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^Mi 


THE  VISION 
REVISITED 


A  History  of    ^ 
Meredith  College 
1971-1998 


Carolyn  C.  Robinson 


CONWUHi 


The  Vision  Revisited  chronicles  the  years 

of  Meredith's  history  from  1971-1998,  picking  up 
the  narrative  begun  so  ably  by  Mary  Lynch 
Johnson  {A  History  of  Meredith  College  [ist  and 
2nd  editions]).  Since  Meredith's  chartering  in 
1 89 1,  the  college  has  changed  its  name,  its  loca- 
tion, and,  many  times  over,  its  faculty,  staff,  and 
administration,  but  Meredith  has  never  aban- 
doned the  high  calling  of  its  founders:  namely,  to 
provide  women  w^ith  an  excellent  education  in  an 
atmosphere  of  strong  tradition,  complete  academic 
freedom,  and  spiritual  affirmation.  Carolyn 
Covington  Robinson  has  shown  respect,  both  for 
the  myriad  changes  necessary  to  propel  a  women's 
college  into  the  21st  century  and  for  the  ties  that 
bind  Meredith  to  a  rich  past. 

This  volume  weaves  a  narrative  tale  that 
encompasses  the  whole  of  American  society  (wars 
and  rumors  of  wars,  political  influences,  fashions, 
trends,  technological  and  scientific  advancements) 
as  well  as  the  life  that  was  and  is  Meredith 
College.  Robinson's  mission,  clearly,  is  to  see 
Meredith  in  a  larger  context,  to  eradicate  the 
boundaries  between  pristine  and  often  isolated 
academe  and  the  culture  at  large.  She  records  the 
visits  of  United  States  Presidents,  of  Supreme 
Court  Justices,  of  famous  historians,  scientists, 
and  artists,  to  show  that  Meredith  is  no  longer — 
and  no  longer  can  be — neglectful  of  the  political, 
sociological,  and  ethical  controversies  raging 
beyond  the  stately  entrance  fronting  Hillsborough 
Street.  She  puts  Meredith  inside  the  mainstream  of 
modern  America  and  invites  the  world  beyond  this 
campus  to  look,  see,  and  understand  the  influences 
that  have  shaped  Meredith  students  and  faculty. 

In  her  able  hands,  Meredith  is  re-seen,  re- 
examined, re-assessed,  re-visited.  Readers  will 
gladly  follow  Robinson's  highway  to  the  future — 
whether  it  leads  through  cyberspace  or  daily  cam- 
pus life — to  discover  what  the  coming  century 
holds  for  Meredith  in  particular  and  for  women's 
colleges  in  general.  Both  as  record  and  tale.  The 
Vision  Revisited  proves  endlessly  instructive  and 
fascinating.  Even  those  who  have  never  "visited" 
Meredith  in  the  first  place  will  feel  that  they  are 
coming  home  to  timeless  truths  about  education 
and  about  culture  as  Robinson  brings  news  of 
what — in  poet  William  Butler  Yeats'  words — "is 
past,  or  passing,  or  to  come." 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Lyrasis  IVIembers  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/visionrevisitedhOOrobi 


THE  VISION  REVISITED 


CAROLYN   C.   ROBINSON 

THE  VISION 
REVISITED 


A  History  of 
Meredith  College 


MEREDITH 

roil       F      G      E     ^'^ 


THE  MEREDITH  COLLEGE  PRESS 


Published  by 

THE  MEREDITH  COLLEGE  PRESS 

3800  Hillsborough  Street 

Raleigh,  North  Carolina  27607-5298 

Design  and  production  by 
RUNNING  FEET  BOOKS 
Morrisville,  North  Carolina 

©1999  by  Carolyn  C.  Robinson.  All  rights  reserved. 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America  by 
Thomson-Shore,  Inc. 

00  The  paper  used  in  this  publication  meets  the  minimum 
requirements  of  the  American  National  Standard  for 
Information  Sciences — Permanence  of  Paper  for  Printed 
Library  Materials,  ANSI  Z39.48-1984. 

The  photographs  on  the  following  pages  were  reprinted 
courtesy  of  Steve  Wilson:  81,  152,  190,  245,  292.  All  other 
photographs  are  from  the  Meredith  Archives. 

ISBN:  1-879635-01-1 

LC  NUMBER:  98-89707 

10    987654321 

FIRST  EDITION 


The  College's  most  valuable  history  can  be 

found  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all  who 

have  passed  through  her  doors. 

SARAH  ELIZABETH  VERNON  WATTS,  '35 


CONTENTS 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS     |     ix 
PROLOGUE     I     I 

1  A  TIME  OF  TRANSITION 

1971  I     7 

2  A  NEW  CHAPTER 

1972  I     20 

3  WOMEN  AND  women's  COLLEGES 
1973-I975     I     39 

4  "treasure  in  earthen  vessels" 
I976-I980    I    69 

5  LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD 
I981-1983     I     106 

6  morning's  ENERGY 
I984-I985     I     134 

7  WHO  IS  MEREDITH? 
1986     I     155 

8  VINTAGE  YEARS  AND  BETTER  NAMES 
I986-1988     I     162 

9  IN  PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE 
1989-1990     I     192 

10  HERITAGE  AND  VISION 
I991     I     216 

11  "a  cloud  of  witnesses" 

1991-1993     I     233 


iii     I     CONTENTS 


Vlll 


12  ALIS  AND  OTHER  WONDERLANDS 
I993-1994     1     256 

13  THE  MARKETPLACE 
1995     I     2.73 

14  THE  VISION  REVISITED 
1996-1998     I     300 

EPILOGUE     I     353 

NOTES     I     355 

WORKS  CONSULTED     |     37I 

INDEX    I     375 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


THROUGHOUT  THIS  WORK,  I  have  feigned  embarrassment  at  the  number 
of  pages  allotted  to  Meredith's  last  twenty-seven  years — only  slightly 
fewer  than  historian  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  allowed  for  her  more  than  a 
century-long  record  from  the  1835  Baptist  State  Convention,  when  the 
idea  of  a  female  seminary  was  conceived,  through  1972,  when  A  History 
of  Meredith  College,  Second  Edition,  was  published.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  have  sincerely  rejoiced  in  Meredith's  competence  and  confidence  as  the 
College  prepares  to  face  a  new  millennium.  It  takes  chapter  and  verse  to 
account  for  survival — indeed  the  prosperity — of  "the  fittest"  in  an  era 
of  demise  for  many  women's  colleges. 

It  also  takes  people  who  believe  that  the  telling  is  worth  the  doing.  I 
am  profoundly  grateful  to  President  Weems  and  Vice  President  Spooner, 
who  invited  me  to  write  this  portion  of  Meredith's  biography,  to  vice 
president  and  dean  of  the  College  emeritus,  Allen  Burris,  who  checked 
for  correctness  of  research  interpretation,  and  to  Suzanne  Britt,  who  crit- 
ically read  each  chapter  as  it  groaned  through  the  DeskJet  printer.  I  also 
appreciate  the  senior  management  team's  resistance  to  editing. 

Martha  Harrell  and  Sharon  Woodlief  have  been  particularly  helpful, 
as  have  the  staffs  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  and  of  the  Office  of 
Marketing  and  Communications.  From  the  hbrary,  Ted  Waller  has  en- 
couraged me  even  as  I  invaded  the  sanctity  of  the  college  archives,  for 


IX 


X     I     ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

which  he  is  responsible;  and  from  the  Office  of  Marketing  and  Commu- 
nications, director  Jeannie  Morelock  and  graphic  design  manager  Trisha 
Gwaltney  have  demonstrated  great  care  in  arranging  for  the  production 
of  this  book.  The  wilHngness  of  the  trustee  chairman,  administrators, 
academic  department  heads,  and  directors  of  administrative  divisions  to 
submit  to  formal  interviews  and  of  some  trustees,  faculty,  staff,  students, 
and  alumnae  to  converse  informally  has  added  the  personal  dimension 
that  is  so  typical  of  the  college  they  represent. 

My  only  regret  is  that  Meredith's  family  is  too  large  to  mention  each 
member  by  name;  the  constraint  has  been  genuinely  painful, 

C.C.R. 


PROLOGUE 


ASK  MEREDITH  WOMEN  for  college  memories.  Recent  graduates  will  speak 
of  friendships,  of  favorite  professors,  and,  in  this  age  of  speedy  transporta- 
tion and  speedier  communications,  of  going  places  and  doing  things.  But 
among  those  whose  student  days  spanned  one  of  the  college  generations  be- 
tween 194Z  and  1986,  many  will  recall  with  genuine  pleasure  the  aroma  of 
bread  baking  across  Hillsborough  Street  from  the  campus.  When  the  Won- 
der Bakery,  successor  to  the  old  Royal  Baking  Company,  stopped  baking  in 
the  eighties  to  become  a  quick  stop  for  buyers  of  day-old  bread,  it  lost  its 
power  to  penetrate  the  senses  of  the  college  community.  Progress,  or  some 
other  encroachment  on  the  culture,  had  prompted  the  relocation  of  its 
ovens,  their  heady,  yeasty  fragrances  now  spreading  nostalgia  across  some- 
one else's  front  lawn.  But  for  almost  half  a  century,  Meredith  women  had 
breathed  deeply  of  the  leaven  that  permeated  the  whole  of  their  college 
experiences. 

There's  an  analogy  here.  It  begins  with  a  parable  of  Jesus  as  retold  by 
Matthew  and  Luke: 

Another  parable  spake  he  unto  them;  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened.^ 


2     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  message  gathers  momentum  as  the  disciples  are  called  also  to  be  salt 
and  light  in  their  society,  and  it  continues  through  the  ages  as  people  re- 
spond through  their  churches  and  institutions  to  the  promptings  of  their 
own  spirituality.  The  late  George  Buttrick,  a  twentieth-century  theolo- 
gian, Presbyterian  minister,  and  seminary  professor,  wrote  of  leaven  as  "a 
silent  agency"' — "[s]hrewd  ears  would  be  required  to  detect  leaven  busy 
at  its  task";  as  an  ''invisible  and  inward'''  process — it  "works  by  conta- 
gion, until  the  whole  is  leavened."^ 

CONSIDER  MEREDITH  IN  the  context  of  the  parable  and  of  the  last  years  of 
the  twentieth  century.  In  1971,  when  Mary  Lynch  Johnson's  A  History  of 
Meredith  College,  Second  Edition,  left  the  book  bindery  and  made  its 
way  into  the  hands  of  grateful  readers  and  researchers,  the  nation  was 
undergoing  self-analysis  following  the  assassinations  of  civil  rights  leader 
Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.,  and  of  presidential  hopeful  Robert  F.  Kennedy  in 

1968.  We  were  adjusting  to  a  new  power — that  of  the  youth  culture — 
which  seemed  to  be  manifest  in  the  300,000  seekers  of  "peace  and 
music"  at  the  three-day  Woodstock  Festival  in  upstate  New  York  in 

1969.  It  was  the  same  exhilarating  year  of  Neil  Armstrong's  walk  on  the 
moon.  We  found  ourselves  in  an  ongoing  controversy — then  known  as 
Women's  Liberation,  later  the  Feminist  Movement — which,  after  five 
years,  was  settling  in  as  a  permanent  philosophy.  We  were  immersed  in 
the  Vietnam  War — already  eight  years  old — the  country's  collective 
mind  sometimes  protesting  against,  sometimes  supporting,  the  fighting 
forces  in  Asia,  the  Hawks  and  Doves  at  home. 

Those  tumultuous  days  ushered  in  the  seventies — a  time  of  students' 
contagious  restlessness  and  their  financial  supporters'  shaken  faith.  East- 
ern cults,  like  the  "Moonies"  and  the  Flare  Krishnas,  stripped  youthful 
seekers  of  their  convictions  and  reindoctrinated  them  to  new  sets  of  be- 
liefs, and,  from  those  tenacious  groups,  parents  sometimes  "kidnapped" 
their  own  children  for  deprogramming.  In  the  throes  of  that  culture, 
Meredith's  President  E.  Bruce  Heilman  resigned  and  John  E.  Weems  suc- 
ceeded him  as  the  sixth  president  of  the  eighty-year-old  college. 

Distracted  by  the  planning  and  arranging  of  September  inaugural  fes- 
tivities surrounding  the  new  president,  Meredith  people  might  have  taken 
little  note  of  a  politically  motivated  break-in  at  Washington's  Watergate 
Hotel  in  August  197Z.  In  fact,  Americans  were  at  first  far  more  preoccu- 


PROLOGUE     I      3 

pied  with  President  Nixon's  heralded  visit  to  China  than  with  the  inva- 
sion of  the  Democratic  National  Committee's  headquarters  by  a  few  Re- 
publican underlings.  Later,  however,  the  event  and  all  its  consequences 
consumed  us  for  months  on  end,  until,  in  1974,  the  House  Judiciary- 
Committee  voted  Articles  of  Impeachment,  and  Richard  M.  Nixon  re- 
signed the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 

Despite  the  nation's  rapt  attention  to  events  in  Washington,  Meredith 
conducted  its  affairs  as  it  always  had — in  the  tension  of  change.  In  1972, 
it  launched  a  progressive  continuing  education  agenda  of  enrichment  op- 
portunities for  both  women  and  men  and  a  re-entry  program  for  women. 
Thus  it  became  a  true  pioneer  in  the  now-popular  movement  of  adult  ed- 
ucation. The  program's  impact  could  be  measured  a  quarter  century  later 
by  Meredith  students,  21-25  percent  of  whom  were  above  the  age  of 
twenty-three. 

But  the  nation  could  never  measure  the  impact  of  the  Vietnam  War.  In 
1973,  ^  peace  treaty  was  announced  to  a  relieved  world.  Simultaneously, 
a  battle  of  emotion  and  determination  raged  in  state  legislatures  across 
the  land  as  proponents  and  opponents  of  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment 
raised  their  voices  every  way  but  in  unison,  and  a  stormy  decade  later,  the 
ERA  died  for  want  of  ratification;  however,  the  Women's  Movement  had 
gained  a  foothold  strong  enough  to  witness,  in  1972,  African-American 
Shirley  Chisholm's  seeking  the  Democratic  Party's  presidential  nomina- 
tion; in  198 1,  Sandra  Day  O'Connor's  becoming  the  first  woman  ap- 
pointed to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court;  in  1983,  astronaut  Sally 
Ride's  traveling  in  space;  and,  in  1984,  Geraldine  Ferraro's  eagerly  ac- 
cepting the  Democratic  Party's  nomination  for  vice  president  of  the 
United  States. 

The  thought  of  women's  aspirations  to  such  high  places  was  almost 
foreign  to  the  nation,  as  had  been  the  idea  of  women's  education  to  some 
North  Carolina  Baptists  in  the  mid-to-late  18 go's.  But  in  the  decade  of 
those  bold  political  initiatives,  Meredith  trustees  were  perceived  as  not  at 
all  radical  in  electing  the  first  female — Sandra  Thomas — to  a  vice  presi- 
dency. And  discarding  some  of  the  social  shackles  of  a  bygone  era,  the 
College  ceased  its  in  loco  parentis  role  but  held  firm  to  some  of  its  social 
policies.  The  Honor  Code  remained  an  integral  part  of  student  life. 

In  the  United  States,  national  honor  was  reborn  in  the  celebration  of 
the  nation's  Bicentennial  in  1976.  And  early  in  its  third  century,  America 


4     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

was,  at  least  briefly,  the  focal  point  of  nations  as  eyes  turned  toward 
Camp  David,  the  Maryland  presidential  retreat,  where  President  Carter 
encouraged  long-time  adversaries,  President  Sadat  of  Egypt  and  Premier 
Begin  of  Israel,  to  sign  a  "Framework  for  Peace."  The  new  hope  for  the 
Middle  East  was  dashed  in  1979,  however,  by  Iran's  capture  of  American 
hostages  and  by  a  near  meltdown  of  the  nuclear  plant  at  Three  Mile  Is- 
land, New  York.  The  nuclear  disaster  somehow  reminded  us  of  the  men- 
acing Cold  War  being  waged  between  our  nation  and  its  allies  and  the  So- 
viet Union  and  the  Communist  Bloc.  But  a  glimmer  of  hope  would  again 
break  through  in  1985  when  Russian  President  Chernenko's  death  paved 
the  way  for  his  successor,  Mikhail  Gorbachev,  and  President  Ronald  Rea- 
gan to  agree  to  negotiations  on  nuclear  arms  control.  By  1989,  the  Cold 
War  would  end,  and,  by  1992,  so  would  the  Soviet  Union. 

Meanwhile,  Meredith  saw  a  need  for  post-baccalaureate  work  in  areas 
not  available  to  working  women  at  nearby  universities.  And,  as  in  many 
cases,  past  predicted  future:  In  1984,  the  College  re-established  graduate 
studies,  a  Baptist  Female  University  feature  that  had  lain  dormant  for 
most  of  a  century.  Two  years  later,  federal  laws  on  sex  discrimination 
would  call  into  question  the  legality  of  graduate  work  for  women  only. 
But  once  the  dust  settled,  Meredith's  singular  commitment  to  women  re- 
mained intact. 

The  dust  of  society's  unprecedented  perplexities  never  seemed  to  settle, 
however:  The  national  deficit  climbed  into  the  trillions  of  dollars;  a  rising 
crime  rate  and  increased  drug  use  alarmed  citizens  and  law  enforcers 
alike;  and  AIDS,  a  new  and  deadly  disease,  baffled  the  medical  profession 
and  thousands  of  suffering  patients.  On  opposite  sides  of  the  globe, 
China's  brutality  toward  the  young  demonstrators  in  Beijing's  Tienanmen 
Square  sickened  human-rights  advocates — as  did  apartheid  in  South 
Africa — while  the  emancipation  of  Eastern  Europe,  signaled  by  the  fall  of 
the  Berlin  Wall  in  1989,  was  cause  for  worldwide  rejoicing. 

