New Westminster chaplain resident encourages community engagement

Kiva Nice-Webb, chaplain resident at Westminster College, sips a cup of joe in her office in the Center for Faith and Service. As a former barista, Nice-Webb knows her coffee.
Kiva Nice-Webb, chaplain resident at Westminster College, sips a cup of joe in her office in the Center for Faith and Service. As a former barista, Nice-Webb knows her coffee.

Kiva Nice-Webb, Westminster College's new resident chaplain, doesn't wear bonnets or drive a carriage to work.

"I'm from the more culturally assimilated end of the Mennonite spectrum," she said.

Her job entails coordinating community engagement and service projects with students, supporting campus worship and spiritual life and teaching religion courses.

According to Nice-Webb, her faith fits very well with those goals.

"Service and humility are really important (to Mennonites)," she said. "Our faith is very communal in focus."

Nice-Webb hopes to help Westminster students realize
at least for their four years at college, they're part of the Fulton community.

"My goal as coordinator of community engagement is to help facilitate mutually beneficial engagement between Westminster College and the surrounding community," she said.

Westminster's biggest annual community engagement event is Into the Streets, where students volunteer around the community. Previously, the event was compacted into a single day, and students could sign up for a variety of volunteer opportunities. Under Nice-Webb, Into the Streets will look slightly different.

For one, the event will now last Oct. 23-27. Students have until Wednesday to sign up in groups. Nice-Webb said students are being encouraged to find their own opportunities, though her office, the Center for Faith and Service, will help match groups up if necessary.

Nice-Webb said she's glad to have the chance to help Fulton and the surrounding area, which she said has been welcoming to her.

"Every place has its own strengths and struggles," she said. "It just feels nice to be some place with sweet tea again."

She's originally from Fairview, North Carolina - similar to Callaway County in that it features four seasons, sweet tea and plenty of hills, she said. Nice-Webb attended Elon University and received a bachelor of arts in religious studies.

"Then, I moved to Chicago for two years for a year-of-service program," she said.

She worked at domestic violence agency Sarah's Inn. She stayed in Chicago for her graduate program at University of Chicago, earning dual masters degrees in divinity and social service administration. She also met her partner, who still lives in Chicago.

"This is my first job after grad school," Nice-Webb said. "I did the big city thing for a while and I wanted to come back to a rural area. I care a lot about the progressive/conservative divide, and also the urban/rural divide."

While at Westminster, she hopes to figure out which direction to take the rest of her career. She enjoys taking long walks with her dog, Ella Mae, which help her recharge.

"Jobs where you help people can be both exciting and draining," she said.