Official student newspaper since 1944 November 2015 TrevEchoesOnline.

com

Growth in student body

increases diversity
BY

NEWS

Changes in
fall chapel
schedule

PAGE 3

ANDREW RANEY & BAILEY BASHAM

CONTRIBUTOR & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

FEATURES

Record-breaking enrollment on campus for

two years in a row is
accomplishing another
goal of the Trevecca admissions team: an increase in diversity on
campus.
Traditional
under-

Senior theatre
major takes on
Oxford

PAGE 8

OPINION

Editorial: a
look at crime
on campus

wehavewantarmsto

open wide AND

education
for anybody
that wants
to better
themselves.

graduate enrollment has

increased 12 percent
from last years recordbreaking 1,115 students.

A look at the numbers

Treveccas new students this year alone
represent 33 states and
eight countries.
While the student

PAGE 6

Follow Us
(l-r) Senior Barigbonyie Ikagbara, freshman Alyssa Landreth, freshman Greg Fritjofson and freshman
Uy Nguyen study together in the lobby of the Jernigan Student Center. Photo by Grifn Dunn.

/TrevEchoesOnline

body still consists of

roughly 60 percent caucasian students, overall
the student population
is more diverse than in
years past.
This year, African
American students make
up 16 percent of the student population, as compared to last years 14
percent and 12.5 percent
in 2013.
The Hispanic student
population at Trevecca

@TrevEchoes

has doubled in the past

year from 3 to 6 percent.
Additionally, immigrant
students without legal
status now make up 1
percent of the student
body, as opposed to .8
percent last year.

Support on campus
Futuro is student organization on campus
that was created in the
early 2000s as a network
to help the Hispanic stu-

NEWS

College students
report high porn use
BY TOM LOHRMANN

STAFF WRITER
The use of pornography among
college students is on the rise nationwide.
In a study by researchers at
Brigham Young University, 21 percent of all college students reported
watching porn every day or almost
every day.

Its really challenging [to address]

because obviously it is a big issue.
Nationwide statistics tell us that
the number of people who are using
pornography is just staggering, said
Associate Chaplain Heather Daugherty.
Daugherty and her colleagues in
the chaplains ofce, counseling

Continued on PAGE 2

dent population with

professional
development, marketing skills
and internship opportunities.
Part of the program
and the focus is to help
Hispanic students have
somewhere to feel like
theyre at home, like
theyre
with
family,
while helping them get
connected and build

Continued on Page 4

@TrevEchoes
TrevEchoesOnline.com
TrevEchoes@gmail.com
TNU Events App

INDEX
NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

FEATURES

Trevecca sophomore
connected to Syrian crisis
BY ABBY DUREN

CONTRIBUTOR
Lexi Sunbergs day-to-day life at Trevecca looks like any other student: attending classes, showing up for work and hanging out with
friends. But her mind and heart are in Budapest, where her family is on
the front lines of the Syrian refugee crisis.
The Trevecca sophomore is continually tuned in to the latest updates
and developments of the crisis, which has forced 350,000 Syrians to seek
asylum in various parts of the Middle East and Europe.
My mom is texting me updates as theyre happening, so I may be look-

PAGE 8

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

NE WS

pornography story continued from page 1

Pornography is monitored
on campus by Trevecca Information Technology Ser-

is
This
something

that we as
a campus...
know is
an issue
and that
we need to
be doing
something
about it.

to pornographic sites.
We all hold porn por-

a students life, including

their performance in school
and their mental and spiritual health.
What pornography does
is that it treats other people as objects, so we begin
to relate to other people as
objects to give us what we
want. Theres someone on
a screenThey become the
object of what we desire. Its
an objectication of other
people which is the opposite of what were called to
do in Christianity [where we
are called] to give dignity
and respect to other people,
added Daugherty.
The use of pornography
can even affect the pathways in the brain.
Every time youre using
porn, you set up this neural
pathway in your brain that if
you feel that feeling, immediately you get triggered to
look at pornography. In that
moment, its retraining your
brain to identify something
else that it can use, to make

BrainBuddyisafreeappthatisavaiblefordownloadintheiPhoneandAndroidappstores.Studentscan
also check out Fight the New Drug and Your Brain on Porn online.
vices. ITS uses the contentltering system iboss to
oversee specic categories
of websites.
There are a couple thousand categories of content,
and if a website has been
tagged as having that particular type of content its
either allowed through or
blocked. Anything pornographic, illicit...things like
that would be blocked, said
Chief Information Ofcer

tals in our hands with our

phones, and there are a lot
of ways to access pornography [so that the university
doesnt even know] about it
because [students arent] on
the campus network, or they
go off campus and look at it,
said Sarah Hopkins, director
of counseling services.

