CCOSSEC^DS
Bcknont Abbc^ College
VOLUME VIII, NUMBER ONE
Belmont, N.C.
October 1979
1979-80 ANNUAL FUND UNDERWAY
The 1979-80 Annual Fund is
off and running. This year’s an
nual fund kick-off took place
October 23 with a meeting of the
Board of Advisors in Charlotte.
The Annual Fund campaign
is a yearly event at the Abbey.
Last year, more than $254,000
was raised during the drive.
This year’s goal is $270,000. Of
that amount, $47,500 is the
target for alumni giving.
“This year we hope to in
crease the base of alumni sup
port,” reported Theodore B.
Sumner Jr., chairman of the
Development and Planning
Committee of the Board of
Trustees. “Last year, we were
fortunate to have 573 alumni
contributors. This year, we will
try to reach 626.”
Contributions to the Annual
Fund go toward the operating
budget of the college. It is
through the generosity of our
alumni, faculty, staff, parents,
trustees, advisors and other
friends, as well as foundations
and corporations, that the col
lege is able to continue
operating on a sound fiscal
basis.
One of the highlights of this
year’s Alumni Annual Fund
will be the Alumni Phonathon.
Six hundred alumni will receive
a telephone call from a fellow
alumnus, faculty member or
administrator of the college.
Calls will be made on two con
secutive weekends in
November. This will be a great
opportunity to pledge support to
the college through a contribu
tion to the Annual Fund.
In addition, all alumni will be
receiving an Annual Fund
package in the mail outlining
this year’s drive and where the
money goes. Pledge envelojies
will be provided for the con
tributor’s convenience.
Let’s make this the greatest
Annual Fund in the history of
the College.!
Grace Chairs
Annual Fund
Charles L. Grace, president
and owner of Cummins
Carolinas, Ing., Charlotte, and
chairman of the Belmont Abbey
College Board of Advisors, has
been named chairman of the
Belmont Abbey College 1979-80
Annual Fund:
Grace has been chairman of
the Board of Advisors since
1978, and has been active in
fund-raising for the College
since he joined the Board in
1973.
He is chairman of the Board
of Directors of Central Pied
mont Industries; is a director of
Keane-Monroe .Corporation of
Monroe; is on the Board of Ad-
B.A.C. Expands Local
Student Grant Program
Belmont Abbey College has
again expanded its Local Stu
dent Grant Program.
The amount of the grant was
increased from $300 last year to
$465 for the 1979-80 school year.
In addition, the grant was ex
tended to include qualified
students from York County,
Soutl;i Carolina, as well as the
North Carolina counties of
Mecklenburg, Gaston, Lincoln,
and Cleveland.
The program specifies that
qualified students from either
of these five counties will have
their tuition reduced by $465 per
year ($232.50 per semester).
This reduction continues each
year the student remains at
B.A.C., thus bringing the total
value of the grant to $1860 dVer
a four-year period.
A “qualified student” is any
present resident of either of
these five counties who
graduated from a high school in
the county or anyone with three
years consecutive residence
there. Once the student is ac
cepted for admission to B.A.C.,
he or she automatically
receives the reduction.
This Local Student Grant is
designed for both resident and
commuting students from these
five counties. According to Mrs.
Eileen Dills, director of finan
cial aid at the College, 169 full
time students are currently
receiving this annual tuition
reduction.
The grant is also awarded to
ten part-time students on a pro
rated basis. The actual amount
by which tuition is reduced for
part-time students depends
upon the number of curriculum
hours in which they are enroll
ed. A minimum of six hours is
required for eligibility.
The Local Student Grant Pro
gram was initiated in 1970 in
response to the generosity of
the local community in its sup
port of Belmont Abtey College.
The grant, which was originally
offered only to students from
Mecklenburg and Gaston coun
ties, was expanded in 1977 to in
clude both Lincoln and
Cleveland counties. The grant
has also served as an incentive
to encourage local students to
enroll at B.A.C.
visors of Liberty Mutual In-;
surance Company; is a
member and former irector of
the North Carolina Motor Car
riers Association, and the
Motor Transportation Assotia-
tion of South Carolina; and is a
past member of the National
Alumni Board of Directors of
Notre Dame University.
