Patrick Henry College mini-review

[Karenciavo]

Someone had PM'd me asking me to review PHC if I went to the open house. I'm sorry, but I deleted my PMs the other day because my box was full and I deleted your message by mistake. :blushing: I hope you read this.

I want to go to Patrick Henry College. How it's presented and how I picture it in my mind it seems like a wonderful institution. That being said, it's one of those schools that seems to polarize people and when I'm thinking of spending up to $100,000 on something it gives me pause so, that's where we are now, paused, but will probably spend the $20 or so and apply next year unless a red flag falls on us.

Here are the pros/cons for us (using the handy dandy LToW ANI):

Affirmative:
Small school, currently 280 students I believe
Student to Professor ratio from 8 to 1 to 25 to 1 depending on the class
Lots of support from the college and other students if a student is struggling
Bright students are challenged by all the other bright students (if they're competitive)
Classical Education.
There are some really neat classes
Dorms are very nice and not co-ed.
Excellent Debate team. They just beat Harvard (again), they've beaten Oxford twice, debating both American law and British law, Hillsdale College, and more. My son is on a debate team and he's excited about the possibility of being a part of the team.
They have some great internships. They currently have students interning for senators and congressmen, National Geographic, USA Today, CIA, FBI, Fox News, local classical schools, and more I can't remember.

Negative:
Small school, everyone knows everyone else's business
only 5 majors, although almost all are good with my son (journalism is the only one he's not interested in)
Hard to transfer credits in. Modern languages are OK, some science, some math. They prefer that students take the AP, they need a 4 or 5. Even if they accept the language credits, students need to take a language proficiency exam.

Interesting:
A large portion of the student body are formerly home schooled
Average SAT score over 1300
Midnight curfew for freshmen, sophomores can extend curfew (they get 15 passes a semester), no curfew for juniors and seniors
Gene Veith (Provost) reminds me of Philip Seymour Hoffman playing Truman Capote.
Gorgeous new building with state of the art gym, workout room, dining hall, and cafe. Also includes a few classrooms.
They served us lunch in the school dining hall. It was really good, salad bar to die for (they had some quinoa that was really tasty)
PHC is planning on adding more majors in the future, degrees in music and business are two of the most likely to be added sometime in the next decade.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, some people do not like PHC and are vocal about it. About 3 or 4 years ago 9 professors left over academic freedom http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/mayweb-only/120-12.0.html. Some believe there is no room at PHC for reformed thinkers. Graham Walker addressed this during his opening comments Friday and disputed it. I know two students currently attending who are reformed and they haven't seen evidence of it. Other people don't like PHC because they see it as an intentional training ground for the religious right to take over government. http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Harvard-Christian-College-Mission/dp/0151012628 Maybe they are on to something, I don't know. At one point during the Bush years 7 out of 100 interns at the White House were Patrick Henry students. John Ashcroft's wife is on the board or something.

I'm thinking my son will take a Distance Learning Class (http://www.phc.edu/distance.php) this spring, specifically a college writing course (http://www.phc.edu/College-Level_Writing_Skills.php). Maybe we'll get a better feel. Or we might simply use their writing mentoring program (http://www.phc.edu/writing.php).

Aside: John Erickson, author of Hank the Cow Dog was there and spoke during chapel. He was so funny! He told us a short story about a 5 yo gelding who was in the process of getting broken from the horses point of view, I wish I could find it on Amazon. Confession: for the past 6 or 7 years I've been here I have ignored all the Hank the Cow Dog threads. I predict Hank the Cow Dog will be under the Christmas tree this year (or in a stocking.)

HTH,
Karen

[homeschoolally]

We're very interested in this school as well so I was excited to read your comments!

[Rebecca VA]

Karen, I'm not an expert on PHC, but I do live only a few miles away. I watched the college being built and attended the dedication ceremonies ten years ago. This past August I had the privilege of attending the freshman parents' orientation meetings as my son entered PHC as a student.

