Page Two
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Entered at Guilford College, N. C., as second-class
matter under the Act of Congress, August 24, 1912.
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' OPEN LETTER TO SUMMEY ALEXANDER '
Lincolnton, N. G.
(Reprinted by permission from the October 14 issue of
The High Point Enterprise)
EDITOR'S NOTE: The author is not necessarily intending to cloak
himself in anonymity, but feels that the majority of opinions
expressed about the personality and characteristics of Skip Alexan
der are not only his own, but indicative of all who knew him at
Guilford. The author was a member of Skip's class and had vis
ited his home and met his parents and friends. He feels that this
same story could have been written by any of Skip's college
acquaintances, and thus wants to share the thoughts with all who
knew him.
Dear Buddy:
We've lost track of each other since we walked down the
aisle at Guilford College, a little more than a year ago, to pick
up that sheepskin we had sweated so hard for. I've been
wondering just what you had been doing since you left school
and had hoped that things were going pretty well. After all,
the four years you spent knocking yourself out to get a little
bit of this stuff they call education certainly should have stood
you in good stead. Then, just the other night, while I had
a cold glass of beer in one hand and a Swiss cheese on rye
in the other, I heard. Just like that.
As for me? Well, I'm over here in High Point working for
The Enterprise. As a matter of fact I'm playing hookey, but
good, today, because this letter is taking the place of what is
supposed to be a literary (disgusting word) column. But
look, Buddy, there's a few things I want to say to you and
a few questions I want to ask. After that I'll just sort of sit
back and wait for the answers.
You haven't been around lately, have you? Oh, it's the same
old routine. Yankees took another one. Guilford doesn't have
a darn thing on the football field this year other than a prayer
—at that a rather weak one. Carolina's lost a few also. Over
in Greensboro they're beginning a wing-ding revival tomorrow
with Billy Graham in charge; built a $65,000 "tabernacle" for
him. Which reminds me, Buddy, if one more person in Greens
boro stops me on the street and asks, "Are you a Christian?"
I'm going to spit right on his feet and tell him, "No, my father
was a Buddhist, my mother a Moslem, and I'm an orthodox
pedestrian by choice." They've put ABC stores in over at
Greensboro and the movie people are back yelling their same
old tune' that "Movies are better than ever," and that it's
movie-time, USA. South Pacific is still running in New York,
little league football begins in High Point this week, Arthur
Godfrey still sells cigarettes, and Dagmar still has you know
what. Scott is still governor, The Caine Mutiny is the number
one best seller, and politics on a national level is a dirty, stink
ing example of Americans selling themselves down the river
to a bunch of rotten parasites who are sucking the green out
of the dollar, the silver from the quarters, and the red blood
from the gullible, naive (myself included) American public.
So you see it's still the same old routine. Fred's reopened
his Plantation, Tuck and Laura look as good as ever and were
asking about you the other day. Dr. Furnas (remember that
Shakespeare class where we both nearly drove him crazy?)
is still over at Guilford and—guess what?— Woman's College
has over 2,600 gals registered this year. You'd like that,
wouldn't you, Buddy? We both had some good times over
there, didn't we?
And now? Oh, I don't know; heck, between wondering about
what a nice cozy atmosphere Franchot Tone and Virginia Hill
would enjoy together and trying to decide whether Rita Hay
worth is really worth the headlines she's getting, I'm still far
off the beaten path struggling along in my private little world
of wilderness. Still single too, I might add. Not that I want
it that way, but—well, you know.
Haven't seen your folks lately, Buddy. Would like to soon.
Might write your Mom this week—if I can think of the right
things to say. But look, fellow, I ran into a friend of yours
over at WC the other night, like I was saying, and she told
me what had happened to you. Not exactly what happened,
but what she had read in the paper.
She gave me a clipping, Buddy. It was nice to see that the
Lincolnton paper gave you a two column, three line, 36 point
head with a double column lead. You, a former English major,
would have gotten a kick out of the second paragraph because
somebody stepped out of bounds on tense and said, "No other
details on the young Lincolnton soldier's death was contained
in the official message received by his grief-stricken parents."
What was that stuff Mrs. Weiss tried to cram down our throats
(Continued on Page Sir)
THE GUILFORDIAN
Sen. Taft Speaks
Senator Robert A. Taft will
speak here at Guilford Novem
ber 29. We are proud to have
such a widely known man come
to our campus, and welcome
the opportunity of hearing him.
Senator Taft, at present, is
the only man to have his hat
in for a Presidential nomina
tion. We don't doubt for a min
ute that the Republicans have
a program superior to that of
the Democrats now, but we
wonder if Mr. Taft wouldn't
have been a better candidate
fifty years ago than today. His
foreign policy just doesn't have
what it takes in our present
day situation. Of course, we
will all know more about his
merits in a few weeks.
