The Montre
WH
S t#d e n t Voice
ONE
Volume IV, Number VII Monlreat, NC 28757 February 6, 2004
Search Yields New
President, Struble
By Lyndsay Mayer
On Wednesday, February 4,
2004, the. Board of Trustees
announced the newly appointed
seventh president of the eollege.
Dr. Dan Struble.
Dr. Struble left his position
as Vice President of Princi
pal Gifts at the United States
Naval Academy Foundation in
Annapolis, Maryland to bring
his vision and leadership to
Montreat College. Dr. Struble,
a Naval Academy graduate,
designed, the organizational
structure and process for estab
lishing the Foundation.
Before his involvement with
fundraising at the Academy, Dr.
Struble was involved in a major
fundraising campaign at Occi
dental College in Los Angeles,
where he taught “Intelligence
and National Security” as an
adjunct faculty member. Dr.
Struble also sferved as Assistant
Professor of Public Administra
tion in the ROTC department
of the University of Southern
California, Los Angeles. While
teaching atUSC, Struble earned
his M.A. degree in Comparative
Polities followed by a Ph.D. in
American Politics.
Struble brings a very strong
fundraising background to
Montreat, but the most impor
tant feature of his character is
his commitment to Christ and
“his commitment to Montreat
remaining a Christ-centered
college,” says . Board of Trust
ees chairman Bob Wynne.
There were a total of sixty
men and three women consid
Continued on page 4
Wilderness Journey Offered as Alternative to Discovery
by Lyndsay Mayer
The 21-day wilderness expe
rience, known as Discovery,
grew out of the Outdoor Recre
ation (now Outdoor Education)
Department at Montreat in 1976
and has become a trademark
course for the college.
Professor Jake Wetzel initiated
the program. His vision for Dis
covery incorporated the beauty
of God’s ereation in western
North Carolina, with an intense
discipleship program intended
to challenge students physically,
spiritually, and emotionally.
Today, the course curriculum
includes arduous backpacking
over difficult terrain, a 2-4 day
solo fasting period, and a 14-mile
run from the top of Mt. Mitchell
to the Montreat campus.
Until fall 2003, Discovery was
a requirement for all Outdoor
Education (O.E.) majors. The
freshmen entering the depart
ment under the new catalogue
are now given the option of par
ticipating in a different course
entitled Wilderness Journey.
Wilderness Journey will take
place in different locales around
the world, starting with Bolivia
“For I aiti convinced that neither death nor life, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”
- Romans 8:38-39 NIV
this summer. Starting next
summer. Discovery and Wilder
ness Journey will be offered in
alternating years, which means
Discovery will not be offered the
summer of 2005. This will be the
first 'time in 29 years Discovery
is not offered.
Associate Outdoor Education
professor Jay Guffey described
the department’s decision as
one that would offer “more
autonomy in the selection pro
cess when students are picking
out their elasses.” The O.E.
faculty felt there would be more
individual motivation to partici
pate if students had their choice
of discipleship programs rather
than being required to take Dis
covery.
The Wilderness Journey pro
gram will offer a cross-cultural
element to the discipleship
program. “Rather than being
uncomfortable in the wilderness,
and experiencing change and
growth that way,” says Guffey,
Jubilee
Carpool
Leaves for
10th Trip to
Pittsburg,
-Staff Reports
Jubilee, an annual conference
sponsored by the Coalition for
Christian 'Outreach (CCO),
scheduled for February 27- 29
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
engages students with topics on
academic, relational, and spiri
tual commitments. Tom Oxenre-
ider Assistant Dean of Students
says, “this is the tenth year we
have gone”.
Social commentator, media
consititant, and professional
entertainer, Lakita Garth heads
the conference as keynote
speaker with musie by Brad
Yoder and worship leader Janies
Continued on Page 3
“students will struggle with not
knowing how to cook their food,
maybe nof even knowing what
their food is because they bought
it at the marketplace and don’t
speak the language of the woman
who sold it to them.”
Bolivia was an obvious choice
for the department when con
sidering locations for the pilot
launch of the Wilderness Journey
program. Wetzel and his family,
after leaving Montreat College
in 1984, became missionaries in
Bolivia and have long-standing
ties with both the Bolivian and
Montreat eommunities. Stu
dents will spend three weeks in
Bolivia; the same length of time
students who opt for Discovery
will spend in the wilderness.
Some Discovery alumni are
unhappy with the choice to run
Discovery every other year, even
though it gives O.E. students
more course options. Cass
Continued on Page 6