3hp ^ktrl A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF FLORA MACDONALD COLLEGE Volume No. 8 Flora Macdonald College, February, 1960 No. 6 Sam Johnson’s Literarj^ jC!ub Outgrowth of S.E.W. At the last service of Spiritu-1 pie who are willing to read) and al Enrichment Week. Dr. Frye said' most coEege students are familiar with seventeenth ceur tury literature but know noth" ing about contemporary twen tieth century writings. He chal- leniged us to learn something aibout the worild arotuid us. The following morning when Miss Walker went into her Sopho more Lit. dlas's, the students immediately ibegan to question her about why they were study ing eighteenth centxuy litera ture. Replying that we must know something about our licri- tage in literature before we can understand present writers and their philosophies, she immedi ately brought the dl^ass back to the eightenth century. Discus sing Samuel Jolmson.’s Literary Caub of 1764, a group wMdi met ,and discussed current writers and! their works, Miss Walker came up with; a “bright idea.” Why don’t you students form a literary society of your own? ^ The class was all enthusiastic j about the idoa. Menibersliip wili be open to any interested peo-| share views in grouip discxission. The plan is to obtain paperback books from a publishing com pany at fifty cents a; copy, read a book a month, and then dis cuss them. Anyone interested is invited to sign up on the second floor bulletin boardi and to be looking for books she is interest ed in reading. You cam find these titles by looking in the book review sections of Time and Newsweek magazines, the New York Times, and your hometown, newspaper. Sam cand his friendsi met and discussed literature over their cups of tea. We have progress ed past the point of the tradition of the Englishi tea, but we still have the same intellectual curi osity. If yo'U pay fifty cents to see Rock Hudson in a love scene, why not pay fifty cents to hear a twentieth century writer present ini his way some of the more serious aspects of life? A book a month from the century twenty Dr. Vardell Is Acting President Deans Gwynn and Decker Vice Presidents ■Will stiimilate yovuf minct tout plenty. Seminary Deputation Team To Visit FMC by Martha Perry Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christiani Education are sending a deputation team to Red Springs on February 27 and 28. This group of students is com ing as .a vocationali team to pre sent to college students the vari ous vocations available within the church and our denomina tion. The team will arrive on Sat urday and spend the night in homes in town. Sunday morn ing one of the group wUl visit in the W. F. iSimdiay iSdiool dass and present the morning lesson. Aifiter one of the U.T.S. students preaches at the morning wor ship service, the visitors will be guests of the W.F. at dinner in the college dining haH. Sunday afternoon is reserved for individu^ conferences with the team at the college. Any stu dents interested in Heaming more about the U.T.S.-P.S.C.E. program are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to receive first-liand information about it. Simday evening the deputa tion team wiU again be guests of the-W.F. at the regular 6:30 meeting at the church. Again tihere wiliL be time for questions and) discuOTlon for those inter ested! in the progrMH they are presenting. Some who rememlber Ruth Evelyn Topping may be inters ested to know that she is ai mem ber of this team and lias b^ped in its preparation for us. Home Conceit Mar, 19 Lorine Mitchell from Port St. Joe, Fla., choir manager, has worked very hard in planning the Choral Club’s. “Florida Tour” during April 6-10. The cJuib win also sing in North Caro lina, South Carolina, and Geor gia. As flutist, Lorine wiU ac company the choir in - Ralph Vauglm Williams’ ‘Magnificat,” also featuring Margaret Ann Martin from Pineville, Ky., con tralto soloist. This year’s program) includes worksi of Handel, Paltesticna, Brahms, R. Vaughn Williams, Bruibb, and Hindemith. Other featured choir soloists are Jane Woodard, Raleigh^ N. €., Carroll Shoemaker, Virginia Beach, Va., and Violet Culler, Jefferson, N. C. The accompanists for this year are Jeannette Davis^ At kins, Va., Gwen Ha)wley, Mor- ganton, N. C., and Margaret Ann Martin, Pineville, Ky. As student director, Alice Carol Huggins wil condluct a portion of the program. The traditional tartans, rep resenting different Scottish plaids wUl be worn for the choir’s secular programs. Fea tured also will be a group of Highland airs and dances. The dances are imder the direction of Miss Ethel Bateman, Physi cal Education Dept. The choir robes carry the school colors, royM Wtue andl white, and ini