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[5] it has atrocious English and little info. It's the first WP edit by the user. I'm thinking it might be some sort of spam thing. Any thoughts? -- Howdybob 18:22, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
If you would like to help in any way, you may send suggestions or inquiries via email to: admin@mackinaccollege.org
That was inserted into the main text by user 74.60.155.185. I moved it here. -- Howdybob 01:03, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
Anyone interested in the history and legacy of Mackinac College is urged to contact the Mackinac College Legacy Fund, which is featured on the Mackinac Island Community Foundation website, via email at: info@micf.org
Again. -- Howdybob 18:45, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
Re-add material from User:Karin D. E. Everett. I looked through her sources User:TheRedPenOfDoom and they are very reliable and I am familiar with many of them. Please see talk page before removing to discuss your specific problems with the content. Nasa-verve ( talk) 18:15, 6 June 2014 (UTC)
Sites that contain neutral and accurate material that is relevant to an encyclopedic understanding of the subject and cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to copyright issues- the minitakan design page and the youtube video both fit in that boat. I carried the burden to here, thoughts? Nasa-verve ( talk) 14:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
but were not allowed to date.[7] Those who went to the first version of Mackinac College referred to in this article were allowed to and DID indeed date. The reference added to support this statement (7) is a 1972 artcile which refers only to the Rex Humbard college, NOT the one referred to in this wiki entry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skydeas ( talk • contribs) 18:31, 3 March 2015 (UTC)
The current Mackinac College Wikipedia article is rated C-class: "missing important content or containing much irrelevant material…may still have significant problems or require substantial cleanup.” WikiProject Readers Experience grading indicates it “would not provide a complete picture for even a moderately detailed study.” This article is one of three stubs created when I contacted Jref at the end of January 2014: a Mission Point (Mackinac Island) stub and a Mackinac College (Humbard) stub were extracted from the previous Mackinac College article. In February 2014, I replaced the Mission Point (Mackinac Island) and Mackinac College (Humbard) stubs with complete articles.
Subsequently, I carefully examined the existing Mackinac College stub (see table below) and found it is often wrong, misleading, and badly referenced. It is too short to provide encyclopedic coverage and entirely lacks specific information that would contribute to the Michigan WikiProject. It neglects to mention ways in which the college was notable within and outside Michigan. It has only one photo.
Working with many others, I now offer up a detailed, well referenced, and illustrated history of Mackinac College. Please find our new, proposed article on the following Talk page.
This table is comprised of Mackinac College stub’s evaluations. Sack and Martin References are below the table. MC = Mackinac College; HQ = headquarters.
Sentences in the Current MC Wikipedia stub | Evaluations and Corrections |
Introduction: This article is about the college created by founders of the Moral Re-Armament. For bible college on the same site founded by Rex Humbard, see Mackinac College (Humbard). | Frank Buchman was the founder of Moral Re-Armament (MRA) in May 1938. Buchman died in 1961 and did not found Mackinac College. Moral Re-Armament sold the property to Mackinac College and three people founded the College in 1965: Peter Howard, Basil Entwistle, and Dr. Morris Martin. They were members of MRA but did not found MRA. Peter Howard died Feb. 25, 1965. |
Mackinac College was a private liberal arts college which opened on Mackinac Island, Michigan, in the fall of 1966 and closed four years later in 1970.[2] | Ref 2A (Sack) is the wrong Reference and incomplete. (1) The dates are not in the Ref. (2) Sack and the wiki author fail to say that MC was independent, non-sectarian, co-educational. |
In 1964, journalist Peter Howard of the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement, proposed the idea of turning the MRA camp at Mackinac Island, which stood unused for a large portion of the year, into a college campus.[2] | --Ref 2B (Sack): The wiki author has misquoted Sack, who mentions neither a ‘camp’ nor a ‘college campus’ (p. 183). Howard’s idea was an international educational institution with brick-and-mortar locations in Caux, Switzerland and Mackinac Island, MI (M. Martin, p. 203).
