Newspapers / Chowan University Student Newspaper / Nov. 1, 1960, edition 1 / Page 6
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ALUMNI SECTION THE CHOWANIAN, NOVEMBER, 1960 Alumni, Etc. By JOHN C. GILL, Jr. You may remember from your college days that the Latin word alo means “to nourish, to feed, to sustain.” One English derivative from alo is alumni, meaning “those who have been nourished and fed” by an ed ucational institution. I dare say that the word alumni and the several varia tions of the word are among the most commonly misunderstood and mispronounced words in our language. Let us, then, see if we can clear up some of the confusion. The pronounciation of the word alumni and variations of it is determined by the last syllable, which changes to suit the gender and number referred to. Actually, this is where the confusion arises; the changing of the ending of a word to suit the gender is not a prevalent practice in American speech. The first two syllables of all forms of the word alumni are spelled and pronounced exactly alike. The “a” is pronounced as the “a” in *ofa; the “lum” as in lumber. Upon close examination, the various endings used on alum are not much more difficult to understand: When reference is made to just one man, the ending “nus” is added, making the word alumnus. The ending is pro nounced exactly as the word “us” prefaced by an “n”. The ending “ni”, pronounced as the “ni” in nice is used to refer to more than one man (men) or to the combination of both men and women. Alum ni, then, is a plural word which denotes men or men and women. Turning to the distaff side of the species and pointing to just I one of the fairer sex, we would designate her an alumna. The “na” ending is also pronounced as the ending in the word sofa. If we decided to label more than one of these delicate crea tures, we would call them alumnae. This feminine, plural form merely requires the addi tion of an “e” to the feminine, singular form. The ending is pronounced as the word knee. Now wouldn’t you agree that alumni—etc. is actually quite simple? Remember one basic rule and you have it: to alum, add the ending which suits the male or female in gender and number. NEW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS - Elected at the spring meeting, were, left to right, Mrs. Harold Brown, Murfreesboro, vice president; Mrs. R. H. Underwood, Murfreesboro, president; Mrs. Henry Miller, Murfreesboro, treasurer; and Mrs. George W. Pratt, Merry Hill (not shown) secretary. Alumni News in Brief ROOFREADER WANTED Drop a single letter from a sentence and the entire context may be changed. Here are five gems that would have been mildly hilarious if they hadn’t gotten into print; “The conflict was dreadful and the enemy was repulsed with great laughter.” “When the president’s wife entered the humble sitting-room of the house she was politely offered a hair.” “A man was arrested yester day on the charge of having eaten a cabman for demanding more than his fare.” “An employee in the service of the Government was accused of having stolen a small ox from the mail. The stolen property was found in his vest pocket.” “The Russian soldier, Knack- inoffoskewky, was found dead with a long word sticking in his mouth.”—Dan Solo David A. Evans (‘60) of Rich Square received a scholarship to the University of North Caro lina and is now studying there. Bill Griffin Soivey (‘60) of Jackson worked this summer in the Registrar’s office at the college. He is currently en rolled at East Carolina College. Dewey W. Wells, the Eliza beth City attorney who serves as a member of the college Board of Trustees, has been named chairman for the 1960 Pasquotank County United Fund Campaign which has a goal of $70,000. The old Lewis Meredith home in Murfreesboro, which dates back to 1775 and is the proper ty of Chowan alumna Addie Mae Cook, was sold at auction this summer. Miss Cook resided in the home prior to her ac cepting a missionary assign ment in Hawaii. The parents of Miss Patricia Delaney, former assistant to the Bursar at the college, have an nounced her engagement to Wil liam F. Bray (‘59) of Hertford. A December wedding is plann ed. Alumna Neva Campbell, the college librarian, attended the twelfth annual junior college workshop at the University of North Carolina this summer. Junior college faculty members a 11Q aaministrators from throughout the nation were in jttenua.-ce. One of North Carolina’s most controversial figures, the Rev. W. W. Finlator, pastor of Pul len Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, was the speaker at the spring meeting of the Raleigh- Wake County Chapter of the Chowan College Alumni Asso ciation. Julian Mills (‘59) of Roanoke Rapids, a ministerial student, is now serving in the United States Air Force. He is a chap lain’s assistant. Mrs. D. M. Watson (Mary Hoggard ‘28) is teaching French and English in the Wagram High School. She has two chil dren, a daughter 13 and a son 14. Mr and Mrs. A. D. Liver- man, Jr. (Elizabeth Slate) are now living in Pinetops, to which community her husband was transferred from Spruce Pine by the State Highway Depart ment. Sgt. Eddie Wilson Warrell is on a three-year tour of duty with the U. S. Air Force in Okinawa. Appointed to U. S. Military Academy Harry D. Sell, who completed his freshman year at Chowan in June, has been appointed to the United States Naval Acade my at Annapolis by Congres- man Alton A. Lennon. