Page 2 - CROSSROADS - January - February, 1S75
Ohnesorge photo
Dr. Norbert Hruby, president of Acquinas College,
was recently on the Belmont Abbey campus to speak to
the faculty about his college’s highly successful Re-
Entry Program. Dr. Hruby spent most of the day In
conference with Mrs. Mary Wilson, director of the
Abbey’s Re-Entry Program, and other college of
ficials. Shown above are Mrs. Wilson and Dr. Hruby.
Abbey Re-Entry Program
Sparking Interest
Returning to college
after several years can
be a rewarding and
challenging experience
for the student who, for
one reason or another,
has had to abandon plans
for a college degree.
Making this transition as
painless as possible is the
primary objective of the
newly organized Re-
Entry Program at
Belmont Abbey College.
The Belmont Abbey
faculty has designed a
special 6-credit course
for Re-Entry students
representing the three
divisions of the college -
h u m a nities, social
sciences and natural
sciences. The course is
being taught on Tuesday
and Thursday mornings
at 9:30 in the Science
Hall. Students who
enrolled in January
completed the first
segment, “Introduction
to Literature” on
February 11. The second
segment, “The Foun
dations of the American
Republic’’ began
February 13. The third
five-week course,
“Science in Society” will
begin on March 25 and
concludes May 6.
Classroom activities
vary to accommodate the
material being studied,
and to help students
readjust to the academic
demands of college life.
To further help the re
entry student’s ad
justment, Belmont Abbey
has acquired thd services
of Mrs. Henry Hall
Wilson as director of the
Re-Entry Program.
Mary Wilson is uniquely
qualified to head the
project since she had the
occasion to return to
college herself after a
twenty-five year ab
sence. “I had a long list
of reasons why I wanted
to return to college,”
Mrs. Wilson said. “The
list of benefits I gained
from the effort is just as
long and I’ll happily
share it with everyone I
meet.”
Giving personal en
couragement and
counseling to every
student is a facet of her
job.
As Belmont Abbey
prepared to introduce the
Re-Entry Program,
officials studied a similar
program at a small
midwestern college that,
over a four-year period,
achieved remarkable
success. Re-Entry
students in that project,
more mature and highly
motivated, not only
earned their bac
calaureate degrees, but
also out-performed their
younger classmates in
doing so.
The availability of a
course designed to re
introduce students to
college was found to be
important in the success
of the concept, as was a
small friendly campus,
much like Belmont
Abbey, where re-entry
students were quickly
made to feel at home as
members of the college
community.
Mrs. Wilson stressed
that financial aid is
available for those
students who qualify.
She added that she can be
reached by calling the
College at 825-3711 and
that she is available to
speak to civic and social
groups about the Re-
Entry Program.
Expert Is
Speaker For
Open House
A lecture on “Careers
in Science” was
delivered on Thursday,
January 30, at Belmont
Abbey College as part of
an open house for the
Belmont Abbey Science
Department. Fred
Fortess, chairman of the
Department of Textiles
at the Philadelphia
/College of Textiles and
Science in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, spoke in
the Pharr Auditorium of
the William Gaston
Science Hall at 3:00 p.m.
Fortess’ lecture con
cerned the inter
relationships between the
biological and physical
sciences, with emphasis
on the field of
mathematics.
Fortess played an
important role in the
development of science
organizations in
Charlotte, and worked
closely with the Charlotte
Nature Museum while he
was a research chemist
for the Celanese Cor
poration. In 1968 he was
promoted to the com
pany’s New York office,
where he was director of
consumer information
and technical relations
for the Celanese Fibers
.Marketing Company. He
took an early retirement
from Celanese in 1972 to
accept the teaching
position in Philadelphia.
Fortess is a past
president of the
American Association of
Textile Chemists and
Colorists and is currently
a member of its technical
committee on research.
He is a recipient of the
AATCC’s Olney Medal
for his contribution to
textile research.
A member of the
editorial board of Textile
Research Journal,
Fortess has written more
than 200 technical ar
ticles for publication and
holds forty patents on
polymers, fibers, and
natural and man-made
yarns and fabrics. “My
particular interest in
science is as an in
strument in serving
mankind,” Fortess
commented. ‘“I am most
pleased to challenge
young people with the
opportunities which
science provides.”
Tours of the science
department and other
programs planned for the
open house, including the
Fortess lecture, were
open to the public, free of
charge.
INSIGfiT
by Fr. John Bradley.
President, Belmont Abbey College
Excerpts from a speech given by Father Bradley at the 1974 session
of the Association of Church-Related Colleges and Universities in the
South in Dallas, Texas, on December 10, 1974.
I should state at the outset that I can lay no claim to
any special knowledge or particular expertise
regarding the identity of the church-related college.
Perhaps the only justification for my talking to you
about it is my deep conviction that the identity of a
church-related college is of fundamental importance in
the operation of such colleges, and has thus occupied a
good deal of my thinking over the past few years ...
If it truly lives up to its proper identity, the church-
related college can make a distinctive contribution to
higher education. Furthermore, in the contest of our
increasingly secularized culture, the Christian
churches, and indeed our society at large, have a
greater need than ever for the distinctive contribution
the church-related college can make ...
It seems that in recent times there has been a
blurring of the identity of church-related colleges, but
perhaps this was in some degree inevitable as these
colleges rightly disentangled themselves from a
seminary-type identity and moved toward identities
proper for institutions of higher education with a
certain Christian commitment. However, it is
probable that a stronger influence on the blurring of
our identity has been the surrounding secular culture.
Over the last few years, church-related colleges have
been striving to obtain a clearer understanding and a
more sure grasp of their proper identity so that they
can be effective in making their own distinctive con
tribution in a culture that is generally recognized to be
increasingly secular ...
Some people seem to be tempted to take a simplistic
approach to the problem and tell us that the identity of
a church-related college can be neatly spelled out and
this, together with a battery of regulations, solves the
entire problem ...
I am convinced, however, that the proper identity of
a church-related college cannot be implemented from
day to day by published statements and regulations.
Would that it were possible! Rather, if the Christian
college is to implement its identity and exercise its own
distinctive role, this has to be done by the solid, patient
building of a Christian climate or atmosphere
throughout every phase of the college’s life ...
Fortunately, different kinds of help that were not
present before are now at hand, at least for those of us
involved in Catholic colleges. For instance, responding
to the turmoil in the Catholic Church that has followed
in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, the In
ternational Federation of Catholic Universities has
produced an excellent document on the identity of the
Catholic college. This document designates the
following four essential characteristics that must be
present if a college or university is to be truly a
Catholic institution: a) a Christian inspiration, not
only of individuals but of the university community as
such; b) a continuing reflection, in the light of the
Catholic faith, upon the growing treasury of human
knowledge to which it seeks to contribute by its
research; c) fidelity to the Christian message as it
comes to us through the Church; d) an institutional
commitment to the service of the people of God and of
the human family in their pilgrimage to the tran
scendent goal that gives meaning to life ...
Guidance such as this can be most helpful, of course,
but when all is said and done, the success or failure in
establishing an authentic Christian identity will
depend ultimately on the convictions and dedication of
all of us who have the leadership and influence to build
Christian community in our colleges: administrators
and faculty who are in a position to explain why the
college ought to have a distinctive role in higher
education and who can lead in the effort to implement
that role ...
In this, the college president’s constant leadership is
of paramount importance and he should, in my opinion,
be totally convinced that this responsibility must
always be accorded the highest priority in the day-to-
day exercise of his office.