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MISHAWAKA-- Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries Keith Koteskey, M.Div., has been a fixture in Bethel’s Religion and Philosophy Department for 7 and a half years. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he also serves as the Chair of the Religion and Philosophy Department. His face is familiar to many students, faculty and staff who recognize him from his generous “Donut Friday” tradition of bringing several donuts to campus every Friday to share with individuals of the Bethel community.
According to Koteskey, he did a lot of traveling as part of his job during his early years at Bethel, and found himself hunting for donut places on the road a little too often.
“[Donut Friday] started because I was eating too many donuts,” Koteskey said.
In order to limit his donut intake, Koteskey decided to choose one day out of the week as his “donut day,” and ultimately chose Friday so he would have something to look forward to at the end of every week. Eventually, he realized how much more he enjoyed donuts when sharing them with others, and the Donut Friday tradition was born.
“[My favorite donut is] ‘The Squealer,’ from a place called Cops & Doughnuts,” Koteskey said. “It is a long john with maple icing and two strips of bacon.”
One of Koteskey’s favorite parts about Bethel is the connections he makes inside and outside the classroom.
“I love the friendships that I have with students,” Koteskey said.
He added that he loves doing fun things with his students, and he is abundantly blessed by the encouragement he has the opportunity to give and the joy to receive.
He also enjoys witnessing the journeys of students, especially those who sit under his teaching throughout their college careers.
“I love seeing the transformation and development in our Christian ministry majors,” Koteskey said, “from when they come in as freshmen to when they graduate.”
Koteskey integrates himself into the Bethel community, serving wherever he can—including the realm of sports, which is certainly a key aspect of the Bethel experience for the majority of students.
“I do PA announcing for women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and some of men’s volleyball,” Koteskey said.
Some other fun facts about Koteskey are that his favorite color is blue, his favorite ice cream is “anything with chocolate,” and he loves to storm chase whenever he has the opportunity.
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