Past News from Fall 2006News Archives HeadlinesClick on the headlines below to link to the full stories January 4: Professor Fox-Genovese, 2004 Commencement speaker, dies
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January 4, 2007Professor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese dies January 2, 2007
An internationally respected historian and vocal critic of secular feminism, Fox-Genovese stunned the liberal academic establishment when she and husband Dr. Eugene Genovese broke with secular liberalism and publicly professed faith in Christ in 1995. The story of her conversion was told in Crisis magazine in June 2002. New Saint Andrews College President Roy Atwood met "Betsey" Fox-Genovese when they were NEH Fellows in a Summer History Institute at the Newberry Library in Chicago back in 1980. Fox-Genovese was the Distinguished Eleonore Raoul Professor of Humanities, Professor of History, and founding director of Women's Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time of her death. She was one of 10 Americans recognized in 2003 by President George W. Bush and the National Endowment for the Humanities for their significant contributions to the humanities. With her husband, she launched the Historical Society, a new organization for professional historians of all political persuasions "who are,” as one commentator described them, “fed up with the multicultural, postmodern excesses of the American Historical Association." Dr. Eugene Genovese, a distinguished historian in his own right and a high profile liberal academic during the 1960s, became a Christian shortly after his wife. Dr. Fox-Genovese served as the editor of the Society's Journal. She was also on the editorial advisory boards of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (with the College's Senior Fellow Dr. Leithart) and First Things: A Journal of Religion and Public Life. Princeton Professor Robert George, himself a Christian scholar, has written a tribute to his friend, stating, in part: "Even in her early life as a secular liberal, she was never among those who disdained religious believers or held them in contempt. As an historian and social critic, she admired the cultural and moral achievements of Judaism and Christianity. As her doubts about secularism grew, she began to consider seriously whether religious claims might actually be true. Reason led her to the door of faith, and prayer enabled her to walk through it. As she herself described her conversion from secularism to Catholicism, it had a large intellectual component; yet it was, in the end, less her choice than God’s grace." Wilfred McClay, another intellectual influenced by Fox-Genovese, has written a tribute to her. He discusses her late adult conversion to the Christian faith after her earlier years of being "a lionness" for more typical liberal academic causes. The College community offers its condolences and prayers to Dr. Eugene Genovese and surviving family members. 11 December 2006England Tour registration deadlines, deposit & prices set
New Saint Andrews alumni, family and friends are invited to join interested students for the College's second England Study Tour this coming Summer, June 22- July 7. For more information about the England Summer Tour, see the Tour's webpage. 15 November 2006Colleges publishes new magazine, Higher Expectations
Higher Expectations, a 16-page full-color publication edited by the College's Executive Vice President Bob Hieronymus, was mailed to alumni, parents, friends, and supporters of the College in mid-November. The first issue features alumnus John Lewis, who went on to receive a Master's degree in finance and now works for one of the country's largest property invest firms in Dallas. He and wife (and fellow alum) Naomi live in Dallas. Other stories include faculty updates, international student profiles, alumni notes, and more. The magazine's name is taken from the College's graduation "wine rite" during which the faculty tell the students (in Latin), "To whom much is given . . .", and the students respond, ". . . Much is required." Articles for the inaugural issue were written by current student Christine Ditton, former administrative assistant and alumna Beth Covington, and Bob Hieronymus. Hannah Grieser, wife of alumnus Jayson Grieser, designed the magazine. A pdf version is available here. If you didn't receive a copy, please email the college office and get on our mailing list. 18 October 2006Trustees approve new Master's degree slated for fall 2007New Saint Andrews’s Board of Trustees approved the launch of a new graduate program and Master's degree to begin as early as August 2007. The decision was made at the Board's October mid-year meeting this week. A final formal decision to approve the start of the program next fall is still needed, but won't be made until later in April. However, the Board approved advertising for graduate student admissions. The new program will begin with an M.A. in Trinitarian Theology & Culture, a two-year, non-thesis program. The program will be headed by Dr. Peter J. Leithart, who the Board appointed as the new Dean of Graduate Studies for the College. For more information about the new Master's degree program, see the Graduate Program web pages. 