PAGE 2
THE TWIG
S^pt&mbe.A 2 J, I 972
THE
A
TWIG
MEREVITH
COLLEGE
A New Beginning
When I asked Dr. Weems if he had a pre-inau^ral state
ment for THE TWIG, he said he only had one major aspect
that he wanted to stress, and that this aspect would be the most
Important reason for having an inauguration. He said he did
not want the proceedings to be merely for dignitaries or for
publicity for the College itself, but that he did want them to be
special. That sense of specialness comes to life in the involve
ment of the Meredith Community itself, for this Inauguration,
above all, is a total community effort.
Not only have teachers and administration had a part in the
planning of this inauguration, but students have also done their
parts, so that, as Dr. Weems stressed, the affair has not be
come special only to certain guests from outside the Meredith
Communltv. Students as well as the public have been invited
to the inaugural activities, and the overall view is now one of to
getherness, of a true community working within itself in order
to present a total picture of a new beginning.
This new beginning, marked by the inauguration proceedings
tomorrow, can offer us a challenge for the future of the Mere
dith Community. We have succeeded thus far in working for
a totality within the inauguration, but we cannot stop here. All
of us must continue to grow toward a complete totality for to
morrow, or the future of Meredith will not grow at all but will
rather become stale and inactive.
Dr. Weems is looking toward that future when all of Mere
dith can become a true community. His first step is to actual
ize that outlook at his own inauguration; ours will be to con
tinue that outlook in this year and those to come so that what is
symbolized at this inauguration may be realized throughout
the future of Meredith College.
J F S
\)r. WiM‘ms
(Continued from page 1)
tive Training Program, While
completing his master’s de
gree, Dr. Weems taught at
Atlantic Christian College in
Wilson, N.C. He also served
as Director of Admissions and
Placement and Director of
Student Personnel Services.
In 1959, Dr. Weems became
Dean of Admissions and Rec
ords at Kentucky Wesleyan
College and in 1961 became
Dean of Admissions at Mid
dle Tennessee State Univer
sity, and later Vice-President
for Finance and Administra
tion. Other than faculty and
student personnel areas. Dr.
Weems was responsible for
all areas of college admini
stration at Middle Tennessee.
The procedures developed in
his office there have been
adopted as the prototype for
Installation in each of the state
supported institutions ofhigh-
er education in Tennessee.
Having been President of the
Tennessee Association of
Collegiate Registrars and Ad
missions Officers, President-
Elect of the Southern Associa
tion of Collegiate Registrars
and Admissions Officers, Dr.
Weems comes to Meredith
with an admirable background
of experience. He is married
to the former Frankie Gooch
of Chapel Hill, Tennessee. He
was the past Chairman of Dea
cons and former Sunday School
teacher at First Baptist
Church in Murfreesboro, Ten
nessee, and is a Rotarlan.
The Weems are members of
Hayes Barton Baptist Church
in Raleigh, They have three
children: John Mark, 18, a
freshman at Wake Forest Uni
versity; David Van, 13; and
Nancy Carol, 11.
RECITAL SET BY LYNCH
Music will begin the in
augural activities when Dr.
W, David Lynch gives an organ
rectial in honor of Dr. Weems
on Thursday, September 21.
Held at 8:00 P.M. in Jones Au
ditorium, the performance
will be given for Meredith and
the public.
Regardless of their know
ledge of organ music, all stu-
Dr. Mary Lynch Johnson with her revised edition of A HISTORY OF MEREDITH COLLEGE.
"WITHOUT OSTENTATION OR FANATICISM’’
dents are welcome at the re
cital. Dr. Lynch will speak be
fore each selection about what
he is to play and the effects
accomplished with the organ,
as well as about the compos
er, when he lived, and why he
wrote the piece. Included in
Dr. Lynch’s program are
“Fantasia” on the chorale
“How Brightly Shines the
Morning Star” by Reger,
“Prelude” and “Fuge in
Dorian Mode” by Kerckhoven,
“Recite de Tierce en talle”
by Gringny, and “Wondrous
Love” by Barber,
Now chairman of the music
department. Dr. Lynch came
to Meredith in 1969, He re
ceived his B.M. degree from
Oberlin College and the M.M.
and D.M.A, degrees from the
Eastman School of Music. He
has also studied in Salzburg,
Austria; Paris, France; and
at Syracuse University.
JOHNSON’S
Well written history has a
way of reassuring the old that
there is nothing new under
the sun, while encouraging the
young that age alone is no
criterion for betterment. This
second edition of A HISTORY
OF MEREDITH COLLEGE,
revised and extended, might
use some of the Women’s Lib
slogans for subtitles. The book
describes the conflicting opin
ions about “female education”
that North Carolinians held in
1889. (If it were hard to get
your own cigarette then, how
difficult to get your own col
lege!) There were those who
believed that “it hain’t a wo
man’s hemisphere to be edu
cated anyhow, it is us men’s
hemisphere,” Fortunately the
opposite argument had more
eloquent spokesmen such as
Leonidas Polk, who wrote in
an 1890 PROGRESSIVE FAR
MER editorial: “That the
education of women should
have been so long neglected
is a reproach which can only
be obliterated by giving them
now an institution which shall
be equal in all respects...”
