The Mont
WHE
dent Vo ic e
ONE
Volume V, Number X Sfontreat, NO 28757 April 22, 2005
Cabinet Redistributes Alumni-focused Scholarship
by Kortney Blythe and Brittany Anderson
The Change
On February 15 the Montreat
College Cabinet announced their
plans to restructure the Elizabeth
Wilson Scholarship in order to allo
cate the funds more evenly.
Started in 1972, the Wilson
Scholarship was created to honor
Miss Wilson, a former Bible pro
fessor and Dean of Students at
Montreat in the 1950s, by strength
ening alumni involvemsiit with the
college.
In past years, the director of
alumni affairs chose the scholarship
recipients. He/she then distributed
the funds to the student workers
based on their roles and respon
sibilities in particular areas. For
example, the student assigned to
office manager would receive iiiore
money than an office assistant; and
the editor of The Whetstone would
be compensated more than the busi
ness manager.
Now, Financial Aid will control
the Wilson Scholarship monies
and, rather than apportion different
amounts, every student recipient
will receive the same amount of
$2,212, regardless of their position.
In addition, the changes, set to
take effect in the fall, will shift
the majority of the scholarships
to positions outside the Alumm/
Advancement Department. This
year all the Wilson Scholars, total
ing 17, worked in either the alumni
office, advancement positions, or
for The Whetstone.
Next year the number of
workers assigned to the Alumni/
Advancement Office will decrease
m
to seven. The remaining schol
arships will be spread through
out other departments such as
Student Services, Admissions,
Academic Affairs, President’s
office, and Chaplain’s assis
tants, all formerly work-study
or non-existent positions.
President Dan Struble spoke
about the alterations this way:
“We believe that the changes
to the Wilson Scholar program
will allow us to benefit more
students and engage them in
activities across the college
while continuing to place
emphasis on Alumni Affairs...
Alumni will [still] get more
Wilson Scholar energy then
any other area on campus.”
Lisa Lankford, Dean of
Admissions and Financial
Aid explained the reason for
the changes. “We needed to
strategically place the money
better,” she said.
This change has many alumni
wondering what it means for
them.
Ann Broom, class of 1954,’
Alumni Board member and one
of the founders of the scholarship,
fears that the recent revamping of
the Wilson Scholarship means a
reprioritizing of alumni affairs to
a lower status.
Broom says she was not con
tacted about, the changes, but
they were explained to her after
the fact. She adds: “I can’t tell
the college what to do with their
money and neither can any other
alumni. But I do think that when
“...let us throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us. ”
- Hebrews 12:1 NIV
a scholarship is set up with a par
ticular purpose, that they should
honor the request of the donor.
“Any college that puts their
alumni on the back burner and
does not pay attention to their
alumni, pretty soon won’t have
any support,” said Broom.
Bob Graham, former Alumni
Director, Vice President of Alumni
Association, and Whetstone advi
sor mimics these sentiments: “The
fact that the college doesn’t have
an Alumni Director [position] any
more says it all.”
However, Stmble stressed,
“We’ll be investing more in
Alumni and Advancement in
other ways. We are making some
inroads through the Strategic Plan
ning Process where literally hun
dreds of alumni have given their
input on furthering the school.”
The Scholars
Current Wilson Scholars
received a letter m their mailboxes
informing them that changes have
been made and requesting that
they reapply for the scholarship.
“Wilson scholars are the cream of
the crop,” it read. “You are the
best at Montreat College. You
exhibit all the qualities that the
Admission’s Office seeks when
looking for a ‘match’ during
recruiting. Therefore we need
more of you!”
When asked about this letter,
sophomore Wilson Scholar Jen
nifer Ramsey replied: “I think
the letter wasn’t the best way
of handling the situation. They
should have held a meeting and
told us before rumors started
circling. It wasn’t handled very
lovingly. It was approached
with the administrations’
agenda, instead of the students’
interest, in mind.”
However, sophomore Wilson
Scholar Steve Carter remem
bered, “President Stmble was
very accommodating when
concerns were expressed to
him. He handled himself in
a professional and cooperative
manner.”
Anita Sayles, Director of
Church Relations and Advance
ment Events and former advisor
for The Whetstone, worries that
this change will affect students
with financial need. “The Wilson
Scholarship [before the change]
was a scholarship with a work
component. Because it was not a
work-study, we could help those
in need by raising the amount of
aid they received. Now that it’s a
standardized amount that will no
longer happen.”
Another Wilson Scholar, sopho
more Luke Snyder, commented,
“I can see [the change] as a good
thing from the college’s perspec
tive.”
The Legacy nf Elizabeth Wilson
The Alumni Board established
the scholarship to honor and show
gratitude to Miss Wilson while she
was still living.
Becky Glenn, a senior at the
time of Miss Wilson’s arrival in
1952 remembers, “We thought she
had dropped right out of heaven.
She was certainly the angel that
we needed and had been looking
for.”
Miss Wilson’s love for students
and giving spirit made quite an
impact on students, both finan
cially and spiritually, according
to Ann Broom. “There’s no way
we could ever know how many
students she helped financially,
whether it was buying them
clothes, giving them money for
books, paying their scholarship,
paying for music lessons. It was
constant, it was genuine and it was
■with lots of love, but no one ever
knew,” said Broom.
Graham beheves that because
of the changes, “Miss Wilson’s
legacy will get lost in the shuffle.
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