One of the key institutes of the Christian tradition is the institute of marriage. As a Christian college, NW’s faculty and staff can agree that marriage is a beautiful and important gift. This concept of marriage is held particularly dear by a certain pool of NW faculty and staff members as they are given the opportunity to work on the same campus as their spouse every day. From every corner of the campus, many professors and staff members share their lives with another employee from NW. Many of these married couples see each other everyday as they work in similar departments, however for some, it is a rare and lovely treat to see each other during work hours.
“We get to have lunch together pretty much everyday,” says Harrison Wiebe Faber when discussing how often he gets to see his wife, Molly, on campus. In a similar sense, Professor Jeremy Williams has more recently been given opportunities to see his wife Amy at meetings and lunch breaks.
“We have been attending a few meeting since we both are in the Arts & Humanities Division,” Williams said, “As a family, we sometimes eat on campus together – it’s fun when our kids recognize our students and colleagues.”
In contrast to Williams and the Wiebe Fabers, Dr. Nate Phinney and his wife Janelle are not as frequently given the opportunity to see each other during work hours. When asked how often he gets to see his wife at work, Dr. Phinney said “I’d say two to four times per month…It’s always a fun and pleasant surprise!”
Along with sharing a life and workplace together comes sharing a family and their schedule. For many married professors and staff members, their job at NW has opened up opportunities for their children to get to know campus and the faces of students that they teach. Oftentimes, the children of these couples can be seen during the school day if they are not in school and have had many positive interactions with students, staff and faculty members as they too are involved with campus life.
For the Phinneys, NW provides a chance for their homeschooled daughters to learn from students in the music department. As a part-time faculty member, Mrs. Phinney is able to work in the music department and homeschool her daughters.
“My girls are on campus with me each week taking music lessons with NW students.” said Mrs. Phinney, “Our family is on campus almost everyday of the school year and we really enjoy bringing our kids to concerts, plays and events.”
For married couples with children who are not quite old enough to be at school, working at NW has opened up a pool of trustworthy options for babysitters for the couple and opportunities to babysit for students who know the professors well. Both the Williams and Wiebe Fabers have been able to experience the benefits of having their children on campus from time to time. The student body has also experienced these benefits as many find joy in seeing their professor’s children play and walk around campus with adorable smiles and cute giggles.
“Junia is always a joy to see walking around campus,” said theatre student, Rhea Cutler “Her enthusiasm and carefree love of life brings a new kind of young caring energy to campus.”
When asked why each couple chose NW, many saw NW as a wonderful place to not only aid students in their education and faith journey, but also as a place that would boldly encourage the integration of their faith in their work.
“We were attracted to NW for its commitment to Christianity, the liberal arts, academic rigor, and its investment in theatre,” Mr. Wiebe Faber said. “It really ended up ticking a lot of boxes for both of us in terms of workplace.”
Like the Wiebe Fabers, the Phinneys found the workplace they had been looking for as well. “I was really excited to be a part of a strongly Christian institution that was self-consciously Reformed, Evangelical and Ecumenical.” said Dr Phinney.
Following with this theme of finding an institution dedicated to faith and academia, the Williams also express their gratitude for NW.
“We both went to a Christian College and consistently see the many ways that we were formed by this experience academically, spiritually and relationally.” Mr. Williams said “We love the fact that we teach at a college that takes academics seriously while maintaining Christ as the foundation of all that we do.”
