The Decree
VOL. 7, NO. 13 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C. FRIDAY, APRIL 24,1992
Societies
organize
chapters
Two new society chapters have
been formed at North Carolina
Wesleyan College — Pi Gamma
Mu and Alpha Sigma Lambda.
Twenty-one charter members
were inducted into the North
Carolina Xi Chapter of K Gamma
Mu, the international honor soci-
3ty in social science founded in
1924.
The ceremony was held in
Leon Russell Chapel recently,
conducted by Dr. Richter Moore,
^ Gamma Mu chancellor for the
Atlantic Region and professor of
iK)litical science at Appalachian
Jtate University.
: The induction ceremony for
he Theta Epsilon Ch£5>ter of Al-
iha Sigma Lambda, a national
ionor society for students in con-
inuing higher education, was also
ield recently in Leon Russell
;;h£^l.
More than 40 founding mem-
>ers were inducted into the new
-ociety, founded in 1945.
- Fred Moore, assistant to the
(resident, delivered the address
0 the candidates.
Graduation
ends year
on May 2
Heading out
Wesleyan students prepare to exit the halls for the summer.
Classes end today and exams begin on Monday. Commencement
ceremonies will be held on May 2 in front of the Pearsall Library.
North Carolina Wesleyan
College will hold its 1992 Com
mencement Exercises in front of
the Pearsall Library on May 2.
The day will begin at 8 a.m.
with the ROTC Gold Bar Cer
emony for Kory M. Webster and
Ronald D. Bennett in the Leon
Russell Chisel. Also at 8 a.m.
there will be a complimentary
continental breakfast in the caf-
eterij..
Candidates for graduation will
assemble at 9 am. at the Student
Activities Center.
The NEW Wind Ensemble,
directed by Michael McAllister,
will hold an outdoor concert at
9:30 a.m. in front of the library.
The commencement proces
sion will begin at 10:30 a.m. led
by Faculty Marshal Dr. AUen S.
Johnson. Student marshals are
Kelly Allen, Kathryn Blalock,
James Heath, Rose Manning, and
Terri Nance.
The commencement address
will be given by Russell Hughes,
honorary senior from the Golds
boro campus, and Benny St.
Romain, the senior class presi
dent from the Rocky Mount cam
pus.
Dr. Marshal A. Brooks, dean
of the College, will present the
candidates for degrees, and Dr.
Leslie H. Gamer, Jr., president of
the College, will deliver the
charge to the graduating seniors.
A reception under the pines
will be held after the commence
ment ceremonies.
The ceremony will be held in
the gym in the event of rain.
Smith presents Jefferson-Pilot lecture
By CECILIA LYNN CASEY
Dr. Leverett Terry Smith gave
lis lecture April 14 in the Leon
lussell Chapel in connection with
/inning the Jefferson-Pilot pro-
essorship.
Smith was introduced by
Vesleyan President, Dr. Leslie
Jamer, who said, “The Jefferson-
‘ilot Award is given to individu-
Is whose service to scholarship
nd community is outstanding.”
Smith began his lecture by
hanking the Tunis Archives at
Joston University and Jefferson-
*ilot for giving the fiinds for the
irofessorship. He also thanked
Vesleyan for making ttie lecture
I part of the i»ofessorship.
Smith then addressed the two
jpics of his lecture, Jdm R. Tunis
and intercollegiate athletics. John
Tunis was an author of children’s
novels, books, and numerous
magazine articles all dealing with
college and college sports. Tunis
often criticized intercollegiate
sports, showing how there is too
much emphasis on athletics and a
disappearing concern for learn
ing and the sharing of knowledge.
Smith presented a brief his
tory of intercollegiate athletics,
noting it was largely a phenom
enon of the last 125 years in the
United States. Traditional col
leges were most likely denomi
national, its faculty dominated by
clergy, and devoted to a single
classical curriculum which every
student completed, he said.
Mod^ colleges and univ^-
sities are likdy not to be denomi
national, have a professional fac
ulty, and have a varied cuiricu-
lum with many majors and mi
nors. This change came from
students becoming unhappy with
traditional curriculum and look
ing for outside activities. One of
the few outside activities was
varsity athletic teams, he said.
“What occurred next was large
change in the scale of things.
Colleges and universities got
bigger, as they did, so did the
crowds at sporting events,” Smith
said.
“Experienced trainers and
coaches quickly replaced student
managers and captains, and they
tended to emphasize discipline and
drill, the need for specialization,
and the division of labOT,” he said.
Then Smith talked about Tunis
and what he had written. He dis
cussed two children’s books, Iron
Duke sndThe Duke Decides; one
adult book. Was College Worth
while?; and six articles on
“Mammoth University” that ap
peared in Harper’s magazine
from November, 1929, to June,
1927.
All these books and articles
dealt with intercollegiate sports
and the modem curriculum, and
showed that within the modem
university ttiere tends to be far
too great of an emphasis put on
sports and not on academics.
Smith added, “It’s quite clear
from Tunis’ writings of the 30’s
that tfie whole phenomenon of the
(tevek^Hnent of the modem uni-
veisity dismayed him because he
atdxaced die ideals of the tradi
tional college: the teacher as lover
of the learning, not necessarily
die trained professional; the small
environment, where learning
could take place on a personal
basis; the traditional curriculum:
rhetoric, classical language, sci-
Mice.”
Smith ended his lecture by
saying “thae must occur a revo
lution in our notion of what
learning is and what it is we need
to leam. We must move on to
post-modem notions of what
constitutes highCT education.”
Asked afterwards what he en
joyed most about his lecture, he
replied, “The refreshments, and
the second was getting the speech
ova and done. It was a challeng
ing occasicm ?nd it took a lot of
time and energy.”