PHC has changed and matured over the years. It went through a major administrative change a few years ago, when Michael Farris gave over his presidency to Dr. Graham Walker and took over as Chancellor (Dr. Farris did not step down as a result of the professors' leaving, by the way; he had long wanted to do less administrating and more mentoring, and the Chancellorship was a planned move) . So many of the things that were written about PHC early on are no longer *as* true as they once were.

I do not see the school being as political as it once was. I mean, the students are conservative and most are Republican, but they're not flaming about it anymore. (It was so politically charged for a few years that my husband and I, who are conservative but independent, distanced ourselves a little bit from the college.) A couple of weeks ago, on election night, I asked my son if the students were rejoicing over the Republican wins, and he said, "Mom, nobody's rejoicing right now. There was a death in the family of one of the students today, and the whole student body is grieving with her." I seldom hear political rhetoric from PHC students -- if they're talking politics, they're doing it more quietly (though admittedly, I usually only interact with PHC students at church). So definitely, I see the headiness of the Bush years being toned down and matured.

Oh, and by the way, President Walker is trying to start a Student Democratic club on campus! Not because he's a Democrat, but because he believes in diversity of opinion. Sadly for his club, no one has joined...but he still holds the idea out for a try. President Walker and his wife attended a black church for a couple of years in Maryland (I think) and really loved it. They've switched over to a more local church since then, but they still speak fondly of the enthusiasm and devotion to the Lord among the congregants there.

We go to church with many PHC students. It's a reformed Baptist church. The students are wonderful -- they're quick to volunteer for whatever needs doing in the church, they take sermon notes, and they're pleasant and enthusiastic. They're tremendously supportive of each other.

About the shake-up with the professors, let me just say good riddance to them. My son was taking a high school level worldview class from one of the departed professors at the time of the shake-up. The professor cancelled numerous classes and didn't make them up and generally neglected his class once he decided to leave. One of the PHC students told me that same professor basically walked out on his PHC responsibilities, not bothering to grade his backlog of student work. The professors were very vocal and bitter and *wanted* to cause dissension among the student body. A mom of one of my son's fellow worldview students said that her son's faith had been badly shaken up by some of the things the professor said in his worldview lectures (not about the shake-up, but just general humanist beliefs). My own son dropped -- at his own request -- a film class taught by a local pastor who vocally sided with the departed professors. The movie choices for the class and the pastor's commentary on them were strange. His attitude was "if a person is asking the right questions, that person is close to God and is the same as saved." Nice thought, but not Biblical. If that kind of thinking was what led to the shake-up, then I really think PHC is better for setting the professors free. The departed professors have long since been replaced by solidly Biblical, highly qualified new professors.

My son went to John Erickson's short-story writing class yesterday morning and enjoyed it very much. I would like to have gone to his presentation last night, but my daughter had a ballet rehearsal. It would have been nice to meet you!

[Kareni]

Aside: John Erickson, author of Hank the Cow Dog was there and spoke during chapel. He was so funny! He told us a short story about a 5 yo gelding who was in the process of getting broken from the horses point of view, I wish I could find it on Amazon. Confession: for the past 6 or 7 years I've been here I have ignored all the Hank the Cow Dog threads. I predict Hank the Cow Dog will be under the Christmas tree this year (or in a stocking.)



Over the course of about five years, my husband read the first thirty odd Hank the Cowdog books aloud with different voices for all the characters. It was a wonderful time, and I only wish I had taped some of the sessions. Some of the dialogue from the books have become family lingo. I hope your family will enjoy the books!

Regards,
Kareni

[Karenciavo]

Thank you so much for your insight Rebecca, it was helpful :001_smile: We actually left in the afternoon because we only drove down for the day and my son had a JSA meeting Friday night. Maybe we'll meet in 2011 :D

[Leonor]

Thanks for posting Karen and Rebecca.

Karen, I had sent you the pm. I sent you another one thanking you.

Maury