THE TWIG
Newspaper of the Students of Meredith College
Vol. XLVI
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, N. C., FEBRUARY 10, 1972
No. 8
Dr. John Weem’s library contains
the entire collection of James Bond
novels! Dr. Weems divulged this
interesting fact in an interview on
January 26. “1 just like to read”
said Dr. Weems, although his pref
erences tend toward mystery and
spy books.
Born under the sign of Pisces,
Dr. Weems also likes multifaceted-
plot movies like “Airport” and
Peter Sellers’ movies. “The Gradu
ate” is probably the funniest movie
I’ve ever seen,” Dr. Weems added
before the interview moved on to
other topics:
MEREDITH: “Meredith is not
entirely regionally known. People in
the college business know of other
colleges anyway. 1 knew it also
from meeting people at professional
meetings. I lived in eastern North
Carolina at one time and I knew of
Meredith then rather well. It has
had a fine academic reputation for
years and years. Dr. Heilman did a
great job on the physical facilities
and such, but 1 appreciate just as
much what Dr. Campbell did for
this institution. That is what made
us the great institution. It was the
academic program and reputation.”
CHANGE AT MEREDITH: “I’ll
tell you what I want, I want a
climate for change. And I think
this is extremely important. I’ve al
ways been interested in curriculum
changes. I’ve been in higher educa
tion since I was 23. . . . One of
the real attractions of getting back
to Meredith is getting close to_ the
students. I’m very interested in a
climate for change. I say that as
opposed to doing something for the
sake of change. Very often they
(new college presidents) come in
with the idea that they want to make
changes for people to know that
they’re there. That is not what I
want. Meredith is fine. There are
lots of things we can do better, but
not because Tm here . . . because
they’re the kind of things you natu
rally do.” (Dr. Weems made ref
erence here to the comprehensive
evaluation made a few years ago at
Meredith.)
“The faculty themselves know of
some very definite things that need
to be done. The main thing I’d like
to do concerns . . . women becoming
much more salible in the job mar
ket. I think it is very important that
you have real definite skills that are
Meredith College Receives Gift of $150,000
Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Barefoot Are Donors
Meredith College President John E. Weems (L-R) and John T. Kanipe, Jr., look at
an artist’s rendition of Barefoot Residence Hall with Mr. & Mrs. C. C. Barefoot of
Benson. The residence hall was named for Mr. & Mrs. Barefoot following their gift
of $150,000 to the advancement program.
Interview With President Weems
Reveals Much About His Personality
available to the job market if you
want to go in that direction. I wish
we had more emphasis on manage
ment — for example I think that . . .
banks and financial institutions are
finding women not only very suc
cessful employees but handle this
kind of thing very well. . . .”
SELE-LIMITING HOURS: “I
do not think there is any rule or
regulation that 1 can make or any
member of this administrative staff
can make that will really have much
to do with your character, moral
outlook, ethical outlook. Whether
you stay out all night or come in at
8:00, I don’t think anything we do
is going to have much to do with
that. I do not want to overlook regu
lations because I think atmosphere
does have something to do with it.
1 think one of the finest things we
can do is provide atmosphere on the
campus conducive for the develop
ment of your personality, leadership
ability, and this sort of thing. Some
times rules and regulations get
mixed in with the atmosphere. If
you throw everything open ... it
might destroy the atmosphere. I do
not think we should throw the rules
out and destroy the atmosphere. It
is difficult to determine where to
compromise.
“Self-limiting hours is part of the
atmosphere. I want to see that there
is a time every night when Meredith’s
campus is secure. I want this cam
pus as secure as possible for your
safety and welfare. Whatever we do
about self-limiting hours there is
going to be a time when we are going
to stop every car that comes on this
campus and know who they are. This
is a strong feeling of mine. Meredith
is not going to operate 24 hours a
day for the general public.
“I came from a school that had
basically self-limiting hours for up
perclassmen. It had some problems.
First of all, we had to hire four
policemen to operate it; we had to
put a security force in every dorm
to check the girls in and out. I hope
we don’t have to get to this kind of
thing. Leaving a campus open all
night does create problems.”
PASS-FAIL: “I’ve done a na
tional study on pass-fail for the
evaluation of it. It’s a little disap
pointing. I was trying to find out if
the criteria that were set up when
(Continued on page 4)
A challenge commitment of
$150,000 from Mr. and Mrs. C. C.
Barefoot of Benson to the $5
million Meredith College Advance
ment Program (MCAP) has been
announced by Meredith President
John E. Weems.
Meredith Trustee Chairman C. C.
Cameron of Charlotte also an
nounced that the executive commit
tee of the Board of Trustees recently
met in special session to receive the
commitment and voted to accept the
challenge and name one of the resi
dence halls built through the MCAP
in honor of Culbreth and Kilty Bare
foot.
