McPherson College is deeply saddened by the loss of longtime assistant coach for the Bulldog men’s soccer team, Reed Hardgrave, who died suddenly October 25, 2021.

“We are heartbroken in the athletic department,” Chandler Short, McPherson College athletic director, said. “Reed was an important part of our athletic program and he will be missed greatly. We are working closely with his family to offer them support during this sad time.”

Hardgrave graduated from McPherson College in 2002. He was an integral part of both the men’s and women’s soccer program for the past 20 years. As a student-athlete, Hardgrave played for the Bulldog soccer team for three years and was an NAIA Academic All-American. Hardgrave worked at Ferguson Production in McPherson for over 20 years, working his way up to vice president of the company. He also was active in the McPherson youth soccer serving as vice president for the McPherson FC, a local soccer club.

“Words cannot express how I feel at this moment. Our soccer program lost an amazing guy too soon, and I lost a good friend,” Doug Quint, men’s soccer head coach, said. “For two decades Reed has touched so many lives here at McPherson College. Everyone that knew him loved him. He was the life of the party everywhere he went and we will certainly miss him. My heart breaks for his family.”

Funeral services will be held Thursday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. at the McPherson Church of the Brethren with a visitation scheduled on Wednesday, Nov. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Stockham Family Funeral Home.

“The McPherson College soccer family lost one of its favorite coaches,” Mark Olson, women’s soccer coach at McPherson College, said in a statement on Twitter. “Reed was like the favorite uncle for so many players over his 20 plus years coaching for both men’s and women’s Bulldog soccer teams.”

The college encourages students to seek guidance if they need help through the grieving process. The Student Life Office can be reached for multiple methods of support during this difficult time. Students can also reach out to McPherson College’s professional partners at Client Centered Counseling by calling 620-241-2300.

McPherson College announces the recipients of the 2021-22 Teaching Awards. The college presents the awards each year at the annual Honors Convocation to one tenured and one non-tenured faculty member. This year’s recipients are Dr. Shane Kirchner and Matt Porter.

A committee of three students and last year’s teaching award recipients reviewed a record of 75 nominations in each category from students and faculty colleagues to select this year’s honorees.

The committee selected Dr. Kirchner, professor and chair of teacher education, for the tenured award. Described in one nomination as “definitely leads by example,” Dr. Kirchner models the mission of the program he leads, which is to develop service-oriented educators.

Nominations from his students included appreciation for the interest he takes in them and comments about his contagious, positive attitude. One student’s most memorable class session was when Dr. Kirchner, in dress pants, suit coat, and tie, turned a cartwheel in front of the class. “He deserves this award for the dedication, passion, and enthusiasm he brings to every class,” one nomination said.

This year’s non-tenured award recipient, Matt Porter, is an assistant professor of business. The selection committee identified three consistent themes seen in the nominations for Professor Porter. His students appreciate the quality of their classroom experience, his interest in their success, and are grateful for the lengths to which he has gone to accommodate them during the pandemic.

One nomination stated, “He has gone above and beyond to support students all the way through COVID. Professor Porter has paid for things like cameras and boards that work online so that students can experience the same learning at home or in quarantine as they would in class.”

The chief advisor for COVID-19 coordination for Kansas, Dr. Marci Nielsen, will speak to Health Science classes and students at McPherson College on September 16. Dr. Nielsen has been an advisor to Kansas Governor Laura Kelly since January 2021.

She will speak via Zoom to students in two classes as well as to Health Science Scholars and members of the Pre-Health Professions Club during lunch. Her topics will cover community health, health policy, as well as community outreach and why it is important to public health and population health.

“We are thrilled to welcome a speaker like Dr. Nielsen who can give our students great insight into the community health,” Dr. Nick Baldetti, director of healthcare initiatives at McPherson College, said. “Her broad range of experience and her educational path is the perfect example for the students in our program.”

Prior to her role with the Governor’s Office, Dr. Nielsen served as vice president of policy and strategy for the Government Employee Health Association. Her experience developing health policy includes executive roles at federal, state, and association levels, as well as academic leadership roles. During her career, she has served as vice-chancellor of public affairs and faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center, CEO of a national primary care association, director of the State of Kansas health care agency, and health lobbyist for the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC. She received her Ph.D. in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, her MPH from George Washington University, and her undergraduate degree from Briar Cliff University.

The Health Science program is in its second year at McPherson College. The program offers majors in health science and healthcare management and matches students with a wide variety of hands-on educational opportunities developed through partnerships with local healthcare agencies like the McPherson Hospital. The program focuses on creating health-related career pathways for students while engaging within the community and offers annual Health Science Scholars awards of $27,000 to its top students.

Dr. Nielsen was among the consultants who worked with the college while developing the new academic program.

In the world of college bands in Kansas, an invitation to play at the Kansas Music Educators Association’s (KMEA) state convention is the highest honor and a milestone accomplishment. At the next statewide convention in February, McPherson College will have two bands performing.

Both the MC Concert Band and the MC Jazz Band were selected to perform at the music convention on February 25-26 at Century II in Wichita. This will be the third time in the past five years that the concert band has been selected and the first time for the jazz band.

