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County Alumni
Elect Officers
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MRS. JANK FRKKMAN, director of the Ubrary
accepts a recent book donation. Mrs. Freeman is
the subject of “Spotlight,” by Fr. James Solari,
O.S.B., below.
Mecklenburg County alumni
have elected interim officers
who will organize a fall social.
The interim alumni officers
are charged with coordinating j
and organizing a fall social for
as many of the Mecklenburg
County alumni as possible.
Interim officers are Bob
Healy C68), president; Ted
Hawley (’68), vice president;
Richard Vitolo (’70), secretary;
Tom ,'^mann (’74), treasurer;
and standing committee
chairmen are Richard
Guicheteau (’72), fall social;
Lee Fazzi (’74), recruiting, and
Bob Cranford (’71), budget.
The interim officers were
elected February 12. College
officials in attendance were Fr.
John Bradley, president, who
gave a review of recent ac
tivities at the college; Warren
Clark, vice president for
development, who reported on
the success of the Centennial
Fund Campaign; and Harry
Creemers, public relations and
‘A Southern Belle
Engineering the Abbey Library
Sf^CTUGffr
By FR. JAMES SOLARI, O.S.B.
A Southern ‘Belle’ from peach country, Jane Land Freeman, has
for the past two years had responsibility for the order and operation
of the Abbot Vincent Taylor library on campus. She comes from
York, South Carolina where she grew up on a farm with a large
peach orchard. Accustomed to hard work, she soon learned to
handle the big tractor and assorted pieces of equipment needed to
work the farm and helped with the chores which are an essential part
of daily life close to the soil. She reminisces about her first year in
school when at the age of five she attended kindergarten in a small
rural school which conducted all eight grades in the same
classroom! “They fed us pinto beans and grapefruit juice for lunch
every single day,” she laughed - amazingly though, she still is fond
of that simple fare. The next year her parents placed her in one of
the York schools and so began a career of studies which would
eventually lead her to college at North Carolina State University for
a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Slightly ahead of the
feminist movement, she found to her chagrin that there were few
women in this field. She had also chosen a school which at that time
enrolled only a handful of females. In retrospect, she concedes, this
made it a little more difficult both in classes and in the summer job
search. She stuck it out, however, and was awarded her degree.
During these undergraduate years she had little time for leisure
activities but did manage to take some interesting trips to scenic
parts of the state from the wind-swept summit of Mt. Mitchell to the
drifting dunes of Cape Hatteras. She was able to earn a bit of
spending money by tutoring students at the university. After
graduation an opportunity to chauffeur a family to Mexico presented |
itself which she eagerly took and spent weeks touring the sights south
of the border.
Returning to North Carolina after this vacation she found a job in
Charlotte with a water treatment company as a chemist. She vividly
recalls some rather unusual experiences such as clambering about,
inside huge boilers and inspecting the innards of machinery in in
dustrial plants. After a year of this she decided to return to school for
graduate work, applied for and received an Assistantship at Penn
State University where she would spend the next fourteen months
obtaining her Master’s degree in chemical engineering. She relished
the challenge of the courses and found the students lots of fun to be
with - particularly one student named Larry Freeman whom she
would marry in 1960! Larry was completing studies in accounting
and preparing to take his C.P.A. exam. With the Master’s in her
possession, she and Larry then settled in Pittsburgh. She was em
ployed as an engineer by Consolidated Coal Company and among
other duties she collaborated on a number of American Chemical
Society projects and presented a paper at their annual meeting in I
Washington, D.C. One of the more intriguing tasks was her par
ticipation in the company’s effort to convert coal into gasoline -
drawing upon information and technology provided in captured
German World War II documents.