Occurrences  at  Meredith  might  have  dimmed  in  comparison,  but  on 
the  campus  of  a  small  college,  all  events  seem  global.  While  the  world 
hardly  noticed,  some  Baptists  and  their  institutions  stood  in  distress — or 
sat  helplessly  by — as  ultra-conservative  members  of  the  denomination 
planned  and  executed  a  takeover  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  and 
many  of  its  agencies.  Educational  institutions  lost  academic  freedom  and, 
in  some  cases,  accreditation,  as  their  boards  of  trustees  were  packed  with 


PROLOGUE     I      5 

extremists.  Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  in  neighboring 
Wake  Forest  was  one  of  the  first  to  succumb.  Amid  strong  opposition 
from  some  leaders  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Carolina — 
one  of  the  few  remaining  moderate  arms  of  the  denomination — the  alert 
administration  and  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  found  a  way  to 
amend  Meredith's  charter,  thereby  fashioning  its  own  "declaration  of  in- 
dependence." The  resolution  adopted  on  February  zz,  1991,  stated  the 
board's  intention  to  elect  its  own  members — a  privilege  heretofore  as- 
sumed by  the  convention — and  "to  further  the  purposes  of  the  institution 
as  they  are  stated  in  its  charter."  The  action  was  a  fitting  reward  for 
Meredith's  century  of  educating  women,  for  its  unwavering  determina- 
tion in  the  light  of  myriad  cultural  changes,  for  its  confident  leap  into  its 
second  century.  So  the  banner  of  academic  freedom  waved  aloft  as  the 
College  approached  its  centennial  observance,  beginning  February  zy, 
1991,  and  continuing  for  an  entire  year.  In  1997,  the  trustees  would  dis- 
tance Meredith  further  from  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Car- 
olina— so  far,  in  fact,  that  the  College  would  lose  its  monetary  support 
from  the  organization  of  its  founding.  But  in  taking  a  step  away  from  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  of  the  nineties,  Meredith  took  a  step  toward 
its  true  heritage  of  "freedom  from  sectarian  influence."^ 

And  now  in  the  latter  years  of  the  twentieth  century  and  the  early  years 
of  Meredith's  second  century,  the  College  has  taken  a  quantum  leap  into 
the  Information  Age.  Nineteen  ninety-five  was  known  as  the  "Year  of  the 
Internet.""^  The  World  Almanac  and  Book  of  Facts  i^<)j  estimated  that 
"more  than  30  million  computer  users  populated  this  electronic  global 
village  lof  one  hundred  countries]  by  late  1996  and  that  some  8  to  10 
million  had  access  to  the  World  Wide  Web."^ 

But  with  all  the  instant  electronic  communications,  society's  struggles 
continued.  In  America's  corner  of  the  global  village,  we  have  contended 
with  political  gridlock  in  Washington;  the  effectiveness — or  lack  thereof 
— of  elementary  and  secondary  education;  grade  inflation  in  higher  edu- 
cation; the  judicial  system;  health  insurance;  homelessness;  child  abuse; 
terrorism;  poverty;  gun  control;  racial  tension;  and  the  morality  of  people 
in  high  places.  We  have  heard  cries  of  corruption  fall  on  law  enforcement 
agencies  and  on  prisons  that  are  populated  with  what  many  perceive  to 
be  an  inordinate  number  of  poor,  young,  black  males.  We  have  watched 
radicals  pelt  the  airwaves  with  militia  propaganda  aimed  at  government 


6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

conspiracies.  Such  anti-government  theories  apparently  triggered  the 
tragic  bombing  in  1995  of  an  Oklahoma  City  Federal  building,  in  which 
168  workers  and  children  died.  In  1997-98,  still  more  children  lost  their 
lives  as  middle-  and  high-school  students  used  guns  to  settle  their  griev- 
ances on  the  school  grounds. 

And,  in  the  throes  of  this  culture.  President  Weems  has  announced  his 
plans  for  retirement.  It  is  important  to  note  that,  in  1998,  Meredith  was 
one  of  only  eighty-plus  women's  colleges  remaining  in  the  United  States. 
In  the  late  nineties,  Raleigh  neighbors  Peace  and  St.  Mary's  chose  to  re- 
define themselves,  Peace  changing  from  junior  to  senior  college  status, 
and  St.  Mary's  dropping  its  two-year  college  curriculum  altogether  while 
retaining  its  high  school  program.  Many  of  the  300  women's  colleges  ex- 
isting in  the  sixties  have  closed  their  doors,  and  others  have  staked  their 
futures  on  co-education. 

At  Meredith,  more  than  50  percent  of  all  alumnae  have  graduated  in 
the  last  quarter  century  and  have  taken  or  are  taking  their  places  in  soci- 
ety. As  students,  most  were  of  traditional  age  and  status,  some  older 
women;  some  Honors  Scholars;  some  Teaching  Fellows;  some  graduate 
degree  seekers.  They  selected  from  new  majors,  degrees,  and  programs; 
they  learned — and  learned  from — state-of-the-art  technology  in  new  or 
refurbished  buildings;  they  meditated  in  campus  gardens  and  worshiped 
in  Jones  Chapel;  they  demonstrated  that  "Meredith  is  the  maturing  of  a 
woman";^  and  they  sat  in  classrooms  of  the  teacher/role  models  then  oc- 
cupying the  earthly  spheres  vacated  by  their  legendary  predecessors  who 
have  graduated  from  this  life. 

AND  A  MEREDITH  alumna  savors  again  the  aroma  of  bread  baking  across 
Hillsborough  Street  as  she  returns  to  one  of  Buttrick's  questions:  "How 
far  the  leaven  has  penetrated  who  can  tell?"  and  to  his  answer:  "The 
process  will  continue  until  the  whole  is  leavened."^ 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION 
1971 


RALPH  WALDO  emerson's  cssay  on  "History"  asserts,  "All  history  be- 
comes subjective;  in  other  words  there  is  properly  no  history;  only  biogra- 
phy." This  volume,  then,  is  the  continuing  biography  of  a  college  grown  to 
adulthood.  Its  essence  is  the  lives  of  a  great  many  people — inhabitants  of 
a  century  of  change,  climbers  to  the  edge  of  an  era  of  technological  won- 
ders, interpreters  of  Meredith's  vision  of  educating  women  for  their  times. 

The  written  biography  began  with  Mary  Lynch  Johnson's  A  History  of 
Meredith  College,  which  introduced  the  College  through  the  men  and 
women  who  conceived  it,  nurtured  it  past  its  infancy,  and  guided  it 
through  its  first  sixty-five  years.  Published  in  1956,  the  history  was  re- 
vised and  reissued  in  1972  to  add  events  of  the  next  sixteen  years.*  The 
second  edition  was  too  near  publication  to  include  the  period  of  transi- 
tion in  which  the  fifth  president  of  Meredith  resigned  and  the  sixth  as- 
sumed office. 

In  the  foreword,  Dr.  Johnson  wrote  of  the  resignation  of  President 
E.  Bruce  Heilman:  "The  swiftly  moving,  significant  events  of  [his]  admin- 


*  Other  Meredith  histories  include  An  Oral  History  of  Meredith  College  Alumnae, 
catalogued  in  1989  and  compiled  by  Jean  Batten  Cooper,  '54,  as  the  thesis  for  her 
Master's  Degree  in  Liberal  Studies  at  Wake  Forest  University;  and  Images:  a  Centen- 
nial Journey,  a  pictorial  history  of  the  College,  written  by  Suzanne  Britt,  instructor 
of  English,  and  published  by  the  Meredith  Press  in  1991. 


THE  VISION  REVISITED 


Historian  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  autographs  for  eager  readers 
A  History  of  Meredith  College,  Second  Edition. 


istration  required  a  long  and  important  new  chapter.  As  this  section  was 
virtually  completed  before  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  University  of 
Richmond  .  .  .  ,  no  mention  is  made  of  that  great  loss  to  Meredith."^ 

Constraints  of  the  publishing  schedule  also  made  it  impossible  for  the 
historian  to  record  more  than  a  reference  to  the  naming  of  a  new  presi- 
dent: "John  Edgar  Weems,  vice-president  for  finance  and  administration 
at  Middle  Tennessee  State  University,  was  elected  President  of  Meredith 
College  on  October  14,  1971.  When  he  assumes  office  on  January  i, 
197Z,  a  new  chapter  will  begin  in  'the  ever  unfolding  text'  of  Meredith's 
history."^  Before  turning  the  page  to  the  "new  chapter" — the  Weems  ad- 
ministration— this  history  will  better  serve  its  readers  and  the  college 
whose  life  it  records  to  review  the  end  of  the  Heilman  years. 

Bruce  Heilman  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  University  of  Richmond  at 
2:00  P.M.  on  March  26,  197 1.  The  official  announcement  reached  Mered- 
ith an  hour  later  in  a  special  convocation,  when  Shearon  Harris,  vice  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  read  a  statement  from  Dr.  Heilman: 

Today  a  decision  which  has  come  about  over  a  period  of  some  three 
months  is  being  culminated.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  personally  trans- 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION:    197I      I     9 

mit  the  details  to  you,  but  find  it  necessary  to  be  on  the  campus  of 
the  University  of  Richmond,  where  ...  I  am  to  be  elected  President 
of  that  institution,  effective  September  i.  .  .  . 

I  came  to  Meredith  because  I  saw  a  grand  opportunity.  I  have  been 
committed  to  spending  my  life  here  if  that  proved  appropriate,  .  .  . 

Actually,  I  have  not  finished  my  task  and  will  continue  to  provide 
the  best  leadership  I  know  during  the  next  five  months.  While  you 
may  not  look  to  me  for  long-range  decisions,  we  can  together  con- 
solidate and  fulfill  and  move  to  action  plans  already  made  and  de- 
cisions already  reached.^ 

One  of  the  "decisions  already  reached"  affected  Leslie  Syron,  department 
chairman  for  sociology,  one  of  the  first  two  scholars  to  participate  in  the 
recently  funded  sabbatical  leave  program.*  Dr.  Syron  later  wrote,  "Who 
at  Meredith  .  .  .  can  forget  the  snow  and  sleet  that  upstaged  both  Bruce 
Heilman's  resignation  and  my  departure  for  London?  Cliff  Cameron's 
plane  could  not  land,  so  a  substitute  announced  [Heilman's]  resignation; 
but  my  plane  took  off  for  the  first  stage  of  a  longed-for  sabbatical."^  It 
was  late  for  snow,  but  old-time  Raleighites  could  remember  wintry  bites 
of  past  springs.  And  although  C.C.  Cameron,  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  could  not  reach  Raleigh  from  Charlotte,  Harris,  a  resident  of 
the  capital  city,  relayed  the  breaking  news. 

Heilman  returned  from  his  short  stay  in  Richmond  long  before  Syron 
ended  her  study  at  the  University  of  London.  He  attended  to  unfinished 
tasks  with  his  usual  exuberance  and,  by  way  of  the  Alumnae  Magazine, 
reflected  on  his  years  at  the  College: 

Meredith  is  ...  a  great  institution.  Her  people,  including  those  hun- 
dreds who  have  been  her  students  over  the  years,  are  an  outstanding 
example  of  the  best  to  be  assimilated  into  a  society  which  needs 
their  kind[s].  The  campus  looks  even  more  beautiful  as  I  think 
about  leaving  it,  the  facilities  measure  up  in  an  even  more  impres- 
sive fashion  as  I  compare  them  with  institutions  of  like  kind.  The 
community  in  which  it  lives  is  unparalleled.  The  spirit  which  exudes 
from  within  and  without  is  unlike  any  I  have  witnessed  anywhere. 

*  According  to  historian  Mary  Lynch  Johnson,  the  trustees  had  adopted  "a  system  of 
sabbatical  leaves"  in  Dr.  Campbell's  administration  but  had  not  funded  it  until  1970. 
Under  the  new  system,  William  Ledford,  chairman  of  the  Department  of  Foreign 
Languages,  had  traveled  in  Spain  during  the  first  semester  (MLJ,  History,  335-336). 


lO     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Expectation  runs  high.  Financial  circumstances  are  perhaps  the  best 
they  have  ever  been.  Enrollment  is  at  its  peak.  The  administration 
and  faculty  are  able  to  fulfill  the  commitments  of  planning  already 
completed,  and  trustee  leadership  is  the  best. 

I  know  now^  better  than  I  could  have  known  when  I  was  looking 
to  the  future  as  a  part  of  Meredith,  that  I  believe  my  own  propa- 
ganda.^ 

In  the  same  magazine,  alumna  and  trustee  Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill, 
'27,  majored  on  some  of  the  president's  specific  accomplishments:  contin- 
uation of  high  academic  standards;  increases  in  faculty  compensation  by 
5Z  percent;  sabbaticals;  an  increase  in  the  number  of  faculty  with  doc- 
toral degrees;  and  an  expanded  student  body,  whose  numbers  rose  by  44 
percent  "with  no  significant  change  in  quality  by  the  usual  measures."^ 

Almost  immediately  following  Heilman's  resignation,  the  presidential 
selection  committee  of  trustees  set  out  to  find  his  successor.  L.M.  Massey 
chaired  the  committee  of  Shearon  Harris;  Elizabeth  James  Dotterer,  '30, 
of  Sanford;  Nelson  Strawbridge  and  W.J.  Broadwell  of  Durham;  Seby 
Jones  of  Raleigh;  and  C.C.  Cameron  of  Charlotte.  Also,  consultants  to 
the  selection  committee  represented  other  segments  of  the  Meredith  fam- 
ily. Academic  department  chairmen  Sarah  Lemmon,  history;  Roger 
Crook,  religion;  and  David  Lynch,  music,  served  with  Sally  Horner,  as- 
sistant professor  of  chemistry,  for  the  faculty.  Craven  Allen  Burris,  dean 
of  the  College;  Joe  Baker,  business  manager  and  treasurer;  John  T.  Ka- 
nipe,  Jr.,  executive  director  of  development;  and  Mary  Bland  Josey,  di- 
rector of  admissions,  served  for  the  administration.  Edith  Stephenson 
Simpson,  '48,  past  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  was  liaison  for 
the  alumnae  and  Gail  Knieriem,  president  of  the  Student  Government  As- 
sociation, for  the  student  body.  Dr.  Lemmon  chaired  the  committee  of 
consultants. 

As  President  Heilman's  moving  date  approached,  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Board  of  Trustees  designated  Dean  Burris  as  acting  presi- 
dent, granting  him  the  full  powers  of  the  presidency.  Almost  a  quarter 
century  later,  Burris,  who  had  come  to  Meredith  in  1969,  remembered  his 
dual  role  as  a  "mammoth  task,"  saying  he  should  have  appointed  an  act- 
ing dean.  But,  as  freshman  Margaret  Farmer  observed,  "This  .  .  .  was  a 
time  in  which  the  students  became  more  familiar  with  the  dean  and  more 


A  TIME  OF  TRANSITION:    197I      I      II 

appreciative  of  his  humor  and  good  leadership.  Anyone  who  had  to 
search  the  whole  of  Johnson  Hall  to  find  Dr.  Burris  was  certainly  made 
aware  of  the  complexity  of  his  position."^  In  fact,  Meredith  students  soon 
solved,  for  themselves  at  least,  the  puzzle  of  where,  when,  and  how  to  lo- 
cate him:  "When  he  was  upstairs,  he  was  the  president,  and  when  he  was 
downstairs,  he  was  the  dean!"^ 

The  president's  move  upstairs  occurred  during  the  1970  renovation  of 
the  administration  building.  Since  Meredith's  relocation  in  1926  from 
downtown  Raleigh  to  its  present  campus  several  miles  to  the  west,  the  li- 
brary had  occupied  the  second  and  third  floors  of  Johnson  Hall,  and  the 
president  had  administered  college  policies  from  the  first  floor,  east  wing; 
however,  the  library's  exodus  in  1969  to  a  new  facility,  named  in  honor  of 
Carlyle  Campbell,  had  permitted  the  practical  expansion  of  offices  down- 
stairs in  Johnson  for  the  dean,  the  registrar,  and  the  business  manager,  as 
well  as  the  creation  of  a  spacious  upstairs  suite  for  the  president.  And 
with  the  sometimes-irreverent  irony  of  youth,  students  immediately 
observed  the  president's  having  positioned  his  offices  off  the  rotunda's 
second-level  balcony  and  directly  below  the  inscribed  words  of  Jesus:  "I 
am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

Meanwhile,  Dean  Burris  encountered  additional  changes  in  the  way 
and  the  truth  of  his  life.  After  the  executive  committee  had  named  him 
acting  president,  the  trustees  also  drafted  a  proposal  to  amend  the  by- 
laws, changing  Burris's  permanent  title  from  dean  to  vice  president  and 
dean  of  the  College;  Baker's  from  business  manager  and  treasurer  to  vice 
president  for  business  and  finance;  and  Kanipe's  from  director  of  devel- 
opment to  vice  president  for  institutional  advancement.  The  amend- 
ments, introducing  the  title  of  "vice  president,"  would  clearly  define  the 
organization  of  and  the  responsibilities  within  the  administration.  As  the 
College  had  grown  in  size  and  scope,  directors  had  served  under  direc- 
tors, possibly  confusing  outsiders — and  insiders — who  had  little  or  no 
knowledge  of  the  job  descriptions  and  flow  charts.  At  its  semi-annual 
meeting  on  September  24,  the  full  board  approved  the  actions  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee. 

The  trustees  made  another  significant  decision  that  day.  At  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  administration  and  faculty,  W.H.  Westphal,  chairman  of  the 
instructional  programs  committee,  discussed  the  "growing  importance  of 
women"  in  business  and  industry.  His  committee  had  come  to  believe,  he 


12     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 


Bryan  Rotunda,  following  the  renovation  of  Johnson  Hall  in  i9'/o. 


said,  that  Meredith  needed  "to  move  toward  a  B.S.  degree,"  allowing 
"more  flexibility  to  . . .  graduates  in  the  areas  of  science,  mathematics,  and 
home  economics."^  On  Westphal's  motion,  the  trustees  authorized  imple- 
mentation of  the  Bachelor  of  Science  degree"  by  the  regular  due  process 
...  at  the  most  advantageous  time,"^°  thereby  resurrecting  an  option  that 
had  been  buried  for  thirty-three  years.  The  College  had  granted  the  B.S. 
from  1914-26  to  students  in  such  specialized  subjects  as  home  economics 
and  general  science;  from  1931-33  to  prospective  teachers  seeking  certifi- 
cates in  elementary  education;  and  from  1932-38  to  music  majors. 

Following  the  productive  meeting,  the  trustees  joined  faculty,  staff, 
students,  and  guests  on  the  east  campus  to  put  another  house  in  order — 
that  of  the  recently  completed  E.  Bruce  Heilman  Residence  Hall.  While 
under  construction,  the  building  had  been  called  "New  South,"  but  when 
seniors  occupied  it  in  October  1969,  they  dubbed  it  the  "Heilman 
Hilton."  On  that  September  day  in  197 1,  however,  Meredith  gave  the  res- 
idence an  official  name  and  dedicated  it  in  honor  of  the  fifth  president  of 
the  College.  Although  former  President  Heilman  had  assumed  his  duties 
in  Richmond  only  three  weeks  earlier,  he  and  Mrs.  Heilman,  with  their 
five  children,  returned  for  the  ceremonies. 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION:    197I      I      13 

IN  ITS  EIGHTIETH  charter  year,  the  College  braced  itself  for  an  onslaught 
of  societal  changes  in  "the  real  world" — as  students  everywhere  deemed 
all  existence  beyond  campus  confines.  But  Meredith  seemed  to  be  in  good 
hands  under  its  acting  president,  its  astute  trustees,  its  experienced  and 
dedicated  faculty,  administration,  and  staff.  Financial  support  had  made 
possible  the  construction  of  not  only  one  residence  hall  but  of  two.  En- 
rollment was  up.  Bright  promises  seemed  to  beckon  the  College  into  the  fu- 
ture as  the  community  reveled  in  the  commencement  just  past,  when 
Meredith  awarded  degrees  to  its  largest  class  of  220  seniors;  when  Suzanne 
Reynolds  became  the  first  graduate  to  earn  a  4.0  average  on  all  academic 
work;  when  Gv^ndolyn  Matthews  Hilliard  made  history  as  the  first 
African-American  to  receive  a  degree  at  Meredith;  and  when  the  senior 
class  gave  a  precedent-setting  initial  gift  of  $7,000  to  endow  a  visiting 
lectureship  in  honor  of  LiUian  Parker  Wallace,  professor  of  history, 
1921-62.*  Beyond  year-end  ceremonies  in  May,  eleven  high  school  stu- 
dents enrolled  in  the  inaugural  Summer  Study/College  Credit  for  High 
School  Students,  and  seven  of  those  young  women  apphed  for  admission 
in  August  of  1972. 

