Reflections on the Erskine College That We Know:

by

Some Students and Younger Alumni of Erskine College

Scientia cum moribus conjuncta

This document presents some of the many letters and internet “postings” that have been written by younger Erskine students and alumni over the last year or so as Erskine College and the ARP Church has become embroiled in controversy.  For those who have access to the internet, many of these letters will be familiar.  For those who do not have access to the internet or who have chosen to stay away from the controversy, we ask you to please take a moment to read and reflect upon what is written here – words of love and deep commitment to both God and his works through the institution of Erskine College.

There are some things that are certain in the current debate – Erskine College and the ARP Church have a deep historical connection. Alumni and members of the ARP Church, and especially those who are both, feel deeply about Erskine.  Whatever else we may think and say, we all share a love for Erskine and desire to see her continue as one of the best Christian liberal art colleges in the southern US!

Much has been said about the loss of “mission fidelity” at Erskine over the last 20 years or so.  Some of this has come from current students and young alumni, also known to some as the SAFE students.  This document contains testimony that describes an Erskine that is different from the one they seem to know.  It is these students and recent graduates’ letters that speak loudly as to how God is working through Erskine College. Amongst these students, there is a belief that Erskine College is meeting its commitment to integrate faith and learning right now!

So here are some of the thoughts of younger Erskine Alumni and current students.  We hope that you find these stories compelling!  We believe that God has been and continues to work through Erskine College and Seminary.  These documents are a reflection of His work there.  May God continue to bless Erskine College and Seminary and the ARP Church!

Click Here to Download Reflections from Students and Younger Alumni

In addition to this collection of letters from students and younger alumni, there is another collection of letters from Alumni that contains testimony of both Erskine now and Erskine of past decades and the impact it has had on alumni.

Letters and Reflections on Erskine College

By Alumni of Erskine College

Scientia cum moribus conjuncta

Please feel free to download and share this document with others in the coming days. This document presents some of the many letters and internet “postings” that have been written by Erskine Alumni over the last year or so as Erskine College and the ARP Church has become embroiled in controversy. For those who have access to the internet, many of these letters will be familiar. For those who do not have access to the internet or who have chosen to stay away from the controversy, we ask you to please take a moment to read and reflect upon what is written here – words of love and deep commitment to both God and his works through the institution of Erskine College.

There are some things that are certain in the current debate, Erskine College and the ARP Church have a deep historical connection. Alumni and members of the ARP Church, and especially those who are both, feel deeply about Erskine. Whatever else we may think and say, we all share a love for Erskine and desire to see her continue as one of the best Christian liberal art colleges in the southern US!

This document is loosely arranged according to class chronology with the newest class members writing first. It is these students and recent graduates who speak loudest for how God is working through Erskine College in their lives. They believe that Erskine College is meeting its commitment to integrate faith and learning right now, just as it has in the past, as reflected in the letters of those of us who have come before. The last letter here is especially poignant. It comes from Dr. Lucille (Class of 52) and Mr. Leo Hill, (Class of 49). Mr. Hill passed away as their letter was being completed.

So here are some of the thoughts of Erskine Alumni. We hope that you find these stories compelling! We believe that God has been and continues to work through Erskine College and Seminary. These documents are a reflection of His work there. May God continue to bless Erskine College and Seminary and the ARP Church!

To view this document, click here. To download, right click and select Save Link As.

In addition to this collection of letters, there is also a collection of letters and reflections on the Erskine College written by students and younger alumni.

Letter from D. Scott Mitchell, Chairman, Board of Trustees and Joseph H. Patrick, III, Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees

By Neil Jones, Class of 1985

Okay folks, this has probably been too long in coming, but let me finally publicly come out and present what I believe has gone on here, what is going on here, and what is likely to go on here in the future.  First, for those of you that don’t know me, I am a 1985 graduate of our beloved Erskine.  I came to Erskine as the first person from my family who had ever heard of Erskine (in fact, I was the first 4-year college graduate in the Jones and Walden families).  I was not an ARP.  I was a Christian and thought everybody else was (except the one Jewish family in Batesburg that ran the local department store).  I came from nothing except a wonderful father and mother who promised me that I could go anywhere I wanted to go for college.  Luckily, through the loving generosity of the W.H. Stuart family, I was able to attend a small, Christian, liberal arts school in Due West, SC as an EBK scholar.  I didn’t have a clue what college would be like.  I only knew that the people I had met (Roddy Gray, Howard Thomas, Harriet Brawley, Dot Carter, the Stuart family, Drew Calcutt, Ralph Moore, and the list goes on) were the most wonderful people in the world.  They demonstrated a sense of community, of education, of oneness, and of Godliness.

