Coastal responds to Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
In the flood of confusion, anger, fear and grief which followed the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Coastal Carolina University moved fast. University administration officials immediately began organizing a series of events – the first of which was held less than five hours after the attacks began – designed to calm, inform and unite the campus community.

Three informational forums were held within the week following the tragedy. Professor Richard Collin, eminent expert on international terrorism, led a faculty panel in question-and-answer discussions which were attended by Coastal students and members of the public. Other faculty members who served on panels were James Henderson, Darla Domke-Damonte, Dan Selwa, Steve Nagle and Michael Ruse.

In response to President Bush’s request to set aside Friday, Sept. 14 as a day of prayer, a campus-wide prayer service was held at noon in Wheelwright Auditorium. Preston McKever-Floyd of Coastal’s Department of Philosophy and Religion, speaking to a standing-room-only crowd, urged patience, unity and faith as the campus and the nation enter a new phase of American life.

Students were encouraged to visit Coastal’s Office of Counseling Services if they felt the need to talk through their feelings, and students drew support from their friends and classmates. “This is one of these rare events that touches everyone collectively as well as individually,” said Jo Mazurkiewicz, director of Counseling Services.

In the weeks following Sept. 11, many student groups organized events to raise funds designated for Gov. Hodges’ South Carolina Cares funds. Coastal’s Greek organizations, athletic teams, members of Student Government, and many campus clubs have sponsored food sales, donation drives and other events which have raised more than $4,000, according to student activities director Matt Morrin.

Back to top.
 

Amistad trip to Georgetown is ship’s first South Carolina visit
The Freedom Schooner Amistad, a replica of the ship which was the scene of a historic revolt in 1839 by a group of captured Africans, visited Georgetown in early November.

Coastal President Ronald R. Ingle initiated the plan to invite the Amistad to the Grand Strand after watching a feature story about the vessel on CBS News Sunday Morning. “I felt it could be a very inspirational and educational event for our entire area – and a natural fit for Georgetown, where so many people can trace their roots to Sierra Leone, the region of Africa where the Amistad captives were from.”

The Amistad replica is the creation of a Connecticut-based nonprofit education foundation called AMISTAD America, Inc., whose purpose is to advance the lessons of perseverance, cooperation, justice and freedom inherent in the momentous historic incident. The ship’s two-week visit in Georgetown provided opportunities for special educational forums, discussions and other events relating to the mission of AMISTAD America.

David Drayton, retired principal of Howard High School, and Georgetown attorney George Geer headed the steering committee organizing the visit. Local volunteer committees organized events designed to give area students and residents opportunities to experience the ship.

In 1839, 53 men, women and children who had been captured in Africa and illegally enslaved in Cuba led a shipboard rebellion aboard the schooner Amistad (the Spanish word for “friendship”). Sixty days after the mutiny they were captured and held in Connecticut. After three court appearances culminating in the famous Supreme Court case led by John Quincy Adams in 1841, the Africans were found to be free men and women, illegally taken from Africa.

“The Amistad incident is a landmark case in the history of civil rights in America,” says Geer. “Our courts in 1841 recognized the rights of the captured Africans as human beings who were simply trying to regain the freedom which had been stolen from them, which was an important precedent.”

Constructed at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, the 77-foot replica was launched in the summer of 2000. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, about the historic incident, was released in 1998.

For more information, visit: www.amistadamerica.org

Back to top.
 

Exchange students tackle real world issues
Grand Strand tourism leaders received some valuable advice on European marketing from 12 German business students who visited the area for two weeks during the summer of 2001 as part of an exchange program between Coastal and the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, located in Rheinbach, Germany.

The students’ research project, “Attracting Young German Tourists to the Myrtle Beach Area,” provided a detailed analysis of vacation trends and expectations among Germans in the 18- to 30-year-old age range, compared against the Grand Strand’s offerings and amenities. Representatives from the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association and Burroughs and Chapin Company, Inc., as well as members of Coastal’s faculty and staff attended the students’ presentation.

Meanwhile six Coastal students who are participating in the Wall Fellows program spent seven weeks in Germany in May and June. They studied international business and European integration and worked with CONET, a professional German marketing firm, on a joint research project with German students on differences in consulting practices between the United States and Germany.
The Coastal students – Michelle Brown, Ashley Elvington, Paige Landry, Sarah Lockett, Boris Menier and Brian Piercy – lived with German families while they were in Rheinbach for the first three weeks of their internship. After leaving Rheinbach, they traveled to other parts of Europe for one week before settling for the final three weeks in Mainz, Germany, where Coastal has established another exchange program with the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz.

“This is just the beginning of a series of valuable joint studies which we can build on year after year,” says Darla Domke-Damonte, associate professor of management at Coastal, who spearheaded the exchange programs with the German institutions. These and other programs are being developed as part of a $122,855 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Business and International Education Program. Coastal has matched the grant, bringing the total amount of the award to $245,710.

Back to top.
 

Coastal’s Ingle, FMU’s Carter lead NESA
Coastal President Ronald R. Ingle and Fred Carter, president of Francis Marion University, are co-chairs of the North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA), an organization which was created in 2000 to promote the joint development of the historic Pee Dee and Waccamaw regions of South Carolina.