The  season  of  firsts  continued  to  the  end  of  the  semester  as  seniors 
Marjorie  Moore  Council,  Ann  Victoria  Googe,  Renee  Elks,  Sara  Joyce 
Munden,  and  Marjorie  Jo  Anne  Weaver  basked  in  the  glory  of  not  only 
completing  their  requirements  for  graduation  but  also  for  being  the  first 
Meredith  students  to  receive  certification  by  the  Council  on  Social  Work 
Education.  The  recently  approved  constituent  membership  in  the  council 
distinguished  Meredith  as  the  only  private  college  in  North  Carolina  to 
merit  that  accreditation.  In  fact,  at  the  time,  Meredith  and  Baylor  Uni- 
versity were  the  only  Southern  Baptist  institutions  with  CSWE-approved 
programs. 

But  as  euphoria  soared  on  the  campus,  gloom  settled  over  higher  edu- 
cation in  general.  In  the  first  place,  Americans  were  in  the  doldrums  be- 
cause of  a  sluggish  economy.  Also,  they  smarted  under  the  previous  year's 
violence  on  the  nation's  campuses.  A  faint  glimmer  of  light  was  appear- 
ing, however,  according  to  a  1970  entry  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  American 
Facts  and  Dates: 


*Dr.  Wallace  died  sixteen  days  after  the  Class  of  1971  established  the  endowment  in 
her  honor. 


14     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  unrest  that  had  disturbed  colleges  throughout  the  country  in 
1970  was  largely  dissipated  and  there  were  no  occurrences  of  the  vi- 
olence that  had  so  shocked  the  nation,  such  as  at  Kent  State  Uni- 
versity in  Ohio  [when  the  Ohio  National  Guard  killed  four  students 
in  a  Vietnam  War  protest].  Many  major  problems  still  confronted 
educational  institutions.  The  National  Science  Foundation  reported 
that  federal  aid  to  colleges  and  universities  was  the  lowest  since 
1966,  with  education  also  being  caught  in  government  budgetary 
considerations.^^ 

While  Meredith  received  no  federal  funds,  except  for  financial  assistance 
to  students,  nor  was  it  particularly  vulnerable  to  "government  budgetary 
considerations,"  it  was  certainly  aware  of  the  nation's  economic  prob- 
lems. And  while  the  College  experienced  no  violence  or  uncontrolled 
protests  among  its  student  population,  it  was  attentive  to  trends. 

The  Alumnae  Magazine  departed  from  tradition  to  run  in  the  June 
edition  an  insert  from  Editorial  Projects  for  Education,  Inc.,  titled  "Are 
Americans  Losing  Faith  in  Their  Colleges?"  The  article  suggested  an 
almost-unprecedented  reluctance  on  the  parts  of  individuals,  businesses, 
and  governments  to  fund  the  nation's  colleges  and  universities.  Student  be- 
havior, including  a  flagrant  disregard  for  "traditional  values,"  and  the  in- 
ability of  authorities  constructively  to  channel  the  new  activism  allegedly 
undermined  the  public  trust.  The  magazine  material  predicted  dire  conse- 
quences for  "the  smaller  and  less  affluent  colleges."^-  This  report  followed 
an  earlier  study  by  the  Carnegie  and  Ford  Foundations  titled  The  New  De- 
pression in  Higher  Education,  which  showed  Meredith  "as  one  of  12  out 
of  41  institutions  considered  not  in  financial  trouble,  or  at  least  not  in 
jeopardy  of  failing  to  do  acceptably  that  which  she  is  seeking  to  do."^^ 

While  Meredith  was  "not  in  trouble"  in  those  days  of  soaring  infla- 
tion, the  faculty —  temporarily,  at  least — felt  the  economic  pinch  in  its 
collective  pocketbook.  Members  of  that  body  heard  unwelcome  news  at 
their  September  meeting  from  business  manager  Joe  Baker,  who  declared 
that  "salary  checks  to  be  distributed  on  September  24  will  reflect  no 
raises  for  those  who  began  work  under  a  new  contract  after  August  15, 
197 1  .  .  .  ."^"^  To  comply  with  President  Nixon's  "New  Economic  Policy," 
and  as  part  of  a  nationwide  effort  to  reduce  inflation  and  unemployment, 
the  College  was  required  to  freeze  wages  for  ninety  days,  effective  August 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION:    I97I      I      I5 

15.  Baker  assured  the  faculty,  however,  that  he  would  find  "some  legal 
way  to  grant  the  raises  contracted  for  .  .  .  ."^^  He  found  the  way  through 
attrition  and  allowable  small  cost-of-living  increases. 

In  addition  to  the  economic  concerns  of  his  colleagues  and  to  the  in- 
nate dynamics  of  academe,  Dr.  Burris  faced  the  clamor  of  a  student  body 
eager  for  independence.  Student  demands  were  doubtless  inspired,  in 
part,  by  the  June  30  passage  of  the  26th  Amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  which  lowered  the  voting  age  from  twenty-one  to 
eighteen  years.  Meredith  women  had  returned  for  the  fall  semester  with 
self-determining  hours  on  their  minds.  The  year-old  student  life  commit- 
tee of  the  Student  Government  Association  had  proposed  that  the  closing 
times  of  11:00  p.m.  on  Monday  through  Thursday  nights,  midnight  on 
Fridays,  an  hour  later  on  Saturdays,  and  11:30  on  Sundays  be  replaced 
with  hours  that  students,  with  their  parents'  permission,  set  for  them- 
selves. The  committee's  lines  of  responsibility  resembled  those  of  Con- 
gress to  the  President  of  the  United  States:  Changes  in  regulations  must 
survive  the  committee,  the  student  body,  and,  finally,  the  president's  veto 
pen  before  becoming  the  law  of  the  campus. 

The  Twig  promoted  self-limiting  hours  early  in  the  fall  term  when 
Susan  Van  Wageningen  concluded  an  editorial  with  the  question,  "Is 
Meredith  a  baby-sitting  agency  or  an  institution  of  higher  learning? "^^ 
On  the  same  page,  an  editorial  cartoon  depicted  a  well-dressed,  serious, 
young  woman,  who  balanced  in  her  hands  the  issue  of  self-limiting  hours 
against  that  of  responsibility,  each  matter  registering  equal  weight.  In 
contrast,  a  later  edition  carried  a  caricature  of  the  acting  president,  ap- 
parently by  the  same  unidentified  student  artist,  showing  Burris  measur- 
ing the  proposed  rule  change  against  his  rejection,  with  rejection  far  out- 
weighing the  student  proposal.  Not  until  the  spring  semester,  after  the 
new  president's  arrival,  were  self-limiting  hours  adopted,  and  then  only 
on  an  experimental  basis  for  seniors  living  in  "North"  dormitory.  A  year 
later,  the  policy  became  law  campuswide. 

On-campus  concerns  were  not  the  exclusive  thrust  of  the  Twig,  either 
by  news  item  or  editorial.  Issues  such  as  the  Vietnam  War;  inflation;  a 
residue  of  nationwide  student  unrest  on  the  one  hand,  apathy  on  the 
other;  and  the  fledgling  movement  known  as  "women's  lib"  invited 
analyses  of  philosophies,  traditions,  and  authority.  Behind  the  scenes, 
however,  the  Twig  staff  found  difficult  and  time-consuming  the  week-to- 


l6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

week  grind  of  publishing  a  paper.  Early  in  the  semester,  editor  Van  Wa- 
geningen  penned  "A  Cry  for  Help,"  in  which  she  chastised  students  for 
leaving  the  publishing  of  their  newspaper  to  the  "efforts  of  three  or  four 
students,"  and  in  which  she  complained  of  "a  heavy  heart,  tired  eyes,  sore 
fingers  from  typing,  and  a  compounded  migraine  headache."^'' 

If  apathy  prevailed  in  the  newspaper  business,  energy  abounded  in 
other  matters.  For  example,  Cornhuskin',  the  twenty-six-year-old  au- 
tumn festival,  prompted  fierce  competition  between  classes.  And  the  fac- 
ulty joined  the  fray.  Each  class  adopted  a  theme,  developed  it,  and  pa- 
raded it  before  their  peers.  Coveted  awards  for  original  songs,  tall  tales, 
hog-calling,  corn-shucking,  and  apple-bobbing  were  steppingstones  to 
the  big  prize  of  Cornhuskin'  itself.  At  its  beginning  in  1945,  Cornhuskin' 
was  a  simple  distraction  from  the  routine  of  campus  life,  but  by  1971  it 
consumed  students  for  weeks  prior  to  its  occurrence.  Reporter  Anne  Wall 
commented  on  the  competition  under  the  Twig's  headline  of  "Juniors 
take  Pumpkin[;]  Sophomores  place  second": 

The  emotions  of  Meredith  students  are  mixed;  Juniors  are  elated 
over  a  victory;  Seniors  are  elated  over  being  close  to  'getting  out'; 
Sophomores  want  to  know  why  the  Freshmen  didn't  play  by  the 
rules;  and  the  Freshmen  would  still  like  to  know  what  the  rules  are. 
The  Juniors  and  Freshmen  tied  in  script.  The  Juniors  cut  no  one;  the 
Freshmen  cut  Sophomores;  the  Sophomores  cut  women;  the  Seniors 
cut  Meredith  tradition  and  the  faculty  cut  themselves.  It  was,  to  say 
the  least,  a  cutting  experience.  .  .  }^ 

An  editorial  in  the  same  issue  questioned  the  spirit  of  the  tradition:  "Must 
the  students  rely  on  constant  criticism  of  existing  conditions  to  provide  a 
theme?  .  .  .  When  the  theme  is  developed  at  the  expense  of  unduly  criti- 
cizing conditions  or  even  individuals,  the  whole  concept  of  Cornhuskin' 
is  distorted." ^^  The  Twig  both  refuted  and  confirmed  "distortions"  in  fu- 
ture versions  of  the  competition.  In  1972,  Cornhuskin'  was  touted  by  ed- 
itorialists Eleanor  Hill  and  Janice  Sams  as  having  been  "much  more  in 
line  with  the  general  'fun'  concept  than  some  have  been  in  years  past .  .  . 
where  the  scripts  and  costumes  have  bordered  on  sheer  repulsiveness."^° 
Two  years  later,  a  letter  to  the  editor  from  student  Meredith  McGill  de- 
nounced the  tradition  for  causing  "division  and  ill  feelings."  She  offered, 
"Please,  let's  keep  Cornhusking  Isic],  but  let's  keep  it  in  its  place."^' 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION:    197I      I      I7 

Another  major  event  each  autumn  was  the  semi-annual  Meredith  Play- 
house production.  While  the  College  produced  plays  in  both  the  fall  and 
spring,  it  had  not  until  1971  offered  a  musical.  The  play  was  The  Sound 
of  Music.  Margaret  Farmer  wrote, 

Behind  the  polished  and  delightful  production  seen  by  a  tremen- 
dous audience  were  hours  of  work  unparalleled  by  any  previous 
Playhouse  presentation.  In  the  hopes  of  having  at  least  ten  children 
try  out,  Mrs.  Linda  Bamford  linstructor  of  speech  and  theater, 
1970-75],  placed  in  the  paper  an  advertisement  which  brought  the 
response  of  seventy-five  children  competing  for  seven  parts.^^ 

Religion  professor  Bernard  Cochran  played  Captain  Georg  Von  Trapp. 
Students  in  the  cast  included  Susan  Tew  as  Maria;  Nancy  Crews  as  Liesl; 
Patsy  Johnson  as  Mother  Abbess;  Ann  Goodson  as  Baroness  Elsa 
Schraeder;  and  Lissy  Wall,  Jeanie  Alford,  and  Elizabeth  Triplett  as  Sisters 
Berthe,  Margaretta,  and  Sophia,  respectively. 

The  "cast"  of  the  Alumnae  Magazine,  published  quarterly,  changed  dra- 
matically that  fall  when  Norma  Rose,  longtime  professor  of  English  and 
chairman  of  the  department,  resigned  as  editor,  a  post  she  had  occupied 
since  the  magazine's  inception  in  1946.  The  winter  issue  carried  the  name 
of  Carolyn  Covington  Robinson,  '50,  as  successor  to  Dr.  Rose.  Then  di- 
rector of  alumnae  affairs,  Mrs.  Robinson  was  Meredith's  first  director  of 
publications  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  magazine  staff  since  1968. 

As  magazine  editor,  Mrs.  Robinson  shouldered  a  few  additional  re- 
sponsibilities— few  indeed  compared  to  those  of  Jane  Greene,  '29,  assis- 
tant librarian  for  twenty-six  years,  who  had  agreed  to  undertake  for  one 
year  supervision  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library's  entire  operation.  Miss 
Greene  seemed  to  be  the  obvious  choice  to  succeed  the  retiring  Hazel 
Baity,  'z6,  head  librarian  since  1940.  Greene  was  one  of  a  larger-than- 
usual  number  of  new  administrative  staff  directors  who  filled  vacancies  in 
1971:  Paul  Holcomb,  J.D.,  succeeded  Charles  Patterson  as  director  of  es- 
tate planning;  Gene  Phillips,  B.D.,  followed  Charles  Parker  as  campus 
minister;  Jean  Teague,  A.B.,  became  director  of  student  activities;  and 
Marie  Capel,  M.Ed.,  created  the  guidance  and  placement  service.  Not  ex- 
clusively Meredith's  staff  member,  but  with  an  office  on  the  campus, 
M.  Austin  Connors,  Ed.D.,  became  director  of  Cooperating  Raleigh  Col- 
leges, the  consortium  of  Meredith,  Peace,  St.  Augustine's,  and  St.  Mary's 


l8      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Colleges  and  North  Carolina  State  and  Shaw  Universities,  which  had 
been  coordinated  from  its  inception  in  1967  by  John  A.Yarbrough. 

THE  DYNAMICS  OF  change  drive  colleges  and  universities.  But  sometimes 
life-altering  ideas  subtly  point  institutions  in  new  directions  over  time 
while  simpler  and  more  tangible  developments  seem  immediately  to  en- 
ergize the  community.  Such  was  the  case  with  creative  uses  of  the  year-old 
Weatherspoon  physical  education  building,  which  housed  Meredith's  first 
indoor  pool.  In  the  fall  semester,  a  new  group  of  synchronized  swimmers 
performed  its  premiere,  Once  Over  Lightly,  attracting  an  audience  of 
more  than  two-hundred  people,  including  Herbert  Weatherspoon,  whose 
generosity,  with  that  of  his  family,  made  the  new  building  possible.  Fran 
Vandiver,  instructor  in  physical  education,  organized  and  directed  the 
show.  The  swim  team  later  named  itself  "Aqua  Angels"  and  became  a  reg- 
ular among  Meredith's  various  performing  groups. 

In  every  academic  year,  there  seemed  to  be  almost  as  many  groups — 
some  organized,  some  not — on  the  campus  as  there  were  individuals.  All 
composed  the  college  community.  Carlyle  Campbell,  fourth  president  of 
Meredith,  said,  community  is  "at  the  heart  of  civilization,  social  history; 
civilization  began  when  someone  said  'let's'  [and]  T  became  'we.'  "-^  And 
when  a  member  of  the  community  excelled,  the  "I"  was  applauded  by  the 
"we."  Such  was  the  case  when  Carol  Grant,  a  freshman  in  1971,  received 
a  national  March  of  Dimes  Award  in  Atlanta  on  October  8  for  her  "tire- 
less efforts"  in  educating  the  public  about  birth  defects.^'*  Not  only  had 
she  chaired  the  state's  Teen  Action  Program  (TAP)  in  1970,  but  the  fol- 
lowing year,  she  was  also  elected  Young  Adult  Chairman  for  the  North 
Carolina  chapter.  She  had  fought  a  losing  battle  to  end  freak  shows  at  the 
State  Fair  in  1968  but  was  successful  in  inspiring  the  State  Legislature  in 
1969  to  pass  a  bill  "prohibiting  the  exhibition  of  children  under  the  age 
of  18  [who  have]  birth  defects."^^  Born  with  phocomelia  (shortened 
arms),  Grant  also  wore  braces  on  her  legs.  Following  her  graduation  in 
1975,  she  earned  a  master's  degree  as  well  as  a  doctorate  in  rehabilitation 
counseling  at  East  Carolina  and  Southern  Illinois  Universities,  respec- 
tively. Late  in  Jimmy  Carter's  term  as  president  of  the  United  States,  he 
appointed  her  to  the  national  Architectural  and  Transportation  Barriers 
Compliance  Board,  and  she  was  in  line  to  chair  the  board  when  Carter 
lost  his  bid  for  reelection  to  Ronald  Reagan. 


A  TIME   OF  TRANSITION:    197I      I      I9 

Although  Meredith  had  previously  accepted  physically  challenged  stu- 
dents, it  enrolled  Carol  Grant  as  the  Federal  and  State  Governments  v^ere 
demanding  reasonable  access  to  buildings  and  other  facilities.  Joe  Baker 
reported  the  College's  having  modified  a  bath,  changed  one  room,  and 
built  some  ramps  for  her.  "From  that  point  on,  within  another  year  or 
tw^o,  we  had  to  have  ramps  and  access  routes  .  .  .  and  elevators  for  build- 
ings of  three  or  more  floors."-^ 

UNDER  THE  PRESS  of  responsibilities.  Dr.  Burris  might  have  imagined  his 
term  as  acting  president  was  longer,  but  he  wore  the  mantle  of  chief  ad- 
ministrator only  from  September  through  December.  On  October  14, 
1971,  two  months  after  Burris's  appointment,  L.M.  Massey,  chairman  of 
the  presidential  selection  committee,  called  a  special  meeting  of  the  board 
to  present  the  committee's  top  prospect.  By  way  of  the  candidate's  re- 
sume. Dr.  Massey  introduced  the  vice  president  for  finance  and  adminis- 
tration at  Middle  Tennessee  State  University,  recommending  "the  election 
of  John  E.  Weems  as  the  sixth  president  of  Meredith  to  take  effect  on  Jan- 
uary I,  1972."^^""  Dr.  Weems  was  elected  by  unanimous  vote. 

Chairman  C.C.  Cameron  announced  the  news  to  reporters:  "We  feel 
fortunate  in  securing  a  man  of  Dr.  Weems's  experience  and  expertise  in 
the  field  of  higher  education  who  can  continue  to  lead  Meredith  toward 
academic  excellence,  financial  stability  and  service."^^  Weems,  who  was 
also  present  for  the  announcement,  said,  "I  am  very  impressed  with  the 
tradition  of  academic  excellence  at  Meredith,  and  I  am  particularly  im- 
pressed with  the  high  calibre  of  students  here  and  the  obvious  dedication 
of  the  faculty."^^ 

On  the  following  day,  Friday,  October  15,  the  college  community  met 
the  new  president  in  convocation.  On  stage  with  him  to  receive  a  wel- 
coming ovation  were  his  wife,  Frankie  Gooch  Weems;  their  daughter, 
Nancy,  10;  and  their  sons,  John  Mark,  17,  and  David,  12. 