When I arrived at Erskine and began the process of growing as a person I freely partook in all Erskine had to offer.  By the time I graduated, I had seen and I had done most things that could be seen and could be done at Erskine.  I had been taught by some of the greatest educators on the planet and I was taught in a way that allowed me to learn who I was and what I wanted to become.  I was taught to inquire, to question, to doubt, and to have faith.  But, there was no indoctrination.  There was room for me to learn and grow, whether it was from a Jewish art professor, an evolution-advocating biology professor, or an inquisitive and thought-provoking English professor.  I was free to get in trouble and get out of trouble.  I learned what “getting caught” meant and why sometimes life (and its accompanying “systems” are not fair and not always right).  But, at no time was there ill will between the polar opposite groups we referred to as “the partiers” and the “God-squad”.  We shared together in the classroom, at social events, and in life.  Because of our experience at Erskine, some of my best life-long friends have come from both groups (I was officially not classified into either group, or at least not until my last semester on campus).  Most importantly, (and even though you would not know it today because we have reversed roles), I was able to fall in love (and have remained in love ever since) with the most beautiful, common-sense-filled, and fun girl who, unlike me, came to college with the most pristine Erskine pedigree you could imagine.  Unfortunately, our wonderful children will never be able to experience the Erskine that once was because it is now likely gone forever.   

As a result of my time at Erskine, I have been able to be successful at what I do for a living.  While it was not apparent to me the first day I showed up in a DC classroom and was literally surrounded by graduates of Harvard, Yale, Michigan, and Penn (all of whom would become some of my best friends from law school) and a greater than 50% Jewish student population, Erskine had prepared me for law school and life better than ANYONE else had been prepared.   

Today, like all Erskine alumni, I am who I am because of Erskine.  Erskine is about people, about experiences, about learning, and about being in a place that is somewhat sheltered from the “real world”, but amazingly prepares one for that “real world”.  That has been Erskine’s formula for decades.   

All of that, in my opinion, began to change in the 1990’s and early 2000’s with the election of John Carson as Erskine’s President.  For whatever reason, the student body at Erskine began to change during his term.  I saw the change because I was on campus every January for four glorious days interviewing for EBK scholarships.  I saw the change because I was a member of the Board of Trustees for five years and nine months (more on that later).  The change brought about what I called “clones” onto campus.  You can see the effects of their influence with what is going on today.  In fact, if you will go back and look at history, this “Erskine has fallen by the wayside in Christianity and in its teachings” movement can be directly traced to several of those students.  Unfortunately, the momentum was too great and, during the Ruble years, more of these “clones” have found refuge and protection, as well as a podium and an audience, at our beloved Erskine. 

The audience for this type of movement had always been there.  For years, the ARP church (and, yes, I was an ARP for over 10 years – including being both an Elder and a Deacon) had always had a minority group of what I will call the “right-wing zealots”.  They were a distinct minority in Synod and on the Board of Erskine but they really did not have an eloquent and polished leader and, most importantly, they did not have the one thing that, even at Erskine, gives you power – money.  Instead, the zealots would moan and groan at every board meeting about something, while always hiding behind the Bible in their accusations.  However, the adept chairmen of the time were able to control them and to convey to Synod the truth – which was that Erskine, like every small college, was always in financial straits but, as a whole, it was still a wonderful place to spend four years or a lifetime.  And, for anyone who believes that the minority zealots were a new invention of the last decade, you are wrong.  They were around when I was in school in the early 80s and they were around during the late 80’s/early 90’s when my dear departed mentor, Judge Jean Galloway Bissell, was dealing with them as chairman of the Board.   

All of that changed in the past few years when a “new” ARP minority rose to power and empowered the minority “right-wing zealots”.  The “new ARP minority” is composed of people who, prior to entering this feud, had almost no connection with the ARP denomination and, particularly, no connection with Erskine College.  In fact, at the recent meeting of Synod, a long-time ARP minister with 41 years of service in the ARP looked at the composition of the great Commission and realized that the whole group of seven of them did not have 41 years of ARP service among them.  That is what has happened to Erskine College and that is where she is today.  The “new ARP minority” raised its ugly head when I was on the Executive Committee of the Board.  The most forthright act of the “new ARP minority” was their submarine attack of the first Presidential Search Committee’s proposed candidate for the Erskine College position before Dr. Ruble was named President.  That search committee was composed of a who’s who listing of ARP and Erskine College supporters.  John Moore (Chairman) and his committee were completed subverted in their efforts after months and years of searching.  (Frankly, they had to bypass the most qualified candidate during the search – an Erskine College alum who happens to be on a short track for a Presidency at a much larger school very soon – because they knew the “zealots” and the “new ARP minority” would never allow him to take control of Erskine.)  

The Board at the time turned to a new Presidential Search Committee (of which I was a member) and we did the only thing we could do at the time – find Randy Ruble who was willing to hold down the fort until the entire mess could be straightened out.  Randy has done an outstanding job doing just that, but he is tired and exhausted.  He has held on as long as he could and this last uprising of the “new ARP minority” has sucked the life right out of him.

