CThe Hilltop
Published hy the Students of Mars Hill College
Volume XXV
WONTAHTTIi; rJWfABY
MARS HILL, N. C„ MONDAY. MAY 21. 1951
HiJ]
R. B. House Graduation Speaker
Exercises for 195 graduating seniors on Monday, May 28tli, at
5:45 A.M., will climax a week-end of pre-graduation programs.
The speaker will be Chancellor R. B. House, of the University of
North Carolina.
On Friday, May 25, at 4:00 P.M., the Art Department will spon-
^r an art exhibit and tea, and at 8:00 P.M. the Department of
dramatics will present the commencement play, “Little Women.”
Saturday, May 26, will be So-
ciety Day on campus and will fea-
ture the society contests. The es
says will be given at 9:30 A.M.;
^'eadings at 10:30 A.M.; the ora-
hons at 2:30 P.M.; and the decla-
’“ations at 4:30 P.M., The annual
•fleeting of the Board of Trustees
•'•ill be at 10:30 A.M.; the society
iuncheon will be at 11:45 A.M.;
®ad the business meeting of the
Mumni Association in the
Nonpareil-Euthalian Hall will be
4:30 P.M. At 4:00 P.M. will be
the class meetings of 1905, 1911,
1916, 1921, 1926, 1931, 1936,
1941, and 1946. At 5:30 P.M. the
Alumni Banquet will be held, the
speaker being President P. L. El-
^*ot, of Gardner-Webb College,
^oiling Springs. The Inter-society
(Continued on Page 4)
Schweitzer
Gives Banquet
Address
The annual honor club banquet,
sponsored this year by the Science
plub, was held Saturday, May 12,
I® the Coyte Bridges Dining Hall.
I'ecorations were on general phas-
of science; Arthur Gillespie
Served as toastmaster for the oc-
'•asioh, and Dr. Hoyt Blackwell
®lfered the invocation.
The string and vocal ensembles
Provided the music for the after-
•uner program, which consisted
recognition of the honor clubs
a speech on the “Beneficient
^Pects of Atomic Energy” by Dr.
George K. Schweitzer. Dr. Sch-
'''®itzer, teacher of the graduate
^rhool and Director of Research
the University of Tennessee, is
a Director of Research at the
Atomic Energy Installations at
Ridge, Tennessee. He ex-
P ^ined in what ways atomic
®Pergy has been developed recent-
/ for the benefit of man. Mrs.
^Weitzer was an honored guest
the banquet.
MHC Musicians
Stage Recital
On Thursday evening. May 10,
the Music Department of Mars
Hill College presented Miss Sara
Elizabeth Parker, soprano; David
Early, baritone; and Betty Priv-
ette, pianist, in their graduating
recitals.
Among Miss Parker’s selections
were “Lascia ch’io pianga,” by
Handel and “Devotion” by Shu-
mann. David Early rendered “0
del mio dolce ardor” by Gluck and
“Songs of Travel” by Williams.
Miss Privette’s piano solos were
“Sonata in A flat Major, Op. 26”
by Beethoven and “Prelude in C
Major, Op. 12, No. 7,’. by Proko-
fieff.
Mary Ruth Burch, pianist; Jo
ann Green, contralto; Billie Blair
Hodge, pianist; and Betty Mc
Alister, pianist were presented in
graduating recital Monday eve
ning, May 14.
“Se tu Ma’mi by Pergolesi” and
“Thanks be to Thee” by Handel
(Continued on Page 4)
Religious Drama
To Be Offered
Dramatics at Mars Hill College
next year will include the usual
course in secular drama listed as
Acting and Stagecraft in the cata
logue, and a new course in re
ligious drama.
Secular drama will be taught by
Mrs. Richard D. Watson who
minored in speech and dramatics
at Simpson College. She coached
plays in the high school in which
she taught, following her gradu
ation, and continued her interest
and work in drama after her
marriage, serving as the first
president of the Little Theatre
Group of Indlanola, Iowa.
Religious drama, which is being
offered next year because a num
ber of our students choose religi
ous work and because the churches
are making greater use of drama,
will be taught by Dr. Pierce. In
the Woman’s Missionary Union
Training School and in her gradu
ate study dramatics was her minor.
Dr. Pierce’s abiding interest in
religious drama prompted her to
visit Oberammergau, Germany, in
1950 to see the Passion Play, the
greatest religious drama in the
world today.
Participation in dramatic ac
tivities will be opened to all in
terested students.
(Continued on Page 4)
Marshals for the 1951-52 session are (first row, left to right) ; Mary
Ammons, Carol McAlister, Nancy Lee Duckworth, Cara Blake, Betty Jo
Usher, Lydia Berghauser. (Second row) : Truett Allen, Jim Heizer,
Walter Long, Ben Sloan, Roy Johnson (chief).
Sodeman to Assume
Mars Hill Pastorate
Cl Officers
Are Elected By
MHC Societies
At recent elections the four
literary societies on Mars Hill
campus elected officers for the
C-I term of the coming year.
President of the Euthalian So
ciety is Ned Teague from Salis
bury, N. C. Ned is a ministerial
student and also a member of the
International Relations Club. Vice
president, Ben Sloan, is from
Charlotte, N. C., and is a member
of the Scriblerus Club and tour
ing choir. Nick Burton, of Cedar
Grove, N. C., is secretary, and Joe
(Continued on Page 4)
Former Student In Seoul Relates
Experiences In Enemy Air Raid
Mission Council
AnnouncesPlans
o The new Mission Council, under
® leadership of Corbin Cooper
begun planning for next year
^ •Veil as continuing the mission
of this year. Glenn Holt, the
• •v Negro Missions
h,
Continued this
Chairman,
work by pre-
programs in Asheville City
Bob
^••vice
Cole, the
new Sunday
his
^ —Vi Chairman, has got
•veil under way with services
^ Spruce Pine, Burnsville, and
^®^itanburg, S. C. The council as
^'•’hole is making plans for more
j.®''k in Weaverville and new mis-
i “’•s in Asheville during the com-
year.
