gt Andrews Presbyterian College
The Joy of Internships
(The Pain of Art)
T>_. DAxnMO T '
The Lance 7
By Regina T. Harrington
Diversity is a gift. We, the
faculty, staff and student body of
St. Andrews, are so accustomed
to a diverse setting that the idea
of living any other way seems in
conceivable. However, in small
towns like Laurinburg, where the
railroad tracks still represent a
social line of division, diversity
is not something that should be
taken for granted - especially in
the fields of art. While fulfilling
my Creative Writing internship as
an assistant to the director of the
Scotland Arts Council, I had to
face that reality.
The director of the Scotland
Arts Council, a non-profit orga
nization, is Martha Gibson. She
is responsible for handling admin-
; c and tinanciai details. Her
duties also include guiding sepa
rate committees (composed of dif
ferent entities with individual
goals) toward the organizational
goals of (1) educating the public
about the arts, and (2) making arts
events accessible and affordable
to the community. All of this has
to be accomplished while reflect
ing the ethnic diversity of the en
tire community. The community
itself consists of a diverse and
eclectic collection of races and
tastes that range from classical
opera to foot stomping, bluegrass
mountain music. Neither the ma
jority nor minority must at any
time feel alienated. This seems
simple enough, but it is not when
faced with the ultimate organiza
tional goal of remaining finan
cially sound.
The bylaws clearly state that
“membership in the Council shall
be available without regard to
race, color, creed, or national oii-
gin to individuals.” However,
with the general view among mi
norities, such as the local Native
and African Americans th:. 1
spoke with, being that the Coun
cil is created for a “white, elitist,
social group,” diversity in mem
bership is some what limited.
Gibson states, “Being inclusive of
the whole community has been
my main challenge since I began
here.” The challenge is made
more complicated when consid
ering the fact that the majority of
Then there are others who do
not consider Ms. Gibson eclectic
enough. An example of such an
occurrence was during the first
year of the Kuumba Festival (a
celebration of African American
Arts). Ironically, the committee
members constantly challenged
her authority to assist and man
age large scale events. Why? “It
\\'as felt that she represented a
view thought to be contrary to
tJ-ieir own and they felt that she
threatened the integrity of the
event,” one participant states.
Gibson simply desired to help
things run smoother and not alien
ate other members of the commu-
members are still middle to up- i^i^y - the same rule she applies
per class Caucasians. Non-profit for all community events, (iibson
organizations survive by dona
tions and successful fundraising
“Members deserve and demand a
retum on their donation - somt.
thing within the Arts that will ap
peal to their tastes,” Gibson add.‘
Gibson is saddened by th
necessity of standards ir pie-
mented by politicians to only
maintain funding to Arts organi
zations with a certain percentage
of programs geared toward minor
ity groups. “But we did not have
to make much of an adjustment
because we were already gearing
toward becoming more well
rounded,” she states. Unfortr
nately, Gibson sometimes must
square off with individuals who
fail to grasp the importance of
IS also a master of African Dancc
However, while organizing
classes in a low income commu
nity, the young participants were
shocked to discover that they had
a Caucasian instructor. Gibson
states that “overcoming such
prejudices as to who should do
what is just one of the things that
has to be overcome.” I must add
that both Kuumba and the Afri
can Dance classes are successful
annual events in Scotland County.
The intemship program was a
good introduction into the world
outside of the small community
of St. Andrews. It also helped
heighten my interest in becoming
more involved with public pro
grams that reach out and touch
promoting dive^ty and consider P“Pl' * ^ “P’
her views too edectie. ^
members are still middle to up- ting.
Cairn Deadline March 15 Tbefore Spring Breaic)
Submit your writing and art to Brad Jolinson,
box 5209, or Becky Stacy, box 5619
Why Try
Intramurals?
By Ron Simpson
In two separate polls recently
conducted on college campuses,
students and administrators cited
alcohol as the single greatest
problem facing institutions today.
In fact, it is so prevalent, that as
many students will die of alcohol-
related deaths as will eventually
get their masters and doctoral de
grees. The St. Andrews Intramu
ral program strives to help change
that statistic.
On average, 75 percent of all
college students participate in rec
reational sports programming on
residential campuses with facili
ties dedicated to recreational
sports. We are blessed to have
excellent facilities for our intra
mural programs here at St. An
drews (racquetball courts, extra
gym, soccer fields, track, etc.) On
some campuses, the student par
ticipation rate has been reported
at over 95 percent. At St. Andrews
our goal is 100 percent participa
tion in some type of recreational/
leisure form. Have a suggestion?
Let me know or better still come
by and talk with me about what
we can do to incorporate a new
program or make an old one bet
ter.
On most campuses, more stu
dents, faculty and staff participate
in recreational sports activities
than nearly any other program.
This also provides and excellent
enviroimient for students and fac
ulty to interact outside the class
room. We want that enviroimient
to improve here at St. Andrews.
There is no better outlet (stress
buster) than a vigorous workout,
a mile-jog, a challenging chess
match or walking on our beauti
ful campus.