   
Then, after Randy was named President, the “new ARP minority” and the “right-wing zealots” wanted to look at Erskine’s mission statement.  Again, this was a committee of the Board on which I served and I spent many an hour pursuing my layman’s view of the mission statement.  My bottom line was that Erskine’s mission had been clearly defined for 150 years and I saw absolutely no need to change it.  It needed to remain attached to its motto:  Knowledge Combined with Morals.  That is why I and thousands of others have gone to Erskine – because we knew it was a Christian liberal arts school that would prepare us for the world while making certain that we had the opportunity to explore our moral code and grow in the knowledge available to us.  Despite fighting the gallant fight for several months over the “new” Mission Statement, I had had enough.  I realized that I was fighting an uphill battle that could never be won in this “new” Erskine environment.  Therefore, with only 3 months remaining on my term, I turned in my resignation to Chairman Chip Smith because of fundamental differences with the direction of the Board.  Prior to that time, my family and I had been extremely generous contributors to the Erskine College fund and we had given untold of numbers of hours of our time to the college (in fact, I was and still am the intellectual property attorney for the college’s patents, trademarks, and copyrights and I have given all of that time for free).  That all ended with my realization that this was a losing battle. 

As for the situation today, I am certainly on the side of Drs. Taylor and Young and the Alumni Association.  The injunction is proper and the current board should be allowed to continue to govern the College.  However, we have to be realistic – the “new ARP minority” and the “right-wing zealots” will win in the long run unless they are exposed to the ARP Synod mass.  The difference this time is that, somewhere, the “new ARP minority” has financial backing.  I have an idea of where it is coming from, but I do not want to expose it until I am sure.  Their desire appears to be to create an experimental substation where they can insert their indoctrination principles upon young minds.  Why they want to do this is beyond me.  Power – maybe?  A belief that they are “spreading God’s word” – hardly.  A chance to have things their way and leave a “mark” – probably. 

The bottom line is that Synod controls the Board of Trustees and will be able to eventually put who they want to on the Board.  The Board has 34 voting members.  Thirty of the Board members are appointed on a 5-member rotating basis (5 new members are appointed each year and they serve 6-year terms).  Of those 30, at least 40% of them must be, according to the Synod’s rules, ARP ministers.  That means that of the 34 members of the Board, at least 12 will always be ARP ministers, leaving a total of a maximum 22 trustees who would not be ministers.  In addition, it is my understanding that a 2/3 vote of the Board is required in order to change the by-laws.  Therefore, in order to change the by-laws and pull Erskine out of its association with the ARP Church (which is what should be the goal of all of us), at least 22 trustees (of the voting 34) must vote for it.  If we assume that the ARP ministers on the Board would never vote against Synod (maybe that is not true), then every single non-minister member of the Board would need to vote in favor of a pull-out.  The only time that a pull-out is going to be possible is NOW.  If we wait until the new 5 members appointed by Synod come on Board, it will never happen.  However, I realize that there is simply no way that all 22 non-ministers on the Board will vote in favor of a pull-out.   

So, my friends, my point is that Erskine was a great place.  We all knew what it was and we loved it.  Today, that Erskine no longer exists and, despite the brilliant efforts of some (and I am part of that), it will never be the Erskine that we knew and loved.  The only possibly way that this will be corrected is if the “new” ARP minority right-wing zealots are exposed and the entire ARP Synod realizes what is going on.  Maybe then, Erskine can be Erskine again.  This fight will not be fought in the Courts of law but instead in the courts of the ARP and the court of public opinion.  

By H. Paul Dove, Jr., Class of 1966

Dear Friends,

Please know that I deeply appreciate your continuing to fight the good fight for the Erskine we know and love. As a 1966 alumnus and 1969-1974 member of the faculty (I was head librarian), I saw firsthand the strong leadership and devotion trustees provided to our college. I remember working with Chap Lauderdale to present the McCain Library addition idea to Trustee Ned Sloan and how that materialized. I remember the strong leadership Bill Stuart, Emmett Davis and many others brought to the board during these years.

I remember influential teachers such as Bill Kuykendall, Dr. Parkinson, Dr. Sloan, Mr. T. D. Brown, Bill Ellison, Dr. E. G. Boyce and Mrs. Marie Boyce (my library mentor), Felix Bauer, Margaret Cubine, Clyde McCants, Martha Long, Mr. Pressley, Cal Koonts, Jim Knight, Jim Gettys, Dr. Allison, Dr. Ruble, Dr. Morris, Dr. King, Dr. and Mrs. John Miller Grier (my major professors), Miss Frances Cardwell, Dr. Lesesne, Dr. Wightman, Dr. Ware, Bob Ackerman, Dr. Romein, Luther Mundy, Paul Watson, Zelda.Oates, Miss McClure, the Owens, Shirley Lampton, Mr. Smith, Bill Baker (for whom I worked for three upper-class years as a biology lab assistant), Miss McDill, Red Myers, Coach Stille, Joe Stukes, and many more whose examples have been lifelong role models for thousands who have passed through Erskine’s portals.

During my student years the Due West ARP Church was strongly supportive of us ARP students, and there are also fond memories of Sunday School and choir there. As returnees to Due West, we served as advisors to the YPCU there during the early seventies. I was even elected a deacon in that church.