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Sell of Southport, Sell was valedictorian of the 1959 gradu ating class at Southport High School. He was president of the senior class and a basketball standout for four years. At Chowan, Sell compiled an outstanding record in the class room, winning honors as a Dean’s List student. He also earned his athletic letter as a scrappy guard on the Braves basketball squad. He reported to Annapolis early in July for the indoctri nation sessions which preceded the opening o'f the fall term. Profile of An Alumnus Delores Hill (’60) of Wood land, is now employed as Edu cational Secretary for the first Baptist Church of Virginia Beach. Prior to assuming her responsibilities there, She repre sented Ahoskie in the Miss North Carolina contest. The Rev. Lamar Sentell, pas tor of Ballards Bridge Baptist Church in the Chowan Associ ation for the past four years, has begun a new pastorate at Fox Hall Baptist Church in Vir ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Vallie Dale Jer- nigan of Lewiston, have an nounced the engagement of their daughter Rose (‘58) to Russell Harrington (‘59) of Rich Square. A December wedding is planned. (More NEWS, page 7) State Senator John R. Jordan, ] Jr. of Raleigh represents the fourth generation of his family to have a vital connection with Chowan College. His great grandfather, W. W. Mitchell, was one of the found ers of Chowan and one of its most ardent early supporters. Hattie Owen Mitchell, his grand mother, attended Chowan dur ing the latter years of the 19th century. In 1915, Ina Mitchell Jordan, mother of the outstand ing young politician, was gradu ated from Chowan with the A.B. degree in music. John himself attended Chowan for one year and is currently serving as a member of the college board of trustees. He grew up in Winton, the county seat o'f Hertford, only eleven miles from the beautiful old Chowan campus. Upon graduation from the public schools of Winton (an eleven grade system at the time), he decided to spend his freshman year in the more intimate set ting of Chowan College rather than to plunge headlong into the less personal academic atmos phere of the University of North Carolina Reflecting on that decision, John said recently; “It was a wise choice; and, with the excel lent training I received at Cho wan in the basic freshmen courses, I was able to go on to Carolina, complete my B. A. program in the regulation time, while making a most satisfact ory record in the classroom.” In 1942, he was awarded his baccalaureate degree in politi cal science by the University. He received his Law degree from the same institution in 1948. As a Law School senior, he was the recipient of the Phi Delta Phi award for outstanding scholarship and leadership in his chosen field. With the North Carolina Bar examinations staring the fledg ling lawyer in the face, he decid ed to spend the summer after graduation in a refresher class which was being taught in Ashe ville. It was a happy decision! He met, that summer. Miss Particia Exum Weaver, a native of Ashe ville who was working at the courthouse. A year later, they were married. Today their fam ily circle also contains two fine children—Ellen, age six, and John.III, age four. Until 1951, John was employed as a member of the staff of the Attorney General of North Caro lina. Since that date, he has been engaged in general law prac tice in Raleigh. Following a long period of in terest and participation in polit ical affairs on both state, local, and national levels, the Chowan alumnus threw his own hat into the ring in 1958 and emerged as a State Senator from Wake County. He was re-elected this fall for a second two-year term. The political bug bit John Jordan early. It all began when, at the ripe old age of 16, he got a clerk’s job in the Clyde Hoey Gubernatorial Headquarters in Raleigh. The excitement and en thusiasm around the head quarters aroused his appetite for politics and that initial inter est is still very much alive and kicking. His active participation in the affairs of the Democratic party on all levels has brought all kinds of recognition. In 1954-55, he was president of the Young Democratic Clubs of North Car olina. He was elected to serve as chairman of the 1956 Jeffer- son-Jackson Day Dinner and also was a delegate to the Dem- \ ocratic National Convention that year. Govenor Hodges named him to the N. C. Legislative Reapportionment Commission in 1955, and he served as vice chairman. John Jordan’s interests, how ever, reach out far beyond the political and legal areas. He is chairman of the Board of Direct ors of the North Carolina Divi sion of the American Cancer Society. He is president of the Wake County Historical Society. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the State College YMCA and a member of the Advisory Committee of the State Board of Public Welfare. Also, he is a participating member of the Raleigh Chamber of Com merce, the Lions Club, and the Farm Bureau. An active churchman, John has been a deacon in the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, as well as a past presi dent of the church’s Men’s Fel lowship Club. At present, he teaches a Sunday School class and serves on the Business Board of the church. No doubt, these activities ex plain why he received the Junior Chamber of Commerce Distin guished Service Award as Raleigh’s “Young Man of the Year” in 1955. And also why The News and Observer named him a “Tar Heel of the Week” in 1957. In a brief conversation with the writer, while on the Chowan campus for a recent meeting of the trustees, the youthful Sen ator was asked what one thing he recalled most vividly from his student days at the coUege. Without a moment’s hesita tion, he said: “Gladys Sledd’s class in the History of European Civilization.” “As you know,” he continued, “she was the daughter of old Dr. Benjamin Sledd, professor of history and literature at Wake Forest College and sometime poet laureate of North C a r o- lina.” “Gladys Sledd had her father’s insatiable thirst for knowledge, and she tried to impart it to us; without reservation, I consider her one of the top three or four professors under whom I have ever been privilged to study.” The conversation about his tory also brought forth the con fession from John Jordan that he is an avid collector of North Caroliniana. He stated that the most valuable part of his per sonal library (about 2500 vol umes at present) is his collect ion of materials on the Old North State, which include every history of the State ever written except one. Fortunate ly for Chowan College, he did not stop there. He went on to (See PROFILE, page 7)
Chowan University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 1, 1960, edition 1
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