THE DECREE
SEPT. 27, 1968
ACULTY
ORUM
Editorial
By Rex Tucker
Experiencing The Other Side
Last spring a number
of the faculty at Wesley
an were invited, as a ges
ture of Christian friend
ship from Miss Williams,
a maid working at the
college, to attend services
of worship at the Negro
Baptist Church in Whit
akers, a half hour’s drive
from our campus. After
several other faculty
members had attended, I
went one Sunday afternoon
to worship with Miss Will
iams and her congrega
tion. As in many other
Negro churches, the ush
ers were women, Miss
Williams among them.Up
on arrival, I was ushered
to a front pew, where my
friend from college greet
ed me, and where I sat
during the opening min
utes of worship.
Since the minister had
yet to arrive from con
ducting services at an
other church, one of the
church elders began wor
ship with appointed read
ings from the Bible for the
day. These were inter
spersed with songs and
hymns began spontan
eously from the congre
gation, led by a few wo
men who took seats at the
front of the church in
chairs set just below the
pulpit. I suppose an ob
server might character
ize this time as a kind
of "warm-up” period be
fore the preacher came;
yet such a term, too de
tached and callous,does
not indicate the quiet,rev-
erent fervor accompany
ing the informality of
those moments as the con
gregation joined in hymns
familiar to them.
When the preacher ar
rived, I was introduced
to him, and was invited,
being a fellow clergyman,
to join him in the pul
pit. (Miss Williams had
done her homework, you
see.) As worship pro
gressed, the minister
asked me if I would of
fer the pastoral prayer, a
request I was not alto
gether surprised to hear.
Yet I was made a bit un
comfortable by the infor
mal abruptness of the re
quest. My spoken pray
ers were echoed and re
assured by the rhythmic
naturalness and force
fulness of the Amens that
punctuated my words.Soon
I found myself entering
that rhythm to feel a com
mon and cumulative ear
nestness about my voiced
: An Incident
petitions and their vocal
answers.
Later I was asked to
say a few words to the
congregation,which I did,
before listening to the
sermon itself. The
preacher spoke his words
with cumulative emotion,
yet not without intellectual
clarity and substance. I
felt I was listening to one
of the better semons I
have heard since coming
to Rocky Mount two years
ago.
Immediately preceding
the sermon, the choir had
sung the morning anthem,
with an artistry which of
ten hides beneath seem
ing artlessness. The an
them was begun by a young
girl first singing its love
ly melodic line with the
purity and directness
which belong especially to
youth. She was met on
the second verse by the
whole choir singing a deep
and rhythmic accompan
iment beneath her clear
voice which, in antiphon-
al contrast, brought pow
er to the purity of her
singing.
There are other ele
ments of the service I
could profitably comment
(Continued on Page 3)
Perspective
By: JEFF SHELTON
This column, unlike its
predecessors in past
years of the Decree, will
attempt to take an inde
pendent, uninhibited ap
proach to editorial com
ment. In the main, its
topics will involve items
of national and interna
tional importance, al
though the campus may
draw comment on oc
casion. It is hoped that
controversy will result,
even though the phenome
non is rare at Wesleyan.
After the Chicago con
vention and its accom
panying chaos, the politi
cians have laid even
greater emphasis on Law
and Order in America.
It’s as much of a vote-
getter as the time-test
ed tenets of American
ism, with just as much
universal appeal. But did
Law and Order really tri-
umph at Chicago with the
suppression of a bunch of
“hippies and draft-card
burners”, or was it a
victory for something less
virtuous?
Two candidates for the
Democratic nomination
witnessed the activity in
the streets and were dis
gusted by what they saw;
Senator McCarthey’s
sympathy for the demon
strators even led him to
set up an aid station for
the casualties. It was ob
viously a tactical error on
Boss D,aley’s part in send
ing such a large group of
national guard and police
to quell a disturbance of
the guests in the Hilton
lobby. But, more import
antly, what did these train
ed protagonists of Law
and Order do when they
arrived? They proceeded
indiscriminately to re
lease their aggressions
on anyone with a uniform
(foreign and domestic),
even a young girl on an
errand for Senator Mc
Govern. It is heartening
news to learn more re
cently of a poll placing
Wallace as number one
with the nation’s cops. Also
the action of a group of
off-duty New York men-
in-blue (Wallace support
ers) in attacking some
Black Panthers without
provocation is equally
encouraging.
Certainly there were
antagonists in the crowd
at the Chicago Hilton, but
should we not expect more
restraint in our supposed
ly competent lawmen and
soldiers than that display
ed by a few over-zeal
ous militants in the
crowd? We in America
must adequately define
what we mean by Law and
Order. Hitler’s brand of
enforecement brought
peace in the streets, but
it also had an effect on
the freedom of speech in
Germany...
Fraternity
(Continued from Page 1)
on Parents’ Weekend for
all visiting parents. Dur
ing homecoming, the Fra
ternity will co-sponsor a
dance with Alpha Delta
Chi. Along with the open
and closed fraternity par
ties, Nu Gamma Phi will
sponsor another dance and
a beach party in the
spring.
Upperclassmen Rush
Period will be staged dur
ing the first or second
week of October, while the
Freshman Rush Period
beings in the early Spring.
One semester’s attend
ance as a regular male
student and the maintain
ing of a 2.0 average are
the only requirements for
membership.
Since its formation,
certain guidelines have
been used by the Frater
nity in the planning of its
endeavors. They are stat
ed in the constitution of
the Fraternity as follows;
“The purpose of Nu Gam
ma Phi is to promote fel
lowship and mutual trust
among its members, to
uphold the tradition and
the ideals of N. C. Wes
leyan College, to encour
age excellence in schol
arship, and to inculcate
in its members the high
est ideals of Christian
manhood and good citizen
ship.” There is no doubt
that the past activity of
the Fraternity has re
flected the meaningful
ness of these words to
both the leaders and the
members of Nu Gamma
Phi Fraternity.
Fraternities
Whatever the situation on other campuses, the fra
ternity system at Wesleyan has been of great service
both to the college organization and to the student body
as a whole, in spite of the limited role allowed it.
Nu Gamma Phi and Alpha Delta Chi, although social
fraternities, have yet participated, often jointly, in
service projects both for the college and for the sur
rounding community. Both, for example, contribute heav
ily to the local blood drives. That Nu Gamma Phi
last year won the' Dean of Students’ Award for service
shows clearly the fraternities’ service role on campus,
and the good-natured, often noisy competition between
the fraternities for prestige and recognition has done
much for overall school spirit. Finally, Wesleyan’s
social life has been broadened by the open dances
and parties given by the fraternities.
The potential for future contribution to Wesleyan’s
development by the fraternities is very great. For
example, the problem of providing additional campus
housing as Wesleyan grows could be^ solved by allowing
the fraternities to go national . Through national
affiliations they could borrow cheaply to build fra
ternity houses, providing additional living space for
students at no cost to the college.
One would hope that, as Wesleyan s fraternities grow
and become even more a part of her traditions, they
will be allowed to assume greater responsibilities in
leadership and in service to the Wesleyan community.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
i
V-O-6^% I
“ox., 50 IT'6 JUST A PUMMY—3UT I NOTICE TWEV ^ET
TH' Pick of th' \h th' 'flevge class' each yeap. “
Campus Movie: DARLING (1965)
starring
Julie Christie (Academy Award)
and Dirk Bogarde & Laurence Harvey.
Directed by John Schlesinger.
fl)E J
etree
Official Student Newspaper of
North Carolina Wesleyan College
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