November 25, 1968  
November 25, 1968 - Brethren & Co-Workers Letter
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Herbert W Armstrong 

The PLAIN TRUTH a Magazine of Understanding
BOX 111, Pasadena, Calif. 91109

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, Editor

November 25, 1968

Dear PLAIN TRUTH Subscriber:

   As our older subscribers know, it has become custom for me, twice annually, by personally written letter, to answer the questions most asked by our readers.

   Right now there is special need for this letter. Since June, 225,000 new subscribers have been added. So I want now to answer the questions that have been coming in from you NEW subscribers. Since The PlAIN TRUTH is published by Ambassador College, many are asking about Ambassador College. Others want to know more about The PLAIN TRUTH, its staff, how it is produced. Still others ask about The WORLD TOMORROW program broadcast worldwide by Ambassador College, and now also, on television in full color.

   It has become custom, also, to have something NEW and of SPECIAL INTEREST to offer — entirely gratis, of course.

   I realize that you have never heard of any operation like ours. Almost everything about it is utterly unique. It's only natural, I suppose, that some think there's got to be a catch to it somewhere. Apparently no one else has ever done things this way. But isn't it, after all, a refreshing experience to find something with no catch — no gimmick — nothing to be offered later for you to buy, nothing for you to join? We have nothing to sell. You'll never be asked to become a contributor.

   You'll find we mean what we say. And now I shall try to give you the frank, honest, straightforward answer to some of these questions.

   FIRST, WHAT IS AMBASSADOR COLLEGE? It is a co-educational institution in the field of the Arts and Humanities at both graduate and undergraduate levels.

   The undergraduate college offers Liberal Arts courses leading to the B.A. degree; and in the School of Education and Graduate School of Theology it offers courses leading to the degrees of M.A., Ph.D., Ed.D., and Th.D. It maintains highest academic standards. It is unique in its emphasis on character building. The college has achieved a remarkably consistent and steady growth — now three campuses: at Pasadena, California; near London, England; and 100 miles east of Dallas, Texas.

   Student enrollment is restricted, so that we accept less than 20% of applicants. Thus we maintain both a high-level student body, and a high faculty- student ratio. All unmarried students are required to be in residence on campus.

   But WHY is Ambassador College? How is it different? It was founded with serious and significant purpose — to provide what was tragically lacking in the field of higher education. Education today is in the grip of an acute crisis. Moral standards have toppled. Authority is flouted. Demonstrations, rioting and violence are rampant. Student suicides and premarital pregnancies are escalating to alarming levels.

   This crisis is the climax of a dangerous drift of education into materialism. Many prominent educators have recognized the trend. But, caught in the clutch of an established trend, they have been helpless to reverse it.

   Ambassador College came on the world scene in 1947, free from the shackles of tradition. Ours was the great privilege to recapture the true values — to supply what was lacking, while retaining all that has proved sound and good in educational experience. There has been developing here at Ambassador a new dimension in education. Here emphasis is NOT on intellect alone, but on character development, on learning the true values, on knowing the PURPOSE of life — on learning HOW TO LIVE, not merely how to earn a living. Results, after twenty-one years, have been astonishing. These results are written in the radiating faces of Ambassador students and graduates — and in their successful lives. We invite you to visit an Ambassador campus, enjoy its cultural atmosphere of tone and character, see the refreshing difference so obvious in its happy students. There are no hippies, no long-haired "girlish" men, no mini-skirts, no cigarette smoking. But the students will give you a warm greeting — they radiate.

   As a result, approximately 50% of our students come to us from other universities, many holding degrees. They have come to Ambassador from such famous institutions as Oxford, Cambridge, London; from Sydney and Melbourne universities; from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, New York U., the U. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Carnegie Tech., every one of the "Big Ten" universities, every one of the major west coast universities, most other mid-west state universities, and the major universities of Texas and the southern states.

   Incredible? Yes, seemingly, but true. They start as undergraduate freshmen at Ambassador. They come to obtain what is not offered at any other school.

   CAN ANYONE ENTER? Ambassador maintains the same entrance requirements most high-level universities. Admissions are not restricted to any one group, race, religion or nationality. Admissions are based on individual qualifications. But, we are able to admit only one out of six or seven who apply.

   HOW ABOUT ENDOWMENT, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY? In a manner unique in college or university operations, Ambassador is adequately endowed. It is recognized in financial circles as being in a position of unquestioned financial integrity and ability.

   Its activities expand far beyond those of the three local campuses, where combined student enrollment is limited to less than 1,500. It publishes a Correspondence Course with more than 100,000 enrolled, worldwide. It publishes The PLAIN TRUTH, circulation approaching 1,500,000 copies. Its publishing operations are large. It maintains its own large printing plants — at Watford, England; North Sydney, Australia; Big Sandy, Texas, beside the Pasadena plant, one of the largest west of Chicago. The Ambassador payroll in the city of Pasadena alone is $5,500,000 per year.

   Ambassador College is the largest purchaser of radio program time in the world, broadcasting on nearly 400 radio stations worldwide, including many of the largest-powered and top-prestige stations — broadcasting The WORLD TOMORROW daily on most of these stations. And now, in our own superbly equipped modern television studios The WORLD TOMORROW is being produced for television, full color. We maintain branch offices in Vancouver, B.C., Duesseldorf and Bonn, West Germany, Geneva, Johannesburg, Nicosia, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Sydney, Manila and Mexico City, beside the three college campuses.

