THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
OF CHOWAN COLLEGE
WMS
OCTOBER 1991 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 1
Chowan open doors for 144th year,
many campus changes being noted
The new Trading Post Bookstore offers a wide variety of products and supplies. Aldeen Gatewood, manager, sells
balloons for all occasions to Chowan students.
As the school opened its doors
for the 144th year, the student body
numbered 738 with 458 freshmen,
a decline in enrollment from the
previous years.
One of the reasons for the de
crease in the number of students
enrolled at Chowan is the smaller
amount of high school graduates
in the class of 1991. Demographi-
cally, there is a smaller pool of
applicants from which to draw
freshmen. This trend is expected to
continue through the early nine
ties.
In preparation for becoming a
four year college, Chowan took
steps to improve the quality of
students at Chowan. For the first
time ever, Chowan refused admit
tance to 158 applicants. SAT scores
were required for the first time,
and in anticipation of joining the
Division 111 athletic ranks, Chowan
is doing away with athletic schol
arships because Division III
schools are not allowed to give out
athletic scholarships.
Fewer students is not the only
change that has met the Chowan
Braves this year. The Lakeside
Student Center has been renamed
intheirhonor. It is now dubbed the
Braves’ Den. The Thomas Cafete
ria has new tables and chairs and
brighter colors to improve the
atmosphere and make the cafeteria
more serviceable. The bookstore
has also been changed. It is now
located in the back of the Columns
Building.
Another change that most re
turning students will not notice is
the addition of a freshman year
experience course called “College
101". The class’ purpose is to
provide first time college students
with practical information about
adjusting to college and succeed
ing in a higher education environ
ment.
Most of the changes Chowan
has experienced and is continuing
to go trough are preparations for
next year’s junior class and
Chowan’s rebirth as a four year
college.
New faculty members join Chowan at beginning of semester
Dr. Bentley
Dr. Charles P.
Bentley has
joined the faculty
of Chowan as
chairman of the
college’s new
department of
education. He
comes to
Chowan from
Wilkesboro, N.C. where for the
past ten years he was director of
the Regional Education Center and
member of the State Superinten
dent’s AdministrativeTeam forthe
state of North Carolina,
Dr. Bentley assumed responsi
bilities for the department of edu
cation at Chowan in early August.
Education is one of the four-year
degrees Chowan will offer begin
ning in the fall of 1992.
Dr. Bentley has a wide range of
experience in education including
fifteen years as associate superin
tendent for instruction and person
nel for the 12,000 pupil school
system in Wilkes County, N.C. He
served for three years as principal
of the junior high in Kemersville,
N.C. and five years as a teacher at
the elementary level in Winston-
Salem N.C. He also has ten years
of experience as adjunct professor
in curriculum and school admini
stration at Appalachian State Uni
versity Graduate School.
A graduate of Mars Hill College
with an associate of arts degree, he
holds a bachelor’s degree in social
studies and English from Wake
Forest University; and a master’s
of education from the University
~of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
with a graduate teaching certifi
cate in social studies and school
administration. He also received
the educational specialist degree
from UNC-Chapel Hill. He earned
the doctorate in education in school
administration from the Univer
sity of North Carolina at Greens
boro. , , ,
He IS a member of the First
Baptist Church of North
Wilkesboro where he served as a
deacon, Sunday School teacher,
and on the personnel and financial
committees of the church.
The new pro
fessor of Eng
lish in the de
partment of lan
guage and litera-
ture at Chowan
is Dr. Richard R.
Gay who joined
the faculty at the
beginning of the
fall semester.
Dr. Gay received the doctoral
degree in English from the Univer
sity of North Carolina at Greens
boro. He holds the bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in English from
the University of Richmond in
Virginia. He completed his doc
toral thesis on “TTie Deianeiran
Tradition in Six English Trage
dies”.
His previous teaching experi-
Dr. Richard
R. Gay
ence includes ten years of teaching
secondary English in the Virginia
Public schools; six semesters of
teaching English undergraduate
courses at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro; and Eng
lish lab assistant at the University
of Richmond.
