ALli
Hilltop
Montague Library L
Published By The Students Of Mars Hill College
Volume XXI.
MARS HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, NOVEMBER 12, 1946.
Number 4.
Dr. Blackwell Heads College Expansion Program
Alumni Auditorium To Be
Among Five New Buildings
"Mars Hill must have physical equipment to match its spir
itual assets." Dr. Blackwell said when he became director of
the enlargement program of the college ten years ago.
At that time, which was two
yeai\s before he was unanimously
ipfci
vs
'TO
PROPOSED DINING HALL The picture shows a drawing by Henry I. Gaines, architect, of the new
aining >^om, plans for which are almost complete aid the contract fcr which will be let in the near
tutura. The building will include the dining room, with a main floor which will seat 600 and a mezzanine
w. lah will accommodate 300; a culinary departmen with a modern kitchen and bakery, food prepara-
tion rooms, storage and refrigeration facilities; offi es and quarters for the dining room and kitchen
Start; cicak rooms ana washrooms for students and guests.
Half-Century Of Service Ended—
Dr. And Mrs. Moore Begin Fiftieth Year At Mars Hill
GI’s Choose
Sponsors
At the second meeting of the
freshman class of the year Pro
fessor and Mrs. Ramon DeShazo
were elected by popular vote to be
the Cl Class sponsors for the
1946-47 session.
Professor DeShazo is instructor
in both freshman and sophomore
English. Mrs. DeShazo is library
assistant in charge of the reserve
library. The DeShazos are now in
their seventh year at Mars Hill.
Their stay has been interrupted
twice: once when “Papa De’’ went
to Peabody College to complete
his master’s degree and again
when he was given a leave of ab
sence to teach in a military aca
demy.
Dr. and .Mr.. R. L. Moore began
i this fall their fiftieth year of
; continuous service at Mars Hill
College. Their coming to Mars
! Hill in 1897 has been called ap
propriately the second founding of
i the college. When Dr. Moore be-
j came president fifty years ago
I the college plant comprised two
buildings, the upper floor of one
belonging to the Ma.sonic lodge.
The original four-acre campus had
dwindled to little more than two
acres. The enrollment was 180
and the faculty numbered three
members. When he retired from
the presidency in 1938 the campus
had expanded to include almost
100 acres, on w’hich were 13 build
ings besides 10 cottages; the en
rollment was over 700, and the
■faculty and administrative staff
(More on Page 2)
Phi A n niv e r sary
Plans Complete
Rehind the doors of Philoma-
thian Hall there has been much
planning and secrecy in prepara
tion for the annual Anniversary
program, which will be given Nov.
16. .\I1 one hundred and nine
Philomathians are working togeth
er and putting forth the be.st abili
ties that they have in order to
make a succes.s of the excellent
program material that they have
been able to compile. Now all
plans are completed.
(More on Page 2)
Student Body Statistics
For 1946-47 Released
Rhys D avies, M.P.
Delivers A d dr e s s
chosen to succeed Dr. R. L. Moore
as president, he was head of the
department of Bible at the college.
He immediately threw himself in
to the task with characteristic
zeal and soon infected others with
his enthusiasm. Since 1938 carry
ing on his manifold duties as
president, he has continued his
efforts to provide the college with
the improvements needed.
In spite of changing economic
conditions, suspension of practical
ly all building during the war, and
the scarcity of labor and materials
since, much has been achieved in
the decade .-ince the program was
■ undertaken.
Buildings Added
During thi.-: period three large
buildings have been completed and
furnished, one is nearing comple
tion, and others are being planned;
valuable property adjacent to the
campus has been purcha.sed, in
cluding several cottages; older
buildings have been improved or
renovated.
The first building to be erected
after the enlargment program was
launched was a commodious dormi
tory for women. .4t that time the
canipus did not extend across the
street leading to the high school.
The trustees wisely decided, there
fore, to purchase the site where
the dormitories for women now
stand, a beautiful elevation on the
opposite side of the campus from
the hill on which the men’s dormi
tories are located. This first
building was appropriately named
the Edna Corpening Moore Dormi
tory for Women, in honor of Mrs.
R. L. Moore, who at that time had
served the college .sacrificially in
various capacities for forty years
and had done so much to furnish
comforts and necessities for the
students through these years.
Former students and others, eager
to show their appreciation of Mrs.
Moore and to help provide the col
lege with a needed building, en
thusiastically joined Dr. Blackwell
in the undertaking. Thus this
beautiful building, which has rooms
for 120 persons, besides parlors
and a recreation room, came into
being and was dedicated in 1938.