(The following is an account of
an air raid experience as related
by David Wells, a former Mars
Hillian who is now in Seoul.)
The telephone was tingling. It
kept on ringing. The persistent
buzzing began to pierce the fog of
unconsciousness and I rolled over
in my sleeping bag, still half
asleep, and reached for the tele
phone on the floor beside me. In
what must have been a very
sleepy voice I answered, “Head
quarters and Service Company,
Corporal Wells speaking.”
This is RED FLASH, this is
RED FLASH! Three enemy air
craft in vicinity, attack immi
nent!” These startling words
grated harshly out of the ear
phone snapping me into complete
wakefulness. I quickly replied:
“Roger, out.”
I slid out of the sleeping bag
and started reaching for my
clothes. There in the dark the
luminous dial of my watch stood
out very plainly and showed the
time to be exactly 0300 hours. As
I quickly dressed I muttered to
myself that this was the most un
godly hour for hell-raising that
evil men with yellow skin could
conceive, and as for me, I didn’t
want any part of their game, but-
In less than five minutes I was
outside shattering the quiet of the
very early morning with the old
cry of “Swindell, Swindell, come
here!” Almost instantly the equal
ly loud reply of “Coming” was
heard followed by the sound of
running feet. Swindell appeared.
“What’s the matter?.’
“Air raid! We’ve got to sound
the alarm and get everybody up.
I just got a RED FLASH and that
means we don’t have much time.”
“Air raid!” he bellowed, in a
voice that could easily be heard
from a distance of two miles. “The
CFs Named
Club Leaders
The Home Economics Club
elected at their monthly business
meeting the following officers:
president, Rita Crowell; vice-
president, Joan Rash; secretary,
Mollie Stevens; treasurer, Faye
Pace; and reporter, Sally Ann
Madison.
Ralph Riley will be next year’s
president of Dramateers; Glenn
Holt is vice-president; Patsy
Stubbs is secretary; June Grubb
is treasurer; and Catherine Royal
is reporter.
Officers for the Ministerial Con
ference for next year were elected
at the last regular meeting. May
10. They are as follows: president.
Max Kale; vice-president, James
Kisselburg; secretary, Larry Gill;
reporter, Glen Holt; pianist, Larry
Power; janitor, Archie Jones.
guys are going to be really tickled
about this and am I going to have
fun telling them!” With this out
burst Swindell turned and ran to
the guard shack where he kept the
siren.
Swindell was the permanent
corporal .of the security guard
We have a great deal in common,
including very healthy lungs and
strong vocal chords to match. Be
tween the two of us and the help
of the screaming siren it didn’t
take long to turn the camp into a
state of wakefulness and wild con
fusion. Half-dressed men collided
with each other as they rushed
about in the dark looking for fox
holes. There was much cursing
and several swift kicks delivered
as owners of foxholes fought for
privacy. One man rushed up to me
and asked, “I don’t have a fox
hole; what am I supposed to do?”
I figured now would be as good a
time as any, so I said, “Dig one!”
He left me shouting “Who’s got a
shovel?” at the top of his lungs.
How they did it I don’t know, but
an hour later, after the all-clear
signal had been given, I found
men in several new foxholes that
were at least six feet deep.
Presently the drone of planes
was heard overhead. I put on my
steel helmet and went down into
the basement of the large building
in which I had been living and
working for the past week. There
(Continued on Page 4)
The Reverend Lowell F. Sode-
man will assume pastoral duties
at the Mars Hill Baptist Church
during the month of June. Mr.
Sodeman will come to Mars Hill
from Clinton where he is serving
as pastor of the Clinton Baptist
Church.
The Mars Hill Church has been
without a full-time pastor since
the leaving of John R. Link to
accept duties at the Mt. Gilead
Baptist Church last August. Dur
ing this period services have been
rendered by members of the col
lege faculty and guest speakers.
Mr. Sodeman attended William
Jewel, East Carolina, and Wake
Forest Colleges and did additional
study at the Southern Baptist The
ological Seminary at Louisville.
Previous pastoral experience in
cludes churches in both North
Carolina and Kentucky. He also
served for two years as a chaplain
in the armed forces in the Pacific
theater.
Widely known throughout the
state, Mr. Sodeman is in much
demand as an evangelist and youth
speaker and has served on several
committees appointed by the
State Baptist Convention. He is
currently serving on the “Com
mittee of Nineteen” appointed by
this convention 'to make a study
of Baptist colleges in North Car
olina.
Mr. and Mrs. Sodeman have two
daughters.
Officers Named
By Honor Clubs
The honor clubs have completed
the elections of their respective
officers for the fall semester of
the coming year.
Scriblerus Club elected James
Heizer as president, Mary Louise
Stewart as vice-president, and
Julia Ann Sigmon as secretary.
David Garrett was chosen to
head the Business Club. Frances
Haynes is vice-president; Mary
Nixon, secretary, Caroleen Day is
treasurer, and Duane Brown is re
porter.
The Spanish Club elected the
following officers: Rita Crowell,
president; Joan McSwain, vice-
president; Bob Owens, secretary;
and Patricia Hayes, social vice-
president.
Orpheon Music Club officers are
as follows: president, Norma Jean
Banner; vice-president, Catherine
Ray; secretary, Carolyn Redding;
treasurer, Ruth Lennon.
(Continued on Page 4)