The Church
And
The College
By
Dr. Douglas W. Hix
Laurinburg Presbyterian
Church
The title of the address is
•The Church and the
College.” What I am going to
talk about is St. Andrews as a
church related college. I am
not sure this is a topic I would
have picked for myself, and it
is just remotely possible that
it would not have been your
number one choice. It is
assigned to me by Dean
Crossley because it is his
conviction and intention that
one of the tasks of the college
for this year will be a con
sideration of the impbcations
and import of the fact that St.
Andrews is a church related
college. Since DeanCrossley
and I taught together for
almost 8 years, he knew
better than to ask me to
provide definitive solutions to
the problems surrounding this
issue. He knew that was
beyond my capability. In
stead, he asked me to launch
the subject. That seems like a
less difficult task than giving
defnitive answers and
something I ought to be able
to do. But it is not as in
significant a task as you
might at first think because
launch means get you into the
water and since Dean
Crossley is an ordained
Baptist minister he believes
that getting into the wateris
pretty significant indeed. So
what I am going to do may
not be definitive; possibly it
will be significant.
What I want to do is make 7
informal observations about
St. Andrews as a church
related college so you will
have some objective points to
react to in any way you see
fit.
No. I. “Church related”
college is a strange way to try
to say something and many
have historically taken this to
mean a secular college which
happens to be owned and
operated by a church
denomination. This way of
interpreting the phrase
"church related college” is,
fortunately or unfortunately,
not open to St. Andrews. It is
clear from every major
founding document of St.
Andrews that all of those
involved in its beginning
twenty years ago and much of
its subsequent history ^meant
for it to te not just a college
operated by the church, but a
Christian college, owned and
operated by the church. Let
me lay just three quotes on
you. The authors’ of the
Chapel Hill Report-written
by a distinguished panel of
educators from all over the
country who drew the
blueprint for the curriclum
and pattern of the college. It
said, "We think that there is a
distinctively Christian motive
for collegiate education and
that the Christian faith offers
distinctive insights for or
dering the curriculum, the
architecture and the total
community life of a college.
Our prayer each day (of our
work of planning the college)
was that our. . .college may
manifest this motive and
these insights with clarity and
faithfulness.” The second
quote is from the Charter of
the college granted by the
State of North Carolina. It
says in unhestitating terms,
and I quote, “Article III. The
objects for which this cor
poration is formed are as
follows: to establish, main
tain, and operate in North
Carolina a four-year co
educational college for the
Christian education and
development of young men
and women.
• “The coordinated college of
the Synod of N.C.
Presbyterian Church, U.S.
shall exist in perpetuity for
the purposes of nurturing and
strengthening faith in Christ
as Savior and Lord, of
promoting Christian
education, and of extending
the influence of liberal
education of high quality. To
this end it will ever maintain
an emphasis upon Christian
living and scholarship in an
academic community made
up of persons dedicated to the
promulgation and practice of
Christian ideals in all areas of
life.” Then the real kicker:
“The foregoing provision
shall not be modified without
the consent of the Synod of
North Carolina.” And finally,
as late as 9 years ago, when
we prepared our self-study for
the Southern Association, a
statement adopted by the
faculty and the Board of
Trustees said: “It is
avowedly Christian.” These
statements were not written
in the quaint words and
thought forms of the 17th
century and can therefore be
winked at by a more
enlightened age, but in living
memory of those from whom
the college is expecting to get
the lion’s sharej« of the
$8,000,000 it is now seeking.
That is good ole scare tactics,
isn’t it? Well, I mention it
because I knew it would be on
your mind and to give me the
opportunity to say that I think
the college does too many
things for public relations
reasons and to make the point
that though public relations
may be one reason for con
sidering this matter, the real
and most important season is
institutional integrity.
Colleges, like fair young
damsels who are always
afraid someone will violate
their virtue, are afraid
someone-the trustees, the big
givers, etc.-wiU violate their
integrity. The observation I
would put to this community
this evening is, “The violation
of your integrity by another is
pitiable; the self-motivation
of ones own integrity is
reprehensible.”
No. II. It is O.K., ac
ceptable, even respectable, to
be a Church related Christian
College. Most of us have been
somewhat embarrassed by
that designation. It makes
you a second class citizen, not
quite respectable. There are a
number of reasons it has been
. embarrassing in the past
which really are still
operative in our psyches and
they ought to be looked at to
see if jthey weigh as much as.
we thought they did.
a) There are always some
colleges around for whom
Christian Church related
means fundamentalist and
obscurantist-but that doesn’t
mean that such a college
must necessarily be that way.
b) There are many colleges
which were founded as
Christian Church related
colleges and during the
enlightenment they
disengaged themselves with
scorn and distain. They are
still fighUng those long dead
battles and providing the
models for the rest of us to
emulate. Their whole position
should at least be questioned
as to its relevance.
c) Many of us got frozen in
the enlightenment period of
our lives. In many ways the
modern university
^movement is an enlighten
ment movement and we share
many of its insights, but also
many of its ridiculous
prejudices, for all of us are so
brainwashed by our
University graduate ex
periences that we never
completely get over them.
d) Many of us in our own
personal, private lives had
traumatic religious ex-
periences-somewhat sunilar
to parental child abuse-that
have left scars we have dif
ficulty dealing with.
