Vol. 41, Issue 3
Wednesday, November 13,2002
I
ethodist College, Fayetteville, NC
Established 1961
By John W. Arnold III
Opinion Editor
Since President Elton Hendricks ar
rived at Methodist College in 1983, many
changes have been made. In the past 20
years thens have been several new class
room buildings, scores of new programs,
and enrollment has steadily increased. Fri
day aftemoon, Hendricks announced, in a
very candid manner, his vision for the fiature
of Methodist College.
With a warm southern draw,
Hendricks opened his
speech in Clark Hall an
nouncing his pride in the
liberal arts core that
Methodist College is so
well known for. As an edu
cator and history major,
Hendricks is most con
cerned for the futureof the
liberal aits cunicLilum, and
general growth of the col
lege. In past years the trend
for students majoring in
traditional liberal aits fields
such as English, History,
and Philosophy is con
stantly declining. However,
career oriented programs
such as Professional Golf
Management, Hospital Administratioa and
Education flourishes. The popularity of ca
Methodist College...A University?
reer-oriented programs has led to a new
growth at Methodist, one that includes new
graduate programs.
With this said, Hendricks imposed the
question of the future. With the growing
amount of students enrolled in career-ori-
ented programs, what steps does the col
lege need to take in order to keep the liberal
arts tradition while also catering to the mc»e
popular programs? This question imposes
another; how does Methodist increase en
rolment when other
colleges and universi
ties offw the same pto-
I grams? Hendricks
sited the Professional
Golf Management as
exanple. When Mel
odist began its Profes
sional Golf Manage
ment program, they
were only second in
the nation to do so;
now there are over 13
Professional Golf
Management pro
grams in the country;
three of which are in
North Carolina While
Hendricks bragged
that Methodist still has the number one Pro
fessional GolfManagement program in the
country, there are now several more op
tions for students seeking this program, and
in the near future this may cause Methodist
to kxase its nitch. The solutions to these ques
tions are currently unanswered, however
Hendricks did offs'several different options.
There is the obvious solution of
changing Methodist College to a university.
This has been talked about fcryeare. In many
ways the college can already be considered
a small university due to the postgraduate
and nontraditional career oriented programs.
This option will surely one day be a reality,
but until that time comes there have to be
new programs created to fill the gap and
increase enrolmenL The act tochange Meth
odist College to a university would not hap
pen overnight, it would take yeais of careful
planning in order to make that dream a real
ity. Hendricks again stated that the push to
change the college to a university would take
away fit)m the prestige title of“Liberal Arts
College.” Growth is necessary for survival
and Hendricks offered the option of increas
ing the number ofhours students would take
in the liberal arts field when pursuing a ca
reer oriented program if the college was to
switch to a university setting.
Another option the Piesident wants
to explore is adding new programs to the
Methodist College curriculum This was the
most exciting, yet controversial cption dis
cussed. While adding new programs in the
career-oriented fields does have the possi
bility to bring in new students, it also has
several down sides. The most obvious is
that new programs could change the way
Methodist sees itself as a Liberal Arts col
lege. Many professors were quick to point
out that with an already shrinkingbud^ there
is a fear that if new programs are created
there will be money cut from already exist
ing fields of study in order to start new pro
grams. The president admitted that while this
nmy be true at first, once a program takes
off, such as Professional GolfManagement
did, the benefits will far out way the sacri
fices.
It is important to note that all these
cptions are j ust that, optioas. There has been
no resolutions set, thus far, to cliange or add
anything. All of the possibilities mentioned
will not effect the current student body, as
said before nothing presented will be an
ovemi^t process. It is also impcrtant to note
that Hendricks is exploring many options
and is veiy open minded in the q^inions and
sug^stions of fk;ulty, staff, and students cc»i-
ceming the growth and development of
Methodist Collegp. Hendricks did make one
thing clear, “This is the time for new pro
gram development,” with this said, Meth
odist College is ready to except any chal-
lenges that „ lay
What’s Inside
* MC Students
Release CD - Page 3
* Homecoming -
Pages 6 & 7
* Jerry Hogge wins
avi^ard - Page 8
* Up close look at
quarter back, Chris
, Roncketti - Page 11
Community Crime Alert
The person pictured to the right is a suspect in two recent
crimes of rape that occured in the vicinity of Methodist College. One
crime occured in Andrew Commons located off Ramsey Street, just
North of campus. A second crime occured off Treetop Drive, just
South of campus.
No weapons were involved. One similarity in both crimes was that
the door to the living space was left unlocked. Should you see anyone in
this area meeting this desciption, please contact Police and Public Safety
Immediately at 630-1212.
Description of Suspect: White male, approx. 30 years of age,
approx. 65 inches tall, black hair, brown eyes.
Safety tips: Do not block resident hall entry doors. Always
lock you room dorr when you depart. Report suspisious persons to
Campus Police. Never walk alone. Usethe sampus escortif you do not
feel safe walking alone. Walk in well lit areas.