How it hurts
Pornography use can affect numerous facets of

a new neural pathway, said

Hopkins.

It is not a gender issue

Studies conducted in the
last few years show that
men arent alone in this issue-- pornography use is on
the rise among women.
BYU reported that of the
813 students surveyed in
their study, 49 percent of
female students considered
viewing pornography as an

N OVEMBER 2015

6:30 p.m.
Boone Convocation Center
Community Conversation : Porn

16

Male & female students will

meet with a psychologist or
counselor of their
respective gender.
acceptable way to express
ones sexuality. Additionally,
31 percent reported viewing
pornography while three
percent reported daily use.
Daugherty and Hopkins
conrmed this trend while
noting that the primary
reason many people use
pornography is as a coping
mechanism. Chair of Social
and Behavioral Sciences
Amanda
Grieme-Bradley
added that women may also
be using from an emotional
perspective.
Historically, women [from
a sexual perspective] really
get into fantasy; thats why
all great romance books
are writtenbut now were
seeing this addition to the
actual physical, so when
women are looking at pornography, its typically a
combination between the
physical and some type of
fantasy romance element,
said Grieme-Bradley.
Hopkins agrees.
Overall, nationally were
seeing an increase in the
amount of pornography that
women are using. Sometimes I think it has to do
with how readily available it
is to all of us. It works with
the reward centers in our
brain the same as it does for
men in that were going to
get an increase in dopamine,
the same way that a man is.
If you have easy access to
it, then youre naturally going to see a rise in that, said
Hopkins.

Students who are struggling with a pornography

addiction can seek help
through the counseling
center, the chaplains ofce
and resident directors or as-

Its an
objectification
of other people
which is the
opposite of
what were
called to do in
christianity.

How does TNU track it?

Tim Johnson.
ITS is unable to monitor
smartphone or off-network
usage and cannot see attempts to access sites that
are deemed inappropriate.
All iboss shows is that access has not been permitted

center and in student development are working to

establish on-going conversations and safe places for
students to talk about the
issue.
We decided this year
that it was a big enough issue that were going to talk
about it in chapel. We hope
that will begin a conversation that will happen in
some other places as well,
that people can have places
to start talking about it and
nding help, said Daugherty. This is something that
we as a campus know is an
issue and that we need to be
doing something about it. So
this is a step in that direction.
The ease of accessibility
and the de-stigmatization of
the use of pornography may
contribute to a rise in use.

MONDAY

sistants.
We are not the porn police
at the counseling center-were available if someone
decides they want help with
that problem. We want to be
a support for them. Were
here for individual sessions,
and we have people that
are really passionate about
working with people who
have issues with pornography, said Hopkins. Theres
a lot of things that students
can use if theyre not ready
to seek counselingThere
are great apps out there and
great websites where you
can actually be a part of an
online community of people
that understand what its
like to struggle with pornography.

21% of college students

reported using porn
everyday or almost
everyday.

2007 Brigham Young University study

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

NE WS

Trevecca student
robbed on campus

Chapel times limited this fall

BY MANON LANE

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Changes in the chapel schedule mean there are less opportunities this year for students to
earn chapel credit.
Alternate Monday evenings
at 6:30 p.m. replace the midweek service previously held on
Wednesday mornings.
Trevecca students are required
to attend 24 chapels per semester.
While the number of required
credits has not changed, the
change in the chapel schedule
has lessened the number of attendance opportunities from 44
in fall semester 2014, to 38 in fall
semester 2015.
The decision to adjust the
schedule and offer six fewer
chapels was made by the chaplains office and student development officials in response to student feedback that the chaplains
office received over the last few
years.
Students offered feedback
that they didnt understand why
Trevecca requires chapel or that it
is really random, Daugherty said.
In reading the feedback, University Chaplain Tim Green and
Daugherty realized there were so
many chapel services being offered that it became easy to randomly pick services out of con-

Director of Security Norm Robinson speaks with Trevecca students about how to
stay safe on campus following the Oct. 16 robbery. Photo by Grifn Dunn.
BY M ANON L ANE & O LIVIA K ELLEY
where thats concerned, said DawSENIOR STAFF WRITER & ONLINE EDITOR

