	Greetings, It's been a cold winter on the Hill this year with enough snow and ice to make the campus exceptionally beautiful while challenging both drivers and pedestrians. The students returned to campus over a blustery, ice-filled weekend, radiant nevertheless with new possibilities. First day of the new semester gathered the community in chapel to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with an outstanding presentation by Indiren Pillay, associate professor of biology and chairperson of the Natural and Mathematical Science Division. Dr. Pillay was born and raised in South Africa, living under apartheid. You can read about his experiences online at www.culver.edu. Already known on campus as an outstanding teacher he is also an inspiration for the human values he upholds.
February is going to be an incredibly busy month with recitals and concerts; the launch of two speakers series, both the business leaders series and "Schoolhouse Connection," the education leaders speakers series; the end of basketball season and the beginning of baseball and softball season; as well as the Opera Workshop's Performance of Hansel and Gretel, and the fine arts division's performance of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play, Angels in America. This weekend we will be hosting our annual Pillars Scholarship Competition on campus, and throughout February we will observe African-American Heritage Month with a special display in the library that examines the Culver-Stockton experience for African-American students and professors; and two wonderful examples of diversity will be on campus at the end of the month - Hispanic filmmaker Pablo Valiz will show and discuss his film on Mexican immigrants to the United States and Kathryn Harris will present her re-creation of African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Ms. Harris is on the staff of the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill.

Winter Board Retreat

The Board of Trustees recently held its annual winter retreat where we strategized for the future. In 2006, the board gave us their 10 impressions of Culver Stockton. They ranged from the board itself working harder, to heightening the college's visibility, to improving the physical appearance of the college. This year, the board noted the measurable progress that had been made in all areas, including development of the strategic plan and work we've begun to improve the reputation of the college and strengthen our product - academics. They applauded governance changes that are in place and the ongoing development of successful alternative educational programming - such as Connected Campus and summer camps. They were pleased with the technological enhancements and campus beautification projects. Although the board was satisfied with our balanced budget last year, we were urged to continue to find ways to secure the college's financial future and to work especially on retention of students, with a goal of achieving 75 percent retention.

Enrollment Increases

We've just reached Census Day and have the official tally of students on campus for the spring semester. We're pleased to see that we've done even better than projected, with a 3 percent increase in overall enrollment this semester when compared with second semester last year. Not only did we bring in more freshmen this semester, but we also had twice as many students re-admitted to Culver-Stockton after a gap in their education. A strong second semester enrollment is one of our benchmarks for growing the campus over the next five years. We were also pleased to see a significant jump in enrollment in the online Connected Campus program. Last spring, students were enrolled in 39 credit hours through the new online program. This spring, that online enrollment has increased to 204 credit hours. This is well beyond our original expectations and validates our strong reputation in the region.

Student Success

I am pleased to report that several of our theatre students performed exceedingly well at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional competition in Ames, Iowa, last week. It was Culver-Stockton's first year in the festival. Ten students, who had been selected by an ACTF adjudicator, competed for summer contracts, scholarships, and other honors at the festival. Three students were offered summer stock contracts, a phenomenal mark of success for our college. Another student was 1 of 19 selected from 200 who auditioned to perform in a one act during the festival. Kent Miller, Culver-Stockton associate professor of theatre and technical director, received a faculty award for his scene design for Proof, and recent graduate Anthony Luetkenhaus took third place in the Barbizon Theatrical Design Competition for his lighting design for Cabaret. Brava and Bravo for our troupers.

New Scholarship

Culver-Stockton has created a new scholarship to recognize potential academic leaders on campus. The prestigious Vision Scholar Award is reserved for students who have earned at least a 32 on their ACT test and maintained a minimum high school grade point average of 3.6. The award does not require additional competition or interviewing. Next fall, we will have three Vision Scholars joining us: Karrie Guthrie, Truman High School, Independence, Mo.; Claire E. McKee, La Harpe High School, Blandinsville, Ill.; and Dustin J. Sifford, Mt. Zion High School, Mt. Zion, Ill. This dual recognition of accomplishment and promise is also a challenge to these outstanding students - that they become campus leaders while discovering the depth of the Culver-Stockton experience.

Looking Toward Spring

I know the semester will speed and soar, and by the time I'm writing to you again, the campus will be hopping with end-of-year activities as well as two very special events that I want to preview. On April 3, Culver-Stockton will host JazzFest for students from high schools around the region. The all-day event is sure to be exceptional. On April 4, we are pleased have a return visit from the Tri-State Economic Summit. We also hosted the first summit 10 years ago. The regional and state leaders who will be speaking at the event are sure to draw hundreds of attendees and dozens of media outlets for an all-day program "live from the C-SC campus." Both events will put Culver-Stockton in the limelight.

As you can imagine, we have low temperatures but high spirits on the Hill. Just like your own college days and mine, too.

All for the Royal Blues,

Bill Fox
President, Culver-Stockton College

P.S.: As you already know, I look forward to being connected with each of you. Contact me at wfox@culver.edu to share your thoughts about this newsletter, or about Culver-Stockton College in general.

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