Vol. 1. No. 11
Meredith College, Raleigh, NC 27611
May 7,1986
Jimmv Carter to deliver Lillian Parker Wallace lecture
by Betsy Short, Editor
Former President Jimmy Carter
‘Senior Picnic’ nnarks year end
The culmination of a senior’s year is the
Senior Picnic. Thisyear’s picnic on Thurs
day, April 24, carried on the tradition^ of
years past.'"''’’” ‘ —
As the picnic began, the Crook Hunt
ended. A large group of students followed
the senior class officers to where the crook
was hidden. It was attached to the hinges
of a third floor window in Heilman
dormitory.
Since the juniors failed to find the
crook before the deadline, the seniors will
carry the crook on Class Day with a green
and white bow, the class colors, attached.
While students stood in line fixing their
plates, the Bath Tub Ring performed
Meredith’s favorites and a few new songs.
Students clapped and sang along during
the Bath Tub Ring'6 second to last per
formance. ThQT will perform for the last
time at Class Day, after which thQ^ will
pass down their names and positions in
the band to a new group of rising seniors.
Presentations followed the Bath Tub
Ring. Laura Cochrane presented the Sen
ior Class Mascot, Flossie Mae Wooten,
to junior BeclQ' Smith. She will be the
**legal guardian” of Flossie for the follow-
' ing acadicmic year. A lievtradition; the*
‘^elephant in the jungle,” continued as
Bridgette Parker, Sherry Davis, Dalinda
Dunn and Kelli Milstead passed it down
to the suite of Chrissy Trevino, Laura
Foust, Beth Cunningham and Pam Barn
hart. Parker said the jungle represents the
crazy, busy life of being a student at
Meredith and the elephant is symbolic of
the student tromping along through it all.
The majority of the picnic was devoted
to the reading of seniors’ last wills and
testaments. They were read by the Senior
Class officers and former Class Histor
ians.
After the reading, students moved to
fu^t Heilman parlor for the Senior Slide
Show and Class Prophecies. All seniors
were asked to write predictions of what
their roommate would be doing 10 years
from now. The prophecies concluded the
three-hour picnic events.
Former President Jimmy Carter will
deliver the Lillian Parker Wallace lecture
on September 11, 1986, in the Meitdith
amphitheatre, according to Renee Keever,
assistant director of college relations.
On the afternoon of the lecture, Carter
will also hold a press conference around 4
p.m. Meredith students and others in the
Meredith community will be allowed
time to ask Carter questions after mem
bers of the press interview him.
The topic for Carter’s lecture is ‘^Amer-
ica: A Champion of Peace?”
Carter was elected President on Nov
ember 2, 197& A few noted accomplish
ments of the Carter administration in
clude the Panama Canal treaties, the
Camp David Accord, the treaty of peace
between Egypt and Israel and the SALT
II treaty with the Soviet Union.
Prior to being elected President, Carter
served as a lieutenant in the navy working
in the nuclear submarine program. He
was elected governor of Georgia in 1971
and became the Democratic Party’s Na
tional Chairman in 1973 for the congres
sional elections in 1973.
In preparation for Carter's visit. Dr.
Clyde Frazier, political science professor,
intends to prepare 25 pages of back
ground materials including a general sur
vey of the Carter administration and
where Carter has been since the end of his
presidential term. This material will be
available to professors ai^ students.
In addition to this infonnation, Frazier
said the library reference staff will develop
a more specialized bibliography on Car
ter to tie into particular courses.
Frazier noted the information should
be helpful to most students since they
were either in elementary or junior high
school while Carter was in ofllce.
Students will be encouraged to develop
questions prior to Carter’s visit. Frazier
said he anticipates holding a contest for
the “best question.” Since there will be
limited time for questions, Frazier said he
wanted those who took the time to for
mulate good questions in advance to have
the opportunity to ask them.
The Lillian Parker Wallace Fund was
established by the Meredith College Class
of 1971 in Honor of Dr. Wallace, a profes
sor of history at Meredith from 1921 until
her retirement in 1962. She was head of
the department from 1947 until 1962. The
Class of 1973 pledged its sanction and
support two years after the fund’s in
ception.
Income from the endowment is used
for support of a Visiting Scholar to aca
demic departments of the College for
terms of one or two semesters. The
departments rotate so that oiie depart
ment does not participate more than once
in five years.
Three faculty nnembers to join Meredith connnnunity this fall
by Stephana West,. News Reporter
Meredith has three new full-time
faculty members for the I986'87 aca
demic year. They are: James Buchanan.
Visiting Professor of Chemistiy; Shearle
Furnish, Assistant Professor of English;
and Elizabeth Lang, Instructor of Com
puter Science.
How are new facuhy members found?
According to Academic Dean AUra Bur
ris, the individual departments must take
the initiative when there is a vacant due
to resignations or retirements.
' Once the department chairman and
Dean Burris agree that a new faculty
member is ^neodnl, the seareh begins.
There are several methods for locating
prospective faculty members, such as
advertisemeitts in publications and iiw
quiries at paduate schools.
Candidates for faculty positions make
appointments for interviews with the
department chairman and consulting dt-
paitment members. Together th^ reduce
the number of candidates. The depart
ment chairman recommends at least two
candidates to the acadei^ Dean for
further interviews.
Before meeting with the Academic
Dean, the inter^owe breakfasts with
students from the department. During
the meeting the Dean explains the nature
of the colkge, including its Baptist tiest to
the interviewee. Dean Burns said that
Meredith^ ties to the Baptist church as
*‘an important facet of the college.’*
Next, the candidate meets with the
President and spends the in the
department meeting peo|de. Usually each
quulidate conducts a cli^ lecture. When
there is time, the candidate meets with
students before having an exit interww
with the Academic Dean.
The final decision on the prospective
facuhy member mutt be approved by the
President, but teehnicdly, the candidate
is not a facuhy membiv until the ap>
pointment is approved by the Executive
Board of Trustees. Dean Burris s^ that
the Board has never turned anyone down.
Once hired, faculty members seek ten
ure, a status granted after a trial period to
a teacher protecting him from dismissal
To be considered for tenure, the faculty
inember must have recommendations
from the department chairman, the Aca*
demic Dean, and the tenure committee (a
six-immber committee elected from the
pool of facuhy memben). The recom
mendations then go to President Weems.
The criteria for tenure include teaching
performance, research, and publications,
llie fti^y memberls general compatibil
ity with the purpose of the college and his
general contritotions to Meredith are
also examine before tenure is granted.