^Although  the  college  catalogue  has,  from  197Z,  listed  Craven  Allen  Burris  as  presi- 
dent between  Drs.  Heilman  and  Weems,  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  indicate 
that  John  Edgar  Weems  was  elected  by  the  trustees  as  the  sixth  president  and  was  so 
introduced  at  his  inauguration,  both  by  the  chairman  of  the  Board  and  by  the 
printed  inaugural  program. 


A  NEW  CHAPTER 
1972 


CARLYLE  CAMPBELL,  PRESIDENT  of  the  College  from  1939-66,  offered 
timeless  insights  into  the  evolution  of  institutions  like  Meredith.  On 
Founders'  Day  of  1966,  the  year  of  his  retirement,  he  said. 

When  we  consider  such  institutions  as  Meredith  in  historical  per- 
spective, we  are  likely  to  have  two  distinct,  immediately  conflict- 
ing, reactions:  first,  of  the  immense  changes  in  circumstance  and 
procedure,  so  obvious  and  so  pervasive  as  to  create  a  feeling  of 
sharp  contrast  between  the  past  and  present;  then,  on  deeper  re- 
flection, a  recognition  of  an  underlying  consistency  and  integrity  of 
purpose  which  make  these  transformations  secondary  to  the  con- 
viction that  both  past  and  present  are  but  successive  chapters  in  an 
ever-unfolding  text. 

In  1972,  the  text  unfolded,  and  a  new  chapter  began. 

John  Edgar  Weems  was  thirty-nine  when  he  was  elected  president  of 
Meredith  College.  A  native  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  he  chose  George 
Peabody  College  in  his  hometown  for  his  undergraduate  as  well  as  his 
graduate  education.  Upon  receiving  the  Bachelor  of  Science  degree  in 
1953,  with  majors  in  economics,  business  administration,  and  education, 
he  was  one  of  seven  young  men  selected  by  Proctor  and  Gamble  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  company's  executive  training  program.  But  after  two  years, 

20 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    I972     I      21 

he  returned  to  Peabody,  earning  the  Master  of  Arts  degree  in  administra- 
tion of  pubhc  education  and  business  education  before  joining  the  faculty 
of  Atlantic  Christian  (now  Barton)  College  in  Wilson,  North  Carohna. 
Later  he  moved  into  administration  as  director  of  admissions  and  place- 
ment, soon  adding  the  duties  of  student  personnel  services  to  his  v^ork- 
load.  In  1959,  he  accepted  the  position  of  dean  of  admissions  and  records 
at  Kentucky  Wesleyan  and,  in  1961,  carried  the  same  title  to  Middle  Ten- 
nessee State.  There  he  implemented  a  system  of  computer  registration 
that  w^as  adopted  as  the  model  for  Tennessee's  entire  state-supported  sys- 
tem of  higher  education. 

Again  in  his  home  state,  he  resumed  work  toward  a  doctorate  in  ad- 
ministration of  higher  education,  his  dissertation  dealing  "primarily  with 
institutional  research  designed  for  making  sound  administrative  decisions 
in  higher  education."^  Peabody  awarded  him  the  Doctor  of  Education  de- 
gree in  1965.  Meanwhile,  promotions  at  Middle  Tennessee  State  ac- 
corded him  a  deanship  and  then  a  vice-presidency.  At  the  time  the  trustees 
tapped  him  for  the  Meredith  presidency,  Dr.  Weems  was  responsible  for 
all  areas  of  Middle  Tennessee  State's  administration  except  for  the  faculty 
and  student  personnel  divisions. 

When  the  Weems  family  moved  to  Raleigh,  they  and  Meredith  were 
not  strangers.  Between  his  introduction  in  October  and  his  arrival  in  Jan- 
uary, the  president-elect  had  several  times  met  with  students  and  other 
members  of  the  community.  But  once  he  made  the  permanent  move,  his 
calendar  was  filled.  One  of  his  early  commitments  was  to  deliver  the  Jan- 
uary commencement  address  back  at  Middle  Tennessee  State.  And  he  was 
frequently  on  the  speakers'  circuit  for  Meredith  groups  that  were  vying 
for  opportunities  to  make  his  acquaintance.  He  received  a  cordial  wel- 
come. In  fact,  when  he  addressed  the  Durham-Hillsborough  Alumnae 
Chapter,  Mayor  Fred  Cates  of  Hillsborough  announced  that  the  town 
council  had  named  Weems  honorary  mayor. 

Over  the  course  of  the  next  several  months,  the  College  more  or  less 
dictated  the  president's  schedule.  Early  in  the  year,  he  joined  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  a  meeting  called  to  accept  a  chal- 
lenge gift  of  $150,000  from  trustee  C.C.  Barefoot  and  Mrs.  Barefoot,  and 
to  recommend  to  the  full  board  that  "New  North,"  the  twin  dormitory  to 
Heilman,  be  named  Barefoot  Residence  Hall. 

Also  in  January,  the  Lectures  in  Religion  series  featured  Elton  True- 


22     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

blood  on  one  of  his  several  visits  to  the  campus.  A  Quaker,  philosopher, 
and  author,  Dr.  Trueblood  was  "probably  the  best  known  American 
writer  in  religion."^  His  work  dealt  primarily  with  the  philosophy  of  reli- 
gion; and  as  he  developed  his  topics  at  Meredith — "The  Future  of  the 
Christian  Faith"  and  "The  Development  of  an  Honest  Belief" — he  ap- 
plied his  philosophy  to  the  culture  of  the  period. 

The  annual  January  Religious  Emphasis  Week  was  "always  a  spiritu- 
ally significant  experience  in  the  school  year."^  The  1972  version  was  pro- 
moted on  the  front  page  of  the  Twig  under  the  bylines  of  students  Judy 
Yates  and  Dianne  Reavis:  "In  an  age  of  cold  reason  saturated  with  flaring 
emotions,  riot,  and  unrest,  one  may  not  feel  that  it  is  so  great  to  be  alive. 
But  we  of  REW  (Religious  Emphasis  Week)  have  chosen  to  celebrate  the 
hopeful  aspects  of  life.""^  Ed  Christman,  guest  theologian  and  chaplain  at 
Wake  Forest  University,  advanced  the  theme  of  "What  a  Great  Day  to  be 
Alive!" 

It  would  not  have  been  far-fetched  to  adapt  the  theme  of  that  Religious 
Emphasis  Week  to  the  annual  Founders'  Day  observances,  as  celebration 
was  usually  the  mode.  At  his  first  Founders'  Day  on  February  25,  Weems 
presided  over  a  morning  convocation  observing  Meredith's  eighty-first 
charter  year  and  featuring  an  address  by  Henry  Hall  Wilson,  president  of 
the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade.  In  a  ceremony  emulating  a  portion  of  the 
first  Founders'  Day  in  1909 — the  year  in  which  Baptist  Female  University 
became  Meredith  College — a  coterie  of  people  traveled  to  old  City 
Cemetery  downtown  to  place  flowers  on  the  grave  of  Thomas  Meredith, 
the  founder  whose  name  the  College  adopted.  Celebrations  continued 
through  an  evening  banquet  honoring  C.C.  and  Kilty  Barefoot  for  having 
given  "the  second  largest  gift  from  .  .  .  individuals  to  the  Meredith  Ad- 
vancement Program."^  With  the  Barefoots,  both  for  dinner  and  for  the  af- 
ternoon dedication  of  Barefoot  Residence  Hall,  were  their  five  daughters, 
two  of  whom — Barbara  Barefoot  Smith  and  Beverly  Barefoot  Ceglia — 
are  alumnae  of  the  College. 

The  importance  of  Meredith's  seventh  residence  hall  would  be  mea- 
sured by  the  number  of  its  occupants.  Already  full,  Barefoot  Hall  had 
brought  resident  enrollment  to  1,102  that  year.  Mary  Bland  Josey,  who 
was  alert  to  numbers  as  they  applied  to  the  economy,  had  projected  the 
need  for  an  incoming  freshman  class  of  340-365.  But  actual  enrollment 
exceeded  expectations.  She  reported. 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    I97Z     I     23 

As  of  May  15,  1972,  it  looks  as  if  the  freshman  class,  including  day 
students,  will  be  about  370-375  in  number.  With  1,125  former 
and  new  resident  students  having  paid  advance  deposits  .  .  .  ,  plans 
have  been  made  to  use  the  eighteen  spaces  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
infirmary  for  resident  students,  and  a  waiting  list  for  new  students 
has  been  started.^ 

A  full  house  was  also  expected  for  the  highly  anticipated  three-day 
symposium  on  "Urban  Life  and  the  Political  Process,"  a  March  event 
that  promised  as  keynote  speaker  the  Honorable  Shirley  Chisholm, 
representative  from  the  Twelfth  Congressional  District  in  New  York. 
Congresswoman  Chisholm,  having  aspired  to  higher  political  achieve- 
ment, had  declared  her  candidacy  for  the  Democratic  presidential 
nomination,  the  first  African-American  woman  to  seek  the  highest 
elective  office  in  the  land.  Following  the  symposium,  at  which  the  can- 
didate spoke  to  more  than  1,300  people,  the  Twig  trumpeted,  "A  fast- 
talking  Shirley  Chisholm  breezed  into  North  Carolina  Monday.  .  .  ."^ 
An  overnight  guest  in  the  Mae  Grimmer  House,  Chisholm  invited  the 
alumnae  office  staff  to  join  her  for  early-morning  conversation  and 
coffee.  Her  white  male  secretary  issued  the  invitation  and  brewed  the 
coffee.  In  those  days,  few  male  secretaries  could  be  found  in  Meredith's 
neighborhood;  and  the  idea  of  a  white  male's  serving  a  black  female 
was  a  phenomenon.  It  still  is.  Although  Chisholm  would  lose  her 
party's  nomination,  she  would  gain  advocacy  for  her  cause  to  end 
racial  and  gender  bias. 

The  thirtieth  annual  Alumnae  Seminar  preceded  the  symposium  by 
four  days.  Co-sponsored  by  the  Alumnae  Association  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  Psychology,  the  one-day  event  featured  Martha  S.  Grafton,  dean 
emeritus  and  acting  president  of  Mary  Baldwin  College.  Mrs.  Grafton's 
address,  "Women's  Lib:  a  Second  Look,"  was  among  the  early  speeches  at 
Meredith  to  focus  on  the  women's  movement  of  the  seventies.  Crediting 
the  then-current  crusade  to  Betty  Friedan's  nine-year-old  fiery  treatise. 
The  Feminine  Mystique,  Grafton  taught  a  history  lesson: 

Women's  Liberation,  a  movement  which  can  be  considered  almost 
as  old  as  humanity  .  .  .  ranks  along  with  war,  civil  rights,  law  and 
violence,  and  ecology  as  one  of  the  prime  concerns  of  the  decade, 
...  If  today's  feminist  movement  came  out  of  the  civil  rights  move- 


24     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ment,  as  many  think,  the  first  drive  was  closely  associated  with  abo- 
lition of  slavery  and  [with]  temperance.^ 

Gender  was  not  a  concern  at  the  student-faculty  basketball  game  in 
March,  but  competition  was  fierce.  The  students  won  34-32,  despite  the 
eighteen  points  scored  by  religion  professor  Bernard  Cochran.  Ellen 
Bullington,  a  reporter  for  the  Twig,  wrote,  "The  faculty  had  a  slight 
height  and  a  considerable  weight  advantage,  plus  their  star.  Dr.  Cochran. 
Dean  Burris  showed  great  ability  with  his  fantastic  drop  shots,  and  well- 
placed  lay-ups.  He  also  demonstrated  a  talent  for  giving  the  ball  to  the 
wrong  team.  .  .  ."^ 

The  focus  shifted  from  student-faculty  relations  to  student-family  re- 
lations when  Wayne  E.  Oates,  professor  of  psychology  at  Southern  Bap- 
tist Theological  Seminary,  addressed  the  subject  at  a  Meredith  Christian 
Association  (MCA)  forum  and  again  when  mothers,  fathers,  siblings,  and 
other  kin  came  visiting  for  Parents'  Weekend.  The  recently  formed  Par- 
ents' Association  convened  its  second  annual  meeting  on  a  Saturday,  but 
the  top  attraction  of  the  day  was  the  crowning  of  Springs  Queen,  Nancy 
Crews,  and  the  presentation  of  her  court. ""' 

Meanwhile,  back  at  the  president's  residence,  the  Weemses  spared  no 
efforts  to  open  their  home  to  guests,  both  the  curious  and  the  altruistic. 
President  Weems  reported, 

This  house  has  been  tested  and  put  to  use.  In  a  brief  three-month 
period  more  than  three  thousand  people  have  been  invited  into  our 
home  for  entertainment  in  one  way  or  another.  These  occasions 
have  ranged  from  casual  dinners  for  other  couples,  to  formal  din- 
ners for  twelve,  to  seated  dinners  for  the  entire  faculty,  to  a  large 
buffet  for  the  total  senior  class,  to  receptions  for  five  hundred. ^° 

The  first  president's  residence  on  the  campus,  the  Massey  House  was 
named  in  honor  of  trustee  Luther  M.  Massey  and  his  wife,  Vivian  Daw- 
son Massey,  who  contributed  the  initial  funding  toward  its  construction. 
Ground  was  broken  on  Founders'  Day  1971,  and  the  spacious  and  ele- 
gantly appointed  residence  was  waiting  when  its  first  occupants,  the 


'•'The  Celebration  of  Spring  replaced  the  forty-five-year  tradition  of  May  Day  in 
1971,  and  a  spring  dance  concert,  first  staged  in  1975,  replaced  the  traditional  May 
Day  and  Springs  Court  dances. 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    1972     I     Z5 

Weems  family,  arrived  to  claim  it  as  their  home.  Dedication  of  the  house 
was  scheduled  for  President  Weems's  inauguration  day.  Special  guests 
would  include  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Massey;  their  daughter,  alumna  Carolyn 
Massey  Kitahata,  '51;  and  the  many  donors  of  rooms,  furnishings,  and 
landscaping. 

But  months  before  the  inauguration,  the  College  bustled  with  year-end 
activities.  Surprised  students  welcomed  a  dinner-hour  distraction  in  early 
May  when  United  States  presidential  hopeful  Senator  Terry  Sanford 
dropped  by  the  dining  hall  to  campaign  for  the  Democratic  Party's  nom- 
ination. The  Twig  singled  out  his  response  to  one  of  the  burning  issues  of 
the  day:  "Sanford  favors  immediate  withdrawal  of  troops  [from  Vietnam] 
while  supplying  the  necessary  economic  aid  for  rebuilding  of  the  devas- 
tated country.  .  .  ."^^ 

Sanford's  visit  closed  the  books  on  politics,  at  least  until  after  com- 
mencement. But  the  College  opened  its  new  History  of  Meredith  College, 
Second  Edition,  by  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  as  alumnae  made  their  annual 
pilgrimages  back  to  the  campus  for  Alumnae  Day.  Eager  readers  crowded 
the  Massey  House  to  claim  copies  of  the  revised  history  for  themselves 
and  to  honor  the  author  at  an  autograph  tea.  At  the  same  time,  guests 
toured  the  new  residence  and  met  the  Weemses  at  home. 

Coming  "home"  herself,  Nancy  Blair  Viccellio,  '35,  addressed  the 
alumnae  at  their  annual  meeting.  In  fact,  much  of  commencement  week- 
end honored  alumnae,  who  played  second  fiddle  only  to  the  seniors.  Dr. 
Johnson  was  in  the  spotlight  both  as  author  of  the  history  and  as  honoree 
of  the  Class  of  1972,  whose  gift  to  the  College  was  the  establishment  of 
the  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  Library  Enrichment  Endowment.  With  a  con- 
tribution of  $z,ooo  and  a  commitment  from  its  members  to  designate  fu- 
ture gifts  to  the  endowment  principal,  the  class  specified  that  "Annual 
earnings  .  .  .  will  be  used  for  acquisition  of  learning  resources,  with  pref- 
erence being  given  to  needed  periodicals."^^ 

Mary  Yarbrough,  retiring  chairman  of  the  Department  of  Chemistry, 
also  received  multiple  honors.  She  and  Charles  Tucker,  assistant  professor 
of  sociology,  were  named  Outstanding  Christian  Educators,  an  annual 
award  created  by  Greensboro's  First  Baptist  Church  and  later  funded  by 
the  Parents'  Association.  Dr.  Mary,  as  she  was  affectionately  known  to 
generations  of  students,  and  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard  Maddrey  each  re- 
ceived an  Alumna  Award.  Yarbrough  was  again  recognized  in  com- 


Z6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

mencement  exercises  when  President  Weems  announced  receipt  of  a  be- 
quest toward  an  endowment  to  establish  the  Mary  E.Yarbrough  Chair  of 
Chemistry.  The  letter  of  intent,  dated  April  12,  1970,  and  addressed  to 
"President,  Meredith  College,"  contained  moving  personal  words: 

I  am  not  acquainted  with  you  nor  you  with  me,  and  you  will  never 
know  me  as  you  will  not  receive  this  letter  until  after  my  death.  My 
daughter,  Helen  Davie  Bedon,  was  a  graduate  of  Meredith  as  a 
chemistry  major  in  1945  and  went  on  to  receive  her  Ph.D.  degree  in 
this  field  and  to  teach  chemistry.  She  loved  the  college  and  also  Miss 
Yarbrough  dearly.  .  .  .  [My  daughter]  died  in  1966.^^ 

Also  on  Class  Day,  the  Saturday  preceding  commencement,  the  Col- 
lege dedicated  the  Margaret  Bright  Gallery  of  Class  Dolls.  Located  on  the 
third  level  of  Johnson  Hall's  Bryan  Rotunda,  the  gallery  displays  as  many 
dolls  as  there  have  been  graduating  classes,  beginning  with  1902.  Each 
doll,  dressed  by  the  class  it  represents,  reflects  the  culture  of  its  time.  A 
gallery  visitor  finds  the  sedate  young  woman  of  the  early  1900s  and  the 
flapper  of  the  '20s;  the  flower  child  of  the  '60s  and  the  feminist  of  the 
'70s;  the  casual  woman  of  the  '80s  and  the  career  woman  of  the  '90s. 
Dorothy  Loftin  Goodwin,  '47,  who  inherited  Miss  Bright's  responsibility 
for  and  care  of  the  collection,  reminded  Alumnae  Magazine  readers  that 
Miss  Bright,  the  first  caretaker  of  the  dolls,  died  in  June  1969,  "after  hav- 
ing attended  every  commencement,  beginning  in  1903,  when  she  had  en- 
rolled as  a  freshman  at  Baptist  Female  University.  .  .  .^'^ 

While  the  College  would  remember  Class  Day  for  celebrations,  hon- 
ors, and  dedications,  it  would  remember  graduation  day,  in  part,  for  the 
rain  that  doused  the  best  of  plans.  The  ceremony,  set  for  Elva  Bryan 
Mclver  Amphitheater,  was  quickly  shifted  to  Jones  Auditorium,  a  situa- 
tion that  necessitated  a  tight  squeeze  for  all.  Possibly  more  than  one  per- 
son in  Jones  that  day  recalled  the  previous  year's  commencement  exer- 
cises in  Weatherspoon  Gymnasium,  when  folding  chairs  supplemented 
the  bleachers'  seating  capacity  of  670,  and  a  malfunctioning  electrical 
system — some  said  it  was  body  heat — triggered  the  fire  alarm.  Although, 
after  a  moment  of  uneasiness,  the  audience  reacted  calmly,  the  197 1  grad- 
uation event  was  the  first  and  last  scheduled  for  the  gym. 

