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Sewing ihe SaCem CoCkge Community Since 1921
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Photo by Patricia Earnhardt
rhe new Student Commons is under construction. It is estimated that project will be
completed during the next academic year.
Committee Keeps
Quick Pace in Search
for New President
by Dot Hughes
The Salemite
iThe Voices of Literature
^ooks Come Alive at Writers' Conference
Patricia Earnhardt
the Salemite
Until recently, most anyone associ
ated with the library would describe it
a place where they study, do re
search, write papers, take tests and
experience silence.
But it can now be considered a place
|where the books found voices.
The Salem College Friends of the
iLibrary Southern Women Writers'
IConference, held in the library refer-
jence room on April 6, opened the
jpodium to six writers who's voices
jgave imagery to their written works.
The first program, "The Woman
[Writer and Her Work" enabled the
I authors to present excerpts of their most
[recent work or from material not yet
[released.
Marianne Gingher, a Salem alumna,
I was among those who participated in
the event. Gingher read from her
[upcoming novel centered around a
[ small, southern, liberal arts college for
women called "Morning Star." Each
sentence led further down the halls of
Dorm Life" at Salem. The audience
was given a glimpse of life at Salem
College in the late 60's. The audience
learned that the hallways and what
goes on within them hasn't changed a
great deal.
Candace Hynt read from her most
recent novel Mother Love where three
sisters, the main characters of the story,
emerge from the book and bicker with
one another. With each suggestion of
the life of their recently deceased
mother the sisters tell their story and
the history of how they loved their
mother and how she loved them.
Sue Ellen Bridgers delighted and
enlightened the audience with a tale of
spending Thanksgiving with her fam
ily in a rural Eastern North Carolina
town. The height of the story was a
search for an infamous and historical
four-layer coconut cake which is found
after the main character's great uncle
stands from his chair where he has
been seated on top of the flattened
cake.
Through the speaker of the story,
Bridgets spoke to the special nature of
a family reunion.
Linda Brown brought a sense of cul
ture to the program. In gainbowRouiL
My Shoulder , Brown's most influen
tial character tells of her trials o pro
tecting a young black girl who was
raped. The rapist is brought to the
woman'ssenseofjusticeaftershebeats
him and continuously collects money
from him to support the young gir .
continued on page 2
With goals and objectives identified
and fine-tuned, Salem College and
Academy's Presidential Search Com
mittee has made steady progress and
its search for a new individual to head
the two schools has maintained its top
priority status.
The Search Committee is operating as
a special committee of the Board of
Trustees and since February has been
working with the Academic Search
Consultation Service (ASCS) has as
sisted more than 200 colleges and uni
versities in presidential searches over
the past 15 years. , A Presearch Study
report was prepared in early March.
Presidential priorities and characteris
tics were formulated from extensive
interviews with members of the Acad
emy and College community.
This report is on desk reserve in the
library and is available to anyone.
The Search Committee is composed of
a variety of institutional positions.
They were appointed by Mary Newell,
Chair of the Board of Trustees and
include Dr. Annette Allen, Dean of
Salem College; David Black, Headmas
ter of Salem Academy; Dr. Douglas B.
Berwick, Associate Professor of Arts
Management; B.J. Buckland, Winston-
Salem, an alumna of the College; Nancy
Cameron Capel, Troy, NC, and Bar
bara Folger Chatham, Ronda, NC, Col
lege alumnae who are also members of
the Board of Trustees; Terrie Allen
Davis, Winston-Salem, an alumna of
both the Academy and College who is
a member of the Board of Trustees;
Mary Ann Campbell Davis, Winston-
Salem, an alumna of the College; Dr.
Linda Dudley, Associate Professor of
Psychology; Qyde W. Fitzgerald Jr.,
Winston-Salem, a member of the Board
of Trustees; W. James Harman, Direc
tor of Institutional Advancement for
Salem Academy and College; Dr.
George McKnight, Associate Professor
of Chemistry; Havel McMichael, At
lanta, President of the Salem Academy
Alumnae Association; William Neal,
Charlotte, member of the Board of
Trustees; Betsy Saxman, Staunton, V A,
President of the Salem College Student
Government Association; Beverly
Schultz, alumna of the Academy and
history teacher at the Academy; the
Reverend Richard Sides, Winston-Sa
lem, associate pastor of Home Mo
ravian Church and Vice Chairman of
the Board of Trustees; Jean Olive
Snyder Stubbs, Winston-Salem, Presi
dent of the Salem College Alumnae
Association; and Dr. Janet Zehr, Assis
tant Professor of English. Jim Harman
is the staff liaison to the committee,
and Carollee Harman is the executive
secretary.
The Committee met on April 10 and
identified 12-15 candidates whose
strengths most closely coincided with
the desired characteristics. Part of this
process included talking with people
who have worked with the candidates
and following up on references. By
April 24 the candidate pool will nar
rowed to 5-8 individuals, and the
committee will conduct confidential
interviews and make additional refer
ence calls. It is anticipated that leading
candidates will be invited to visit the
campus prior to Commencement to
meet with representatives of the Salem
Academy and College community.
In addition to helping the Committee
select final candidates, these meetings
will give the finalists the information
and insight necessary in order to ac
cept the position of president from the
Board of Trustees.
jf