tials. Picture postcards of the 1960 OLub may be purdiiaised tar five VARDELL CHARLES The mid-winter meeting of the Flora Macdonald College Board! off Trustees was held on Tuesday, February 9, with the Chairman' of the Board, Halbert McNair Jones, presiding. The highlight of the business session was the appointment of Dr. Charles Vardell, Jr. as act ing presidtent, succeeding Dr. Marshalj Woodson, who in De cember accepted the presidiency of the Edgar Tufts Memorial Association at Banner Elk. The new acting president was bom of distinguished parentage and has a distinguished record. He is the son of the late Dr. Charles Graves Vardeia (Flora Macdonald’s first president) and PRICE H. GWYNN, JR. RODGER W. DECKER Alumnae Honored Dr. Vardell on 100th Birthday by Linda Phillips “Lives of great men all rem'ind us We can make our lives sublime; And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands off time.” —^Longfellow On Friday afternoon, Febru ary 12, 1960, at 4:00 in the col lege Auditorium), the alumnae and students of this college shared a unique opportunity — that of commemorating the one- hundredth anniversary of the birthday of ,the late Dr. Charles Graves Vard^, Founder and cents each from Magie Fish- bume, Greensboro, N. C., in charge of publicity. Recordings of last year’s tour are still avaUalble and will be sold following all concerts. The high fidelity recording has eight selections by the choir. The I960 Home Concert will be Saturday, Mardh 19 in the college auditoriuini Builder of Plora Macdonald Col lege. The Memorial Service — touchingilly beautiful in its sim plicity and sincerity—was spon sored and presented by his many ‘girls’ who loved bdm — the members of the Flora Mac donald Alumnae Association. A spirit of reverence perme'- ated the service; there is a sa)c- redness about the memory ot one to whose greatness is borne such immeasurable testimony as that of the lives of those whose destinies were shaped by his character and by the quality o£ the institution he fotmded. The service opened with an organ prelude by Mrs. Frances McPhaul McMilani and a prayer by Mrs. Hannah McNeill Mc Millan, botii of Red Springs. Mrs. Phd)e Harlan Emmons, Alumnae President, brought greetings from several aiuiminae who were unable to be present, among them Dr. Vardell’s d)aughr ters. She then read an old) ac count of the celebration of Dr. Vardell’3 fiftieth birtbdlay in 1910 at the college. Linda Rumple VardeU, who founded the FMC Conservatory of Music; and the grandison of Jethro Rumple, and Mrs. Jane Wharton Rumple, of Salisbury. His wife is the former Eleanor Ferrell of Macon, Ga., and they have one daiughter, Mrs. Clem ens Sandresky of Winston- Salem. He wil combine his new duties with hisi present position as Dean of the Conservatory of Music. Dr. Vardell received his early education in Red Springs, after which he was graduated from Princeton University as am hon or man; from the Julliard) School of Music, also with the highest honors; and from University of Rochester, where he received the M. A. and Ph. D. degrees. He is a man of unusual albility, and his career has been one of conspicuous success. He is ex ceptionally weli qualified for his new position. Dr. Vardeli came to Flora Macdonald) firom Salem College in 1951, Wihere be had helflrttKr position of Dean of the School of Music since 1923. While at Salem, he was acting president of that college for several months during the iUmessof the president, and was a member of the Board of Trustees for a nu)mlber of years. Dr. Vardell is an' Associate of )the American Guild off Organ ists, and the offices be has held include President of the South ern District of the North Caro lina State Music Teachers’ As- sociaition, and Vice-President of the Southern District of the Na tional Association of Schools of Mtisic. In addition to being one of North Carolina’s foremost musicians, be is a composer of considerable note. Among his best known published comiposi- tions are “The Iniimitable Lov ers,” a cantata for piano and orchestra; and “Joe Clark Steps Out,” a setting of old fodik danc es. Among other actions taken at the board meeting. Dr. Price H. Gwynn, Jr. was elected Vice President in charge of academic affairs, while continuing as Dean of the College. Rodger W. Decker, Aministratiye Dean of the College, was named a vice- president. The Dean of Admis sions itold the Board that the registration for the commg year is double what it was at this time last year. No memorial to Dr. Vardell would bave been comiplete without music, for both be and his wife, who foundied the con^ servatory, were lovers 0(£ all things beautifull. Mrs. Ruth Sinr dair played Chopio’s Etude in (Continued on Page 4)