--The wiki author refers to the buildings at Mission Point as a ‘camp.’ There is no recorded use of this term by any resident, conference attendee, or member of the MC community. |
His proposal was to use a school "to train youth to take on the key places in nations, to get the right young men instead of the wrong ones into places of influence in public affairs."[2] | Ref 2C (Sack) and false statement of MC philosophy: this proposal was Howard’s MRA idea (personally reported to Martin, p. 203), and Sack implies (p. 183) that it was MC philosophy. It was not. Sack and the MC wiki author ignore the fact that Martin rejected this idea: "With Peter Howard’s death the college project took on a different aspect. The Michigan Board of Education was supportive of MC and granted a charter ONLY when they satisfied themselves that the college would not be an instrument of indoctrination but a genuine hall of learning.” (pp. 203-4) “It had long been obvious that Peter Howard’s idea of a college to spread the ideas of MRA in public life and administration was unworkable.” (p. 206) “MC was not an MRA college.” (p. 210) |
The school was granted a charter in 1965.[2] | Ref 2D (Sack): Sack mentions neither a ‘charter’ nor this date. This is the wrong Ref to support a correct fact. |
Optical physicist S. Douglas Cornell resigned from his position as Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences to become the school's president.[3][4] | Correct facts. Both Refs 3 and 4 are poor but OK. Primary references from National Academy of Sciences would be better. Ref 3 is Susan Cornell’s engagement announcement: “her father (Dr. Cornell) had been, since 1952, executive officer of NAS. He recently resigned to accept the presidency of Mackinac College in Michigan.” Ref 4 is Dr. Cornell’s 2010 obituary. |
The MRA deeded its headquarters on the island and the Old Mission House, to Mackinac College.[5] | Ref 5 is wrong in three ways and should not be used: Ref 5 says the Mackinac Island “Mission House housed the HQ of MRA, and when MRA relocated to Switzerland it deeded its MI property to MC.” (1) “Deeded its HQ” is only partially accurate: it was half a gift and half sold on mortgage (MC Status Study, Apr. 1968, pp. 13-14). (2) Beginning in 1946 MRA was headquartered in Caux, Switzerland, so MRA was already ‘located’ in Switzerland long before MC was created. (3) Mission House was an MRA residence, not an HQ ( https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013242/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/9195.htm). |
The first class was admitted in 1966 and consisted of 113 students.[6] | Ref 6: wrong number of students. The number of students in the first class was 114; new article has “114” cited by 4 references (including by MC President Cornell). |
During its operations, Mackinac College had a liberal arts focus (unlike the MRA's College of the Good Road which focused on teaching ideology of the MRA), and joined in with the "radical critique of traditional higher education" which was happening in the 1960s, although the MRA was generally strongly opposed to most of the ideals of the 1960s counter culture.[2] | --Ref 2 (Sack, p. 184) and this statement are wrong; Sack provides no published support for his similar comment. Martin is the authoritative source: “As dean I had to face much that was unknown and new to me…I accepted a simple truth. These students were coming to us because we claimed to give them the best education possible.” (p. 209)
--Sack also incorrectly says that MC “attempted to plant MRA ideas” like the MRA College of the Good Road (p. 183). |
Students participated in the creation of the curriculum.[7] | Ref 7 is True. |
The school closed in 1970, four years after opening.[8] | Correct, but poor Reference. This Ref is about MRA and UWP. It has 109 sentences, and only 3 are about Mackinac College. |
The American School Board Journal cited the reasons for the closure as being "familiar": the high costs of setting up the campus and programs, a smaller enrollment than planned and a lack of alumni to fund endowments.[7] | Ref 7: poor. “Familiar Closure” should be much more specific. MC closure had nothing to do with a small enrollment and, before 4 years, there were of course no alumni. Here is ASBJ’s actual text: “Asking price for the $13 million facility on 32 lakefront acres: $7.5 million, with a down payment of $2 million and liberal terms. Cause of the death of Mackinac--hailed as one of the most liberal of US colleges, where students actively participated in formulated curriculum--was familiar: Heavy expenses of a building program, a smaller enrollment than proved practicable, and lack of a supportive alumni group for the new institution.” |
After closing, the campus was sold to Rex Humbard who reopened it in 1972 as a bible college under the same name.[9] The campus was later turned into a hotel, Mission Point Resort.[10] | Refs 9 and 10 are True. But this information has since developed its own wiki sites (MC-Humbard) and (Mission Point Resort). Ref 9 is only about Humbard, not about MC. Ref 10 (Phil Porter’s book) is no longer available online; it is available in Amazon. |
Daniel Sack’s book about MRA history is cited 5 times in this wiki. His thesis was that Mackinac College was an MRA college. Sack’s ideas about Mackinac College were principally derived from MRA newsletters, Morris Martin’s book, and four phone interviews in 2008 with students.
Martin, Morris. 2001. “Chapter XVIII, Back to School” Always a Little Further. Tucson, AZ: Elm Street Press. pp. 203-215. |
Sack, Daniel. 2009. “Moral Re-Armament. The Reinventions of an American Religious Movement.” New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 183–186. |
Karin D. E. Everett ( talk) 20:28, 7 March 2018 (UTC)
This new, proposed Mackinac College Wikipedia article (below) provides a detailed and well referenced history of Mackinac College. If our article is generally acceptable, we will upload and include 10 new images and photos (photo legends are indicated in this text). This article contributes new information to the following Michigan WikiProject topics:
|
Mackinac College Logo Mackinac College | |
Motto | To Learn, To Live, To Lead |
---|---|
Type | Private |
Active | 1966 | –1970
Affiliation | none |
Endowment | none |
President | Samuel Douglas Cornell, Ph.D.(1966-1970) |
Dean | Morris H. Martin, Ph.D.(1966-1970) |
Academic staff | 39 |
Administrative staff | 29 |
Students | 412 |
Undergraduates | 412 |
Location | , , 45°51′05″N 84°36′20″W / 45.851391°N 84.605424°W |
Colors | blue and green [1] |
Mascot | Turtle |
Mackinac College was an independent, non-sectarian, co-educational
liberal arts college located at
Mission Point on
Mackinac Island,
Michigan. It offered four-year
Bachelor of Arts degrees.
[2]: 3, 5, 34, 43, 44 The charter for the college was granted by the Michigan Board of Education on October 22, 1965.
[3]: 204
[4]: 4 Mackinac College operated on the semester system from September 14, 1966 through June 20, 1970 with a board of 24 trustees.
[2]: 46, 49
[5]: 33
[6]
[7] The president of the college was physicist Dr. Samuel Douglas Cornell, former Executive Officer of the
National Academy of Sciences.
