Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / April 13, 1967, edition 1 / Page 6
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Page Six THE TWIG April 13, 1967 Five Disfinguished Presidents Have Shaped Meredith's Character Meredith Has Only Five Presidents in 68 Years By MRS. FAYE HUMPHRIES Dirci’tor, Meredith News Bureau Meredith College presidents have numbered only five in the school’s seventy-six-year history and sixty- eight years of operation. Each has been described, by ad vocates and adversaries, as men dis tinguished in educational and reli gious circles, a factor the college trustees have considered the key to maintenance of Meredith integrity. The first president stayed only the first year; the second remained for fifteen. The third and fourth presidents have served the college for well over two-thirds of its his tory, and the fifth is to be inaugu rated this weekend. Ail but the first Meredith presi dent have been fully and joyfully received into the bosoms of Tar Heel Baptists who establish the col lege policies. And James Carter Blasingame left the school, accord ing to his letter of resignation, “All for the glory of God. . . Dr, Blasingame was only 32 when he camc to North Carolina, already having headed colleges in Georgia and Tennessee. Because of conflicts in custom and opinion on small things, it is reported that Dr. Blasingame acquired a reputation as something of a “dude” among the good, homespun element of North Carolina Baptists of his period. Blasingame’s Shortened Term It is said that the white kid gloves he wore to the Baptist State Con vention of 1899 were remembered long after his effective specch was forgotten. To be fair to the man and his critics, however, Meredith his torian, Dr. Mary Lynch Johnson, says the main reason the first presi dent left so soon after arriving was a fundamental difference between himself and the trustees in their ideas of the kind of school the Bap tist Female University was to be; Dr. Blasingame simply had no ex perience in a denominational school, The second president. Richard Tilman Vann, lias been described as the most popular Baptist of his day. A native of Hertford County, Vann was not quite 12 years old when he lost both arms in a cane mill. His mother had died when he was five, and his father soon after the son's accident. Vann’s serious handicap failed to daunt him. and •he graduated from Wake Forest College in 1873 at the head of his class. Upon his election to the presi dency of the Baptist Female Uni versity, The Biblical Recorder cheered him: "Dr. Vann holds the hearts of North Carolina . . . upheld by the affectations of a great people — the debt shall be paid, new build ings reared, and an endowment raised, . . .” •So it was, Dr, Vann is regarded as the man most responsible for keeping Meredith College from foundering in a sea of debts. During the fifteen years of his presidency, the school grew from a female uni versity with rather vague require ments for entrance and graduation to a college which commanded re spect in academic circles. Charles Edward Brewer became president in 1915, coming from a background where the academic world was “the world,” He was born at Wake Forest and grew up in the shadow of the college where his grandfather, Samuel Wait, was the first president. He inherited the blessings of Dr. Vann and immedi ately began a drive to Improve fur ther Meredith standards. He was selective in choosing faculty and never lot the student body forget that no ratings but the best were good enough. Dr. Johnson reports the w-hole college was so involved with Dr. Brewer’s drive for quality that when Meredith was accredited in 1921 by the Southern Association of Col leges, one freshman wrote home special delivery that the school had “at last, been taken into the South ern Baptist Convention.” When Meredith’s growth was limited by space available for ex pansion at its downtown location, Dr. Brewer helped lead the drive to relocate the college at its present site. Baptists began to debate the advisibility of building another se nior college campus, some feeling Wake Forest and Meredith should be consolidated. But the new cam pus was ready for use by January. 1926, The ambitious expansion pro gram adopted under Dr, Brewer’s leadership ran into difficulty as the North Carolina economy was stunted by the Depression of the 1930's. Meredith trustees had to battle again an effort to sell the Raleigh campus and merge Mere dith with Wake Forest. It was in this atmosphere that Carlyle Camp bell came in 1939 as Meredith’s fourth president. Son of the founder of an academy at Buie’s Creek that became Camp bell College, and brother of the present Campbell president, “Dr. Carlyle” came to Meredith via Co lumbia University, North Carolina State College (now University), and Coker College, where he had been president for eleven years. His name was already legend in Baptist cir cles. He graduated from Wake For est at 16, the youngest graduate on record. Under his leadership Mere dith survived the Baptist State Con vention of 1944. After the battle it was resolved finally “to maintain, now and in the future, both Mere dith and Wake Forest at their sepa rate locations.” Dr. Campbell had no rest, how ever, as the years following World War II led to rising enrollment and the need to provide more and better facilities than founders of the col lege could have ever envisioned. He had to guide the college in an age in which education was more important and at the same time more uncertain in its many aspects than ever before. Currently the college develop ment drive is focused