Annie Thweatt is still replaying in

her mind the events from the night
she was followed by three people and
then robbed on campus.
The Trevecca sophomore elementary education major was walking
near Boone Business Building with
a friend on Friday, Oct. 16 when she
realized people were following them.
One of the suspects grabbed her purse
in an attempt to steal it. She held on
to the purse, while the other suspects
came to help with the robbery. One
of the suspects put his hands around
her throat, according to a Metro Police incident report.
The strap on the purse broke and
the suspects ran off with it.
We did all the precautions
walked together in the light and
turned and looked them in the eye,
she recounts. We just kept walking
instead of turning right and going
into the clinic or up to the doors of it.
If we did that right away, wed probably be fine.
Metro Police are still searching
for the suspects, and no arrests have
been made.
According to Treveccas 2015 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report,
the biggest security issue on campus
is theft.
The average number of cases per
year ranges between six and 12, according to Greg Dawson, Captain of
University Security.
Its the more common occurring
crime; its not that its running rampant on campus. Traditionally, we
have 20 or less incidents a year; occasionally it will fluctuate, but thats
it period, said Dawson.
Most of the theft issues on campus
are internal, not external, meaning
that more often than not, it is someone from within the community committing the crime.
I know were a Christian campus
and would like to believe that everyones like-minded, but not everyone
here is necessarily on the same page

son. Some people are tempted that

way.
Security has taken extra precautions since the incident including
more patrols on campus, more monitoring of the area around Boone and
asking Metro Police to patrol more
frequently.
The gates near Boone to Murfreesboro Road close at 6 p.m. to reduce
traffic from off campus as well.
That way it kind of limits [people] to coming in the main entrance,
Dawson said.
Dawson recommends locking the
door when leaving a dorm or apartment, not leaving money or valuables lying around, and even taking
valuables along when going to the
restroom in a public place on campus.
Its inconvenient to pack these
things up and take them with you,
but there are people who sit there and
wait for the opportunity; these are
thefts of opportunity, said Dawson.
Be aware of whats going on around
you when youre walking around
campus try not to just be buried in
your phone scrolling through Facebook. Youll never know if someone is
walking up on you, said Dawson.

Be aware of what is happening around you.

Vary your route. Dont be

predictable.

Dont wear headphones while

walking.

Keep one hand free. Nothing you are carrying is worth

your life-- Drop it and run.

Wear bright colored or reective clothing.

Chapel Requirement Fines:

If a student fails to meet
the required 24 chapels in a
semester they will be ned.

1st absence:

$10

2nd absence: $15

3rd absence:

$20

Additional: $10 each

of community life, said he understands that adjusting to fewer opportunities for credit can be hard.
I do recognize that its a little
more difficult and frustrating for
the first year, especially the first
semester when students are trying to adjust to [the changes], he
said.
Chapel and community are
a part of the Trevecca culture
and student curriculum, Spraker

Chapel oportunities offered per semester

Numbers provided by the Trevecca Ofce of Student Development.

venience, and in doing so, miss
the purpose of the overall theme.
Even though Tim and I, because we were at all of the chapels,
had a real sense of a flow and direction, it was really not discernible to anyone else, said Daugherty. By lowering the number of
chapel options, it meant that there
was much more cohesiveness to
peoples chapel experience, so you
know what the theme is and what
were talking about,
Some students find the new
schedule more difficult to manage with work and school commitments.
Morgan McCranie, a senior
special education major, has a
Monday night class from 6p.m. to
9 p.m. and a job that prevents her
from attending the Tuesday and
Thursday chapels required to ob-

Street Safety Tips

tain her credits.

Wednesday has been the only
chapel I could really go to. That
transition of having it, and now
not having it at all, has made it
where I cant. [Right] now Ive
only got seven chapel credits, so
its been a real struggle, said McCranie.
Matt Spraker, associate dean

said. He suggests that since it is

a requirement, chapel should be
looked at in the same way as a required class, and students should
build their schedule around it.
A Trevecca education includes four years of chapel, so
whoever graduates from here has
[a chapel education], just like they
have a [general education], he
said. Its because we find it so important that we require it.
Junior Commercial Music Major Caleb Dinger said he gets the
importance.
[Chapel] helps provide more of
a community context to our experience at TreveccaIt helps bring
us together, not just as a community aspect, but a community of
faith aspect, and thats important,
he said.

