The Salemite
Vol. Lxrx No. 11
The Uncensored Voice Of The Salem Commmunity
April 1989
Salem Appoints First Woman To Chair Board
by Katie Thomas
Sitting in the
Rondthaler-Gramley House with
the morning sunlight streaming
through the windows, Mary Bryant
Newell is definetly in her element.
This warm. Southern woman
laughs, "I call this house Tara'. I
feel comfortable here."
Salem and the Salem
environment have had a very
definite impact on her. She
graduated with the class of '48 but
has never really "left." Now she
'vill undertake the highest
position an alumna can have at
Salem: the chairmanship of the
Board of Trustees.
Mrs. Newell fell in love with
Salem the minute she arrived.
Coming from a family of four
Brothers she says, "Salem was
'vonderful - all oriented towards
girls." But the Salem she knew was
different than the one today. She
'vas a student during the war and
fells stories of the closeness of the
students, the faculty, and
Administration. Students were not
As mobile in those days and spent
**'ost of their time on campus. No
One had cars, so "road trips" were
not a common place event.
Many of Mrs. Newell's
leadership qualities began at
Salem. She was SGA president her
senior year and a class officer her
sophomore year. At an early age
she developed a sense of^
responsibility. It was broadened
during her years at Salem. She
remarks, "At Salem you develop a
sense of self confidence. You know
who you are and what your
abilities are. You have tested
them."
These same leadership positions
and self confidence led her to later
become president of the Alumnae
Association, and now she feels she
can return what Salem gave to her.
When asked if she ever thought,
when she was a student, she would
be the chairman of the Board of
Trustees, she laughs and says,
"Never in my wildest dreams. But I
always felt a sense of service
wherever I was. Salem instills in
you a sense of wanting to get
involved."
Salem's atmosphere also
harbored Mrs. Newell's sense of
achievement. She learned a
feeling of self assurance while
here. But, she explains, it is not
like setting out to be a leader. The
closeness of students and faculty,
being in constant contact with role
models, has its impact. She states,
"At Salem you are not conscious of
looking for role models. But as life
unfolds, you realize they are
there." Mrs. Newell recalls a fond
memory of the tught before she was
to give her acceptance speech as
SGA president. An economics
'professor, Eva Belle Covington,
called her in to her apartment in
Main Hall. Mary Newell gave Ms.
Covington her ideas for a speech.
Mrs. Newell realizes now that it
was this sort of closeness that
spawned her role models.
Impressed by the dedicated work
of the other Board members, Mrs.
Newell herself has served on the
cont. on page 8
Performing in Protest
hit Tulip Qin-MP ^
by Julie Stone
The North Carolina School of the Arts
faculty, staff, and students concern over
the effectiveness of Chancellor Jane E.
Milley has come to a head after an
announcement last Thursday by C.D.
Spangler, the President of the Board of
Governors of the North Carolina
University system.
Spangler announced that Milley had
resigned after an almost unanimous
vote of "no confidence" by the faculty
and administrators. But the resignation
does not go into effect until after June
30. Until Milley leaves, she has the
authority to appoint the committee to
appoint a new Dean of Drama (two
have already resigned in the last three
years). She has the final say on all new
faculty decisions and will decide on
merit raises for the faculty. She will also
review current faculty contracts that are
coming up for renewal.
President Spangler also announced
that from July 1 to December 30,
Chancellor Milley would receive full
pay for a leave of absence. Then she
[Would return as the highest paid
member of the School of Music,
making more than the Dean of the
School of Music despite the fact that
while she holds a Masters degree in
music, she is not a performing artist.
The faculty and students are very
concerned over the future of the school
with Milley still empowered as their
Chancellor as well as comments made
by Spangler about "possible
reorganization" of the school.
The school is concerned in view of the
fact that since Milley has been at
NCSA, two deans of Drama, an
assistant dean of Music, the Director of
Stage Managment, and the Assistant
Technical Director have resigned. A
signifigant number of alumni have
stopped contributing to the school until
the current managerial crisis is
resolved." They charge that many
administrative procedures, financial
decisions and planning for the future
have either slowed down or ceased to
exist. She has not been responsive to
conL on page 8