Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Dec. 3, 1990, edition 1 / Page 2
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William R. Rogers The entire Guilford College community was shocked and saddened by the news of Grimsley Hobbs' death on November 19, 1990. The circumstances ofhis death were firs! reported in conjunction with a one-car accident nine miles north of Pittsboro, but an autopsy has shown that his death was caused by a heart attack as he was driving. We shall deeply miss Grimsley's presence as a teacher, colleague, friend and leader. As the fifth president of Guilford Col lege between 1965 and 1980, Grimsley was responsible for a number of signifi cant changes within the college. He was a builder and a shaper. During his time, nearly all of the major buildings on cam pus were either refurbished or completely rebuilt. He developed a new committee structure within the college and improved the process of budget preparation and budget control. He helped to open up the Board of Trustees to membership of non- Quakers as well as Quakers and brought a number of significant leaders into this area of the governance of the college. He developed an effective fund-raising pro gram that was helpful in construction proj ects and in increasing endowment And he helped to inaugurate a new era of student life and revision in the student behavioral codes, dropping a number of restrictions from the past. Perhaps most importantly, he helped to build the strength of the fac ulty through a substantial number of new appointments of people highly qualified and very dedicated to teaching. He also made sure that this teaching strength was incorporated into the adult education pro gram, as well as the main campus program. Grimsley's days as president were not always easy ones. He led the college through periods of social upheaval. There were controversies over curricular devel opment and the social codes of the college. Editor-in-Chief Jacob Stohler Managing Editor Peter Smith News Editor Courtney Roberts Assistant News Editor Justin Cohen Features Editor Lara Ramsey Editorials Editor Lisa Pope Sports Editor Butch Maier Photo Editor Charles Almy Layout Editor Bruce James Assistant Layout Editor Jennifer Watts Copy Editor Suzanne Moore Business Manager Erskine James Advertising Director Lesley Funk Faculty Advisor Jeff Jeske The Guilfordian is the student newspaper of Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C. Submitted articles are welcome. Opinions expressed in editorials and letters to the 1 editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and editorial board. The editors reserve the editorial licence to The Guilfordian staff. Please address all mail to: The Guilfordian, Box 17717, Greensboro, NC 27410. 2 THE GUILFORD IAN December 3, 1990 PERSPECTIVES And there were some difficult times in working with the Board. But Grimsley's stature as a man, both physically and per sonally, carried him through these times with a continuing sense of vision and a disciplined quality of determination. Before assuming the presidency, Grimsley had a long legacy at the college. His grandfather, Lewis Lyndon Hobbs, had been the first president of Guilford College. His grandmother, Mary Mendenhall Hobbs, had taken active lead ership at both Guilford and in the formation of Woman's College—now UNCG. Her father had been Nereus Mendenhall, one of the most outstanding principals of the original New Garden Boarding School from which Guilford College emerged. Nereus Men denhall was not only an educational leader and teacher, but he was also a scientist, a physician, and an engineer—a person who had even helped to lay out the North Caro lina railroad system. Something of that range of talents was reflected in Grimsley's own career. Not only was he an administrator, a faculty member and a research scholar in the area of philosophy, but also he was an engineer and builder and artist who loved old mills, restored them, wrote about their history and even lived in two of them—Cox's Mill outside Richmond, Indiana and Baldwin's Mill outside Pittsboro, North Carolina. Indeed, one of the most touching stories surrounding the events of last week, as people have grieved his death, was the gathering of his family on Saturday, No vember 24 with many friends at their mill. A project that Grimsley had been working on for a number of years, to get the mill IN MEMORIAM Grimsley Hobbs and John Grice Henry Hood Artistry takes many different forms; John Grice was an artist among teachers. His secret was no secret at all; he simply wanted to share his enthusiasms and, above all, his voracious appetite for learning. His scorn for cant, for the merely voguish, or for meretricious and slip-slop pretense of scholarship was part of this. John Grice was what he seemed to be; pretense and intrigue were en tirely foreign to his nature. So he gained devoted friends among his colleagues and admiring students to whom he gave his best, and pf whom he demanded the best in return. He also made enemies because he was plain-spoken; a virtue prized traditionally by Quakers but sometimes unappreciated in certain quarters. wheel working, was nearly complete. But his family pulled together to put the finish ing touches on the project and started the wheel, generating electricity and milling corn meal which was gathered and bagged and shared with their many friends. As a teacher, Grimsley was admired by students and colleagues alike. I had the privilege of serving as a colleague of his both at Earlham College and here at Guilford. Hisattentivenesstostudentques tions, his concern to help individuals, his excitement about the ideas in classic and contemporary philosophy, and his will- Bgjjg IKBBi Grimsley Hobbs' son Ruffin plays bagpipes last Wednesday in tribute to his father/photo by Charles Almy John had flair; his choice of a doctoral dissertation topic, "Late 20th Century Terrorism," is as a lively a subject as one could have chosen and its ramifications are as subtle as they are fascinating. Small wonder that John gravitated to law en forcement and small wonder, too, with his background in history, literature and phi losophy, he could bring so much to bear on his chosen subject. John was also intensely private. He often spoke of his wife Maggie and of his daughter Malinda. But I never recall his speaking much of religion. I believe that John, like most Lutherans, took his reli gion seriously and disliked talking about it —as if that were a profanation. John had a passion for music and even, since he adored Italian opera, learned Ital ian so he could understand what it was all about, learning for the sake of learning. There was a man. • • • Henry Hood is a retired professor of his tory ingness to grow and change were quite re markable. In the middle of his career at Earlham, he began paying more attention not only to classic Western philosophy, but to Eastern philosophers. He became interested in the philosophy of language as well as of metaphysics and ethics. His most recent work has been focused on new developments in ethics. He has left with us a manuscript of a book that was in prepa ration—a book which hopefully some of his colleagues will be able to complete on his behalf and have published. This had been a particularly productive and enjoy able time in his life. We feel all the more sad that his life came to such an abrupt end. Students and colleagues gathered both on Sunday, November 25 in New Garden Meetinghouse and on Wednesday, No vember 28 in Sternberger Auditorium to recall stories and images associated with our life with Grimsley and with his family. Both of these memorial services were punc tuated by the poignant bagpipe playing of his son Ruffin. Many images emerged during those gatherings that will be indel ible. Some of the most striking to me were the comments of admiration and gratitude for the way in which Grimsley always wanted to build from a solid foundation and the cooperative activity that is essen tial in turning the wheel that Grimsley worked so hard to build. • • • Bill Rogers is the current president of Guilford The Guilfordian extends its sympa thies to the families of Grimsley Hobbs and John Grice. This college will dearly miss their contributions and their presence.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Dec. 3, 1990, edition 1
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