The Daily Bruin

Employees and their families are invited to this year’s Christmas Extravaganza and tree lighting tomorrow (Thursday). Join us for a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in front of Stevens at 4:30 p.m., followed by treats and festivities, scheduled to run until 7:30 p.m.

There will be caroling, cookie decorating, goats, a photo booth, a roaming Santa, a holiday market in Klages, a Santa’s workshop in the Maker Hub, Miss Hannah’s popcorn, and more. We look forward to celebrating the Christmas season with you and your families!

Contact Faith McKee at fmckee@georgefox.edu with any questions.

The Office for Spiritual Life is looking for staff and faculty members to participate in our new “SpiL Mentoring” program this spring.

This program will provide the opportunity for students to have meaningful conversations about faith and life while receiving encouragement and support from a George Fox staff or faculty member. Students in the program will be matched with a dedicated staff or faculty member, with whom they will have weekly meetings lasting approximately one hour over a span of eight weeks within the semester. The program will begin the week of Jan. 29 and end the week of March 18.

To support you in your mentoring role, we will provide a booklet with weekly suggested spiritual formation practices for you to engage in with your mentee. Additionally, there will be a training session prior to the start of the program to ensure you feel prepared and equipped.

If interested, please fill out this application by Wednesday, Jan. 3. Your involvement will make a meaningful impact on our students’ lives.

Please email Cyndi at cmurillo@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

The university pastors are excited to share the 2023 Advent Reader with you all!

Advent begins this Sunday, Dec. 3, and the Advent Reader has a devotional and contemplative practice for each week of Advent. Feel free to share this with your family, friends and faith community. May you experience the hope, peace, joy and love of Christ this Advent season!

Access the Advent Reader with this link.

Did a conversation about politics, faith, or other deep topics go awry over Thanksgiving weekend? Are you dreading a similar risk during the upcoming Christmas break?

Now is the time to get better at helping people embrace disagreements as opportunities to make life better, more just and less polarized.

Come to a highly interactive workshop, “From Walls to Bridges: Building Skills to Reduce Polarization and Bridge Community Divides,” at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Northwest Christian Church (2315 Villa Road). You will learn to stay calm amid disagreement, listen actively, unleash curiosity, ask powerful questions, and share your own views more effectively.

This event is co-sponsored by the George Fox Civility Project and the local United as Neighbors group (especially its Community Conversations team). For more information, contact Ron Mock at civility@georgefox.edu.

Have you ever wanted to see what Student Activities is up to? If so, sign up to be a chaperone at the Winter Formal dance this Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Shawn Gardner Ballroom in Tigard. If interested, please complete the form here.

If you have any questions, please contact Kara Holcombe at kholcombe@georgefox.edu.

Order a meal from any Panda Express in the country tomorrow (Wednesday) to support the Doctor of Physical Therapy program’s annual service trip to Uganda! Use the code 919543 to help. Online orders only!

Contact Molly at mshields22@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

Today is the day! If you’re interested in ordering George Fox Christmas cards, please do so by the end of the day today (Monday). The cost will depend on the size of the order we place. The order will be placed tomorrow.

Brandy Donovant in the marketing communications office will email you when the cards have arrived and are ready to be picked up.

To place your order, please fill out this form. Contact Brandy with any questions at bdonavant@georgefox.edu.

Rejoice in the Lord always!

We are still in need of several volunteers to serve as ushers at the midyear commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium. Come help us greet our guests, hand out programs, direct family and friends to their seats, and make graduation a special event for everyone!

It’s fun to be part of our students’ graduation experience, and all employees who participate as ushers receive $50 through payroll, or take three hours off in lieu of this gift.

Please contact Laurie Fair at lfair@georgefox.edu if you would like to volunteer to serve our grads and their families on this memorable day!

Looking to enjoy better nutrition at home? Providence collaborates with Homemade to offer free monthly online cooking classes, available for live streaming or on-demand viewing.

These classes, coupled with additional resources on the Homemade platform, empower you with the expertise to prepare healthier and tastier meals at home. Gain valuable skills for cooking nutritious and delightful dishes through these complimentary sessions! Find out more here.

The “big dark” is here. The winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — is on Dec. 21, and until then our days will keep getting darker and colder. With dark days and the less agreeable weather, it’s understandable to feel apprehensive or down. You may be noticing a change in your mood.

There are ways to counter stress and feelings of sadness. Find out how in this article.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

Please note the accelerated payroll deadlines for December. Due to Christmas break, we will have fewer days to process the December payroll.

Please have all check requests submitted and approved by Thursday, Dec. 7. Temporary part-time employee timesheets should also be forecasted, locked, and approved by Dec. 7.

Regular employee timesheets and student timesheets can be locked at the end of the month as usual. The student payday will be on Friday, Dec. 15, and the regular employee payday will be on Thursday, Dec. 21.

Questions? Contact the payroll team at payroll@georgefox.edu.

