Volume 17
Number 2
Chowan College
December 1, 1988
Sharing Education
With A Christian Ethnic
By Olga DaCosta
On June 30, 1989 Dr. Whitaker
will be retiring from his seat as the
18th president of Chowan College.
On June 27, 1989 he will celebrate
his 68th birthday. He has been with
the College for 32 years and feels it is
time for him to give his presidency of
the college over to someone younger
who will provide leadership and
direction as the college prepares to
enter the 21st century.
Dr. Whitaker is the eldest of eight
children. He comes from a Christian
family in Cleveland County North
Carolina. During high school he was
encouraged by his peers to serve in
top leadership positions. He was also
encouraged by his uncle to serve in
Baptist leadership. He was president
and valedictorian of his class at
Mooresboro High School. He
graduated with a B.A., from Wake
Forest University and a B.D. from
Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary. He later received a D.D.
from Campbell University.
Through inspiration from a
charted course in Christian Educa
tion he was lead to Chowan in 1957
at the age of 35. The first two goals
Dr. Whitaker set after taking the
helm of the school 37 years ago, was
to make Chowan an academic
household word and to put the
school on a solid financial founda
tion. With that in mind he was able
to give Chowan the standard it has
today.
His first recommended staff addi
tion was for a public relation officer.
A year later, the school was
operating under the Baptist State
Convention, donations, charity and
people who could sense students
need for education. In 1976, he told
the Virginian Pilot “We operate in
the black. We operate from a point
of strength, not simply of need.”
His love for education and a Chris
tian ethic has brought Chowan and
its staff an understanding of leader
ship along with warmth and desire to
move on to higher learning. He once
said, “I’m more interested in pro
viding the facilities and support per
sonnel to give to them (students) an
education. I think students respect
me in varying degrees but they don’t
look on me as their best friend. The
people they work with would be con
sidered more like personal friends.”
He recently commented,“I love
Chowan College. I believe in her
nobel purpose. I shall continue to
believe in her and pray for her suc
cess.”
Over the past 30 years, under Dr.
Whitaker’s service, Chowan College
has witnessed a change economically
as well as financially. In 1957
Whitaker found that the facilities
were inadequate. Three cottages
named Faith, Hope and Love were
stuck about like offices, classrooms
or dormitories. Thirteen major
buildings have been added since
then, including a $2.75 million
gymnasium-physical education
facility, Helms Center, and a new
graphic communications building.
The Whitaker Library has been
named in Dr. Whitaker’s honor with
over 90,046 volumes, and the enroll
ment of students has tripled from
300 in 1957 to 966 in 1988. Total
assets have reached over $25 million
from $800 thousand and today the
college employs 175 staff members
including 59 faculty members from
that of 21 members in 1957.
In addition to his work with
Chowan College, Dr. Whitaker is
very active in mental health efforts in
the state. Dr. Whitaker is a past
chairman and current member of
North Carolina Commission for
Mental Health, Mental Retardation,
and Substance Abuse Services. He is
chairman of the Commission’s Men
tal Health Committee.
The Whitaker School at Butner
for emotionally disturbed youth was
named in Dr. Whitaker’s honor on
June 30, 1982. He was lauded by
Gov. Jim Hunt for his dedication to
better mental health, as well as total
well-being of North Carolina young
people.
Dr. Whitaker is married to the
former Esther Adams of Conover,
who is a professor in the Department
of Religion and Philosophy at
Chowan College. They married while
Dr. Whitaker was in graduate
school. Their first son Barry was
born in 1953, followed by a second
son, Garry, in 1959.
Dr. Whitaker has been recognized
as one of the nation’s 18 most effec
tive college presidents in a study
funded by the Exxon Education
Foundation. Among his many other
honors are being named "Boss of the
Year” by Murfreesboro and North
Carolina Jaycees and selected to
Who’s Who in America. He received
the Doctor of Law honorary degree
from Wake Forest University during
commencement exercises May 18,
1987.
According to Mr. Bob Spivey,
Chairman of Chowan’s Board of
Trustees, “Dr. Whitaker’s selfless
(continued on page 3)
A Good Night at the
Crossroads
A Review by Ken Wolfskill
A significant old gentleman who
cared about such things said,“Art
imitates life.” That being the case,
Mrs. Boyce and the Chowan Players
showed that life is sometimes knee-
slapping funny. Their fall show, Dir
ty Work at the Crossroads, was one
of the best done and most entertain
ing productions I’ve seen at Chowan.
I don’t think the success is
necessarily the play’s fault. As a
parody of genuine 19th century
melodrama, it does have every
thing — a beautiful damsel in
distress, a merciless, dastardly
villain; hearts bold and true; and a
multitude of improbable accidents to
help the plot end happily for all con
cerned, except the bad guy, who foil
ed again and again, gets what his
black heart deserves. But the three
acts are three versions — extentions
really — of the same plot, as though
Bill Johnson, the author, couldn’t
get the thing to work. By the third
act, though, he really got it right,
especially as he played up the sen
timentality. The play is a good
parody, but I think this production
was successful for other reasons.
Not a minor thing is the set,
lighting and costuming, which were
effective and attractive. Other'
things, appropiate to melodrama,
like the clever program notes and the
piano player were diversions
themselves (the world has lost
something in no longer needing “the
piano player”—not pianist, but
“piano player”). More thought and
care went into these things than we
would ever recognize.
But the chief factor was the
outstanding, clear and distinct,
unselfconscious cast with a
remarkable sense of timing.