Threat  of  fire  was  rarer  than  threat  of  flood,  but  the  fact  remained  that 
commencement  crowds  had  outgrown  the  seating  capacity  of  Jones  Au- 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    I972     I     2-7 

ditorium.  In  both  years,  however,  the  seniors  were  as  thoroughly  gradu- 
ated as  if  they  and  their  famihes  had  been  more  comfortably  accommo- 
dated. In  1972,  the  213  candidates  for  the  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree  and 
the  13  for  the  Bachelor  of  Music  heard  the  Reverend  J.  Dewey  Hobbs, 
minister  at  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Marion,  North  Carolina,  preach 
the  baccalaureate  sermon  in  the  morning  and  the  Honorable  Naomi  E. 
Morris,  judge  of  the  North  Carolina  Court  of  Appeals,  deliver  the  com- 
mencement address  in  the  afternoon.  At  the  end  of  the  day  then,  and  even 
before  his  inauguration.  President  Weems  had  survived  an  entire  semester 
at  Meredith. 

SUMMER  IS  THE  shottcst  distance  between  two  terms.  But  after  every  com- 
mencement, the  College  experiences  a  few  interminably  long  and  bleakly 
silent  days  of  closure  before  preparations  for  another  semester  begin. 
Once  the  inundation  starts,  the  campus  is  awash  with  reminders  of  the 
brevity  of  the  season:  summer  school;  special  interest  camps  for  young 
people;  workshops  for  older  people;  the  refurbishing  of  a  dormitory;  or 
the  modernizing  of  a  classroom  building. 

In  the  summer  of  1972,  the  new  Cate  Center  attracted  much  of  the  at- 
tention. In  the  heat  of  a  southern  July,  the  student  store,  lovingly  known 
as  the  Bee  Hive,  moved — lock,  stock,  and  textbook — from  its  old, 
frame,  termite-infested  quarters  to  its  sleek,  new  home  across  the  campus. 
The  center  would  also  house  other  student-related  facilities,  but  not  until 
construction  was  more  nearly  complete,  possibly  in  October.  When  the 
trustees  met  in  September,  President  Weems  urged  them  to  tour  the  build- 
ing. "It's  like  a  visit  to  the  21st  century,"  he  boasted. ^^ 

Space  was  a  precious  commodity.  When  movers  exited  the  Bee  Hive 
with  the  last  boxes  of  No.  2  yellow  pencils  and  blue,  spiral-bound  note- 
books, the  art  department,  with  "print-making  supplies,  ceramics,  and 
power  tools  {implementa  electrica)"  entered  the  forty-six-year-old  relic, 
"formerly  the  rear  section  of  the  auditorium,  circa  1926-1949."^^  The 
home  economics  department  also  claimed  a  portion  of  the  old  "tempo- 
rary" building's  stockroom  for  refinishing  furniture. 

While  the  campus  hummed  with  summer  activities,  some  Meredith 
people  were  thousands  of  miles  away.  For  example,  William  Ledford, 
chairman,  and  Katalin  Galligan  and  Helen  Daniell  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage department  conducted  special  studies  in  Spain  and  France.  Dr.  Led- 


28      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ford's  group  centered  its  work  in  Madrid,  while  students  of  Drs.  Galligan 
and  Daniell  studied  in  Paris  and  Nice.  These  forerunners  of  the  Meredith 
Abroad  program  allowed  students  to  earn  special  studies  credits. 

Other  summer  events  were  unrelated  to  the  College  except  that  they 
occurred  there.  Some  visitors  participated  in  Project  Help;  some  in  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention-sponsored  Journeyman  Program;  some  in 
football,  basketball,  cheerleading,  and  majorette  clinics;  some  in  a  Family 
Life  Education  conference;  and  some  in  a  Latter  Day  Saints  retreat. 
Summer-school  students  and  equitation  enthusiasts  swelled  the  overall 
seasonal  population  to  3,000. 

Meanwhile,  another  college  catalogue  went  to  press;  textbook  orders 
congested  the  book  store;  the  housing  staff  paired  freshman  roommates; 
prospective  teachers  came  for  interviews;  long-time  faculty  revised 
courses;  the  dining  hall  served  three  meals  a  day;  a  mammoth  new  com- 
puter— Meredith's  first — was  fifted  by  crane  to  Johnson  Hall's  third 
floor;  the  inauguration  committee  met  frequently;  and  the  College  hon- 
ored the  Baptist  State  Convention  staff  and  Raleigh's  Baptist  pastors  and 
their  families  at  a  fourth  annual  picnic.  And  plans  took  shape  for  Mere- 
dith's pioneer  program  in  continuing  education.  Dean  Burris  cited  the 
self-study  of  1968  as  having  originated  the  idea  for  the  program.  The 
study,  he  said,  showed  "a  great  deal  of  vision  as  to  where  Meredith  ought 
to  go  to  meet  the  needs  of  women  in  modern  society."^'' 

A  PIONEER  IS  one  who  conquers  a  frontier.  The  definition  applies  not  only 
to  the  College  and  its  new  program  but  also  to  Anne  Clarke  Dahle,  '54, 
the  first  coordinator  of  continuing  education.  After  several  years  of  teach- 
ing, of  working  as  a  computer  programmer,  and  of  rearing  her  children, 
Dahle  earned  a  master's  degree  in  mathematics  at  North  Carolina  State 
University.  "In  the  process,"  she  said,  "I  was  really  struggling  with  how 
hard  it  is  for  women  who  have  been  out  [of  school]  to  find  a  place  to  get 
back,  how  to  do  it,  what  to  do."^^  Through  her  career  in  continuing  edu- 
cation, as  coordinator  and  later  as  director  of  the  successful  re-entry  pro- 
gram, that  early  experience  seemed  to  have  translated  into  a  calling. 
Through  the  next  twenty-two  years,  her  passion  would  be  to  guide  other 
women  in  their  searches  for  "a  place  to  get  back,  how  to  do  it,  what 
to  do." 

Dahle  began  her  work  in  the  fall,  and,  by  spring,  continuing  education 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    1972     I     29 

offered  three  enrichment  courses:  one  in  reUgion  and  one  in  art,  taught 
by  department  chairmen  Roger  Crook  and  Leonard  White,  respectively, 
and  one — a  study  in  historic  preservation  titled  "Saving  Yesterday  for 
Tomorrow" — developed  by  Emyl  Jenkins  of  Raleigh.  Two  decades  later, 
Dahle  would  recall  that  "We  had  a  number  of  newcomers  to  Raleigh  sign 
up  for  [the  latter].  They  are  now  leaders  in  historic  societies;  I  see  their 
names  [in  print]  from  time  to  time."^^ 

The  continuing  education  program  was  already  functioning  when  the 
faculty  convened  for  an  August  workshop  to  hear  Robert  E.  Stoltz,  di- 
rector of  the  regional  office  of  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board 
(CEEB),  predict  problems  soon  to  face  higher  education.  One  factor  that 
Stoltz  introduced  was  a  sure  decline  in  the  national  birth  rate;  therefore, 
he  said,  colleges  must  "consider  new  [applicant]  pools — especially  adult 
and  part-time  students ."-°  Meredith,  the  pioneer,  had  already  blazed  the 
trail.  That  first  year,  the  College  put  in  place  a  new  option  for  admission 
of  high  school  graduates  who  were  over  twenty-three  years  of  age.  Waiv- 
ing regular  requirements,  it  would  accept  the  women  as  degree  candi- 
dates, but  only  after  satisfactory  completion  of  fifteen  hours  of  work. 
Two  women  enrolled  under  the  plan.  One  of  the  two,  Eugenia  Sealey 
Cross,  graduated;  whereas,  in  the  two  decades  from  1976-96,  857  re- 
entry women  earned  undergraduate  degrees  under  the  plan. 

In  a  sense,  every  member  of  the  college  community  is  a  pioneer,  con- 
sistently reshaping  the  institution.  In  1972,  the  College  reflected  on  the 
influence  of  former  English  department  chairman  Julia  Hamlet  Harris, 
who  had  retired  in  1952  and  died  in  1965.  Dr.  Harris  had  left  the  greater 
part  of  her  estate  to  Meredith.  A  terse  entry  in  the  minutes  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  August  read,  "It  was  an- 
nounced that  the  Merit  Scholarships  of  Meredith  College  would  be  con- 
tinued and  the  names  of  the  Merit  Scholars  would  be  changed  to  Julia 
Hamlet  Harris  Scholars  to  honor  a  long-time  faculty  member  .  .  .  who  has 
endowed  these  scholarships  through  a  bequest  from  her  estate."^^  The 
Twig  offered  further  details:  Harris  "bequeathed  the  College  her  estate  of 
$135,000  with  the  request  that  the  gift  be  used  for  scholarships  for 
promising  and  deserving  students."--  During  the  process  of  renaming  the 
scholarships,  Eleanor  Edwards  Williams,  '37,  a  former  student  of  Dr. 
Harris's,  looked  at  and  beyond  the  generous  bequest:  "In  leaving  her 
monetary  estate  to  Meredith  College,"  Williams  wrote,  "Dr.  Harris  added 


30     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

a  powerful  postscript  to  her  generous  giving  of  herself  as  scholar,  teacher, 
and  friend.  Naming  the  Honor  Scholarships  in  her  memory  was  like  giv- 
ing a  proper  title  to  an  heroic  poem."  Williams  recalled  another  image  of 
her  former  teacher:  "She  taught  culture  by  presence.  .  .  .  Her  entrance 
into  a  room  somehow  made  the  ceilings  taller." ^^  The  Class  of  1950 
would  further  honor  Harris's  memory  by  its  gift  in  1975  of  a  portrait  of 
the  long-time  English  professor.  The  painting  by  artist  Hallie  Siddell  of 
Raleigh  stands  on  an  easel  in  the  Harris  Rare  Books  Room  of  the  Carlyle 
Campbell  Library. 

THE  COMINGS  AND  goings  of  the  scholars  who  teach  are  among  the  dy- 
namics of  academe.  While  the  two  new  department  chairmen  appointed 
in  1972  had  joined  the  faculty  in  the  sixties,  they  were  accepting  new  re- 
sponsibilities, new  challenges.  Clara  R.  Bunn,  assistant  professor  of  biol- 
ogy, assumed  the  role  of  acting  chairman  of  her  department  in  January 
1973,  while  John  Yarbrough,  who  had  held  the  post  since  1943,  was  on 
sabbatical  leave.  A  member  of  the  faculty  since  1969,  Dr.  Bunn  earned 
the  A.B.  in  chemistry  at  Meredith  and  the  M.S.  and  the  Ph.D.  in  biology 
at  North  Carolina  State.  The  trustees  would  name  her  permanent  chair- 
man in  March  1973. 

Sally  M.  Horner,  assistant  professor  and  new  chairman  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Chemistry,  taught  at  Meredith  for  the  1965-66  term  and  re- 
turned in  1967.  She  succeeded  Mary  Yarbrough,  who  retired  after  thirty- 
four  years.  At  the  time  of  her  appointment.  Dr.  Horner  was  on  sabbatical 
leave  for  research  in  X-ray  crystallography  at  Duke.  She  began  her  un- 
dergraduate work  at  Meredith,  but  both  her  B.S.  and  Ph.D.  degrees  came 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill.  Horner's  predeces- 
sor, "Dr.  Mary,"  would  continue  to  teach. 

As  surely  as  academic  people  come  and  go,  academic  programs  evolve. 
The  1972-73  catalogue  offered  for  the  first  time  an  arrangement  with 
American  University  in  Washington,  D.C.,  for  Meredith  students  to  par- 
ticipate in  a  Washington  Semester,  "which  introduces  students  from  all 
over  the  nation  to  a  first-hand  study  of  American  politics."  The  same  cata- 
logue listed  Special  Studies — Community  Internship — for  the  first  time. 
(Additional  options,  such  as  Independent  Study,  Directed  Independent 
Study,  Honors  Thesis,  and  Group  Study  have  appeared  in  subsequent 
course  listings.)  And  Dean  Burris  reported  that  future  catalogues  would 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    \^J2.     I     3  I 

likely  offer  business  and  economics  courses  to  "prepare  Meredith  stu- 
dents for  higher  management  positions  in  industry."^'* 

In  that  era,  the  predicted  impact  of  the  computer  on  future  generations 
of  teachers,  students,  and  programs  was  probably  more  theory  than  fact. 
Meredith's  foray  into  computer  technology  was  in  the  form  of  IBM  data 
processing,  primarily  for  use  in  the  business  office  but  a  boon  also  to  the 
offices  of  institutional  advancement,  the  registrar,  and  the  president. 

Little,  if  any,  argument  arose  as  to  the  usefulness  of  computers,  the  re- 
naming of  scholarships,  the  appointment  of  new  department  heads,  or 
the  creativity  of  some  academic  offerings,  but  much  debate  erupted  in  the 
August  faculty  meeting  over  a  motion  to  allow  student  membership  on 
the  Academic  Council.*  The  pros  clamored  for  democracy,  while  the 
cons  decried  a  confusion  of  responsibilities  and  raised  the  recurring  ques- 
tion: If  instructors  were  ineligible  for  membership,  why  should  students 
be  eligible?  After  two  postponements,  the  faculty  cast  ballots  in  Decem- 
ber, defeating  the  proposal  by  a  vote  of  33-28. 

Voting  was  a  hot  topic  that  fall.  The  pending  presidential  election,  pit- 
ting incumbent  Republican  Richard  Nixon  against  Democratic  Senator 
George  McGovern,  produced  campus  polls  showing  that  seventy-five  per- 
cent of  faculty  responders  supported  McGovern  for  his  stance  on  the 
Vietnam  War,  honesty  in  government,  the  economy,  and  the  environ- 
ment.^^ As  for  students,  the  numbers  were  uncertain,  except  to  the  extent 
that  "A  relatively  higher  proportion  of  underclassmen  support  President 
Nixon  than  upperclassmen,"  as  reported  in  the  Twig}^ 

Freshman  Kathy  Hall  voted  in  Wake  County  that  year,  although  her 
parents  lived  in  Edgecombe  County.  Eager  to  cast  her  first  ballot  after  the 
voting  age  was  lowered  to  eighteen,  she,  like  many  students  nationwide, 
took  seriously  the  opportunity.  In  October  1971,  she  tried  to  register  to 
vote  in  a  Raleigh  precinct,  but  the  registrar  refused  her  application  on  the 
grounds  of  residency  requirements.  Hall  appealed  to  the  Wake  County 
Board  of  Elections  and  again  was  rebuffed.  Undaunted,  she  carried  the 
matter  to  Superior  Court,  where  Judge  Coy  Brewer  heard  her  case  de 
novo,  but  not  before  she  had  opened  a  bank  account  in  Raleigh  and 


*At  the  time,  the  Academic  Council  comprised  departmental  chairmen  but  later 
developed  a  policy  whereby  members  could  not  succeed  themselves  in  successive 
three-year  terms.  (Conversation  w^ith  Dean  Burris,  February  8,  1994). 


3Z     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

changed  her  address  on  her  driver's  Ucense  and  college  records  from  her 
parents'  home  in  Tarboro  to  Stringfield  Hall,  Meredith  College.  When 
Judge  Brewer  ruled  in  her  favor,  the  Board  of  Elections  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina,  arguing  that  Hall  v^as  in  Raleigh  only 
to  attend  Meredith;  that  she  went  home  for  holidays;  that  her  parents 
paid  her  tuition;  that  her  grades  went  to  them;  that  she  had  personal 
property,  including  her  dog,  in  Tarboro;  and  that  her  church  membership 
was  in  her  hometown.  But  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  ruled  in 
her  favor.  Its  proceedings  for  March  15,  1972  read. 

After  certification  for  initial  appellate  review,  the  Supreme  Court, 
Sharp,  J.,  held  that  finding  that  student  had  abandoned  her  former 
domicile  and  had  acquired  new  one  in  place  where  she  was  attend- 
ing college  supported  judgment  that  she  was  entitled  to  vote  in  such 
place.^'' 

More  of  Justice  Sharp's  opinion  is  on  record: 

Whether  a  particular  student  is  entitled  to  register  and  vote  in  the 
town  where  he  or  she  is  attending  college  must  be  determined  by  the 
application  of  the  rules  stated  herein  to  the  specific  facts  of  that  in- 
dividual's case.  Decision  here  relates  directly  to  the  plaintiff  only. 
This  is  in  no  sense  a  class  action.^^ 

Hall  admitted  to  full  knowledge  of  the  use  of  absentee  ballots,  but  she 
chose  the  more  challenging  route  to  the  voting  booth.  While  she  did  not 
"fix"  the  problem  for  all  college  students,  she  set  an  example  of  working 
within  the  system. 

On  a  much  broader  scale,  the  Vietnam  War  seemed  to  be  the  rallying 
point  behind  political  unrest.  But  history  notes  that  the  conflict  divided 
the  country  in  off  years  as  well  as  in  election  years.  Apparently,  it  was  the 
major  cause  of  student  rebellion,  and  one  of  the  epidemics  of  that  rebel- 
lion was  the  use  of  mind-altering  drugs.  In  1971  the  trustees  had  reaf- 
firmed a  previous  policy:  "Meredith  College  students  shall  not  possess  or 
use  drugs  illegally  on  or  off  campus.  Any  known  violation  shall  result  in 
suspension  or  expulsion."^^  In  197Z,  Dean  Marie  Mason  issued  the  re- 
sults of  a  survey  of  students  in  area  colleges.  At  Meredith,  670  responses 
out  of  1,000  students  surveyed  revealed  that  one  percent  had  used  drugs, 
presumably  marijuana,  on  the  campus  and  13  percent  outside  the  college 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    1972     I      33 

confines.  Dr.  Mason  interpreted  the  percentages  as  "extremely  low  as 
compared  to  other  campuses  in  the  city."^'^  The  alleged  violators  were  un- 
known. 

While  drug  use  seemed  to  be  escalating  everywhere,  other  symptoms 
of  youthful  unrest  began  a  slow  but  steady  decline.  Sophomore  Janice 
Sams  participated  in  a  protest  demonstration  at  the  State  Capitol  in  April 
and  compared  student  attitudes  of  the  day  with  those  of  the  recent  past: 
"Gone  was  the  violence  (perhaps  as  a  result  of  Kent  State);  gone  was  the 
blatant  intolerance  to  speakers;  and  gone  was  the  real  urge  to  chant  ob- 
scene slogans."  Instead,  she  wrote,  "there  were  pleas  for  students  to  reg- 
ister to  vote  and  to  exercise  that  privilege.  There  were  pleas  for  united  pe- 
titions from  universities  and  colleges  in  response  to  the  war,  and  pleas  for 
these  institutions  not  to  support  the  'war  companies'  who  manufactured 
'dead  bodies.'  "^i 

Conveying  the  gentler  demeanor  of  students  nationwide,  Meredith 
women  seemed  to  reflect  "a  more  relaxed  attitude  than  in  previous  years," 
according  to  a  discussion  among  the  trustees.  "There  is  no  indication  that 
they  are  less  concerned  about  the  problems  of  the  world  than  they  have 
been  before,  but  their  general  attitude  concerning  the  methods  of  bring- 
ing about  change  appears  to  be  different."^-  Change  did  not  occur  by  os- 
mosis; conscious  efforts  aided  and  abetted  the  evolution.  For  example, 
the  Student  Government  Association  sponsored  a  leadership  workshop 
aimed  at  "decreasing  campus  'unrest'  and  increasing  campus  interest  and 
cooperation."^^  And  a  desire  for  harmony  spurred  black  students  to  seek 
a  united  voice  in  campus  life,  resulting  in  a  new  club  called  "Black  Stu- 
dent Unity."  Dispelling  speculation  that  the  new  sisterhood  would  isolate 
the  sixteen  African- Americans  on  campus,  the  organizers  stipulated  that 
"white  students  would  be  eligible  for  admission  later."^"^  The  small  but  ac- 
tive minority  population  sought  a  cultural  awareness  that  would  chip 
away  at  racial  bias. 