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

NE WS

Student Diversity continued from page 1

professional skills and pushing

them out there to meet business people helping them find
internships, said junior social
justice major and Futuro President Kimberly Gonzalez.
Futuro also acts as an organization of support for Hispanic
students in assimilating to the
college atmosphere.
There is an difference in the
sense of the challenges that the

Hispanic population experiences here versus other students,

and Futuro tries to address that
as well not in an attempt to be
exclusive, but in an attempt to
provide support to those that
need that type of support, said
Yanice
Mendez-Fernandez,
biology professor and Futuro
sponsor.
Futuro is typically promoted
to Treveccas Hispanic student

Given that there are so many

awesome opportunities for our
students, we want to make sure
that everybody knows that they
are welcome.

population, but the club is open

to all interested students.

All students have a place

Given that there are so many
awesome opportunities for our
students, we want to make sure
that everybody knows that they
are welcome. We have members
that are not of Hispanic descent
who just enjoy the Hispanic
culture and what we are doing,
said Mendez-Fernandez. We
are Hispanic at the core, so we
try to celebrate our culture, and
people that enjoy that and who
want to learn more about our
different cultures are also welcome to come. It is not about a
specific nationality we have
people from Central America,
South America and I am from
the Caribbean. We share a language, but our cultural traditions may be a little different
too.
With the increase in the
number of students on campus,
Futuro membership and diversity of members has been on
the rise with the number of student participants doubling in
the last year.

HISPANIC STUDENT
POPULATION AT
TREVECCA HAS
DOUBLED IN ONE YEAR

(l-r) Junior Kimberly Gonzalez and senior Spencer Alex Aubrey collaborate on a
group project in the lobby of the Jernigan Student Center. Photo by Grifn Dunn.

We have definitely seen an

increase we went from about
48 students last year to about
84 this year, said Gonzalez.
Futuro hosts a fiesta in the

(l-r) Junior Kimberly Gonzalez , senior Spen

agbara, freshman Alyssa Landreth, freshman

cafeteria every year as a way

to share Hispanic culture and
connect with the rest of the student body.
We are trying to share how
we have fun with other people
and do things that make the
student population aware of
who we are and what our traditions are, said Mendez. There
is definitely a cultural mission
component that we have on
campus as well, especially now
that Trevecca has an interest
in diversifying the population.
I think [Futuro] has been sort
of the start of the diversity that
we want to have on campus. Its
kind of like the [planting of the]
seed.

Plan from admissions

Admissions officials have
been a seeking greater diversity on the campus for some time
now.
[Trevecca] has been craving
some diversity for a while, said

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

NE WS

with people who are not from

the same background including
socioeconomic, ethnic, racial,
and cultural backgrounds, we
can learn a lot from each other,
said Merrick. Without knowing
someone from another race, we
may not understand how racial
profiling from police or anyone
else may allow room for anger
or resentment. As for being a
Christian, gaining perspective,
understanding and empathy is
important so that those who are
called to serve can see and understand areas of opportunity

AFRICAN AMERICAN
STUDENT POPULATION
HAS GROWN

FIVE PERCENT
SINCE 2013

ncer Alex Aubrey, freshman Arnaldo DeQuan Maltez Ayestas, freshman Jose Fernando Paz Amaya, senior Barigbonyie Ikn Greg Fritjofson and freshman Uy Nguyen gather in the Jernigan Student Center lobby to work together on a group project.
Photo by Grifn Dunn.

Holly Whitby, associate provost

and dean of enrollment management. There is a strategic
plan in this admissions office
to bring more international students to campus. We believe
that will enrich the lives of all

anybody that wants to better

themselves and pursue a great
future, Whitby said.
According to International

Student Advisor Rebecca Merrick, diversity and global competency go hand in hand.
If someone has experiences

to serve.
Matt Toy, director of marketing and communication, said
Treveccas marketing strategy
has played a critical role in the
size and diversity of the new
student body.
Weve really worked hard
to push the Christian University in the Heart of Nashville.
If we can really own that space,
well be successful -- and really,
weve been fortunate to be successful, said Toy.