The next building to be under
taken was the Science Building.
The need was acute for adequate
laboratories and lecture rooms for
the natural .sciences, for suitable
space for the home economics de
partment, for additional class
rooms, and for larger halls for the
literary socitie.s. This four-story
building was completed in 1940
and appropriately named for the
late Charles M. Wall, Sr., of
Lexington, who was at that time
chaii-man of the buildings and
grounds committee of the board of
tru.stees and whose vision and
generosity not only made this
building possible but helped pro
mote the whole program of the
college.
The third building to be com
pleted was the Stroup Dormitory
for Women. This building is
similar in design to the Edna
Moore Dormitory, to which it is
joined, except that it accommo
dates a few more per.sons and the
rooms are built in suites, with
connecting baths. It was complet
ed in 1941 and called the New
Dormitory. At the spring meeting
in 1946 the trustees voted to name
this building for Mrs. Rush Stroup,
(More on Page 3)
•According to figures released by
the Registrar’s Office the total
enrollment for the fall semester of
1946-47 is 902 students. Of this
lumber 441 are first year students’
Ill’s. For the first time in five
'ears the number of men, 481, ex-
eeds the number of women, 421.
'hese groups are divided as fol-
>ws: Cl men, 284; CII men, 197;
I women, 157; CII women, 264.
^ wo women veterans and 276 ex-
^ irvice men are members of the
^ adent body. Thirty-one veterans
? e married. In addition to the
S'Ove, the enrollment includes a
limber of special students.
Mars Hill students present a
/ de geographical distribution,
ey come from sixteen states.
i the District of Columbia and Cuba
j Seventy-six counties in North
I Carolina are represented. Numeri-
! cally Buncombe heads the li.st with
j 104 students and Mecklenburg is
! second with 46.
The .student body includes ad
herents of twelve religious faiths
and about twenty who claim al
legiance to none. Baptist number
738; Methodist rank next with 80
members; there are 34 Presby
terians. The following churches
are represented by the numbers
given: Christian 5, Lutheran 5,
Episcopalian 8, Friends 1, Chri.s-
tian Science 3, Moravians 2,
Brethren 1, Catholic 2, and Mis
sionary 1.
The honorable Rhys Davies of
the British House of Commons,
now on a tour of the Southeast,
delivered a lecture to the .students
and faculty of Mars Hill College
Tuesday evening. October 29, at
; eight o’clock.
“The political power which was
once ours has pa.ssed on to
America.’’: This was the theme of
Davies’ enlightening address on
British politics and the road to
peace.
Mr. Davies held the interest of
his audience for over an hour as
he explained the Briti.sh interpre
tation of socialism and its vital
differences from the .socialistic
system of Russia.
Mr. Davies was a former coal
miner in Wales, an Episcopal
preacher, and has been in Parlia
ment for over twenty-five years.
Alumni Auditorium Fund
Reaches $13,085.85
Listed below, according to class
es, are the gifts which have been
added to the .Alumni Auditorium
Fund by former students since
December 15, 1945. Many of you
have given liberally for which we
are indeed grateful; others of you
will be sending in gifts as it is
convenient. It has been suggested
that classes organize and work
toward a specific goal. The Class
of 1922 is attempting to raise at
least $10,000 by next May. Con
tributions that are solicited from
other people by alumni will be
credited to the cla.ss for which
they are designated. What can
you do, or influence someone else
to do, toward building a beautiful
auditorium on the campus of your
Alma Mater? A list of contribu-
I tions to date will be published in
j the April issue of the Hilltop.
I Class of 1903, $25.00; 1905,
'$210.00; 1906, $120.00; 1907,
,$10.00; 1908, $21.00; 1910, $100.-
|00; 1912, $225.00; 1914, $156.00;
I 1915, $215.00; 1916, $30.00; 1917
i $130.00; 1918, $55.00; 1919,
:$175.00; 1920, $350.00; 1921, $3,-
; 762.50; 1922, $2,625.00; 1924,
I $610.00; 1925, $5.00; 1926, $75.-
00; 1927, $15.00; 1928, $25.00;
1929, $176.00; 1930, $76.00; 1931
$45.00; 1932,$35.00; 1933, $47.-
00; 1934, $120.00; 1935, $16.00;
1936, $33.75, $165.00; 1938, $41.-
00; 1939, $80.00; 1940, $160.00;
1941, $55.00; 1942, $47.60; 1943,
$186.00; 1946, $40.00; 1946, $1,-
210.00; 1947, $1,820.00. Total:
$13,088.85.