Local News in Brief : Orange : Chapman Geets $89,000 for Freshman Program

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $89,000 to Chapman College to help underwrite the school’s nationally acclaimed Freshman Seminar Program. The program this year is focusing on war and peace, and former U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.) was a recent lecturer.

Chapman’s receipt of the federal grant was announced by James G. Moseley, the college’s vice president for academic affairs. He said the grant “gives further validation to the Freshman Seminar Program and what it is designed to accomplish.”

Begun in September, the seminar program is an required interdisciplinary course for freshmen taught by 20 faculty members, including Moseley.

Moseley said Chapman is especially proud to win the federal grant because of the intense national competition for such funds. He said about 2,000 colleges and universities competed for the available federal money, but just 79 grants were awarded.

“Inherent in the Freshman Seminar Program is a serious attempt to enhance the students’ critical thinking skills,” Moseley said. “The grant will provide an adequate financial base to insure that the students come away from the program with better academic skills and a heightened sense of the moral issues confronting us.”