T REVECCA E THNICITY D ATA (P ERCENTAGE )

2014
2015

UNDERGRADUATE

ENROLLMENT HAS
INCREASED
12 PERCENT
the students here.
Admissions also employs a
bilingual student worker to help
translate for Spanish-speaking
families.
As a university, we want to
have arms open wide and [opportunities for] education for

Immigrant Students
Without Legal Status

Hispanic

American Indian
or Alaskan Native

Asian

African American

Hawaiian or
Pacic Islander

White

Numbers provided by Director of Academic Data Management Eugenia Harris in Trevecca Academic Records.

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

OP INION

Editorial:
Overall, Trevecca is a very safe place
B
B
&
BY

AILEY

ASHAM

J ESSY ANNE W ALTERS

On Oct. 16, 2015 around

9:30 p.m. at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, a student
was followed and robbed
on campus.
In the days following the
incident of the purse being stolen, many Trevecca
students say they now feel
less safe on campus. Certainly, we understand how
vulnerable and scared the
victim must feel since the
incident. And, we know
that these incidents cause
communities to examine
how safe they really are.
But, when you look at
the numbers, Trevecca is a
very safe campus.
According to the latest
campus security report,

the most common crime on

campus is theft. Trevecca
reported four burglaries
and nine thefts in 2014,
while other neighboring
schools have slightly higher or much higher number
of incidents.
For example, nearby at
Belmont, there were 45 reported thefts in 2013 and 36
burglaries reported at Lipscomb in the same year.
Trevecca had one incident of aggravated assault
in the past three years,
but many of the crime categories listed on the report
tracked by federal guidelines for college campuses
have zero incidents reported.
We think there are some
good reasons for Treveccas
lack of crime. .

First, Trevecca security is not only trained and

armed, but they are also
diligent in their continual
patrol of campus and in
their work toward transparency with students.
Security works around
the clock, patrolling campus to ensure students and
faculty are safe.
Between the Rave text
alert system and prompt
emails about incidents on
campus, security is working through several different avenues to give students as much information
as possible regarding the
safety of their camus environment
Security works closely
with ITS to send out emails
regarding incidents on
campus. However, in the

specific insident of the Oct.

16 theft, ITS was unable to
explain why all students
did not recieve the email.
This is an ITS issue, not
a security issue.
Officers have also been
trained in gun safety, and
the team is armed with five
.40 caliber Glock 22 generation four handguns.
I have [my gun] for the
worst case scenario; its a
tool, not our savior or whats
going to make this campus
safe, said Norm Robinson,
director of Trevecca security. The people [are what]
help make it safe.
Safety on campus can
also be attributed to the
student code of conduct
and structure of Treveccas
community.
The lack of alcohol and

drug use on campus also

contributes to the overall
safety of students.
But, at the end of the day,
security is everyones job.
Campus safety is about
a community effort to
watch out for each other,
and if we see something,
we say something. We have
a many eyes approach to
security in our community. Its incumbent on every
member of the community
to report suspicious activity, and to be aware of their
surroundingsA community policing effort by everyone is a key deterrent
against crime, he said.
So, be safe. Look out for
each other. And remember,
security guards like warm
chocolate chip cookies too.

Why chapel is important to students

JUSTIN S CHOOLCRAFT
ASB CHAPLAIN
BY

As ASB Chaplian, my
job is to be an attending presence in the life
of our community. I love
being so closely connected to the spiritual
dynamics of campus. I
want my life to be lived
within the context of
ministry, whether in a
church or on a college
campus like our own.
But do you want to
know what the outright
last thing I want to do is
on some mornings?
Go to chapel.
Yes, I mean that.
Many days I have so
much on my schedule
that the idea of halting progress for an hour
drives me up a wall.
Other mornings, I am far
too exhausted from staying up late working on a
paper to have a genuine
desire to be in a service.
And then other times I
nd myself to be mentally, emotionally and
spiritually drained, and
I do not feel like I have

anything to offer God in

worship.
So why on earth do I
still make an effort to go
to chapel on those mornings?
I recently read God,
Sexuality, and the Self,
a book by a contemporary British theologian
named Sarah Coakley.
Coakley places emphasis on the dynamic,
vibrant work of the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit, she
says, is so alluring that
it could even be said to
work in us in erotic
ways ways that are
provoking and lled with
a powerful desire for
God.
We encounter this
Holy Spirit primarily in
prayer, but also in worship. As the Spirit works
in us, Coakley says, it
begins to unmaster us.
That is to say that in this
dynamic, erotic work of
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
begins to order our desires and place them
in the context of Jesus
Christ.
So as we pray and
worship, the Spirit does
its work in us in a way
that takes us off the
throne of our own lives
and makes the Father
the true master of our
lives.
When you are having
one of those mornings