The Spectator
By Darrell Peeler
On Friday, November 19, a Guil
ford College freshman named Ken
neth Elmore Wallace was arrested
on this campus by a U. S. Marsha)
and booked on a charge of violating
the Selective Service Act. The eve
ning paper reported the incident
as the arrest of an Elon ministerial
student for draft dodging.
This is the story of Kenneth Wal
lace:
He was born in Stockton, Ala
bama in 1927, and has lived in or
around Fairhope, Alabama, all his
life. He attended high school in
Fairhope, and worked in the elec
trical business on his own during
the summers and in his spare time.
On Sundays he attended the local
Methodist church for the most part,
and attended the Friends meeting
and Sunday evening discussion
groups, though he sang in the Epis
copal choir during his high school
period.
On September 10, 1948, he regis
tered for the draft at Robertsdale.
Alabama, and was assigned to Local
Board No. 2 at Bay Minette. He
asked that he be recognized as a
conscientious objector and given
the CO classification of IV-E.
He was classified I-A.
Wallace then asked for a per
sonal appearance before the local
board. The board, after a long de
lay, granted him a hearing. The
board was unable to decide what
to do with him, and gave him a
temporary IV-E.
The next summer he went with
a friend to lowa to work on a farm
and earn money for college. While
there he received instructions to
appear for his pre-induction physi
cal examination. On investigation, 1
he discovered that he had been re
classified nearly a year before, but
the local board had failed to notify 1
him.
Upon his return to Alabama he
made a personal appearance before
the local board. They informed
him that he could make an appeal 1
after submitting to a physical ex- 1
amination. He submitted to the 1
physical and was accepted. 1
He thereupon again requested :
the right of appeal from the classi- '
fication of I-A. The appeal was
denied until he could have another i
personal hearing before the local :
board. Before the board had an- 1
other meeting and he could appear, I
however, they sent him an order
for induction into the armed ser- ]
vices.
Again he requested the right of i
appeal but the local board refused. ,
Wallace consequently refused to ,
submit to induction and so notified i
the local board. The FBI made an
investigation and recommended
that he be granted an appeal to the
State Appeal Board.
The appeal was granted.
After a thorough investigation by
the FBI, the hearing officer, the '
Honorable Samuel M. Johnson of '
Mobile, held a hearing for him. He J
was reasonable but noncommittal. '
His questions indicated that he J
could not see why Wallace could
not and should not submit to the '
law of the land. He could not per- ;
sonally accepted Wallace's point of s
view. He asked if Wallace would 5
accept non-combattant service and '
a I-A-O classification. Wallace
could not. He asked if he would >
refuse to submit to induction. Walt
lace told him that he would refuse, s
and would go to jail for his con- c
victions rather than go into the '
armed services. f
The hearing officers then rec
ommended that the State Board s
Josh-N-Along ••• by JOSH CRANE
APOLOGIES
From what I undertand my last
column caused quite a bit of com
ment from my regular readers, and
even some from the 474 students
in school. I would first like to deny
all rumors that the subject of all
my future articles will be the
weather, or that I am writing a
book on "How to Lose Friends and
Influence People—the Wrong Way"
(even though, with my experience
along these lines, the latter is far
from impossible)!
All joshing aside, I do feel im
pelled to say a few hundred words
on the subject as a whole. Serious
ly, I'm afraid that I must stick by
what I think is right—regardless
of the consequences. And as long
as I shall write for the Guilfordian
(and I wonder how long that is
going to be???)) I shall write what
I think should be written. And as
long as there are rules to govern
us, e.g. that drinking should not be
allowed on campus, I think those
rules should be obeyed—regardless
of what I think about them per
sonally.
Most people who spoke to me
about my last column said that I
should not have written it. In gen
eral, there were two main groups
of critics—those who thought I
shouldn't have written it because
they didn't like it (to reduce it
down to fundamentals) and those
who thought it shouldn't have been
written because it gave a false im
pression of Guilford. I wish to
apologize to both groups.
First of all, to you who thought
my column should never have been
written because you "didn't like it"
—to you who think that this viola
tion of rules should be kept hushed
—to you who feel the way to get
rid of "disagreeable regulations is
to not obey them—to all of you, I
apologize. I apologize for not really
"lighting into you," as they say. If
I had known there was going to be
so much howling, so much personal
criticism, and so many biting com
ment, I would have devoted my
entire column to a discussion on
this subject. If I had known there
was going to be so much misunder
standing, I would have been only
all too clear! I apologize to you for
my greatest mistake, not giving
everyone the whole truth about
what goes' on behind the scenes
(and sometimes in front of them*
in Cox and Archdale!
And then, I would like to sin
cerely apologize to those persons
who read the column who are not
familiar with the situation to which
I referred. If I gave the impression
of Appeal reverse the decision of
the local board and sustain the
claim of the registrant for exemp
tion. The Board of Appeal refused
to accept the recommendation of
the hearing officer, and ordered the
local board to classify Wallace as
I-A.