Interestingly  enough,  this  period  was  one  of  students'  growing  concern 
for  the  wider  community.  Meredith  women  had  traditionally  offered  their 
time  and  talents  in  service  projects  but,  by  197 1,  the  College  saw  the  need 
systematically  to  match  students'  interests  to  the  community's  require- 
ments. Leslie  Syron,  chairman  of  the  service-oriented  sociology  depart- 
ment, accepted  the  challenge  of  coordinating  service  activities,  publishing 
in  1972  Meredith's  first  Directory  of  Volunteer  Opportunities.  The  pam- 


34     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

phlet  listed  twelve  agencies  and,  in  some  cases,  several  areas  within  an 
agency  in  which  students  volunteered. 

One  special  community  project  did  not  precisely  fit  the  categories  iden- 
tified in  the  directory;  rather,  it  called  for  a  cooperative  venture  between 
Oakwood,  a  Raleigh  neighborhood  in  transition,  and  the  College.  The 
old  Victorian  homes  in  Oakwood,  which  had  surrounded  Meredith's 
original  campus,  were  being  refurbished  by  homeowners  abandoning  the 
suburbs.  Challenged  by  the  neighborhood's  new  residents  and  the  Oak- 
wood  Garden  Club,  Sarah  Lemmon  envisioned  a  project  and  developed 
a  proposal  uniquely  suited  to  Oakwood  and  to  the  history  and  sociology 
departments.  She  and  her  counterpart  in  sociology.  Dr.  Syron,  believed 
that  if  the  old  neighborhood  knew  and  understood  its  history,  it  would  be 
better  armed  "to  battle  the  destructive  forces  of  inner  city  decay  that  often 
follows  urbanization."^^  So  some  of  Meredith's  history  and  sociology  ma- 
jors would  amass  data  on  "the  origins  of  the  Oakwood  neighborhood,  its 
growth  and  development,  its  original  inhabitants,  and  the  identification 
and  description  of  the  area"^^  for  a  study  on  "Value  Development  in  Tran- 
sitional Oakwood."  The  proposal  caught  the  imagination  of  the  North 
Carolina  Committee  for  Continuing  Education  in  the  Humanities,  and 
the  organization  funded  the  project.  Dr.  Lemmon  said,  "It  is  hoped  that 
a  humanistic  approach  to  the  phenomenon  of  urbanization  may  ease  the 
tensions  of  change  ."^^ 

As  the  College  strengthened  ties  with  the  community,  it  also  reaffirmed 
its  association  with  North  Carohna  Baptists — descendants  of  those  who 
had  founded  the  institution  almost  a  century  earlier — through  a  program 
of  competitive  scholarships  for  Baptist  young  women.  The  admissions  of- 
fice developed  the  idea,  and  the  director  defined  it  as  an  arrangement 
whereby  a  need-based,  renewable  award  of  $ioo-$i,ooo  per  year  would 
be  available  to  one  entering  freshman  from  each  of  the  ten  Baptist  asso- 
ciational  regions  in  North  Carolina. 

The  relationship  between  the  College  and  its  community  seemed  to 
perptuate  a  mutual  confidence.  Similarly,  a  step-by-step  relaxing  of  cam- 
pus regulations  implied  a  deepening  faith  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Meredith 
student.  For  example,  she  could  at  last  choose  whether  to  attend  Wednes- 
day worship  services.  And  she  was  required  to  be  present  for  only  one 
convocation  each  week. 

That  generation  was  also  the  first  in  a  long  time  to  read  the  Twig  as  a 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    1972     I     35 

weekly  rather  than  a  bi-weekly  publication.  The  initial  issue  of  the  fall 
term  announced  the  change.  The  staff  of  the  four-page  paper  kept  up  the 
pace,  as  promised,  perhaps  recalling  with  a  touch  of  envy  a  special  eight- 
page  edition  compiled  the  previous  spring  by  a  Western  Civilization  class. 
An  editorial  in  the  March  30  issue  had  read. 

As  members  of  Dr.  Parramore's  Western  Civilization  class,  we  have 
been  poked,  shoved,  and  driven  in  desperation  to  the  realization  of 
the  importance  of  being  well-informed.  This  issue  of  THE  TWIG  is 
the  result  of  our  efforts  to  help  you  know  a  little  more  about  your 
college,  your  state,  and  your  country.  .  .  .  THE  TWIG  desperately 
needs  your  active  participation  to  become  the  true  voice  of  Mere- 
dith. This  issue  is  an  attempt  at  catching  your  attention,  at  provid- 
ing you  the  opportunity  to  take  a  stand.^^ 

Thomas  C.  Parramore,  professor  of  history,  who  came  to  Meredith  a 
decade  earlier,  was  perhaps  the  most  outspoken  faculty  member — publicly, 
at  least — against  student  apathy  and  for  student  responsibility. 

While  it  tried  subtly  to  teach  responsibility,  the  College  also  deter- 
mined to  practice  it.  Fiscal  accountability  was  not  the  least  of  its  con- 
cerns. President  Weems  told  the  trustees  that  the  Association  of  American 
Colleges  "predicts  that  48  percent  of  the  nation's  private,  accredited  four- 
year  colleges  and  universities  will  exhaust  their  liquid  assets  over  the  next 
decade."  He  added, 

So  immense  has  the  problem  become,  in  fact,  that  some  fund  raising 
officials  recently  came  forth  with  the  assessment  that  nonprofits 
need  upward  of  $50  billion  by  1975  just  to  stave  off  disaster. 

Nonprofits  are  cannibalizing  their  endowments,  not  to  build 
grand  and  glorious  edifices  nor  to  fill  the  first  violinist's  chair,  but 
simply  to  keep  running  on  a  day-to-day  basis. ^^ 

But  Meredith  postponed  the  financial  doomsday  as  foretold  by  the  prophets 
until  some  unnamed  tomorrow.  President  Weems  warned,  however,  that 
the  College  would  "require  $144,000  additional  each  year  to  maintain 
[its]  present  .  .  .  expenditure  level.'"*^  His  statement  followed  Vice  Presi- 
dent Baker's  optimistic  report  to  the  faculty  that  Meredith  had  experi- 
enced an  exceptional  year,  the  restricted  endowment  and  investments  to- 
taling approximately  $1,8  million.'^i 


36     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

Vice  President  Kanipe  looked  ahead  to  Phase  2,  of  the  Meredith  Ad- 
vancement Program  (MAP),  which  would  add  to  the  endowment  coffers. 
Phase  I,  he  said,  specified  a  goal  of  $5,000,000  for  capital  funds,  and 
more  than  $4,200,000  had  already  been  committed.'*^ 

INAUGURAL  FESTIVITIES  BEGAN  on  September  21,  a  cool,  rainy  Thursday. 
Dinner  in  Belk  Hall  preceded  an  adaptation  of  television's  popular  This  is 
Your  Life  to  the  life  of  the  new  president.  The  John  Weems  Show,  hosted 
by  Mary  Jean  Burton  and  written  by  Gloria  Smith  and  Karen  McLean,  all 
juniors,  ran  the  gamut  from  hilarious  to  sentimental.  But  David  Lynch, 
chairman  of  the  music  department,  restored  a  measure  of  formality  and 
ended  inauguration  eve  with  a  recital  on  the  Cooper  Organ  in  Jones  Au- 
ditorium. 

Thursday's  wet  weather  caused  some  consternation  for  the  inaugura- 
tion committee,  chaired  by  Dr.  Lemmon,  The  ceremonies  were  set  for  the 
Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheater  because  no  indoor  facility  on  the  cam- 
pus could  accommodate  the  "family,"  much  less  friends;  expected  repre- 
sentatives from  one-hundred  colleges  and  universities;  and  guests  from 
twenty  learned  societies,  educational  entities,  and  professional  organiza- 
tions. But  Friday — Meredith  College  Day  in  Raleigh —  as  proclaimed  by 
Mayor  Thomas  W.  Bradshaw,  Jr.,  was  warmed  by  a  bright  sun  that  mer- 
cifully and  quickly  dried  the  amphitheater's  brick  seats  and  grass  footrests 
in  time  for  the  ceremony.  Early  arrivals,  then,  could  listen  comfortably  to 
the  forty-five-minute  preludial  concert  by  the  Triangle  Symphony. 

Dignitaries  in  dazzling  academic  regalia  processed  at  eleven  o'clock. 
The  presidential  party  included  three  representatives  from  the  Baptist 
State  Convention:  T.  Robert  MuUinax,  executive  secretary;  W.  Perry 
Crouch,  general  secretary-treasurer;  and  Thomas  M.  Freeman,  president. 
Other  members  of  the  party  were  Luther  M.  Massey,  trustee  and  chair- 
man of  the  presidential  search  committee;  Mary  Lynch  Johnson,  college 
historian;  Mayor  Bradshaw;  Ben  C.  Fisher,  executive  secretary,  Education 
Commission  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention;  Seby  B.  Jones,  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Associates;  Faye  Arnold  Broyhill,  trustee;  C.  Allen 
Burris,  vice  president  and  dean  of  the  College;  Alyce  Epley  Walker,  pres- 
ident of  the  Alumnae  Association;  Carolyn  Carter,  president  of  the  Stu- 
dent Government  Association;  O.L.  Sherrill,  executive  secretary  of  the 
General  Baptist  Convention;  John  M.  Lewis,  pastor  of  Raleigh's  First 


A  NEW  CHAPTER:    I97Z     I     37 


The  inaugural  procession  on  September  zz,  197Z,  is  led  by 

marshal  Gwen  Noble,  'y^.  President  John  E.  Weems,  O.  L.  Sherrill, 

executive  secretary  of  the  General  Baptist  Convention;  and 

C.  Cliff  Cameron,  chair  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


Baptist  Church;  C.C.  Cameron,  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees;  and 
the  presidents  of  the  institutions  composing  Cooperating  Raleigh  Col- 
leges. Ms.  Carter;  Mrs.  Walker,  Mrs.  Broyhill;  Drs.  Burris,  Freeman,  and 
Fisher;  and  Messrs.  Jones  and  Bradshaw  brought  greetings  from  their  re- 
spective organizations,  and,  under  the  title,  "A  Goodly  Heritage,"  Dr. 
Johnson  reviewed  the  administrations  of  the  previous  presidents.  Before 
introducing  Dr.  Weems,  Mr.  Cameron  recognized  Drs.  Campbell  and 
Heilman,  the  fourth  and  fifth  presidents,  respectively.  The  rites  of  investi- 
ture included  Dr.  Massey's  presentation  to  Dr.  Weems  of  the  Presidential 
Medallion,  a  case  silver  replica  of  the  college  seal  encircled  by  a  "filigree 
of  oak  twigs  with  leaves  and  acorns,  and  .  .  .  suspended  from  a  ribbon  of 
maroon  and  white,  the  college  colors."'^^ 

President  Weems  titled  his  inaugural  address  "Upheld  by  the  Affec- 


3  8      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

tions  of  a  Great  People,"  borrowing  a  phrase  from  M.L.  Kesler,  trustee  of 
the  College  from  1896 -1927,  who  had  also  insisted  that  the  institution's 
survival  depended  not  only  on  money  but  also  on  "great  and  loving 
hearts."  This  characterization,  said  the  president,  "was  never  more  true 
than  in  the  eight  years  between  the  chartering  and  the  opening  date  of  the 
Baptist  Female  University."  But,  he  added,  "there  has  never  been  a  dearth 
of  great  people  to  help  Meredith  blossom  throughout  her  history.  .  .  . 
Many  have  contributed  a  lifetime  of  service;  others  have  shared  the  ideals 
in  a  monetary  way."'*'* 

Weems  read  from  Miguel  de  Cervantes'  Don  Quixote,  reminding  the 
audience's  visionaries  that  they  might  see  something  of  themselves  in  the 
heroic  fictional  character,  and  recalling  that  Man  of  La  Mancha,  the  pop- 
ular musical  adaptation  of  Cervantes'  classic,  challenged  the  idealist  "to 
dream  the  impossible  dream." 

Reflecting  on  the  evolution  of  the  liberal  arts,  Weems  compared  the 
practicality  of  curricula  of  the  earliest  colleges  to  the  rigidity  of  more  re- 
cent interpretations,  separating  the  arts  and  humanties  from  more  spe- 
cialized curricula.  Although  "only  in  recent  years  have  the  two  concepts 
begun  to  amalgamate,"  he  said,'*^  Meredith's  dreamers  of  impossible 
dreams  have  always  insisted  upon  providing  "the  finest  educational  ex- 
perience available."'*^ 

By  implication  in  his  address  and  by  proclamation  in  later  remarks, 
Weems  defined  himself  as  a  futurist.  In  the  context  of  that  designation  of 
himself  and,  therefore,  of  his  administration,  he  said  on  inauguration  day, 

Are  we  truly  grasping  for  an  unreachable  star.'*  I  think  not.  But  it 
will  take  the  same  courage,  tenacity,  and  devotion  which  has  long 
been  exhibited  here  to  attain  the  noble  quest.  We  have  set  our  sights 
to  be  the  very  best  in  women's  education.  .  .  .  For  me  this  quest  is  the 
challenge  to  provide  a  truly  modern  liberal  arts  education.  ...  To 
keep  a  college  abreast  of  developments  and  conversant  with  the 
frontiers  of  knowledge  is  a  noble  quest  within  itself.'*^ 


3 


WOMEN  AND 


women's  colleges 


1973-1975 


"MEREDITH  IS  THE  maturing  of  a  woman."  The  statement  comes  from 
President  Weems's  inaugural  address  and  expresses  a  philosophy  that 
rings  true  in  every  era  of  Meredith's  history.  Twenty  years  past  the  inau- 
guration, writer  Suzanne  Britt,  an  instructor  in  the  English  department, 
suggested  that  women  mature,  in  part,  by  the  difficulties  of  their  choices. 
In  her  pictorial  history.  Images:  A  Centennial  Journey,  published  in 
Meredith's  one-hundredth  charter  year,  Ms.  Britt  said  that  the  period  in 
which  a  woman  chooses  a  college  is  "a  crisis  of  decision — the  landmark 
year  between  random,  careless  youth  and  thoughtful,  conscious  matu- 
rity."^ From  each  side  of  two  decades.  Dr.  Weems  and  Ms.  Britt  have  spo- 
ken to  the  maturing  of  thinking  minds  and  liberating  spirits. 

In  the  years  following  President  Weems's  inauguration,  the  maturing 
of  women — indeed,  the  maturing  of  women's  colleges — was  redefined. 
Almost  every  aspect  of  society  had  changed,  including  the  perception  of 
educated  women.  Gone  were  the  concepts  of  learning  for  the  sheer  joy  of 
it  and  of  learning  for  its  own  sake,  and  present  was  the  radical  new  no- 
tion that  women  must  learn  for  their  own  sakes — not  merely  to  please 
parents,  husbands,  children,  and  watchful  communities  nor  to  qualify  for 
a  certain  social  circle  in  life  after  college. 

Society  had  come  to  expect  more  of  women  and  of  women's  colleges. 
In  1974,  the  Wall  Street  Journal  published  an  article,  "Making  a  Case  for 

39 


40     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

"Women's  Colleges,"  citing  Elizabeth  Tidball's  study  of  entries  in  Who's 
Who  in  American  Women.  Discovering  that  most  of  the  1,500  women  of 
achievement  whom  she  researched  were  alumnae  of  women's  colleges, 
Tidball  concluded  that  "female  coed  college  graduates  are  less  than  half  as 
likely  to  be  'career  successful'  than  are  graduates  of  women's  colleges."^ 
Nevertheless,  some  of  the  prestigious  colleges  for  women — Vassar,  Sarah 
Lawrence,  Skidmore,  for  example — had  already  surrendered  to  the  na- 
tional trend  of  coeducation  while  others  held  tenaciously  to  their  found- 
ing purposes.  In  1972,  Mt.  Holyoke  made  a  conscious  decision  to  reaf- 
firm its  "for  women  only"  status;  Mills  College  would  follow  in  1990. 
Bryn  Mawr,  Smith,  Wellesley,  Hollins,  Randolph-Macon,  Salem,  and 
Meredith,  among  others,  unceremoniously  went  about  the  business  of  ed- 
ucating women. 

Meredith's  single-sex  status  had  not  been  publicly  questioned  at  this 
juncture.  In  fact,  the  College  was  so  focused  on  emerging  opportunities 
for  women  that  coeducation  was  a  moot  issue.  President  Weems  had  al- 
ready appointed  a  brainstorming  committee  to  devise  ways  of  encourag- 
ing students  "to  compete  for  the  new  kinds  of  careers  opening  for 
women."^  The  community  was  not  surprised,  then,  when  he  addressed 
the  1973  North  Carolina  Legislature — the  only  male  to  do  so — as  a  pro- 
ponent of  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment;  when,  in  1974,  Meredith  ap- 
pointed its  first  female  vice  president;  nor  when  the  College  implemented 
in  1975  a  program  designed  to  raise  the  sights  of  its  women  students. 

The  proposed  Equal  Rights  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  sim- 
ple and  familiar:  "Equality  of  rights  under  the  law  shall  not  be  denied  or 
abridged  by  the  United  States  or  any  State  on  account  of  sex."'*  After  pass- 
ing both  houses  of  Congress,  it  went  to  the  states  for  ratification.  When 
it  came  to  the  floor  of  the  Senate  of  North  Carolina,  President  Weems  was 
there.  In  his  address,  he  barkened  back  to  Meredith's  beginnings: 

The  struggle  to  establish  Meredith  College  indicates  that  North 
Carolinians  in  the  1830's  faced  the  same  issues  being  presented 
today  concerning  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment.  It  took  almost  60 
years  from  the  time  our  school  was  proposed  before  it  was  agreed 
that  a  college  Ifor  women]  should  be  founded.  Educational  oppor- 
tunities were  not  readily  available  to  women  and  basically  the  same 
arguments  were  used  to  suggest  that  women  did  not  need  academic 


WOMEN  AND  women's   COLLEGES:    1973-1975      I     4I 

training  and  were,  in  reality,  better  off  without  it.  Meredith  College 
has  spent  74  years  proving  to  the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  the 
nation  that  women  have  great  contributions  to  make.^ 

Of  rights  and  responsibilities  he  said, 

History  will  show  that  granting  of  rights  is  progressive.  Double  and 
false  standards  inevitably  erode  the  confidence  of  the  governed.  In 
my  opinion,  we  have  a  distinct  moral  responsibility  to  give  all  of 
our  citizens  equal  protection  under  the  law.  It  is  an  old,  illogical  and 
irrational  idea  that  someone  can  be  protected  by  abridging  [her] 
rights  ....  [W]omen  deserve  total  justice,  equal  protection,  equal 
opportunity,  and  equal  responsibility.  .  .  .^ 

Weems  later  admitted  to  greater  enthusiasm  for  the  support  of  Senator 
Charles  B.  Deane,  Jr.,  who  sponsored  the  legislation,  than  for  the  amend- 
ment itself.''  Both  Senator  Deane  and  President  Weems  were  wary  of  ex- 
tremists who  spoke  for  and  against  the  ERA  and  credited  those  lobbyists 
with  the  vote  against  ratification  in  North  Carolina. 

