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Permit No. 217
Rocky Mount, N. C.
;ary
Trumpet Of Peace In° Troubled Land
Non-Profit Organization
VOLUME Xin, NUMBER 8
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C,
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1971
The Wesleyan hearse, which has been parked behind Edgecombe
Hall for four years, came alive suddenly this week under the
expert direction of Dave Litch, See story page 3.
Special 1963 Decree
Reprinted This Week
In the March 6, 1963, issue
of the DECREE many long range
plans were discussed. In fact,
the paper was a “Special Long-
Range Planning Issue,” Dis
cussed in the issue was a new
library, new dorms with suite
arrangements, scholarship ex
pansion, a chapel, a gym and
swimming pool, and a new au
ditorium. The headline read as
follows: “Wesleyan Plans for
800 Students in 1968.”
Included in the Issue is an
article on the proposed chapeL
In the article students were
given new insight on the chap
el that is proposed for future
construction. Also in the issue
is an article concerning the
proposed gymnasium and swim
ming pool. “Features of the new
building will include an Olym
pic-sized swimming pool and a
sun-bathing area,” The article
also said that there will be
spectator space around the
swimming pool with folding
bleachers beingused, “The pool
itself will be 75 feet long and
25 feet wide. Quoted from the
article is the following para
graph: “Swimming meets may
be held and complete dressing
and locker space will be avail
able for Wesleyan students and
visiting teams. Doors will open
from the pool area to an out
side bathing deck.”
Another article in the
“Special” DECREE was enti
tled, “College Planning to Have
New Auditorium By 1968,” The
first paragraph read as fol
lows: “Although there have
not yet been architects’ draw
ings made of an auditorium
for Wesleyan, the college def
initely plans to have an audi
torium, or fine arts center, by
the music, art, and drama de
partments of Wesleyan.
Other articles were on aca
demic standards that are to be
strengthened, expanded pro
gram of sports, and more phy
sical education courses, com
plete representation by the Stu
dent Government Association
and full social lives for Wes
leyan students.
Page four of this issue is a
review of that edition.
Hearse Gets New
Lease On Life
Many Wesleyan students have
been shocked beyond belief in
recent weeks by the ressurrec-
tion of that infamous corpse-
carrying Cadillac, “The Black
Hearse.” The hearse was aban
doned some two years by the
few remaining Wesleyan mem
bers of Alpha Phi Omega, a
national service fraternity af
filiated with The Boy Scouts
of America. The car was not
functioning properly, and the
fraternity did not have the mon
ey they thought necessary for
the repairs.
And so, to make a long story
short, Don Henchel, who is the
last remaining APO member on
campus, recently sold the
hearse to David Litch, a fresh
man resident student, for ap
proximately $50- As it turned
out, David got the car back in
to working condition simply by
crossing the two “hot wires”
under the dash. At last re
ports, the hearse, since its re
vival, has reached speeds up to
45 M.P.H,, and can be seen
practically every day making
several laps around the camp
us.
And so, another landmark of
the Wesleyan campus—
a broken-down 1951 Cadillac
hearse is gone. And in its
place one can find a much more
meaningful object, destined to
become a campus i.'mark—
a functioning 1951 Cadillac
he^i’se! Congratulations, Dave!
And thank vou.
Medieval Pageant Casting
Is Completed By Theatre
Two medieval Christmas
pageants will mark number two
on the schedule for Wesleyan’s
theatre series this year. Next
year December 2nd “The An
nunciation and Conception of
The Virgin Mary” and “Sec
ond Shepards Play,” directed
by Mr. Dick Kagey, will be
staged in the experimental the
atre as the second production
following “A Flea In Her Ear.”
Both shows were known in
their time as cycle plays and
come from the larger group
ing of plays which at one time
were used to reflect teachings
of the scriptures as they were
in the Bible, The “Virgin Mary”
play comes down to us from the
Hegge cycle while “Second
Shepards Play,” which is prob
ably the most well known and
popular cycle play today, comes
from the Wakefield cycle. These
original cycles were created
sometime around the 13th cen
tury and would often take kll
day to produce while touring
the streets of England's cities.
