As one visiting musician put it, our campus was located “fifty miles away from any known sin.” The town was dry; the movie theater was closed. Drinking alcohol and attending movies were both forbidden, in any case. We were in the midst of cornfields. This remote, agrarian location does not mean that no one sinned; we were 18-22 and creative. But with a mere 1,000 students, we often made our own, acceptable fun. The administration offered us some ideas. We were required to attend some (four?) of the Artist-Lecture Series that brought musicians and speakers to campus. Every quarter also brought a new theatrical offering, and there were nights of one-act plays, as well as New Student Talent Night each fall. Almost as soon as we arrived on campus, plans were begun for each class to decorate a float for the Homecoming Parade, using the Scripture verse chosen for the parade's theme. We worked in a secret location, generally at a farm with a barn a few miles from campus, festooning a wagon with paper flowers. Sporting events were well-attended: soccer in the fall, basketball in winter, baseball in spring, with sprinklings of women’s field hockey and tennis. Basketball, both men’s and women’s, was the star sport in terms of attendance and enthusiasm. We filled the gym, and our band, our stomping, and our cheers intimidated some of the other teams. The campus included a small, man-made lake for our pleasure—not used for swimming or boating, but creating a lovely backdrop on balmy Wednesday nights when we gathered on the shore for prayer meeting with cider and doughnuts. Some guitars and singing, a speaker, time to pair off and pray together, watching the sunset on the water were all included. About eight miles away was another small town with another small student body—Ohio was full of these academic wonders. This town, however, had a doughnut shop that offered freshly baked, still-warm doughnuts—but they came out of the oven at 11:00 at night. To get one of those glazed miracles, we had to take a “late per,” a permission that gave us an extra hour after we were supposed to be tucked into our dorms. We were allowed only five each quarter, so we had to be judicious. Only students with jobs that kept them out late or with rehearsals for the play could bypass the rule about the 11:00 curfew. We were also near a state park and a nature preserve with hiking trails along a river. In the town itself were quiet, tree-lined streets, also good for walking or biking. Fifty years later, the student body is five times the size it was. More students have cars to visit cities nearby. The trains, with their haunting whistles, no longer run in town. Additional land has been purchased; campus buildings have blossomed, and it’s hard to see the cornfields now. My lost Eden.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Baptist GirlI was a conservative Baptist girl who grew up to become a career Christian, working first in a Baptist school and then in a Baptist college. For about three decades, it was very good until it wasn’t, and I had to leave. But the Baptists formed me. This is my homage to the good times and good people of the world I left, finally, at forty-three, when I became an Episcopalian. These are my memories; others might disagree with my recollections. So be it. Archives
January 2024
Categories |