evere weather rolled into the Tennessee Valley on February 16, with high winds toppling trees and ripping the roof off a section of the men's dormitory on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama.

Edwards Hall sustained an estimated $75,000 in damages, reports Timothy Allston, college spokesperson. Although several students were in the dormitory as the roof tore away, none of the students were injured during  the storm.

Ninety six (96) students were directly affected by loss of power to the dormitory. According to Anthony Medley, vice president for student services, the students were temporarily relocated to other rooms and dorms on campus. "We are very sorry for the inconvenience to the students and for the damage to their personal belongings in this unexpected weather event,” Medley says. “We are doing everything we can to restore everything back to normalcy so the students can return to their academic and campus pursuits."

The storm moved so quickly the damage was done before the National Weather Service issued a warning to the Huntsville area. "We have systematic plans in our policies for evacuations during natural disasters. However, the damage had already occurred before the sirens rang out the tornado warning," according to Ronald Lindsey, vice president for finance.

Former GC Vice President Dies
A former General Conference vice president and assistant to the GC president, Frederick Carlyle Webster, was laid to rest on January 28 in Deltona Memorial Gardens, Florida. Funeral service was held in the Deltona Seventh-day Adventist Church, which he founded six years after his retirement from the General Conference in 1981.

He was a third-generation minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Both his father and grandfather participated in Frederick’s ordination in Ohio, where he pastored after graduation from Columbia Union College.

Elder Webster was born in Hamilton, Ontario, June 29. 1915. In July 1948 the Websters were called to the South American Division, where he served in the South Brazil Union Conference as Lay Activities and Sabbath School director. He was later elected president of the Rio Grande de Sol Conference. After serving two years, he then became Inca Union president in 1954.

At the 1966 General Conference session the Websters were invited to move to the newly formed Middle East Division, where he served as president. During his  four-year term, institutions, schools and representative church buildings were erected.

In 1970, then GC president Robert Pierson invited Webster to be his personal assistant at the General Conference, a position he filled until Elder Pierson’s retirement in 1978. For the remainder of his active service, Webster was personnel director of the General Conference.

After his 1981 retirement, the Websters helped to establish the Deltona and Debary-Orange City Adventist Churches.

Webster is survived by his wife Martie, his son Kenneth; two sisters Vesta Seek, and Thetis Bush; and brother Wentworth Webster.

Sudan Graduates Zealous to Win Nation For Christ
Twelve ministerial students graduated January 26 from Sudan Adventist Seminary during its first graduation ceremony at the new location in Bahr Naam, South Sudan. The seminary relocated from Khartoum in order to facilitate the educational needs of church members in the southern part of the country.

“The graduating class appreciated the training received and are zealous and keen to go out and win Sudan for Christ,” says Orville Woolford, Trans-European Division education director.

This graduation brings the total number of graduates from the seminary to 24.  Twelve students also graduated after the first two years of the seminary's operation in Khartoum.  Twenty-two of the graduates are now involved in the mission of the church in Sudan.  As a result the operation of the seminary has achieved one of its goals--that of training and retaining workers for the Sudan field.

"Previously, when students left Sudan to attend foreign colleges, few returned and made themselves available for service as field pastors," explains Woolford. The two-year program of the seminary leads to an associate in arts diploma in religion.

AU Receives “largest single gift ever”
for Performing Arts Center
The largest single gift in Andrews University’s history was announced by president Niels-Erik Andreasen on February 12.

The multi-million-dollar contribution will facilitate the building of a campus performing arts center and provide funds for a substantial portion of its construction cost, currently estimated at $11-$13 million, as well as an endowment to maintain the facility. At the request of the donors, the specific amount of the gift was not released.

“We are delighted with this partnership between Andrews University and the donor family,” Andreasen said at a press conference. “Andrews University has always been committed to musical presentations of the highest quality in keeping with the cultural, ethical, and spiritual values of the university, and we are excited about the opportunity to further enrich the Southwest Michigan community by providing a venue for musical presentations that are consistent with these principles.” The center will be located at the front of Andrews’ 1,600-acre Berrien Springs, Michigan, campus. Still in the planning phase, the concert hall will seat 600-800 people and provide performance space for 100-150 musicians. The scheduled completion date for the building, which has not yet been named, is spring of 2003.

AAW Seeks Award Nominees
The Association of Adventist Women (AAW) is soliciting nominations for its 2001 Women of the Year awards, which will be presented during the annual AAW convention, October 4-7 in the Washington, D.C., area.

"Too often the enormous contributions of Adventist women are overlooked," says Toini Harrison, coordinator of the Women of the Year program. "These  awards are designed to help church members realize anew how women support the church and its outreach."

Nominees should be Adventist women who have made outstanding and unique contributions to home, community, or professional life. The nomination process involves several steps: preparing a biographical sketch of the nominee describing her accomplishments and contributions in the area for which she is being nominated for an award, soliciting two recommendation from her colleagues, and getting a letter from her current church pastor.

The deadline for submitting applications is May 4. To request an application, contact: Toini Harrison, Women of the Year Coordinator, 11171 Oakwood Drive B105, Loma Linda, CA 92354. For more information call (909) 799-5448, or e-mail: aharrisont@cs.com