CHARLES L. GRACE
He is founder and a former
presuiem of the Notre Dame
Club of the Carolinas, and is a
former president, and a
member of the Board of Direc
tors of Charlotte Catholic High
School Foundation. He is a
member of the Charlotte
Chamber of Commerce, Quail
Hollow Country Club, Carmel
Country Club, Charlotte City
Club, and the Young
President’s Organiz^ion.
He is a member of the Board
of Directors of the Carolina
Ambassadors, and is active in
St. Gabriel’s parish in Charlotte
where he is a former member
|of its Board of Advisors,
Athletic Association and Men’s
Club.
Grace succeeds James G.
Babb, Jr., executive vice presi
dent, Jefferson-Pilot Broad
casting Co., as chairman of the
Annual Fund.
He and his wife, Mary Ann,
have four children, and they
live in Charlotte.
Hartsell to Head
Alumni Annual Fund
Larry Hartsell, a 1970'
graduate of Belmont Abbey
”ollege, has been named chair
man of the 1979-80 Alumni An
nual Fund. He succeeds Kevin
and Brendan Soden who acted
as co-chairmen the past two
years.
As alumni, we all got a lot of
good out of the Abbey,” Hart
sell said. “I just want to help
the College continue doing for
its students what it did for me.
“It took a lot of work by peo
ple before us^to make the Abbey
what it is. Now we can work
toward the future with our con
tributions to the Alumni Annual
Fund.”
After receiving his Bachelor
of Arts degree in accounting
from the Abbey, Larry went on
to earn a law degree from
Emory University in Atlanta,
Ga. He is currently director of
property and tax with PCA In-
•ternational, Inc., in Matthews,
N.C.
'■Xk
LARRY HARTSELL
Hartsell is a member of the
American Institute of CPAs
and the North Carolina Associa
tion of CPAs. He is a member of
the Georgia bar, and Phi Alpha
Delta legal fraternity.
Larry is married to the
former Caroline Smith. They
live in Mount Holly, N.C.
Fall Enrollment Up 11%
Enrollment at Belmont Ab
bey College this fall is up
almost eleven percent over last
year’s 699 students. Our current
total of 777 students is the
highest since 1968.
The number of resident
students as well as commuting
students has increased
significantly. “The College’s
three dormitories are at capaci
ty,” said Father Mauricio
West, O.S.B., director of
residence life, who was forced
to make temporary housing
assignments to a number of
students who did not have prior
room assignments when they
returned for the fall semester.
“Resident students at the Ab
bey are required to make a $1(X)
room dejjosit before I can
assign a room to them,” said
Father Mauricio. “Those
students who failed to reserve a
room, hoping to get a room
assignment after they arrived,
were the ones who ended up
without rooms.”
Early in the semester Father
Mauricio had several students
sleeping on the floor in his liv
ing room until he could find
places for them in the dorms.
Students were also staying with
Miss Rose Herman, vice presi
dent for student affairs. Both
Father Mauricio and Miss Her
man live in the dorms on cam
pus.
Some students were also tem
porarily housed in an annex to
the security office on campus.
Others stayed with friends,
sleeping on mattresses on the
floors.
School policies have in the
past required students who are
not married or living at home
with their parents to live in the
dormitories. Father Mauricio
and Miss Horman were able to
ease the crowded dormitory
situation by allowing some
students who wanted to live off
campus to move out of the dor
mitories, thereby creating
spaces for students waiting for
rooms.
“We expected an increase in
enrollment this year,” said Mr.
Robin Roberts, director of ad
missions for the college, “but
we did not expect an eleven per-
!'1F: HICK
CHftPE' HI Li.
cent increase.” Projected
enrollment tor the 1979 fall
semester was 725 students.
Officials at the school at
tribute the enrollment increase
to improved recruiting pro
cedures. A new computer
system in the Admissions Of-
lice allows for more accurate
and timely response to all in
quiries about Belmont Abbey
(^lollege, and the Admissions Of
fice has expanded its recruiting
territory in recent years.
The school also experienced
an increase in the number of
upperclassmen who returned to
the college.
“The outstanding enrollment
at our institution this year is a
source of strength to all of us
here at Belmont Abbey
College,” said Father Neil W.
Tobin, president. “It affirms
our judgement that contem
porary students value a liberal
arts and sciences education
within a Christian, Catholic and
.Benedictine environment.”