Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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We may have to send him off our campus, but we can still provide these programs for him so that he is career-oriented and in a career that will be relevant tour years from now, when he enters that career. We can say to him, ttWe can make it possible for you to have that job in forestry: it you want it, and be eligible for employment in that field, by looking far enough ahead to know what the demands will be in that field when he is ready to enter it. For example, it someone wants to get involved in airport management, we want to be able to tell him, and we can, that he can receive the neces- sary training and background by enrolling him at Southwestern, We may have to send him off our campus for a year, but we can bring him back and give him a degree that qualifies him for air- port management or flight training. The two schools in the country that offer courses in airport management are in Johnson county and way out in Liberal, but through co- operative education we can send students to these campuses after a year or two at South- western and then bring them back to finish up. Abraxas: ls Southwestern a leader in this area among, say, the colleges in the Great Plains area? Raines: Southwestern's record speaks for itself, but that record isnlt important now as what we are going to do tomorrow, the next year or after tive years. We want to feel that we are a leader in offering opportunities for young people down the line career-wise, not just by offering a piece of paper that enables them to enter gradu- ate school. They can terminate their studies, it they so desire, and be qualified for employment in an area of their choice. This is the exciting thing about Southwestern today. This is a revolution on our campus. lt's felt in the faculty They're enthused about the possi- bilities. This is whats exciting to talk about with young people. Abraxas: Right! Many people said, both stu- dents and taculty, that the feeling on-campus at the beginning of the year was markedly Changed. People were anxious to start school and see what was going to happen. Raines; This is an obvious change for a very positive good. There's no limit to where we can go it we put our necks on the line. We believe in this strongly; we can be a bigger help to the indie vidual in his life planning than we have been, and to do this we must broaden ourselves. We have to open up cooperative relationships, as can be seen this year in our involvement with St John's, Cowley County Juco, and other junior colleges around the state. Abraxas: Have the student recruiters and the young people now on the staff helped in this effort to show Southwestern's new image? Raines: The best salesmen for any college are the students on campus. If they're enthusiastic and feel that the program is worthwhile and they're growing in that program, theylre great salesmen. They can tell the true story. it is awfully easy for them to misinterpret some of the things that happen on campus. Forvexam- ple, maybe the Chow is bad. This can influence people and, without a broad outlook, they can misread little things like this. But still the student remains as your best salesman, because he's honest. i We've added to the staff two outstanding peo- ple who are examples of this program at South- western: Donna Bean and Rick Johnson, both recent SC graduates. Both of these young peo- ple are setting a new image and are representa- tive of our product at Southwestern The attitude on the part of the staff is to do more and to make more opportunities available than it is to change anything. Our interest is learning and not teach- ing. Let's have a learning process rather than a teaching process. This is the only way to go, to be relevant.

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. TOWARD ; THE YEAR 2000 An interview By Theo Otte Abraxas: Have the changes in Admissions, one being your new position as director, brought any new viewpoints or philosophies into the depart- ment? Haines: Admissions in higher education today is a very Challenging and exciting field. There are many colleges, all seeking the good student, making it a competitive field. The real excitement in our own admissions program is the new options that we are able to offer young people today, with the curriculum that is being envi- sioned and being put into effect on our campus. We're not able to talk to young people about protecting themselves 300 yards ahead. What we're trying to envision at our school is helping an individual be what he wants to be a when he wants to be it, In other words, we would like to be able to help the student in such a way that when he is through with Southwestern he can find the career vocation that he really wants, he has the tools to be effective in this chosen career, and he will have an opportunity to prac- tice in that field, Abraxas: With changes in the emphasis of the curriculum, what do you find to be the big selling points of Southwestern? Raines: We're interested in people and we're interested to the effect that these people can find themselves in an environment that isnot geared to ltl've got to get to the very topi' but to til can be myself and i can express myself without the pressure that seems to be enclosing me from society itself? Abraxas: Do you really find this as a conscious attitude among young people? Raines: i find it coming into our program from our desire to be concerned about life planning and career goals rather than just the broad phi- losophy that has been so cumbersome to the lib- eral arts program. Each student had to come in and then he was set in a particular mold rather than being allowed to develop in a line of his own choosing. He had to meet this requirement, that requirement e when it really didnt seem to affect or add to his ultimate objective. We feel that a student should be able to come and, it he has definite plans down the line, that we can ini- tiate those plans immediately. We can get him started in his line, at his pace, and in the direc- tion he wants; right now, not as a sophomore or junior. In other words, it that individual wants to get a good broad background that isn't neces- sarily professional, he can come to us, We can offer him the background of a liberal arts pro- gram and yet give him experiences in a vocation

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30 October 1972 Dear People, I really flipped out when I saw the maiden issue of ABRAXAS. For one who gets about half his information about the outside world from Hsiick magazines like ttlntelieotual Digest? ttPsychology Today't and HTimef I really took to the new magazine. And I got the kind of information i as an alumnus of Southwest- ern want to know. Instead of finding out what this months events and athletic iaureis were, i found out what is making the school tick - where the ferment that is so vital to an educational institution is taking place. The things that I remember most about my four years at Southwestern, and where the most sig- nificant learning took place and what has crystallized my subsequent education in theology schooD are those events and ideas that pushed me out onto areas i didn't know about and made me think and feel and grow. When an institution begins to become aware of its own movement and growth and its role in effect- ing Change in society, that excites me. Only under such conditions can a col- lege, or any institution, move out and grow. The kind of change talked about in Number t of ABRAXAS moves in the direction of maximizing human beings by equipping them to maintain their humanity in a time when change inundates us all. by giving them a vision of what might be and the tools to achieve it. l'm looking forward to subsequent issues of ABRAXAS. You say a lot by what you are, as well as by what you say e and the fact that what you are saying and what you are doing are in time with each other and with me makes me feel that just maybe Southwestern College is out there leading, rather than running to catch up with the rest of society. Cordially, WWiJW Rev. Dennis R. Hett former editor SC Collegian. Minister intern, Old West Church, Boston, Ma.