THE TWIG
IVetvspaper of the Students of IHeredith College
VOL. LIV, NO. 5
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, N.C.
OCTOBER 4, 1979
‘‘Good News” Fall musical to be presented
by Marlene Debo Barnett
Football season is a
special time on a college
campus. Excitement and fun
fill the air. There are pep
rallies, school rivalries,
players in training, and
cheerleaders and supporters
spurring the team on to
victory. Do you ever miss that
kind of excitement here at
Meredith? Have you ever
wished we had our own
football season to take part
in? Well for a few magic hours
on October 4, 5, and 6 that
dream will come true in Jones
Auditorium when the
Department of Music and the
Performing Arts presents the
fall musical Good News.
Good News is about a
college similar to Meredith in
many ways, but Tait College
is co-educational. The whole
campus is gearing up for the
biggest football game of the
season when the star player
flunks an exam. Unless he
passes a make-up test he
won’t be able to play and the
team will surely lose to the
school’s most hated rivals.
This crisis pulls the student
body together - they must find
a way to assure a Tait victory.
Associate Minister appointed
Meredith Neill has been
appointed Contract-Associate
in Campus Ministry here at
Meredith. Not only is she an
addition to Meredith’s
campus, but an exciting one.
The eldest of two children,
Ms, Neill was born into a
Christian environment
peopled by active Christian
parents and grandparents. At
the age of 12, she made her
second journey overseas and
was deeply impressed by her
stay in Jordan and Israel.
Her father took it as his
responsibility to teach her
about the “age of ac
countability’’ during that
stay. Some two months later,
Ms. Neill made her profession
of faith in a revival service.
Throughout her early
adolescence she participated
in the usual church activities,
including a heavy in
volvement in folk musicals
and camping.
Her Sophomore year at
Meredith, Ms. Neill declared
majors in religion and history.
During these Meredith years
came some solid faith and a
call into hospital ministries.
She entered Southern
Seminary in the fall of 1974
with a deep interest in
pastoral care. During her
three years of study, Ms. Neill
began to grasp what it meant
to be a pastor and what it
meant to be a woman in
ministry.
She graduated from
Southern with her M. Div.
degree in December 1977.
Believing that she had some
unique gifts for ministry, Ms.
Meredith Neill
Neill sougM Ordination to the
full gospel ministry from her
home church in 1978. She was
ordained at First Baptist
Church, Gastonia, that
January.
Ms. Neill thinks that by
becoming Contract Associate
in campus ministry at
Meredith, she will have the
unique experience of
ministering to young women
in an academic context. She
will be primarily concerned
with physically and
emotionally healthy persons
in a specific age bracket. Ms.
Neill’s training in ministry
with supervised pastoral
experience and skills in for
ming durable relationships, in
pastoral counseling, worship,
and in organization will
her to help young
on Meredith’s cam-
enable
women
pus.
An added twist is the time
period. It’s 1926 - the era of
the flapper, raccoon coats,
and ba^-tub gin. We see the
Tait students demonstrating
the hottest dance on campus,
the “Varsity Drag.” Fresh
men had to wear their beanies
and address upperclassmen
as “sir” and “ma’am.”
The clothes, dances, and
customs were different, but
many links exist between
Mer^ith students today and
Tait students in the ’20’s. Tait
students have their share of
romance, pranks, studying,
and worrying about the
future. We hear the familiar
student problem in the song
“After Commencement What
Are We Gonna Commence?”
Good News has this
romance, comedy, dancing,
as well as lots of music. Some
of the more familiar tunes are
“The Best Things in Life Are
Free,” “Varsity Drag,” and
“Lucky In Love.”
Melody Frazier portrays
Connie, the intelligent and
beautiful girl who falls in love
with the football hero. Juana
Ruble plays Pat, the busy
sorority president who is
going with the Football hero.
And Joy Johnson appears as
Babe, the headstrong in
dependent girl who isn’t
afraid to go after the man she
wants. Other female roles are
taken by Lillian Dickson,
Lynn Dyson, Ella Plyler,
Wendy Stanley, Beverly
Taylor, Dana Warren, and
Marlene Debo Barnett.
The performances are
Thursday, October 4 through
Saturday, October 6 at 8 p.m.
in Jones Auditorium. Tickets
may be purchased in advance
from any member of the cast
or at the Drama office (243
Jones). Advance tickets are
$1.00 for students and $2.50 for
adults. At the door student
tickets will be $1.50 and adult
tickets will be $3.00.
