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Retention rate falls to ten-year
low, administration responds
By Laird Allen
Senior Writer
The Oct. 1 deadline for re-enroll
ments has passed, and the statis
tics are in: Guilford's retention rate
has fallen to 68 percent, the first
time since 1988 when it has fallen
below 72 percent, according to
Director of Institutional Research
and Assessment Thomas Coaxum.
It is easy to blame this on either
last year's first-year class, admin
istrative practices, or simply the
plummeting economy. When
asked the cause, three administra
tors responded similarly.
"Retention," said Coaxum, "is a
complicated issue."
It is a sentiment echoed by Dean
of Students Aaron Fetrow and Vice
President for Enrollment Services
Randy Doss.
"Retention is incredibly complex
to me, and I've worked in estate tax
law," Fetrow said.
There are three essential con
cepts that are necessary to under
stand what this drop in retention
means. First is retention itself - the
percentage of students who remain
on from year to year. This is mea
sured not from the whole popula
tion, but rather from what is called
"the cohort"- the core of each class,
consisting of first-year, first-time
college students. Retention only
connects to the behavior of this
cohort, excluding transfers and
CCE students.
See "Retention" on page 2
Students discuss the writing process with author Ron Rash in the Greenleaf.
Author Ron Rash inspires first-years
By Sallie Chase
Staff Writer
ing first years.
Students gathered
Dana auditorium
in
Life at Guilford
is full of opportuni
ties to meet fascinat
ing people from all
around the world. On
Oct. 23, first year stu
dents had the chance
to meet Ron Rash,
author of "Saints at
the River," which was
the required summer
reading for all incom
at II a.m. to listen to
Rash speak about his
experience with the
book. He began with a
reading of the opening
passage, a haunting
yet beautiful narrative
in which a little girl is
swept up by a river
and drowns.
First-year Meg
Holden found this to
be the most poignant
part of the presenta
tion.
"When he read
from the opening scene
of the book, it made it
a lot more meaning
ful than when I read it
myself," said Holden.
"It really came alive
for me."
See "Ron Rash" on page 8
By Mary Biihar
Staff Writer
Last week in obser
vance of North Caro
lina Archives Week, the
Friends Historical Col
lection conducted be
hind-the-scenes tours
in addition to creating
a display of memora
bilia highlighting Guil
ford sports history in
the Friends Historical
Research Room in Hege
Library.
This year's theme is
"Capturing Memories of
Sports and Leisure in the
Old North State."
Embracing tha t theme,
the newest exhibit case
features a pair of black
rubber-bottomed canvas
lace-up woman's bas
ketball shoes circa 1939.
Alongside the shoes is
a visual tribute to Lau
ra Worth, a member of
Guilford's first freshman
class in 1889, when the
New Garden boarding
school became Guilford
College. Worth went on
to become the first direc
tor of female physical
(Above) Delicate volumes like these from the Friends
Historical Collection in Hege Library were on display dur
ing North Carolina Archives Week. (Below left) The 2008
theme, "Capturing Memories of Sports and Leisure in the
Old North State," was embodied in the unveiling of a new
exhibit case dedicated to Guilford sports history.
education in 1895.
Guilford's sports his
tory dates back to 1867
when baseball was in
troduced at New Garden
Boarding School.
While putting to
gether the display, Liz
Cook, archives associate
for the Friends Historical
Collection, discovered
a gray sports letter with
a thin maroon arrow
stitched in.
The significance of the
arrow remained a mys
tery until she discovered
that Guilford offered
girls archery in the 40's.
"There is always some
thing to find out about
(our history)," Cook
said.
Archives week pays
tribute to the people and
organizations respon
sible for maintaining
and making available
archival and historical
records. ;
"Keeping the artifacts
stable and accessible to
the public is important
in understanding and
promoting Guilford and
See
'Archives Week"
ON PAGE 2