28 September 2006Ben Merkle off to study at Oxford during sabbaticalBen Merkle, New Saint Andrews’s Fellow of Theology and Director of Student Affairs, has received a fully-funded scholarship to pursue graduate work in the Jewish Studies program at Merkle, who has taught at New Saint Andrews since 2000 and was granted a year's leave from New Saint Andrews beginning October 1, plans to return to the College following the completion of his studies in While at Time in Merkle will conclude the school year by joining New Saint Andrews’s Academic Dean, Mr. Chris Schlect, to lead the second England Study Tour for the College. 12 September 2006College's enrollment grows by more than 20 percentThe College enrolled 150 full-time equivalent (158 headcount) students this fall, an increase of 23 percent over last year's enrollment of 122 full-time equivalent (129 headcount). Lower attrition and a full freshman class pushed enrollment to a record high for the College. The College's strong increase in enrollment contrasted with the declines seen at other public and private institutions in the region. Enrollment figures at institutions of higher education were generally lower throughout the Pacific Northwest. In Idaho, the University of Idaho had a 5 percent drop in student numbers at its Moscow campus. State-wide, its decrease was 5.9 percent. Idaho State University's enrollment was also down compared to last year. Boise State was up just 1 percent, but that helped it achieve a record high enrollment of more than 18,000 students. New Saint Andrews also experienced its largest enrollment of international students this fall, with 12 students (or 7 percent of the student body) coming from five nations: Canada, England, France, Ivory Coast, and Iraq. The College's student body is made up of 46 percent men and 54 percent women. For more details about this year's student body, see the Student Profile page. 23 August 2006NSA student from Iraq thanks Sen. Craig for his help
U.S. Senator Larry Craig, Idaho's senior member of Congress, had been busyfielding lots of important questions about the environment, energy, the farm bill, and immigration during his town hall meeting in Moscow Wednesday evening, when Farrah Matty, a first-year New Saint Andrews student from Iraqi Kurdistan was able to interject the simple words, "Thank you." Farrah's story (see Daily News story below) about getting from northern Iraq, to the United States and ultimately to Moscow, Idaho, and New Saint Andrews College is a dramatic, even miraculous one. Along the way she had the help of many friends and people in key positions around the world like Sen. Craig, who by God's providence made it all work out for her to come. Sen. Craig and his staff in their nearby Lewiston office provided important contacts and support for seeing Farrah through the maze of immigration bureaucracy in Iraq, Turkey, and the United States. After the town hall meeting ended, Dr. Roy Atwood, the College's president, introduced Farrah to Senator Craig. Farrah presented the Senator with a small thank you gift: a DVD entitled, "The Other Iraq: Share the Dream." The video showcases Kurdistan, Farrah's home region, once devastated with genocidal attacks by former dictator Saddam Hussein. Kurdistan today is largely free of the daily violence that plagues the rest of the country and busy rebuilding its infrastructure, schools, businesses, and churches. Farrah, whose father is a Christian elder and teacher in the Kurdish church, was homeschooled and associated with the Classical School of the Medes. She got to know former New Saint Andrews student Ian Kern, who worked for a year at the school as part of Servant Group International, based in Nashville, TN. Return to top of page/Headlines 19 August 2006French restaurant, West of Paris, opens in NSA buildingNew Saint Andrews
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Professor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, who gave the New Saint Andrews 
New Saint Andrews has a glossy new color magazine.
The NSA-student organized St. Andy's Rugby Football Club (RFC) and its success in regional play last year gained national attention in the American Rugby News this week. The story appearing in ARN reported on the club's record and its move into the Pacific Northwest Division II this fall.
“Coming here is one of the biggest opportunities I’ve had in my life.”--Miss Farrah Matty |
Matty, 20, came to the United States about three weeks ago and arrived in the Palouse about two weeks ago. It’s her first time in the country, and it’s things like the runner that are catching her most off guard.