In 1899, the college opened
in Raleigh. The book records
glimpses of Raleigh history,
of leading personaliites in the
city who, like Polk, left a
lasting impression upon the
character of the city. Irre
pressible Dr. Thomas Skin
ner, generous John T. Pullen,
Carey J. Hunter and W. N.
Jones were early friends of
Meredith College and friends
of many worthy Raleigh caus
es. Other leading Baptists in
the state played important
roles in the success of the
college. The charismatic O.
L. Stringfield was one who
canvassed the state for pen
nies and nickels to build the
college. Later, when Mere
dith was burdened again by
debt, the gentle, scholarly Li
vingston Johnson, long time
editor of the BIBLICAL RE
CORDER, offered to sell his
only property to give money
to a school which was to him
“a peculiar treasure.”
Labor and sacrifice are re
corded in this history, but any
sentimentality one might feel
about those demure young
ladies with their high white
collars is dispelled by the
author’s realistic accounts of
Dr, David Lynch, Chairman
of The Meredith Music De
partment.
CHAPEL ANNOUNCEMENT
On Wednesday September
27, at 10:00 a.m., a special
treat is in store for chapel.
From the state of Maryland
...Merl, Happy and Wil...
the Shorb Brothers, are
coming to Meredith. The
concert will feature current
pop material, a smat
tering of Shorb originals,
and some traditional hymns
and gospel songs.
book reviewed
BY GLORIA HUMT
the students. The first presi
dent of Meredith had to deal
with such indiscretions as a
distraught father whose
daughter eloped from a picnic
held by the First Baptist
Church Sunday School. Raleigh
citizens strolling on Edenton
Street were often horrified to
see certain items of lingerie
or heads of hair being dried
in dormitory windows. And
basketball games between St,
Mary’s College and Meredith
had to be abandoned because
“unladylike language was used
on both sides.”
Obviously, what the author
c alls ‘ ‘the chivalrously sugar-
coated idea that woman was
too delicate a creature to
undergo the rigor of a real
education” was a fantasy of the
male ego! From its earliest
conception, Meredith was to be
a school of academic excel
lence. Needlepoint and flower
making were scoffed at by
such first faculty members as
Dr. Delia Dixon Carroll, a
woman of vigorous intellect
who taught thirty-four years
at the college. She was call
ed by local citizens “the fe
male lady doctress,” so femi
nine a term needed to calm
their suspicions about a wo
man who was a real M.D.,
an advocate of woman’s suf
frage, and who had traveled
in the Orient... alone!
The book is a lively history
because the author, Mary
Lynch Johnson, has put her
emphasis not upon brick, mor
tar and dates, but upon the
people who shaped the cha
racter of Meredith College
with their own personalities.
Scholarly research is evident
in every page, but the rich in
terest in people and the gen
tle humor of Miss Johnson
make the reading a pleasure.
Discovering that one excited
young man at the 1897 Baptist
Convention pledged to the
school “ten dollars for the
girl who wouldn’t have me,”
she gratifies our interest with
a footnote telling the reader
of the young man’s marriage
the next year. When one finds
a history book in which even
the footnotes are a delight,
one has found good reading!
“Without ostentation or fa
naticism” were words which
a recent visiting lecturer used
to characterize Meredith Col
lege. Having been associat
ed with the college from the
time both author and college
were ten - year - olds, Miss
Johnson might be forgiven a
little fanaticism on the sub
ject. But there is none in her
book. Though she holds many
degrees, is abrilliant linguist,
and a master of literature,
there is never a trace of os
tentation in her writing. Ex
pect to find in the book the
same honest enthusiasm, gen
erous giving of self, and
devotion to high goals that
she has imparted not only to
her literature classes at
Meredith, but to her commun
ity, that community consist
ing of anyone within voice
range or writing range. Will
iam Josiah Bailey, an early
advocate of the college wrote
in 1896:
Educational institutions are
not made of bricks and mor
tar and money. They are
never great until sanctified
with sacrifice .. Into yonder
institution we must pour
heart’s blood, lives must
be lived for it, sacrifices
offered for its sake, and
the best of some of us must
be devoted to it.
Dr. Mary Lynch Johnson
is one of that best.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor Janice Sams
Copy Editor Eleanor Hill
Feature Editor Renee Lindsey
Reporting Staff Karen Britt, Claudia Denny, Joy Seaborn,
Norma Heath, Catherine Stover, Susan Webster, Mary
Owens, Barrie Walton
Typists ....Deborah Phillips, Suzanne Martin, Susan Webster
Faculty Advisers Dr. Norma Rose, Dr. Tom Parramore
Business Editor Libby Owen
Advertising Manager Emily Johnson
Circulation Manager Elaine Williams
Staff Nancy Alvis, Lou Ann Roebuck, Candy Purvis
Faculty Adviser Dr. Lois Frazier
Member Associated Collegiate Press. Entered as second-
class matter at post office at Raleigh, N.C, 27611. Published
weekly except during holidays and exams.
THE TWIG is served by National Educational Advertising
Service, 18 East 50th Street, New York. Subscription Rates:
$3.70 per year.