Page Twi
PUS
the Mars Hill College
Hillrop
What I have to do is to see, at any
rate, that I do not lend myself to the
wrong which I condemn.
—Thoreau
Special Issue
MARS HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
April, 1969
Development Institute Mobilized
»CY
ROOM.'*
d?
t)ne . .
ains!
RE
Mars Hill College has been se-
'^cted to establish a Model College
Community Development In-'
^Utute for Southern Regional Ed-
J*cation Board Internships. The
institute wiU correlate with other
'^ffimunity-academic-oriented ef-
now in progress.
The S.R.E.B., which previously
operated out of Atlanta, Georgia,
a foundation to provide student
Jaanpower for local, state, and
®deral agencies. The agencies
Ptilize student interns to alleviate
> ^eir lack of manpower and to
^Ive other problems pertinent to
*'6 success of the operation.
I ''rough matching funds from the
^Pcerned agency and S.R.E.B.
I ■J'® students have twelve weeks in
; summer to research and re-
I '*°rt their findings and recom
mendations. Although faculty,
ji ®Sency, and technical advice are
, ""ade available to the intern, he is
i mentially autonomous, free to es-
^pHsh his own guidelines and
solving the problem,
is here that the real academic
alue lies for the student: he is
. ®e to exercise his intellectual
'iiative and to test the disciplin-
^ practices he has learned in
liege. The success of such pro-
ams has prompted the establish
ment of a college institute
&am.
pro-
The Mars Hill College and Com-
"nity Development Institute will
i'fovi,
'^ide immediate access to stu-
torage
■d.
.S
jp.
j^nts for agencies in western
j^rth Carolina. The college will
eorne a third funding source to
able as many students as pos-
■ ie to participate. At least twen-
jj^'five interns wUl be involved in
programs being developed.
(,] goals for the summer in-
^ade researching the needs for
activity centers for the men-
retarded, making housing
'^ays for Model Madison, de-
^‘aping better recreational pro-
®nis for the area, and laying the
sr^-
On,
aund work for a community-
®ated Christian Ethics Institute.
P
''e Institute will seek to pro-
a the resources necessary for
out these projects. The
vvill assist the interns by
advisory time. The col-
is lending its facilities to en-
da Baldwin }
. Judy Fait i
Cuningham )
'ed Ellmore J
tch Palmer j
, Jim Elens
Mills '
lolcombe
illiams
i
i
}
} as many students as possible
}
j^^aave access to and opportunity
Participation in the internship
T’or additional informa-
on any aspect of com-
l^hnity development activi-
‘‘as at Mars Hill College con-
.o't Richard Hoffman, As-
^tant Dean for Program
fivelopment. Box 514 - T,
2 ®rs Hill, North Carolina
°V54; phone area code 704,
®89-2500.
¥¥¥¥***
^lirudt for ^xceiie
ence
For two and a half years Mars Hill College has been mapping out
its strategy for the implementation of its development program entitled
“Emphasis on Excellence.” We have been upgrading faculty salaries
and fringe benefit programs in order to retain our own faculty, as well
as to attract outstanding new faculty. With a solid cadre of outstand
ing personnel it is now possible for the college to begin to develop new
curricular emphases which will make us unique among the four-year,
liberal arts colleges. The articles contained in this paper point up the
direction in which we are headed and the uniqueness which we can
claim
We see emerging within this college commimity a genuine Chris
tian concern for our fellow man. This concern can be directly imple
mented in college programs which give relevance to our course work,
immediate application of studies for our students serving interns and
conducting special research projects, and can definitely serve our com
munity.
An important feature of this period of oiu development is for each
of us to maintain proper perspective on this institution’s development.
All one has to do is look at where we were three years ago — a begin
ning four-year coUege, unaccredited, having little identity of its own.
Today we are fully accredited, have uniqueness that is distinguishing
us throughout this region, and have a faculty and student body that is
genuinely concerned with institutional involvement. All of this should
give us great optimism and hope for the future.
Remember this is only the beginning of the greatness that can come
to Mars Hill College! The opportunity is before us to become the pro
totype of the excellence that can be had in a Christian institution of
higher education.
—Fred BleJce Bentley
President
Mars Hill College
55 Youngsters Encouraged
By Upward Bound Program
The 1968 Summer Session at
Mars Hill College was enlivened
as 55 area high school students
arrived on campus to compose the
student body for Mars Hill’s first
Upward Bound Program.
The students were imderachiev-
ers from families whose economic
means were sub - standard and
whose cultural enrichment was an
unknown experience.
The goal of the program was to
attack these problems on group
and on individual levels. Students
participated in group activity both
inside and outside the classroom.
Smaller dorm groups created
greater intimacy, and each group
was assigned to a tutor-coimselor
who participated in all phases of
the student’s life while he was a
member of Upward Boimd.
Academically, the Mars Hill pro
gram attempted to allow freedom
from the traditional setting in
which the student had performed
poorly. Academic achievement
was accomplished in such a way
as to make the previously bitter
experience of learning more pleas
urable and meaningful. Classes
appealed to the student’s interests
and were provocative enough to
bear meaning to an adolescent
group of the 60’s.