“Everyone told me I was going to get a shock,” she said. “What is different is the weather and some simple things.”
Matty explained that she had an American education while growing up in Iraq because she homeschooled through an organization based in Nashville, Tenn. The organization sent her books and a curriculum that she followed from seventh grade through her senior year.
Even with some advantages, Matty still is preparing for the challenges she’ll face.
“I’m sure it’s going to be hard the first few months,” she said. “Homeschooling is much different than this.”
There will be more reading and a more intensive type of studying, she said.
At the same time, she said there might be a challenge in “being the only Iraqi in maybe Moscow or at least around the people I know.”
She won’t be completely alone in her new experiences at New Saint Andrews, which begin today with orientation and continue Tuesday with a campuswide convocation.
This year, nine of the 58 incoming students are from other countries, including the Ivory Coast, France, England, and Canada. The other students come from roughly 30 different states, some as far away as Maryland and Georgia.
The diversity will add a unique flavor to classes, said Bob Hieronymus, vice president of NSA.
“The broader set of experiences among the students will bring forward different perspectives on the various discussions ahead,” he said.
Meanwhile, the expanding range of students is happening on its own.
“We don’t have the recruitment resources to go internationally, but word about the college certainly travels in broad circles,” he said. “The Christian community is a worldwide community and so knowledge about the college has spread worldwide.”
Matty’s father visited the college last year and encouraged her to apply.
“Education in Iraq is pathetic,” Matty said.
During the most recent war, it was her decision to study at home that allowed her to maintain studies.
“I was homeschooling and took my books everywhere I went,” she said.
The war affected her older sister, Noor, by stopping her studies in medicine at the public college for 40 days.
“Their exams and schedule was a mess,” Matty said.
The effects still linger today. While preparing her paperwork, Matty said her interview took two minutes and she got the visa immediately.
“But my sister Noor had a full ride to Stanford and she couldn’t get her visa,” Matty said. “She had all the papers and the scholarship papers but they said, ‘No.’ ”
There wasn’t much separating their backgrounds, but they did apply through different countries, Matty said. She applied in Turkey and her sister applied in Jordan.
“I think that makes a humongous difference,” she said.
Matty said she considered herself lucky compared to other girls her age who remain in Iraq.
“Girls don’t have lots of choices,” she said.
Many decisions rely on their parents.
“What makes a difference in my parents is not that they are evangelicals but they have experienced a lot more,” she said.
Her father served in former President Saddam Hussein’s military for 10 years. When his term ended, he became a pastor with the Free Evangelical Church in northern Iraq. Matty’s mother is a former physics teacher who now runs a women’s ministry.
Matty may even follow in their footsteps. She already has served by helping educate people about her faith through Sunday schools, youth ministries, preschools, and college-age groups.
“I like going on missions,” she said.
About a year ago, she had an opportunity to attend Bethany University in California, but she decided against it. Instead, she lived with an American family and studied English and French back home.
“It was a great experience, but I didn’t want to do four years of that,” she said. “I came here to grow more spiritually and to learn Latin and Greek.
“Coming here is one of the biggest opportunities I’ve had in my life.”
IF YOU GO
* WHAT: New Saint Andrews Convocation to begin new academic year. A reception will follow
* WHERE: Nuart Theatre at 6:30 p.m., Friendship Square at 8 p.m.
Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at kbaldwin@dnews.com.
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Turinois sur coulis de framboise.
Chestnut chocolate dessert on a raspberry bed.
New Saint Andrews named one of the
nation's top 50 "All-American Colleges"
New Saint Andrews is one of the nation's 50 "top schools for conservatives, old-fashioned liberals, and people of faith," according to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's new college guidebook, All-American Colleges (2006).