You have a formidable role ahead of you, and I pray that you find the courage and strength to uphold for future generations what Erskine has been for so many past generations, my own included. As a 35 year veteran of SACS teams across the southeastern United States, I am only too aware of what Synod’s misguided actions will do to accreditation and the very future of our school.

Please do not hesitate to let me know any ways in which I can be of assistance. I will keep you and our college in my thoughts and prayers and depend on you to “hold in trust” the institution that I believe has served our God and our faith so nobly and effectively for these many years, since 1839.

Sincerely,

H. Paul Dove, Jr.,
Professor Emeritus and Dean of the Library (retired), Francis Marion University

by Harris Murray, Class of 1977

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees,

Yes, I am one of the “sleeping giants” of Erskine alumni that has been awakened by the current crisis facing the College and Seminary due to the actions of the Moderator’s Commission of the ARP Synod. Since I first heard of the crisis, I have followed it through the news, a Facebook page “Alumni for Erskine,” and through web alerts via Google, which have alerted me to news of this situation from a variety of sources, including newspapers, higher education websites, etc. Since I first heard of the crisis, I have lifted Erskine College, its faculty, staff, students, board members and alumni in prayer: “Thy will be done.”

I do not presume to know God’s will in this situation, although I sincerely pray that His will is in line with my own. I attended Erskine College in the mid to late 1970’s by default. I had been accepted at the University of Alabama, had a roommate and was ready to depart. Erskine was the only other college to which I had applied, primarily because my family drove through Due West on a regular basis to visit my grandmother in Ware Shoals, but also because my uncle attended Erskine and two of my father’s cousins met and married at Erskine years before my time. Due West seemed a quaint town, and its nearness to Ware Shoals pulled at my heart – I was very close to my grandmother. Circumstances changed my heart and mind about the University of Alabama………..

I ARRIVED AT ERSKINE BY DEFAULT, BUT I NOW KNOW IT WAS GOD’S PROVIDENCE WORKING IN MY LIFE BEFORE I EVEN REALIZED IT THAT BROUGHT ME TO DUE WEST.

God’s providence is a deep theological issue. I think perhaps we can only understand and grasp it in hindsight as we experience it in our lives. Let me share with you what happened in my life at Erskine:

1. I met the dearest six friends of my entire life. Thirty-three years after our graduation, we gather yearly for a reunion and remain in touch with each other throughout the year by email and phone calls. We call ourselves the “Seven Sisters.” Each of us is a committed Christian, nurtured in part by our shared experiences at Erskine College and through the love and care of faculty and staff that embraced us, allowed us the opportunity to grow through learning and fellowship, and encouraged us to THINK abour our lives and how we might use them post-Erskine. GOD’S PROVIDENCE brought us together at that time in that place.
2. I learned to think, to grapple with personal issues and challenges, to question my life and faith: all of these were accomplished within the realm of a community of educators who were always available. Of particular importance to me was the College chaplain, Lee Kennerly, for whom I worked as work-study student. Lee and I remain in touch with each other to this day. GOD’S PROVIDENCE brought me among people who allowed me to question, to think, to grapple.
3. I learned to embrace people who were different from me. Yes, I tended to hang out with people most like me, but Erskine College brought me in contact with people from different cultures, different races, different social/cultural/economic backgrounds. I learned to “meet the world” in a small microcosm called Due West. GOD’S PROVIDENCE introduced me to a larger world than I had previously experience. That prepared me for every job I have ever had, all of which have involved meeting and working for and with people from a variety of backgrounds.
4. I had the blessing of being allowed to begin the journey toward adulthood and self-sufficiency under the direction and guidance of genuine and committed people like Dr. James Knight, Miss Frances Caldwell; Rev. Lee Kennerly, Professor Zelda Oates, Reba Stille, Doug and Glenda Cotton (former houseparents in Carnegie), Bill Kuykendall, Paul Watson, and so, so many others. GOD’S PROVIDENCE brought those people into my life.

Those are just a few of the blessings I received by my attendance at Erskine College. My life today is what is in in large part because of the years I spent in Due West, learning to love and to be loved, learning to think and to explore, learning to grow and change. GOD’S PROVIDENCE and nothing else brought me to Erskine College and I remain ever thankful for His plan, which in retrospect was far better than my own.

I fully support the actions of the board members and the Alumni Association in response to the actions of the Moderator’s Commission of the ARP Church. I deeply regret that events caused this rift, but I believe that Erskine College is a strong academic institution that promotes Christian values while allowing students the grace they need to develop and claim their own faith. My prayers will continue to be with the Board of Trustees and all members of the Erskine family that value the environment under which so many alumni have thrived.

May God, IN HIS PROVIDENCE, shine His grace and wisdom upon you as you move forward in the challenges ahead. May the LIGHT OF HIS TRUTH come shining forth with unquestioned and unquestionable brilliance as you deliberate and discern the direction He is leading you. May GOD GIVE YOU GRACE AND STRENGTH to bear up under pressure and to fight the good fight, run the race, and remain faithful to Him in and through all things.

