Enrolment numbers at Trinity Western University are up as the number of both American and Canadian first-year and returning students are at its highest levels since 2004. American enrolment had been declining, while Canadian enrolment, although not on the decline, had remained stable with little growth over the same period.

“The number of first-year US students is up by seven per cent, which is the first US enrolment increase in four years,” said Brian Kerr, director of undergraduate admissions at TWU. Canadian enrolment is up by 26 per cent compared to this time last year, with the overall incoming class (including first-year and transfer students) being up 7.2 per cent over last year.

On Sunday, Sept. 7, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor-General of Canada to dissolve Parliament in preparation for an Oct. 14 federal election, in hopes of establishing a majority Conservative government. This election has already impacted students at the Laurentian Leadership Centre, Trinity Western University’s satellite campus in Ottawa.

Nineteen TWU students are currently attending the LLC for the fall semester, enrolled in courses and assigned customized internships in their particular fields of study. Students interning in parliamentary offices, however, faced difficulty landing their intended placements due to the dissolving process, which left those offices closed.

Just after moving into his room in McMillan Hall, fourth-year student Chris Wyatt and his roommate noticed a puddle of water forming in the corner of their bathroom.

“We called Maintenance about it thinking it was a small leak,” said Wyatt.
When Maintenance arrived, they ripped several small holes in the wall to investigate what was causing the puddles. They discovered the wood frame under the drywall was black and rotten with mold.

Director of university enterprises Scott Henderson said, “I got a call last Thursday that…there was a leak and we’d probably have to move the students.” Henderson notes that he held no concerns for Wyatt and his roommate’s health but relocated them as a precaution.

On Aug. 23, 2008, in Corvallis, Ore., four Trinity Western University students were arrested. According to The Province, members of the men’s soccer team, Nathaniel Pogue, Christopher Trauter, Shawn Parkes and Andrew Fink, were charged with criminal trespass, criminal mischief, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of alcohol by a minor. All charges were due to activities in and around Reser Stadium, home to Oregon State’s University football team, the paper reported.
The team had traveled to Corvallis to scrimmage with the Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon.

It was a frigid, windy afternoon in Drumheller, Alberta. Strong headwinds beat down on brothers Mike, AJ and Adam Teeter, and their bicycles. Between Vancouver to Halifax, it was the only time they stopped.

“It was a hard decision,” said Trinity Western University alum Mike Teeter, the eldest of the Teeter brothers. This summer the trio biked their way across Canada to raise awareness and funds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Adam also graduated from TWU in 2006, and Mike now works at TWU as the coordinator of the LEAD office.

Joel Bentley is finally graduating this April. After five years of university, he’s more than ready.

“It’s about time,” he says. “Most of my friends have already moved on.”

The difficult part is still ahead, though. Bentley has immediate plans of going to Africa for four months to film a musical, but he doesn’t know what September will bring when he gets back.

Bentley is just one of the 445 Trinity Western University students participating in the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremonies this April. Each graduate has his or her own story, and everyone is experiencing intense emotions, usually mixed with a healthy of dose of anxiety.

The life of a university student is constantly in flux. It’s a time of transition and growth, and change is just a part of the job. This principle also applies to the Trinity Western University campus – though the structures and atmosphere seem so permanent during a student’s four-year stint, they too are as variable as the people they accommodate.
Just ask Glen Forrester. As vice president of administration, Forrester has been heading the task of revising and cementing the Campus Master Plan, which outlines changes that will be seen over several decades of university growth.
Recently, the Plan has moved into what Forrester calls “phase two.”
Phase two involves looking at the campus layout and current structures to decide what changes will be made, where and how. With the help of local design firm Phillips, Farevaag, Smallenberg, the university will be presenting an open house of the work which has already been done, presenting assessments that have been made and directions that have been outlined to the student body. The open house will take place from 11:30 to 3:30 on the first floor of Reimer Student Centre on April 9.
Phase one, which took place first semester, was defining what principles the new Master Plan would follow in future design projects. These principles were set to give guidelines that protect and enhance the university’s identity and mission.
“The primary output of phase one was to understand who we are, and who we aspire to be,” said Forrester. The university worked with architectural firm Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattas and Company of Virginia to analyze their needs.
According to Forrester, the Master Plan will not be finalized until April. But he calls all current plans “virtually final,” and said any changes until then will be minimal.
Once phase two is completed, fundraising will begin for the building of a new Live-Learn Centre (re: “Where are we going?” Mars’ Hill, Volume 12, Issue 1), as well as a new chapel.
While the Live-Learn Centre will be a brand-new building, elements of the chapel will be retained in the new design. For example, the design of the roof will be maintained in some form, as will the rock wall. Forrester said no final decisions have been made on how these elements are to be incorporated.
Construction will hopefully begin on both projects in the next two years, though Forrester stressed this was completely dependent on fundraising.
Forrester said the updated plan is quite different than the one displayed in the entrance of RSC. The old plan, still exhibited in 3-D and glass cases near the entrance to the cafeteria, dreamed big and was full of underground parking and eight story residencies. But, said Forrester, the school simply can’t afford it.
In addition, and more importantly, Forrester stresses that the old plan “didn’t capture [TWU’s] essence to the degree which we now want. It didn’t communicate who we were.”
This seems to be the main focus of the new plan: using structures and space to communicate a campus identity in line with the university mission. Forrester cites architecture which reflects the university’s placement in rural Langley and the West coast, paths and buildings which facilitate community and designs that respect the environment as possibilities for the university’s future.
Forrester hopes to redo the display in RSC in the next year. But, like all things in the university’s dreams, “only if we can afford it.”