Nevertheless as we mature as
adults, or try to, we should
recognize these traumas for
what they are.
I believe that if we look with
some dispassion at these
reasons for our em
barrassment, some or all of
them can be seen to be no
longer relevant for our lives.
When you also combine this
thought with the observation
that this is the age of minority
rights and with the ob
servation that this is an age
when most anything is O.K.,
an age of relativity, I believe
it is reasonable to conclude
that it is really O.K. to be a
part of and to advocate a
Christian Church related
College. It need not be a cause
for embarrassment.
No. III. If we wish to be a
liberal arts college, it should
at least be put forth as a
claim that a Christian Church
Related College is the single
most supportive framework
for attaining theaims of a
Iberal arts college. I know
this is a complicated issue
and a much disputed and
argued point, but I think it is
a claim that should be made
and then explored to check
out its validity and fruit
fulness. If a liberal arts
college has as three of its
aims: the effort to see the
world and see it whole; to
explore the glory and iosery
of man; and to insist upon the
valuing dimension of all
learning, then a Christian
church related college seems
to provide an imminently
compatible framework for
such aims.
No. IV. If you are trying
with integrity to face up to
your obligation and com
mitment to be a Christian
Church Related College, the
first thing to do is to examine
what you have got now-and it
is not inconsiderable and
shouldn’t be discounted./Most
educational reforms are like
the English professor who
wrote an essay in which he
claims that young people
can’t write because they
weren’t taught and allowed to
express their feelings and if
they were just taught that,
they could learn to write with
facility. But what goes un
noticed is that his essay is
totally convincing because he
himself had spent years
mastering vocabulary,
syntax, sentence and
paragraoh structure and
these equipped him to write a
superb essay. What he should
have said was that in addition
to all the things he was
taught, the students should
Continued on page 8
Guest Editorial
St. Andrews Junior
In Intensive Care
St. Andrews junior Teresa Staley is presently in the Intensive
Care Unit of the Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC, due to
trapped phlegm in her lungs and chest cavities. She has been in
the hospital since October 13; her condition has been Usted as
critical for over a week.
Staley’s illness began with a cold that she contracted shortly
before Fall Break. Because she has a neuro-muscular disease
closely related to muscular dystrophy, she was too weak to
cough up the phlegm, allowing the congestion to build up.
Continued coughing only served to wear her out and deplete her
blood’s oxygen supply. Finally, doctors had no course left
except to sedate her, put her on a respirator and direct a tube
to her chest cavity in an attempt to draw out some of the
phlegm.
Although Staley’s condition has not improved much, doctors
have removed the tube and respirator to determine if she has
regained enough of her sti-ength to subsist with less intensive
care Staley is still in pain due to lying in one position all the
time to aid drainage. However, Staley’s spirit was boosted by
once again being able to talk after the tube was removed.
Staley’s absence is particularly felt at St. Andrews now when
preparations are in full swing for St. Andrews’ second Annual
Carnival against Muscular Dystrojrfiy. Both this year and last,
Teresa had been one of the major coordinators of the Carnival.
This years Carnival chairpersons, Joey Sherr and Terri
Jones, have decided to dedicate the Carnival to Staley in hope
that it will improve her spirit enough to shake off the cold.
Staley’s mother sends her thanks to all the St. Andrews
students vrtio have sent cards, called to wish encouragement,
or tried to visit her. Staley’s mother feels that this show of
concern has done much to help her daughter. “There have been
so many ups and downs that I have trouble getting encouraged
over good news for fear of the let down should something bad
happen again. However, Teresa Staley is putting up quite a
fight and we’re hopeful she can pull out of this thing.”
NOTICE: CAMPING EQUIPMENT
Encounter in the wilderness is in the process of re
placing some of its equipment which has been used for
the past several years. Most of this equipment is in
usable condition, but we may not be able to depend on
it for extended (3 wk) winter term activities. Some may
require several minutes on a sewing machine to repair.
The following items will be sold on a first-come
basis, beginning on Oct. 26.
10 SLEEPING BAGS $25-$3S
10 ENSOLITE PADS $2
7 SVEA-STOVES $6-$10
8 BACK PACKS $20-$35
Misc. ponchos, mess kits, fuel bottles. If you
are interested, contact Tom Jones, MJ129.
Election Results
The following are the official results of the most recent,
election:
Vice-President of the College Union Board
Carol McLain 217
Judicial Board
George Anderson 152*
Mary Bowman 132*
W. Knight 74
Curtis Leonard 117
David Zipperer 43
Constitutional Amendment (for Highlands Dormitory)
Yes 226*
No 36
Vice-President Mecklenburg
Hal Bailey 34
Social Chairman Concord
Patty Perkins 39
Social Chairman Granville
Harvie Jordan 35
Vice-President Winston-Salem
Mike Cestrone 27
Off Campus President
Steve Fox 10
Off Campus Vice-President
Off Campus Vice-President
Key 4*
Shapiro 3
Black 3