I remind you, in closing, of David’s words when he faced a giant: “For the battle is the Lord’s.” David’s complete and utter allegiance to God’s will, in my studying, is based on his experience of GOD’S PROVIDENCE in his life prior to this epic moment.

“May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Sincerely,
Harris (Cheatham) Murray
Class of 1977

By Allison Read, Class of ‘07

Dr. Crenshaw had a profound effect on my time at Erskine and, therefore, my life.  Before I go into any detail, I will say that I took seven classes with Dr. Crenshaw during my four years at EC… so basically, he was a constant in my Erskine experience.  I was not at all required to take so many of his classes.  I was an English major, yes, but every class I took with him was my choice.

As a first semester freshman, I did not at all expect a professor like Dr. Crenshaw (or, as some of us later came to call him, the Captain).  He seemed a little raw on the edges, a bit gruff… not really my idea of someone who would be at Erskine. During that semester, Dr. Crenshaw consistently challenged me to think.  Interestingly enough, before meeting the Captain, I was sure that I was a thinker.  In the course of one semester (13 weeks!), I learned the classic Crenshaw lessons: thinking for myself, getting vs. taking my education, and challenging authority.

One of the first things Dr. Crenshaw told us freshman was to drop out of school, and that we shouldn’t be getting an education.  This caused an unforgettable uproar!  To be at Erskine College, most of us had worked very hard in high school for our grades, and searched high and low for any scholarship to make college affordable.  To be told by our own professor that we were wrong was shocking and seemed disheartening.  However, there was method to his madness.  He was very simply explaining to us that college students straight out of high school do not typically appreciate what they have.  And you know what?  It’s true.  Now that I’m out in the real world, away from the so-called “Erskine Bubble,” I understand more than ever than I did not appreciate my time at Erskine (or in graduate school at USC, for that matter) as much as I could or should have.  Dr. Crenshaw knew that none of us – especially freshmen – were fully able to grasp the idea, but he introduced it to us nevertheless.

That right there is the key: “He introduced it to us nevertheless.”

Many students have said that Dr. Crenshaw just likes to start arguments.  Well, that is true in a sense – but he always has a reason for it.  When he hears a student say something out of ignorance, close-mindedness, or misinformation, he challenges that idea.  Not just to be mean, but to bring awareness to that student and the rest of the class.  He introduces a concept that may be different from another concept to incite critical thinking, not anger.  He just wants his students to think for themselves, and not accept what they’re told without question.

It is true that Dr. Crenshaw debates with his students about the Bible.  Sometimes the discussion is calm, and sometimes it can get quite heated.  If a student loses his faith over these discussions, this certainly cannot be blamed on Dr. Crenshaw.  I say this because, outside the Erskine Bubble in the real world, people ask questions about God all the time.  If Erskine College promotes evangelical Christianity, should her students not be able to deal with questions of faith and the Bible?  Billions of people worldwide want to know why we believe what we believe.  If we cannot answer a simple question in a classroom without losing faith, how can we be expected to face the world?

Everybody’s got an Erskine story. Here’s mine.

Dear Dr. Ruble, Erskine administration, and Board of Trustees,

It has come to my attention that there is much controversy going on in Due West about my alma mater. I am writing this letter in defense of Erskine College. I graduated from Erskine four years ago with a little over 150 members of the class of 2005. Many of the professors I had are no longer there. All of the students who were freshmen when I was a senior have graduated and moved on. I can not name one student there at this time. However, my heart is still with Erskine and with that passion, I ask that you take my letter into consideration.

First of all, I hear of many (or at least one person through a posted YouTube video) who wish Erskine would not admit as many non-Christians, as it is felt that this makes Erskine more secular. I could not disagree more. While I was a student at Erskine, I had several friends who found Christ and knew many, so many whose faith became so much stronger and so much deeper through Christian outreach on campus. Who is to say that since these students were non-Christians they should not have had the opportunity to attend Erskine and later find Christ? Did Jesus only preach and reach out to those who were already believers? We are to be witnesses to others, and we know God has a plan for each individual. If God’s plan places a non-believing student at Erskine, it is without a doubt for a purpose. Our place should not be to exclude him or her but to be a witness. It’s like an old quote my grandfather (Erskine ’58) used to tell me: We may be the only Bible he or she ever reads.

Secondly, I also read on a site’s post where someone actually documented notes from a history class where comments were made about religion. I am a teacher in a public school, and while I can not preach and I can not spread God’s word in certain ways by law, my students know I love God. They see me pray every morning and before every meal. They hear me talk about what I did at church. Just because I’m not quoting scripture does not make me a lesser Christian and I don’t believe it makes Erskine professors into lesser Christians or lesser educators. While I loved the fact that Erskine focused on Christian commitment and academic excellence, every class I took at Erskine was not taught with a mention of Jesus every single day. I don’t think it needed to. Erskine was a Christian environment that supported my every need and guided me on my faithful path. It was also a highly academic environment which focused on teaching me what I needed to know in order to be successful in my future career and taught me, not only how to be a student, but to be a thinker.

