New learning environments unveiled at Bethany

BETHANY -- Officials at Bethany College took time during a busy homecoming weekend to celebrate the creation of two new settings for learning within its biology and psychology departments.

In presiding over dedications for the John Hull Psychology Lab and Kirkpatrick Biology Lab, Interim President Jamie Caridi noted each is a short walk from the other on the second floor of Kirkpatrick Hall and each was established through the generosity of many financial supporters.

He said there's a dire need for professionals in fields involving science, technology, engineering and math, and Bethany College has been working to meet that demand through new courses, staff and opportunities for students to perform research.

He credited Professor Anna Edlund, who chairs the college's biology department, with envisioning the biology lab which, like the hall in which it's located, bears the name of Forrest H. Kirkpatrick.

A long-ime Bethany professor, Kirkpatrick also loaned his knowledge to the industrial sector as an executive with Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and in other role, and to the federal government, serving as a consultant to the State Department and other federal agencies.

A total of $500,000 in renovations to the biology department received a major boost from the Theodore and Beulah Beasley Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that supports educational projects and other causes.

Funding from the foundation and many others allowed the college to install new, lower lab tables, around which multiple students may sit; and add such equipment as tabletop centrifuges, which are used to separate fluids and gasses; and thermocyclers, which are used in the study of genetics.

"It's going to be such a delight teaching in this room," said Edlund.

Alexis Reed, a senior biology student, said the lab will provide her and many other students with valuable hands-on experience.

Edlund said in recent years Bethany officials have expanded its biology department to include not only human and animal biology and earth sciences, but also studies at the molecular level, including DNA, immunology and aspects of cell biology that have many applications.

For example, Edlund has secured a patent for a coating utilizing pollen, a natural substance that never deteriorates.

She said the biology program is the college's largest growing major, with a number of recent graduates going on to study medicine, including veterinary science, at post-graduate schools.

Edlund noted the renovations also included repairs to the classroom's large, cut-glass window, which was installed when the hall, formerly a chapel, was renovated for instructional use in 1927.

Just down the hall from the biology lab is the new psychology lab, which houses about 20 computers with which students may explore aspects of cognitive and emotional functions.

Professor Amanda Chappell said about 150 students of various majors enrolled in the college's introduction to psychology course are engaged in weekly labs that have involved interactive experiences conducted with the aid of a computer.

For example, students learned whether changing a familiar face, by presenting it upside down or tinted, affects the viewer's ability to recognize it, she said.

Chappell, who was joined by fellow professors Parul Kalia and Felicia Kademian-Saini, noted there are plans to make the lab available to students throughout the day using security measures.

Caridi said it's fitting that the lab be named for Professor Emeritus John Hull, who in his 46 years there "was instrumental in transforming Bethany College into a leading institution of higher learning."

After joining Bethany's faculty in 1976, Hull taught more than 24 courses there, co-authorized papers and presentations with more than 110 Bethany students, and was nominated twice for West Virginia Outstanding Professor of the Year as well as receiving many honors from his peers and students.

Julianne Rush, president of Bethany's Student Government Association -- which was among many financial supporters of the new lab -- said she and many other students are pleased that he was being honored in such a way.

Unable to appear at the dedication in person, Hull participated through a teleconference call.

He said he looked forward to visiting the lab in person and reflected on his years at Bethany while inviting the oldest and youngest alumni attending to join others in cutting a ribbon for it.

The dedications were part of a full schedule for Bethany's homecoming, which included a golf scramble sponsored by Main Street Bank, a town hall meeting where Caridi and Board of Trustees Chair Ken Bado updated attendees on future plans, a lecture by independent filmmaker and 1990 Bethany graduate Julia Huffman and a ring ceremony celebrating the Bison volleyball team's victory at last year's President's Athletic Conference Championship.