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VOLUME VII, NUMBER 5
BELMONT, N.C. 28012
JUNE 1979
Graduation 1979
Belmont Abbey College
graduated a class of 113
seniors in the college’s 101st
commencement exercises on
Sunday, May 13.
In the 3 p.m. ceremony in
the Wheeler Center on cam
pus, 96 men and women
received the Bachelor of Arts
degree: 17 received the
Bachelor of Science.
Father Neil W. Tobin,
president of the college, and
Dr. J. Patrick Lee, vice presi
dent for academic affairs, also
awarded the honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters degree
(pictured on page 5) to Sister
M. Michel Boulus, R.S.M.,
president of Sacred Heart Col
lege, Belmont; Charles H.
Crutchfield, president of
Media Communications, Inc.,
Charlotte, and former presi
dent of Jefferson-Pilot Broad
casting Company, also of
Charlotte: and Dr. A. Ken
neth Pye, chancellor and pro
fessor of law at Duke Univer
sity, Durham, N.C., who also
was the honored commence
ment speaker.
Other special events includ
ed the presentation of the
Presidential Medallion by
Basil L. Whitener, Gastonia
attorney and chairman of
Board of Trustees of the col
lege, to Father Tobin. The
medallion, bearing the official
seal of Belmont Abbey Col
lege, was a gift to the college
from an anonymous donor.
As a symbol of the office of
the presidency, the medallion
will be worn by the president
of the college at all formal
academic convocations. It
will otherwise remain on
display in the president’s of
fice.
Another highlight of the
graduation exercises was the
unveiling of a portrait of
Father John P. Bradley, pro
vost and past president of Bel
mont Abbey College. The
portrait, the graduating class’s
gift to the college, was unveil
ed by the senior class presi
dent, James W. Crawford, III,
of Charlotte. Given in
recognition of Father
Bradley’s eight years of
dedicated service to the col
lege, the portrait will hang in
the Administration Building.
For the first time in the
history of the College, the Ab-
beymanAVoman of the Year
award went to a female
graduate. Ms. Debbie Prince
received the award made an
nually by Belmont Abbey’s
Alpha Rho chapter of Phi
Kappa Theta fraternity to a
junior or senior who
characterizes the ideal of the
Abbey gentleman or
gentlewoman and who has
contributed significantly to
campus academic and extra
curricular life. Ms. Prince was
president of the Student
Government Association dur
ing her final year at the col
lege and vice president in her
junior year. She was listed in
both the 1977-78 and the
1978-79 editions of Who’s
Who in American Univer
sities and Colleges. She will
return to the college in
August as an admissions
counselor.
In his commencement ad
dress (printed in full on pages
6-7), Dr. Pye called the
graduates’ attention to the
need for increased state aid
for America’s private colleges
and universities. As the tui
tion gap between public and
private institutions continues
to widen. Dr. Pye stressed
that increased state aid is
essential to the survival of
private education. He urged
B.A.C. graduates to keep
their fellow citizens informed
of the advantages of the na
tion’s dual private-public
system of higher education
and to continue to ask their
legislators for increased state
aid for private education.
Commencement exercises
were preceded by a Bac
calaureate Mass in the Abbey
Church. The Right Rev.
Peter N. Stragand, O.S.B., ab
bot of Belmont Abbey and
chancellor of the college, was
the principal celebrant at the
11:30 a.m. Mass. Homilist for
the occasion was The Most
Rev. F. Joseph Gossman,
D.D., Bishop of Raleigh.
Bishop Gossman voiced
confidence in the graduates.
“I believe that if you, the class
of 79, face the future that is
yours with some sense of your
own resources, you should at
least be somewhat encourag
ed and realize that you have a
contribution to make, and
that you do not face the
future empty-handed and
empty-headed,” said the
Bishop with obvious en
thusiasm and encouragement
for their individual lives.
“I suggest that you face the
future with four
commodities,” he continued.
‘The first is knowledge. The
(Coot. On Page 4)
vS
Basil L. Whitener, chairman of the college's Board of Trustees, addressed the 1979
graduates and their guests before introducing the distinguished speaker. Dr. A. Ken
neth Pye, chancellor and professor of law, Duke University.
’75 Alumna Named VP
For Financial Affairs
Mrs. Kathy Haverty
Drumm was named vice presi
dent for financial affairs at
Belmont Abbey College, ef
fective June 1, 1979.
Mrs. Drumm, a resident of
Mt. Holly, has held the posi
tion of acting business
manager of the college since
March 1978. She has been
employed in the Business Of
fice of the college since 1969,
first in accounts payable and
receivable (1969-73) and then
as assistant business manager
and director of student aid
(1973-78).
In her new position, Mrs.
Drumm will be the ad
ministrative officer responsi
ble for the business affairs of
the college. She will direct
control of the college’s
operating budget, including
collection, custody, invest
ment, dispursement, accoun
ting and auditing of all college
funds, maintaining financial
records and preparing an an
nual financial report. She will
formulate and administer
policies and procedures for
development and manage
ment of the physical plant
and for the procurement of
goods and non-personal ser-
Kathy H. Drumm
vices for the college.
A 1975 accounting
graduate of Belmont Abbey
College, she completed re
quirements earlier this year
for the Master of Business
Administration degree at the
University of North Carolina
at Charlotte.
Mrs. Drumm, who received
the Bachelor of Arts degree
cum laude, was selected for
the 1975 edition of Outstan
ding Young Women in
America. She is also a
member of Pi Gamma Mu
National Social Science
Honor Society and Delta Ep
silon Sigma National
Academic Honor Society.
An active member of the
Lutheran Church of the
Good Shepherd of Mt. Holly,
she is a Sunday School in
structor and has served on
several committees including
Stewardship, Evangelism and
Finance. She is currently serv
ing a three-year term on the
Church Council.
The wife of James M.
Drumm and the mother of
thirteen-year-old Chris, she is
the daughter of Mrs. Ray
Potts and the late Joe Haver
ty. The Drumms live at 206
Walnut Avenue, Mt. Holly.
MR JEFF HICKS
UNC-CH WILSON LIBRf-iRV
CHflPEL HILL.. NC 27514