Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / March 20, 1992, edition 1 / Page 6
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March 20,1992 page six "A vision for the future,,, ” Dr. Weems expresses his hopes for the College Dr. Weems' remarks from the worship service at the end of the Centennial Celebration are printed for you here at the request of faculty members. Professor to speak on disintegration of Soviet Union by Laura Watts, Phi Alpha Theta Histo- rian The disintegration of the Soviet Union has set into motion an ever- resonating sequence of events which effect the entire world. On March 24, the Meredith community will be hon ored by the presence ofDr. RobertF. Byrnes, Distinguished Professor of History at Indiana University, who will address the topic: THE REA SONS FOR THE SOVIET AND COMMUNITY COLLAPSE. This timely lecture is an excellent oppor tunity for history majors, political science majors, and for anyone else who is interested in the turn of world events to attain knowledge which will lead to a deeper understanding of how these events affect the United States. Dr. Byrnes is a recognized expert and renowned author in Soviet his tory and has lectured frequently on ihc subject. He has also served on national boards and international organizations which encourage aca demic exchanges between the former Soviet Union and the United States. All members of the Meredith Com munity are invited to attend this im portant event which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Cate Center Audito rium. Supply Store working hard to modernize by Gilda Boyd Meredith Supply Store has taken a giant step forward! Over spring break the Supply Store made a change in its look. New computer ized cash registers have been installed. The Supply Store staff has been working for six years to get the store to its present state. Phase one was completed about four years ago with the addition of TomTraks- -a computerized book ordering system. Now the latest phase to be completed is the new registers. When you graduate from Meredith and go away for a few years, what do you think you will remember most about Meredith? Last May, we had 700 alums come for a week-end and attend our alumnae college. Why do you think the event was such a rousing success? How can a college with out a football stadium or a large basketball arena produce the most fiercely loyal alumnae in the world? What is this special place we call Meredith? I have told people hundreds of times, that in my opinion the most single dominant characteristic of our school is that our students care more about each other than any place I have ever seen. There is something that takes place on this campus that is truly magic. There is a sense of community...there is a sense of respect...there is a sense of place...there is a sense of time...there is a sense of beauty. Meredith is up close and personal...and the sense ofbelong- ing stays with you always. The uniqueness of Meredith is exhibited in many ways. One of the most pronounced is the rela- tionsWp that develops between fac ulty and students. A few years back the head of our chemistry depart ment was Dr. Mary Yarbrough. I was talking to her one day and she was telling me about one of her students who was using her for a reference to get a job. I told her I didn'trecognize the smdent's name. "Oh!," shesaid, "the student gradu ated 20 years ago." But to Mary Yarbrough she was still her stu dent. I Graduates of Meredith talk about I the great teachers they had 40 and 50 years ago. The first year 1 was at I Meredith one of our tnistrees hosted a reception for me to meet the Raleigh community. As I was greeting the guests in the receiving line an elderly gentleman told me his wife had three academic de grees, but she always said that the best course she ever took was Dr. Mary Lynch Johnson's class in Chaucer. I said, "That’s interesting, she’s teaching Chaucer this semes ter." He look at me in astonishment and said, "That was 50 years ago." We both laughed. Our faculty "stands’' for something in the minds of their students and the values they inculcate never go away. A few years back we had the late Alex Haley come to campus to speak. His book. Roots, had been a best-seller and a smash hit as a mini series. He was now on the lecture tour and we were very excited about having him speak. While we were in my office preparing for the convo cation the gentleman that accompa nied Alex said, "Why don't you tell Dr. Weems what you said to me coming into the building a few min utes ago." Alex grinned and said, "I told Charles I can just feel the atmo sphere on this campus." Charles then said, "We have been to cam puses all over the country and he has never said that before." We do have atmos[4iere on our campus and it is readily apparent. Atmosphere ex hibits itself in many ways. One characteristic that I see in Meredith graduates is both interest ing and gratifying. And it comes firom atmosphere. Over and over again our graduates say "I just love Meredith." They don't like Meredith...they love Meredith. These words are not perfunctory.. .they are from the heart. They are summing up a series of experiences and relationships that can only be expressed as love. No other word describes these feelings. They are real. We have had wonderful year cel ebrating our centennial. We have had outstanding speakers. Original plays. Special events. And cake in the ro tunda.. But now is the time to look to the future. I love the ftiture. I can hardly wait to see what is coming next. For me, contemplating the future is truly exciting. I am going to spend a few minutes talking about my vision of the iiiture of Meredith. And then some of you will have the opportunity to talk about your vision of Meredith’s fu ture. Meredith has thrived when many other colleges have struggled just to stay alive. It is my opinion that much of this success has come from offering an educational program with charac ter and distinctiveness. The late Dr. Stringfield whose fa ther was honored by having a dormi tory name for him, used to come from Connecticut and visit us each year. These were enjoyable visits for me because Dr. Stringfield had such a special view of Meredith. He often said he thought God had put a large canopy over Meredith just to protect it and bless it in every way. After having been at Meredith for 21 years, I think I agree with Dr. Stringfield! In thinking about the ftiture, Peter Drucker, the business analyst and fore caster, once said that there are two things you can safely say abou the future: one, the future is going to be different. Two, the future is going to be different from what you think it is going to be. Even with this admoni tion, let's try to think realistically about how things are going to be at Meredith 20 or 25 years from now. One reasonable way to begin this continued on page seven
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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March 20, 1992, edition 1
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