Fresh Food Finds Local growers sell produce downtown
vol. 100, no. 12
wednesday, october 5, 2011
Features page 5
1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Mandy Lambright staff Photographer NuNus, pledges of the women’s social club Ko Jo Kai, Emily McLean, sophomore nursing major from Abilene, Emily Pybus, sophomore graphic design major from North Richland Hills, and Madelyn Walker, sophomore accounting major from Abilene, respect Kojie Park during one of their daily pledging rituals.
university
Data show increased religious diversity christina burch multimedia managing editor As the religious makeup of the student body continues to diversify, the university has experienced a steady decline in the enrollment of students with a Church of Christ heritage. The percentage of students who reported having a background in Churches of Christ has dropped 13 percent from 2006 to 2010, according to the university’s annual report. Students affiliated with the Church of Christ now make up just less than half of the student body, at 49 percent. Lisa McCarty, assistant director and institutional researcher, manages the statistics, which outline current enrollment and religious stratification among the student body. “The last five years show that we’ve gone down in Church of Christ students,” McCarty said. “But some of that can be caused by the different terminology. Many kids are going to churches that are now considered community churches, and they don’t know how to file that.” McCarty said the category of “commu-
nity” church, or non-denominational, is an addition to the report. The new sub-category has increased in number every year since it began being tracked in 2003. University representatives ask students to report their religious background during the application process. Although predominately Church of Christ, some students reported membership to the Roman Catholic church, Church of Latter Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witness. Doug Foster, professor of church history, said he believes this trend reaches beyond Church of Christ members. “People don’t necessarily think in terms of Church of Christ or Methodist or Presbyterian,” Foster said. “They tend to think in more generic terms as Christians.” Foster said it is common to see Christians loosening their ties to a particular church, especially when looking at a university. “For those who not do not have a loyalty to a specific group, they’re looking for a strong school,” Foster said. “A lot of folks are attracted to us because we do have high standards academically.” Foster said the university has a very present Christian identity but visitors
Religious groups represented on campus This chart represents the religious affiliation of students as reported when entering the university.
49% | Church of Christ 15% | Baptist 11.8% | Community Church 3.8% | Roman Catholic 3.7% | Christian Church 3.7% | Methodist 17% | Other Illustration by Michael McCarty
and prospective students can be unaware various kinds of Christians. I’m sure we’ll see that trend continue.” of the university’s heritage. “It’s not particularly negative when students don’t come here with a Church contact burch at of Christ background,” Foster said. “There clb10b@acu.edu are just larger groups of people who are
curriculum
Faculty moves forward with language requirement Meagan freeman contributing writer The university is moving toward implementing a three-year-old requirement that students must take two semesters of a foreign language or show they can pass a standardized credit test. This change in the foreign language policy was approved back in 2008, along with other changes to ACU’s core classes. As of now, the university requires students to have
taken two years of a foreign language in high school. If the student does not meet this prerequisite, they must take six hours of foreign language to complete this demand. The future requirement will call for students to take six hours of a foreign language regardless of high school classes. Dr. Gregory Straughn, assistant provost for general education, said the current requirement is not strong and does not help support the school’s mission to “educate students for Chris-
tian service and leadership throughout the world.” “English is an important language for business and travel, but the world is much more rich and more complex than one language,” Straughn said. “By strengthening the requirement to be a successful completion of elementary-level foreign language at ACU, students are exposed to the beginnings of a second language and to an appreciation and understanding of culture that comes with language acquisition.”
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We want a changed outlook on the world, to be aware of the culture and background of the people who speak that language.”
Dr. Jeff Haseltine Associate dean of the college of arts and sciences
Dr. Jeff Haseltine, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he sees some problems with the current foreign language requirement and said the policy needs updating.
He said the current foreign language requirement does not produce the expected results. The changes voted on by faculty now being implemented will make sure students have an elementary proficiency of a language. “We don’t kid ourselves too much about the level of proficiency that students have when they leave ACU,” Haseltine said. He said the university does not want students to study a language simply as a mechanical device.
“We want a changed outlook on the world, to be aware of the culture and background of the people who speak that language,” Haseltine said. “We want it to be a positive part of the student’s education, not a burden or barrier.” Haseltine said if at one point students get an elementary level understanding of a language they will be more able to continue learning on their own or to learn a new language depending on where they see language page 4
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Abilene Christian University
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