Volume 81, Issue 1 \Neb Edition
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
See back for new
Alcohol Policy
Information
August 21, 2015
Welcome back
Brevard begins a new
year by first welcoming
students on campus
By Gabby Smith
Opinion Editor
As another year at BC commences those of
us who’ve been here awhile can’t help but get a
little nostalgic as we look around at the beautiful
scenery that surrounds our little campus. That
being said, we also can’t help but notice that our
little campus isn’t as little as it was in the previ
ous years.
BC is ever expanding and improving. In the
past three years we’ve seen a steady increase in
the amount of incoming freshman and a rising
retention rate. We’ve broken ground on a new
dorm and built a new coffee shop in the past year
alone. Additionally, there’s been a great number
of changes to our academic programs as we shift
to focus more on experiential learning and how
that’s accomplished in the classroom.
For all the new students this semester, both
freshman and transfers, you’ve come to BC in
the midst of what I’d call a new era. With all the
new changes here on campus, it’s as if BC in and
of itself is starting a new chapter in its history,
just like you.
At convocation each year students are given
a note by faculty encouraging them to make the
most of their college experience and now seems
like as good a time as any to get started on that.
While BC has grown and improved, it has still
retained its core values and focus, which is to not
only educate you but to encourage you and help
you through the next phase of your life, to give
you experiences that you might not get anywhere
else, and to help you find your passion.
I know that things get a little monotonous at
times and that we all have doubts but I encour
age each and every new person on campus to
maintain the same energy they had when they
initially moved in. Go to events, be enthusiastic,
sign up for classes that have nothing to do with
your major. The big picture here is that BC is
growing and taking the steps toward progress the
only question is will you follow in its footsteps
and let your experiences help you grow as well.
Madison Smith and Elena Raygoza welcome new students.
Madison Smith and Eiena Raygoza pose with movers.
Convocation:
Holding on to tradition
By Joshua Cole
^ana2in2_Editoi^_
Convocation begins the new academic year at
Brevard College. The annual ceremony which
took place August 18 welcomed new and transfer
ring students to campus and to a friendly faculty
which aim to make themselves feel accessible
to students.
Dr. Scott Sheffield along with Dr. David Joyce,
the college’s president invited students to enjoy
the new academic year with hope for their success
along what is just a portion of life’s journey. Ste
ven Olson, president of the Student Government
Association, or SGAhad a few words of welcome
to say to students, and led them in accepting the
responsibilities and roles they will learn to fulfill
throughout their time at BC. Many of BC’s new
students will go on to become future leaders at
the college and beyond in their lives after college.
Belton Hammond, an English teacher, has been
at BC for over 15 years and has seen the changes
the college has gone through. Hammond said that
BC has been handing out pre-written letters to
new students for only about three to four years,
but it is a decidedly unique experience to Brevard.
The letters are meant to welcome students and
may come with bits of advice from faculty. One
of BC’s decided strengths is that professors are
readily present for students that have questions, or
would like to pursue a subject with greater passion
than class may allow.
“I think the main purpose is to give students a
chance to see the larger community in one space,”
said Hammond, “and especially the officials of
the college, and really give them a chance to
meet some of them; and that was the purpose
of the shaking of the hands, and handing out the
cards. It just shows that we’re trying to establish
an atmosphere of congeniality, that we don’t want
students to see us at a distance, but that we want
them to see us as very personable.”
BC has historically been a Methodist school,
but in the day to day of each semester religion has
taken a more passive role at the school. During
convocation prayers were led by members of the
faculty which sought success for students as they
enter into new experiences and greater knowledge
of the world. When asked about the prayers and
relationship religion still has with the BC Ham
mond felt that, for the college, branching away
from being as dogmatic in its beliefs allows the
school to welcome a more diverse student base;
“that’s what liberal arts is all about, it’s about
understanding that we have freedom to explore,
and that doesn’t mean explore inside the box,
you can get outside the box to explore too. But I
think it’s still good that we have prayers and hold
onto our roots.”