THE LANCE
Official Publication of the Student Body of St. Andrews Presbyterian College
VOL. 14 No. 8
ST. ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, LAURINBURG, N. C. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14,1974
Southern Voices:
Friday night, November 8,
Pat Watters and Allen
Freeman, Editor and
Managing Editor of “Southern
Voices,” met students and
facuky of St. Andrews in
Avinger Auditorium to discuss
their new magazine. They an
swered and asked questions
concerning the image of the
South and the purpose of
“Southern Voices.”
The dialogue opened with
various questions about the
editorial policies of the
magazine. Watters and
Freeman emphasized that
they looked for integrity in ar
ticles submitted to them ,
rather than any particular
viewpoint.
Asked if there were any con
trolling image they were
trying to generate, Watters
replied that she wante(^ to
show that the South does not
fit the usual sterotype of
stupidity, black tap-^ncers
and singers, cornbread and
grits. “Southern Voices,” she
said, hopes to be a sounding
board, to generate prides, to
express the feelings and
thoughts to creative people in
the South.
Some people in the audience
express^ ^e opinion that the
South has a kind of integrity
which does not need to be
defended, so Southerners
should not be too defensive
Watters said that many
Southerners do not know that
SouthemoH things can be
wonderful. S.V. is making an
effort to awaken them to Oiis
knowledge.
From that point, the
discussion took a number of
related directions. Dick Prust
and others said they had not
found Northeners taking an
offensive attitude towards the
South, so why be defensive at
ail.. The editors mentioned
that one purpose of “Southern
Voices” was to give a
Southern perspective on life in
general.
Dean Valentine said that the
Southern perspective, as far
as he could tell, consisted
largely of a belief in its own
distinctiveness and
uniqueness, much like that of
California. Editor Watters ex
pressed her own feeling that
Southerners are regarded as
freaks in other parts of the
nation, that there is a feeling
of inferiority in the SoutS
which S.V. is trying to over
come.
Sonwone asked if perhaps
the distinctive thing about the
South is that it lost the civil
war. The editors replied that
fhe point is not that the South
so much greater thar
anywhere else, but that
Southerners don’t realize they
are as good as everyone else.
You don’t have to think
you’re dumb, just because
Editors Engage in Dialogue
you’re from the South.”
The dialogue then took a
more positive turn. Several
people pointed to the
politeness, hospitality and
friendliness of the SouOi as
points in its favor, regardless
of intellectual achievements.
“There is no need to convince
Southerners that they arenH
stiq)id. Ihe humaneness of the
South is worthy in itself,” said
one member of the audience.
Someone brought up the
traditions the South has been
built on. The sense of slow-
passing time, of closeness and
security in teing near home
have influenced Southern at
titudes. Another person
brought things back to earth
with the reminder that race
PAT WALTERS AND ALAN FREEMAN, editors of Southern
Voices Magazine hold an informal discussion with members of
the audience.
Admissions Office
Tries New Approaches
Under the new direction of
Jean Rayburn, the Ad
missions Office has shifted its
emphasis this year in order to
focus on the academic and in
tellectual aspects of St. An
drews.
Regarding Admissions as an
“Integral part of the college,
Ms. Rayburn has attempted to
make the Office primary role
that of co-ordinator for all the
personnel of the College-
students, alumni, faculty, and
trustees. In doing so, less em
phasis is being placed on the
lifestyle and social pursuits of
the applicants.
Although the number of ap
plications for next year is
currentiy down, Ms.
has found that high school
students tend to te
slower in applying
rnlleees as a result of tne
situation. Thus, 6^^'^ “
small number, she is
SISlged by the feedbuck
from applicants, considering
them “stronger students.”
This year’s admissions staff
is composed of individuals
who regard admissions as a
profession. Included are:
Elaine Liles, assistant direc
tor; Bruce Taylor, a 1974
graduate of the college; Mac
McMillan, a former high
school guidance counselor
who, during his tenure, suc
ceeded in placing a higher per
centage of students in coUege
than at any other time in the
school’s history; Jerry Bailey,
a former admissions coun
selor as Tift College in
Georgia; and Carol Joyner.