Dr. Gay is the author of journal
articles, one of which recently
appeared in Notes on Mississippi
Writers, entitled “Arthurian Trag
edy in Faulkner’s Absalom, Abas-
lom!”. He also published a paper
at the Southeastern Mediev^ As
sociation in 1990. He is a member
of the Modem Language Associa
tion, the National Council for
Teacher Education and the South
eastern Medieval Association.
His teaching specialities are in
the areas of British literature
through the 18th century, rhetoric
and composition, and supervision
ofEnghsh education majors. He is
married and resides in Waverly,
Virginia.
Edwin Dean
Gilbert has
joined the fac
ulty of Chowan
as chairperson
of the depart
ment of
graphic com
munications,
announced Dr.
Edwin Dean
Gilbert
B. Franklin Lowe, vice preident
for academic affairs. Gilbert will
supervise all of the instruction,
printing and photography pro
grams, and production work in the
Krueger School of Graphic Com
munications at Chowan.
Gilbert comes to Chowan from
Charlotte, where he was employed
with Ringier America, Inc. a
graphic arts firm specializing in
electronic prepress production. He
designed a training pregram for
production employees and man
agement staff while at Ringier and
initiated training programs at print
ing plants in Georgia and Illinois.
He received the bachelor of
science degree in industrial and
technical education from Appala
chian State University with a con
centration in drafting and graphic
arts. He also received the master’s
degree in higher education with a
concentration in administration
from Appalachian.
Gilbert’s teaching experience
includes positions at Anson Tech
nical College in Ansonville, N.C.
and at Pensacola Junior College in
Pensacola, Florida, where he in
structed printing courses, served
as in-plant printing manager for
the college, and taught graphic arts
courses. At Anson Techical Col
lege, he served as chairman of the
graphic arts department.
As the director of new and ex
panding industries at Central Pied
mont Community College for six
years, he marketed North Caro
lina’s economic development
package to Mecklenburg County’s
prospective new industries.
20th president says Chowan "diamond in rough"
By Jessica Kiser
Feature Editor
“I saw potential, a diamond in
the rough,” confesses Dr. Jerry
Francis Jackson, when asked why
he took the position as Chowan’s
20th president.
In 1989, Dr. Jackson was serv
ing as vice president for develop
ment at the Southern Baptist Con
vention’s Foreign Mission Board
in Richmond, Virginia. In that
position he had been successful in
raising over $30 million. That
success is one of the main reasons
he gives for his own selection as
president of Chowan College. He
believes the Presidential Selection
Committee was looking for a suc
cessful fund raiser, and Dr.
Jackson’s record proves that they
found one.
Dr. Jackson admits that his goal
all along was to become a college
president. He took the job at
Chowan because of that goal and
because he was open to move to
North CaroUna.
Stepping into the position of
college president was not easy. His
predecessor. Dr. Bruce E.
Whitaker, had been the president
of Chowan College for 32 years.
“People who have worked for an
earlier regime are comfortable.
They understand everything about
it and feel secure. Any time you
have new leadership, there have
got to be new ideas. This creates
problems for them. On the other
side you have certain groups that
are ready for change. This mainly
includes the recent or younger
faculty.”
Dr. Jackson claims that he has
tried to balance the two out, but he
is open about the fact that he leans
toward change.
Some of the changes he has
started at Chowan include the tran-
sistion to a four year college. In his
inauguration speech. Dr. Jackson
said, “They planted a Baptist
school. It has been tended well; it
has grown well; and it draws us in
to this occasion today. But we see
that the need is here for new crops,
new planting, new tending.”
He still believes what he said. “I
was trying to say, ‘Hey, it is time
for this to be a four year institution.
It is time for your hand to be put to
the plow’ ” he clarifies.
