One week after launching a blog questioning the dismissal of School of Business employee Rod Ross, fourth year student Ryan Lermitte was asked by Trinity Western University administration to take down the site.

“I took it down in the best interest of all parties involved,” Lermitte said.

Lermitte said although the site was intended to offer kind words about Ross, it soon turned into an avenue for students and alumni to bash the School of Business.

“The blog started receiving negative comments – that wasn’t my intent,” he said.

Although the blog was short lived, it was a testament to Ross’s contribution to TWU.

In an effort to secure a meeting with Trinity Western University’s Board of Governors, local grandfather Cam Copeland has stood guard with a homemade protest sign at the university’s entrance for several days over the past three weeks.

Copeland, the father of a 1985 TWU alumnus, has held a regular demonstration in protest of what he calls unbiblical teaching by some of the university’s professors.

“I’m concerned about the fact that the university has people on staff that openly deny Genesis,” he claimed.

Trinity Western University inaugurated its third president, Dr. Jonathan S. Raymond, in a special extended chapel Friday, Oct. 13.
Raymond expressed his vision for the future of TWU, saying that he wished for a greater individual and communal “encounter” with Christ, and to “see the incarnational truth lived out” on campus and in the community.

The chapel service was the climax of a week of leadership-focused chapel.

Trinity Western University’s finest talent came out to this fall’s safari-themed Hootenanny, put on by the TWU Student Association.
The adventure kicked off just after 9 p.m. last Thursday night. Students who swarmed into the lobby of the gym were greeted by a baby tiger on loan from an animal acting agency in Abbotsford.

Indie band Edmund played a set as students took their seats and waited for the show to begin. A video introducing the evening’s host, Rob Steinkamp, as he trekked through the jungle in hopes of making it to Hootenanny on time, had the crowd laughing as he drove his mini-bike up to the stage.

New Art Gallery sparks controversy

Several posters claiming Robert N. Thompson’s lobby is now “a poster-free” zone cropped up in RNT last week as part of an initiative to spruce up the building for the art and theatre departments.

The new grey paint job and advertising-free walls are part of an effort to transform the space into more aesthetic theatre foyer and a pseudo-art gallery, in response to many art students’ desire to have a place to display their work.

“Art is not created to be put in a closet,” said Angela Konrad, chair of the theatre department.

Canadian students cheat, study shows

WATERLOO (CUP) – According to a study conducted by Rutgers University and the University of Guelph, more than half of Canadian university students cheat.

Out of the 15 000 students polled, from 11 academic institutions across five provinces, more than half admitted to cheating at least once in their classes.

As students become increasingly equipped with a wide range of technological innovations such as the Internet and cell phones to aid in their attempts, the likelihood of cheating is becoming more common.

A number of universities across North America that want to connect with their growing population of commuter students are looking to Trinity Western University for some advice.

Glenn Hansen, Assistant Director of Community Life-Commuter Programs, said he has received many calls from universities across Canada and the United States wanting to create their own “home away from home.”

“Education institutions want to know how to connect the commuter students to the campus,” Hansen said. “They realize they are not providing the same community experience for commuters just because they are not on campus 24/7.”

Artists don’t have to be starving.

However, for many young people with talents and aspirations in the arts, the stereotype of the poor but dedicated musician, painter, or dancer can seem unavoidable.

Trinity Western University’s Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts is seeking to change those perceptions and bridge the gap between students and professionals in the art world through the Verge series.

Launching its second season this week, Verge is a series sponsored by the FPSPA that seeks to encourage the arts community at TWU through a series of interdisciplinary events.