’ for me and because of the beauty of the campus in the springtime.”

Rosanne graduated from Morningside College in 1993 with a degree in history. Both she and Chad are college instructors at Western Iowa Tech. She is the lead instructor/advisor for the paralegal studies program and Chad is the lead instructor/advisor for the wind energy program.

Click Here to go to The Learn Bride website.

Morningside College Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Heather L. Reid, will be giving her shoptalk entitled Philostratus’ Gymnasticus: The Ethics of an Athletic Aesthetic Thursday, January 22 at 11:30 AM.

The lecture will be live online at that time.

For more information about her lecture, Click Here, to visit her page.

Let us know what you think of it as you watch it!

“To me, being a Morningside Mustang means putting forth a good attitude, going above and beyond expectations, and being a go-getter,” said Alex.

As graduation for him is just around the corner, we look back at his time here at Morningside College and he has shown through his academic career what it takes to be a Mustang.

Alex has had the honor of getting his photographs published in two different editions of the Morningside Kiosk. He has grown his experience and knowledge by attending WPPI, Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Conference.

“I had the opportunity,” said Alex, “to showcase my photography work to a professional who provided beneficial feedback.”

Along with WPPI, Alex has had the opportunity to attend photo trips that have been offered by photography classes and Photo Club. These trips help to expand portfolios and photo archives.

Besides the opportunities, one of the main reasons Alex chose to come to Morningside College was because of the teachers and staff. “They displayed an interest in developing students to achieve high standards,” said Alex “and create valuable relationships through networking.”

Morningside College Alumni in Japan had an informal gathering on January 6 at TGI Friday in Shibuya, Tokyo. Nami Toyotani, a 2003 Morningside graduate, organized this gathering. She chose the location for its American atmosphere and food.

The idea of gathering with other Morningside College graduates in the Japan area came from Yumiko Guelcher.

“When I said let’s get together with other Morningside College graduates in the Tokyo area, Nami volunteered to contact everyone,” said Yumiko.

Yumiko is the wife of Morningside professor Dr. Greg Guelcher. He teaches world, Asian, and Middle Eastern history, imperialism, and Vietnam history. Yumiko used to teach in the Sioux City School Districts as an ESL teacher, which she did for ten years. In August 2014, she took on a new adventure as a full time Japanese teacher at an international school, the American School in Japan, located in Tokyo.

Thanks to the age of technology and social media she has been able to stay in touch with many Morningside Alumni living in Japan.

Within the first three months, she met other Morningside Alumni that live in Japan, Tomomi Konno, Akira Tanaka, Kana Maeno, and Nami Toyotani.

“Nami Toyotani was always good with people at Morningside and she still is. I think she was one of the officers of the International Students Society at Morningside,” said Yumiko.

“My daughter Alyssa, grew up with many of the Japanese Morningside students, as Greg and I often invited them over to our house fro Japanese dinners and conversations,” said Yumiko. “Nami has been like Alyssa’s big sister.”

The ages of attendees ranged from the Class of 2003 to the Class of 2009. “We all shared fond memories of our time at Morningside College,” said Yumiko, “and talked about mutual friends, professors, classes. And the fund things they did.”

“For me it was neat to watch these alumni, many of whom came to Morningside at age 18, now matured and independent. They have their completed degrees, started careers, and continued to explore and build their own lives. The experience at Morningside seems to have given them a strong foundation for that!” said Yumiko.