President Jay Barnes and president-elect Ross Allen work together to create Bethel’s virtual community. 

By Molly Korzenowski

Jay Barnes laughed as the cuckoo clocks in his home went off at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. Starting this week, Barnes and new president-elect Ross Allen will address the Bethel community over a Google livestream each Monday.  

“I’ll be glad when Google Hangout is over and we can talk to the people we care about face-to-face,” Barnes said with a laugh. 

Leadership and volunteers have worked hard to put together a virtual campus in the last few weeks. Volunteers aided about 1500 students leaving the student campus. Sodexo continues to provide free meals to students unable to move from their dorms.

According to Barnes, news on student refunds will be released to the Bethel community later this week. Nearly $3 million total will be given back to students through stipends for the remainder of the semester. 

Commencement will be held in a virtual format, but the details regarding this have yet to be planned. Meetings and events into the summer have been canceled or scheduled remotely as well. The final vote on Allen will occur as planned in a virtual meeting. 

“God has wired me for change,” Allen said. “I’m eager to begin now even more so than before.”