Happy New Year from Bryan College!

We trust you had a blessed holiday season and are anticipating with joy what the Lord has in store for 2006.

The new year is off to a great start at Bryan, with strong enrollment and an excitement that comes from seeing the start of work on a new building. We invite you to come visit the campus when you can and see for yourself what great things God is doing on The Hill.

This month the Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice will host its third symposium of the school year – "Popular Culture and Communication" – Jan. 20 and 21. We encourage you to consider coming to this in-depth examination of various aspects of the culture that surrounds us every day.

As always, we invite you to pass E-Lumine along to friends and classmates who may not be receiving this on-line communication from Bryan. Encourage them to add their email addresses to our mailing list. Also, should your preferences change, please follow the link at the bottom of this page.

Coming events at Bryan College:

Jan. 16

Students, faculty and staff engage in community service projects to observe Martin Luther King Day. Classes are not in session.

Jan. 20

7 p.m. – Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice Seminar, “Popular Culture and Communication,” Rudd Auditorium.

Jan. 21

9 a.m. – Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice Seminar continues.

Jan. 22

6 p.m. – Chamber Singers Concert at Middle Valley Methodist Church, Hixson, Tenn.

Jan. 23

7 p.m. – Dessert Theatre production of TARTUFFE, Brock Hall.
7 p.m. – Worldview Team program at Covenant Christian Academy, Logansville, Ga.

Jan. 25

7 p.m. – Dessert Theatre production of TARTUFFE.

Jan. 26

7 p.m. – Dessert Theatre production of TARTUFFE.

Jan. 27

7 p.m. – Dessert Theatre production of TARTUFFE.

Jan. 28

7 p.m. – Dessert Theatre production of TARTUFFE.

Feb. 3

Presidential Scholarship Competition Weekend.
8 p.m. - Concert Series, featuring tenor Dan Snyder, Rudd Auditorium.

Feb. 4

Presidential Scholarship Competition Weekend continues.

E-Lumine

Bryan to offer MBA beginning in August

Bryan College will offer a Master of Business Administration degree beginning in August 2006, college officials have announced.

Approval of the MBA program by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) culminated more than a year of planning toward this goal, President Dr. Stephen D. Livesay said.

“An MBA program developed on Bryan’s biblical worldview foundation should produce graduates who are qualified not only in the business discipline but who understand the importance of doing business in an ethical manner. The outstanding record of our undergraduate students should be an indication that this new graduate program has the potential to similarly be a significant tool in preparing men and women to be leaders who will make a difference in their field,” Dr. Livesay said.

A team under the direction of Academic Vice President Dr. Cal White and Dr. Robert Andrews, dean of graduate and professional studies, prepared the proposal for SACS. Dr. Ray Smith has been named director of the MBA program, and may be reached by calling 423-775-7590.

Dr. White said, “This is the only faith-based MBA in the Chattanooga area not tied to a denomination. It will have a non-traditional schedule in that classes will meet all day every other Saturday, and on the weekends when classes do not meet there will be internet sessions.”

The college plans to enroll between 15 and 20 students per group, with the first group to begin studies in August 2006. The second would follow in the spring of 2007, with two groups starting each year.

Strong retention boosts spring enrollment

College officials are rejoicing at the news of strong enrollment for the spring semester, which began Wednesday.

Registrar Janet Piatt reported that 557 students enrolled on the Dayton campus for the new semester, reflecting a better-than-average 97 percent retention between semesters and the addition of 21 new students.

“This is a very exciting time to be at Bryan College,” President Dr. Stephen D. Livesay said. “I believe we are attracting the kind of students who appreciate the quality education built on Bryan’s biblical worldview foundation and who want to take advantage of the opportunities Bryan offers. Work on the new residence hall is just the most prominent evidence of the growth that is taking place on The Hill, but we realize the lasting work is that which is being done in the lives of the young men and women who study here.

“I so appreciate the work of the admissions staff in recruiting these students and the efforts of the faculty and staff to provide the environment that encourages students to complete their education at Bryan.”

While the traditional semester began this week, the Aspire degree completion program is slated to enroll classes in Chattanooga, Cleveland and Dayton in late January and early February. With those students, total enrollment is expected to approach 800.

Excavation progressing for North Hall

The parking area between Arnold Hall and Summers Gymnasium has disappeared, and in its place is a hole soon to be filled with the bits and pieces that will become North Hall by this August.

Vice President for Operations Tim Hostetler said work is progressing as planned, with erection of the prefabricated walls expected in mid-February.

At the same time, work is nearing completion on an expansion of the new parking lot on the hillside facing the baseball and soccer fields. The lot, when completed, will have space for 175 – 200 vehicles.

Construction pictures will be posted regularly on the college web site, so visit www.bryan.edu often for updates.

Deconstructing Scopes

Unraveling the Mythology of the World’s Most Famous Trial

Bryan College’s year-long 75^th Anniversary celebration will culminate March 20-21, with a national symposium on the antecedents, action, and aftermath of the Scopes Evolution Trial of 1925.

Presenters during the Heritage Week program will include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Edward J. Larson; science historian Dr. Ronald L. Numbers; former president of the H. L. Mencken Society and Bryan benefactor Dr. Ray Stevens; former editor of The American Biology Teacher Dr. Randy Moore; and Judge James W. McKenzie, a descendant of two Scopes Trial prosecutors. Other scholars include Bryan alumni Dr. David L. Llewellyn Jr. and Judge Lawrence H. Puckett as well as Bryan faculty Dr. Richard Cornelius, Dr. William Ketchersid and Dr. Kurt Wise.

In addition there will be a dramatization of the Scopes Trial and a concert of Scopes Trial songs and period music, special exhibits and tours of Scopes sites including the Rhea County Courthouse where the Trial was held.

Dr. Larson’s two lectures, Dr. Numbers’ lecture and the play will be free and open to the public. View the complete schedule here.

Cost of the entire symposium is $70 for adults and $50 for students. In addition, through arrangements with the University of Tennessee College of Law, Continuing Legal Education credit is being offered to lawyers for a conference cost of $350.

For information and registration contact Stephanie Mace at (423) 775-7321 or e-mail info@bryancore.org or see the symposium website at www.bryancore.org/scopes.