Newspaper Page Text
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FRESHMAN
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EXTRA
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Cluster
olume XLIII
MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 21, 1962
Number I
rosh Penfield Trip Unique
To This Weeks Orientation
Freshman orientation activities this week will be climaxed Satur-
by a trip to the original site of Mercer University at Penfield,
sorgia.
The entire Freshman class of 458 is required to attend. Transporta-
n will be furmshed. Seniors have annually made the trip in April,
his yearmarks Hbe first time that freshmen will do so as a |»rt of
nentation.
During the years that Mercer
os located at Penfield tuition was
1 50 per month or $2.50, depend
upon the student's carrKfulum.
he curriculum included English
ammar, geography, history, arith-
letic, classical studies, philosophy
ml mathematics according to A
listory of Mercer University, hy
Ir Spright Dowell, President
meritus.
During these first years students
ere required to spend three hours
day working on the school farm
ml were forbidden to use such
ords as ‘dast’, ‘dern’, or ‘doust’.
Work in the fields went on under
v watchful eye of the school ‘ste-
ard', whose rank was equal to
lat of any faculty member. He
quired that all work clothing be
sue spun and that students work-
ig in the farm wear great bonnets
r protection from the fierce Geor-
a sun.
It was the steward who kept the
»ck book of conduct in which
ere dutifully recorded such falls
am grace as using bad language,
thcr offenses open to a Mercer
udent included “indignities to
dies at millpond,” “idleness in
hoot,” and “reading a borrowed
m position.”
Hilling ton Sanders served as
inciple of the then Mercer In-
itute and Dr. Dowell tells us he
It'd night and day for Jesse Mer-
r's “mustardseed." In 1838 the
atitute became Mercer Univer-
y and Mr. Sanders became our
tit president During this time we
d our own theological seminary,
trie years of theological work
‘re required for a degree, and no
(flent was admitted without an
,B.
Under this system Mercer flour-
led until the Civil War, during
d immediately after which se
re retrenchment was necessary,
i 1871 the school was moved to
•con,
the annual senior pilgrimage
become a Mercer tradition,
dversity of firm la hope that the
*hman pilgn age may also do
so. The trip will begin at 8:00 a.m.
and return at 3:00 p.m., according
to information from the office of
the Dean of Men, Joe Hendricks.
Record Number Of Frosh
Enroll For Academic Year
Sixteen Named
To Dean's List
Sixteen students were named to
the Dean's List at the end of the
summer quarter. Each of them at
tended both sessions of summer
school and each attained an honor
point ratio of 2.58 or better
The largest number of students
to receive the honor were from Ma
con. They were Gwendolyn Louise
Alexander, senior, Cherry Ann
Barlow, unclassified, Judith Marie
Brewer, sophomore, Charlotte
Christine Cook, transient student,
Carla S. Daugherty, junior, Mary
Council! Gladstone, freshman,
Jackie Ruth Martin, junior, John
Felix Mash, Jr., sophomore, Ste
ven Clarence O’Kelly, freshman,
and Joseph Happ Willingham,
transient student
Others were Joseph Quenton
Davidson, Jr, junior from Colum
bus, Martha Sue Free, sophomore
from Doe run, Allen Byron Gilbert,
junior from Augusta, James Hoyt
Whitlow, senior from Atlanta, Wil
liam Wesley English, senior from
(Continued on page two)
How Cluster Got It's Name
Established in 1920, THE MERCER CLUSTER has since been a
leader among small-college student weeklies. The name of the paper
is somewhat unusual, and deserves explanation to those who may not be
familiar with Mercer history.
We quote the following from Dr. Spright Dowell’s A History of
Mercer University.
He (Jesse Mercer) spent the year 1799 preaching in South Caro
lina, North Carolina and Virginia. Because of their respect for his repu
tation and character, large congregations attended his meetings. There
was a lack of hymn books in the new and growing churches and to
meet the need he collected and compiled a volume under the title,
The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns, and Sacred Poems;
being chiefly a collection. To meet the popular demand seven editions
were printed. The first was unbound and was printed in Augusta in
1813. This was followed in the same city by a bound and enlarged
edition in 1815 and again in 1816. In 1817, while attending the Tri
ennial Convention in Philadelphia, he published a revised edition. The
use was widespread, and other editions followed in 1820 and 1835. By
1839, thirty-three thousand copies had been distributed in Philadelphia
alone. The 1835 edition was the fifth to be copyrighted. Thomas, Cow-
perthwaite, and Company published it in Philadelphia and Collins and
Brother in New York. Two copies of this edition are deposited in the
Mercer Library.
