Editor’s Note: Mr. Stephens’ article originally appeared as an op-ed in The Erskine Mirror, Erskine’s student newspaper. Mr. Stephens was the Executive Assistant Editor of the newspaper for the 2008-09 year. It is reprinted here by permission.

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Here at Erskine we are hearing that we have money, admissions, and retention problems. If you haven’t heard, we do, and the administration is scrambling to figure out how to solve these admittedly big problems. While I cannot claim that this article contains all the answers, I do submit that it identifies a central one. The answer is quite simple: students arrive with a perception of the college that is not accurate at all. Once they find out that Erskine is, in reality, quite different from what they were sold on, they become dissatisfied and frustrated. Click to continue »

Editor’s Note: The news article below, entitled “Faculty panel discusses new mission statement”, was written by then Editor-in-Chief Josh Grimm and then Culture Editor Daniel Stephens for the November 2008 issue of The Erskine Mirror. The article reveals some of the disagreement among the Erskine faculty concerning the motivations behind the new, Christ-centered mission statement, what it means, and how (and if) it can be properly interpreted. Click to continue »

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an op-ed that appeared in the October 2007 issue of The Erskine Mirror. Though one of the situations – the oversight of Admissions – has changed since this op-ed was published, the situations described do raise questions about the commitment of the Administration to Erskine’s mission. The op-ed is reprinted by permission, with some editorial changes for brevity and clarity.

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Two news articles—one on the “snag” concerning the search for a Director of Campus Life, the other on the transfer of oversight of Admissions and Financial Aid from Academic Dean Dr. Weatherman to Chief Financial Officer Mr. Greg Haselden—in [the October 2007] issue of The Erskine Mirror highlight the two greatest challenges facing Erskine College at present. The first challenge is whether or not the Board and Administration of Erskine College will have a coherent educational vision for what it means for Erskine to be a Christian liberal arts college. The second challenge is for the Board and Administration to actually be faithful to that vision Click to continue »