In 1962 Larry and she moved down to Atlanta where the first of her
three children was born. They bought a house in Decatur and quickly
grew attached to this area and their new neighbors. “We watched
with fascination this city mushroom into the metropolis of today,”
she observed, “it was an exciting place to live.” Six years and two
children later she once more felt the powerful attraction of academic
life (“Partly to keep my sanity!’’she smiled.) In the spirit of the old
adage ‘Nothing ventured nothing gained,” she applied for and was
granted a scholarship at nearby Emory University. This time she
embarked on a graduate program in library science. A second
Master’s degree was conferred upon her in August of 1969, and
without delay she went to work for Coca Cola Company in Atlanta as
a senior information specialist in the company’s Technical In
formation Center. She remained in this position for three years.
Then she did some part-time lecturing at Emory U. for three
semesters and a little consulting work on the side. In 1974 she was
again with Coca Cola U.S.A. as head of their Marketing Information
Center. Within a year she was at the threshold of an important
promotion when Larry accepted a new job in Gastonia. “It was a
very difficult move at that particular moment,” admits Jane. “The
family had to say goodbye to many close friends but we knew that
there would be new opportunities ahead in North Carolina.”
Thus, this sequence of events made it possible for Jane Freeman to
.become associated with Belmont Abbey College as librarian -
something that all of her colleagues here are happy about. Since
taking the reins of our academic resource center she has introduced
many new ideas to make the library of greater service to the campus
community. More concretely she has brought a remarkable com
bination of efficiency and graciousness to it. The recent survey for
the college self-study has revealed the overwhelming satisfaction of
both the faculty and the student body with her management of the
library. One of the truly astounding achievements in her relatively
short time here has been the recovery of the rare book collection. No
one believed it possible to put this into order-in so brief a time but she
has succeeded with the help of her able staff.
Indefatigable in her efforts to help students, she generously con
tributes many extra hours each week to keep the library open during
the weekdays from eight o’clock in the morning until eleven at night!
Ever energetic in seeking grants and funding, she has also contrived
a variety of ingenious gimmicks to stimulate interest and support of
college community in the library.
Such a hectic schedule dictated for her as wife, mother,
homemaker and librarian scarcely affords much time for hobbies.
She would like to be able to do some gardening, cycling, and above all
traveling. Fortunately,, she will be taking a well-deserved vacation
to Hawaii in June. To Jane Freeman her friends at the Abbey wish
bon voyage and ‘aloha!’
alumni affairs director, who led
the nominating and election of
officers procedure.
Anyone interested in aiding
the interim officers are urged to
contact the Alumni Affairs
Office at Belmont Abbey
College, 825-3711.
NSF Pick
Dr. Stuart
Dr. Jeanne Stuart, chairman
of the Biology Department at
Belmont Abbey College, has
been selected by the National
Science Foimdation to serve as
a reviewer of grant proposals.
The selection was competitive
among scientists of all fields,
depending upon their
publications and research
backgrounds. The prospective
reviewers were also asked to
serve on a panel in March
before final selections were
made.
As a reviewer. Dr. Stuart
helps to disperse $3 million
annually among numerous
undergraduate institutions
across the nation. These
federal funds are used to pur
chase scientific equipment.
During her term at the Abbey,
Dr. Stuart has served as
Assistant Professor and
Department Head. She is
currently under contract with
United States E.R.D.A. (for
merly Atomic Energy Com
mission) doing summer
research. The topic of her
research concerns the
physiology of fish in thermally
and radioactively affected
waters.
Her extensive research,
numerous publications, and
teaching experience have
earned her the distinction of
being an Outstanding Educator
of America.
Dr. Stuart did her doctorate
and post-doctorate studies at
Auburn University and served
there on the faculty before
accepting a position at B.A.C.
Dr. Farley
Honored
A certificate of recognition
has been awarded to Dr. Gilbert
J. Farley, moderator of
Belmont Abbey College’s
Rotaract Club, by District 767 of
Rotary International.
The award was presented
during the recent annual
meeting in Hickory of District
767, which comprises the
western half of North Carolina,
for Farley’s sponsorship of the
Belmont Abbey College club, j
The B.A.C. club is the only'
Rotaract Club in a senior
college in District 767.
The club was founded in 1973.
Farley, a resident of Belmont,
is chairman of the Department
of Business and Economics at
the college.