where chapel is the last

thing on your mind, I
want you to know that by
opening yourself to the
work of the Spirit in worship even though you
may not think you have
the time, focus or even
desire to do so you are
allowing the Spirit to
unmaster you, to make
God the true master of
your life by working in
you to shape you to the
image of Christ.
And as you open
yourself to the Spirit,
your desires begin to be
realigned to Gods will
and your struggles begin
to be comforted.
This is why I think
chapel is so important
for Trevecca.
In chapel, we come
together as a student
body and declare together, I am not my master;
God is. We need to be
shaped to the will of God
by the Holy Spirit in worship, and my schedule
and my own inabilities
are not more important
than that.
Worship is making
God the true master of
our lives through the
Holy Spirit working in
us and shaping us into
the image of Christ. And
theres not a single one
of us that doesnt need
that.
See you in Boone.

(l-r) Design Editor Cydney-Nichole Marsh, Online Editor Olivia Kelley,

Editor-in-Chief Bailey Basham, and Copy Editor Jessy Anne Walters.
Not pictured: Photographer Grifn Dunn.

EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
BAILEY BASHAM
DESIGN EDITOR
COPY EDITOR
CYDNEY-NICHOLE MARSH
JESSY ANNE W A LT E R S
PHOTOGRAPHER
GRIFFIN DUNN

ONLINE EDITOR
OLIVIA KELLEY

STAFF WRITERS
T. JOSIAH HAYNES
MANON LANE
TOM LOHRMANN
REBEKAH WARREN
BRITTNI CARMACK
TrevEchoes is published by and for the students of Trevecca Nazarene University. The views
expressed in TrevEchoes are those of the individual contibutors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of Trevecca. Contributors may be edited for
g ramma r, spelling, content, or spa ce
co ns id e ration. Ou r office is loca ted in Jerniga n.

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

Sp o r ts

Womens basketball team sporting

new Under Armour apparel this year
B AILEY B ASHAM & TOM LOHRMANN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & STAFF WRITER

Junior Morgan Long wearing the

new Under Armor uniforms. Photo
courtesy of Trevecca Trojans.

When the the Lady Trojans

take the court in November,
they will be in new uniforms.
The Treveccas womens basketball team is the first NCAA
program in Tennessee to reach
an agreement with Under Armour, Inc. In June, Athletic
Director Mark Elliot signed a
promotional deal with athletic
apparel manufacturer Under
Armour Inc. to exclusively outfit the schools womens basketball team.
The contract includes Under
Armour uniforms, socks and
shoes for the players at no cost
to Trevecca.
[The deal is] promotional,
so its hard to put a dollar figure on it. They provide us with
uniforms and a complete set of
shoes for the girls. We are the
only team in the state of Tennessee that is committed to
go all Under Armour, so we are
the flagship school, said Gary
Van Atta, womens basketball
coach. Theyve given us leeway, but in the future, we will
have to wear [all Under Armour]. Coaches will be wearing
the shoes, pants and tops, and
the girls have their uniforms
and socks and shoes. Under
Armour will provide travel

suits for when we travel as a

team too.
Under Armour is currently
building a multi-million dollar,
one million square-foot distribution center in Mount Juliet
that is scheduled to open in
early 2016.
Our goal at Under Armour is
that we always strive to make
athletes better. [Van Atta] is
a championship coach, and
hes with a championship program, said Under Armour Senior Regional Manager to the
Southeast U.S Mendy McMurtry-Moseley in a June press
conference. There is nothing
more that we want than to be a
part of that.

We are the
only team in
the state of
Tennessee that
is committed
to go all
Under Armour.

