Page 2
The Pendulum
Thursday, January 16,1986
Editorials
Search to fill position
should be extensive
Dr. M. Christopher White, vice president for academic and stu
dent affairs, will be leaving Elon at the end of the spring semester
to become the next president of Gardner-Webb College in Boiling
Springs, N.C. According to President Fred Young, it is yet uncer
tain how extensive the search for someone to fill the No. 2 position
will have to be.
In 1982 when Dr. James Moncure left the vice presidency, White
was promoted from dean of academic affairs to fill Moncure’s posi
tion without a full-blown national search for candidates. Similarly,
in 1983 Marydell Bright was replaced by Joanne Soliday as dean of
admissions and financial aid, and Bill Long was replaced by Ron Klep-
cyk as dean of students. In 1985, Robert Poindexter from Burlington
City Schools was chosen to replace John Mitchell as vice president
for business. In none of these cases did the college advertise for
replacements in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other pro
fessional journals.
Will the replacement of White break the trend of promoting people
already in the Elon administration and hiring from the immediate area?
If not, perhaps it should. It’s not that there are no qualified candidates
here; but as Dr. John G. Sullivan, professor of philosophy, said in
an interview, conducting a national search could be an opportunity
for Elon to move forward.
Sullivan also said, “It’s an opportunity for Elon to really recon
sider what the possibilities of that role are—to rethink its importance
as we move into a new decade,” He said it is a chance to seek out
new talent and vision.
As Sullivan and White have both said, the search for a new vice
president is an opportunity. A national search could bring Elon so
meone who could vastly broaden the college’s own ideas and even
further enhance its academic credibility.
In recent years Elon has been improving its standards. Admitting
better prepared students and hiring more distinguished faculty here
is a chance to move forward even more.
It is true that there are advantages to hiring local people. For one,
they are more familiar with the programs and facilities at Elon, and
a smooth transition would most likely occur.
But familiarity with Elon could also be considered a disadvantage.
Someone who is used to the programs at Elon may not make any real
changes. When few changes are made, progress slows or ceases.
Elon is a successful school and would certainly be able to hire so
meone from another successful school. Elon could benefit not only
in academics, but also in reputation for hiring a top-notch ad
ministrator. A reputation for being able to recruit excellent ad
ministrators would also improve Elon’s ability to recruit more facul
ty and students of high merit.
To some people, Elon still seems a provincial college. An oppor
tunity to stand up against that accusation is now available. The col
lege should seize that opportunity and advertise the vice presidential
vacancy nationally.
-By Jane Kidwell
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Professor commends editorial
To the editor:
College students of the 1980’s
have often been described as be
ing more concerned about
material wealth than social issues.
In light of this, I want to com
mend The Pendulum and Jane
Kidwell for the Dec. 12 editorial
regarding the problem of pover
ty in North Carolina. As the
editorial implied, it is becoming
increasingly difficult to blame the
victims of poverty for their own
plight.
The increase in the poverty
rates among women, children,
and the working poor are par
ticularly disturbing. In order to
resolve the problem, we must
recognize that poverty is the
result of a less-than-perfect
system rather than an aberration
created by some few who refuse
to live by the work ethic. Such a
recognition on the part of the
American people would be a first
step toward rebuilding many of
the social programs which have
been dismantled or weakened
over the past several years.
It is tragic irony that as more
women, children and working
people drop below the poverty
line, there are fewer services
available to assist them. Private
sector efforts, such as the Salva
tion Army, are far from adequate
in meeting the needs of these
people.
The editorial raises the question
as to what can be done about the
problem of poverty by those of us
here at Elon. The problem is
complex and the solutions are not
obvious. Of course, our private
acts of charity play a part. May
I suggest, however, that a more
important role for us could be
communicating to our legislators,
representatives and political
leaders that we are concerned
about poverty, that we are sup
portive of services to the poor,
and that we want to see the pro
blem of poverty addressed as a
top priority item on the social
policy agenda.
The problem must be smdied,
alternatives must be explored,
creative interventions must be
conceived. But first, there must
be the collective will to do so. We
must do far more than drop our
change in the Salvation Army
basket and think about the poor.
Let us not make our concern for
the poor a passing thought for the
Christmas season but a commit
ment to work seriously and in
telligently toward a solution.
Pamela Kiser
Assistant Professor
Department of Human
Services
YOU'RE REALLY LUCKV
€ 1979 Unitwa Feature Syndicate, Inc
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