MerediUt Herald
Volume XIV, Issue 9
On the
inside:
□ High school
students visit
Meredith with
alumnae for
Legacy l>av.
Page 2
□ The Class of
2000 gets a
chance to
explore joh
options during
Sophomore
Career W cek.
Page 2
□ Ever
wondered where
all the tuition
money goes?
Page 3
Meredith Herald
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We attract bright, talented, ambitious students. Naturally we're a women's college. October 29,1997
Class of 1999 sponsor first Ring Dinner Week
□ Juniors can officially
wear their rings "wrapped
around their finger."
AUlSOH CARTER & JENNIFER REDINGER
Is^cul Editor S Business Manoget
TheClassof 1999 could officially
wear their Meredith rings “wrapped
around their finger” Friday at the Jun
ior Ring Dinner. The dinner itself was
theculmination of Junior Ring Dinner
Week. This was the first time a class
bas sponsored an entire weekofevents
leading up to Ring Dinner.
“The week was an excellent new
traditioQ, and I'm thankful to our class
co-chairs who gave us an entire week
forclassunity,”saidJuniorClass Presi
dent Ginger Hudson.
The week began Monday with a
bonfire, where class members took a
study break to roast marshmallows
and socialize. A class meeting was
held on Tuesday night, followed by a
BigSis/Lil' Sis social witb the Class of
2001. Juniors wore their class spiht
shirts on Wednesday and “Colored the
Campus” with their class spirit on
Thursday. Ring Pops were the decor
on Friday as the anticipation grew for
the dinner that oighu
Ring Dinner co-chair Jaime
Stafford noted, “We started planning
last April and it paid off. We’ve gotten
a lot of positive response from the
class.
“Everyone seemed happy with the
week’s evetits. It’s a good new tradi
tion to begin,” concluded Stafford.
Approximately 265 members of
the junior class waited io line inside
Asbury United Methodist Church
where they received their Ring Dinner
T-shirts, souvenirs, and letters of en
couragement from their parents.
Lori Messina, co-chair, com
mented on the letters, "I wanted to get
all of the parents involved, but knew
there was not a facility with the space
to hold almost 1200 people. So we
came up with a way for our parents to
be there with us in spirit if riot in
presence."
After the juniors opened their fami
lies' letters, Sugar Hale noticed that
almost every female in the room was
crying. “We probably could break a
world record wiili so many women in
one room all crying and aU wearing
black,” said Hale. ’
The buffet dinner included salad
and fruit, rolls, green beans, wild rice,
See RINGS page 4
Juniors filled the Cate Center 1 $t Floor lounge on Monday momir)g during Ring
Dir^ner Week as they caught the first glimpse of their Meredith rings.
Photo by Alyson Flood
Meredith plans for the millennium and beyond
□ Meredith community
works together on Initiative
2000 plan.
BETH HALL
News Edltoi
Initiative 2000, a strategic plan
ning process for the college, is being
developed with the help of the entire
MerediUi community.
“Initiative 2000 will identify the
College’s institutional strategic plan
for the next three years toward the new
century. It’s an exciting name for an
exciting era in Meredith’s future,”
wrote President John Weems last year
in the newsletter for faculty and staff,
In a Nutshell.
"Strategic planning,” as stated in
the resource book concerning the Ini
tiative 2000, “is a process for envi
sioning Mereditii’sfuture.”It includes
setting goals, defming strategies and
policies, and “developing detailed
plans to assure that strategies arc imple
mented, monitored and altered when
necessary to achieve success.”
The goal is a five-year long “ever
green” contract. “Evergreen” means
the plan is continuous. For example, it
is Dotjust designated for only theyears
2000-2005. Initially, it would be
planned for those years, but as soon as
the plans for 2000 were accomplished,
then the plans for 2006 would be added.
This major campus-wide plan is
taking place now for several reasons.
Like many organizations, creating a
fresh plan for the year 2000 is the
ultimate new milleDnium' s resolution.
However, th«e are other reasons
more specific to Meredith for a new,
campus-encompassing plan. The re
source book
states, “This is a
time of transi
tion at
Mered.ith.”
Transition
comes in the
form of
Meredith’s
changed rela
tionship to the
North Carolina
Baptist State
Convention,and
the subsequent
altered size and
composition of
Meredith’sgov-
erning board.
Now that the
trustees are no
longer ap
pointed by the state convection, the
board has become self-perpetuating.
Its membership also has increased from
36 to 40 members.
Another transition is the retire-
mentsof those in academic and admin
istrative leadership positions. Allen
Buais, who served as dean of tlie col
lege for many years, retired from ac
tive duty last June. President Weems
also is anticipated to retire in the near
future.
The initial steps for the planning
began last
year. A spe
cial faculty
committee,
chaired by
Dr. David
Heining-
Boynton of
the psychol
ogy depart
ment, de
cided a cur
rent mission
statement
should be
developed to
supplement
Meredith’s
historic pur
pose state
ment.
A mis
sion statement, which will be the foun
dation of Initiative 2000, was devel
oped by the faculty committee after
having several open forums on the
matter. Seniormanagement (vice presi
dents and deans) then looked over the
draft. Dr. Louise Taylor of the English
department created a fmal revision
making it more readable and succinct.
It states:
In educating women to excel,
Meredith College fosters in students
integrity, independence, scholarship,
andpersonal growth. Groundedinihe
liberal arts, the College values free
dom and openness in the pursuit of
truth aid, in keeping with its Christian
heritage, seeks to nurture justice and
compassion. Meredith endeavors to
create a supporiiye and diverse com
munity in which students learn from
the past, prepare for the future, and
grow in their understanding of self,
others, and community. To theseends,
Meredith strives to develop in students
the knowledge, skills, values, and glo
bal awareness necessary to pursue
careers, to assume leadership roles, to
eiuer graduate aiui professional stud
ies, and to lead responsible lives of
work, citizenship, leisure, learning, and
service.
Meredith uustees approved the
mission statement on Sept. 26,1997.
The senior management team
drafted a vision outline to add to the
mission statement and aid planning
direction. Members of the senior man-
See INITIATIVE page 4