Working also for the Ad
missions Office are six
workship students and 45
volunteers.
New strategies for mailings
have also been develo^^
Qualified students, identified
trough College Board and
(3ee ‘Admissions Office’ p.3)
and class have always af
fected the famed Southern
hospitality.
“Southern Voices” has been
termed “a magazine for
Southern liberals.” Tom Pat
terson questioned this
designation, asking how the
Editors themselves saw it.
Mr. Freeman said “Southern
Voices” wants to get out of tiie
“Southern professional”
image and away from the
“new South” industrial ideals.
What about the “new
South,” came the question.
Can we avoid Northern in-
iustrial problems.. Freeman
replied that one way to do this
would be to develop a post-
jidustrial society in the South.
But he wondered if there is the
necessary coh^ion and will to
bring this about.
Returning to the magazine
itself, Nancy Sullivan noted
the sense of humour implicit
in its articles. She said that
humour pervades the South,
whose people know how to
laugh at themselves.
Whitney Jones remarked on
the fact that “Southern
Voices” is not yet locked into
any particular audience,
much less a purely white-
middle-class one. Since it has
no financial ties with industry
and politics, the magazine can
get closer to the truth and
cover a wider range of ex
perience.
Freeman commented on the
creative ferment which is
noticeable today in the South.
He said the magazine is
receiving a phenomenal num
ber of manuscripts. There are
certainly people with
something to say in the South,
and S.V. gives them a place to
say it.
Dr. Hix almost closed the
discussion, summing up by
saying that the South has
always been reacting to a
sterotype. Only in the last
fifteen years have some
people begim to feel free of the
stereotype. “Southern
Voices,” he said, is giving
Southerners the opportunity to
express who they really are.
Two or three others brought
up further points and
questions. Dr. White brought
the dialogue to an end with a
weU-chosen proverb; “You
should pick a watermelon
when it’s ripe and not let it lie
on the vine till it’s rotten.”
niere was no more to be said.
Morgan Scorches
Politicians
One of America’s most con-
Toversial attorneys, Charles
.Morgan of the American Civil
Liberties Union, kicked off
last week’s Southern Voices
Festival with a Thursday
night speech at Avinger
Auditorium.
Celebrated for his defense of
heavyweight champion
Mohammed All in his fight
against the draft as well as
that of Army Captian Howard
Levy, who refused to train
Vietnam-bound doctors, the 44
year-old Morgan, a lawyer
since 1955, is currently head of
the ACLU’s Washington of
fice.
Using the theme of the
Festival-“Southem Voices; Is
Anybody Listening.” as a
springboard for his wide-
ranging talk, Morgan said, “in
a non-magazine sense.
Southern voices have always
been heard, lliey’ve been the
loudest, most strident, most
powerful voices in the history
of the United States.” Using
the civil rights movement of
the early 1960s as an example,
Morga cited the efforts of the
ACLU and other groups in the
desegregation of prisons,
schools, and juries. He called
the jury “the most powerful
body in America-a sort of
supralegislature which im
poses the public will on certain
kinds of conduct.
Desegregating the jury was
probably our most important
accomplishment of those
days,” he said, “because it
allowed you to have a more
accurate peer_group sittii^ in
judgement. Blacks see things
from a different perspective
than whites do, and this needs
to be reflected in the com
position of our juries.”
In reviewing Watergate,
Morgan, who began cam
paigning for impeachment in
December,' 1972, said that
“Nixon tried to take the coun
try away from the people in a
predesigned and planned
manner that was as obvious
h'om the day the 1968 electiwi
;nded as it should be now to
anyone with any education.”
He then catalogued a series of
“abuses” which he claimed
were designed to subvert the
1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 13th, 14th,
and 15th amendments to the
Constitution. Turning to the
members of the Nixon ad-
ministraticHi exposed as par
ticipants in the scandals, the
Birmingham native scored
Congress for its rubber stamp
method of approving presiden
tial appointoents. “John Mit
chell didn’t change a bit from
the day he took office as At
torney General to the day he
left, and they approved him
anyway. For the Senate to
reject a nominee,” Morgan
(See ‘Charles Morgan’ p. 4)