Here's what the guidebook had to say, in part, about the College:
“Founded to offer a classical education that is both intellectualy rigorous and firmly grounded in the Christian tradition, New Saint Andrews College immerses students in reading the great works of Western civilization, as viewed through the distinctive lens of Calvinist theology. And unlike some other small liberal arts schools, this college is situated within a historic town, a meeting place for farmers and tradesmen who might--like traditional liberal education itself--seem to belong to an older, almost vanished America. (p. 167)
“New Saint Andrews is firmly committed to the traditional idea that the liberal arts are formative of the whole person--not just the intellect. (p. 167)
“Classes at New Saint Andrews are rigorous in terms of both material and teaching style. The reading list for the bachelor’s degree includes about one hundred texts that might be called Western “classics,” taken from various periods. Because of the college’s commitment to Christianity, and because the Western heritage is in large part a Christian one, much of the curriculum consists of that heritage. (p. 169)
“New Saint Andrews places a high value on integration, whether that integration be between the Christian and classical traditions, within interdisciplinary classes, or between the academic world and daily life. (p. 171)
“Founded to serve a niche audience of intellectually serious Protestants, this is clearly not the school for everyone. But those students who embrace its traditions and high aspirations will find New Saint Andrews invigorating and challenging. (p. 172)
“Like several other schools in this guide, such as Hillsdale College and Grove City College, New Saint Andrews maintains its freedom from federal micromanagement by refusing government aid--either for the school or for students. Nevertheless, the school strives to keep the cost of a private college education manageable; tuition is a modest $7,200.” (p. 172)
Other schools "highly recommended" along with New Saint Andrews as "All-American Colleges" were Princeton University, University of Chicago, Wheaton College, Calvin College, Thomas Aquinas College, Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel, Grove City College, Hillsdale College, and more.
ISI is a highly respected non-profit, non-partisan national organization based in Delaware that promotes quality higher education, the study of the Western tradition, and intellectually, socially and economically conservative ideals. ISI publishes many works on education, including Choosing the Right College (2005).
Read the College's news release for more information.
Read the news story in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, August 4, 2006
To order a copy of ISI's 2006 All-American Colleges guide, link here to NSA Bookstore.
Story from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Published: 08-04-2006
New Saint Andrews among top 50 ‘All-American Colleges’
By Kate Baldwin, Daily News staff writer
Applications to New Saint Andrews College are likely to skyrocket when it shows up in a soon-to-be released book that lists the nation’s top 50 “All-American Colleges.”
“I would be surprised if we didn’t have double or triple the applications next year,” said Roy Atwood, president of NSA. “It’ll open up the eastern part of the country to us.”
It won’t affect the number of students accepted, he said.
The school plans to maintain its limited enrollment structure. Atwood said the increased competition for the number of freshman slots will only enhance the overall quality of the incoming students.
The book doesn’t list any typical All-American colleges, instead it identifies: “All-American Colleges: Top Schools for Conservatives, Old-Fashioned Liberals, and People of Faith.”
Intercollegiate Studies Institute compiled the list. The institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students select their college or university.
Atwood said his college would fall into the category of religiously oriented colleges, along with others like Thomas Aquinas College, Hope College and Calvin College.
“It’s a wonderful honor and it’s humbling,” Atwood said. “We know we have lots of areas to improve in; the fact they’re recognizing us for the quality of where we are now is very flattering.”
This fall the college will enter its 13th year, whereas others on the list, like Princeton and the University of Chicago, have been building their reputations for more than 100 years.
“It does give external affirmation or confirmation of the quality of things we’re doing here,” Atwood said. “The national recognition of that is very important to us.”
In the 413-page book, the profile of NSA earned six pages that detail the college for prospective students. The review included interviews from students and faculty to supplement information gathered from NSA’s general catalog.
It gave any incoming freshmen a fair warning of the intense reading requirements. It also described the welcoming community feel of the students and faculty on campus.
The book can be pre-ordered at www.isi.org/books or by calling (800) 526-7022. New Saint Andrews College will also carry the book in its bookstore.
Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at kbaldwin@dnews.com.
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