Monday, May 17, 2004
Contact: Brad Lyons, Director of Communications
(314) 991-3000 - blyons@dhedisciples.org

Five undergraduate students will join the Division of Higher Education Leadership Fellows Program, a group of students preparing to take leadership roles as laypeople or ministers in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

"The purpose of the Division of Higher Education is to nurture men and women, both lay and clergy, for transformational leadership in the church and the wider human community through the church's institutions of higher education," said DHE president Dennis Landon. "We believe these students embody future leaders for our church and for society in general."

DHE Leadership Fellows are selected based on their leadership potential, church participation, and academic promise. The five new Leadership Fellows, who will all be incoming freshmen during the 2004-2005 academic year, are:

• Jean Ellen Cowgill, a member of Central Christian Church and Crestwood Christian Church in Lexington, Ky., plans to attend Dartmouth College.
• Tiffany Curtis, who worships at Familia de fe Christiana in Downey, California, is a Claremont native who plans to major in international studies at Chapman University.
• Christopher Miller-McLemore, who worships at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville, will attend Vanderbilt University.
• Mandy Ogunnowo, a member of First Christian Church of Lawrence, Kansas, plans to major in marketing at Indiana Wesleyan University.
• Kelly Rand, a member of St. Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas, plans to be a social work major at Texas Christian University.

COWGILL	CURTIS	MILLER- MCLEMORE	OGUNNOWO	RAND

• Sara Blackwood, a senior art history major at Texas Christian University (Bethany Christian Church, El Paso, Texas)
• Sarah Carter, a senior secondary education and English major at William Woods University (First Christian Church, Garden City, Kansas)
• Carissa Cullumber, a sophomore social work major at Bethany College (Avon Christian Church, Indianapolis, In.,)
• Rebekah Cypert, a sophomore religion major at Bethany College (First Christian Church, McKinney, Texas)
• Jenny Dale, a junior history major at Grinnell College (University Church, Chicago)
• Natalie Dixon, a senior psychology major at Eureka College (First Christian Church, Wellington, Kansas)
• Charlie Hall, a junior psychology major at Oklahoma State University from Duncan, Okla.(First Christian Church, Duncan, Okla.)
• Michelle Harvick, a junior music education and vocal performance major at Texas Christian University (First Christian Church, Arlington, Texas)
• Titus James, Jr., a junior animal science and business major at Kansas State University (North Heights Christian Church, Wichita, Kansas)
• Laura Jennison, a senior history and religion major at Mount Holyoke College (North Hill Christian Church, Spokane, Wash.)
• Brandon Johnson, a senior religion major at Transylvania University (First Christian Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa)
• Krista Johnson, a senior peace studies major at Chapman University (Southport Christian Church, Indianapolis, Ind.)
• Emily Klingenfus, a senior mechanical engineering major at Grand Valley State University from Grand Rapids, Mich. (Cascade Christian Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.)
• Amanda McFarland, a junior English major at Centre College (First Christian Church, Paris, Ky.)
• Emily McIntyre, a sophomore mass communications major at Hampton University (New Hope Christian Church, Beaufort, S.C.)
• Cassie Poncelow, a sophomore art education major at Colorado State University (Heart of the Rockies Christian Church, Fort Collins, Colo.)
• Jessica Sandwell, a sophomore social work major at the University of Missouri (Journey Christian Church, Lebanon, Mo.)
• Jeremy Spitzer, a senior accounting major at Virginia Tech University from Winchester, Va. (First Christian Church, Winchester, Va.)
• Valerie Steffen, a senior Spanish major at Drury University from Shawnee, Okla., (First Christian Church, Shawnee, Okla.)
• Ralph Wesley, a senior mass communications major at Delaware State University (Michigan Park Christian Church, Washington, D.C.)
• Alison Williams, a senior secondary English education at Indiana University (First Christian Church, Bloomington, Ind.)

"Selecting the Leadership Fellows gets more difficult every year," Landon said. "That's good news, because it shows our congregations are working hard to create and support young leaders. Because of the limited resources available, we could only award five fellowships, and that's very unfortunate since we could have added 20 students based on their leadership potential alone. We had to turn down some great students who are already leading, but we take heart knowing these young leaders will also be part of our church's future."

Since the scholarships are renewable for up to three years, DHE plans to work with participants on developing their leadership skills through graduation.

"In the three years since the Leadership Fellows program began, we have watched some of our fellows recognize they have been called to ministry. While our program does not focus exclusively on calling students to the ministry, seven of the eight graduates in our first two classes are either working in the church now or have continued their educations in seminary," Landon said." We believe this program is just beginning to show its potential impact for the church - developing the young leaders, both in the pulpits and in the pews, the church needs in the coming years."

This year's fellows will receive a $2,000 grant for educational use. In addition, DHE Leadership Fellows will covenant with DHE to participate in planning and leading campus ministry programs or similar activities. The campus chaplain, director of church relations, ecumenical campus minister or another appropriate official will oversee this participation. DHE Leadership Fellows also attend annual leadership conferences; the next conference will be held November 12-14, 2004, at the Dayspring Conference Center in Ellenton, Florida.

To be eligible for the fellowship, students must be entering a regionally accredited American college or university as a full-time student, participate in a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation, and express a commitment to serve the church as a clergy or lay leader and to participate in the leadership development activities required by the DHE Leadership Fellows Program.

DHE helps students discover how they will change the world in partnership with Disciples congregations, higher education institutions, and campus ministry programs. Including cooperative efforts with local congregations, DHE helped distribute more than $270,000 in scholarships to 141 recipients in 2003. This summer, DHE will change its name to Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) to better reflect its ministry of leader development.