Employees and their families are invited to this year’s Christmas Extravaganza and tree lighting on Thursday, Nov. 30. Join us for a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in front of Stevens at 4:30 p.m., followed by treats and festivities, scheduled to run until 7:30 p.m.

There will be caroling, cookie decorating, goats, a photo booth, a roaming Santa, a holiday market in Klages, a Santa’s workshop in the Maker Hub, Miss Hannah’s popcorn, and more. We look forward to celebrating the Christmas season with you and your families!

Contact Faith McKee at fmckee@georgefox.edu with any questions.

With the possibility of severe weather this winter, now is the time to make sure you’re set up to receive FlashAlerts about campus closures and delayed openings.

If it is unsafe to drive to campus, George Fox will temporarily close campus and cancel in-person classes. However, remote/online courses will not be canceled because of weather conditions. Here’s how to find out if a decision has been made when severe weather occurs:

• Visit the George Fox flashalert.net page. Enter your email address to create an account and receive notifications from FlashAlert Messenger.
• If you wish to receive a notification on your mobile device, download the FlashAlert smartphone app for iOS or Android and either login or create an account if you haven’t already. This is the best way to get notified with a mobile alert and to easily find all posted FlashAlerts in one place.

More information on campus closure policies can be found at georgefox.edu/closure.

Would you like to get better at helping people embrace disagreements as opportunities to make life better, more just and less polarized?

Come to a highly interactive workshop, “From Walls to Bridges: Building Skills to Reduce Polarization and Bridge Community Divides,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Northwest Christian Church (2315 Villa Road). You will learn to stay calm amid disagreement, listen actively, unleash curiosity, ask powerful questions, and share your own views more effectively.

This event is co-sponsored by the George Fox Civility Project and the local United as Neighbors group (especially its Community Conversations team). For more information, contact Ron Mock at civility@georgefox.edu.

Knowing what to do in an emergency situation is important. If you are not currently trained in First Aid/CPR, this class is for you.

Go to this link to sign up for the class on Monday, Dec. 18, from 9 to 3 p.m. at the Portland Center. The class is limited to eight persons.

If you have had training but need to recertify, click this link and join the class on Tuesday, Dec. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. This class also has a limit of eight.

If you have any questions, please contact Kim Knoernschild at kknoernschild@georgefox.edu.

The Department of Art and Design is launching its third photo contest to remember John Bennett. John impacted our community for nearly 15 years until his untimely death in 2017.

If you are a current or former student of George Fox, submit your best “It’s All About the Light” photograph via this entry form. The winner will receive a ThinkTank bag for their photo gear!

The contest will close on Thursday, Nov. 30.

If you have any questions, reach out to Adam Long at along@georgefox.edu.

The Office for Spiritual Life is looking for Life Group leaders for the spring of 2024. The program will last from the week of Jan. 29 through the week of March 18. Life Groups are small groups of undergraduate students who meet together for prayer, Bible study, and fellowship. Groups meet weekly for 60 to 90 minutes.

This spring, our groups will be either in person or completely via Zoom (this provides access for our George Fox Digital students). Life Groups through the Office for Spiritual Life led by a George Fox staff or faculty member will be SPIL-credit eligible in order to encourage students to engage in spiritual formation experiences that are participatory and provide ongoing community.

To sign up, please fill out this form by Jan. 3.

Please email Cyndi at cmurillo@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

We are in need of helping hands! Can you spare some time this upcoming season to assist with this year’s Christmas Extravaganza on Thursday, Nov. 30, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.?

Volunteer to help deck the halls, serve at activity stations, or clean up. Anyone willing to chip in, please fill out this Christmas Volunteer Sign-up Form. If you have any questions, please contact Faith McKee at fmckee@georgefox.edu.

Thank you!

As we near year-end, George Fox fans and supporters are sending in donations to their favorite programs on campus! If your department receives a donation directly from a donor, please bring it immediately to the advancement office for processing into your designated fund to ensure timely receipting to donors. We are located on the third floor of the Stevens Center.

This is the case for any time of year! Supporters who want to make an online donation can do so at giving.georgefox.edu, where they can enter their designation into the designation box.

If you have any questions, contact Gwyn Curtis at gcurtis@georgefox.edu.

The Richter Scholars program is accepting a second round of proposals which will be due Monday, Jan 22, 2024, by 5 p.m.

The Richter Scholars program distributes funds to support student research activities that are devised, initiated, and carried out by individual student researchers, with mentorship, guidance, and expertise provided by a faculty mentor.

The purpose of these funds is to support educational research opportunities that encourage the practices of independent thought leading to independent achievement and personal responsibility. For the purpose of this program, research is defined as a knowledge-generating activity that is designed to provide new information on a topic, tool, or process, and that proceeds according to established and accepted research methods.

Before preparing a proposal, please read through the full proposal guidelines, eligibility requirements, and review criteria at this link.

All submissions will be electronic. The Smartsheet link can be found on the website linked above.

For more information, contact Vetta Berokoff at vberokof@georgefox.edu.