SGA promotes fitness
by Darla Stephenson
As a result of S.G.A.’s
interest in and promotion of
physical fitness on the
Meredith campus, a New
Games Festival was held in
Weatherspoon Gymnasium on
Monday, September 24th, at
8:00 p.m.
The New Games Festival
is a nation-wide movement - a
group gathers and plays
games just for fun! The
competition element is left out
of the games and according to
Lynn Moss, the Resident
Advisor for Carroll and
Chairperson of Meredith’s
New Games Festival, “It’s
wonderful! I had a wonderful
time.”
Not only are the games for
fun, but there is a lot of
physical activity involved.
One such of the games is body
bumping. There was also a
hug tag where someone was
“it” and chased the others,
trying to tag someone. In
order to be ^e, the chased
had to hug someone else. Miss
Moss described this as
“wild,” because there were
times when she found herself
Board of Trustees approves vision program
Meredith College trustees
approved a $20 million Vision
program, the largest in the
history of the women’s
college, to provide for current
and future needs, Seby B.
Jones, trustee chairman,
announced following the semi
annual meeting Friday.
The program calls for $14
million to be used for the
general endowment and
faculty development and $6
million over a 10-year period
for new construction.
“We hope to raise $10-$15
million in three to five years
and the balance in deferred
giving and annuities,” Jones
said.
Meredith, the largest
private women’s college in the
Southeastern United States,
has been cited twice by the
Carnegie Commission on
Higher Education as being
one of the most financially
sound institutions in the U.S.
“This program is
designed to insure Meredith’s
financial future,” Meredith
President John E. Weems
said. “It will enable us to
continually meet the needs of
Senior art exhibit to open
Maureen Banker of
Raleigh, a Meredith College
student, will present her
senior art exhibition in the art
gallery on the lower level of
Jones Hall on the women’s
campus October 5-19. An
opening reception will be held
Friday, October 5, 4-6 p.m.
The pubic is invited to attend.
our students, faculty, and
community through the ad
dition of resources that will
help us remain strong in the
future.”
The main thrust of the
Vision I*rogram is for en
dowment and faculty
development.
“Most of our great in
stitutions have large
unrestricted endowments,”
President Weems said. “The
time is now right for Meredith
to make a major move in this
area.”
In the past eight years,
Meredith’s endowment has
grown from $1.5 million to $7.5
million. The endowment is
invested resources with in
terest being used to un
derwrite various programs at
the college.
Also included in the major
thrust of the Vision Program
will be four specifically en
dowed chairs ^at will bring
nationally known scholars to
the college’s fulltime teaching
staff.
Included in the new
construction will be a $900,000
chapel, “a visible symbol of
Meredith’s commitment to
Christian education,” said
President Weems.
In addition will be an
academic facility specifically
designed for business and
home economics, the fastest
growing departments at
Meredith; an addition to the
library; additional
recreational facilities; a life
long learning center; and
improvements and additions
to the college center.
hugging someone she did not
know.
Other games which were
played at Meredith’s New
Games Festival included
Kangaroo (a guessing game
at how messages are mentally
exchanged by two people who
know the “trick”), rock-
paper-scissors, a well-known
game but was slightly
modified and played in teams
Monday night, and one-on-one
volleyhall was played, but the
volleyball was replaced by a
balloon which heightened the
physical activity.
Miss Moss summed up the
event as a “success” and
worth the planning and time
even though attendance and
participation was sparse. She
also extends an invitation to
help anyone who is interested
in working with New Games.
S.G.A. is planning various
other activities throughout the
year to promote physical
fitness according to S.G.A.
President Cathy Clapp.
The Meredith Marathon
which will be held on Friday,
October 19th at 10:00 a.m. is
one of S.G.A.’s projects to
advance physical fitness.
Tentative plans include a
speaker on aerobics, a roller
skating party, a square dance,
an attempt to increase par
ticipation at Play Day (April
17th), and perhaps an October
New Games Festival in the
spring.
Buy roasted peannts •
help the disabled
The Exchange Clubs of
Sanford are promoting a fund
raising effort to provide
wheelchairs and other ex
pensive equipment for the
disabled or physically han
dicapped of North Carolina.
To raise this needed money,
Houston’s Roasted Peanuts,
salted in the shell, are being
sold for $1.00 per 12 oz. bag. K
you wish to help out a good
cause while enjoying delicious
fresh roasted peanuts, please
come by or call: Sandra
Hancock, 308 Barefoot,
Meredith College, 828-2051.