Auditions at Wesleyan were
last Tuesday and Wednesday
with a turn out of approximately
16 people. The final cast was
posted Thursday and consists
of Joe Vinson as Contempla
tion, Myra Dean as Truth, Liz
Martin as Mercy and Beth
Speake as Justice, The parts
of Peace and Gabrielare played
by Peggy Berg and Berl Gar
rett with Gail Sharer as Mary.
Dough Ashton and Ralph Rose
will portray Call and Gib while
Daw, Mak and Gill will be por
trayed by Lee Smith, Jim
Keeter, and Jeannie Johnson.
Sean Moran will be assistan^
to Mr, Kagey and Carl Harris
will design the set and lights.
Other helping with the showwiU
be Dr, Davis and the Chamber
Singers.
A simplicity of quality and
unsophistication are indicative
of both plays. This is proven
with the personification of char
acters through the ideas of .
Truth, Mercy, Peace, and Jus
tice. A purpose for this sim
plicity may be the original
meanings of the plays them
selves. When the plays were
written the Catholic church of
England wished to express, as
best they could, some teach
ings of the Bible, or ways of
the Bible, to people of the
lower class. The play would
serve as a medium for the
peasants to obtain some of the
church’s ideas and philoso
phies, Yet religious overtones
don’t necessarily make the
plays too serious to be a good
form of entertainment. In fact,
“Second Shepards Play” is in
deed a comedy that depicts that
form of English theatre which
preceded Shakespeare,
Mr, Kagey’s direction of the
plays will be a first for both
him and Wesleyan, Since de
signing is his basic job, di
recting is an area in which
Wesleyan has yet to judge his
versatility. He plans to stage
the show within a gothic peri
od rather than medieval with
a great deal of emphasis on
the pageantry effect, “We want
to present the shows as they
were,” stated Mr, Kagey, “on
a simple and unsophisticated
level so that we are telling
the story with a slight wink.
We will not do them as a
museum piece and intend to
show that such cycle plays can
be an enjoyable evening of the
atre entertainment,”
These plays in context with
the other productions of the sea
son provide a wide variety of
theatre entertainment. This is
a main reason that the cycle
plays were chosen.
Music Teachers
Elect Dr. Davis
News Bureau—Dr. John S, Da
vis, of 532 Park Place, Rocky
Mount, was elected chairman of
the Composition-Theory sec
tion of the N.C, Music Teach
ers Association at its conven
tion in Winston-Salem October
30-3L Dr, Davis, assistant pro
fessor of music at N,C. Wes
leyan College, has composed a
number of works which have
been presented at the college
and at other concert locations
throughout the state.
Among his compositions are
two operas, piano selections,
and music for 25 Psalms ar
ranged for choral groups.
Dr. Davis directs Wesleyan’s
select 16-voice group. The
Chamber Singers, for which he
arranges the musical scores.
^Battle Of Brains’ Proves
To Be Delightful Evening
The first annual “Battle of
the Brains,” sponsored by the
Senior Class, was held on Nov
ember L It involved competi
tion among members of the fac
ulty and students in a game
similar to tlie G.E, College
The Senior Class President, Helen Steiner, acts as moderator
for “The Battle of the Brains.” John Morton’s team (left)
is pictured opposing Robin Gulick’s team,
Bowl, Helen Steiner presided as
Mistress of Ceremonies and
Tim Coggins and Gail Mabe
were the scorers.
Team 2, consisting of Dr,
Tucker, Dr. Johnson, Mrs, Mat
thews, and captain John Morton,
bested Team ^ Mr. David Jones,
Mrs, Francis Harrison, Mr,
Vance Mizzelle, and captain
Robin Gulick 95-75 in the first
round of play.
In the second round Team 4,
Mr. Sturgill, Dr, Hemmes, Mr,
Rushing, and captain Nancy
Tonkens, defeated Team 3,
which consisted of Purser, Dr,
Sasser, Dr, Cordts, and cap
tain David Forrest, 141-140,
Team 4 played Team 2 in
the playoffs with Team 2 vic
torious.
The contest was well re
ceived by the participants and
the thirty-plus spectators who
turned out for the event, Mr,
Mizelle, one of the participat
ing faculty members, comment
ed, “I think it is simply mar
velous that our students and fac
ulty members can get together
for an intellectually stimula
ting evening, and have so much
fun in the process.”