Winter Convocation Celebrates Successes
Students, faculty, and staff gathered in Cox Auditorium for winter convocation on January 31. Following readings by senior Kynan Witters-Hicks, College President Dr. Jonathan Palmer officially welcomed everyone back to campus for spring semester.
Dr. Palmer recognized Principia’s rugby team, the Thunder Chickens, for winning the 7s Division II national title in November and announced that junior Jordan Anderson had been chosen as MVP of the National Championship. In addition, Anderson and his teammates Naveed Hosseinmardi, Trevor Marunde, and Jake Milner (all seniors) were selected for the All-Star team. Dr. Palmer presented USA Rugby certificates to them, noting that no school had more players chosen for the All-Star team than Principia, in spite of our being the smallest school on the field.
Dr. Palmer also commended two faculty members who recently published books. Dr. Heidi Snow, English professor, wrote William Wordsworth and the Theology of Poverty, which explores the relationship between poverty and religion in Wordworth’s poetry. Snow challenges the traditional view that the poet’s early years were primarily irreligious, arguing that this idea, based on the equation of Christianity with Anglicanism, discounts the richly varied theological landscape of Wordworth’s life. Dr. Greg Sanford, history professor, authored Christian Science in East Germany: The Church that Came in from the Cold, which chronicles the ban on Christian Science by the Nazis and the East German state. Despite this persecution, small groups of Christian Scientists continued to meet in private homes and practiced spiritual healing.
At the heart of winter convocation were four talks by seniors Meredith Clark (pictured above), Matt Edwards, Hayley MacWilliams, and Anneke Reed on this year’s metaphysical theme, "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good and the true . . ." from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Each speaker drew from individual experience in academics, athletics, performing arts, and other aspects of college life to share their practice of Christian Science.
You can hear winter convocation in full on Principia Internet Radio.