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
The 21-acre Mackinac College campus on Mission Point included a Library (completed 1966; 20,000 books, per January 30, 1967 accreditation report [12]), Conference and Classroom Center (completed 1968; 75,000 ft2), 14 faculty homes on Lesley Court, Men’s Residence (400 beds in 225 rooms), Women’s Residence (250 beds in 150 rooms), Kitchens and Dining Halls (for 1,000), Great Hall (800 seats), Student Union, Theatre (575 seats), Film and Fine Arts Studio, Health Center (18 beds), and the historic Mission House. The 190-acre Stonecliffe estate, which is located near the island’s airport, was also part of Mackinac College. [13] [14] Just five years before Mackinac College opened, Mackinac Island became one of the first National Historic Landmarks in the state of Michigan.
The philosophy that led to the founding of Mackinac College was first expressed on December 8, 1964 in Ames, Iowa by Peter D. Howard. [15] [16] Howard was a graduate of the University of Oxford, political and investigative reporter, author, [17] and--at that time--Director of an international moral and spiritual movement called Moral Re-Armament (MRA). That winter, Howard was on a speaking tour of 17 American college campuses [16] [18] and was well aware that the modern MRA campus on Mackinac Island, Michigan was used only for summer conferences. Howard said, “We've met thousands of students in these past weeks, and it has been bottled in me--the urgent need to demonstrate how to create a college education in which character is developed along with brain.” [15]. He suggested that the MRA campus might be used year round as a college to provide “the education of the 21st century. [3]: 203 Before Howard’s unexpected death in February 1965, he had convinced Basil R. Entwistle and Dr. Morris H. Martin (both graduates of the University of Oxford) to develop this idea. [15]. Entwistle worked with Dr. Alexander J. Cook ( University of Alberta) to draft applications needed to obtain Michigan State Board of Education approval. [15]. He also consulted with university chancellors and presidents, lawyers and financiers to plan a college that would be an independent extension of Howard’s philosophy and goals. Entwistle assembled a full Board of Trustees and, as Chairman of the Board, he consulted with the Department of Education. Then--in early summer 1965--he persuaded Dr. S. Douglas Cornell to leave “the best administrative job in American science” and hire on to become president of Mackinac College. [19] Eventually they appointed Morris Martin as Dean of Faculty. [15].
Dr. Cornell later summarized what they had started: “Mackinac College began with the acute consciousness of a need. It was founded not on the small idea of establishing a new institution, but on the big idea of learning how to meet a pervasive world crisis. It was founded with one central, dominating purpose: to create an education for men and women of a kind that would equip them for immediate, effective involvement in the compelling issues of the day.” [20]
In 1966, the Director of Admissions W. Timothy Gallwey stated in the recruiting literature that “Mackinac College is for young men and women who want to meet and master the problems and opportunities of the modern age. It expects more from its students, because its aim is to produce leaders.” [21]
The college catalogue advised: “We have been entrusted by events with an opportunity that has come to few men and women in history--to build an institution of higher education from the ground up and to shape it to meet the challenge of our times.” [2]: 47 According to the catalogue: “Student activities provide scope for the development of leadership, creative entertainment, recreation, and a zest for living. All students are expected to strive for the best of which they are capable in the classroom, on the stage, on speaking platforms, and on athletic fields.” [2]: 34 Students were encouraged to explore their own academic goals through interdepartmental programs, off-campus programs, independent studies, career-experience semesters, and summer credit courses. This was in keeping with academic thinking introduced by Henry Noble MacCracken, president emeritus of Vassar College and a Mackinac College Trustee. Dr. MacCracken believed in giving students power to determine their own style of learning. [22]
American and international events at the time were reverberating with the Vietnam War, Russian and American space flights, independence of African colonies, discovery of DNA code, availability of birth control pills, civil rights marches, and the assassinations of President Kennedy, Malcolm X, and civil rights workers. Some students wanted to answer President Kennedy’s call to “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Others reported that they went to Mackinac College because it was a new experiment in education for a world that sorely needed it. Students wanted many things, but most of all each wanted an education that was relevant to the world. One student later wrote of his attraction to Mackinac College: “Clutched tightly in my mind was a dream, a hope, an idea. A new college. I wanted that vague opus called an education.” [23]: 31–32
Less than a year passed between the granting of the Mackinac College Charter of Incorporation and the opening of classes (Oct. 22, 1965 and Sept. 14, 1966, respectively). The Dean of Faculty wrote in his autobiography that the curriculum was still in flux in August 1966. [3]: 206 Nonetheless, when Mackinac College opened in September 1966 there were 15 academic faculty, two physical education faculty, and two artists-in-residence present on campus and listed in the college catalogue. [2]: 14 . The curriculum was centered on the idea of Oxford University’s PPE course structure ( Philosophy, Politics and Economics). This reflected the Oxford academic experiences of the Dean of Faculty and the head of the Board of Trustees. Each student typically carried 16 - 20 credits per semester. Summer courses were offered in 1968.
