Stetson Cupola 1987-15-2

mtmaWa STETSON Dr. Louis Brakeman New provost announced Dr. Louis F. Brakeman, director of the Study of Professional Development for the Great Lakes College Association, Ann Arbor, Mich., and former provost of Denison University, is the new provost of Stetson University. Dr. Brakeman was recommended for the position by Dr. H. Douglas Lee, Stetson president elect, and approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. The provost is the chief academic officer and is second only to the president in the university's administration. Dr. Brakeman will assume, the responsibilities as provost in July of 1987, Initiating a search for a new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will be among his first duties. Dr. Gary Maris currently serves as acting dean. "1 am eager about coming to Stetson and I look forward to working with Dr. Lee as Stetson's new president. Stetson University is on the move. A continued on pg. 2 Baptist Missionaries >CS| The Stetson University Alumni Newspaper Vol. 15 No. 2 (USPS 990-560) Winter 1987 Sorority complex approved For the first time in Stetson's history the university's sororities will have a home. The final site plan for seven sorority houses was approved last month by DeLand's City Council. The complex, estimated at $1.6 million, will be constructed on May Street. The two-story homes (3,169 square feet each) will resemble other single family dwellings in the area. "We want to keep' the area compatible and maintain the residential atmosphere," said Charles Johnson, vice president and director of physical plant for the university. "The site plan includes keeping many of the trees, and landscaping the area so it will easily blend with the surrounding neighborhood." The complex will house 112 students in seven buildings — one house for each sorority. Each house will have a "great room" for meetings and socializing; a study area; a house kitchen and dining area; and four upstairs and four downstairs bedrooms. The houses also will provide additional residence had space, eliminating triple occupancy rooms, officials said. "The complex is in line with the university's long-range campus master plan goals," Johnson said. "Pedestrian walkways will be built, and there will be more than adequate parking on-site." The Panhellenic Building on North Woodland Boulevard was the meeting place for sororities until it was vacated in 1985 because it was structurally unsafe. The building did not provide living quarters. Structural engineers determined the building could not be restored; it was torn down last summer. Since that time, sororities have met in the Carlton Union Building and in other campus buildings. The new sorority complex was planned for completion this fall, but because of problems with zoning regulations, construction was postponed. The university plans to break ground in January and have the houses open for the fall of 1987. ,"'V* Sororities get home. The seven sorority houses will be located on May Street, near Conrad and Sage Halls. The complex, estimated at $1.6 million, will house 112 students. The project should be completed in the fall of 1987, after a January ground breaking. Working ourselves out of a job After 18 years as missionaries in South America, Irvin and Mildred Northern have returned on furlough to Stetson University's Terry House, a home for visiting missionaries. Their mission in Peru and Columbia: to "work ourselves out of a job." Irvin, '69, is a teacher at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Cali, Columbia. There, in the belt of guerrilla activity, Irvin trains Columbians to be ministers. "Nothing would give us more pleasure than to work ourselves out of a job. That's what we are sent here to do. I train the Columbian ministers to do what I do, and then we move on," the Rev. Northcut said. The Northcuts spent 20 years in Trujillo, Peru, where Irvin was president of the Baptist seminary for five years. Mildred (Mickey), who also studied at Stetson, organized the Women's Missionary Union and the women's Baptist societies. Now Peruvians are directing the seminary and the WMU. In 1968, the Northcuts came to Stetson as a young missionary couple looking to further their education and still maintain their strong commitment to God. The newly-acquired Terry House was ready for a family, and the Northcuts were the first missionaries to stay there. "It just happened what when we were looking for a place to live, Stetson University had the Terry ,'ijouse," Mrs. Northcut remembers. She was on Ow coamtiittee which selected the furnishings for the house. "A lot of those furnishings are still here," Mrs. Northcut laughed. "I guess that means we chose furniture that would last." Both livm and Mickey attended classes at Stetson while* on furlough in the late 1960's. Irvin continued bis studies, and in 1969 earned a master's degree in education supervision. "I would not be the person I am today if we had not come to Stetson on that furlough," Irvin said, "because Stetson worked with me. I traded teaching for tuition." , Irvin taught Spanish at Stetson, and then enrolled in education classes gratis. The couple returned to Peru, and several years later went to Gainesville, Fl., on furlough for Irvin to work on a doctor's degree. "There was such a need for a doctoral level program in theology that I felt led to complete a dissertation on theological education at the graduate level for Spanish speaking people," Irvin said. His training program was accepted by the Columbian national body of the International Baptist Seminary. "They adopted the program in its entirety, and it is the One. and only doctorate level program in theological education in all of South America," he said. The Northcuts, originally from Columbus, Ga., are at home in South America even though life there is sometimes "cautious," Mickey said. "The guerrilla activity is so prevalent that we must be very careful. We used to hold our Bible meetings at different hows each day, and we take a different route when leaving our home than we do when returning. "It's not that we are paranoid. The Lord takes your fear away. It's that we are careful and cautious because that's how we've got to be." In Cali, the Northcuts live in a beautiful brick two-story home with a five-foot wrought iron fence. The neighborhood is nice, Mickey said. "There is a university just a few doors down." But still the government imposes sanctions, and for a while no Bible study was permitted. From their bedroom- window, they can hear gunfire. They find bullets in their yard almost daily. The national army and the guerrillas are constantly at war, Mickey said. "But we are hoping that it will get better with our newly-elected president, Virgilio Barco. Until then, we live carefully and with faith," Irvin said. Mickey compared the cultures of Peru and Columbia and the people. "Peru is basically an agricultural nation, and Columbia is more cosmopolitan. The people in Peru are easier to ap- continued on pg. 2