   WHAT ABOUT THE WORLD TOMORROW PROGRAM? This program began on radio the first week in 1934, from Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. Its growth has been steady and consistent. Until about 1952 mine was its only voice. In 1952 and 1953 my elder son, Richard David, took part in a few programs — carried perhaps a couple by himself. By 1954 my younger son, Garner Ted, was appearing frequently on the program. Soon he carried two or three full programs a week, then gradually he took over more and more. By 1960 I was appearing on the program only about once a week, and finally he became its sole voice. My elder son, Dick, was killed by an automobile accident in 1958.

   HOW IS THE PROGRAM PRODUCED? Some ask, "How can Garner Ted Armstrong write so much script every day?" The answer is, he doesn't. He ad-libs. Of course, he will usually have a few notes hastily written shortly before he goes on the air — perhaps a sentence or two, but rarely more than that. Then there is our News Bureau, well staffed. It is equipped with Teletypes clicking off the latest news from all three leading press services, from all over the world 24 hours a day. The news staff checks many newspapers, such as New York Times, London Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor (a newspaper — NOT a religious journal). They carefully check the leading news magazines from all over the world. They supply my son with carefully organized reports, highlighted, marked, on whatever subjects he plans to talk about. He has this material before him. But primarily, he ad-libs.

   "But where does he get all his facts — all that information he keeps pouring out?" Some of it, of course, from the News Bureau clippings and notes — but mostly, "out of his head." Garner Ted is now 38, has a Ph.D., is a rapid reader, has a high sense of comprehension, and a rare ability of retention. He reads a great deal — newspapers, magazines, books — especially on subjects of world conditions, social and moral conditions, human problems. He travels a good deal — has visited most parts of the world — Japan, South America (he speaks Spanish without "foreign" accent), South Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and frequently, of course, Britain. Leading television stations would like to have him on their staffs. Beside doing the broadcast, he writes articles for The PLAIN TRUTH, teaches classes at all three campuses, is Executive Vice-Chancellor, in charge of all our overseas operations, and carries a heavy executive job here at headquarters. People say to me, "You must be very proud of your son." No, but I'm exceedingly well pleased with him. He has a very fine little wife, and three very well-trained sons.

   I would like to tell you many things about The PLAIN TRUTH — how it was started in 1934, the unusual circumstances surrounding its beginning, how it grew and developed, WHY it is published, HOW it is written and edited, something of the chief editors, writers, researchers personally — why no one can pay for his own subscription. But I do not want to weary new subscribers with a too-long letter, so will reserve that for next time.

   Ambassador College is deeply interested, not only in the dissemination of a liberal arts education, in cultural, personality and character development of students — but in world conditions and problems, in family and social conditions and problems, in world history and in ADDING its share to the world's store of knowledge — the kind of knowledge that is usable and practical.

   Currently Ambassador is entering a new branch of scientific research (for us), in a joint collaboration with one of the world's best known universities in a major archaeological excavation, where we hope to uncover 3,000 years of history. Details of this exciting and very important undertaking will be made public in the near future. Also we are making preliminary plans toward a major expedition into one or two of the still not fully explored areas of the world, in collaboration with important European authorities and world-recognized scientists. I might add, finally, that Ambassador College is currently well along in a $30 million-plus expansion program of our three campuses — in additional ground purchases and new construction of several new buildings.

   Finally, let me tell you what we have, NEW and SPECIAL, to offer at this time. They are gratis. No price. We will not accept money for them. You see, there's no catch — no gimmick!

   I have just finished rewriting a revised, enlarged edition of an important booklet, "The Seven Laws of Success." NO one need ever be a failure. WHY do so many, then, fail? Why SO FEW successful? Most people do not know, and have never applied, a single one of these laws. This is written from a rich and long experience. I have, I think, lived an unusual life, with contacts with many recognized successful men — men who started with nothing and became heads of big corporations, world-known banks, men counted among the great and the near-great. In earlier life I have surveyed business conditions for national magazines all over the United States. For 57 years I have studied, by actual personal contact and investigation, to learn why one fails where another succeeds. Why were many multi-millionaires I have known unhappy? I think you'll find this booklet gripping, informative, eye- opening.

   Later this booklet will be featured, and offered free, in large-space advertisements in mass-circulated magazines around the world. I would like to offer you your free copy NOW. I hope you will accept it.

   Then there is a completely NEW booklet — "Modern Dating — Key to Success or Failure in Marriage." Dating (courtship) has undergone radical changes in the past 75 years. Has dating become a lost art — or are the changes beneficial? What about "going steady?" What about "necking?" Pre-marital sex? It's time to come TRULY up to date — with the facts, and with the truth! This booklet gives you just that. Some of the sub-titles: "The Staggering Statistics." "Are Housewives Happy?" "Young Marriages Today." "Illegitimate Children." "Are Today's Teens Really Worse?" "The Teen Influence." "Teen Sex and Violence Worldwide." "The New Morality." "Authority for Morals?"

   That's only a few. This is an eye-opening, enlightening booklet bringing you UNDERSTANDING of one of the world's greatest problems today.

   These booklets are priceless — you can't pay for yours. They are sound. They bring you right UNDERSTANDING. They bring you FACTS.

   I hope you'll let me send you the copies I have reserved for you — why not let me send you BOTH of them?

   More next time. I want you to get to know us. THANK YOU for your interest in The PLAIN TRUTH, and for allowing us to serve you. Are you a regular listener to The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast? You'll find it sparkles with interest — it's informative, thought- provoking, interesting. You'll find the log in The PLAIN TRUTH — three pages of radio schedules.

THANK YOU AGAIN! To save you trouble and effort, I enclose a self-addressed return envelope.

Sincerely,
Herbert W. Armstrong

Publication Date: November 25, 1968
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