The cultural phase of the Mars
Hill program emphasized the in
troduction of students to areas
previously unexplored. Through
exposure to travel and visits to
settings rich in historical value
and to academic, political and
metropolitan areas, the students
came to realize that life is a multi-
phased experience and does exist
in forms previously unthought of.
After eight weeks of such a pro
gram, 55 students left the campus
acting, talking and thinking dif
ferently from the way they had
at the beginning of their new un
certain journey of exploration; 55
students left their first Upward
Bound experience a step closer to
the maturity which qualifies men
and women to operate tomorrow’s
world.
But Mars Hill did not leave the
flame ignited in these students to
die out. A staff was appointed to
maintain contact with the stu
dents both in the home and the
school. The purpose was to feed
necessary fuel to keep the flames
burning imtil they could be furth
er mutiu-ed in phase two of the
programs this coming summer.
Mars Hill College was proud of
its 1968’s Upward Bound Program.
There was pride in a program that
encompassed the area and scope
which last summer’s program did.
But pride went beyond the pen
and paper outline of a program.
Pride lived in seeing 55 students
walk with a higher degree of self-
confidence—a self-confidence cap
able of and strong enough to initi
ate personality changes respons
ible for remolding 55 human be
ings toward a productive and re
warding life.
In recent years critics have observed that colleges are too “ivory
towerish,” that faculty members are imwilling to test their models, de
signed through research and seminars, to the many urgent programs
facing rural and urban commimities. Furthermore, the critics contend
that the ciuriculum and teaching methodology of the colleges do not
reflect a proper concern for this critical time in our history. The fac
ulty lecture from notes taken in graduate school, and the students in
an unimaginative fashion give back the facts on examinations. There
is little effort to blend classroom theory and service experience or to
create a dialogue between faculty and students.
Mars Hill College recognizes the validity of much of what the crit
ics have observed about traditional limitations of the liberal arts. In
an attempt to redefine this concept, the college is seeking new alliances
with the Appalachian region to provide a laboratory for welding to
gether imagination and expert-
Sports Camp
Runs on Fun
In the summer of 1968 the De
partment of Physical Education
started a Sports Day Camp for
youngsters, ages 6-13. This pro
gram met with much success and,
therefore, is being continued and
expanded. A nominal fee is
charged for the participants en
rolled in the program to help de
fray expenses.
It is proposed that the Day
Camp also include culturally and
economically deprived children in
this age group in the surrounding
community. Approximately forty
to fifty children, both boys and
girls, ages 6-13 (first grade
through 7, will be selected from
families with low income to par
ticipate in the program. Selection
win be made with assistance from
the Office of Economic Opportxm-
ity. County Officials, and other
community representatives.
The program would consist of
activities properly geared to the
developmental and matiurity levels
of the children selected. Content
would be chosen on the basis of
those activities which possess in
herent values contributing to nor
mal development. This includes
swimming, gymnastics, large and
small group games, individual
and team sport activities and di
rected recreational play.
Camp personnel would include
a qualified director, other faculty
members of the Physical Educa
tion Department, approximately
six to ten physical education ma
jors who are prospective public
school teachers, dep>ending on the
total number of participants.
These students would have some
preparation in elementary educa
tion. Program organization would
provide individual attention for
each child and adequate handling
of special problems. Evaluation
of each participant’s progress, the
effectiveness of the instructors,
and the success of the total pro
gram would be made periodically
during the camping period. At
the end of the camping a follow
up study would be made.
The Summer Day Camp Pro
gram will begin on Monday, June
9, 1969, and end on Friday, June
27, 1969. It will operate from 9
a.m. to noon, Monday through
Friday.
ence. In brief, through its numer
ous community-related programs
Mars Hill College is demonstrat
ing its belief that learning can
take place elsewhere than within
the four walls of a classroom or
the confines of a college campus.
Service - learning experiences
through internship programs, sem-
in£irs, and independent study can
be interrelated to produce a stu
dent who has examined and re
examined his basic assumptions to
the extent that he can develop
and defend a position which will
enable him to participate effec
tively in society.
The College and Community
Development Institute provides
the structure for implementing
this new approach to a liberal arts
education. Essentially, the Insti
tute acts as a catalyst to stimulate
new programs and approaches
within the various academic de
partments. Moreover, to assure
maximum coordination of all ef
forts in developing the “College
and Ck>mm\xnity” theme, project
ideas are channeled from the de
partments to the Institute before
being submitted to the funding
agencies. One objective of such
departmental input is for all pro
grams to be academically based
and interrelated and for the total
college faculty and student body
to move together in the develop
ment of the Institute. An advis
ory board consisting of faculty,
students, and Community agency
persons functions to screen pro
grams and to assist the Director in
formulating policies for the Insti
tute.
Student response to the intern
ship concept and to the Institute
as a catalyst for developing new
program ideas has been most en
thusiastic. A student intern in the
Juvenile and Domestic Relations
Covut stated, “I’ve learned more
through practiced exp>erience than
I could have learned in three years
in a classroom.”
Another student working with
the Asheville City Human Rela
tions Coordinator said, “I came in
here very ignorant; I needed to
overcome some of my prejudices.
There couldn’t have been a better
agency than this for me. I know
this is a cliche,” he continued,
“but I’ve had a chance to walk in
someone else’s shoes.”
(Continued on Page 4)