nitmxit
Vol. LXVir No. 2
October 1985
On The Inside. . .
Salem Today p. 3
Salem Celestials p. 4
The Long Road Home p. 6
Rondthaler-Gramley Restoration on Schedule
If you have wandered near the
old Rondthaler-Gramley House
during weekdays this fall, then you
have also probably noticed the
activity which has accompanied
the renovation and restoration of
the building. With the completion
of the restoration in the spring of
1986, the old residence will serve as
a central location for on-campus
entertainment.
Annex Hall, as the building was
originally known, was built in 1889
as dormitory space for young
academy students.lt later served as
a senior residence hall, faculty
housing, and the home of two
distinguished Salem presidents,
Edward Rondthaler and Dale
Gramley. In 1972 it became the
Orton Center for Special Educa
tion, and in more recent years it
has served as a location for
seminars, classes, and housing for
various on-campus organizations.
Dr. Litzenburg renamed the
building the Rondthaler-Gramley
House in honor of the two
presidents in 1984.
The purpose of restoring the old
residence is to enhance the campus
as a whole, and to provide a
By: Barbara Teates
location for on-campus entertain
ment for students, parents, faculty
and administrators, alumnae, and
guests. Formerly, the house has
served as a location for various
receptions, parties, and other
activities involving guests.
The rooms in the restored
Rondthaler-Gramley House will
provide elegant areas for aca
demic functions as well as much-
needed space for student organiza
tion meetings which have been
restricted to the Club Dining
Room and to various residence
hall reception rooms.
The Committee on Furnishings,
which recently supervised the
renovation of the refectory. Main
Hall, and the academy reception
area, is funding the renovation
through private donations. So far
the committee, co-chaired by Mrs.
Gordon Hanes and Mrs. Thomas
V. Litzenburg, Jr., has raised in
excess of $250,000 in money and
furnishings.
The first room, to be completed
in November, will be the dining
room. The room is to be named for
long-time Old Salem resident
Anne Allen, whose friends have
donated funds for the room's
restoration in her honor. The
entire downstairs should be
completed by February of 1986,
and the upstairs should be done by
May.
The first floor will house the
dining room and three parlors.
One of these parlors will serve as a
room for weekly teas where
students, faculty, and administra
tors will be able to meet and talk on
an informal basis.
The upstairs of the house will
consist of five bedrooms which will
serve as guest quarters for
students' families, alumnae, and
friends of the institution. The
building will eventually resemble a
bed and breakfast establishment.
The additional meeting space
that the Rondthaler-Gramley
House provides will be beneficial
to the faculty, the administration,
and to the college students. It will
provide a comfortable atmosphere
for students and organizations to
meet outside existing areas of the
campus.
The renovated Rondthaler-
Gramley House will be officially
opened during Alumnae Weekend
in May.
The Pursuit of a Painful Reality
I remember meeting her once
before — this women with a deep,
strong voice, a hearty laugh, and
much to tell. And 1 recall
wondering how Matlalepula
Chabaku could laugh at all as long
as memories of her past remained
with her. Chabaku is a native
South African, a woman who is
not afraid to speak out for her
beliefs and her rights, and who
barely got out of her country with
her life. Recently 1 had the
opportunity to speak with her at
her home in Raleigh, where she is
currently living and teaching, and
once again I was awed by her
wisdom and her strength.
Despite her troubles in the
United States with the
immigration office (which will not
grant her American citizenship),
Chabaku knows she cannot return
to her native country.
"1 love South Africa very much.
1 am dreaming of returning to
South Africa, but 1 have to be
realistic," she said.
To go back would be to risk the
"very strong likelihood of being
detained indefinitely without trial,
or dying mysteriously through
death squads that are assassinating
people who oppose the present
government of South Africa." But
Chabaku is "a global woman," not
bound by race, religion, or
geography; and here in the United
By: Lois Gramley
States, she believes, God has a plan
for her.
Risk is a situation that has
become very familiar to Chabaku.
Being a Christian in South Africa
is risky because "following Christ's
teachings that we should be one
people" increases the chance of
being arrested by a government
that is obviously at variance with
such beliefs. Another risk is that "if
you make friends with White
people you risk your life with
Blacks who have given up any
hope in any White people and see
anybody having connections with
Whites as being a spy, someone to
be gotten rid of..." Also, she says,
there is "the risk of being killed by
Whites who do not want to see
Blacks around. . . . My conviction
is that we are called to take those
risks." Chabaku has seen
oppressed people that have
suffered so deeply from violence by
the government "that violence has
become a thing to be used rather
than to be feared." Even in the
United States, she encounters the
risk "of being labeled a communist,
just like Luther."
"It is not communists who
denied me my vote; it is not
communists who took my
homeland; it is not communists
who took my natural resources,"
Chabaku said. It is a "goliath"
government made of Christians
and Jews, and "it is Christians and
Jews who need to put it right."The
churches have all condemned
South Africa's apartheid system,
but they continue to finance it, to
trade with it, and, she said, "that's
like feeding it. . . it's a double
standard."
Chabaku explained that the
violence in South Africa has
exposed the racism of the Western
World. Children have been shot,
and the Western World has not
done anything about it.
"Is it because it is Black children
. . .Are they waiting to have White
children killed?" she demanded.
She contended that it is not just
reform that is needed, but the
destruction of the apartheid
system; "and one way is to stop the
kind of umbilical cord" that keeps
the apartheid system alive. Only
one percent of the labor force in
multi-national corporations (that
Americans and other foreigners
finance) is Black.
"We believe very strongly that
Blacks will free themselves," she
remarked, "but we don't want to be
hampered by outside forces." We
would rather "have them help us
destroy the evil without killing,"
she contended. "Africans must rule
in South Africa. ... It is a painful
reality we must pursue," a reality
"rooted in peace that can only
thrive if it is watered with justice."
The Rondthaler-Gramley House restoration will be completed by
May of 1986.
Forecast
By: Ellen A^on
The 1986-87 admissions year has
gotten off to a terrific start.
Increases in assorted statistics have
the admission's staff overjoyed and
busy at work. And according to
Admissions Dean Paige French,
interest in Salem, based on several
specific indicators the admissions
office uses to gather its informa
tion, has appeared to be on the rise
this year.
An inquiry pool is constructed
from the overall number of
students that express any interest
in Salem. This includes any type of
correspondence a student has
made in contacting Salem. These
statistics are up 23% over last year;
this statistic usually increases by
only three or four percent.
An even better indicator than
the inquiry pool is the increase in
the number of spring and summer
visits to the campus. This has
increased by 11%. The admissions
staff has also expanded the
number of high schools it is visiting
this semester.
Another good sign is the
opening burst of applications that
have come into the admissions
office. Although it is still very early
in the admissions year (the peak
months are November, December,
and January), the applications are
running substantially ahead of last
years' total at this time. They are,
in fact, at the second highest point
of the last six years.
French noted that while these
early signs are all very good, there
is always the chance that statistics
may decrease during the year.
There is no definite stability as to
what is to come because it is early
in the year. Based on what the
admissions office has already seen
though, French said that Salem's
future looks very bright.