By Rett Huntington

Students and faculty packed into the Indiana Wesleyan University Chapel-Auditorium Wednesday, April 3, for the induction of David Green into the Indiana Wesleyan University Society of World Changers. Green, the CEO and founder of Hobby Lobby, is the 11th inductee into the Society, which boasts members such as author Frank Peretti, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy and musicians Bill and Gloria Gaither.

After a brief statement by President Henry Smith, Green was presented to the school by his daughter, who tossed glitter, proclaimed his success and titled him her hero before welcoming him to the stage.

After noting his nervousness to speak, Green launched into how he got started in the retail business. He expressed the inspiration his parents gave him and how they showed him the importance of integrity, giving and a life of prayer. Green then proceeded to describe the love he has for his employees and their families.

“The corporate office is there to serve,” Green said.

Hobby Lobby was founded by Green and his wife in 1970. Since then, the company has grown to include more than 500 stores across the United States. Green’s Christian faith and love of family have affected the company and how it is run, making sure the stores close at 8 p.m. every night and remain closed on Sundays.

“There has to be a balance between the hours you are open and family,” Green said.

Along with the work schedule of Hobby Lobby, Green makes sure all full-time employees are paid $13 per hour and all part-time employees are paid $9 an hour.

“I was impressed by how he showed how much he cared for his employees and family,” Ben Braswell (fr) said.

Company insurance was also announced by Green, whose statement that the company would not cover abortions drew roaring applause.

The revealing of the bust followed Green’s speech, and his wife was brought on stage to stand at his side. While previous inductees were presented with honorary doctorates, Green, who already holds an honorary doctorate from IWU, was presented with a Presidential Citation.

Campus Police removed a male student from the Chapel Auditorium on Indiana Wesleyan University’s Marion campus March 28, after he attended a chapel designated for women only.

Male and female students met separately for chapel services, and in the 10 a.m. service, Matt McAndrews (so) entered the service reserved for female students. McAndrews, coming from Center Hall, said he didn’t want to walk across campus to attend the male chapel.

Witnesses reported that chapel staff first asked McAndrews to leave before Campus Police was called to have an officer escort him out of the auditorium.

“There was a chapel attendant standing behind him, and I think that she asked him to leave because it’s obviously their job to not let guys in,” said Bethany Livengood (so). “But he wasn’t leaving.”

According to McAndrews, after a student chapel scanner told him he was not permitted to attend this chapel service, Cindy Ruder, assistant to the dean of the chapel, approached him and asked him to leave.

“And I said, ‘No thanks. I’d rather stay,’” said McAndrews Wednesday evening.

“Eventually one of the Campus Police officers showed up, and he asked me to leave, and I told him the same thing: ‘No thanks. I’d rather stay,’” said McAndrews.

Other students in the women’s chapel service said the interaction between McAndrews and university personnel lasted 8-10 minutes.

“The guy wouldn’t get up, so the security guard picked his book bag up,” said Emily Wyse (sr). “The guy pulled it back down, and so the security guard grabbed his arm and pulled the guy up.”

“I heard a one-word grunt. I looked back and he was out of his chair, being escorted by his arm,” said Julie Sanders (so). “And the police officer was basically pushing him out of the auditorium.”

Mario Rangel, Campus Police coordinator at IWU, confirmed that Campus Police responded to the incident and said that no laws were violated, citing the issue as a matter not of law enforcement but of student discipline.

McAndrews said he was taken to the lobby by Campus Police, where he was met by Ruder and other administrators.

“The cop put me up against the desk and had me, like, spread them and frisked me and found my ID and wrote down my name and number, and then the dean of student conduct wrote down my name and number as well,” said McAndrews.

Andrew Parker, dean of student conduct at IWU, said he and Michael Moffitt, vice president of student development, were also called to the chapel.

“From what I understand, the chapel staff directed the individual to leave multiple times,” said Parker. “That was refused. They called Campus Police. Campus Police directed the individual to remove themselves voluntarily, still refused. That was when my office was called.”

