Approved by Trustees
$4 million campaign underway
Chowan College has launched the largest
campaign effort in its 138-year history with
the formal action of the Board of Trustees
and Board of Advisors to enter into a $4
million Development Program Campaign
“to help assure the continued vitality and
service of one of the nation’s leading two-
year colleges,” according to President
Bruce E. Whitaker.
“This is the most important campaign
challenge that the college has undertaken
during my 29 years as president. Reaching
the campaign goal is a major challenge and
is absolutely essential if we are to maintain
Chowan College’s preeminence in the field
of Christian higher education and its conti
nuing service to young men and women,”
remarked Whitaker.
The decision was made during a joint
meeting of the trustees and advisors in ear
ly February, following a “careful study of
the present and future needs of the institu
tion by all elements of the college consti
tuency,” Whitaker declared.
$1 Million Received
Prior to the Boards’ action, an intensive
in-house campaign has been conducted over
the past several months with the trustees
and advisors and college faculty and staff
which resulted in the first over $1 million in
gifts and pledges.
“The campaign will fund additional stu
dent aid/scholarships, endowment for
“Help assure the continued
vitality and service of
one of the nation’s
leading two-year colleges.”
— Dr. Bruce E. Whitaker
President
teaching and administration, program
development, and the renovation of
facilities,” commented Dr. Whitaker.
He said the college “is fortunate to have
the services of Robert Spivey, trustee from
Windsor, as campaign chairman and Mrs.
Robert F. (Texie Camp) Marks, advisor
from Boykins, Va., as honorary chairman.”
Spivey is vice president of LADD Furniture,
Inc., and president of Lea Lumber and
Plywood Division.
Other Leaders
Whitaker said other key leadership posi
tions have been filled by Dr. Melvin Kunkle
of Portsmouth, Va., chairman of the Ad
visor Giving Committee; Thomas McCrary
of Raleigh, chairman of the Advisor Giving
Committee; and Dr. B. Franklin Lowe, Jr.,
and Ben Sutton, co-chairmen of the Faculty-
Staff Gifts Committee.
The campaign will provide $2.8 million for
endowment. This includes $1 million to en
dow scholarship funds, work/study funds,
general endowment and other student
financial aid programs.
Whitaker said the $1.8 million will go
toward endowment for teaching and ad
ministration. “This support will undergird
and strengthen gifted teachers and skilled
administrators,” Whitaker noted.
An additional $890,000 is earmarked for
resources-^or learning and living. This in
cludes renovation and expansion of a
number of existing buildings; lighting for
the football stadium; and landscaping.
Southern Baptist lend
support to their colleges
North Carolina Southern Baptists
beheve their church colleges and univer
sities should remain a high priority for
support, while also affirming that an
education in N.C. Baptist college “. . . is
equal or superior to an education in a
state supported school.”
The findings were compiled from a
statewide survey among Baptist pastors
and church lay leaders from 735
representative churches located in all
parts of the state. More than 20 percent
responded to the mail survey, with an
identical survey published in the Baptist
newsweekly, the Biblical Recorder,
yielding virtually the same results.
The N.C. Baptist convention supports
Wake Forest and Campbell Universities
and Meredith, Mars Hill, Gardner-Webb,
Wingate and Chowan Colleges.
The state Baptist convention give ap
proximately 22 percent of its
undesignated budget to the seven schools.
The 19-question survey covered such
issues as the future of church colleges
among Baptist, success of graduates
from Baptist colleges, and funding of the
schools by the statewide denomination.
Almost 99 percent of those surveyed,
said Christian colleges should remain a
high priority in North Carolina Baptist
life, with more than 90 percent saying
“they would strongly recommend or en
courage a child or grandchild to attend a
North Carolina Baptist school.”
Over 90 percent of the respondents said
they believe the quality of education at
Baptist schools is equal or superior to an
education at a state-supported institu
tion. More than 80 percent rated the
overall programs of the church colleges
as outstanding or good.
When asked to rate the success of
graduates from North Carolina Baptist
college, 83 percent said they believe
“they do well or very well.”
The three main strengths of Baptist
schools, according to the survey, are the
quality of education offered, the Chris
tian commitment of faculty, and the
spiritual emphasis on the campuses.
The most often cited weakness of Bap
tist colleges is the cost of education at the
private schools as compared to the tuition
and fees at state-supported institutions.
About one-half of the survey
respondents were church lay leaders and
84 percent of the total respondents were
from churches with membership between
100 and 999.
Discuss campaign
Robert Spiuei; of Windsor, right, campaign chairman, and President
Whitaker discuss the record $4 million Deuelopment Program cam
paign approved by the trustees and aduisors. The campaign will fund
additional student aid/scholarships, program deuelopment. renova
tion of facilities, and endowment for teaching and administration.
Spivev and Whitaker announced that the college has received over
one-fourth of its goal from an in-house campaign
The Chowanian, February, 1986—PAGE THREE