State

Black Mountain College It is probably the most unusual college in the State. At the present time, members of the faculty and some of the students are busily engaged in building a new plant. MASON'S ami car рои tors with degree* from lending univer¬ sities of the United States anil foreign countries яге among the workmen engaged in rushing to com¬ pletion Black Mountain College's new plant at bake Eden, in Western North Carolina. All work on the struc¬ ture, except some that is extremely technical, is being done hv the stu¬ dents and faculty members, and the faculty members' wives. Since 1933, when Dr. John An¬ drews Itice established the institution in the Y.M.C.A. plant of the Blue Ridge Association near Black Moun¬ tain, the college has gained a unique place in the American educational system. So outstanding and unusual has been the work there that leading newspapers and magazines of the country have devoted much space to it. And wide publicity has been won by the present building venture, made necessary because the Blue Ridge As¬ sociation needs the use of its property again. How it Started Dr. Rice, present rector of the col¬ lege, together with throe fellow pro- fessors of Rollins College and nine students, founded the institution after dissension appeared in the faculty of Rollins over teaching methods. Just what kind of college this handful of professors and students were establish¬ ing, even they were not sure at the outset. But there were some things the college was not going to have. It was not going to have a presi¬ dent, a dean, a hoard of trustees, fraternities or any college yells. There was to bo no one to dictate ns to how a professor was to tench n class; no one to come between the master and disciple. So old-fashioned is the college that it is revolutionary in this modern day. It goes back through history to the fourth and fifth centuries — to the era of Plato and his disciple. Socrates — for its fundamental doctrines. And. in doing so, the school has stripped itself of a lot of frills, generally con¬ sidered so important to the majority of present-day student*. “Informality” is the watchword. »«/ J. It. IIICKMX There is no discipline in the accepted sense of the word, and, therefore, no written rules. One of tho few unwrit¬ ten regulations asks that boy students refrain from visiting the eo-eds in their rooms. Another is to accord an individual privacy if there is a “please-do-not -disturb” sign on his or her doorway. Dr. Rice and most of the students smoke during classes in his study, and lounge abont on the cots and bed* while they relax and join in the dis¬ cussions provoked. That faculty mem¬ bers are addressed by their first names by students does not infer the pro¬ fessors are not held in respect and esteem. Students and teachers alike attend classes in any type of wearing apparel they happen to have on at the time, and generally most of them are in rough work or outdoor clothing. While the tuition fee is $1.300 a year, about 25 per cent of the student body is made up of boy* and girls without financial means, who are en¬ abled to attend on the scholarships provided from the large tuition paid by fellow students. This arrangement is provided by the school as an essen¬ tial part of the plan, in order to re¬ cruit young people from every condi¬ tion and every walk of life. Students, not to exceed 120 or 130, nre accepted as far as possible from every part of tho United States so as to get a true cross-section. While most of them now come from the large cities of the East and Middle West, there is an increas¬ ing flow from the South and South¬ west. Regardless of class or condition, there is a common leveling, onee they are enrolled. The millionaire's son and the boy or girl of impoverished homes cannot be distinguished, nor can a stranger select a professor or a professor’s wife from a student— un¬ less, perchance, the weight of years furnishes the clew. The students work on the college farm, not because they have to. hut be¬ cause they believe the exorcise is every bit as healthful a- athletics and a darned sight more useful. Most of them are from the big cities and they find growing things and tending ani¬ mals fascinating and exciting. While n student can find practically any course lie would expect at the average fine arts college, art, drama and music play a major part in the life of the institution. This is because of the desire to arouse students to emo¬ tional as well as intellectual devel¬ opment. And, although Dr. Rice in¬ sists there are “both good and bad professors” at Black Mountain Col¬ lege, a glance at the catalogue shows they come from such universities as Frieberg, Germany; Rending ami Ox¬ ford in England, and Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Discussion and Debate Even as Plato taught his disciple, Socrates, by discussion and debate, professors of Black Mountain seek to impress upon their students the fun¬ damentals of philosophy and the arts. Instead of tossing a bone to n hunch of hungry hounds, the teachers fig¬ uratively release a mouse in a dark room and let the hungry oats seek it by use of their God-given faculties until they pounce upon it. For the real flavor of Dr. Rice's philosophy of education, an excerpt from his talk to incoming students is enlightening : “. . . May Г suggest that you think about it in this way : Consider that you are making a date to meet a per¬ son (faculty member) three times a week from now to Christmas time. It becomes rather appalling when you put it in that light, hut it will keep you from rushing into courses you won’t like. “If you can restrain yourself from taking more than four course* you will be doing very well. If you can take only three courses you will 1ю wise. If you take two courses you are very wise and someday we will have a student who will take no course. “The only suggestion that can be made now is that you ought to expose yourself to art, music, and dramatic*, ( Continued from jiage sixteen)