The  mood  of  Meredith  students  toward  the  amendment  was  difficult 
to  measure.  The  editorial  position  of  their  newspaper  was  pro  ERA;  how- 
ever, as  one  would  expect,  letters  to  the  editor  argued  for  both  sides.  A 
similar  clamor  echoed  through  the  nation,  but  elected  officials  had  the 
final  say,  and  ratification  failed. 

The  College  had  some  amending  to  do,  as  well.  But  compared  to  the 
nation's  tumultuous  journey  through  the  channels  of  the  Equal  Rights 
Amendment,  Meredith's  voyage  toward  changing  its  rules  of  govern- 
ment was  smooth  indeed.  An  amendment  to  Article  V  of  the  bylaws 
added  a  vice  president  for  student  development  and  described  the  ad- 
ministrator's responsibilities:  coordination  and  direction  of  "the  offices 
of  Admissions,  Campus  Minister,  Counseling,  Dean  of  Students  (in- 
cludes Student  Government,  Student  Activities,  and  Student  Housing), 
Financial  Aid,  Placement  and  Career  Planning,  Student  Health  Services, 
and  other  activities  relating  to  these  offices."^  A  selection  committee  con- 
ducted the  search.  By  memorandum  dated  May  12,  1974,  Clara  Bunn, 
chair,  conveyed  the  committee's  opinions:  the  new  vice  president  should 
be  a  woman  with  a  Ph.D.  degree,  the  terminal  degree  "preferable  but  not 
necessary";  a  fresh  face  from  outside  the  Meredith  community — "for  a 


42     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

new  outlook";  a  person  trained  in  student  personnel  services — but 
"qualifications  and  experience  outweigh  this  factor";  an  administrator 
experienced  in  "dealing  with  faculty  and  students  directly."  She  should 
also  be  "self-confident,"  "dynamic,"  "enthusiastic  and  discriminating."^ 
In  the  hope  that  such  a  person  existed,  the  College  advertised  the  posi- 
tion in  the  Chronicle  of  Higher  Education,  encouraging  women  to  apply 
and  touting  Meredith's  location  as  "one  of  the  most  stimulating  aca- 
demic atmospheres  in  the  nation,"  The  search  was  intense  but  brief:  San- 
dra Carol  Thomas  accepted  the  postition  by  letter  dated  August  1 6  and 
began  her  duties  on  September  2,  although  the  appointment  was  not  of- 
ficial until  the  full  Board  of  Trustees  elected  her  at  its  semi-annual  meet- 
ing on  September  27, 

Bill  Norton,  director  of  information  services,  titled  his  statewide 
news  release  "Meredith  Names  Vice  President  for  Student  Develop- 
ment." While  the  Twig  ran  essentially  the  same  story,  its  front-page 
headline  for  September  12  evoked  excitement:  "Meredith  appoints  first 
woman  V.P."  In  the  same  issue,  Genie  Rogers  directed  a  portion  of  her 
editorial  to  Dr.  Thomas:  "You  have  set  one  precedent  already,  and,  who 
knows,  perhaps  one  day  someone  will  follow  you  to  the  never-before- 
achieved  accomplishment  of  becoming  Meredith  College's  first  woman 
president." 

Thomas  had  already  resigned  as  dean  of  Lindenwood  College  in  St. 
Charles,  Missouri,  to  finish  her  dissertation  for  the  Ph.D.  While  her  grad- 
uate studies  included  work  at  Harvard  and  at  the  University  of  Colorado, 
she  completed  her  doctorate  in  higher  education  and  college  and  univer- 
sity administration  at  St.  Louis  University  and  her  master's  in  college  and 
student  personnel  administration  at  Indiana  University.  She  had  earned 
her  undergraduate  degree  in  English  and  Spanish  in  her  native  state  at  the 
University  of  Texas  in  Austin. 

Her  then-recent  attendance  at  a  Latin  American  conference  on  the 
changing  world  of  women  contributed  to  her  manuscript,  "Women  and 
Politics:  Ways  to  Broaden  the  Political  Participation  of  Women  in  the 
Americas,"  which  won  first  place  in  a  competition  sponsored  by  the  Inter- 
American  Commission  for  Women.  As  a  result,  Thomas  was  honored  by 
and  invited  to  address  the  general  assembly  of  the  Commission — a 
branch  of  the  Organization  of  American  States — in  Washington,  D.C. 
Later,  in  her  first  address  to  Meredith  students,  she  challenged  them  to 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    I973-1975      I     43 

"educate  themselves  for  responsibility  ...  in  international,  national, 
local,  and  college  affairs,"  and  to  "be  involved  in  legislation  which  affects 
women  and  women's  needs.  .  .  ."^° 

Eager  to  provide  suitable  office  space  for  their  new  colleague,  admin- 
istrators confiscated  one  end  of  the  blue  parlor.  A  remnant  of  the  days 
when  the  words  "social  grace"  were  spoken  as  one,  the  tastefully  ap- 
pointed parlor  stretched  along  one  side  of  Johnson  Hall's  west  wing.  As 
expected,  a  minor  controversy  arose  over  the  dismantling  of  that  hal- 
lowed hall,  the  rose  parlor  on  the  opposite  side  having  fallen  to  progress 
some  years  before.  Through  Editor  Rogers,  the  Twig  supported  the 
change:  "Dr.  Thomas  is  fresh,  eager,  and  excited  about  helping  Meredith 
students.  Considering  this,  we  should  welcome  her  to  an  office  where  she 
is  close  to  us."^^ 

Momentum  was  on  the  side  of  progress  in  ways  other  than  an  increas- 
ing need  for  office  space.  For  example,  both  Vice  President  Thomas  and 
President  Weems  supported  the  idea  of  improving  students'  perceptions 
of  themselves  and  of  improving  society's  perception  of  women.  The  pres- 
ident's sense  of  urgency  escalated  when  he  sat  in  Belk  Dining  Hall  with  a 
student  who  said  she  aspired  to  be  a  legal  secretary.  Why,  he  wondered 
aloud,  would  she  not  want  to  be  a  lawyer?  Her  surprising  skepticism 
about  herself  moved  him  to  appoint  an  ad  hoc  committee  on  raising  the 
sights  of  women.  The  title  itself  reflected  Weems's  position,  as  expressed 
in  his  ERA  address  to  the  General  Assembly  and  in  a  February  1973  in- 
terview with  students  Mary  Owens  and  Barrie  Walton:  "Women  need  to 
expect  to  be  a  part  of  the  economy  and  .  .  .  aspire  to  .  .  .  top  management 
position[s],"  he  said.^^ 

Women's  issues  sprang  up  in  the  consciousness  of  whoever  allowed 
them  to  take  root.  Weems,  nevertheless,  reported  to  the  faculty  in  1974 
that  both  liberal  arts  and  women's  colleges  were  facing  "some  uncertain 
times,"  although,  he  added,  "We  are  at  full  capacity  with  a  full-time 
equated  enrollment  of  approximately  1300  students,  making  Meredith 
the  largest  private  women's  college  in  the  South." ^^  He  credited  Mere- 
dith's reputation  and  the  work  of  the  admissions  office  rather  than  the 
women's  movement  for  that  status. 

Uses  of  titles  and  names  loaded  women's  arsenals  with  ammunition  for 
the  struggle  against  a  culture  that  was  slow  to  change.  The  College  was 
sometimes  the  target.  Phyllis  Trible,  '54,  wrote. 


44     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

It  Strikes  me  as  odd  that  Meredith  should  continue  to  refer  to  fe- 
male heads  of  departments  as  chairmen;  that  masculine  pronouns 
should  continue  to  be  used  as  generic  terms,  especially  at  a  women's 
college;  and  that  alumnae  should  be  identified  by  the  names  of  their 
husbands.  ... 

At  Meredith,  I  was  taught  to  distinguish  between  the  masculine 
alumnus/i  and  the  feminine  alumna/ae.  Would  that  our  conscious- 
ness about  the  Latin  language  transfer  to  our  consciousness  about 
the  English  language  .  .  .  .^"^ 

Jane  Cromley  Curtis,  '71,  also  protested: 

I'd  like  to  have  my  name  back,  please.  ...  I  was  very  disappointed 
to  notice  that  all  my  mail  from  Meredith  came  addressed  to  Mrs. 
[husband's  name].  ...  If  such  formidable  agencies  as  the  Social  Se- 
curity Administration  and  the  .  .  .  Department  of  Highway  and 
Motor  Vehicles  can  acknowledge  me  ...  as  Jane  Cromley  Curtis, 
maybe  my  very  own  college  can  do  that,  too.^^ 

Then  came  an  opposing  view  from  Elizabeth  Garner  McKinney,  '42: 

I  read  the  letter  .  .  .  from  the  alumna  who  wanted  "her  name  back" 
on  her  mail  from  Meredith.  If  that  is  her  wish,  then  her  request 
should  be  granted;  but  please  don't  address  my  mail  as  Ms.  Eliza- 
beth Garner  McKinney.  .  .  . 

I  like  my  name  the  way  it  is,  and  the  title  by  which  I  am  ad- 
dressed has  nothing  to  do  with  my  rights  as  a  person. ^^ 

From  social  expressions,  such  as  gender-specific  language,  to  visiting 
speakers,  such  as  Wilma  Scott  Heide,  president  of  the  National  Organi- 
zation for  Women;  from  academic  innovations,  such  as  a  B.S.  degree  in 
business  administration,  to  national  or  global  observances,  such  as  Inter- 
national Women's  Year,  Meredith  wended  its  way,  sometimes  gingerly, 
sometimes  boldly,  through  the  women's  movement  and  other  cultural  de- 
velopments of  the  early-  to  mid-seventies. 

At  a  student  government-sponsored  convocation  in  1974,  Heide  spoke 
on  "Sexism  is  a  Disease  and  Feminism  is  the  Cure,"  declaring  that  "sex 
stereotyping  is  as  detrimental  to  men  as  it  is  to  women." '^  World- 
renowned  anthropologist  Margaret  Mead  addressed  a  Meredith  audience 


WOMEN  AND  women's   COLLEGES:    I973~I975      '     45 

that  year  on  the  topic  of  "Where  Today's  Students  Fit  In."  With  some  dis- 
appointment, President  Weems  recalled  her  lecture  and  others  by  eminent 
speakers  of  the  times,  saying,  "We  bring  people  in  for  their  knowledge 
and  want  them  to  share  their  research,  findings,  and  insights  into  the 
world,  and  we  get  a  raising  the  sights  of  women  speech."  ^^ 

Meanwhile,  the  Bachelor  of  Science  degree  program  was  finahzed. 
After  a  thirty-five-year  hiatus,  the  degree  was  again  offered  in  1973 — in 
chemistry,  home  economics,  and  mathematics,  with  biology  and  business 
administration  being  added  the  following  year. 

And  a  new  English  course,  Stereotypes  of  Women  in  Modern  Fiction, 
created  excitement  for  continuing  education  students  who  said,  "[We]  no 
longer  are  just  treading  water;  [we]  are  moving  ahead  with  the  current." ^^ 
As  swiftly  as  the  current  raced  in  the  seventies,  women  activitists  might 
have  paddled  through  the  rapids  still  more  vigorously  following  the  re- 
lease of  a  1973  Newsweek  and  Associated  Press  survey  of  college  publi- 
cations editors  showing  that  women's  rights  placed  only  fourth  in  a  sur- 
vey of  "the  five  issues  of  most  concern"  on  college  campuses.  First  among 
the  issues  was  the  Vietnam  War;  second,  the  environment;  third,  racism; 
and  fifth,  drug  addiction.^° 

No  such  polling  data  for  Meredith  women  are  available;  however, 
records  of  students'  opinions  are  plentiful.  For  example,  the  Twig  sug- 
gested that  the  national  energy  crisis  was  among  the  top  concerns  of 
Meredith  women.  Lessons  from  the  news  media  taught  that  the  dilemma 
of  the  early  seventies  was  due,  in  large  part,  to  the  nation's  having  con- 
tinuously used  more  oil  than  it  produced  but  also  to  OPEC's  (Organiza- 
tion of  Petroleum  Exporting  Countries)  having  dramatically  raised  the 
price  of  oil,  causing  shortages  and  adding  serious  problems  to  an  already 
inflated  economy.  Long  lines  of  gas-thirsty  cars  and  frustrated  drivers 
were  common  sights  at  service  stations  along  Hillsborough  Street.  In 
homes  all  over  the  city,  people  lowered  their  thermostats.  Meredith's  dual 
heating  system  solved  few  problems,  although  it  used  natural  gas  and  oil 
interchangeably.  In  1973,  the  gas  company  warned  that  no  gas  would  be 
available  to  the  College  after  November  16,  and  the  oil  company  allo- 
cated only  168,000  gallons  of  its  precious  fuel  for  the  year,  signaling  a 
potential  shortage  of  40-50  thousand  gallons.  The  crisis  left  the  College 
with  no  alternative  but  to  cut  two  days  from  the  December  exam  sched- 


46     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ule,  add  a  week  to  Christmas  vacation,  and  increase  spring  break  by  two 
days.  Students  could  make  up  their  class  work  at  a  later  time. 

The  crisis,  which  affected  all  sources  of  energy,  continued  into  1974. 
Students  became  conservationists.  They  hailed  the  administration's  deci- 
sion to  douse  exterior  display  lights;  they  fumed  at  lights  burning  in 
empty  classrooms;  and  while  they  appreciated  the  dramatic  display  of  the 
new  fountain  between  the  giant  magnolias  at  Johnson  Hall's  front  door, 
they  also  calculated  the  energy  expended  by  its  twenty  multicolored  lights 
and  ten  water  height  stages.  A  letter  to  the  Twig,  signed  by  juniors  Woody 
Dicus,  Cookie  Guthrie,  Meg  Pruette,  and  Elaine  Williams  dubbed  the 
fountain  "our  contribution  to  the  energy  crisis."^^  But  problem  solving  is 
rarely  simple.  In  that  case,  maintenance  of  the  valves  and  pumps  required 
minimal  use,  so  the  administration  announced  that  the  water  and  light 
display  would  be  continued  but  on  a  limited  basis.  The  twenty-foot  cir- 
cular fountain,  which  eventually  could  be  flaunted  in  all  its  glory — and  in 
good  conscience — was  named  for  and  dedicated  to  Henry  M.  and 
Blanche  Shaw  of  Raleigh  on  September  zy,  1974. 

The  Twig  both  agitated  and  mollified  the  community's  new-found  ob- 
session with  extravagance.  Editor  Genie  Rogers  vented  her  frustration:  "I 
was  appalled  to  enter  the  library  last  Friday  and  find  that  on  a  perfectly 
gorgeous  day  both  the  heater  and  the  fans  were  running.  .  .  ."^^  Four  edi- 
tions later,  Meredith  McGill  defended  the  library,  explaining  that  the 
lights  alone  provided  one-fourth  of  the  building's  heat,  even  on  a  cold 
day.  She  also  answered  queries  about  the  heating  and  cooling  of  residence 
halls,  reporting  that  Stringfield,  Vann,  Brewer,  and  Faircloth,  the  original 
dormitories,  were  equipped  with  sensors,  "which  control  the  temperature 
in  areas  instead  of  individual  rooms."-^  About  that  time,  Joe  Baker  threat- 
ened to  employ  a  full-time  thermostat  adjuster. 

Students  did  not  exhaust  their  fervor  in  the  energy  crisis;  they  exerted 
an  abundance  of  it  in  questioning  the  ongoing  compulsory  attendance 
policy  at  convocation.  Their  complaints  disparaged  not  only  the  policy 
but  also  the  programs — mediocre  at  best,  they  said  —  and  poor  faculty 
attendance.  President  Weems  appointed  five  faculty  members  and  five 
students  to  lead  a  discussion  of  the  matter  at  the  December  1973  faculty 
meeting  and  later  to  make  recommendations.  By  the  following  April,  the 
ad  hoc  committee  submitted  a  resolution  which  the  faculty  was  ready  to 
adopt  and  the  students  wanted  to  hear:  The  attendance  requirement 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    I973-I975      '     47 

would  be  dropped  and  the  schedule  changed  from  weekly  to  monthly 
convocations.  The  resolution  also  called  for  a  standing  convocation  com- 
mittee and  funds  to  underwrite  its  work. 

If  students  hungered  for  interesting  programs  at  convocations  and 
other  events,  some  speakers  doubtless  helped  to  satisfy  those  appetites.  In 
March  1974,  United  States  Senator  John  Tunney,  Democrat  of  Califor- 
nia, kicked  off  a  four-day  symposium  on  "The  Press,  the  President,  and 
the  People."  The  topic  was  timely,  given  an  intense  interest  in  the  bur- 
geoning Watergate  scandal.  In  successive  sessions.  North  Carolina's  At- 
torney General  Robert  Morgan;  State  Senator  Hamilton  Horton  from 
Forsyth  County;  Henry  Hall  Wilson,  former  White  House  aide;  Britt 
Hume,  an  associate  of  syndicated  columnist  Jack  Anderson;  and  Raleigh 
Times  editor,  A.C.  Snow,  lit  up  the  stage  of  Jones  Auditorium  with  such 
topics  as  "The  Press  and  Mr.  Nixon:  the  Case  for  the  Defense"  and  "Re- 
sponsibility of  the  Press  to  the  Office  Holder." 

In  less  than  six  months,  Richard  Nixon  resigned  as  president  of  the 
United  States.  As  he  sank  in  the  quagmire  of  his  administration's  desper- 
ate attempt  to  bury  its  misdeeds,  he  took  high-ranking  officials  with  him. 
The  debacle  that  mesmerized  the  nation  through  months  of  intrigue  and 
despair  ended  with  Senate  hearings,  bringing  to  light  the  culpability  of  the 
president  and  his  conspirators.  Participants  on  both  sides  of  the  law — 
many  who  might  otherwise  have  become  footnotes  in  history — achieved 
celebrity  status.  Some  spoke  at  Meredith.  For  example,  Jill  Wine  Vogler 
of  the  Watergate  Special  Prosecution  Force  delivered  the  1974  com- 
mencement address;  six  months  later,  Egil  Krogh,  Jr.,  Nixon's  undersec- 
retary of  transportation  and  the  first  of  the  Watergate  coverup  team  to  be 
sentenced  for  his  involvement,  addressed  a  convocation  audience  on  the 
topic  of  "Prison:  the  Great  Equalizer." 