This group has also taken shots at Erskine’s faculty and administration. In the arena of personal attacks, certain faculty members have been targeted. Let me take the time to discuss one such professor who helped guide me on my academic path and simultaneously helped me develop my faith. There were many debates in Dr. Crenshaw’s classroom and he tended to fuel them by making you think (i.e. taking the opposite point of view for discussion). I will be honest: during my first class with this professor, I was frustrated; however after my second class, it clicked. I got it; I understood his purpose in teaching this way. He didn’t teach his students to have his opinion. Dr. Crenshaw taught his students to HAVE an opinion. He wanted to make us think and make us defend what we thought by articulating our position. In part to his teaching, it is not at all surprising to me that as of this very moment, there is a Facebook group of over 380 Erskine alumni (and growing) who are voicing their opinions. This group of alumni believes in Erskine and not just in the romanticized visions we have of our college days. This group of alumni is coming together to defend Erskine, what it stands for, how it helped shape our lives, and how we hope it will remain for students to come. We have opinions, we know what we believe, and how to articulate it. We believe in Erskine.

Finally, I get the feeling that a lot of this fight started when Erskine developed the slogan “Forever Connected Through Christ, Learning, and Life.” Many felt this took away from Erskine’s Christian commitment, and I strongly disagree. I think it makes Erskine seem more like a family, which is exactly how it felt to me. David Dangerfield once rephrased a saying that I know resonates with so many: “Due West isn’t where I’m from. But the first time I ever knew myself, that is where I was living.” I do feel forever connected to Erskine, and for you to understand that I need to tell you my Erskine story.

As a senior in high school, I applied to both large public colleges in SC, a couple in between, and then I had to pick one closer to home. I got in to all six places I applied but ended up choosing Erskine. At the time it felt a bit more like luck of the draw and it was closest to home for someone who was a mama’s girl like me.

Luck of the draw… how wrong I was.

Erskine ended up being a God-send. I didn’t fit inside the big “Erskine bubble.” While at Erskine, I was outside the bubble and inside several small ones. I am not a member of the ARP church; I am of the United Methodist denomination. At the same time, I was an Athenian, an ed major, a student senate member, dated a baseball player, played intramurals, etc. When I think of Erskine, I think of places. Carnegie’s lobby is where we watched the news on the morning of September 11, 2001. Carnegie is where I met some of the girls who would become my best friends. Bonner’s second floor is where my hair was teased and bottles of hairspray were used for big hair night when I rushed Athenian. Euphie Hall is where I later would sit as Athenian president. The circle is where I ran around like a little kid in a huge snowball fight, and the hill by the baseball field is where I went sledding on lunch trays when it snowed during my junior year. Moffatt is where I ate sizzlin’ salads with my friends on Thursdays after convo, and Watkins is where I always studied for history and Bible. The Erskine building is where I spent most of my days as an education major. The library is where we played hide-and-seek after hours one time when a friend was closing the library, and the baseball field is where I watched my boyfriend pitch for the Flying Fleet.

Four years later, several of those friends I made were bridesmaids at my wedding. Those hours in the Erskine Building paid off as I just finished my fourth year as an elementary school teacher. The fact that I was in the library back then was a small miracle, but a couple summers ago I used that library again – to work on a major research project for my Masters work while attending Clemson University. The boyfriend I watched as he played for Erskine is now a teacher and coaches baseball at the high school level. He’s also my husband of two years and the father of our two-month-old son.

I loved Erskine and I know things change. I often say I would love to go back to Erskine but I would literally have to go back because I would only want to go if it were with the exact same people at the exact same time. I grew so much as a person there. My understanding and kindness were enriched through relationships with others. My faith became so much stronger. My life became so much richer. It hurts me to think that the place I loved and the place that made such an impact on my life is both changing and trying to be changed even more by others.

I am proud to say that four years after Erskine, I am a Christian girl who loves and serves her church. I am the wife of a wonderful husband whom I met at Erskine. I am the mother of a precious baby boy who can expect to hear many of these Erskine stories. I am the granddaughter of a man who was also an alumnus of Erskine but sadly did not live to see me graduate from his alma mater. I am the daughter of a man who watched the first person in his family graduate from college when I walked across that stage under the towers. I am the sister of a boy who used to visit me in my dorm. I am the teacher of a classroom of 20 six-year-olds each year who are better prepared because their teacher learned from Dr. Emery and Dr. Jumper. I am a friend to those whom I met through my Erskine experience and to those who are still connected to me even though distance parts us. I am so blessed that I am an Erskine alumna and will defend her as she deserves.

If I can be of any service to my alma mater, please let me know.