Typical classes had approximately 15 students. However, many were even smaller “short courses” or “tutorial” groups. None of the classes were in auditoriums or lecture halls. Interdisciplinary approaches were encouraged in class design. [5]: 17 For some courses, students participated in the creation of the curriculum. [24] An off-campus Extended Residence Program offered Practicum credits, sending small groups of students to work at specific locations or to travel. [5]: 16–18 All students were encouraged to participate for a semester and each student carried two courses while off campus. Site-specific on-the-job Extended Residence study included training at newspapers, magazines, embassies, civic offices, schools, hospitals, and laboratories and also with industry, labor unions, and government. Some students who wanted to travel in other countries joined Up With People (UWP) troupes for a semester. Thus, in the first year three Extended Residence student groups travelled to Denmark, Finland, Norway, France, Germany, Italy, and numerous American states with UWP. Later, students also traveled in Canada, Latin America, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. [25]
Over the life of Mackinac College, a total of 412 students [26] were educated on campus by a total of 39 academic and athletic faculty. [27] During the sixth semester at Mackinac College, however, the administration announced that the college expected to close due to financial distress. Thus, the final academic year (August 1969 – June 1970) offered only a greatly reduced on-campus academic program, with 65 different courses in 16 fields offered to the 34 students who remained with the college. Campus classes operated August – December 1969 and then in late April – June 20, 1970. During this time, some students also studied off-campus in the Extended Residence Program. [4]: 24–31
Thirty students graduated from Mackinac College on June 20, 1970. [28] [7] These graduates had majors and/or minors that included American Studies, Communication Arts, Economics, Engineering, English, English Literature, History, International Relations, Journalism, Modern Western Culture, Philosophy, Political Science, Pre-Med, Psychology, Public and Foreign Affairs, Public Policy, Science, Sociology, Spanish, Theater, as well as Western and European Studies and Languages. [29] Although their degrees were not accredited (that would have required a previous class to have graduated and stable financial prospects for the college), at least 22 of these graduates went on to attend and complete post-graduate degrees from other colleges and universities. [29]
Mackinac College’s 39 academic and athletic faculty [27] were selected according the following criteria: [30]
Many professors left high-paying prestigious positions for the opportunity to teach at Mackinac College, seeing it as fulfillment of a personal commitment to humanity. [31] The academic faculty all had PhD, MSc, or MA degrees from prominent colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Britain, or European countries. Forty percent had doctorates. [31] Faculty in the first year were selected by Dean of Faculty Alexander J. Cook ( University of Alberta) and half of them had some previous MRA experience. [3]: 204 & 207 [32] Additional faculty were hired in later years under Dean of Faculty Morris Martin (Oxford Univ.). [5]: 14, 15 Faculty represented many nationalities, including Canada, China, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Norway, Scotland, Taiwan, and the United States. Many had prior professional and/or academic careers, including Art, Biology, Drama, Economics, English, History, International Relations, Library Science, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Physical Education, Physics, Political Science, and Sociology. Others came from careers in Chemical Engineering, Corporate Management, Department of Defense, Industrial Administration, Music and Music History, Portraiture, Space Science, and Speech Writing. In the final year of the school, when finances were failing, fifteen faculty stayed on so that remaining Charter Class students might qualify for graduation. [4]: 24
Mackinac College had 29 administrative officers. They were in charge of academic appointments, admissions, compliance, finances and fundraising, physical plant and grounds, public affairs, records, and registration. [27]
The 412 students who attended Mackinac College over the life of the school came from North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. [26] [5]: 1 The college opened with 114 students in the Charter Class, [33]: 312 [23]: 42 [34] [4]: 9 and there was a synergy within this class--a dynamic melting pot of fresh ideas and excitement. Some students came because they had seen a full-page Mackinac College ad in the Wall Street Journal. [35] Others interviewed during that year said they were at the college because they were “preparing themselves to be leaders of tomorrow by training not only their minds but their whole selves.” [31] Still others came because the school offered a good education where fees were reasonable. Two thirds of the students in the Charter Class had neither knowledge nor interest in MRA. The forty-some students in the Charter Class with MRA experience were described as “creative and helpful in getting the college off the ground.” [3]: 208
Whatever the students’ origins, “the strength of individuals united proved its worth many times.” [23]: 43–44 In addition to classwork and study, each student donated four hours of work every week to the college community as part of a Citizenship Service program. [2]: 35 This work included jobs in cooking and food service, mail, sanitation, grounds care, business, library, health services, switchboard, teaching assistance, and Extended Residence Program. Students who received Federal Work-Study assistance also had jobs in these areas. During the first two years of the college, a number of students earned income by doing construction on the Peter Howard Memorial Library and the Clark Conference and Classroom Center.
By the third year of Mackinac College, the student body had grown to approximately 350. [3]: 209 As these students settled in, however, it had become apparent to the administration that financial overconfidence and misjudgment would soon lead to the school’s closure. [3]: 211 Students who had not joined the Charter Class were advised that if they chose to remain for the 1969-70 year they would not be able to graduate before the school closed. [4]: 23 This led to large numbers of students transferring to upper level courses of study at other colleges and universities across the nation for the 1969 fall semester.
As the fourth year opened, the 34 students who remained on campus experienced full immersion in running the college. In addition to classes, study, and Citizenship Service work, 19 of the eventual graduates had Federal Work-Study jobs and 10 undergraduates who opted to stay on campus were also on Work-Study. These students carried out a large proportion of the tasks that supported campus life in this last semester. [4]: 24–26 There were also some students who were studying off-campus in the Extended Residence Program during this time.