on the earliest possible erection of a new library. The Board of Trustees voted to name it in honor of Dr. CampbeU, whose twenty-seven years of scrvice covered over a third of the col lege’s history and the longest term of any president. Meredith’s fifth president, Dr. E. Bruce Heilman, began his duties with the college in September, 1966. Dr. Heilman’s experiences in edu cation and administration prepared him well for his position at Mere dith. Prior to his selection Dr. Heil man was administrative vice presi dent of George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. Ceremonies this weekend will mark the inauguration of Dr. Heil man. Juincs Carter Blusingame Richard Tilman Vann Charles Edward Brewer Carlyle Campb«|) Dr. Sarah Lemmon Has Been Efficient Guiding Force As Thoughtful, Busy Chairman of Inauguration Activities Kmr I? f 17 A II in'U H/f A A T>T\ t . ^ ^ By ELIZABEIH MAYNARD On March 15, a gentleman en tered Johnson Hull imd inquired about the inauguration coremony to be held that day for Dr. E. Bruce Heilman. His anticipation came a month too early for the inaugura- tion-centercd events. Dr. Sarah Lemmon, chairman of the history department and more recently chair man of the inauguration committee, welcomed that extra month for preparation. Dr. Lemmon’s chairmanship be gan in late Noveniber. 1966, when Dr. Heilman called her to ask that she be chairman. That night the appointment was announced at a faculty meeting. Dr. Heilman fur ther appointed a steering committee, which promptly began making plans. The day following the initial meet ing of this committee was spent by Dr, Lemmon on the dictaphone. She dictated assignments, letters, and an impressive-looking manual on “who?, what?, and how?” the inauguration would be organized. Her work had begun. A date, of coursc, had to be set. The administration, looking for a Saturday before May Day, or when the amphitheater could be used, selected April 15. 1967. For ideas on “how” to present this “first in twenty-seven years” event Dr. Lemmon asked trustees for suggestions, received programs from other colleges and a complete inauguration file from East Caro lina College, ^ and sprinkled these suggestions with her own imagina tion and thoughtfulness. Only two major problems have appeared. The first has been that of printing and mailing all of the nccessary letters and invitations. Only one incident has occurred over this communication problem. A gentleman wrote Dr. Lemmon re questing a reply card which was not included with his invitation. Calmly, Dr. Lemmon checkcd her file. The excited gentleman had re turned his reply card already — and was anxiously awaiting his trip to the campus on April 15! Dr, Lem mon smiled with relief. Everything was going fine. The second major problem lurked ahead, and no amount of planning could assure its outcome. . . , Will rain clouds gather on April 15? With fingers crossed — and pro visions made for the auditorium in case of rain — Dr. Lemmon awaits the weatherman’s forecast. As overall chairman of the in augural festivities, Dr. Lemmon cannot seem to praise enough the co-operation she has received from students and faculty alike, In fact, only two people turned down her request for help — and Dr, Lem mon inserted, “They had very good reasons.” From this experience of working so closely with so many on campus, Dr. Lemmon has gained not only invaluable knowledge of the campus, of how it runs, and of the esteem which outsiders hold for Meredith, but also the realization that she still has her sanity after five busy months — the latter being a noteworthy accomplishment! Being asked about her plans after the inauguration, Dr, Lemmon re plied with an enthusiastic mono syllable — “SLEEP!” Then she added in a thoughtful tone, “And write thank you notes to the many people who have been so grand.” As the time for inauguration draws nearer and the academic procession forms, there will be one member of that line with a special interest and place in the festivities. For with her have all the ideas gathered and all the plans been exe cuted. She has been the guiding force, the thoughtful conductor, the perfectionist. She has been typi cally . . . Dr. Lemmon. GROUND BREAKING (Continued from page 1) ond and third floors of the admin istration building, Johnson Hall. Designed to house up to 125,000 volumes, the three-story building will be carpeted and air-conditioned throughout. In addition to usual li brary features, it will provide for modern non-book systems for the storage and transmission of knowl edge, microfilm readers, and dupli cating equipment, Also in the plan arc an art lend ing room, a college archives sec tion, audio-visual rooms, curriculum laboratory, conference rooms, indi vidual research rooms, and typing rooms for researchers. The construction of rhe building is being made possible by gifts from many friends of the college and of Dr. Campbell, including alumnae and others. Additional funds will condnue to come in during the cur rent total college development pro gram. I>r. Saruli I-emnioii has been busy Kincc November planning and voordlnutinu ii«.'tiviric§ for the inauguration of Dr. Heilman. ART KXHIBITION iContiniiccI from page 3) work. In retrospect, Brenda feels that presenting her show has been fright ening, exciting, and challenging. “It is a good evaluation because it lets the teacher evaluate you and him self. But most of all, you evaluate yourself.”
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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April 13, 1967, edition 1
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