Fall 1996
Volume XXII No. 1
Smiles reign as students, donors break ground for Hollis Center
After wielding their shovels, Stetson President Doug Lee, from
left, donors Lynn and Mark Hollis, donors Leighan and David
Rinker, and Student Qovernment Association President
Lindsey Brown got in the Hollis Center 'fitness' spirit by
tossing a basketball around. (Photo/House of Hatton)
Trustee Chait Mark Hollis, '56, said he hopes the Hollis Center
will aid in the "renaissance in education for which this university
is becoming well-known" during the August gtoundbreaking for
the new tecreation and fitness center. "A fit mind and a fit body are
crucial to success," he said.
Being built near Griffith Hall at an estimated cost of $3.5 million, the
Hollis Centet will include a student lounge area, weight room, dance
studio, game room, meeting rooms, and student life offices, as well as the
Rinker Field House, which will offer a full-size basketball coutt and two
cross courts. It will be the majoi center of intramural sports.
Made possible by a $2.5 million commitment from Lynn and Mark
Hollis, its field house wing will be named for the late M.E. Rinker Sr., a
former trustee. The M.E. Rinker Sr. Foundation is contributing
$800,000 for the field house. A dance studio in the Hollis Center will be
funded by Publix Super Markets Charities.
The Hollis Center is part of a three-year, $9.5 million construction
program on the DeLand campus. Also under way are the Wilson
Athletic Center for the Sport and Exercise Science and Allied Health
programs, a renovation and expansion of the duPont-Ball Libtary, and
the fitst phase of the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.
'Gift of gab* serves alumnus well while teaching English in China
Jacksonville retitee Ted Boutwell, '42, has spent the past two
summers in southern China's Guilin City, teaching American
English conversation to adults.
'Most of my students have college level English gtammar... but have
imited conversational experience, such as only a native American with
i gift of gab can provide," he said.
A retired U.S. Marine Corps aviator who left Stetson after two years
:o join the service during World War II, Boutwell spent much of his
career on Okinawa. In addition to raising five children, he and his wife
also sponsored 32 foreign students to study in the U.S., including a
young Chinese girl they later adopted.
At Guilin City Staff and Workers' University, where he taught last
summer, there are no lawns, lighted fountains, bell towers or parking
lots, he says, "but there is plenty of space for hundreds of bicycles and a
few motot scooters." His class of lawyers, doctots, clerks, government
employees — about 20 in all — met five nights a week for seven weeks.
He also led an informal, two-hour "English Corner" for the public on
Sunday mornings, classes which meet all over China to give people
practice in speaking.
He takes no salary, but an apattment is provided, and living costs are
low: 25 cents for breakfast; $ 1.50 for dinner in an air-conditioned
restaurant; or 25 to 75 cents for a meal at a sidewalk testaurant. A
bicycle is provided for his use; biking to wotk takes about seven minutes.
If it rains, he takes a taxi for $1.25 (bicycle included).
"Now all these costs ate not for tourists," he wains, "only fot us
locals."
During the summer before last, he also taught at Guangxi Teachers
University. He has been invited back to Guilin City this summer, but
may go instead to Lanzhou University in northern China, where one of
his former students is studying.
"I haven't yet seen northern China," said Boutwell in anticipation.
And how does he manage all this, since he speaks no Chinese?
"I can look so helpless," he laughed. "People jump at the opportunity
to help me. Thete are nice people everywhere you go." — Betty Brady
Stetson alumnus Ted Boutwell responds to rapid-fire questions
during a Sunday 'English Corner' session in Quilin City, China.
U.S. News: Stetson stands in top four
regional universities in South in 1997
For the 12th straight year, Stetson ranks among the South's top
tegional universities in U.S. News & World Report's new edition of
"America's Best Colleges." In the 1997 edition, Stetson is listed
fourth, on the basis of its academic reputation, student selectivity,
faculty resources, financial resources, retention tate, alumni giving, and
the value its education adds to its graduates' lives.
"We are pleased to have Stetson's academic quality and commitment
to students repeatedly tecognized," said Vice President for Campus Life
and Enrollment Management Jim Beasley, adding that choosing the
right school for a student takes cateful research.
"We target students who have the potential to succeed at Stetson —
students with the necessary academic backgound and academic skills,"
Beasley explained. "We prefer not to have to reject applicants because
they aren't a match for Stetson."