The community of students, faculty, administration, staff, and support workers on campus also included a large construction crew over a period of three years (Sept. 1965--Sept. 1968). The construction crew comprised tradesmen who lived on the island or in northern Michigan, at least 324 “volunteers” for whom the project was a training opportunity, and 25 Mackinac College students. [36] Volunteers received free transportation, room, and board. Together these workers built the library, classroom building, and Lesley Court faculty homes. Available documents indicate that 143 of the volunteers came from the US, 101 from Canada, 25 from South Korea, 17 from Japan, 9 from Denmark, 11 from Jamaica, 7 from Indonesia, 3 from Finland, 4 from the UK, and 1 each from Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Over 123 of the US and Canadian workers came from North American indigenous peoples, including Blood, Cherokee, Chippewa, Cree, Dakota, Hopi, Nakoda, Navajo, Ojibwe, Odawa, Ponca, Pueblo, and T‘su Tina. Volunteers who came from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Europe, and West Indies found the all-expense paid trip to America quite attractive, even though they worked without “pay” on a construction project in the northern Michigan winter. They lived alongside the male students in the men’s dorm, which today is the “Straits Lodge” at Mission Point Resort. The men's dorm had a grand pool table in a large room on the top floor. Most necessities (including clothing) were provided to construction workers, so out-of-pocket expenses were very small. The crew also created their own Work Out Sing Out as a vehicle for creative expression and recruitment. They incorporated songs from the UWP musical program plus songs and dances from their home groups. Over the years it provided a training vehicle for volunteers to learn public speaking, the discipline of being part of a musical production, how to set up sound systems and lighting, and stage presentation. Cast members changed as new volunteers arrived and others left to return home. Work Out Sing Out performed publicly on Mackinac Island, Sault Ste Marie Chippewa in Michigan and Garden River, Six Nations, Oneida, and Walpole Island First Nations in Ontario. They also performed in Montreal, Quebec, London and Strathroy in Ontario and Harbor Springs and Newberry in Michigan. [36]
Although Mackinac Island is geographically isolated and free of automobiles, there was much to do, to enjoy, and to learn on campus. Relationships thrived (at least 26 couples eventually married). National and world events came in by radio and television (including the moon landing on July 20, 1969). News from a teletype machine was posted frequently on a public bulletin board (because mailed newspapers were typically 2-3 days old). Early morning news from radio stations was transcribed by paper and pencil and rebroadcast on a speaker system by students as the Noon News in the dining halls. This included international news, sports, weather, on-campus information, music, humor, and satire. On most weekends, a 'Saturday Spotlight Speaker' series brought in off-campus specialists as well as faculty members to talk on a wide variety of subjects. [2]: 22 The lecturers were guests for the weekend and available for small group meetings. A student-led International Club met monthly and planned varied and enjoyable events for the entire community. These events included singing, dancing, and dinners by students and workers from Kenya, Nigeria, Cuba, and Japan.
For entertainment on campus, movies were shown weekly in the Theatre complex, complete with buttered popcorn popped in the college kitchens. Also on the theater stage were live performing arts productions by students and staff under the direction of Dr. John McCabe. These performances included The Glass Menagerie, John Brown’s Body, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Old Lady Shows Her Medals, Everyman, Salad Days, The Bald Soprano, and The Zoo Story. In 1968, John Brown's Body was entered into the Regionals of the American College Theater Festival. [37] “Opus I” and “The Awakening,” both student-written productions, were performed by students who were part of the modern dance group in the college theater, in Chicago, and at Ohio University. [37] Frequent coffeehouse performances and talent shows by campus groups included dance, speaking, singing, and original music. The Shining Sands group (Jamaican and Trinidadian singers) performed in their unique style. “Living on an island tends to sharpen the creative impulses. If we want something done, we do it ourselves.” [5]: 24 Students started several bands and some students went on to have their own commercially successful bands.
Students formed a democratic Town Hall government where candidates for office, ideas, issues, and problems were aired and ironed out. [5]: 13 One student was regional chairman of Northern Michigan Young Republicans. Other students participated with other universities and colleges in the Michigan Model UN.
Students, staff, and faculty came together for meals around tables that seated 6 or 8. They could plan ahead by inviting specific individuals for meals or could meet and form tables while walking into the dining room. Food and baked goods were prepared on site by kitchen and bakery staff and by students. [5]: 29
Mackinac College students also worked with the Island grade school. This work included cultural activities, crafts, music, writing, producing short plays and programs, physical education, and keyboarding.
In the spring of 1968, 75 or 80 students--under student leadership--gave up their first week of summer vacation to participate in off-campus fund raising, recruitment of students and guest speakers, and introduction of their experimental college to as many people as possible. [38] “We knew what we had in Mackinac College, and we were more than willing to let anyone know about it.” [23]: 142
Competitive athletics at Mackinac College included intercollegiate basketball, cross country skiing, cross country running, orienteering, soccer, and tennis. [5]: 21 The Mission House served as storage for skis and other sports equipment and as a winter ski hut. These sports made good use of the 7.28 km² of forested island terrain managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. More than 17 km of trails throughout the island were used for cross country skiing and running. In addition, there were four tennis courts and a large athletic field adjacent to the campus library. In 1966, Mackinac’s cross country ski team met with Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen at his home in Canada. Then in February of 1967 the team skied in the Marathon Canadien de Ski/Canadian Ski Marathon. Each year students in the cross country ski program trained on the island and then participated in Canadian and American ski marathons, Nordic ski races in Sudbury, Canada and throughout Michigan. One student trained for a week in Colorado with the women’s Olympic team and eventually won the women’s championship in the Midwest Division of the United States Ski Association. Mackinac’s men won two of the three regional USSA men’s races (Central and Eastern). The ski team also partially cleared a ski slope for downhill skiing near the Stonecliffe estate. In basketball, one Mackinac College student was awarded Honorable Mention for the District 23 Michigan All-State National Association of Intercollegiate Athletic Men’s Basketball Team. [37] Additional popular sporting events on campus included bicycle racing, gymnastics, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, pool, skating, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, water skiing, and “traying” (winter tobogganing on dining hall food trays).