Dr. Jackson has certainly puthis
hand to the plow, and he is not
finished yet His five-year goals
for Chowan College include build
ing a new student center that will
house, among other things, a new
cafeteria, a movie theater, a bowl
ing alley, and a new bookstore. He
would iso like to buy the old high
school building that backs up to
the Chowan campus. He sees the
museum it could house, the audito
rium for the music and drama
programs at Chowan, a gymna
sium for intramurals, and the extra
classrooms. He would also like to
build a retirement home on or
connected to the campus. He be
lieves it would be a plus for the
community in the way of jobs and
“a good fund raising prospect”.
He believes that in five years
Chowan College will be a good,
four-year, private college that
appe^ to students with SAT scores
of700-1000, although Chowan will
still help those that fall below that
level. He wants Chowan to remain
a caring college that wants to see
its students and graduates to suc
ceed.
This is lot of foresight for a man
who freely admits that when he
graduated from high school, “I
thoughteverythingcentered around
a ball... baseball and football.."
“My father saw the importance
of college and had ingrained into
my head that I had to go to college.
I Imew I was not ready to go to a big
school like Carolina,” admits Dr.
Jackson. So, he attended Mars Hill
College for two years. There he
was influenced by Evelyn Under
wood. She was a tough teacher but
he learned a lot from her. The least
of these lessons was not self-confi
dence. “She made me believe that
I could,” he admits.
At the end of his sophomore
year, he had an associate’s degree
and a wife, he met Carolyn G.
Laughlin at Mars Hill College, and
nine months later they were mar
ried. They both transferred to
Southern Illinois University be
cause of money. Mrs. Jackson al
ready had a scholarship to study
there and soon after they arrived.
Dr. Jackson did too. With fifty
dollars income a piece from stu
dent jobs and fifty dollars from his
father, they began to work towards
their bachelor’s degrees. Dr.
Jackson does admit that getting an
education was cheaper then. He
and his wife paid $19.50 a quarter
for their education.
During the next seven years. Dr.
Jackson went to school. Mrs.
Jackson worked on her education,
too, but at one point she did hold a
full-time job in order for Dr.
Jackson to continue in his educa
tion. He finished his doctorate work
one year before his wife did.
In 1963, the Jacksons had one
child, and Dr. Jackson began his
career as an educator. He got his
start at Campbell University serv
ing as an assistant professor of
political science and history.
The Jacksons were lucky that
they had some friends who would
swap babysitting services. Al
though Dr. Jackson Sdmits that his
family did suffer some from draw
ing the education process out so
long, they did make it. Dr. Jackson
says church had a lot to do with
that.
“Had it not been for my wife I
would not have graduated. I say
that in jest, but there is a lot of truth
to that statement,” confides Dr.
Jackson.
Besides the required quarter of
chemistry that his chemistry major
wife coached him through, the
support she has given him in what
ever he has done is a point of
strength he continually refers to.
“My wife and I are both independ
m
President Jackson and wife, Carolyn.
ent. She does her thing, and I do my
thing. I support her professionally,
and she supports me profession
ally. We recognize the other’s
independence.”
When asked what the key is to
his marriage. Dr. Jackson has a
simple, one word response, “Re
spect”.
Although he does not recom
mend the same path that he and his
wife took, he admits that he and his
wife are “one of the lucky ones”.
They story of Dr. Jackson does
not stop there. When asked how
long he planned to be at Chowan,
Dr. Jackson commented that he
plans to stay at Chowan for five to
seven years. He has nothing on the
horizon, and he does not have his
eye on another institution. An
underiying goal for the future, that
he is toying with, is becoming a
consultant for a fund-raising firm
or starting his own firm.
Although Dr. Jackson is gone
the last three days of the week, he
tries to be available when he is on
campus. He is willing to help stu
dents with problems they may be
having. They must go through the
proper channels. That means that
they should start with their resi
dent directors or deans and bring it
to him if it can’t be resolved by
them.
He is willing to have breakfast
or lunch with a group of ten stu
dents or less. The students must
initiate the meeting and schedule it
with Dean Byrd.
Dr. Jackson also walks to work
in the mornings and tries to attend
as many student functions as pos
sible. He invites the student body
to take advantage of these chances
to communicate with him.