Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 9

I Perry Mastodon Turns 50 Approximately 400 guests from the surrounding community helped Wheaton celebrate Perry Mastodon’s 50th birthday at a “Stones and Bones” party on October 26, 2013. Perry Mastodon was excavated by Wheaton College geology majors in 1963, and took more than 11 years to restore. Displayed on Wheaton’s campus since 1974, Perry currently resides in the Meyer Science Center. New Scholarships Boost Merit Aid will become available for all qualified incoming freshmen in fall 2014.Two are merit-based—the Charles Blanchard President’s Award and the Arthur Holmes Award—and the third is the Yellow Ribbon Program for recipients of the Post-9/11 GI Veterans Education Benefit. With the availability of the new merit scholarships, the percentage of incoming freshmen who receive a merit award will increase from 25 to 40 percent. The Charles Blanchard President’s Award, named for Wheaton’s longestserving president, will be offered to freshmen with at least a 3.7 unweighted high school GPA and minimum ACT composite score of 32 or SAT score of 1400. The scholarship is $20,000 total—$5,000 per year, renewable with at least a 3.0 GPA at Wheaton. The Arthur Holmes Award, named Three new scholarships Dr. Arthur F. Holmes ’50, M.A. ’52 W H EATON .EDU / M A G A Z I N E 141833_02-13.indd 7 Charles Blanchard, Wheaton’s longest-serving president (1882-1925) for the noted Christian philosopher and distinguished Wheaton professor, provides a second tier of merit awards for incoming freshmen with at least a 3.6 unweighted GPA and a minimum ACT score of 30 or SAT score of 1330. This scholarship is $10,000 total—$2,500 per year, renewable with a 3.0 GPA at Wheaton. The Yellow Ribbon Program is a need-based aid opportunity that makes additional funds available for Post-9/11 GI Veterans Education Benefit recipients. According to this agreement, Wheaton and the Veterans Administration will each cover half of the tuition and fee expenses that exceed the tuition and fee amounts received under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Enrollment in the Yellow Ribbon program began in March. Wheaton Hosts Conference on Christian Unity Wheaton hosted Inhabit: Building Christian Unity, a conference exploring racial and ethnic inclusivity in the body of Christ, on October 25–26, 2013. The conference featured an opening chapel message by Sam Rodriguez, senior pastor of New Season Christian Worship Center, and a keynote address by Bryan Loritts, pastor of Fellowship Memphis. “The conference was an exciting opportunity for students and faculty to speak openly with one another about their experiences, with the goal of reaching a deeper level of understanding about the complex issues that create social distinctions, and together to learn about godly justice that fosters a vision for racial unity in the body of Christ,” says Dr. Steve Ivester ’93, M.A. ’03, dean for student engagement. Efforts to prioritize unity and understanding at Wheaton have led to visible changes on campus (see “That They May Be One,” page 26). Dr. Ivester expects these developments, along with events like the Inhabit conference, to lead to lasting outcomes. Billy Graham’s Sermon Manuscripts Available Online: wheaton.edu/grahamsermons The typed sermon manuscripts of Rev. Billy Graham ’43, LITT.D. ’56, annotated with the evangelist’s handwritten notes, can now be accessed via the Billy Graham Center Archives website by clergy, laypeople, scholars, and the public worldwide. Spanning 1941 to 2006, the manuscripts are scanned copies of the originals loaned to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Rev. Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. WHEATON 7 3/22/14 3:04 AM