Comings and Goings
John Bates began working at the university Feb. 1 as recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator of the football program. He has an extensive background as a football coach, serving as defensive coordinator for coach Chris Casey at Aloha High School (2011 to present) and, before that, as defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Neb., from 2004 to 2010. He also coached at Western Oregon University and in Europe – for the Chrysler Vienna Vikings in Austria – in the early 2000s. John earned a master of education degree in secondary education from Whitworth University in 2006 after earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the same school in 2000. He began his coaching career at Whitworth in 2000-01. He lives in Carlton with his wife, Dana, a health and human performance professor at George Fox. They have two children – Ryan (7) and Alexandra (4).
Plant Services hired Gary Eckerdt as a mechanic/fabricator III in late January. For the past two years he’s worked as a senior technician/journeyman for Andy’s Auto & Truck Repair of Sherwood. All told, he’s worked in the auto repair industry for 24 years – four of which he spent in Newberg at Matco Tools (2007-09) and Integrity Auto Body (2009-11). Gary lives in Newberg with his wife Shirley and they have two adult children, Jessica and James. The Eckerdts attend Newberg Friends.
Jennifer Farland joined the university in December as assistant director of international admissions. She comes to George Fox with nearly 10 years of experience in higher education and 15 years of experience working with international students. Since the fall of 2003 she held various positions at Western Michigan University, including operations manager for international admissions and services. Jennifer earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from the University of South Dakota and holds a master’s certificate in holistic health from Western Michigan University. She lives in Sherwood with her dog Lucy and cat Leonard and is enjoying looking for a church home in the area.