Bryan’s biggest visitation event of the year brought some 120 Presidential Scholars to campus the weekend of Feb. 3-4, and college officials are in the process of contacting the top scholarship winners to inform them of their selection.

Admissions Director Michael Sapienza said he was impressed with the credentials of the prospective students, who came from 30 states and two foreign countries. As has been the case in recent years, students from public, private and home schools were vying for the 11 Presidential Scholarships. Candidates who do not win Presidential grants will receive Dean’s Scholarships.

“It’s important for us to get prospective students and their families on campus because the interaction with faculty and students is one of our most important recruiting tools,” Mr. Sapienza said. “The Presidential Scholarship weekend draws some outstanding prospects, and even before the weekend was over we heard reports of students making up their minds to come in the fall.”
 

According to evaluations left with the admissions staff, the overwhelming majority of scholarship candidates rated every aspect of the weekend “above average” or “good.” Favorite parts of the weekend, according to free comments from the surveys included “meeting current students” and the “friendly faculty and staff.”

Workmen prepare forms for the walkway to the second floor of North Hall early in February. Later this month, the prefabricated wall sections are to be delivered and erected.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is designed to be a time when Bryan College gives to the community, but Dr. Travis Ricketts said workers received as well as gave.

More than 500 students, faculty and staff spent Jan. 16 at 75 locations throughout Rhea County and surrounding areas painting, cleaning, building, baby sitting, doing yard work and digging a hole for a septic tank. “It’s safe to say that everyone who participated got something out of it,” Dr. Ricketts said.

The day began with breakfast and a devotional by Bryan President Dr. Stephen D. Livesay, then workers grabbed sack lunches and headed to their job sites.

Response from the work sites was positive, Dr. Ricketts said. A letter from the We Care community service agency in Dayton was typical: “The Bryan students and faculty assigned to We Care did an outstanding job and were an inspiration through their positive attitude and work effort. We are better off materially and spiritually after their visit.”

Students enjoyed the day, as well. In a note to Dr. Ricketts, one student said, “I really enjoyed going to the Deer Ridge Apartments last week for my service project. I met some of the most amazing people, some of whom had some of the most awesome connections to, and stories about, Bryan!”

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, 14 hours of 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.