“This gift from Mr. and Mrs.
Barefoot is the second largest re
ceived from any individual to the
Meredith Advancement Program,”
Dr. Weems said, “and we express
our gratitude to them for their faith
and belief in Christian higher edu
cation at Meredith.
“Since I assumed the presidency
of Meredith on January 1, 1972, I
have been impressed by the depth of
interest of many of Meredith’s con
stituents and this pace setting chal
lenge will lead us to greater service
and financial stability,” Dr. Weems
said.
The MCAP was begun in Febru
ary, 1968 with a goal of raising $5
million over a five year period. Con
struction of five new buildings and
renovations to existing buildings
were included in the program.
This wonderful gift from Mr.
and Mrs. Barefoot is a challenge to
the Trustees and Advancement Pro
gram leaders to raise the remaining
$900,000 of our $5 million objec
tive,” John T. Kanipe, Jr., vice-
president for institutional advance
ment, said.
A two year self study and long-
range planning completed in the
early stages of the MCAP called for
increasing enrollment, which Mere
dith officials consider to be the op
timum size for a small liberal arts
college.
The Barefoot Residence Hall is
the second to be completed through
President John Weems
State and Local Internships Set Deadline
North Carolina college and uni
versity students have until February
15 to apply for the 50 State and
Local Government Summer Intern
ships which enable them to earn be
tween $75 and $100 a week and,
perhaps, earn three semester hours
of college credit.
Applications and supporting ma
terials must be received by the In
stitute of Government at the Uni
versity of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill no later than February 15.
The program offers students a
chance to learn while they earn a
good summer wage and to supple
ment their work in the classroom
with experience in the real world
“where the action is.” The various
branches of State and Local Govern
ment, at the same time are given the
opportunity to work with some of
North Carolina’s brightest, most en
thusiastic students.
Residents of North Carolina who
are currently undergraduates en
rolled in a college or university either
within or out of the state and who
will have completed at least three
years of college by June, 1972, are
eligible for both programs. Out-of-
state residents are eligible for the
local program. Students with any
college major may apply.
Because of the need for well-
informed citizens in all walks of life,
the intern program is not limited to
students definitely headed for pub
lic service careers. Students inter
ested in business, engineering, fores
try, high school and college teaching,
and medicine will be appointed as
well as those interested in govern
ment administration, politics and
law.
Students in the State Government
Program work for eleven weeks with
top agency personnel learning about
the many aspects of State Govern
ment while they work. This involves
a 40-hour work week and a con
centrated seminar series, according
to S. Kenneth Howard, Director of
the State Government Intern Pro
gram.
Several times during the summer,
the interns will participate in semi
nars in Chapel Hill. Local interns
regularly attend meetings of the gov
erning body.
Applications may be secured from
college placement offices, local of
fices of the Employment Security
Commission, the N. C. State Person
nel Department in Raleigh, and the
Institute of Government in Chapel
Hill.
This summer 25 interns will be
selected and placed in local govern
ments across the state, subject to the
approval of the local government
units. State program applicants will
be notified of their acceptance or
rejection by April 1.
the MCAP. Two other facilities, a
library and gymnasium, have been
completed and a college center is un
der construction.
Barefoot is the president and Mrs.
Barefoot is vice-president of C. C.
Barefoot and Co. of Benson, one of
the world’s largest sweet potato
packing and shipping firms. He is
serving his second term on the
Meredith Board of Trustees and has
previously served on the Meredith
Board of Associates.
Active in business, church and
civic leader. Barefoot is chairman of
the Board of Trustees of Trinity
Baptist Church, Benson, a member
of the Benson Lion’s Club, a direc
tor of the Benson Branch of First
National Bank of Eastern North
Carolina and a director of the N. C.
Yam Commission and secretary-
treasurer of the Sweet Potato Coun
cil of the United States.
He was among the good will am
bassadors from North Carolina who
went on a “People to People” jour
ney to Europe in 1965.
Dr. Blanton 4
Of Meredith
is Honored
Among the biographies listed in
Two Thousand Women of Achieve
ment-1972, published in London,
England, will be Dr. Gloria H. Blan- ■
ton. Associate Professor of Psy- I
chology and Chairman of the De-
partment of Psychology at Meredith
College.
During 1967-71, Dr. Blanton was
Special Assistant to the President at
Meredith in addition to her teaching
responsibilities. She is current presi
dent of the North Carolina College
Personnel Association and a mem
ber of the Executive Board of the
North Carolina Personnel and Guid
ance Association.
Recently she completed a three-
year term on the Executive Commit
tee of the North Carolina Adult
Education Association.
In November she was a member
of the visiting committee which
examined Mary Washington College
of the University of Virginia, in con
nection with reaffirmation of ac
creditation by the Southern Associa
tion of Colleges and Schools.
Dr. Gloria Blanton