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The Echo
Taylor University, Upland, IN
Friday, March 20, 2026
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The Echo

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Faculty pickleball group ‘serves’ at sunrise

By Hannah Sundaram · Wednesday, May 14, 2025

What better way to start the day than on the pickleball court at 6 a.m.? A group of faculty members and others on Taylor’s campus get together and play pickleball before they head to work. They meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 a.m. and sometimes on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m.

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The Branch: a cafe for James Dean fans

By Marco Aguirre · Friday, May 2, 2025

This cafe in Grant County serves the Lord by serving you a warm drink. The Branch is a cafe in Fairmount, Indiana, first envisioned and discussed during the summer of 2016 among leaders of Fairmount Wesleyan Church. The cafe would be established to the public in May 2017 as an extension of the church.

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Red Eye challenge sends film majors into ‘frenzy’

By Lauren Warner · Friday, April 18, 2025

For many people, cramming daily activities into twenty-four hours proves a daunting task. However, for freshman AJ Richardson and his six teammates, one trip around the sun was enough time to write, direct and produce a winning original short film. 

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Phil Collins: reading for relationship

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, April 11, 2025

Reading the word of God for a relationship with Jesus all starts with an experience. Art, music, journaling and meditation help students understand the meaning of reading for encountering Christ and are helpful tools that Phil Collins, professor of Christian ministries and director of Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement, has utilized in his teaching and understanding of Scripture.

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Students join God’s work in Budapest, Hungary

By Charlotte Ostric · Friday, March 21, 2025

The goal of the three-week Lighthouse trip to Hungary was one of fellowship and community. Over the course of January, a group of 22 students were led by Julie Borkin, assistant professor of communication and Clifton Davis, director of chapel music and adjunct instructor of music, on a mission trip to Hungary. They immersed themselves in the rich culture of Budapest as they engaged in discipleship opportunities, evangelistic work and community outreach. 

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Children’s writing: big voice, little audience

By Kendall Beck · Friday, March 21, 2025

Do you ever feel that where you are today is the result of a series of events you never would have seen coming? Michelle Medlock Adams calls them “divine mistakes.” Adams is an award-winning children’s book author, freelance writer, speaker and teacher with 123 published books. Now, she has her own children’s imprint, “Wren & Bear Books,” and consulting business, “Michelle Medlock Adams, LLC.”

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Tyler Smith: tours, travel and Thailand

By Marco Aguirre · Friday, March 21, 2025

You may have previously seen him give a family a campus tour — if he didn’t first give you a tour. Junior Tyler Smith is the admissions intern to Andy Gammons, executive director of admissions. 

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Passion meets praise in chapel band leadership

By Contessa Hussong · Friday, March 14, 2025

Dust and dry earth have never withered the love of God. From the rainless skies of Zimbabwe and Arizona to the March mud of Upland, the Lord’s character is indeed a consuming fire — one junior Chloe Pistelli and senior Tinashe Madakadze hope to honor through their own praise and passions. 

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CIE brings energy to entrepreneurship efforts

By Kendall Beck · Friday, March 14, 2025

On a campus like Taylor’s, there are innumerous opportunities for students to pursue existing leadership roles, yet It takes a special student to carve their own path in leadership. Senior Briona Graham and junior Lextin Willis believe their involvement with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has offered them a space to do just that.

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Love, Twooge: PA, DA partners practice floor renewal

By Contessa Hussong · Friday, March 7, 2025

Sometimes, love looks like butterfly wings. As the culture of Gerig’s second floor — known more affectionately as “Twooge” — has shifted in recent years, so too has its definition of love and sisterhood, drawn to life through this year’s theme of renewal.

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Kevin Trees: more than a maintenance job

By Marco Aguirre · Friday, March 7, 2025

Kevin Trees has observed Taylor University’s history of community for over two decades. Trees is a custodian in Samuel Morris Hall and has worked at Taylor for 21 years, from supply delivery to housekeeping manager to custodian.

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Just say yes: Yoder embraces kaleidoscope of faith

By Contessa Hussong · Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

Point a kaleidoscope to the sun and the colors will glow like tinted honey. As the dial turns, shapes arching and twisting, expanding and collapsing, new designs will slowly take shape, almost as if they were waiting to be discovered. This is the image Chad Yoder, lead pastor at Pierce Church, has of God.