In 1964 and 1965, Basil Entwistle consulted with experts and was told that $10,000,000 was needed ‘in the kitty’ to start the college. [15]. Dean of Faculty Morris Martin was told by some members of the Board of Trustees that “it was prudent to have $25,000,000 in the bank, or pledged, in order to start an educational institution. But,” Martin disclosed, “in the face of our confidence that the world was waiting…they hesitated to contradict our expectations.” [3]: 210–212 According to MRA records, MRA gave the college $208,000 and $80,000 in 1965 and ’66, respectively. [39] In 1965 MRA transferred its Mackinac Island properties to Mackinac College. This included Mission House (built in 1825) and the Mission Point campus, most of which was built in the 1950s. [40] The appraised value of these buildings and furnishings was $6,127,000 [33]: 307–312 and they were half a gift to the college and half sold on a long-term mortgage. [41] “We had planned on using the deserted television and film studio…as library and classrooms for the college,” Martin later reported. [But] “the island’s fire marshal proved uncooperative; because there was not the necessary layer of insulation in the studio’s construction, it could not be approved for educational purposes.” [3]: 210–212 So to launch the college, we now also needed to build a library and classroom facilities that were up to code.
Because Mackinac was a private college with neither alumni nor endowment, all costs could only be covered with gifts or tuition fees. Most of this financial development was done by individuals who felt a deep commitment to the vision of Peter Howard. Consequently, the $949,000 Peter Howard Memorial Library (required to meet Board of Education requirements) was built in 1965-66 with a financial gift from Mrs. Constance Ely and others. The $2,050,000 Conference/Classroom Center—also newly required—was built in 1966-68 with funding provided by Mr. and Mrs. W. Van Alan Clark Sr. The Lesley Court faculty housing was completed in 1968, and $474,000 was spent on other construction and renovation. [33]: 307–312 The expense of transporting and supporting the 325 construction volunteers was borne by donors. MRA Canada spent $181,000 USD to cover transportation expenses of the 101 Canadians who volunteered to help build these facilities. [42] Startup and operational costs required $2,638,000. Between Oct. 1965 and June 30, 1968 more than a thousand individuals, companies, and foundations in 37 states and Canada gave $12,238,000 to Mackinac College. Of the total given, 95% came from 75 donors in amounts of $10,000 or more. The largest donors were Mr. & Mrs. W. Van Alan Clark Sr. ($2,200,000), Mrs. Constance Ely (Mrs. Albert H. “Jack” Ely) total $1,000,000 (she also challenged others to match it, leading to an additional $1,000,000 being given), five gifts over $100,000 each, and nine over $50,000 each. [33]: 307–312
The Dean of Faculty summarized the financial situation at Mackinac College: “We had the great faith and financial naivete of enthusiasm.” “We had sadly misjudged the amount of money needed to open and operate a college…the Vietnam War had put an end to [public money] for education.” [3]: 210–212 Furthermore, as it turned out, using the college buildings in winter months as initially proposed by Peter Howard contributed to the financial problems, as heating the buildings in winter and flying in supplies to feed the college population was very expensive.
Academic scholarships and Federal Work-Study programs were available to students who needed financial assistance. Some students received privately funded scholarships. But “by the end of the second year of Mackinac College, it was clear that even if we had the maximum number of students on campus, around 800, we would still have to raise a million dollars to keep out of debt.” [3]: 210–212 Between June 1968 - 1969 the cost of education not covered by tuition was expected to be $2,046,000. [33]: 311 So in 1968, despite generous gifts from the Cornell family foundation, from W. Van Alan Clark Sr., and from other donors “we began our third year with the knowledge that the writing was on the wall. We were heading for a financial disaster.” [3]: 210–212 By October 5, 1968, when the Clark Conference Center was inaugurated, the college creditors had become extremely uneasy.
Mackinac College focused on individual responsibility and action. The motto was “To Learn, To Live, To Lead.” This brought people together, but it also encouraged people to pursue strong and differing directions. Thus in September 1968, Mackinac College Trustee J. Blanton Belk Jr. (Executive Director of MRA) broke with MRA by incorporating UWP (a popular MRA program) as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation [43] so he could exclusively run it himself. [44] Belk then sold MRA’s many buildings in the US, severed links with the hundreds of local Sing Out groups, closed PACE magazine, fired/laid off hundreds of employees, and, on October 6, 1968, resigned from the Mackinac College Board of Trustees. [45] [46] [23]: 255 At the same time Mackinac College Trustee Donald P. Birdsall also left the Mackinac College Board of Trustees to exclusively continue as Treasurer of UWP/MRA. [23]: 255 Ironically, by 1970 the annual budget of UWP was $2,225,000 [45] and one source reported that UWP at its peak was earning $30,000,000 annually. [47]
Meanwhile, Cornell, Martin, and Board member Guething were pursuing paths throughout 1968 that might put Mackinac College on a secure financial footing. They hoped to find a financial partner for the college at one of the other Michigan colleges or universities, the US Government, or an International Great Lakes Research Center. Despite all their efforts, it was on December 23, 1968 that Dr. Cornell delivered news of the financial problems to students, parents, and the college community and that the only available solution they had found was in these 31 words of his 798-word letter: “...financial backing necessary for the College to continue to operate on its own could not be found…close association with Up With People (UWP) will give wider access to possible sources of funds…” [4]: 20 In a phone conversation with student James Nesteby, Trustee W. Van Alan Clark stated “We are saving the college, not giving the college to a cause.” [23]: 380 Clark stated that he was sending a financial advisor (George Cooley) to aid the Administration in handling finances and to meet with the students “on the following Friday or Saturday.”
