tu
clarion
Brevard College, Brevard, N.C.
Volume 55 Number 2
Wednesday, September 23,1987
New Resident Assistants and Student Government Association leaders
gather for an orientation dinner prior to the opening of school. They are,
left to right, first row: Eileen Spaulding, Biar Orrell, Jill Robinson, Kel
ly Williams, Kim Norman, Julie Combs, Leigh Hegge, Natalie White,
Opening goes smoothly
by Bill Meiners
The beginning of Brevard College’s fall
semester was “the smoothest opening in
my years of opening schools,” says Presi
dent Billy Greer.
Some 300 incoming freshmen underwent
a beefed-up orientation program that in
cluded residence hall meetings, larger
general sessions, and discussions on
various problems and challenges of col
lege life.
Dean of the College Dr. Harry Langley
says, “Orientation went extremely well.
Much of that success goes to Dean of Stu
dent Affairs Witek and the work of the new
Resident Directors and Resident
Advisors.”
The highlight of the first week of orienta
tion was the Freshman Outing to Camp
Greenville (see story and pictures inside).
Dean Witek says, “We wound up having a
great experience. The purpose of the
challenge course was to get kids to assume
responsibility for their own problems.”
RD Marty Humphrey and Student
Government Association President Allen
Brooks also came in for praise from Beam
Administration Building for running a
highly-successful Derby Day on Aug. 29
(see pictures inside).
Brevard College hosted the first annual
BC Kick-Off Soccer Tournament Sept. 4-6
in which highly-touted Miami-Dade South
came away the winner, followed by Ander
son College in second, BC in third, and
Camden Community College of New
Jersey in fourth (see sports page for
story).
The fall semester official opened with
fwmp and circumstance at Fall Convoca
tion (see story inside) on Wednesday, Sept.
9 when Wofford President Joab Lesesne
told students to take advantage of the In
formation Age.
A handful of returning sophomores
responded to changes in Brevard.
Sophomores spoke both positively and
negatively to changes in the uniform
guidelines.
Kelly Williams of Houston, Texas, said,
“All rules have remained the same, and
that’s good because the rules are good.
The thing that has changed is the way that
they are enforced. The new approach is
much better because they give people
another chance.”
Jennifer Howren of Pineville, N.C.,
responded positively saying the new
system “is a step up because it gives the
opportunity to work off points.”
On the other side of the coin, David Bun
dy of Spartanburg, S.C., and Shelly Ivey of
Breman, Ga., agreed that the new resident
directors are “too militant.”
John Nesterok of Clifton, N.J., said,
“The rules are too strict. They treat
students like young children and the
punishments are too severe. I think
students will start dropping out. I know
I’m not coming back next semester. It’s
not because of the teachers or the classes
or the students. It’s simply because of this
prison-like atmosphere.”
Sean Jennings of Yardley, Pa., feels
cheated. “Last year we were told that we
would have more responsibility. In truth,
we have less. The only students with more
responsibility are the resident assistants.
I don’t think that one student should have
power over another student.”
Stephane Paul-Hus of Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., said, "If everybody actually took the
time to read the handbook, they would
understand that Dean Witek’s policy is ac
tually more lenient than last year.”
Cameron Parker and Cynthia Allen; back row: Chuck Putnam,
Stephane Paul-Hus, Robert Brooks, Jeffrey Breen. Nick Embrey, Allen
Brooks, John Hoback, Tom DeLucia, Don Rett, Robert Rice, Brian
Calaway and Charles Sherrill.
The editor’s opinion
Welcome back...
Biar Orrell
Hello, Brevard College. I feel great being back in the mountains. The
altitude clears my head, making room for all the knowledge and wisdom
that' I shall obtain this year.
I would like to extend enthusiastic hellos to all of my previous instruc
tors, who, through the course of last year, became personal friends; and
to the BC staff and administration, who make up an eclectic spread of
good people.
Most important, hello, fellow BC students. We are the core of each
other’s existence for the next nine months. We will grow and change,
learning from our achievements as well as our mistakes. We will make
friends for life and enemies for a day; we will forgive ourselves and
others.
Through the course of this year, we may laugh our happiest moments,
cry our most painful tears, experience a cultural growth beyond ex
planation to our family and friends, or drown in our rainy Sunday
boredom.
But we will survive and we will exit this year with a sense of ac
complishment and self-satisfaction. We will have sampled an entree of
life, a meal our parents have been trying to explain to us for years. Pass
the pepper, please.
I remember my brother coming home from boot camp and stepping
off that plane a changed individual. It wasn’t his “high and tight” adven-
tureous hair style or the fact that he was shaving a whiskerless, baby-
smooth face. It was his personal growth, his self-assurance.
The next years of our education is the “boot camp” of our careers, of
our future. We may sweat English, cry math, hurdle history and barf
biology. But people, we’re going to step off that “plane,” our heads held
high, as changed individuals.
As your editor for the Clarion, I’m excited about being your tool of in
formation and communication. My volume’s on 10, my cameras are
loaded, and I’m going to do my best not to miss.
I entend a high-five to all of you with encouragement for an adven
turous year. I shall leave you with a thought: Spear an opportunity with
double-hooked hands and run with it.