Unique

Unique. 

It is a word that gets tossed around a lot. Often rather carelessly.

For unique is, well, a unique word. It means being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.

Things are sometimes called unique that are not. And we also occasionally hear the term “one of the most unique” items on the menu, program, docket, agenda, etc., etc. However, if something is truly unique, one of a kind, unlike anything else, then how, one asks, can that something be the most unique? 

Unique is set apart from other things – not a part of other things.

We often say our spot of land here on the banks of Mossy Creek in East Tennessee is unique. We say this place, our beloved institution, is one-of-a-kind. We say there is no place like it; and we believe that.

It is not an easy claim, mind you. There are approximately 6,000 colleges and universities in the United States and around 4,000 of those are “degree-granting postsecondary institutions.” That is a large club. So, let’s break it down a little further.

It is estimated there are a tad fewer than 1,700 private non-profit institutions in that group. Depending on which survey one reads, there are nearly 900 are private “religiously affiliated.”

As a Christian University, Carson-Newman is in those classifications as well. Smaller, indeed, but still not “unique.”

So what makes us one of a kind? We could ask 10 different people and get multiple answers. One of the most common is, yes we are a University, but it is not what is taught here but how it is taught here. Personally. From a biblical perspective. There are others schools that do that as well, sure. But how does one put a finger on what is different? Maybe it is just what is in the water at Mossy Creek.

Or maybe not.

The schools has had seven names, the town two. But the mission, the vision, has not changed. It would be a challenge to research, but having seven names through 170-plus years is probably not very common.

We opened August 1, 1851, offering classes from first grade through college. That is pretty unique.

Then there is the story of Juanita Bond, the sister of longtime C-N English professor R. R. Turner, who became an alum of Carson-Newman herself in 1991 – at the age of 81! Or what about the fact that for a time, until 1971, students returned from Christmas break to finish classes and take exams to close the fall semester. How did students remember things after a break like that?

Glenmore Garrett, what a great name, is another. Taking his first classes at the primary school in 1875, Garrett continued his education at Mossy Creek and earned his college degree in 1898. However, he did not stop there. He continued to take classes and in 1930 completed his additional coursework marking a 55-year period in which he took classes at Carson-Newman.

Of course Garrett’s first primary classes were after the post-Civil War debt was paid, allowing the school to survive and continue. That is another unique aspect of our institution. While many schools were affected by the Civil War in the South, how many had an actual battle erupt in and around its grounds?

Unique indeed.

One of the most common answers given when asked what makes Carson-Newman different is: the people. True enough, the institution has had its share of memorable folks: faculty, staff and students. So many, in fact, it is dangerous to try to list some at risk of who would be left out.

Their names are on buildings, benches, classrooms and scholarships. Their impact is felt daily. Their quotes still repeated.

Understand unique is different than perfect. We are not perfect. Our Lord and Savior is the only one who fits that description. This narrative is not designed to claim otherwise and would be ill-advised to attempt to do so.

But the impact is unquestionably present.

“I did not go to Carson-Newman because that is where I wanted to go,” one alum was heard saying a few months ago. “I wanted to go wherever I could play (ball) and Carson-Newman gave me that opportunity.” 

It is funny, however, how perspective works, develops and even changes in minds as we become who God intends us to be. As one who came to Mossy Creek simply to play ball, that, it was admitted did not go well at all.

“It was awful,” the alum said. “One of the worst experiences of my life. It did not turn out at all like I had in mind.”

But because of this place, the people, whether it is in the water or the air, given the opportunity, things work out.

“But while that did not work out, going there was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. I know that now. My professors, my advisor, the way they took time for me and mentored me. That was 15, 16 years ago now and I still talk to my advisor. Talked to him just last week.”

And that, it could be argued, is pretty unique.

Experiences are different for everyone. And that is why we are here. It is amazing to think, for a school our size, that we have alums who are from or are living and serving in 61 countries around the world. All made their way to this corner of East Tennessee, situated almost exactly halfway between the Cumberland and the Smoky Mountain ranges, between the French Broad and Holston Rivers and Douglas and Cherokee Lakes.

They made their way to the banks of Mossy Creek. 

So for those who have paved the way over the last 170-plus years. And for those who have their hands on the wheel now. As long as students from all over the world keep coming, there will be people here to greet them and say “welcome home.”

Welcome home to this unique place.