New Positions
Geandra Almeida is now Facility Director for the Lehman Family Training Center. Almeida is also the Head Women’s Golf Coach.

Sarah Charles ’14, ’17, is Bethel’s new Director of Annual Giving. She was recently a Client Care Coordinator at Visiting Angels in Nappanee, Ind.

Jess Lyons ’11, returned to Bethel in January 2021, as Career Development Program Manager. She was previously a Resident Director at Bethel. Lyons is also an adjunct faculty member, teaching “Exploring the Christian Faith,” for First Year Experience.

Karis Kindinger, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, is the new Marketing & Communications Specialist at Bethel. She recently worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, where she served as Public Relations and Social Media Specialist.

Transitions
Chenoweth Appointed President of University in Illinois
Bethel University Board Chairman Randy Lehman announced the resignation of President Gregg A. Chenoweth, Ph.D., and subsequent appointment as president of Olivet Nazarene University, in Bourbonnais, Ill., effective June 1, 2021. Bethel is poised for consistent leadership during this transition, with a strong cabinet of vice presidents who have a combined 150 years of experience in higher education, and a Board of Trustees with the same depth of experience. Chenoweth’s successor will inherit an institution that has experienced advances in financial stability, programs, third-party recognitions, spiritual life, facilities and culture.

Vice President for Academic Services to Serve as Interim President of Bethel University
Bethel University Board Chairman Randy Lehman announced the appointment of Vice President for Academic Services Barbara Bellefeuille, Ed.D., as Interim President of Bethel University to begin June 1, 2021. “My motivation to accept the interim position stems solely from my love and respect for faith-based higher education,” says Bellefeuille. “There has never been a more important time for students to have the option of being influenced by people of deep faith and high academic caliber. My colleagues have been extremely supportive and they recognize we can only move forward together.”

Bethel has launched a search for a new vice president for academic services, in light of Bellefeuille beginning in her new role. She is the second female vice president at Bethel University and the first female to become acting president.
Larry McClements, Assistant Professor of Physical Education, will retire at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year after 24 years at Bethel. He will continue to teach as an adjunct.

Erin Kinzel, Marketing & Communications Specialist, and former director of the department, moved on from Bethel after 16 years of employment to dedicate herself to her new business venture, Kinzel Consulting.

  • Chenoweth
  • Bellefeuille
  • McClements
  • Kinzel
  • Minor
  • Davis

Doctorate Earned
Rashad Minor Ed.D., ’11, ’17, director of Bethel University’s Field Scholar Program, earned his doctorate in Ethical Leadership from Olivet Nazarene University. His dissertation was titled, “Relationship Between African American Males’ Confidence, Perception of Academia, and Teacher Relations.” He plans to use his degree to continue serving the Lord as a licensed Elder of his church, to contribute to the realm of knowledge as a researcher for scholarly journals, and to serve as an inspirational speaker and consultant to address issues of racial equity and raise cultural awareness.

Published Work
Christian R. Davis, Ph.D., professor of English, wrote the essay, “Protestant Missionaries in Literature: Hagiographic, Fanatical and Carnivalesque Characters,” which was published in the Summer 2020 edition, Vol. 72, No. 3 of “Renascence: Essays on Literature and Ethics, Spirituality, and Religion.” It focuses on how Protestant cross-cultural missionaries have appeared as characters in literary narratives that use three patterns: godly missionaries supported by divine interventions; orthodox fanatics; and postcolonial, “carnivalesque” characters.