Bryan College Triangle

Alex Green
Assistant Online Editor

The Mercer family poses for a photo at the celebration of T.C. Mercer Day at Bryan in 2005 / Photo courtesy of Bryan.edu

Mercer Hall might have easily remained the Administration Building had Dr. Theodore Mercer not been fired from Bob Jones University in 1953.

Mercer had spent a large portion of his life around the Joneses and their school at that point in ‘53, when he was relieved of his duties as Assistant to the President.

He had grown up in Spring City, Tenn., a small railroad town around 17 miles north of Dayton and the current location of Bryan College.

He was one of many children, but also only one of two shared by his parents. Both of his parents had marriages, and children, prior to the one that resulted in Mercer’s birth, according to Dr. John M. Mercer, the late Bryan president’s son and current Professor of English at Northeastern State University in Tulsa, Okla. Read full story »

Matt Bollant is the new head women's basketball coach at the University of Illinois / Photo courtesy of Matt Bollant

Josiah Newport
Triangle Reporter

The University of Illinois (Champaigne Ill.) women’s basketball program is tired of missing out on the big dance every March. The Illini want wins, but they need someone to guarantee those.

Meet Matt Bollant, former head women’s basketball coach at Bryan College (Dayton, Tenn.) and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Bollant was introduced to the media on March 28 as the new head women’s basketball coach for the Fighting Illini.

Bollant brings a winning attitude and an excellent record to Illinois. At Bryan College, Bollant went 134-38 over five years. He lead the Lady Lions to the national tournament in his last four years there, making the Sweet 16 in 2006. Read full story »

Accreditation Liaison Dr. Ken Froemke / Photo courtesy of eStudent directory

Jesse Murrary
Senior Reporter

Bryan College is currently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), most commonly referred to as the Commission on Colleges (COC). According to Accreditation Liaison Dr. Ken Froemke, COC is the most prestigious and demanding of the six regional accreditors.

“The accreditation process for schools in the south, as compared to the west coast or the north east, tends to be more difficult,” said Froemke.

Bryan College has been accredited with COC since 1969. According to Froemke, the college’s first accreditation check was five years later in 1974. Checks have come since then every 10 years that end with four (i.e. 1984, 1994 and most recently 2004). Froemke worked as Liaison during the 2004 check-up.

COC has a handbook laying out the principles of accreditation. It contains 88 regulations that schools must follow in order to maintain accreditation. According to Froemke, these principles address issues such as faculty qualifications to making sure an institution has an adequate budget— and everything in between. Read full story »

Clari Stewart
Triangle Reporter

Bryan College is hailed as a liberal arts school, but despite this the visual arts program at Bryan has struggled as an accessory to the college’s main programs of study.

“This is a liberal what college? You would think in that context there would be some sort of visual representation,” said Dr. Ray Legg, professor of English.

According Legg there has always been talk surrounding visual arts on campus. However, even with talk, the college has only ever had small programs which came and then fizzled out over the years, and never an official program with an accompanying major or minor.

Twelve years ago Legg researched and wrote a proposal for a visual art minor with the goal of eventually developing a full major. It was proposed at a time when the college faced financial struggles, and though it passed, it never officially became a minor due to lack of funding.

This might still be the status of the visual arts had Elaine Davis, instructor and art fellow, never pursued her desire to teach art classes at Bryan. Read full story »

Yuri Lopez / Photo courtesy of eStudnet directory

Corrie Walker
Guest Writer

When I walked into her dorm room, I was greeted by a waving Honduran flag and walls adorned with pictures of sweet, smiling faces.

Yuri Lopez grew up in an orphanage in Guaimaca, Honduras with 550 other children.

From the time she was 2 until she was 16, Yuri lived in an orphanage called “Orphanage Emmanuel,” an organization run by a couple from the United States.

Although the orphanage was Christian, there were so many children that it was rare for each child to be truly and intentionally loved and ministered to, according to Lopez.  She often felt sad and lonely.

When Lopez completed the 9th grade, she was assigned to work in the orphanage’s kitchen for 3 1/2 years instead of continuing her education in high school.  This was not her dream at all. Yuri desperately hoped to complete school. Read full story »