My Work

Justy LaRue: Resident Director and beyond

Bethel University Resident Director, Justy LaRue comes back to campus to do what he loves: Making college an experience that people can enjoy

Justy LaRue stepped back onto Bethel University’s campus during the first week of the fall 2023 semester. Just a few weeks prior, he accepted the position to be the Resident Director of Heritage Hall.

Having a natural interest in art, LaRue graduated from Bethel in 2019 with a degree in graphic design. However, he quickly realized that a job in that fiel

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Who is your Bethel crush?

As Bethel University students spend time on campus, they can’t help but keep their eyes peeled for a potential partner. Whether it be strolling through the halls, eating a meal at the Monson Dining Center, or spotting someone across Benson Great Hall at Vespers, these students have someone that tickles their fancy.

Some students claimed that they don’t have a Bethel crush, however, some didn’t hesitate to describe their person of interest.

“What’s even better than he

A future for their children — Textura 2022

Murti crouches in the dirt, eye-level with the green hay that she chops with a sickle. Her practiced hand effectively swipes through bunches of the thin stalks while her sister Roshni cuts down mustard plant to make into oil.

Every day Murti, 64, and Roshni, 62, walk 15 minutes to their field outside of Titram to collect barshim as fodder for their four water buffalo. Along with the commercial wheat field adjacent to the barshim, the sisters sell milk from their buffalo as a source of income.

More than meets the eye

It’s 7:00 in the morning. Most people are probably still in bed, but not Lois Cordes. As she arrives at the Print Services desk, she flips on the lights, turns on her computer and goes through the printing queue, cranking out all the work as early as possible. When she’s done, she’ll watch “epic fail” compilation videos on YouTube, chit-chat with students and faculty in the halls and get miscellaneous printing jobs done throughout the day.

But there’s more to Cordes than meets the eye. For stud

Paving the way

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan uses her platform to create a world where future Native women can have a role in positions of leadership.

Models strut down the runway of Quincy Hall in Minneapolis. April 25, 2024 — Native Nations Fashion Night, an event that showcased the talent of Indigenous fashion designers, models, hairstylists and makeup artists — Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor, Peggy Flanagan, being one of the models in attendance that evening.

Speaks With A Loud and Clear

A sacred space

Blues from the 1950s echoes from the speakers. The theater is packed. The front row is reserved for the elders.

“Welcome to the First Nation sensation, Creator’s favorite musical, Bear Grease!”

Applause fills the black box of Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The all-Native cast of “Bear Grease” – a Native twist on the classic musical, Grease – steps out on the dimly lit stage. Sandy, Danny and Rizzo – or “Rezzo” in this cast. And the “beauty school dropout” Frenchie, played by Monique

Gen-Z: The future of the church

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”

After taking a ministry class at Wheaton College, Johnson couldn’t see herself in any other profession. But when people told her that they couldn’t support her ordination because of her gender and told her to read 1 Timothy 2:12, she feared that the only thing in her life — preaching — wasn’t fit for her.

Since transferring to Bethel, Johnson is sure ministry is where God called her to be. While touring Be

Opening the conversation

Hailey DuPrée, Ilene Amayarapalo and Spencer Vang pull their chairs closer to one another. They just finished watching the 1955 Disney movie “Lady and the Tramp” in the Underground, and because the first Real Talk event of the spring semester is on Valentine’s Day, they have a discussion surrounding interracial relationships — a theme present within the film.

Though “Lady and the Tramp” is loved by many, Real Talk opened the conversation to discuss the implication of the movie depicting chihuah

Feeling in color

Jayden Richards sat with his friends in the Monson Dining Center and observed fellow students grabbing meals and conversing with peers.



People-watching – something that most students at Bethel University are guilty of. But not everyone sees people the same way.

“It’s really funny when their colors don’t match,” Richards said confidently. His friends looked at him with confusion and asked Richards what he meant. He explained that different colors have different feelings — and some colors d

Healing Cupid’s wound

I must warn you: I’m about to be cynical. A party pooper, if you will.

I’m going to say it: I’m a Valentine’s Day hater. I think the only time I remember genuinely enjoying the frigid day in the middle of February was when I was in third grade and I came home from school with a paper bag full of half-eaten blue raspberry Fun Dips and heart-shaped Reese’s.

But since then, when Feb. 14 rolls around, I can’t help but want to avoid that day at all costs. I don’t know what sparked this animosity. M

Is print dying at Bethel?

Freshman English and philosophy student Laura Hunt lounges in one of the chairs in the center of Bethel University’s library, kicking her black Converse high tops up on the ottoman in front of her while she reads and annotates the pages of “Basic Writings of Existentialism,” a book assigned for one of her philosophy classes.

Reading — it’s an integral part of studying at Bethel. Students can be found scattered throughout campus with books. Some are seen holding a worn, discolored, broken-spined

Connecting for a change: The Urban Village

Bethel alum Tu Lor Eh Paw sits on the small, wooden stage with seven younger girls, their voices echoing throughout the mural-painted walls as they sing along to Bruno Mars’ “Grenade.” As program director at The Urban Village, Eh Paw runs karaoke tonight by connecting her phone to the bluetooth speakers and playing songs that the teenage girls can’t help but sing along to.

Across the room teens giggle with one another, relaxing on couches or playing guitar. Adidas backpacks, The North Face wint

We walked so iPad kids could run

Picture this: It’s 3:30 p.m. and you’re sitting on a musty, bumpy school bus full of screaming kids after a long eight hours filled with running the FitnessGram PACER test and learning mx+b equals the slope of the line. Your best friend asked you to keep her Snapchat streaks while she’s on vacation, you noticed your first pimple in the mirror and someone else has the same rainbow-checkered Vans as you.

But as the school bus pulls up to your stop, you remember that you have two hours until your

Influencing for a purpose

Bethany Werth sits down at her dorm room desk in Lissner Hall, flicks on her three desk lamps, props her phone up and hits record. She isn’t filming herself getting ready for a Good Morning America interview, unboxing a PR package she got in the mail or what a day in her life looks like as a micro influencer — the type of content that makes up the majority of her TikTok account, @thegirlwithmonolids. As she sits down with a half-eaten container of noodles in front of her, Bethany discusses the p

Cheer Night kicks off Homecoming Week

Bethel University students dressed in an array of colors flooded through the doors of the Robertson Center Gym last night for the kickoff of Bethel’s Homecoming events. Flags waved above them as the gymnasium echoed with screams, cheers and claps of students who had anticipated this moment for days.

Cheer Night is an annual Bethel Homecoming tradition in which each dorm competes against one another by coming up with their own cheer to show off the most school spirit.

“Extravagant.” That is the

Cat naps and dog days: Emotional support animals

As fire alarms blared throughout Lissner Hall, students filed through hallways and down stairwells to make their way to the Lakeside Center. Most were unbothered, keeping calm and chatting as they waited for the drill to end.

When the alarms went off in Lissner 312, however, the fire drill wasn’t so simple. For Izzy Friesen’s emotional support cat, Charlie, the alarm was a new and overwhelming sound. At the first screech, Charlie ran into Friesen’s room, hunkering down in his favorite spot – he

Telling a story through a lens

Talia McWright, a videographer for ‘Border of Dreams,’ depicts the emotion of immigration through her footage.

Talia McWright stood behind the camera she borrowed from Bethel University, filming Abel and his family who immigrated to Kansas in 1996 from Mexico City. McWright has always had a hobby for photography, but filming the Border of Dreams documentary was a project that the executive producer, Scott Winter, trusted her to do.

Knowing how immigrating to the United States has affected Abel