Bands are selected to perform through a “blind” audition process and no ensemble can be selected in consecutive years. This year, McPherson College will be the only private college or university concert band or jazz band to perform among bands from much larger state schools, according to Kyle Hopkins, McPherson College director of bands and associate professor of music.

“Having both the concert and jazz bands selected to perform at KMEA is an unparalleled achievement for our program,” Hopkins said. “It’s rare that a band from a private college gets selected to perform at all, and even more rare for two bands from the same school!”

Hopkins said that despite the necessary precautions taken last year due to the pandemic, senior band members helped create a positive atmosphere that enabled the entire band to make progress musically.

“I give a great deal of credit to the band leadership who, despite all the challenges of last year, set a foundation for our band to achieve this remarkable accomplishment,” he said.

The MC band program consists of 40 students from many academic programs and features a variety of ensembles including the concert and jazz bands, a tailgate band and drumline, and a steel drum ensemble. The band’s first public concert this academic year is on November 14 at 4 p.m. in Brown Auditorium. The tailgate band and drumline will perform at the Homecoming tailgate and football game on October 2.

Jamie Hicks, McPherson Center for Health

The partnership between McPherson College and McPherson Center for Health provided a valuable experience for students participating in the career exploration class this spring. It also gave greater insight on patient experience to the health care professionals at the hospital who presented each week to the students, according to Jamie Hicks, RN, and manager of education and patient experience.

“Any time you teach or present, you have to get very granular about your subject,” Hicks said. “I think the health care professionals who presented during the class were able to identify the aspects of their job they especially love and then share their passion with the students. Our staff really enjoyed the opportunity to promote their own role and potentially influence a future career choice for these students.”

For 12 weeks last spring McPherson College Health Science students attended class at the hospital and were given a behind-the-scenes look at all aspects of patient care. Nick Baldetti, health care initiatives director at the college, and Hicks worked together to design a course intended to look at the hospital’s patient experience from entry to exit.

“I am passionate about patient experience, and think it is really important for emerging health care professionals to understand the full breadth of the health care system,” Hicks said.

Students were placed in small groups and given a patient scenario. Each week they toured and heard from subject experts on specific aspects of the health care system and learned how it pertained to their patient scenario. This included everything from how marketing works into a patient choice of provider, how environmental services and purchasing support a positive patient experience, to the importance of patient registration, health information systems, and individual care services.

“We wanted to create an experience that considered all aspects of the health care system and apply it to a patient encounter,” Hicks said. “It was important to demonstrate how all areas have to work together to create a thorough and positive experience for the patient with the idea that the students will be better health care professionals if they understand that from day one.”

Collaborating with the college provided hospital leadership an opportunity to have several internal discussions about patient experience and think about all the pieces of a patient encounter, Hicks said. She is looking forward to continuing the career exploration classes each spring and is excited about future ways the college and hospital can work together to help prepare the next generation of health care professionals.

“I think it is a really unique program and this class tapped into a different way for students to see and experience a health care system,” Hicks said. “It was rewarding to have the opportunity to engage with students and show them where their educational path can take them in the health care field. Our partnership is a benefit for all of us in supporting the quality and volume of future health care professionals and inspiring a love for rural health care in particular.”

The McPherson College Health Science program offers majors in health science and healthcare management for students interested in all areas of health care including behavioral health, public health, community health, and healthcare management. Scholarships of up to $100,000 for four years are available to students. In an effort to provide a wide variety of experiential opportunities for its students, McPherson College partners with several local and area health care agencies. To learn more about the program to go https://www.mcpherson.edu/programs/health-science

McPHERSON, KAN. – Shyanne Henkis was recognized by the Kansas Independent College Foundation (KICF) for excellence in academics, character, and integrity, alongwith her commitment to the value of a private college education in Kansas. She was among 20 students from private colleges across the state to receive the Maud Wyatt Recognition Scholarship presented by KICF.

Henkis, who is from Lavean, Arizona, is a senior at McPherson College majoring in sociology. She plans to enlist in the U.S. Air Force after graduating to become a security forces officer while working on a master’s degree in social work and criminal justice. Her ultimate goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in social work. During her time at McPherson College, she completed an internship with the Hutchinson Police Department. Recipients of the scholarship are full-time, degree-seeking students on the cusp of graduation who maintain GPAs of 3.5 or above and contribute to their communities.

Along with her studies, Henkis serves as president of the Student Government Association, is a residence assistant, and participates on the track and field team. Service to her community is important to Henkis. She founded the campus’s Caring Closet, the result of her initiative that allows students to anonymously ask for help and hygiene products and a clothing drive that she leads each year.

“McPherson College is the perfect place for me,” Henkis said. “I am able to get the one-on-one teaching I need and have professors who genuinely care about me. One of the college’s pillars is service, and I am a firm believer in giving back. I think I have made a positive impact during my time here and plan to continue to follow that idea of service.”

ABOUT McPHERSON COLLEGE

McPherson College is committed to its mission “To develop whole persons through scholarship, participation, and service,” in a career-focused liberal arts environment. It’s been recognized nationally by US News & World Report, Money Magazine, and the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work For.” Its Automotive Restoration program is the first four-year degree program of its kind and awarded the prestigious industry supporter of the year by International Historic Motoring. Learn about all of its programs at www.mcpherson.edu.