GARDNER-WEBB COLLEGE
Thursday, January 23, 1992 No. 7
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Gardner-Webb University?
■
By Dawn E. Camp
Editor
GW President Chris White met
Thursday, January 16, with faculty and staff.
The topic: whether or not Gardner-Webb
will become a university.
White opened his remarks by saying that
the meeting was not a place for making
decisions. Indeed, that decision rests with
the Board of Trustees and the Baptist State
Convention. Instead, he said, the meeting
was to start a series of exchange of ideas and
opinion concerning the issue.
White said the potential change comes at
a time when many colleges are changing to
university status. "We are in a changing age,"
he said. "We are experiencing a period of
name inflation'.'
Why the recent trend of changes? Be
cause of the growing number of community
colleges and technical schools calhng them
selves colleges, he said.
"People get confused as to what’s a col
lege and what’s not," he said. He added that
one way of distinguishing Gardner-Webb as
a four-year institution is assuming the
university title.
He also sees the change as a way of focus
ing on the future. "We are a stable institu
tion, but we are stable at a lean level of
resources. This (change) will give us the op
portunity to do things that we cannot now
do."
In the question-and-answer section of the
meeting. White furthered this idea. (Q:
Will this change involve more than just a
name?) "What we are doing in that process
is making a commitment to what we want to
be. If changing the name is all we’re going
to do, why bother?"
Faculty members also posed questions
about whether the concept of a university is
consistent with the Gardner-Webb "People
Who Care" image. White said, "We need to
be very careful that we don’t change that
personal touch that makes us special.
Everything we’ve said comes from a desire
to become better."
"We need to be veiy
careftil that we don’t change
that personal touch that
makes us special..."
--President Chris White
In a later interview. White talked of how
this change is directed toward the future.
"Some of the decisions we’re making are
decisions for years to come...That’s where I
would like for us to dream." He added that
the college needs an ideal dream of what we
can become and a plan for how to get there.
In relation to students. White said, "If this
institution prospers, the value of your de
gree prospers. If this institution falters, the
value of your degree is defaced."
Prior to the forum, Audrey Sloan, direc
tor of student activities, indicated that she
sees possible benefits should the change
occur. "It would put us in a status, and it
would broaden our horizons," she said. "We
have a strong faculty, graduate program,
nursing school, athletic department and a
strong foundation." She feels that the
university status would help the college
strengthen and grow in those areas and
more.
Dr. Jack Partain, vice chair of the faculty,
describes faculty response as mixed. 'Tacul-
ty opinions range widely on the subject.
Those who lean toward the name change
seem to be persuaded by the hope that this
will bring about big time changes in
academic programs.
"Those not convinced about the name
change know that the name ’college’
denotes a distinctive kind of liberal arts
education, a kind of education Gardner-
Webb College and many other colleges
across the nation are doing very well. If we
pour our energies into further enhancing
our academic stature, Gardner-Webb can
stand out among these colleges. Our future
is about what we are^not just about what our
image is.
"Personally, I have not yet heard any ar
gument for such a change that seems to hold
much water."
Like faculty, early student reactions indi
cate a variety of concerns. Freshman nurs
ing major Virginia Ward is outspoken about
her ideas on the subject. "There are no
benefits to GWC becoming a university ex
cept that it sounds better! It is not big
enough to be a university, and even if we do
get more people, the residence halls do not
have the capacity to accommodate them."
When Stacy Stanley hears the word
"university," she doesn’t picture Gardner-
Webb. 'There are bigger schools than
Gardner-Webb that are still colleges. I grew
up around Georgia Tech and the University
See UNIVERSITY, page 2
The Russian Republics: After the Separation
By Dawn E. Camp
Editor
Members of GWC Social Science depart
ment and administrative staff recently had
the opportunity to glance inside the remains
of the fallen Soviet Union.
On January 15, a delegation of men from
Perm State University in Russia, travelling
from the University of Georgia (Athens) to
Washington, D.C., stopped at GWC for a
luncheon. Following the meal. Dr.
Alexander Strokanov, Associate Director of
the Federation of Children’s Organizations,
spoke to the group about the current situa
tion in the former Soviet republics.
Dr. Gil Blackburn commented on
Strokanov’s temperament during the talk. "I
was struck by the combination of joking
about how bad their present situation is and
a deep-seated anxiety for their future. They
seemed not sure how they were going to get
out of this economic mess their country is in
or indeed what country they were citizens
of."
Strokanov spoke of this confusion as he
described as developing from the separation
of the republics. "I think that I’m a Soviet,
but now I must rethink because I’m a Rus
sian."
Strokanov was amazed with the speed at
which the change has come. "In 1985, we
only spoke about reform," he said. "Now, we
are begiiming reform."
He added that democracy will not appear
in the region overnight. "I think this is not
democracy government. This is demo-com
munist. It is 50 percent communist, 50 per
cent democracy. We now have
democratura, a mixture of democracy and
dictatorship."
Blackburn explains. 'These people are
trying to estabhsh a democracy with officials
who were in power under communism.
They can’t shed those attitudes overnight.
Dr. Strokanov is still suspicious of leaders
who say they became democrats overnight."
Despite the uncertain days that lie ahead,
Strokanov remains optimistic about the fate
of his country. "I hope in democracy; I hope
in a market economy; I hope in my people;
See REPUBLICS, page 2