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Bethel College is a liberal arts
college located in McKenzie, Tennessee. |
New programs, new dorms, new facilities... the momentum
of change at Bethel College has escalated into a whirlwind
of innovation. No longer a sleepy little institution content
with mere survival, the 164-year-old liberal arts college
has split its seams, spilling forth along College Drive and
beyond in an exciting transformation that promises to
revolutionize both college and community.
Driving the progression is the Rev. Dr. Robert Prosser,
whose 1998 induction as president ushered in an era of
unprecedented growth, as each year the school breaks its own
records with continually increasing enrollment.
First came the Success program, which tore down barriers
keeping hard-working adults from achieving the college
education of their dreams. Today, students at 14 campuses
across the state (including the home campus in McKenzie,
plus Clarksville, Chattanooga, Dickson, Dyersburg, Jackson,
Lexington, Memphis, Milan, Nashville, Paris, Parsons,
Savannah, and Union City) attend classes one night a week to
obtain an accredited bachelor's degree in management and
organizational development in as little as 14 months.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Prosser
stands on the bridge that forms part of a walk-way built by
the city from campus to town.
Next, Bethel was wired into the future when it became
Tennessee's first Think-pad university. It continues to
issue laptop computers to each new student, who gains a
supportive management and educational tool while, in the Age
of Information, also acquiring an instant link to a rapidly
shrinking world on the Internet. In 2005, Bethel expanded
its laptop program beyond traditional students to those
enrolled in the Success program.
The Physician Assistant program—one of only two in
Tennessee—was launched in June, 2001. The highly competitive
program is limited to 25 students in each class. In 2005,
those chosen from among 250 applicants represent 14 states.
The Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies is the
third master's degree program offered at the college,
joining the Master of Arts in Education and Master of Arts
in Teaching curriculums.
So successful were these efforts that, in 2003, Prosser was
honored as Carroll Countian of the Year in recognition of
the school's phenomenal growth. Originally from Lebanon,
Missouri, he first came to Carroll County in 1958 as a
student at Bethel. He served as minister of the First
Cumberland Presbyterian Church in McKenzie from 1971 to
1986, after which he was stated clerk for the entire
denomination until 1998, when he became Bethel's 39th
president.
His wife, Toni Prosser, is also a great asset to the college
as director of the Development Office. The couple has two
children: Steven Prosser of Nashville and Cynthia Neinaber
of McKenzie, and seven grandchildren.
Last year, the opening of Prosser Hall—a modern, 16-suite
dormitory that barely relieved burgeoning enrollment—was
heralded by another revolutionary new program:
Renaissance—the Bethel performance experience. The
ultra-talented vocal and instrumental group stunned Bethel's
alumni and local community before extending its reach in
weekend performances during the academic year and a summer
tour that spread Bethel's fame to the West coast and points
between. In its second year, participation doubled with the
addition of a marching band and performance oriented
percussion section that previewed last year with high-energy
performances that captivated students in local schools.
Bethel expanded its commitment to the health care
professions this year with the initiation of a new,
four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which will
produce its first graduates in 2007, with third-year nursing
classes to begin in January. The program brings to 24 the
number of undergraduate majors offered at the college.
This summer, the college held its first-ever summer
commencement, which, along with the traditional May and
December graduations, brings to three the opportunities for
students to obtain their diplomas.
Through each ground-breaking change, the heartbeat of the
school has remained its students and faculty thanks to
Bethel's enduring mission: to create opportunities for
members of the learning community to develop to their
highest potential as whole persons--intellectually,
spiritually, socially, and physically—in a Christian
environment.
In keeping with that standard, Prosser turned his sights to
the social side of the spectrum.
"We needed to provide more activity in the life of the
campus and we've done that," he says. "The college needed to
have enough creative activity going on—people to hang around
with and places to be—and Starbucks symbolizes that."
Located in the Student Center, The Daily Grind (where
Starbucks coffee is served among other foods and beverages)
offers a cozy retreat as well as a place students can plug
in their laptops and study. It's right next door to Jack's
Pizza Place that last week celebrated its grand opening.
"The Student Center has a lot more new life now and it's
also a place where we interact with the community—and it's
also symbolic of the new approach to student life we've
developed here," says Prosser.
Next on his list was sports and recreation. Where once a
railroad track traversed the eastern edge of the campus,
College Drive was completed in late 2002, as was Liberty
Lane, which extends perpendicular from the main road into
City Park. The mile-long stretch from Highway 22 down
College Drive to the campus became the perfect place for the
construction of Wildcat athletic facilities.
Nearest the highway, two projects are in progress on the
east side of the road: under a canopy of shade trees, space
has been cleared for the development of a picnic area next
to a depression that, Prosser says, he would love to see
turned into a lake or reflective pool.
On College Drive near Highway
22, two projects are underway: a picnic area has been
cleared beneath a canopy of trees, beyond which a 400-meter
oval track is being constructed for the school's winning
track team.