This UWP “partnership,” however, was a profound shock to the Mackinac College community, because the financial transaction that created the independence of Mackinac College in 1966 was part of a deep philosophical and geographic reorganization within MRA. [3]: 203–215 In 1965 MRA had divested its Mackinac properties, had become UWP in the US, and had separated from Britain’s MRA. In 1968 few people at Mackinac College knew any of the financial facts behind Dr. Cornell’s letter. The Administration’s effort to unite Mackinac College with UWP seemed to most of the college community to be a betrayal of everything that they had been told they were creating.
Dr. Cornell’s letter persuasively suggested that merging UWP and Mackinac College was the actual objective. [4]: 20 The 798-word letter was largely devoted to the idea of merging UWP and Mackinac College: “It gives me pleasure to announce a long step forward…The College, while preserving its identity and corporate structure, will now assume a closely coordinated relationship with Up With People…students will be admitted and retained only if they share the basic purposes of Mackinac and wish to participate in the evolving programs of Up with People.” Long and scrupulously recorded Town Hall discussions were held by the whole Mackinac College community in January 1969. [23]: 380 Faculty felt betrayed: “Please do come visit Mackinac College, which is merging with ‘Up With People.’ Come see a vigorous young college torn apart.” [48] The professor of International History described his perception this way: “Student unrest throughout the US was rampant…Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated; President Lyndon Johnson announced he was not running for re-election; and in China the Cultural Revolution was at its atrocious height. Mackinac College did not seem to have any more ability to cope with national crisis than other older and larger universities.” [49] Later Dr. Martin admitted that this “abortive and ill-considered attempt to create an off-campus experience for students by linking the college with the traveling program of…UWP…failed, and our days were numbered.” [3]: 210–212
Some students tried to save the college through fundraising. Many felt personally destroyed. Blame fell on everyone, and the attempt to bring in UWP was ultimately abandoned. Eventually a proposal for continuing the last semesters of Mackinac College on a limited basis was enacted. [51] [4] During these semesters, 34 students and 15 faculty reduced their expenses by using only portions of the Great Hall Complex and a small kitchen; other buildings were closed down. [4]: 24 The school closed on June 20, 1970 after graduation of the Charter Class. [7] At that time the expectation was that Indiana and Illinois Universities would coordinately take over the campus and use it for study of the Great Lakes. [52] Ultimately, however, the campus property was sold for $2.2 million, a fraction of its $13,000,000 market value. [53] [13] It eventually became a hotel, Mission Point Resort. [54] [55]
The Mackinac College experience prepared its community in unexpected ways for their futures, lives, careers, families, and purposes. [56] Although many continue to deeply feel the closing of the College, the hundreds of Mackinac College students, faculty, staff, construction volunteers, and families across the globe remain in contact through phone, mail, reunions, and social media. In addition, today the Mackinac College Legacy Fund--started by a Mackinac College student--supports education and environmental projects on the island. MCLF education grants are principally directed toward preparing island students to function in a global and diverse workplace. [57] The Fund receives frequent donations and is a significant part of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation. [58]
J. Blanton Belk, Jr. | Director, Moral Rearmament, Tucson, AZ (resigned Oct 6, 1968) [23]: 255 |
Donald P. Birdsall | Director, Moral Rearmament, LA, CA (resigned Oct 6, 1968) [23]: 255 |
Basil R. Entwistle | Director, Moral Rearmament, Mackinac Island, MI |
Garrett R. Stearly | Director, Moral Rearmament, NYC, NY |
Henry Noble MacCracken PhD, LLD | President Emeritus, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY |
Ralph Gordon Hoxie PhD | Chancellor, Long Island University, Old Westbury, NY |
President S. Douglas Cornell PhD | Executive Officer of NAS & NRC |
W. Van Alan Clark Sr. | Honorary Chairman, Avon Products, Inc. NYC, NY |
Edwin B. Cromwell | Partner, Ginocchio, Cromwell, Carter & Neyland Inc., Little Rock, AR |
Margaret Hicks Williams | Sr. Foreign Affairs Officer, US Dept. State, Washington, DC |
Helen Harrington Schiff | Seattle, WA |
Mrs. J. L. Blair Buck | National President, GFWC, Richmond, VA |
Mrs. J. B. Colwell | Champaign, IL |
Mrs. Joseph S. Schlotman | Grosse Pointe, MI |
Mrs. Mervyn (Katherine Spiegel) LeRoy | LA, CA |
Mrs. George Marjoribanks | NYC, NY |
Gordon A. Eadie MD | Director, Alger-Schoolcraft, Luce-Mackinac Health Department, Newberry, MI |
Theodore H. Guething | New Britain Machine Co., Detroit, MI |
Philip F. Miller | Editor and Publisher, The Daily Tribune, Royal Oak, MI |
Richard P. Higgins | Rancher, Parkdale, OR |
Andrew R. Smith | Chairman of the Board, Carreau, Smith & Co. (financial services) Bridgeport, CT |
Albert J. Watson | Retired partner Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG) (Lesley Court was named in memory of his wife Lesley Fassett Watson) |
George L. Eastman | Chairman, GL Eastman Co.; LA, CA (died 1969) [23]: 255 |
Frances T. (Mrs. T. Guy) Woolford | Atlanta, GA |
BY EDRIC CANE
BY WILBER A. CHAFFEE
BY JEANNETTE CLAUSEN
BY MARTIN K. DOUDNA
BY TIMOTHY W. GALLWEY
BY YU-TANG DANIEL LEW
BY DON LIBBY
BY MORRIS MARTIN
BY JOHN McCABE
BY JOHN RUFFIN
BY KATHERINE SMEDLEY
BY JEANNE (LANE) WHITE EAGLE
BY STEPHEN E. CORNELL
BY ROSLYN ANN DUFFY
BY LESLIE ANN ENGLE
BY KARIN EVERSON
BY JOE FLOWER
BY FREDRICA GRAY
BY SUSAN WARNER KEENE
BY PHYLLIS KIRK
BY JACQUELYN FORD MORIE
BY JAMES R. NESTEBY
BY LYNDA COOK PLETCHER
BY WILLIAM D. SAUL
BY CARMEN STERBA
