News at Mercer
Extraordinary Mercerian Profile
Mercer Madness to Kick of Basketball Season
Looking for some fun photos of fall athletic activities? Mercer Madness, the annual kick-off of the Mercer Bears' basketball season,
will be held Friday, Oct. 13, at the University Center on the Macon campus. This year's activities, sponsored by QuadWorks and Mercer Athletics, will begin with a women's volleyball game,
with the Bears hosting Savannah State at 6:30 p.m. A spirit competition featuring Mercer Maniacs will follow. At 8 p.m., the dance team and cheerleaders will fire up the crowd for Mercer
Madness. The women's basketball team will scrimmage at 8:45 p.m., followed by the finals of a women's 3-on-3 competition. The men's team will take the court at 9:15 p.m., with the men's
3-on-3 finals following at 9:30 p.m. Beginning at 9:45 p.m., winners will be announced in the spirit competition and team ball competitions. Activities will conclude outside the UC with
the giant fireworks show. Admission is free and open to the public.
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Mercer Volunteer Days Help Students Learn of Needs in Community
Mercer Volunteer Days, scheduled for Oct. 12-21, will provide students with nine days of activities to introduce them to volunteer
opportunities in the community. Events begin Thursday, Oct. 12, with Lights On After School, held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. More than 60 Mercer students will participate in fun activities
with elementary students from the Bibb County Schools After-School programs. During the event, the students will learn about the volunteer jobs with the after-school programs, which they
can sign up to assist. Some of the other organizations participating in the program are Goodwill Industries, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Friends of the Library and Habitat for Humanity.
The events conclude on Saturday, Oct. 21, with a Habitat for Humanity build in South Bibb County.
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Mercer to Host Ethics in Ministry Conference
The Rev. Tony Campolo, Ph.D., founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, will headline the
Conference on Ethics in Ministry, entitled "How To Be A Better Minister," Oct. 12-13, on Mercer University's Cecil B. Day Campus in Atlanta, 3001 Mercer University Drive. The conference will
also feature a discussion by several prominent theologians on clergy sexual abuse at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. The discussion will be led by Joe Trull, editor of Christian
Ethics Today. The conference is designed for theology students and ministers and is presented by Mercer's James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology and Christian Ethics Today. Program
participants will include: Dr. David Sapp, senior pastor of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta; Michael F. Thurman, pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery,
Ala.; Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas; and Dr. Larry McSwain, professor of ethics and leadership at the McAfee School of Theology.
Full schedule is available online.
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Georgia Baptist College of Nursing Provides Information on Becoming a Nurse
One of the nation's most sought-after health care professionals is the nurse. Mercer's Georgia Baptist College of Nursing is offering an
information session for individuals who are interested in earning a bachelor's degree in nursing as their first career choice or as a new career path. The free session will be at 2 p.m. on
Sunday, Oct. 29, at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing Building on Mercer's Atlanta Campus. Participants will have an opportunity to tour the campus, talk with students, and meet faculty
and representatives of the financial planning, admissions and residence life offices. To attend the information session, individuals should contact Jane Haislip in the Office of Admissions at
(678) 547-6700, toll-free at (800) 551-8835 or by e-mail at haislip_jp@mercer.edu.
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Mercer Fraternity Brothers Prepare for Journey of Hope
Four Mercer Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers have set a goal of raising more than $20,000 for their philanthropy,
Push America, which assists people with disabilities. But fundraising is only the first leg in a long journey. The four will spend their entire summer on the "Journey of Hope," a 4,000-mile bike
ride across the United States.
The four Mercer riders gearing up for the event are: Bradley Bodiford, a senior business and marketing major from Opelika, Ala.; Christopher
Kiker, a sophomore pre-med major from Bremen; Stephen Hammond, a sophomore pre-med major from Moreland, and Benjamin Nelson, a junior biology major from Butler. |
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Four members of Mercer's Pi Kappa Phi chapter will embark on the Journey of Hope cross-country charity ride next summer. They are, left to
right, sophomore Christopher Kiker of Bremen, senior Bradley Bodiford of Opelika, Ala., sophomore Stephen Hammond of Moreland, and junior Benjamin Nelson of Butler.
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Each began this semester with a goal of $5,000 in contributions, which they will need before the ride. They are now kicking off their campaigns
to raise the money. Donations are tax deductible and all four can accept donations online through the Journey of Hope Web site.
The Journey of Hope is made up of three teams that take one of three West-to-East routes from coast to coast. Two trips begin in San Francisco, Calif.,
and one starts from Florence, Ore., with all three teams coming together to travel into Washington, D.C., as one. The event raises funds and awareness for people with disabilities. The two routes from
San Francisco take 63 days and wind 4,000 miles across the country, one takes a northern route and the other goes through the Southwest and South. The third ride, dubbed the Transamerica Route, takes 73
days and more than 4,285 miles and crosses every major mountain range in the Continental United States.
So far, Mercer has the largest contingent of riders among any Pi Kappa Phi chapters participating this year. Having four brothers to take part also
marks a record for the Mercer chapter. Bodiford participated in the event in 2005, taking the South route, which the three newcomers will ride in 2007. Bodiford opted for the Transamerica route this time,
and is looking forward to the challenge and to making new friends.
"Many of my team members ended up meeting people along the way who became pen pals," Bodiford said. "One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't get a
chance to make a deep enough connection with anyone to develop that kind of relationship. Hopefully, this time I'll be able to do that."
One team of rider travels each route, averaging nearly 100 miles per day, stopping at night at designated spots. A main feature of each stop is the
"Friendship Visits," during which the cyclists spend time meeting and befriending the children and adults with disabilities who have been helped by Push America.
"This is a great opportunity I felt like I couldn't pass up," Hammond said. "Only when you in college do you have the freedom to do something like this,
and not only that, I thought this would be a good experience for me to help other people."
The three other riders echoed those sentiments, but for Nelson, the philanthropy hits even closer to home.
"What other opportunity do you get to help lots of people who get overlooked in other ways?" he said. "When I was growing up I had an uncle who was
severely disabled and couldn't do things for himself. I respected him for the resolve he lived his life with every day. I wanted to do this to honor him."
Kiker thought long and hard about his decision to pass up the opportunity to work for his father's landscaping business over the summer, as well as
the sacrifice of major time and effort to get in peak physical condition.
"It started off as a challenge because people were saying, ‘You can't really do this,'" he said. "But now that I've accepted the challenge, I
know I am going to do it. It's a great feeling to know that you're doing something that's bigger than yourself."
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