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May
VOLUME III ISSUE 5
BELMONT, NORTH CAROLINA 28012
5a 1975
27SU, ^
lAY, 1975
Centennial
Celebration
Planned
Next year, Belmont
But Can We Beat Notre Dame?
Abbey College
commemorate the
anniversary of
foundation with a
long series of
hrations on
Planning is
will
100th
its
year-
cele-
campus.
already
Fr. Bradley Bullish
On Belmont Abbey
Fr. Bradley
underway for several
special events during
1976.
There will be a
weekend for Abbey
alumni, an Ecclesiastical
Day for area priests and
visiting Catholic clergy,
an Academic Day for the
presidents and ad
ministrators of other
colleges and universities,
and an Ecumenical Day
for representatives of the
various religions. Many
important dignitaries are
being invited to help
Belmont Abbey College
celebrate its birthday.
The centennial year
will focus on the first 100
years of the College’s
history, which began with
the purchase of the
Caldwell Plantation in
Gaston County by the
Reverend Jeremiah
O’Connell shortly after
the Civil War. A
missionary priest who
covered the two
Carolinas and Georgia,
Father O’Connell bought
the land to be used to
build a school. At his
request, the Benedictine
Monks of Saint Vincent’s
Archabbey of Latrobe,
Pa., agreed to accept the
land and found there a
combination high school
and college.
The first classes were
held in October of 1876,
with a student body of
four. During succeeeding
years both the number of
faculty and students
grew, and a new dor
mitory building was
erected in 1881 at what
was then St. Mary’s
College. Five years
later, St. Mary’s was
chartered by the State of
North Carolina.
In 1913 the name was
changed to Belmont
please see p. 5
As of April 15, ap
plications at Belmont
Abbey College are up
nearly 20 percent for Fall
1975 as compared to the
same time last ’'“ar.
This is in spite oi a in
crease in tuition costs, a
sagging economy, and
increased competition
from both public and
private colleges and
universities.
“In case anyone has
any doubts, higher
education today is a
buyers’ market and the
buyers - essentially high
school seniors, present
college students, and
their parents — drive a
hard bargain,’’ says
Father John Bradley,
Abbey president. “There
are two barometers that
tell us if Belmont Abbey
is passing the test. One is
applications. The other is
our retention rate.
In fall 1972, 73 per cent
of the students who were
eligible to return to
Belmont Abbey did so.
The following year, this
figure had increased to 85
per cent. Last fall, 91 per
cent of the Abbey’s
eligible students retur
ned. This is considerably
higher than the retention
rate at most colleges and
universities.
Father Bradley feels
that we have every
reason to feel encouraged
about the future of
Belmont Abbey College.
“It’s the present that
concerns me. Because of
the economy, we simply
are not getting the
needed financial support
from corporations and
private foundations to
he Ji
balance -
operating budget. This
places a greater burden
on our alumni.’’
With less than 2,000
senior college graduates,
and the great majority of
these under 40 years of
age, Bradley agrees that
the funding potential of
Abbey alumni is
definitely limited. “We
have a number of very
loyal alumni, many of
whom can only con
tribute a few dollars each
year,’’' Bradley com
mented. “We never
question the size of
our alumni contributions
- only the number.
Wouldn’t it be something
if the percentage of
contributing Belmont
Abbey alumni matched
our current student
retention rate (91 per
cent)? That’s too much
to expect, of course.
Fifty-nine per cent of
Notre Dame alumni, for
example, contributed to
their annual fund in 1974.
Only two schools in the
country had a higher
percentage.”
If you’d like to help
beat Notre Dame’s
record, and you haven’t
contributed to the 1974-75
Abbey Annual Fund,
here’s what you can do:
1. Take the envelope
enclosed with this issue of
Crossroads.
2. Place therein
whatever you can afford
to contribute.
3. Mail it prior to May
31. That’s when the 1974-
75 fund drive ends.
Ervin To Speak At 97th Commencement
The Honorable Sam J.
Ervin, Jr., retired United
States Senator from
North Carolina, will
deliver the com
mencement address to
the 1975 graduates of
Belmont Abbey College
at the graduation
exercises on Sunday,
May 18.
A concelebrated
Solemn Academic Mass
will be offered in the
Belmont Abbey
Cathedral. The Most
Reverend James S.
Rausch, General
Secretary of the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops, will preach the
Baccalaureate sermon at
the Mass. A luncheon for
the graduates and their
Sam J. Ervin, Jr.
parents and guests will
follow.
The academic Con
vocation for the conferral
Bishop Raush
of honorary and
academic degrees will be
held in the Wheeler
Center on the Belmont
Bishop Begiey
Abbey College campus.
Senator Ervin, who
served in the U.S. Senate
from 1954-1974 and acted
as chairman for the
Senate Select Committee
on Presidential Cam
paign Activities (The
“Watergate Com
mittee’’), will be
awarded an honorary
degree during the
ceremonies, as will
Bishop Rausch.
Also receiving an
honorary degree will be
the Most Reverend
Michael J. Begley, bishop
of the Charlotte diocese.
Mrs. Kathleen Price
Bryan of Greensboro,
N.C. will be presented an
honorary degree in
recognition of her ad
vancements in education
as well as her cjltural
and humanitarian ac
tivities.