Mackinac College (Humbard) is an unrelated Christian college based at the Rex Humbard Development Center
Karin D. E. Everett ( talk) 20:35, 7 March 2018 (UTC)
![]() | This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest was declined. A reviewer felt that this edit would not improve the article. |
I am a retired molecular microbiologist with no conflict of interest in this work (see my UserPage). I am responding here because Theroadislong has not replied to my effort to contact him. I am neither personally nor professionally connected with the subject of Mackinac College. The poor quality of the Mackinac College Wikipedia page came to my attention in 2013, and I decided to (slowly) write a well-researched history of Mackinac College for Wikipedia. In 2014 I provided some input to this page that is still in the current article. I also wrote and in February 2014 posted two related Wikipedia pages: Mission Point (Mackinac Island) and Mackinac College (Humbard). I am a graduate of Mackinac College (1970), Michigan State University, Columbia University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Tennessee Memphis. For my complete Mackinac College history efforts, see Mackinac College Talk #5: “Much of the text and references in this 4-yr-old stub are partially or completely wrong”. Then see Mackinac College Talk #6 - #19 “New Mackinac College article, with 58 references” for my new complete History of Mackinac College. Karin D. E. Everett ( talk) 04:10, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
![]() | This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest was declined. A reviewer felt that this edit would not improve the article. |
Mackinac College Wikipedia page. This is, in detail, the first of many minimally essential edits referred to in Mackinac College Talk #5. More edits will follow in subsequent posts.
REPLACE “This article is about the college created by founders of the Moral Re-Armament.” WITH THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE: “This is the first college created on Mission Point, Mackinac Island, Michigan.”
RATIONALE
(1) This statement was posted on 11:07, 20 June 2014 with no references or support. It was a statement that the writer simply believed to be true. However, it has never been true for the following reasons.
(2) Moral Re-Armament (MRA) had only one founder: Frank N. D. Buchman. [1] Buchman founded a Christian movement that in 1931 was known as The Oxford Group, [2] and which he renamed MRA in 1938. [3]
(3) Frank Buchman did not found or create Mackinac College because he died August 7, 1961. [4] (Mackinac College opened September 14, 1966. [5])
(4) In November 1964 Peter D. Howard had an idea to start colleges in Caux (Switzerland) and on Mackinac Island. [6] Howard was an MRA member, but not a Founder. After Buchman’s death, Howard had become the head of MRA [7] but he also soon died (February 25, 1965). [8]
(5) Shortly before his death, Howard convinced two other MRA members (neither were Founders) to develop the college idea: Basil R. Entwistle and Dr. Morris H. Martin. Both, like Howard, were graduates of the University of Oxford. [9] For details of this process, see Mackinac College Talk #6 - #7.
(6) MRA's explicit role in the founding the college was to sell its Mackinac Island property to the college. Therefore "Moral Re-Armament" should not be in this sentence. [10] [11]
REFERENCES
Karin D. E. Everett ( talk) 04:10, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
Not done - same reasons as the last several times you've made the same request. Your idiosyncratic method of referencing prior discussion makes no sense. Your references are still the same connected sources. Your "qualifications" are still irrelevant. And your conflict of interest is still obvious.
John from Idegon (
talk)
06:26, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
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Reviewer: The Rambling Man ( talk · contribs) 09:15, 24 September 2021 (UTC)
Comments
There have been some errors in the latest edit of this article. The school's mascot was never an eagle; it was a turtle. The team was never named the Patriots either. And the school's colors were blue and green. The college logo, which seems to have been removed, clearly showed those colors. Not sure why these changes were made, but having researched this place extensively, and having many of the references and documents from the college, I can definitively say the items mentioned above are now not longer correct on the page.
It seem that the references for the mascot, et al. came from a brief newspaper article from 1973, which was referring to the bible college that came later (and was active in that year), not to the first and original Mackinac College. Could these errors please be fixed?
Doug, you are missing the point in my comments, which refers to the date of your reference newspaper article about the school mascot and colors. The date is 1973, which is 3 years AFTER the first Mackinac College closed. The second college, The Rex Humbard one, was the school that made the announcement in that newspaper post. Maybe you could add to that wiki article, as that is where that reference should be attached. It should be removed in this wiki article, as it is from a date this college no longer existed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skydeas ( talk • contribs) 20:56, 2 October 2021 (UTC)
This article is part of Wikipedia:Contributor copyright investigations/20210315 and the Good article (GA) drive to reassess and potentially delist over 200 GAs that might contain copyright and other problems. An AN discussion closed with consensus to delist this group of articles en masse, unless a reviewer opens an independent review and can vouch for/verify content of all sources. Please review Wikipedia:Good article reassessment/February 2023 for further information about the GA status of this article, the timeline and process for delisting, and suggestions for improvements. Questions or comments can be made at the project talk page. MediaWiki message delivery ( talk) 09:36, 9 February 2023 (UTC)