Chowan
A newsmagazine for alumni, parents and friends
Spring 1994
Volume 38
Number 5
INSIDE
First gradmtes in 57 years
to receive hachehr’s degrees
A historical milestone in the life and progress
of Chowan College will be reached on Saturday,
May 14, when the first graduates in 57 years will
be awarded baccalaureate degrees.
Charles H. Greiner, Jr., an executive with
Union Camp Corporation, Franklin,
VA, will deliver the commencement
address for the exercises which be
gin at 10:30 a.m., in front of
McDowell Columns. He will be in
troduced by Dr. Jerry F. Jackson,
president, who will preside at the pro
gram.
The processional, with seniors
robed in the traditional black robes
and associate degree candidates in
robes of whisper gray, is scheduled
to follow the center walk in ap
proaching the McDowell Columns.
Honor graduates will wear the gold
tassel on their mortar boards and gold
cords on their shoulders.
Comprising the historic Class of 1994 are 48
seniors who will receive the bachelor of science
degree and 6 seniors who to be awarded the bach
elor of arts degree. There are 61 candidates for
associate degrees.
Mrs. Sissy Eakin, assistant professor of Math
ematics and the current Faculty Marshal, will give
the devotional period to begin the exercises. The
Chowan College Band will provide music.
Members of the Class of 1937, the last group
to be awarded bachelor degrees before Chowan
became a two-year institution, will
be recognized during the gradua
tion program.
Dr. B. Franklin Lowe, Jr., vice
president for academic affairs, will
present the 1994 Excellence in
Teaching Award to the person se
lected by the faculty as being the
most outstanding during the 1993-
94 academic session.
The degrees will be conferred by
President Jackson with the assis
tance of Dr. Lowe and Darrell H.
Nicholson, registrar.
Greiner was born in San Diego,
California, but has lived in the
Tidewater area of Virginia for
most of his life.
A veteran of military service, Greiner was
awarded the bachelor of science degree by Old
Dominion University in 1969 and the master’s in
business administration in 1974.
Continued on Page Five
Charles H. Greiner, Jr.
Commencement
Speaker
Fifty
candidates
for bachelor's
degrees;
Class of’51
to be
recognized
during
ceremonies
New student enrollment, retention
set new records for Spring semester
New student enrollment records were set in
early January when 720 students registered for
spring semester classes. The percentage of students
returning for the new semester was the best in the
history of the college.
“This is the best retention rate we have ever
had at Chowan,” said Mary Jo Byrd, vice presi
dent for student enrollment. “What this
means is that the good students who are
now coming to Chowan are staying
with us.”
Byrd noted that the freshman stu
dent enrollment in the fall was up by
67 percent and the total student enroll
ment increased by 26 percent.
The academic preparation of the
students has also improved according
to Byrd.
She said the Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT) score average of freshman
students “rose 80 points over the 1992-
93 average for new students.”
“In addition,” she continued, “the
mean Grade Point Average rose nearly
a half-point from 2.0 to 2.48 on a 4.0
scale.”
“In a time of transition when we are
faced with the competitive situation of
breaking into the four-year college market, it is
very difficult to see one or the other of these sta
tistics increase, but to see both is a rare occur
rence,” she said proudly.
Dr. B. Franklin Lowe, Jr., vice president for
academic affairs, reported “our students seem to
Continued on Page Five
New students
entering in
January wait
in front of
Marks Hall
to register
for classes.
lan n
Myers elected to
Trustee chair
-Pages
▼
Major campaign
launched for
graphics program
-Page?
T
Arnold donates
personal library
-Page 2
T
Students iearn
high tech
in Tech High
-Page 10
T
Softball, baseball
squads ready
for NCAA piay
-Page 18.19