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Destini Turcotte | Feb. 5, 2026
Coffee, Tea and Worship:
How Students Are Beating Ohio’s Winter
This spring semester started off a bit rocky as a giant snowstorm swept across the country, leaving a foot of snow and several remote learning days in its wake...
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Coffee, Tea and Worship: How Students Are Beating Ohio’s Winter
By Destini Turcotte, Staff Writer and Video Team
This spring semester started off a bit rocky as a giant snowstorm swept across the country, leaving a foot of snow and several remote learning days in its wake. Students have now gotten familiar with walking to class in the snow and learning how to manage around it.
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A student-led Sunday service on Jan. 25 is a prime example of students coming together in times of need. Will Meyers, a senior studying pastoral ministry, gave the message about the necessity of making intimate time with God.
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“Sunday worship services are God’s way of bringing us in to prepare us as we are sent out for the week ahead, which is why I am glad we were able to get permission to use the chapel for this,” Meyers said about the importance of pulling something together, even in a frigid storm.
Tyler Maddux, a senior worship arts major, led worship with the help of students across years and majors.
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Jack Longstreet, a senior youth and family ministry major, along with Destini Turcotte, a junior communication major, provided coffee in the lobby to students who braved the cold and attended.
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But how are students unfamiliar with Ohio’s weather whiplash keeping warm?
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Ester Bejijta, a freshman health sciences and business major from Albania, recalled something her grandmother used to do when it got cold.
“I live in the capital city, so it doesn’t really snow there,” Bejita said. “But when it does, my grandmother, back in the day, had a stove and would move everything into that room to keep warm.”
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She also mentioned knitted Albanian socks called papuçe, which she wears during the winter. Along with the socks, Ester said she drinks coffee and Albanian tea called Çaj Mali, which translates to “mountain tea” and is made from leaves found in Albania.
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Gabriella Gwiza, a junior marketing and graphic design major from Rwanda, shared how cold it gets there compared to Ohio.
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“The coldest it would get would be 15 degrees Celsius,” Gwiza said, which is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Gwiza said she stays warm by drinking hot water and layering her clothing. “I’m wearing leggings under my jeans,” she said.
Matilde Tinelli, a freshman business administration major from Italy, shared her preference for coffee.
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“If I have to study, I make my latte,” Tinelli said. “We call it caffè latte, which is similar to a cappuccino.”
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Tinelli also recalled “Pastina,” a broth with chicken, tiny pieces of pasta, Laughing Cow cheese and baby food, as a comfort meal that reminds her of home.
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Although Rwanda, Italy and Albania are different countries with different cultures, students shared one thing in common: the importance of layering up. Between coffee, tea, student-led services and much more, there are many ways the Cougars are staying warm and keeping busy during this record-breaking winter in Ohio.
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From She to We: Galloway Hall to
Become Shared Space
By Brock Hankins, Staff Writer and Video Team
Starting next semester, Galloway Hall will officially become a fully upperclassmen residence hall. For several decades, Galloway has served as a female-only dormitory. However, in response to an increase in incoming male students, MVNU has elected to reassign Galloway as a shared space for both men and women.
In previous years, MVNU’s male-to-female student ratio stood at approximately 1-to-2, but it has since evened out to 1-to-1. As a result, adjustments were necessary to comfortably accommodate the growing number of male students on campus. Redwood Hall’s resident director, Thomas Zentmeyer, explained, “Once the current seniors graduate, our student body numbers will be about even. This year, we had to open Cedar, which required my RAs to take on additional responsibility. Galloway allows us to avoid opening Cedar next semester.”
Converting Galloway to house both demographics further lowers financial costs. Galloway’s heating and cooling systems regulate the entire building at once and operate more efficiently than Cedar’s apartment-style units, which rely on more individualized temperature controls.
Beyond these logistical considerations, Galloway’s transition also carries important implications for student life and the community.
Galloway joins Redwood Hall as MVNU’s second shared residential building. While residents of Redwood are separated by floor and have two individual lobby spaces, Galloway will be divided by wings and feature a single communal lobby. The students currently residing in Redwood cultivate a welcoming community, providing future Galloway residents with a strong example to follow as it enters this new chapter.
When asked about men moving into Galloway, Chloe Hall, one of Galloway’s spiritual mentors, shared, “I know it’s a change, and change can be scary, but it opens up many more opportunities for male students to become SMs and to live in dorms beyond their freshman year.” This transition will not only expand housing options for male students but also create greater leadership opportunities by allowing upperclassmen to serve as mentors and make a positive impact among their peers.
When asked what advice he would give current Galloway residents worried about the change, Zentmeyer highlighted this community. He shared, “A lot of people in Galloway feel like that’s their space…my encouragement to them is to step out of their comfort zone and
engage in that community, because students are the ones who shape community. If residents become detached, they neglect their ability to shape that community.”
When stepping onto MVNU’s campus, it is easy to overlook the deep-rooted sense of community cultivated by its students. While athletics and academics may initially draw students in, the community keeps them returning each semester. By diversifying, Galloway Hall has the potential to serve as yet another cornerstone of MVNU’s vibrant and enduring campus community.
Enrollment is Down; Can we Keep Learning Up?
By Abby Almodovar, Editor
With a nationwide decline in undergraduate enrollment, universities face extra challenges in keeping the experience for students transformational. Students at MVNU receive a diploma and a handshake, but are these the only things we walk out with when we graduate? Obviously, we hope for much more. We hope not just to be hired but to be prepared for our future careers. We want to be formed by the people, the place and the classes we take.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, undergraduate enrollment in the U.S. decreased by 15% from 2010 to 2021. MVNU felt the negative effects of this trend deeply and underwent some changes in the past year, including the release of six faculty members.
Dr. Eric Stetler, Vice President of Academic Affairs, recognizes that faculty are the cornerstone of education here. He hopes that students experience “a solid mentorship in a rooted program that is supported and has the right people around it. That starts with a strong faculty.”
To keep academics at the same level as we move into a new year, administration will form growth plans. “Every faculty is meeting with their chair and also their dean to come up with goals for growth and promotion within the university,” Dr. Stetler explained.
“We have a number of ways to keep our finger on the temperature of student learning. First and foremost, we have our end-of-course surveys,” he said.
Students who have been here for years boast of the personal transformation they experienced. Bryer Shipley, a senior integrated mathematics education major, reflected, “I would call my academic experience a journey. I learned so much about myself, learned how to think for myself, and I even changed my major.”
However, Shipley has noticed a shift in his education, explaining, “It's literally everyone's first wyear in the math department.” Although he uses the EOCs to their full advantage, Shipley admitted, “I hope that they're being read, but I think that there's definitely been no vocalization of actual change from last semester to this semester. So, I think that it’s really hard to actually tell if something's being done.”
A sophomore, having attended MVNU for only a year, experienced faculty changes early on in his college journey. He shared that his favorite part of MVNU academics is that professors know students on a personal level, and said, “Our professors are amazing— the ones that came back.”
As the cabinet works together, they share a vision that MVNU remains a place for impactful learning. Dr. Stetler said, “Students sacrifice a lot to set aside time to find transformation— their number one priority— so we want to take that seriously.”
