For Quarter of Century service
Convocation honors
President Whitaler
On the 25th anniversary celebration of his
service as Chowan College’s president, Dr.
Bruce E. Whitaker was praised for leading
Chowan “from an era of primarily regional
influence to a time of national recognition.”
North Carolina Baptist State Convention
leaders and officials from 10 colleges and
universities were among the 2,000 people
who gathered on Feb. 22 in Helms Center to
honor Dr. Whitaker.
Dr. T. Robert Mullinax, executive
secretary of the state convention’s Council
on Christian Higher Education, described
Whitaker as a modest man who probably
thought that the college trustees, church
leaders and educators across the state were
overdoing the silver anniversary celebra
tion.
Gift presented
In recognizing his 25 years of
service to the college, Dr.
Whitaker was presented a silver
tea service at the conclusion of
the Anniversary Convocation.
Shown with the president, from
left, is Gary Whitaker, Mrs.
Esther Whitaker. To Dr.
Whitaker’s right is Barry
Whitaker, and the Rev. J. Felix
Arnold, chairman of the Board
of Trustees.
May-June, 1982
CUhjuiattfan
“One of strongest and best”
“Chowan College is one of the strongest
and best two-year institutions in the na
tion,” Mullinax said.
He described some of the growth that had
brought Chowan national recogniton. He
said that during Whitaker’s 25 years with
the college, enrollment has increased from
293 students to more than 1,100 and total
assets have grown from $750,000 to more
than $18 million.
Early in his administration, Whitaker for
mulated a plan to upgrade the college.
Twelve major buildings have been added,
including the $2.75 million Jesse Helms
Center, the gymnasium-physical education
facility where the convocation was held.
“You have dreamed worthy dreams and
labored to make them come true,” Mullinax
said. “Thank you for your dreams and toils
at Chowan College.”
Mullinax also cited Whitaker’s many posi
tions on state, regional and national educa
tional and civic organizations. “He has
generously given his time to these organiza
tions while giving steady leadership to the
college,” Mullinax said.
During his response. Dr. Whitaker ex
pressed his “genuine appreciation and
sincere gratitude” to those who had served
the college across the past 25 years as well
as throughout the school’s 134-year history.
In recognition of his 25 years of leader
ship, Whitaker was presented a silver ser
vice by Rev. J. Felix Arnold, chairman, on
behalf of the Board of Trustees, which spon
sored the special convocation.
I—The Whitaker Years at Chowan
The death of President F. 0. Mixon oc
curred at a time when the institution ap
peared to be on the verge of making that
significant measure of progress and ad
vancement which had eluded earlier ad
ministrations. It has been the glory of the
succeeding Whitaker Administration to
lead Chowan College from a position of
relative obscruity in the educational
world to one of national prominence and
esteem among two-year colleges and
schools. Such a status has been attained
through dedicated commitment to the
essentials of an excellent educational
program, coupled with an exhibition of
solid administrative expertise on the part
of Chowan’s current chief administrative
officer.
In his first “Annual Report to the Board
of Trustees,” President Whitaker outlin
ed the “minimum needs” of Chowan Col
lege for the immediate future as: a com
petent and dedicated faculty; a student
body capable of doing college-level work
and committed to the purposes of the in
stitution; and adequate physical facilities
and equipment with wWch to pursue the
educational goals and purposes of the col
lege. He, then, suggested measures for
fulfilling these needs. The intervening
years have been characterized by un
paralleled success at attaining these in
itial needs, while striving to expand
educational horizons in the light of chang
ing needs and goals.
Attention to the provision of a compe
tent and dedicated faculty/staff has
issued in a three-fold increase in the
number of teaching faculty members,
together with the addition of key staff
personnel required to maintain the ex
panding programs/interests of the col
lege community. Retention of such a
faculty/staff has been enhanced through
periodic review of salary and fringe
benefit schedules, resulting in nearly a
600 increase in average salary/fringe
benefits for faculty personnel. Moreover,
incentive for continued study and profes
sional growth has been a hallmark of the
current administration.
Designing and enlarging curricular
programming to meet changing student
needs has eventuated in a dramatic in
crease in enrollment (293 in 1957; 1,161, in
1981). Periodic self-study and review—in
pursuance of the college’s continuing
retention of accreditation by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools—has
witnessed repeated scrutiny of ap
propriate standards for admission and
continued residence, in keeping with the
institution’s goals and purposes. Basical
ly student-related expenditures have ac
counted for the swelling of the institu
tional operating budget throughout the
years from less than $300,000 in fiscal
1957-58 to nearly $8,000,000 in fiscal
1981-82.
Total assets of the physical plant have
grown from less than three-quarters of a
million dollars to nearly $15,000,000, with
much of this growth related to the con
struction of 12 major campus facilities.
Sound and conservative fiscal manage
ment has resulted in operation “in the
black” during each successive year,
beginning with fiscal 1958-59. Proper
equipping of each new educational facili
ty is ably illustrated by the college
library, whose collection has grown from
less than 10,000 volumes (1957) to over
70,000 volumes (1981), exclusive of bound
periodicals, microfilmed materials, and
items in the Government Depository.
When these attainments noted above
are combined with substantial, annual
financial support from the Baptist State
Convention of North Carolina and with a
growing general endowment (market
value: $6,700 in 1957; $2,100,000 in 1981),
the outlook for Chowan’s future appears
bright-for the remaining Whitaker
years and behond.
The Chowanian, May-June, 1982—Page I