The alliance was formed to establish public and private partnerships in coordinating, planning and sharing resources from the 10-county region including Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg counties. Historically, the northeastern section of the state has often been overshadowed by the more politically influential upstate, midstate and Charleston regions.

“NESA is working to coordinate strategies designed to strengthen the political and economic position of the northeastern region of South Carolina,” says Ingle. “We are focusing on the acquisition and maintenance of proper infrastructure, increased economic development, improved educational opportunities and labor force preparedness.”

In June 2001, Ron Chatham, formerly with Roche Carolina, Inc., in Florence, was named NESA executive director.

NESA board members include Ingle, Carter, Rep. Douglas Jennings Jr. of Bennettsville, Rep. Mark Kelley of Myrtle Beach, Sen. Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. of Florence, Sen. J. Yancey McGill of Kingstree, Billy Alford of the Council of Myrtle Beach Area Organizations and Frank Willis, mayor of Florence.

Coastal and Francis Marion University serve as headquarters for the alliance. “Universities provide neutral ground necessary for meaningful discussion,” says Ingle.

Back to top.
 

Education Ph.D. offered through Coastal-Clemson partnership
A new cooperative program offered by Coastal Carolina University and Clemson University makes it possible for area educators to earn a Clemson Ph.D. in education at Coastal.

Clemson’s Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership in K-12 School Administration is being offered at Coastal through a combination of on-site instruction and distance learning technology. Professors from Clemson travel to Coastal to teach many of the courses, according to Dennis Wiseman, associate provost at Coastal.

“This program will help to meet the rising demand from area educators and administrators who wish to attain terminal degrees,” said Wiseman, who also serves as special assistant to Coastal President Ingle for University/Schools Collaboration.

“Coastal has made a significant institutional commitment to contribute to the improvement of the quality of education at all levels in our region and across our state, from kindergarten through the college level,” said Ingle. “This Ph.D. program opens up a new range of opportunities for educators in the area. It will advance the already high quality of teacher preparation which Coastal provides, and it will elevate the entire climate of education in the Grand Strand-Pee Dee area.”

In addition to providing faculty for the program, Clemson is responsible for all aspects of program delivery, including scheduling classes. Coastal has designated an on-site contact person to provide information on advisement procedures, admissions requirements and tuition. Both institutions share the responsibility of equipping and maintaining an instructional laboratory at Coastal which is used in the program.

Clemson’s Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership in Higher Education Administration is also being offered at Coastal via distance learning technology.

For more information, visit: www.coastal.edu/graduate/#clemson

Back to top.
 

Coastal opens Myrtle Beach center
Grand Strand residents can begin or continue their college education at the new Coastal Carolina University Higher Education Center in Myrtle Beach. Located in Myrtle Square Mall, the center features two 24-seat classrooms, a computer classroom and a student workroom which includes computers with Internet access. A variety of non-credit and professional development courses will also be offered at the center.

The center offered its first semester of courses in fall 2001 with classes in business, Spanish, theater and philosophy.

“Coastal Carolina University has long been interested in having a presence in Myrtle Beach,” said Richard Weldon, assistant dean in the School of Continuing Studies. “This new facility gives Coastal a great opportunity to reach so many more people who are interested in obtaining their bachelor’s degree. Courses will be conveniently offered throughout the day and evening to meet the needs of individuals who work full-time.”

According to Weldon, many of the courses offered at the center are ideal for students interested in Coastal’s interdisciplinary studies degree program, in which students can earn a bachelor’s degree at their own pace around their work schedules.

Also located in the new facility is Coastal’s Small Business Development Center, which had been housed in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration Building on the main campus in Conway.

Back to top.
 

Coastal partners with Japanese university
Thirteen Coastal students traveled to Japan for the 2001 fall semester as part of a unique exchange program with Tokyo Denki University (TDU), Coastal’s first exchange partner in the Far East.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity for Coastal students,” says James Henderson, professor of politics at Coastal and organizer of the program. “Students can go to Japan and study a fascinating culture firsthand and at a very reasonable cost, and earn the equivalent of two semesters of a foreign language in a little more than one semester.”

The students take a full semester of classes, including a course on the Japanese language. All courses are taught in English, and the students live either in an apartment near campus or with a Japanese family. All participating students have the opportunity to tutor Japanese students in English, either with their host families and/or at TDU.

Students who participate in the program are required to take and pass Japanese 101 before traveling to Japan. When they arrive in Japan, they also take an intensive two-week Japanese language immersion course. Students who satisfactorily complete the fall semester program in Japan will meet their foreign language requirement for their studies at Coastal. As a result of the program, Coastal is adding Japanese for the first time to its list of foreign language curricula.
Plans to bring Japanese students to Coastal through the program are under way. Future faculty exchanges between the two universities are also being discussed.

Established in 1907, TDU has a long and distinguished history, particularly in science and engineering. More than 11,000 students are enrolled at TDU.

Coastal students participating in the program are Noah Bryne, George Chaposky, Chris Clark, Genessa Donohue, Gary Gardner, Dan Grigg, Christina Kotsopoulous, Mathew Parsons, Jena Ranweiler, Brian Reynolds, Geoff Roberts, Kasey Szegeski and Michael Warren.

Back to top.