On August second of this year,
Wallace was notified of the decision
of the Appeal Board, to the effect
that by a vote of 5 to 0 he was
to be classified I-A. In the event
of a unanimous decision of the
State Board, no further appeal by
the registrant is possible.
Two weeks later Wallace received
notice for induction. He refused to
submit on the same grounds of re
ligious and conscientious objection
to all war.
Instead he prepared for college,
having already missed one full year
because of the case. He entered
Guilford in September as a fresh
man, having enrolled the previous
year. He notified his local board
of his change of address.
On October 19 he was arrested,
put under bond to appear in Mo
bile on November 26 for trial, and
released. He remains in college.
This case brings up a lot of ques
tions. Has a man the right to be
exempted from military service?
If so, what determines his right
to exemption? Is conviction that
war is wrong sufficient grounds?
Must a person who claims exemp
tion on conscientious grounds be
a member of a church group that
specifically teaches against military
service? This has been a require
ment in the past.
Must a man really believe in non
violence, or must he only be able
to convince his local board that he
so believes? Does a man's right to
exemption depend entirely on the
relative sternness of the draft of
fificials in his state?
It's something to think about,
anyway.
November 9, 1951
that Guilford is a school of drunk
ards, I am truly sorry. Let me
51 assure you, it isn't! In fact, it is
*7 so far from it that the one, two, or
t _ three cases of drunkenness on the
ts part of a few this year stand out
like a sore thumb, to use a well
worn phrase. My attempt to not
,e worn phrase. My attempt to not em
? phasize this example of the chang
r„ ing attitude of the students, as I
' understand it, was evidently in
' e vain. For this lam regretful. For
ir all of this, please accept my sincere
apology.
is" "SALVATION" and the" SCA
3 " A New Group
y
|s During the last few weeks, Guil
ford has received a new organiza
n tion. It has been termed "The Min
is isterial Association," or "The Chris
lt tian Worker Fellowship" just to
|S name a few given it so far. "The
n Ministerial Association" has been
e definitely recognized as a mis
e nomer. Althought it is thoroughly
ls impregnated with ministerial stu
1. dents, there are many others who
have had an active part in it. It
takes its stand, rather, with the
*: names of Salvation and Funda
mentalism!
s Conflict?
I It is 'genarally understood that
e the organization rose out of a need
t on campus that S.C.A. perhaps
e could not fulfill. However, there
n are many areas of mutual aims and
- there has been speculation on the
0 part of some as to whether this
group will conflict with the S.C.A.
t or not. It shall be interesting, at
n any rate, to see what will turn up
" along these lines.
~ S.C.A. Stands Strong
t Contrary to the belief of some,
s the S.C.A. was altogether un
-1 daunted by the organization of this
y new group. And even after a rather
f surprising success in the program
a of the "Salvation" group, the S.C.A.
j remains that way. The only thing
_ that this group has done to the
f S.C.A. is to make a few of its own
1 members stop for a little self-criti
s cism. The only thing they seem to
I turn up with, however, is that per
y haps the S.C.A. administration is a
r bit to strong. This had difficulty
, in standing up because so far this
J year the S.C.A. has had a most suc
-5 cessful program. It has conducted
) some of the year's best chapel pro
grams (which, by the way, is an aim
of the new group also) and has had
" extremely successful Sunday night
' activities (for just one example,
the inter - collegiate, inter - racial
[ Social and Vespers the other week)!
. So, in spite of what some people
term "competition" in the form of
E this new group, and in spite of an
: overly strong administration (or at
- least the possibility of one), the
1 S.C.A. seems to be doing better
E than ever.
; A Threat
Nevertheless, this new organiza
tion poses a threat in that it is in
' the very same area of aims as the
' S.C.A. The only difference is in the
approach: one is liberal and tries
' to be all-inclusive —the other is
, definitely, almost defiantly, funda
; mental. There is a possibility, at
any rate, although from all present
indications, not a probability of
' conflicting activities.
. Here to Stay
i And the new group, in my
opinion, is here to stay—at least
it is hoped so by many! The main
! reasons for the firm foothold that
I it has is the fact that it has been
. lifted from the hands of its founder
. into the palms of a very able leader
I and a popular personality on cam
pus, its president, and the fact that
this group has more enthusiasm
' than any other organization I know
| on campus.
Campus Revival!!
With the S.C.A. going all guns
1 aweigh, and a new group to say
and do even more, it seems that
Guilford campus is in for more re
, ligion than ever. Whether any great
changes will be wrought is hard to
• say. The Fundamental group would
! like nothing better than a mass re
vival; the S.C.A. would gladly wel
■ come more people participating in
the Christian fellowship and way
of life. Let us hope, in any event,
. that both—together or otherwise —
will continue to unite in making
our camous a better one.
Once upon a time there was a
college student that wasn't behind.
—At least that's what the old
folks say. My, my, how times have
changed!