However, there is a select and distinguished audience of students, administrative leadership, faculty, support staff, and island residents who will recall Mackinac College. The college offered a unique vision, “To Learn, To Lead, To Live,” and a quest to educate and stimulate students into world leaders.

The first class of 114 students began on Sept. 14, 1966. By the third year, enrollment had reached approximately 350.

The acquired campus had many buildings and facilities in place to teach, accommodate, feed, and offer related services. Since regulatory and licensure agencies directed the college not to use certain current facilities for various necessary functions, a library was constructed. The structure included study areas, as well as classrooms and language labs. The Peter Howard Memorial Library was located just off the roadway by the main campus, overlooking Lake Huron. The vacated building was torn down in the early 1990s.

Later to follow was the construction and 1968 opening of the multi-story Clark Conference Center. The science and arts facility was comprised of classrooms, lecture halls, offices, and large meeting areas. The building’s rooftop would accommodate people and horse-drawn carriages. The structure still is utilized by the Mission Point Resort.

Mackinac College is seen from the Lake Huron shoreline this undated photo.

Like the library, the building was constructed, in part, by a multi-national labor force, along with various members of American and Canadian native tribes.

Rosemary (Hofman) Horn, a Mackinac College graduate now residing in Florida, recalled, “In some instances, these construction crew members went on to become Mackinac College students.” She also remarked that she and other former students were impressed with the faculty’s quality and credentials.

A retired health care clinician in Washington state and Mackinac College graduate went on to comment, “The faculty had high-level degrees, with 40% possessing doctorates. Faculty came from numerous countries, including, the United States, Canada, China, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Norway, Scotland, and Taiwan.”

Numerous students considered the College well-focused to create a generation of leaders.

Campus literature revealed the faculty offered credentials and expertise in the arts, biology, drama, economics, English, history, international relations, library science, mathematics, modern languages, philosophy, physics, political education, and sociology.

The campus administration consisted of 29 specialized leaders in charge of academic appointments, admissions, compliance, finances, fundraising, physical plant and grounds, public affairs, records, and registration.

“For the most part, the college and the island community had viable and positive interaction,” said Trish Martin, a current Mackinac Island resident and owner of an island bed and breakfast who had parents who worked at the college.

That included access to campus concerts and entertainment, as well as recreation, such as cross-country skiing equipment.

The college offered movies, music concerts, recreational and sporting activities, performing arts, and dance recitals. In addition, with international student body members, students and faculty were exposed to various cultures — for example, to the music and rhythm of Jamaican and Trinidadian singers.

Students also interacted and volunteered at the Island’s elementary school with plays, music, crafts, and numerous other enriching activities.

“It was an enriching experience to have a diverse number of international students,” said Gail Philips, a Mackinac College graduate residing in Harper Woods.

Jan Schafer, of Kalamazoo, added that her roommate was a young woman who was an indigenous Chippewa tribe Canadian resident.

During that era, life on the island could be isolated. In the pre-cable-TV and -internet era, a teletype news feed, radio and television stations, and as current as possible daily newspapers were monitored and transcribed. In turn, over the noon hour, students broadcast a variety of news accounts over the campus public address system.

As the 1968-69 school year arrived, the college’s administration and board of trustees realized that current and future finances were not in a favorable position.

That was reflective of the need to upgrade facilities, lack of an endowment, significant costs to operate on an isolated island, and a non-existent alumni base from which to cultivate support.

The college’s leadership began to seek operational options, including joint ventures or purchasers. By July 1969, during the U.S. moon landing, most students had already left the campus.

This visionary college’s fate was on the horizon. Thirty-four students and 15 faculty members carried over into the final academic year within a compressed physical plant environment.

On June 20, 1970, 30 students received their Mackinac College bachelor’s degree

Upon the College’s closure, for a brief period, the Akron, Ohio-based Rex Humbard Ministries owned the property.

According to the Mackinac Island Community Foundation (micf.org), a Mackinac College Legacy Fund was established by an alumnus. The awarded grants are equally allocated to support Island educational and environmental projects.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the sole Mackinac College graduating class, we find Mackinac College alumni, faculty and staff members across the globe.

Leading the U.S. in number count are California and Michigan, followed by Washington state. Numerous other states are also represented. Internationally, Canada comes in with 31, followed by Japan at nine, and the United Kingdom at five. Sixteen European, Scandinavian, Asian, Mediterranean, African, Caribbean, Central American countries, and Australia are also represented.

Mackinac College was indeed a vision and dream that continues to touch many.

A Mackinac College reunion is planned on the island for this September.

Jeffrey Brasie is a retired health care CEO, originally from the Alpena/Presque Isle County region. He writes historic feature stories and resides in suburban Detroit. This article interviewed former Mackinac College students and Island residents.

Mackinac College, at a glance

∫ The 21-acre campus was located on the current Mission Point Resort complex

∫ Men’s residential hall accommodated 400 beds

∫ Women’s residential hall accommodated 250 beds

∫ On nearby Lesley Court were 14 faculty residences

∫ Kitchen and dining hall complex could serve up to 1,000

∫ The Great hall offered 800 seats within a massive teepee-shaped structure

∫ Film and fine arts studio

∫ Health center with 18 beds

∫ The historic Mission House

∫ The island’s Stonecliffe estate was part of the college

∫ A multi-story, 75,000-square-foot science and arts classroom and conference complex, as well as adjacent three-story library/classroom structure

∫ At one time, the campus was appraised at $13 million

Sources: Former Mackinac College students and promotional materials

Mackinac College history

∫ 1965: A 21-acre property on Mission Point was acquired and a college charter was granted by the Michigan Board of Education. Since 1942, the property belonged to an international moral and spiritual movement called Moral Re-Armament (now known as Initiatives of Change). Then, the appraised value of the buildings and furnishings was $6.1 million. Half was a gift from MRA to the college and half was sold on a long-term mortgage. After selling, the MRA relocated its headquarters to Caux, Switzerland.

∫ 1965-1966: The college was established by two graduates of the University of Oxford, England, Basil R. Entwistle and Dr. Morris H. Martin. After consultation with renowned university chancellors and presidents, lawyers, and financiers, a board of trustees was assembled, and a president appointed. The president was physicist Dr. Samuel Douglas Cornell, former executive officer of the National Academy of Sciences.

∫ Sept. 14, 1966: Classes began with 114 students on a semester calendar year. The Peter Howard Memorial Library opened

∫ 1967: College leadership undertook a unique promotional approach with 1966 and 1967 full-page Wall Street Journal ads announcing the College’s opening.

∫ 1968: The Clark Conference Center for the Arts and Sciences opened. The complex included classrooms, offices, laboratories, lounges, and large group gathering halls. The center’s roof was designed to accommodate people and horse-drawn carriages.

∫ 1968-1969: The student body neared 350.

∫ 1970: The first and only graduating class of 30 students received their bachelor’s degrees. A total of 412 worldwide students attended the college. Many of the remaining students pursued degrees mostly across North America.

∫ 1971: Rex Humbard Ministries acquired the vacated college.

∫ Today: The former campus is now known as the Mission Point Resort complex

Sources: former Mackinac College students and promotional materials

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