BY

Van Atta previously made

a proposal to Under Armour,
seeking a sponsorship for the
womens basketball team, but
the company was not yet ready
to make the move to outfitting
basketball teams.
It was about eight years
ago when we approached
them [about a sponsorship]
where we would wear Under

a deal, Nike found out about it

and upped their offer, and [we
stayed with them] because it
was a proven brand.
Trevecca had a 5-year contract with Nike to outfit all athletic teams.
We had signed a deal with
Nike through Nashville Sporting Goods, and when the contract ended last year and
[Nashville Sporting Goods] was
bought out by a Nike dealer,
everybody kind of did their
own thing, said Van Atta. Under Armour is the hot deal, and
we got lucky after three years
of perseverance so we were
ready to go. It was a no brainer
at that point.
With Nike, ordering all the
uniforms from the same company provided a discount to
the school and a consistency
in look. When the contract with
Nike was up, Elliott decided to
allow each coach the autonomy to exercise budget dollars
to pick a uniform as long as the
colors (purple and white, with
black or silver trim allowed) remain constant.
We have always considered
ourselves a Nike school because from a branding standpoint we wanted everybody to
look consistent, and Nike was
the most recognizable, said Elliot.
Van Atta said Treveccas
partnership with Under Armour is invaluable to the team.
To the womens basketball

womens basketball
schedule
11.7.2015 - 3:00 pm
vs. Truett-McConnel College
Home Game

11.13.2015 - 5:30 pm
vs. University of Findlay
Home Game
Pops Duncan Classic

11.14.2015 - 1:00 pm
vs. Ferris State University
Home Game
Pops Duncan Classic

11.16.2015 - 6:00 pm
vs. Austin Peay
Clarksville, TN

11.20.2015 - 5:00 pm
vs. University of North Georgia
Dahlonega, GA
UNG Nighthawk Classic

11.21.2015 - 1:00 pm
vs. Georgia College
& State University
Dahlonega, GA

11.24.2015 - 6:00 pm
vs. Ohio Dominican
Home

11.27.2015 - 7:45 pm
vs. Maryville University-St. Louis
Springeld, MO
Drury Thanksgiving Classic
Treveccas Womens Basketball team wearing their new Under Armor
uniforms. Photo courtesy of Trevecca Trojans

Armour exclusively, but they

werent in the shoe business
yet, said Van Atta. Five years
ago, when they started with
shoes and called to try to make

team, you cant put a dollar figure on it its immeasurable,

said Van Atta.

11.28.2015 - 7:45 pm
vs. Drury University
Springeld, MO
Drury Thanksgiving Classic

TREVECHOES NOVEMBER2015

F eatu r e

Trevecca student studies across the pond

BY

OLIVIA KELLEY

ONLINE EDITOR

Rebecca Botter, a
junior theatre major
at Trevecca, is riding
her bike home from
Wycliffe Hall after a
meeting with her tutor. She turns in to her
late-Victorian mansion
on Headington Hill that
she shares with 20 other students. She is ready
to get together with her
food group for dinner
that evening.
We would get together and cook each other
meals every night, Botter said. Its cheaper
that way and it provides
a sense of community.
We were all like a family
by the end of it.
Botter went overseas
last year to Oxford, England for a semester to
study Shakespeare and

English Drama. While

she got to experience
things like tea time and
buying her own food
with pounds, the most
significant
cultural
difference was in the
method of her studies.
At Oxford, not only
was Botter required
to write an 8-page research paper every four
days, but the semester
was almost completely
built around regular
meetings with a tutor.
Her primary tutor, Jonathan Thorpe, met with
her once a week, while
her secondary tutor met
with her every other
week.
The first couple
times I went to see
Jonathan he was nice,
said Botter. But he finally told me, Rebecca,

she lived for three years until her

freshman year of college in 2014.
When scores of refugees started
making their way across Hungarys

(above) Lexi Sunberg. Photo by Grifn Dunn.

Syrian crisis story

continued from page 1

ing at my phone a bit, she said,

glancing at her phone that lights up
every few minutes with news from
her parents.
The daughter of Nazarene missionaries, Jay and Teanna Sunberg,
Lexi was raised in Bulgaria before
she, her three sisters and her parents all moved to Hungary, where

ies.
When England was
overwhelming
and
things were hard or
stressful, the most comforting thing was to return to what I was studying, she said. That
was my safe place.
There were times
when Botter said she
felt scared to talk, because someone would
mention her accent.
Accents really distinguish class over there,
she said. Even if youre
British, your accent can
be very interesting. It
took me awhile to realize it was a normal topic
of conversation and
not just because I was
American.
Botter was the only
student to go abroad last
year and, according to
Rebecca Merrick, the international student advisor, only two students
went the year before.
I just had this desperation because I really
wanted to learn. I wanted to dig in and study
theatre more seriously,
she said
The application process was tedious. To
even apply for the program, Botter had to have

a minimum 3.7 GPA.