. . . This book has been |>ermanently enshrined in The Mercer
Cluster, the student weekly at Mercer University since 1920.
NEW CLASS SCHEDULE
Period Hour
1 8:00- 8:50 a.m.
2 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.
Chapel, Tues. & Thurs 10:00-10:37 a.m.
3 10:45-11:35 a.m.
4 11:45-12:35 a.m.
Lunch 12:35- 1:15 p.m.
5 „ 1:15- 2:05 p.m.
6 2:15- 3:06 p.m.
7 3:15- 4:05 p.m.
8A, Mon. & We<l. 7:00- 9:30 p.m.
8B, Tues. & Thurs 7:00- 9:30 p.m.
mw
A record number of 458 freshmen will register at Mercer today,
representing an increase of almost 180 students over last year.
"The general quality of the frehman class ap|>ears to b the best
in recent years,” said Dr. Rufus C. Harris, President of Mercer Uni
versity.
The principle reason tor the rec
ord freshman class is a large in
crease m the number of students
seeking enrollment, according to
Admissions personnel. Last year
Mercers admisions program was
greatly expanded and intensified
to encourage a larger number of
prospective students
"This year's class is one of the
largest in Mercer's history, prob
ably exceeded only by the 584 en
rolled in the first post-war year,
1946," according to Dean Robert
H. Spiro, Dean of the College of
Liberal Arts.
“More than half of Georgia’s
159 counties are represented, as are
16 states and several foreign coun
tries. The class was carefully se
lected and we believe we have an
excellent group of entering stu
dents," continued Dr. Spiro.
There are 518 freshmen and
transfer students at Mercer this
year, including 55 nursing stu
dents. Approximately 750 freshmen
and transfer students applied for
admission to the university.
The total numlier of students in
DEAN ROBERT OTTO
Chapel Changes
Go Into Effect
Change is perhaps the most ap
propriate word to describe today's
Mercer. And not to be excluded
are the alterations being made to
the chapel program.
With the appointment of Dr
Robert Otto. Chairman of the
Philosophy Department, as the
new Dean of Chapel, a novel ap
proach to this one half hour per
iod is being initiated. Until this
year attendance was required three
times each week. Now attendance
is required only twice each week.
This year the convocation will
be held on Tuesdays and Thurs
days. The Tuesday assembly will
be set aside fJr current affairs
and entertainment with the SGA
reaponsi! I - for two or three per
iods per month. The Thursday
chapel will be reserved solely for
the College of Liberal Arts is about
1,200. Approximately 300 students
will be admitted to Mercer's South
ern Colulege of Pharmacy in At
lanta and the Walter F. George
School of Law. The total enroll
ment at Mercer will be about 1500.
The freshmen and new students
arrived and began a three day pe
riod of orientation and counseling
with registration for freshmen to
day.
The Orientation program began
Tuesday morning with a worship
program in Willingham Chapel led
by Dr Robert Otto, Dean of
Chapel. Following the worship pro
gram. all freshmen took a series of
standardized tests covering read
ing, mathematics, and other areas.
Throughout the next two days
the freshmen were broken into
smaller groups and introduced to
many of the organizations and
policies of the university. This in
cluded orientation to the Mercer
Honor System, campus life, stu
dent government, a general outline
of the purpose and history of
Mercer and a tour of the campus
and library.
Sorority and fraternity open
house was held Monday night, with
Rush parties being held through
out the week. Pledging for fraterni
ties and sororities will be on Mon
day from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.
SGA To Sponsor
Film Next Week
Films have been scheduled for
showing each quarter of the pres
ent school year 1962 63.
The film series is s|>onsored by
the Student Government Associa
tion, and is offered free of charge
to all Mercer Students and Facul
ty. All presentations are scheduled
for 7:30 P.M. on the dates indi
cated in room 314 of Uio Connell
Student Center.
religious emphasis. Also the stu
dents will hear Dr. Otto himself
as he is to speak in about two-
thirds of the chapels on Thursday.
Dr. Otto realizes the difficulty
of his job. Not only is he expected
to live up to the standards of his
predecessor, Dr. H. Lewis Batts,
hut with an increased budget and
greater freedom from classroom in
struction he must give to the stu
dents a more meaningful program.
‘Suggestions will be welcome,”
says Dean Otto referring to a pat
tern for future chapel programs,
since “a pattern is not already
cast”
Cha|K>l at Mercer is considered
an integral |»art of a student’s edu
cation and all students taking two
or more courses are required to at
tend cha|>el.
Outstanding musical, dramatic
and political programs are sched
uled from time to time in addition
to the several formal convocations
to be held during the year.