Its sister project is a 440 (400 meter) oval running track
that will give the men's and women's track teams a place to
call home.
"Last year we had five student athletes who qualified
nationally in track and we didn't have a track," says
Prosser. "They ran on the road or wherever they
could—football fields, wherever."
On the north corner of the intersection of Liberty Drive,
the new tennis complex is nearly complete, its eight courts
a bright, matte purple on a background of green, surrounded
by gleaming black chain link fence.
The tennis complex, featuring
eight courts, is almost ready for use.
Again, Prosser notes, despite the Wildcat teams'
difficulties in competing for use of the city courts--not to
mention structural defects in the aged facility—Bethel's
tennis teams have done well. For the second consecutive
season, the Bethel College men's tennis team took second
place at the KIAC (Kentucky) Conference tournament and were
2005 NAIA (national) Region XII semi-finalists, finishing
their season 9-7. The women's team finished their season
16-5 as NAIA Region XII semi-finalists, 2005 NAIA scholar
team, and 2005 ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association)
scholar team. Bethel's own former tennis courts, aged to the
point of being defunct, were taken up to add parking space
behind Prosser Hall.
On the adjacent corner of Liberty Drive, a soccer field with
a press stand, bleachers and restrooms is well underway.
Next in line on College Drive, the football stadium is
taking shape, though Prosser admits, "That one has
disappointed me in terms of how long it's taking to get in.
It came in over budget and we had to redesign some parts of
it to bring it back into budget, which caused some delays."
Construction of Bethel's
first football stadium continues with hopes that players
will take the field for Homecoming and the home game against
Lambuth.
He's hopeful, but as yet uncertain, whether the field will
be ready for any part of this year's season.
"We would love to have Homecoming and the Lambuth game at
the new stadium," he says.
Beginning on the main campus, the city-built sidewalk that
leads into town adjacent to College Drive, Prosser says, is
symbolic of the interaction between college and community in
which each contributes to the lifestyle of the other.
And just past Cherry Street to the east, a walking trail
will connect the recently purchased McKenzie Apartments,
soon to be renamed Wildcat Cove. The four-building complex
will be converted to dormitories, each with eight suites,
housing a total of approximately 100 upperclass students.
The former McKenzie
Apartments—four buildings with eight suites each—will
house some 100 upperclass students.
Less visible improvements include, behind the new football
stadium, a new parking area to serve adjacent sports
facilities including baseball, softball, soccer, football,
basketball, and volleyball. In the same region, construction
on an exercise facility for the entire student
population—with weight bearing and aerobic exercise
machines, free weights and the like—is expected to begin
this fall.
Inside the Dickey Fine Arts Building (DFAB), room 103 is
slated to become a state-of-the-art, high-tech lecture hall
in which humanities courses will be taught.
Prosser hopes avenues will open for the purchase of the
former HOPE Center residential facility, which lies on the
west side of the main campus behind DFAB, in which to house
the nursing program.
"It is designed in such a way that it meets the needs of our
nursing program just almost perfectly," Prosser shares.
The purchase of the
former First Cumberland Presbyterian Church building
provided housing for the Physician Assistant program,
Renaissance, and needed office space. |
And, two block away from the main campus, the pièce de
résistance of Bethel's recent acquisitions is the
113-year-old sanctuary of the former First Cumberland
Presbyterian Church building, an architectural masterpiece
with its multi-arched, tongue-and-groove ceiling, old pine
floors, and original brick walls, which have been stripped
of the plaster that had covered them.
"The change is dramatic; it's going to be an awesome place,"
says Prosser, indicating the new stage that stretches across
the back wall, on either side of which light streams in
through tall, arched windows.
The sanctuary is being renovated to provide a rehearsal hall
and 210-260 seat performing arts center for Renaissance as
well as for community usage, a complement to the Bouldin
Auditorium of the Dickey Fine Arts Building, which seats
700.
The majestic architecture of
the 113-year-old former sanctuary is being renovated into a
performing arts center that will also be home to
Renaissance—the Bethel performance experience.
"We hope by the middle of fall to have the grand opening for
that facility," says Prosser, noting the former fellowship
hall was recently renovated to accommodate the Physician
Assistant program.
The former manse located next to the church will be used for
office space, which, Prosser says, "is an important part of
our development.
"The Physician Assistant program, Nursing program,
Renaissance—they are all very exciting," smiles Prosser.
"Obviously, we've had a considerable amount of growth; we've
tripled our faculty in eight years. They are all student
oriented; we have a real belief that the proper delivery of
education entails both the traditional themes of reading,
writing, and arithmetic and other aspects of education, such
as the development of teamwork. And they're investing in the
future of the college and the future of McKenzie and the
surrounding area. There is much more to do; the next thing
is to put more plans on the drawing board. We're not going
to stop here, but we think we're making a really good
beginning."
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