Harold Poster—JNinth President
Great Expectations
LIBRARY
''OT ) 6
ATLAiYTIC
CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
Ag^ -| . _ CHRISTLAN COLLEGE
• 1 oday And Tomorrow
EDITORS NOTE: The
following is an article by Russell
Rawlings, Wilson Daily Times
Reporter and Atlantic Christian
College Alumnis, as it appeared
in the September 2, 1978 edition
of the Wilson Daily Times.
By RUSSELL RAWLINGS
Harold Doster listens
patiently with the telephone
receiver pressed firmly be
tween his ear and shoulder.
The caller is Tom Hackney,
chairman of the Board of
Trustees at Atlantic Christian
C ollege.
■'That's fine, and I'll meet
with you soon to discuss this
further. Yes, thank V(xi for
calling.”
And so goes the job of a
college president,
Doster took over nine
i
ATLANT
OCTOB
A Different Side Of
The Man On Top
Who is the man in this picture?
He is our new president Dr.
Harold C. Doster, but not as we
now know him. Most of us have
met him by now or at least know
who he is and something about
his future plans for Atlantic
Christian College. The little we
know about him is connected
with the college. What is behind
this man? Where is he from?
What was he like when he was
younger? What has brought him
to his present position? In other
words, what is his other side?
Continue reading and meet the
personal side of Dr. Doster.
Life began for Dr. Doster on
March 6, 1931, in a small private
hospital in Mayfield, Ohio. He
lived in the small village of
Mayfield with his father,
Donald; mother, Mary; and
younger sister, Nancy. Although
he lived in town he was actually
a country boy. Much of his early
years were spent working on his
grandfather’s farm. As he grew
older his family bought a pwtato
farm, a dairy farm, and an all
purpose truck farm. Farming
wasn’t the only family business;
actually, it was more of a
sideline. His father owned a
Chrysler Company Agency and
was also Mayor of Mayfleid for
15 years.
Dr. Doster attended grade
school in an old-fashioned little,
red schoolhouse; the same
schoolhouse that his grandfather
had attended as a little boy.
President Doster’s junior high
and high school years were busy
and action-packed. He was
active in the choir and traveling
octet, played cornet in the band,
did photography for the school
newspaper and annual, and was
in one musical and at least two
plays a year. Dr. Doster’s
participation did not stop with
culture oriented activities, but
went on into athletics. He was
starting quarterback and
defensive end for the Mayfield
High football team, pitcher for
the baseball team, and center at
6’0” on the basketball team. Six
feet sounds mighty short for a
center now, but he was the
tallest man on the team and he
only lost one jump ball in four
years. He kept his grades up in
spite of all his activities and
graduated as an honor student.
Harold Doster then ...
Dr. Doster spent his summers
working at interesting jobs. He
built houses in Florida one
summer, worked on the farms,
and spent his most interesting
summer working in a carnival
and traveling all over Ohio to
different fairs. His position was
that of a barker or talker for a
glass show. Perhaps this is
where he developed his talent for
public speaking.
Many of Dr. Doster’s activities
centered around the church. He
sang in the choir and par
ticipated in the youth group. At
one time he was President of the
Tri-County Christian Youth
Fellowship and President of
N.E. Ohio’s Interdenominational
Activities. Because of the
challenge his church work of
fered him and his deep respect
for his Grandfather Smith’s
ministry, Dr. Doster decided at
the age of twelve to make the
ministry his life’s profession.
Dr. Doster attended Bethany
College in Bethany, W. Va. and
majored in Philosophy and
Religion and minored in Jour
nalism and Psychology. He
belonged to the social fraternity.
Beta Theta Pi and held the office
of Alumni Secretary. He was
active in the band. Photo Club,
newspaper work. Athletic Club,
student government. Campus
Pre-Ministerial Association
(president). Campus Christian
Association (president), and
Intercollegiate baseball. He
made the Dean's List and was a
member of Gamma Sigma
Dappa (similar to our Alpha
Chi).
Dr. Doster received his B.D.
from Yale University. While
studying there for the ministry
he met June Carolyn Marken
who was studying to become a
missionary to the Congo. They
married in June of 1955 and,
needless to say, June never
made it to Africa.
After graduating from Yale,
Dr. Doster accepted a job as
Minister to Shade Valley
Pastoral Unity in Ohio. This job
included a ministry to 4 to 7
See THE MAN Page 10
months ago following the
lengthy tenure of .Arthur
Wenger and the subsequent
interim term serv("d by .Milton
Adams. During that short
peri(xl of time he has been
faced with quickly learning
the role he must play not only
for the college but for the
community of Wilson as well
Thus far he has played tlwt
role extremely well.
"It Ivisn't really bt'en nine
months. Ivis it," says Doster
as he hangs up the phone.
"That's right, the month ends
this week. Well how abcxit
that. It really doesn't swm
like its been that long. Thus
far everytliing has gone so
well, it just hasn't seemed like
thiit long "
It has been a short nine
months for Dr. Harold C.
Doster, but in those nine
months 1k' hiis settled into tlie
president's chair and ef
fectively administered one of
North Carolina's most suc-
ces.sful private institutions. He
is proud of the sch(K)l's
traditions, Ixjt in a realistic
tone he admits that as is the
case with every school, there
are some changes which will
have to come about in order
for the college to flourish to its
highest degree.
Planning The Key
"Planning is the key to the
whole thing, if you plan for
something then yixi will be
able to accommodate it when
the time comes. That is one of
the most important ptoses of
this job. and we realize that
there are things which netxl to
be done, and we're doing our
best to set up our priorities so
that we may do those which
are netKled the most as s(H)n as
possible.
“We are by no means where
we want to be. but we know
where we're going, and we
have a carefully designed plan
toget us there."
The plan is indeixl carefully
designtnl. Doster is a man of
many nuH'tings, but 1h’ looks
forward to basically all of
them bwause he realizes that
his function as prt'sident is
Ix'st served by contact with a
large cross-section of pt'ople
During tin' normal working
day he will sit in on a number
of sessions with various
groups. Students, trustiH's,
faculty, administrators,
clergy, and members of the
community demand a great
deal of his time and energy
"At timi's it din's seem like
oix* meeting after another. Ixit
you have to recognize what
can lx‘ accomplislK'd thrinigh
mt>elings, and if you do then it
diK'sn't tend to over\\helm
you. Looking at the af-
tern(M)n's schtnlule I Iwve a
meeting with thrw faculty
memlx'rs, two administrators
and a clergjman sch(xiuled,
and tlwt's just half a day. One
could get discouragiKi. but
not when v(hi realize the
opportunity which is providc'd
here to work on the strengtlis
and weaknesses of the
college."
Countlfss .Meetings
■Although his day is filU“d
with countless meetings.
Doster still holds firm (o his
belief that he must stay within
close contact of tlx- student
b(xiy in order to hold a firm
grip on the situation. He ad
mits openly that there is a
need to divide his time among
certain groups, but that it
would be tragic is he was not
able to interact with the
student body.
That is why one of the
earliest steps, and possibly
one of his more major moves
in the directions of student
affairs, was the organi7.iJtion
of a Council of Presidents.
This group mw'ts once a
See DOSTER Page 7
j
i’
A’'X
And Dr. Doster Now.