Melodrama, because its characters
are flat stereotypes and its emotions
are obvious, is a fine means of get
ting a cast to open up, be expansive,
and lose reserve; but these folks
seemed already set for comedy. Chris
Robbins, as Munro Murgatroyd,
had renewed energy for each new
villainy. Jennifer Grooters got
fresher as the scenes progressed, and
seemed freshest in the last act. An
thony Neely, as Mookie, was clever
throughout, but his surprise return
and pouncing upon the bad guy was
one of the production's best bits. But
as I write that, I think of Lindsay
Sutton (“Little Nell, who never had a
father”), another surprise of Act
Three, both as tear-jerker and shin-
kicker. Chris Rimmer, as all
Amur’cun Adam Oakhart, Lenzy
Vibbert, as Upson Asterbilt, and
Elaine Casmus, as the French maid,
all seemed most natural in their
parts.
Jodi Batt, as the ruined woman
whose heart turns out to be gold, and
Lisa Kirby, as the old Widow
Lovelace as well as the young,
rebellious daughter of Upson Aster
bilt, are two who have played sup
portive roles in earlier Chowan pro
ductions. But here they took the
limelight, and they showed they
deserve it. Not only did they know
and enjoy their characters: the pace
of every scene they were in picked
up, and they very naturally, almost
casually, and certainly attactively
dominated their scenes.
Sandra Boyce has once again
stretched, trying yet another genre.
Clearly she worked very hard to br
ing us a very easy evening.
r
The Chowan College players presented “Dirty
Work at the Crossroads” Nov. 10-12 in Turner
Auditorium with a matinee for area school children
Nov. 9. In this scene from the gay nineties
melodrama, villain Munro Murgatroyd (Chris Rob
bins) attacks the sweet, innocent Nellie Lovelace (Jen
nifer Grooters) trying to force her to marry him
against her will. Looking on in amazement are Ida
Rhinegold (Jodi Batt) and Adam Oakhart (Chris Rim
mer).
Christmas
Vacation
By Robert Prince
For many students it will soon be
the end of their first semester at
Chowan College, and for every stu
dent it will be one step closer to
graduation. The fall semester has
been full of hard work, many school
activities, and good times on and off
campus.
Many students have spent long
hard hours studying, doing
homework and preparing themselves
for the final exams soon to come.
Other students have used up most of
their time fooling around and going
to parties. Some students attend
school activities, like going to foot
ball games, volleyball matches and
other sporting events. Many attend
ed homecoming events and a play,
which was performed by the Chowan
players. Soon all the events and hard
work will be over and the Christmas
vacation will be upon us.
After speaking with many
students about what they are going
to do over their vacation, I came to
the conclusion that many of them are
running short of cash. The majority
of the students expressed that they
would be spending most of their
vacation working or trying to earn
money. Aside from work, they said
th^ would be doing other ACtivUiei;
such as hunting, fishing and skulk
ing with a good friend. Other ac
tivities mentioned were visiting with
relatives, immediate family and
friends, eating large enjoyable meals
and the partaking of assemblies on
well known special occasions. Some
students in this higher institution in
dicated that they would spend their
vacation relaxing and enjoying their
time away from the tensions of col
lege.
While you're going about your
holiday activities, put a time aside to
remember not so much of the ac
tivities I have mentioned, but on the
true meaning of Christmas. The
yuletide season is not only a time for
giving, receiving, sharing and
visiting, but it's a time for
celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ
and the gift of eternal life.
Happy Holidays and God bless
you!
Driving Range Opens
Where The Money
Goes From Fines
*■ Have you ever wondered what the
school does with the money they
receive from disciplinary fines?
Well, there is a special account to
which some of this money goes. The
special account is the Residence Hall
Programming Account. Money from
this account has been used to fix cer
tain things in the dorms and con
tributions have been made to
organizations outside of the college
campus. An example of what kinds
of organizations, off campus, receive
money is the Rescue Squad in town.
Recently, the squad was given a
small amount, because the college
depends on them for dire emergen
cies such as the one last year. The
Rescue Squad was at the scene of the
Mixon fire, and contributed a lot to
helping the college.
Robert Prince
For all the Chowanians that are
bored and maybe want to relieve a
little frustration, there’s a new golf
driving range on the Chowan cam
pus. The driving range is located
across the street from the football
practice field and adjacent to the
softball and intramural fields.
The idea of constructing a driving
range came about seven or eight
years ago. Until last spring, only
small amounts of work had been
done to the driving range, due to
other major improvements in the
Chowan campus. In the spring of
’88, Chowan began major construc
tion of the driving range and finished
the project after the end of the spring
semester. The driving range consists
of twenty-two stalls, from which
balls are hit, a choice of woods and
irons and barrels that mark
distances, ranging from one hundred
yards to two hundred yards.
The driving range is open from
two o’clock until dark, leaving
enough time for a tractor to round
up the hit golf balls. The prices are
one dollar for a small bucket of balls
a
(about thirty-five golf balls) and two
dollars for a large bucket (from
seventy to seventy-five golf balls). In
the spring the college will be offering
golf classes which will be taught on
the driving range and will be worth
one credit hour.
The driving range is now being
cared for by Truitt Duncan and a
work study student. There are plans
' * *' 7-' '*
Phocogruph by Jm- Angdillu
to add lights to the driving range, so
there will be longer hours to play.
This project is to be completed by
the summer of ’89. The driving
range is open to any one who would
like to play. The range will not be
open during the cold months of the
year, so if you would like to get in a
few strokes before winter, hurry out
to the driving range.