With deepest support and appreciation,

Jennifer Boggs Baker
(Class of 2005)

By Anthony Wotring, Class of ‘08

The biggest thing to me is that I see people saying (sometimes complaining – I wish there was a word to express this action without the extremely negative connotation) that they wish their four years at Erskine could have gone differently than it did. But when I look back on my time there, I don’t wish that anything would have changed except for me. I wish I could have taken advantage of all that Erskine offered to me. Most of all, I wish I would have learned more. But not once, do I ever feel bad at all towards the faculty. Everyone knows that all of the professors are different. The way I saw it, no one took Crenshaw unless they were spoiling for a fight (he is the “professor” I think most people are mentioning). From what I can tell, most of the people I really respect came out of his class loving him. Just because they got something from him that was totally different from all of the other teachers. He wasn’t someone who was just going to let you sit back and say “yea, I’m a Christian,” without challenging that lackadaisical attitude that most of America takes towards our God. (again, I say that this is what I’ve gleaned from other students – not firsthand).

But back to the bigger question, the biggest complaint is that the students feel Erskine is headed in the wrong direction. The idea to me seems that those who feel this way want the Bible to be put into every single class. The way I understood it, the idea of integrating faith into a student’s education was by making Bible classes mandatory. The science classes seem to be the most under attack. During my last year, I was seeing the physical signs of this thought taken to it’s logical procession – to the frustration of one of my history professors. If you want Biblical truth put into every class, it’s going to make learning about post-WWII Europe a little disjointed. I also can’t see Dr. Thomas easily integrating Bible verses into Instrumental. It’s just honestly not easy to do. That’s why we take Bible courses and courses in other things.

I know that the last argument may seem a little extreme. But, this is what is being proposed for the Biology classes. And with my experience with Erskine, if you had a disagreement, there isn’t a single prof that wouldn’t be willing to work through your idea – and more importantly, they would allow you to hold onto your idea even if it ran in the face of theirs. My biggest challenge actually came with the Bible department. There was a seminary professor that I had and I sat through classes taking two sets of notes – what he taught and what I thought was wrong with what he saying. At the time, I hated the class. I even came to a point of wavering in my faith one really lonely night. But I realized something that I wouldn’t have because of that class. There is a world of information that I will never fully understand, but faith is something that you choose, not something you learn. I know that as humans we can learn and discover an infinite amount of information, but I believe that there is someone higher than me who created it. This was something I realized about my faith because of Erskine not in spite of Erskine.

So…I come back to my point (if there is one). Erskine is a place where you should be allowed to learn all that you can. It should be left up to the individual what to except and what to disregard. As much as we Christians, we cannot force the world to believe us – even though we are right. Our call is to love all the best we can. I don’t see how Christians tearing down (or threating to close the doors) of a place that should be safe for everyone to find their own beliefs is showing the love of Christ.

Dear Dr. Ruble, Chairman-Elect Mitchell, Board of Trustees, Erskine alumni, and current students,

—If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there wouldn’t be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations. On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how well we have lived.—
“Come now, and let us reason together,”Says the LORD, (Isaiah 1:18a)

Unlike most of the other people writing letters, I’m not an alumni, however I have grown to love and care for Erskine. This school surely has its problems, like every place and every person, and there needs to be some change in order to make the school a better place. I’m friends with some of the people in the SAFE group, I share a lot of their beliefs, but I don’t agree with what they consider the problems. I haven’t had Dr. Crenshaw, yet, so it wouldn’t be fair for me to talk about him simply based off what I’ve overheard. However, I have had Dr. Chaney, she is a great professor and one of the academic reasons why I want to continue to attend Erskine. I hear Dr. Grier is similar and is also great, hopefully being a history major, I will get to experience a few Grier classes too .

A lot of their (SAFE group members) criticisms of Dr. Chaney are silly, some of them are that she uses C.E. and B.C.E opposed to A.D. and B.C., it’s not like she’s saying the year is 1430 A.H. (Muslim calendar). Even Dr. Bond, an ARP pastor, Bible professor, and the moderator at the recent ARP synod meeting, used C.E. in his Bible class; those same students wouldn’t criticize Dr. Bond for using them (nor should they). However, I don’t understand why it’s a big deal, I use B.C. and A.D. Jared Diamond uses B.C. and A.D. as well, and he’s the ‘authority’ in scientific history (and an evolutionist). They’ve also complained how Dr. Chaney mentioned Judaism being henotheistic, which is inaccurate, but that is besides the point; instead of going to her and talking about it (which might bring about change) they write a letter for ‘ARPTalk’ & send a letter to ARP pastors. After reading this letter, I sent her an email about how her classes have been my favorite, and what I think and feel about the different issues, which seemed to be more effective and encouraging.

She’s also been criticized for being a ‘liberal’ (which is relative, maybe compared to Dr. Evans…but if she went to a secular public school like CofC, she’d probably be seen as a conservative amongst the other professors) and for being a ‘feminist’ (I don’t really know about that, nothing she’s done, besides being a woman, lol, has shown that she is a feminist. Anyways, a ‘feminist’ is a word that can mean a wide range of things from political, social, and economic equality to men to maybe an extremist view to maybe just a Christian women’s worldview that wants to encourage women to be more). I don’t think she should be attacked like she is, but commended. She is a great professor who is committed to academic excellence as well as integrating faith into the class (after all we had to read a good amount of the Bible for her World Civilization classes, where she didn’t force beliefs down anybody’s throats, but she accepted people’s opinions and told us what she thought. With all the reading for the World Civilization classes, the students were expected to analyze for themselves opposed to being spoon-fed the answers by her or Sparknotes.

