Greensboro, NC January 21, 2000 P|P GUILFORDI AN "...testimonies [were made] to Place's astounding intelligence, academic achievements, warmth and genuine concern for others, and the love she bore to such disparate things as her cats, Scrabble, opera, and movies." -Peter Morscheck Betty Place passes away By Peter Morscheck STArr WRITER There was a different kind of silence at New Garden Friends Meeting last Wednes day. Scores of faculty, friends, family, and students—current Wr fIBHI IB HIHI WB By Daniel Fleishman STAIT WRITER At the close of the 1999 fall semester, General Colin Powell addressed a brimming 1,000-seat Dana Auditorium. He was also honored by Guilford College as a distinguished visiting professor of the arts, humanities and public affairs. Both outside Hege library and Dana auditorium, some 50 protesters voiced their displea sure at the college's decision to bring a "war hero" to a Quaker school with pacifist ideals. 1 *fc I ' ; •• K fij Hf and former—gathered in cel ebration and remembrance of Dr. Mary Elizabeth Place, Direc tor of the Guilford College li brary. She passed away on De cember 28th . Director of Campus Minis tries Max Carter led the group, as he has had to do so often re- Powell told the media in a pre-speech press conference, "I went into the military to protect the right to practice your Quaker beliefs just as I practice my beliefs as an Episcopalian who abhors war," but added, "I recognize that war may be necessary to protect our freedoms and beliefs." Colin Powell was a profes sional soldier for 35 years until his retirement in 1993. In 1989 he was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His autobiography, My American Journey, was a best seller. For those reasons, and his struggle through a difficult child hood in the South Bronx of New York City to get to such a signifi- cently, in a memorial service in the manner of Friends. Follow ing messages by her father, Jefferson, her husband, Alexander, and her brother, Wayne, myriad testimonies fol lowed—testimonies to Place's astounding intelligence, aca demic achievements, warmth and genuine concern for others, and the love she bore to such disparate things as her cats, Scrabble, opera, and movies. Through it all, however, one theme rang true: Place touched the lives of whomever she met. And so it was a differ ent kind of silence between the messages, anecdotes from pro fessors Adrienne Israel and Jack Zerbe, a poem read by stu dent worker Nathan White, or memories of past student work ers who counted Place as their mentor. In this silence, barely five seconds could pass without someone sniffling to hold back tears. The Guilfordian c/o Student Activities 5800 W. Friendly Ave. Greensboro, NC 27410 Born on May 3, 1939, Place graduated from Duke Univer sity before gaining her M.A. in Germanic Literature from Vanderbilt in 1969. For the next six years she taught German at Wake Forest. She then com pleted her Ph.D. in German Language and Literature at Vanderbilt before beginning to work with the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Library Outreach Program and Environmental Protection Agency Special Li brary Program. She completed her Masters of Library Science at UNC-CH in 1982 and joined the Guilford Library in 1983 as Coordinator of Information/References Ser vices and Bibliographic Instruc tion. She distinguished herself even that first year, as Dr. Herb Poole noted in his annual report in 1984: "Due to her efforts, we have come a great distance in Please see Place, page 3

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