On top of the application, there was an essay
that would determine
whether she was accepted.
Applying for Oxford
was a part time job, she
said. The professors
there can very easily
tell through your essay
whether or not youve
got what it takes.
While getting there
wasnt easy, Botter said
it was the best thing
shes ever done.
It was a very big trust
experience with God
for me. But through the
whole process I came
to understand that if He
wants it to happen, its
going to happen. That
doesnt mean its going
to happen the way you
want it to, though.
Trevecca ranks 47 out
of 100 Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) schools
in sending students
abroad through the Best
Semester program, according to Rebecca Merrick, International student advisor.
According to Leah
Mullin, assistant director of student programs
with Best Semester, 577

IF THE PEOPLE OF GOD WOULD STaND

UP AND CALL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE...
THIS WOULD BE A DIFFERENT STORY.

border in September 2015, the city of

Budapest shot to the center of every
major media outlet in the world.
The train station, Keleti [where
the refugees were congregating]
Ive been there so many times. Its
really hard for all of us to be stuck
here in America while our families
are working there becauseI mean,
that is our home.
Nazarene missionaries across
Europe have been working together
to do what they can to help. Teanna
Sunberg is distributing food and
blankets to refugees in Hungary.
Others are in Croatia, setting up
tents and internet hotspots to allow
refugees to connect with loved ones.
My mom has been there everyday, Lexi says. Its a lot for her to
handle, but theres a lot of people

students on average
travel abroad each year.
Trevecca sends, on average, two students
abroad each year.
In the future I would
love to see maybe 30
or more students going abroad each year, so
more students are coming back with a global
view, said Merrick. Its
so important to understand our world.
While Trevecca does
not offer any scholarships to students studying abroad, there are
scholarships available
outside of Trevecca
that students can apply
for. Any financial aid
received from FAFSA is
also applicable.

(below) Botter exploring

the city of Oxford. Photo provided by Rebecca
Botter.

These people arent necessarily

working with her. I just keep seeing
on my Facebook feed, this person, poor. Theyre businessmen and web
and this person, and this person designers. They dont need our charhelping my mom. Its quite a lot to ity they need our compassion,
said Sunberg.
To make the 7-mile crossing to
Greece, a family will have to pay up
to $1,000 per person. The cost for the
entire journey overall will reach up
to about $2,000 per person. Money is
a necessity to escape Syria, and it is
one resource many of the refugees
handle, but shes doing it.
seem to have, she said.
The road from Syria to Europe has
Theyre in need, but not necesbeen perilous and, for some, fatal. Of sarily monetary need, Sunberg says.
457,000 refugees who have crossed
To Lexi, her parents and other
into Europe by boat this year, more Nazarene missionaries across Euthan 2,000 have drowned or disap- rope, this exodus is quite literally
peared.
history in the making. The crisis is
Lexi sometimes finds herself being called one of the largest refufrustrated with misconceptions gee movements since WWII.
about the refugees and wants to
Sunberg says the best way to help
clear up false information.
is through prayer.
These people are not ISIS; they
I know it doesnt feel like prayer
are fleeing ISIS, says Sunberg. A lot does much, but its a huge deal. Even
of [the men] have left their families just prayer for strength for the refin safe places so that they can hope- ugees, missionaries and workers
fully go and get asylum; once they there. And for peace. I think if the
have a safe place, they can bring people of God would stand up and
their families along.
call for peace and justice as were
Another common misconception supposed to do, this would be a difthat Lexi notes is the financial sta- ferent story, said Sunberg.
tus of the refugees.

(above) Botter outside a Sherlock Holmes-themed restaurant in London, England. Photo provided
by Rebecca Botter.

youre not really saying

anything. You need to
commit to a thought. In
America, the emphasis
tends to be on getting
the right answer, but
at Oxford some of the
most intelligent people,
in possibly the world,
have walked through
these gates and so the
right answer has already been given by
somebody way smarter.
The best answer you
can give is your answer,
because thats the only
answer that hasnt been
given yet.
Meeting with a tutor
once a week isnt quite
enough curriculum to
meet Oxfords standards, so lectures are
also set up throughout
the semester. Students
must attend 24 each
semester to meet the
requirement.
Kind of like chapels
at Trevecca, said Botter. Its fitting because
academics are kind of
their religion at Oxford.
At the end of a long
day of school and working at a local world relief charity, however,
Botters favorite thing
to do was to come home
and focus on her stud-