30th Anniversary History Book

Now called the Center for Student Success , the building housed learning specialists (then called academic mentors) and peer mentoring — critical support for new students becoming acquainted with unfamiliar surroundings and new educational concepts. The idea is that the learning specialists work closely with the incoming students, helping them with everything from scheduling classes to improving study habits, but always setting and reinforcing the collegiate expectations to which every Beacon student is held. Over time, the specialists reduce their involvement as the student grows more confident and assumes more control over his/her life. Bergman and Brown have been helped out by the learning specialists, as well as by their peers and older students. The two have returned the favor by counseling their younger cohorts though peer mentoring. Brown also has served as a Beacon ambassador, showing prospective students around campus, as well as helping his mates in the dorms as a housing coordinator. He tries to set a good example, too. “Messing around and not taking things seriously is not an option,” he said. In 1996, Beacon administrators felt confident enough in the school’s academic standing to apply for regional accreditation

from the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC). Beacon met 12 of the 13 criteria necessary for the coveted certification and readily committed to constructing a library building, the main shortcoming noted by the agency. Attending Beacon at that time was Christopher Marinakis, who has a nonspecific learning disorder that makes art, science and math difficult subjects for him to master. “I couldn’t draw a stick figure if my life depended on it,” said Marinakis, who graduated in 1997 with a BA in liberal studies. Now an administrative assistant with a public utility in Cape May, N.J., Marinakis is a part-time DJ on the side, specializing in music from the 1950s and 1960s. His interest in music was sparked partly by engaging in karaoke sessions while a student at Beacon. The college, he said, was the right school for him because young adults who understood what it was like to struggle with education surrounded him. No one looked down on him or thought less of him because he learned in a different way. Like Marinakis, his fellow students all had faced learning struggles, giving them a common link. Marinakis, in fact, quickly became popular with his classmates. He was one of the few students who had a car — a red 1991

Eileen and George Marinakis

During Brodbeck’s first year, a BA and AA in general studies became part of the curriculum. That August, the college rolled out its academic mentoring program. As student enrollment grew, the college hired a coordinator in 1995 to oversee the program, a popular offering that still resonates with students. MAJORS, MINORS ADDED, Early Campus EXPANSION

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