She encouraged us to analyze for ourselves, which lines up with the missions statement. The missions statement doesn’t say ‘force Christian beliefs down people’s throats’, however it is ‘“The mission of Erskine College is to equip students to flourish by providing an excellent liberal arts education in a Christ-centered environment where learning and biblical truth are integrated to develop the whole person.”’ By learning to analyze things for ourselves, we are equipped to flourish and we learn skills necessary to interpret anything we read, and most vitally, the Bible.

On a further note, unlike what seems to be what SAFE wants, I don’t want Erskine to become a Bob Jones (most people in that group would probably say they would hate Erskine to become Bob Jones. Little do they know, the school could possibly go in that direction, and that’d just be terrible. Bob Jones is the last school I’d ever want to go to.). Students should be given more freedom, not less. Erskine should become a wet campus, have 24/7 visitation hours (keep the sign-in system though, but make all non-Erskine guests of the same gender and opposite gender people have to get signed in. Sounds kind of crazy, but the reason is liability. Anyways, it’s not like the current visitation system is based on either morality (the school cares less what you do, as long as you do it in the confines of the alloted time. It’s not like there will be trouble if you’re misbehaving.) or liability (we don’t have to sign in guests of the same gender, from different schools, who could be a liablity)).

After all, Erskine students are adults and they should be allowed to make decisions for themselves as to whether or not they drink (anyways, the students that do drink often are drinking both on campus and off campus. Obviously, underage students shouldn’t have alcohol in their dorms and no under the influence student should be driving.). And as far as the visitation hours go, as adults, being prepared for the ‘real world,’ we should be taught to make decisions for ourselves. Just like students that drink on campus, I am sure there are students who have un-Biblical and unchaste relationships. However, even if visitation hours got taken away, would that eliminate sin? Would that eliminate immorality? NO! (Being a dry campus hasn’t eliminated on-campus drinking and off campus partying). That might make the college appear ‘less bad,’ but I’m afraid that would just be a facade. Just because Bob Jones University has all these strict rules doesn’t mean anything about the secret lives of its students. Under the current visitation system, the only difference between the 12-hour visitation period and the 12-hour non-visitation period is just the time of day. I have often heard, ‘nothing good happens after 11 pm,’ but as sinful humans, we are sinning 24/7. Some students may spend their visitation hours sinning, but some students may spend their visitation hours glorifying God. Erskine students need inner transformation from the Holy Spirit, if they are drinking alcohol, they need to be doing so responsibly; if they have the opposite gender in their rooms, they need to know to love instead of lust.

‘Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.’ May be my ideal motto, I often fail to make Christ preeminent in everything; it is hard as an imperfect school, with imperfect people, to provide, as the missions statement says, ‘a Christ-centered environment.’ The only Christ-centered environment, that is truly Christ-centered, is heaven and no matter how hard we try, we cannot recreate that perfection here on earth. We can only seek to provide a place that strengthens students to grow in and towards faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In order to develop the whole person where learning and Biblical truth are integrated, you need to challenge them; most colleges are a sort of testing-grounds. The SAFE group seems to want to make Erskine a challenge-less school, like BJU, where as Christians, they should want the challenge. Why? “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ” (James 1:2-4). As Christians, we should want to be tested, why? Because this testing of our faith produces endurance and we are told to let endurance have its perfect result, so that we may be perfect and complete. Sound like the Erskine Missions statement?

Erskine college attracted me because it was NOT Bob Jones, I wanted a Christian school because I want to double major in Bible. I liked how the school seemed xenophilic (loving of strangers), it didn’t seem to be legalistic, people seemed freer than other Christian schools. I wanted a Christian school that wasn’t run by idolatrous rules, not just a Christian school run by false gods, but also not being run by false devils (which is also idolatry). Just as money isn’t god, professors who believe in macro-evolution aren’t devils, drugs aren’t the devil, alcohol isn’t the devil, nor is music the devil; admissions and the administration may be wrong in some ways (we all are though) but they are not the devil either.

Anyways, even if Erskine changed to how SAFE members wanted, as Christians, they cannot believe that if such and such reform were made that a heaven on earth, at Erskine, would follow; maybe a religious ghetto, which some might be disillusioned as heaven though.

I do not want to go to a school that is a religious ghetto, I would leave immediately. Our Father refreshes us on our journey with some pleasant inns, but He will not encourage us to mistake them for home. The Christians in the SAFE group should be glad to have a God given opportunity to make friends with others; some Erskine students are not Christian, but instead of showing Christ’s great love, we often are just another social activist group.

VDMA,

Matt Diaz, class of 2012

Cross Country, SCA