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The Echo
Taylor University, Upland, IN
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025
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The Echo

Features

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Spotlight on Who’s Your Coffee Roastery

By Kendall Beck · Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

College students and their coffee. There’s quite a reputation there. If you’ve ventured off campus in search of a good old-fashioned cup of coffee in recent years, it’s likely you’ve stumbled across Who’s Your Coffee Roastery.

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‘The grandmother of Christian fiction’

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

Lorne Oke, Taylor’s head men’s and women’s golf coach, knows that his mother Janette Oke’s stories are characterized by humility and a down-to-earth desire for telling truthful, heartfelt stories about community, family and God.

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Soccer player by day, EMT by night

By Marco Aguirre · Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024

Emergency jobs can bring a lot of pressure, but this student has learned the skills to handle it. Junior Morgan Fletemeyer is a biology pre-med major who works as an emergency medical technician (EMT) at the Marion General Hospital.

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Ben Gerig: worshipping through songwriting

By Marco Aguirre · Friday, Dec. 13, 2024

Chapel band, Fall Fest, an album — ain’t it strange how one student has done these and then some? Junior Ben Gerig is a Christian ministries major at Taylor University. He released a Christian album in January 2024. The album is titled “Ain’t It Strange,” and it contains five songs, with the first song sharing the same name as the album.

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Telling the story of all: “Always and Forever”

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, Nov. 22, 2024

Grief is one of the most uniquely individual yet universal human experiences. Donna Downs, associate professor of communication, captures the complexity and weight of the emotion in the simple prose of a children’s story titled, “Always and Forever.”

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Hank Voss: Raising up workers for the harvest fields

By Kendall Beck · Friday, Nov. 22, 2024

Just as we embrace the slowness that winter brings each year, there are times in our lives where the right answer is found in rest. Hank Voss, assistant professor of Christian ministries, is celebrating eight years at Taylor University by taking a sabbatical.

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Rebecca Lindsay: The journey of motherhood

By Annie Meldrum · Friday, Nov. 15, 2024

Amidst all that, Rebecca’s journey as a mom has been far from typical. Elizabeth, her first daughter, was born with a rare genetic disorder which requires constant care. When Elizabeth was 6, Rebecca gave birth to twin daughters. In a season of wondering if she was equipped to take care of one child, she suddenly had three.

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‘Showing up with an open heart’ in Santiago

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, Nov. 8, 2024

Something changed in Abby Portolese the third time she visited the Dominican Republic. “The first two trips were really like an invitation from the Lord, just to come and see, to come and experience,” Portolese said. “Just come look and start to experience and start to dream and start to discern what this life could look like.” Her third trip, however, enkindled a fire within. She decided to step out in faith.

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From IWU student to TU marketing, teaching

By Sam Maurer · Friday, Nov. 1, 2024

From the turf field of Wildcat Stadium at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) to the bright faces of Taylor University students, Landin Brown, instructor of design, brings a new perspective to the classroom.

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Birrama inspires ‘come as you are’ attitude

By Kendall Beck · Friday, Nov. 1, 2024

Being part of a community as tightly-knit as Taylor University’s often brings together a network of people that have a lot in common with each other. Yet, even on a campus where people can have so many similarities, there is much diversity to be celebrated. Birrama Creative is a Taylor group with a vision to do just that.

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Strengthened by joy

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, Oct. 25, 2024

There isn’t much that stops Bob Mortimer. Despite missing both legs below the knee and his left arm due to a car accident when he was 21, he firmly maintains that the only handicaps we have are the ones we put on ourselves.

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Byers unites medicine and the liberal arts

By Marco Aguirre · Friday, Oct. 25, 2024

Just as learning medicine never ends, it seems neither does teaching medicine. Jonathan Byers graduated from Taylor University with a pre-med degree in 1997. After his undergraduate studies, he moved to Washington, D.C., to further his studies at The George Washington University from 1999 to 2001.