October 1, 2008

Spelman Starfish: Funding Students, One at a Time
To create a safety net for students whose financial aid is endangered by the credit crisis, Spelman College is encouraging donors to sponsor one student with $20,000 to cover a year's tuition and fees, so she doesn't have to drop out already in debt but without a degree. Forty percent of Spelman students receive Pell Grants, and many more depend on loans. The Starfish Initiative was inspired by the story of a girl tossing stranded starfish back into the sea, one by one. When a man tells her she can't possibly save them all, she hurls another, and says, "I made a difference to that one." Before long, a crowd is helping and all are saved. More >  
 
Student Enrollment Grows at ARCHE Campuses
From the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Emory to Oglethorpe, SCAD-Atlanta and the University of West Georgia, enrollments are up this fall at most ARCHE member colleges and universities. In a recent ARCHE study, the Atlanta region ranked 7th among the nation's metro areas in college students enrolled and showed the highest percentage increase in enrollment.

Emory to Raise $1.6 B; Nets $400 M in Research
Emory University has launched a $1.6 billion campaign – the most ambitious in Emory history and the largest ever undertaken in Georgia – to fund the goals of its strategic plan.  Emory is more than halfway to its goal: It has raised $838 million since beginning a quiet phase in September 2005. More >

Also in recent weeks, Emory announced FY08 external research funding of $411 million, up 7 percent. Federal funding, at $300 million, was responsible for 73 percent of the total. National Institutes of Health funding accounted for $251 million. More >  

Mercer Summit Confronts Torture
Mercer University-Atlanta recently hosted a national, multi-faith summit to explore the moral and religious implications of torture, restoring America's leadership in human rights, and healing the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world. The summit released a poll comparing the views on torture of Southern white evangelicals to the general public. Read about the summit here and here or watch the sessions online >

Atlanta Now a Center for Baptist Archives and Research
Two vast collections of Baptist history and archives have come together under one roof at Mercer University's Atlanta campus, where the American Baptist Samuel Colgate Historical Library and Archives was dedicated this weekend. The move of the tens of thousands of artifacts from their previous homes in Pennsylvania and New York required 17 tractor-trailers. People from around the world will visit Atlanta to study these materials and how they relate to religion and history as well as law and politics. More >

Coming Soon to a Campus Near You
One benefit of living in a "university city" like Atlanta: the chance to see great performances that might not fill a major venue. Campus performing arts centers play a starring role in the fall performing arts season now under way in the Atlanta region, where you can catch acts as diverse as Swamp Gravy and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Laurie Anderson and Del McCoury, or the Academy of Ancient Music and the Dirty Sock Funtime Band. This eclectic mix of music, dance and theater is open to the public – in intimate venues for a reasonable price. See what's coming soon with these links to campus calendars >

Please share this issue with your colleagues, who may subscribe via the link below. And let us know what you think.

Photo credits: Brenau University Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Mercer University, Spelman College, University of West Georgia.