■IttnitSAL
Volume 10 , Number 4
Charlotte, North Carolina
September 24, 1974
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journal photo by ben barnes
Expansion goes on. While students walk to and from
their various classes, the building of the new Earth-Life
Sciences Building goes on.
Witherspoon Resigns As
Religious Studies Chairman
September 3, 1974, Loy
Witherspoon resigned his
position as Chairman of the
UNCC Religious Studies
Department. Dr. Witherspoon
served as chairman of the
Philosopliy and Religion
department for eight years and
became chairman of the
Religious Studies Department
when It Tormea inree ytraia ay^.
After ten years of service why
did Dr. Witherspoon resign?
When asked this question Dr.
Witherspoon replied, " ■ have
chosen not to discuss the
reasons for my resignation
though it is my understanding
that some of the faculty have.
At any rate I would not be able
to classify them according to
classifications".
Dr. Jeff Meyer of the
Religious Studies Department
says, "Dr. Witherspoon's
resignation did not center
around one incident. Over the
last few years many incidents
have occurred that conflicted
with Dr. Witherspoon's
administration." Dr. Meyer
further stated that the
conclusion that Dr. Witherspoon
was forced to resign by a
majority of the professors
because of his oposition to
allow a class on religion and
sexuality is incorrect. Dr. Meyer
expressed the fact that Dr.
Witherspoon had a practice of
opposing such courses, but since
the class in question was not
even proposed for this semester
we can not attribute any
opposition on Dr. Witherspoon's
part as a major factor in his
resignation..
Dr. Donald Capps, who just
recently came to the University
from the University of Chicago,
has been appointed acting
chairman of the Religious
Studies Department. Dr. Capps
says that the reason he has been
chosen as acting chairman of the
department is because being just
recently hired he would not
have been involved in any of the
controversies over the past two
and one-half years with Dr.
Witherspoon and the
department. He stated that Dr.
Witherspoon's resignation had
not been a surprise to the
department or Dean Mathis.
D.r. Capps made the
observation that UNCC is a
young institution. Over half of
the professors are under
thirty-five and have never taught
at any other institution. Under
these circumstances we find that
the chairman in a department
has usually grown with the
department and finds himself in
a stable position. At older and
larger universities a resignation
by a chairman would not be so
rare and would not cause so
much alarm. Since this
occurrence has happened
perhaps once before in the
history of UNCC, the situation
has been overemphasized..
Student concern and
interest has arisen over Dr.
Witherspoon's resignation. This
interest is not just within the
Religious Studies majors but
also within many students doing
related studies in religion, The
classes offered in religion and
culture, including literature, art
and psychology have attracted
Power Fails
Again
by lori mcowen-
many students never before
interested in religious studies.
The issue that has alarmed
these students is the question of
whether the direction of the
Religious Studies Department is
affected by Dr. Witherspoon's
resignation. In similar remarks
by Dr. Meyer, Dr. St. Clair and
Dr. Witherspoon himself, the
answer is no. His resignation will
not affect the direction of the
department.
Dr. Witherspoon stated that
the Religious Studies
Department has tried to
maintain a "well-rounded"
curriculum. He explains that
there are three major areas that
a student may pursue:
Judaeo —Christian tradition,
which includes much of the
basis of Western culture;
Religion and Culture, which
includes literature, art and
psychology; and the History of
Religion, which involves study
of other religions in Japan,
India, etc.
Dr. St. Clair, Dr. Gestwicki
and Dr. Meyer find the area of
conflict within the department a
bureaucratic one with Dr.
Witherspoon's administrative
policies. They state that certain
incidents involving Dr.
Witherspoon's administration
have been brewing over the
years. Dr. Meyer suggested that
in any situation where six men
and a chairman discuss issues
that affect them, emotions will
be evidenced and personality
conflicts will be apparent.
Dr. St. Clair and Dr. Meyer
both agreed that the quality of a
professor does not dictate the
The latest of UNCC's power
failures occurred last Wednesday
at approximately 3:45 p.m.
P o wer was off in the
dormitories, the dorm cafeteria,
the library, the health center,
the gym and the Rowe Arts
Building. Ed Ayers, director of
the Physical Plant, provided the
Journal with information on the
freak occurrence..
A cable going directly from
the campus conglomerate to the
dorms bored a hole in itself
Another break in a cable which
had occurred earlier Wednesday,
but had gone unnoticed by the
majority of people on campus,
was being repaired at the time
of the second break. Both
breaks caused the power to be
shorted in the greater part of
the campus.
The university has a two
unit system for power. There is
a 15,000 volt system whicn
includes all the buildings which
were affected by the shortage,
and a 4,000 volt system which
includes the rest of the buildings
on campus.
Many of the cables on
campus have been tested and are
definitely faulty. The cables
were purchased three to five
years ago, and were made before
the company changed the style
by mike evans
and quality ot tne cables.
However, the company from
which the cables were purchased
has agreed to reimburse the
school with cables. The average
life of a cable is at most twenty
years and they are expected to
last at least fifteen. The cables
are certainly supposed to last
longer than three years. When
the new cable is installed there
will be a major shutdown, but it
will be arranged during class
vacations.
These occasional blackouts
are a form of relief from the
pressure of classes for many
students but they do present
qiany unfortunate problems
(the heating of refrigerated
goods, kills fish in aquariums,
etc.). The end or at least a
reduction of the school's power
problems may occur in the near
future.
A new backfeeding system
is now being built to the library
and one is in the planning for
the dorms. These systerhs would
help prevent power shortages by
providing two possible outlets
to each building on campus. The
backfeeding system for the
dorms will cost between
$100,000 and $120,000, and
the money has not yet been set
aside by the university..
professor's capabilities as an
administrator. In another light,
it does not mean that a certain
administrator's policies are
rejected because they are wrong,
but perhaps because they do not
meet the .needs of the
department at that time.
Dr. St. Clair stated that Dr.
Witherspoon's resignation will
mean that Dr. Witherspoon will
be able to fulfill his desire to
devote more time and energy to
his classes and students. Dr. St.
Clair said that the area of
conflict is one of
administration.
Jon Young, one of the two
student representatives for the
Religious Studies Department,
stated that the meeting for the
Religious Studies majors^ last
Wednesday, September 18,
1974, was designed to explain
Dr. Witherspoon's decision to
resign and its effect on the
direction of the department.
The comment was made by Mr.
Young that although Dr. Capps
did make it clear that the
resignation arose out of
couflic within the
administrative, policies of Dr. '
Witherspoon, Dr. Capps left the
impression with the students
that there was more behind the
situation than what was said.
Mr. Young expressed the feeling
that perhaps further
clarification will be needed.
An all-day conference was
held Friday, September 20, by
the Religious Studies
Department faculty to discuss
such things as new class
proposals, the direction of the
department and the all
important issue of selecting a
new chairman. Most of the
professors felt that a chairman
will be brought in from outside
the department.
whether his resignation was
forced and why did he resign at
the beginning of a term rather
than at the end of the semester.
Dr. Witherspoon replied that he
preferred not to respond to
these questions at the time. He
did say that he did not have
plans to leave the university, but
quite to the contrary, it is Dr.
Wtherspoon's hope that he has
several years of service which he
can render to students and the
University. Similar expressions
have been made to Dr.
Witherspoon by the Chancellor
and the Vice-Chancellor for
Academic Affairs.