According to Parker, no action was taken by officers to remove the student until after he arrived.

“Prior to me coming, I don’t think any force other than words were used,” said Parker. “When I got there, that was when I witnessed the only force that was used.”

Parker explained that the student was in violation of the student code of conduct, according to the IWU student handbook.

“Any time a student fails to comply with a reasonable request of an institutional staff or faculty member, they would be in violation of one of our community standards, which is compliance with university personnel and policies,” said Parker.

The student’s refusal to comply with the guidelines established by the Dean of the Chapel’s Office falls under that rule, according to Parker.

Ruder declined to comment on the situation but did say Dr. Jim Lo, dean of the chapel. was behind the decision to hold separate chapel services for the sexes. Ruder also said the request for the student to remove himself was a reasonable request, as was the request via email for male students to report to an alternate chapel venue.

Parker said no disciplinary decisions have been made. McAndrews said he is currently waiting for Parker to set up a meeting to discuss the incident further.

For the spring 2012 semester, the Dean of the Chapel’s Office plans to challenge students by focusing on the idea of engagement in spiritual and outreach opportunities.

Overall, the DOC’s goal this semester is to shape students lives in a way that will carry on after graduation,  according to Pastor Pat Hannon, associate dean of the chapel.

The first event of the semester, spring Summit, began Wednesday, Jan. 18, and will last until Friday, Jan. 20, a slightly different schedule than in the past. According to Hannon, the switch was made in order to appropriately celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve tried to recognize that within what’s going on with Summit stuff, and we never felt satisfied with that response,” Hannon said.

The scheduling change also allows students to participate in Summit at the end of the week, giving them the weekend to rest and catch up on school work.

Summit offers students a chance to hear the preaching of the Rev. Robert Gelinas, pastor of Colorado Community Church, a multicultural, multisite church in Denver, Colo.

Gelinas is connected with Kingdom Building Ministries and is the author of multiple books, including “Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith.”

His six messages focus on the question, “Do you really want to know God?” a challenge he directs to students in light of the suffering inherently part of a life of faith.

“I feel like I’m here to simply do one thing: to extend an invitation,” Gelinas said in Wednesday morning’s chapel service. “But I need to warn you. If you choose to accept this invitation, if you RSVP, it very well may end up costing you your very life.”

Following Summit week, a special chapel Jan. 25 will focus on the importance of urban church planning and will feature the Rev. Julie Collins, lead pastor of The Grove church in Fort Collins, Colo. According to Hannon, the service’s focus on urban church planting is due to a recent movement within the Wesleyan church for “holistic impact on communities.”

“Yes, we want to see people get saved, but we also want to see people get educated and have good job skills … kind of see holistic transformation happening in our urban centers through church planting,” Hannon said.

Students especially will be challenged to make a difference in the urban Marion community.

“This challenge isn’t just for our ministry majors, but for people to take whatever skills they’ve got and say, ‘I’m willing to move in to partner with one of these new church plants, and I’m going to move in and share my skills with them, have an impact in that community and using the skills that have in nursing, in journalism, in media design … whatever your impact area is, and to use this as a way to use your gifts to have an impact,” Hannon said.

According to Hannon, the DOC will offer students concrete ways of making a difference, through not only Collins’ preaching, but others’ messages as well.

“One of the things that is unique and I think special about Indiana Wesleyan’s chapel program is that we do try to bring in some very high-quality speakers from the outside, but we have a lot of speakers from inside our community who also speak in chapel,” said Hannon.

Student Body Chaplain Garret Howell (jr) will speak Jan. 31 at “Breathe,” the student alternative chapel service.

“A huge thing we want to see happen is to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a new way,” Howell said. “I think if that’s going to happen, we have to respond to the Word of God differently.”

The next major spiritual event on campus is “Love Revolution,” a partnership between Intercultural Student Services and the DOC, which begins Feb. 6.