Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 293
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 293

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

HIGHER EDUCATION 293

that pertain to their future work. We do not want our
students to go to school to learn how to become “hippy”
or anything related. We urge them not to let such
things have any influence on their personal behavior.

We are most grateful to the heavenly Father, whose
blessings and benedictions have been evident in almost
every phase of our school’s work.

Board of Control

At the New York convention Mr. Arthur Moeller,
Fort Dodge, Iowa, was replaced by Mr. William Brauer
of St. Louis, Mo.

Mr. Orville Bopp, St. Louis, Mo., was appointed by
President Oliver Harms to serve in place of Mr. Edwin
Pape, deceased.

The men of the Board of Control furnished sound
leadership and vision for the school. The lay members
of the board are conscientious men of God with sound
experience in financial and business management. Some
24 meetings were held during the past biennium. A con-
scientious effort was made to carry out the program
assigned to our school by the Synod. Under God’s
blessing the various assignments could be carried into
effect in a spirit of harmony and cooperation.

Enrollment

Enrollment statistics for the past 2 years look like
this:

Teacher Training

Minist. Men Women — Deac. Gen. S.W. Total
1966—67
High School 65 23 _ _ 3 _ 91
College __ 68 65 100 12 11 4 260
1967—68
High School 57 23 _ — 9 — 89
College __._ 60 48 81 5 ll 9 215
1968—69
High School 50 33 _ _ 16 1 100
College _____ 48 29 84 3 3 5 178

Our school experienced growth in the high school
department. However, there was a decline in the min-
isterial and teacher training area among men as well as
women. We think the decline in the college department
was due to a number of causes: (a) birth rate decline
that set in sometime after World War II; (b) transfer
difficulties, particularly with regard to the teachers col-
leges; and (c) a general decline of interest in the holy
ministry and things spiritual in the world and the
church.

The Board for Higher Education authorized the ac-
ceptance of coeds at the high school level in the spring
of 1968. Because of lack of time and personnel to do
much work in terms of recruitment, only seven girls
have registered so far. The board hopes that a Lutheran
community high school can be developed by 1972 that
could absorb the synodical high school.

Academic Staff Changes

Faculty changes have been the following:

a. William Riggs, history and high school librarian,
was called to Seward during the summer of 1967. Gor-

don Waterman, who had been teaching foreign lan-
guages in the high school department, accepted an as-
signment at St. John’s, Winfield, to teach music.

b. Jesse Kunkel joined the high school faculty in the
fall of 1967 to teach history.

Otto Urban left the pastoral ministry in Texas to
teach English on the college level.

Those leaving St. Paul’s at the end of the 1967—68
school year were:

a. Carol Busch, women’s physical ed., to obtain a
master’s degree.

b. Keith Grafing left to teach music at Concordia
College, Milwaukee, Mrs. Edith Grafing to teach typing
and mathematics at the same school.

c. The Lord took the high school principal while at-
tending a North Central convention in Chicago in March
1968. Up to this time Mr. Fiebig has not been replaced.
Upon Mr. Fiebig’s demise President Mehl assumed the
duties of the high school principal.

d. Larry Grothaus received and accepted a call to
Concordia Teachers College, Seward, in 1968.

New faculty members during the 1968—69 school
year are the following:

a. William Gasau, to teach music, a replacement for
Paul Eickmann.

b. Elden Kamla, to replace Paul Surburg, who is
on leave to obtain his doctorate in physical education.

c. Verner Klotz is teaching chemistry and science in
the high school.

d. Dorothea Mauller was chosen to teach biology and
typing in the high school department.

Rev. Harold Belsheim was called as recruitment
officer and assistant to the president in February 1968.
Pastor Belsheim also assumed the duties of public re-
lations director when Prof. Woodrow Kurth began
teaching the subjects formerly taught by Professor
Grothaus.

Accreditation

St. Paul’s College is now fully accredited with the
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary
Schools, receiving its stamp of approval in March 1968.
To obtain this recognition, it became necessary to com-
pletely separate the college from the high school depart-
ment in terms of staff, library, teaching areas, and living
facilities, which has been costly and has, we think,
temporarily weakened the high school.

The high school department was reexamined by a
visiting team in February of this year. The recom-
mendation by the state committee to the national con-
vention of North Central will be to retain our school
on the list of accredited institutions.

Plant Facilities
We are grateful to the Lord of the church for having
provided an excellent campus and an outstanding group
of buildings in which to do the Lord's work. No new
buildings were erected during the past 2 years, since