Uninvolved  in  Watergate  but  one  of  the  year's  more  controversial 
speakers,  Sidney  Abbott  was  relegated  to  an  evening  engagement,  even 
though  the  SGA  had  proposed  that  she  address  a  Monday  morning  con- 
vocation audience.  But  at  the  time  of  the  proposal,  the  required  atten- 
dance policy  was  still  in  effect;  therefore,  the  student  government  repre- 
sentatives compromised,  agreeing  to  an  evening  event  where  attendance 
was  voluntary.  The  booking  of  Abbott,  a  lesbian  and  author  of  Sappho 
Was  a  Right-On  Woman,  led  to  some  consternation  by  students  who  op- 
posed an  avowed  lesbian's  having  a  campus  forum,  and,  according  to 


48      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

President  Weems,  the  whole  affair  challenged  the  1966  speaker  policy  as 
set  forth  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  "insure  orderly  practices  in  keeping 
with  the  academic  freedom  and  excellence  maintained  at  Meredith  Col- 
lege."^^  Banning  the  engagement,  however,  would  call  into  question  the 
policy's  "academic  freedom"  clause. 

No  cloud  of  contention  hovered  over  the  campus  when  Shana  Alexan- 
der addressed  a  convocation  audience  in  December  1975,  but  perhaps 
some  apprehension  rained  down  when  she  suggested  to  the  News  and 
Observer  that  "the  written  word  is  becoming  extinct."^^  A  regular  on 
CBS  television's  highly  rated  Sixty  Minutes,  Alexander  was  the  first 
woman  on  the  writing  staff  of  Life  Magazine  and  the  first  female  editor 
of  McCall's. 

Lectures,  concerts,  drama,  and  art  exhibitions,  usually  open  to  the 
public,  have  contributed  to  the  scholarship — and  the  entertainment — of 
the  Meredith  family  and  the  Raleigh  community  since  the  early  1900s.  An- 
nual events  such  as  Religious  Emphasis  Week,  Black  Emphasis  Week, 
Founders'  Day,  and  commencement,  as  well  as  one-time  occasions  such  as 
symposia  and  workshops,  have  also  left  a  legacy  of  interesting  speakers — 
some  well-known,  some  not — who  imparted  substantive  thoughts  and 
compelling  words.  Established  lectureships,  however,  were  relatively  new. 
The  Distinguished  Faculty  Lectures,  introduced  in  1964,  continued,  and, 
in  1973,  Meredith  announced  its  inaugural  Staley  Distinguished  Christian 
Scholar  Lecture.  Eric  Charles  Rust,  professor  of  Christian  philosophy  at 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  spoke  on  "Christian  Thought  in  a 
Naturalistic  Era."  Two  years  later,  the  lectureship  became  the  first  such  se- 
ries to  be  endowed.  The  Thomas  F.  Staley  Foundation  was  the  benefactor. 

The  lecturers'  stage  and  the  listeners'  arena  converged  on  a  direct  path 
to  the  classroom  and  wherever  else  learning  took  place — in  the  basement 
of  Poteat  Residence  Hall,  for  instance.  Lyn  Aubrecht,  assistant  professor 
of  psychology,  created  an  animal  laboratory  there,  where  would-be  exper- 
imental psychologists  gained  knowledge  in  the  concepts  of  their  science. 
At  first,  eight  rats  occupied  the  premises,  but  the  rodent  family  soon  grew 
to  a  dynasty  of  twelve — Billie,  Laverne,  Waldo,  Maggie,  Bo,  Delve,  Niki, 
Josephine,  Tammi,  Hermann,  Chew,  "and  their  sister."  The  Twig  took 
note  of  their  "special  suite,"  featuring  "air-conditioning,  piped-in  music, 
breakfast  in  bed,  and  maid  service  .  .  .  ."^^  Dr.  Aubrecht  eventually  dis- 
placed the  animal  experiments  with  technology. 


WOMEN  AND  women's   COLLEGES:    I973~I975      '     49 

Ideas  born  in  laboratories,  classrooms,  and  meeting  rooms  often  served 
as  springboards  for  new  programs,  as  in  1973,  when  the  Academic  Coun- 
cil determined  that  a  senior  might  earn  a  second  but  different  baccalau- 
reate degree  by  meeting  certain  requirements,  including  at  least  thirty  ad- 
ditional hours  in  residence.  And,  while  new  programs  were  conceived, 
old  ones  were  often  reconsidered.  Through  all  the  years  and  in  great 
numbers,  Meredith  women  had  become  teachers,  and  many  of  them  still 
prepared  for  that  profession.  Although  career  choices  were  less  pre- 
dictable in  1975,  teacher  education  was  very  much  a  part  of  the  plan 
when  the  curriculum  committee  proposed  the  awarding  of  continuing  ed- 
ucation units  for  non-credit  enrichment  courses  in  order  "to  have  a  stan- 
dard of  reporting  educational  efforts  from  one  institution  to  another."^^ 
The  State  Department  of  Public  Instruction  gave  the  proposal  a  boost  by 
its  willingness  to  accept  CEUs  as  a  basis  of  credit  for  teacher  recertifica- 
tion.  Meredith's  stellar  teacher  education  program  had  recently  received 
reaccreditation. 

Also  in  1975,  Meredith,  the  only  private  college  in  North  Carolina  so 
recognized,  received  full  accreditation  by  the  Council  on  Social  Work  Ed- 
ucation. The  long  struggle  was  over.  The  College  had  been  granted  con- 
stituent membership  in  1969,  which  was  continued  on  a  year-to-year 
basis.  Although  the  council  had  placed  Meredith  on  probation  for  the 
1973  spring  term,  it  encouraged  the  College  to  reapply  after  implement- 
ing planned  improvements.  And  a  September  letter  from  Leslie  Syron  to 
President  Weems  conveyed  the  good  news  that  the  program  had  indeed 
been  approved  for  another  year.  Dr.  Syron  pointed  with  pride  to  two 
graduates  of  the  Class  of  1973  who  placed  at  the  second-semester  level  as 
they  started  their  master's  program  in  the  Graduate  School  of  Social 
Work  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina:  "When  a  'new  baby'  program 
is  regarded  as  equivalent  to  the  first  semester  of  graduate  school  work,  I 
think  you  can  beam  with  pleasure!"  she  said.^^ 

Syron,  herself,  "beamed  with  pleasure"  when  she  reported  the  possi- 
bility of  Meredith's  becoming  the  "first  college  in  North  Carolina  ...  to 
launch  a  Human  Services  Program."^^  Human  services,  wrote  Suzanne 
Reynolds  in  the  Alumnae  Magazine,  would  encourage  students  "who 
want  to  work  with  people"  to  set  their  career  goals.^°  A  departmental 
brochure  clearly  explained  the  theory  behind  the  program:  "Think  how 
art,  music,  psychology,  or  sociology  could  be  used  in  a  career  in  rehabili- 


50     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

tation,"  it  proffered.^^  The  primary  component  of  the  curriculum  would 
be  an  internship  in  the  student's  chosen  field,  preparation  for  which 
would  include  development  of  attitude,  skills,  and  knowledge.  On  the 
subject  of  "working  with  people,"  Reynolds  quoted  Dean  Burris: 
"Meredith  College  has  always  been  committed  to  encouraging  its  stu- 
dents to  be  humanitarians.  The  number  of  our  alumnae  who  through 
their  vocations  and  avocations  have  performed  services  which  enhance 
the  quality  of  life  witness  to  this  commitment." ^^  Implementation  of  the 
program,  to  be  directed  by  sociology  instructor  Eugene  Sumner,  was 
scheduled  for  the  fall  semester  of  1974. 

About  the  same  time,  the  history  department  inaugurated  its  Capital 
City  Semester,  a  block  course  in  which  Meredith  women  with  students 
from  other  colleges  immersed  themselves  in  state  government.  They  saw 
politics  in  action,  participated  in  seminars,  heard  speakers  from  several 
branches  of  government,  volunteered  their  services,  and  wrote  research 
papers.  After  the  first  semester,  Dean  Burris  reported  that  the  pilot  project 
"did  not  attract  as  many  students  from  other  colleges  as  we  had  hoped, 
but  it  was  very  successful  for  our  own  students." ^^  The  course  survived, 
and  a  year  later  the  department  inaugurated  a  new  major  in  political 
studies. 

In  those  years,  Meredith's  role  on  the  stage  of  academe  underwent  in- 
tense scrutiny.  The  script  was  reread  and  often  rewritten  as  new  offerings 
diversified  the  curriculum;  as  career  emphases  threatened — in  the  minds 
of  purists — the  liberal  arts  tradition;  as  Scholastic  Aptitude  Test  scores 
dropped  nationally  while  grades  at  Meredith  rose  dramatically;  as  tenure 
for  faculty  could  not  be  counted  on  as  an  automatic  reward  for  length  of 
service;  and  as  Meredith  weighed  its  mission  of  educating  women  in  the 
context  of  the  Triangle's  burgeoning  population. 

The  administration  vowed  to  make  endowed  professorships  a  top  pri- 
ority, aiming  for  at  least  one  such  professorship  in  every  academic  de- 
partment. A  grant  for  educational  enrichment  from  the  William  R. 
Kenan,  Jr.,  Charitable  Trust  significantly  boosted  that  hope,  and,  in  May 
1975,  the  College  named  its  first  distinguished  visiting  professor:  Arthur 
Poister  joined  the  music  faculty  for  the  1975-76  school  year.  While  he 
had  retired  from  Syracuse  University  eight  years  earlier,  he  had  held  sim- 
ilar professorships  in  as  many  colleges,  universities,  and  conservatories  as 
he  had  accumulated  years  of  retirement.  "Dr.  Poister,"  said  department 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    1973-1975      I      5I 

chairman,  David  Lynch,  "is  probably  the  most  influential  organ  teacher 
in  the  United  States."^"*  Having  studied  under  Poister,  Lynch  spoke  from 
experience.  The  pupil's  admiration  of  the  teacher  was  further  evidenced 
by  Lynch 's  covert  trip  to  Syracuse  University  to  help  dismantle  and  ship 
to  Raleigh  Poister's  old  teaching  organ.  The  visiting  professor's  discovery 
of  it  in  his  Meredith  studio  was  a  happy  surprise. 

Dr.  Poister's  appointment,  which  continued  for  a  second  year,  was 
made  possible  by  the  Kenan  grant.  Both  the  grant  and  the  appointment 
attested  to  and  enhanced  Meredith's  academic  reputation.  Other  evi- 
dences of  that  repute  had  preceded  and  would  follow  the  first  visiting 
professor.  For  example,  two  national  honorary  societies/fraternities — Pi 
Kappa  Lambda,  music,  and  Phi  Alpha  Theta,  history — chartered  chap- 
ters at  the  College  in  1973  and  1975,  respectively.  Only  one  year  later, 
Meredith's  Phi  Omicron  Chapter  of  Phi  Alpha  Theta  was  named  the  best 
chapter  in  Division  I  colleges,  the  competition  including  more  then  one- 
hundred  colleges.  At  the  same  time,  the  faculty  reflected  a  10  percent  rise 
in  the  number  of  doctorates — to  about  50  percent.  Eighty  percent  of  all 
department  heads  could  claim  that  distinction. 

Meredith  continued  its  quest  for  outstanding  visiting  professors,  and  it 
was  no  less  diligent  in  its  search  for  permanent  teaching  scholars.  The 
College  appointed  new  chairmen  of  three  academic  departments  in  two 
years.  lone  Kemp  Knight,  '43,  was  named  acting  chairman  of  the  De- 
partment of  English  for  the  fall  semester  of  1973  while  Norma  Rose  was 
on  sabbatical  leave.  With  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  and  Dr.  Rose,  Dr.  Knight 
was  one  of  "the  Big  Three,"  a  student-coined  epithet  that  carried  through 
Dr.  Johnson's  retirement.  Knight  had  headed  the  English  department  at 
Shorter  College  before  returning  to  Meredith,  her  alma  mater.  She  earned 
the  master's  degree  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Ph.D.  at  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill  before  engaging  in  post- 
doctoral research  at  the  University  of  London,  the  British  Museum,  and 
Oxford  University. 

William  Bradley  Turpin  came  in  1973  to  chair  the  psychology  depart- 
ment; however,  he  remained  for  only  one  year,  having  been  replaced  in 
1974  by  R.  John  Huber  from  Skidmore  Coflege.  Dr.  Huber,  33,  was  not 
only  the  youngest  department  chairman  but  also  the  first  Roman  Catholic 
on  the  faculty.  After  twenty  years,  he  would  reminisce  about  his  own  and 
Meredith's  heritage,  calling  his  tenure  "a  good  fit."  He  said,  "When  1  was 


52     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  I  saw  the  first  Baptist  church  that  was  built 
in  the  United  States,  and  when  I  went  in  and  looked  at  it,  I  felt  a  kinship. 
I  .  .  .  felt  I  was  a  part  of  the  system  and  serving  that  system.  A  notion  of 
stewardship  comes  to  mind.  .  .  .  "^^  Dr.  Huber  earned  the  B.A.  degree  at 
Kent  State  University,  the  M.A.  at  the  University  of  Vermont,  and  the 
Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  New  Hampshire. 

Also  in  1973,  Joseph  Browde  left  Columbia  College  for  Meredith  to 
chair  the  education  department.  Dr.  Browde  earned  the  B.A.  degree  at 
Rutgers  University  and  the  M.A.  and  Ed.D.  at  Syracuse.  While  he  held  a 
B.D.  from  Eastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  he  could  be  heard  occa- 
sionally in  the  pulpit  of  Raleigh's  First  Presbyterian  Church — and  could 
usually  be  seen  in  the  choir. 

While  departments  greeted  new  chairmen,  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary rallied  around  its  new  acting  head,  when  Jane  Deese  retired  and 
Michael  Dodge  became  her  successor.  About  the  same  time,  the  hbrary 
welcomed  a  300  percent  increase  in  funds  for  acquisitions,  the  growth  in 
income  including  a  grant  from  the  Arthur  Vining  Davis  Foundation  for  li- 
brary endowment. 

IN  1974,  ONE  might  have  thought  it  premature  to  look  ahead  as  far  as 
1990  to  student  population  worries,  but  a  thirty-year  decline  in  enroll- 
ment at  private  colleges  signaled  difficulties  ahead.  The  decline  had  not 
yet  affected  the  College;  in  fact,  in  1973-74,  Meredith  had  enjoyed  its 
largest  student  body  to  date,  and  indications  were  that  enrollment  in 
1974-75  would  surpass  that  peak.  But  Weems  expressed  concern  at  the 
small  number  of  commuters:  "Within  a  zo-mile  radius  of  our  campus  are 
approximately  600,000  people.  Projections  .  .  .  suggest  that  this  area  will 
contain  1.2  million  by  1990.  We  would  be  smart  to  see  this  as  a  pool  of 
potential  applicants.  ...  It  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  expand  our  efforts 
in  the  direction  of  community  students."^^  He  pointed  to  possibilities: 
"We  view  the  continuing  education  program  as  the  launching  pad  for 
many  adult  students  who  will  ultimately  seek  a  degree  at  Meredith.  The 
success  of  this  program  could  contribute  handsomely  to  our  stability."^^ 
Already  Mrs.  Dahle  was  reporting  that  several  non-traditional-age  stu- 
dents, who  had  entered  on  a  non-credit  basis,  had  changed  their  status 
and  were  seeking  credit.  And  the  admissions  office  expanded  its  efforts, 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    I973-I975      I      53 

increasing  the  number  of  commuter  applicants  by  lOO  percent  in  the  next 
two  years. 

As  analyses  continued,  the  summer  school  schedule  changed  in  1974 
from  one  five-week  term  to  three  three-week  sessions,  each  class  meeting 
three  hours  daily.  The  new  calendar  would  accommodate  public  school 
teachers  as  well  as  Meredith  students  who  might  wish  to  attend  addi- 
tional summer  sessions  elsewhere. 

A  summer's  study  in  England  was  an  exciting  new  venture  in  1974.  The 
idea  went  on  trial  as  two  faculty  members  and  twenty-two  students  ac- 
complished a  semester's  work  in  London  that  summer.  Roger  Crook, 
chairman  of  the  Department  of  Religion,  had  been  named  director  of 
Meredith  in  Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  spring  semester,  and  he,  his 
wife,  and  one  of  his  six  sons  spent  the  summer  in  England,  as  did  Sally 
Page  of  the  English  department.  Dr.  Page  taught  English  drama,  and  Dr. 
Crook  taught  the  history  of  Christianity  in  England.  They  were  joined  by 
Peter  Peek,  an  English  educator,  who  offered  a  class  in  the  ancient  history 
of  the  country.  Then  the  three  professors  collaborated  on  a  course  that  in- 
troduced contemporary  England,  supplementing  class  work  with  tours  to 
historical  sites.  The  1975  version  of  Meredith  Abroad  (the  program's  new 
name)  saw  the  number  of  students  increase  by  five  and  the  faculty  mem- 
bers by  one.  The  College  thus  entered  a  time  when  every  Meredith  student 
would  have  "the  opportunity  to  spend  one  semester  in  Europe,  being 
taught  by  our  own  faculty  members, ...  to  provide  a  full  semester's  credit 
with  little,  if  any,  more  cost  than  a  semester  on  our  campus  in  Raleigh." ^^ 

Possibilities  for  Meredith  Abroad  seemed  to  reach  as  far  as  one  could 
see;  however,  the  College  sometimes  cast  a  wary  eye  toward  trends  that 
occasionally  crept  unnoticed  into  the  scheme  of  things.  In  November 
1973,  Dean  Burris  mentioned  to  the  Academic  Council  that  "grading 
standards  and  practices"  might  need  attention. ^^  And  early  in  the  spring 
term  of  1974,  Eleanor  Hill  used  her  editorial  privilege  to  denounce  in  the 
Twig  the  unusually  high  number  of  students  on  the  dean's  list  for  the  pre- 
vious semester,  her  critical  piece  warning  against  Meredith's  becoming  an 
"insignificant  diploma  mill.  .  .  ."""^  But  Mary  Bland  Josey  assured  the  fac- 
ulty that  the  College  had  held  steadily  to  the  number  of  students  in  the 
top  quarter  of  their  high  school  graduating  classes;  however,  she  reported 
that  Scholastic  Aptitude  Test  scores  had  decreased  nationally  over  the 


54     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

previous  decade.  President  Weems  echoed  Josey's  observation,  recalling 
the  nationwride  drop  in  the  verbal  portion  of  the  SAT  from  its  original 
norm  of  500  to  its  then-current  average  of  448.  He  quickly  quoted  statis- 
tics for  Meredith:  with  an  average  of  487,  he  said,  the  College  was  thirty- 
nine  points  above  the  national  verbal  mean  score  that  year."*^  Josey  also 
commented  that  first-year  grade  averages  at  Meredith  had  climbed  from 
2,.zo  in  1963  to  2.63  in  1972.  Dr.  Lemmon  pointed  to  the  curriculum  re- 
vision in  1969  for  a  partial  explanation:  "Now  instead  of  the  freshmen 
being  required  to  take  certain  subjects,"  she  said,  "they  are  allowed 
choices  enabling  them  to  gravitate  toward  the  area  in  which  they  feel 
most  confident." "^^  The  dialogue  continued.  In  a  letter  to  the  editor,  Josey 
answered  some  of  the  Twig's  allegations: 

In  drawing  inferences  from  the  proportion  of  students  on  the  Dean's 
List  and  of  freshmen  with  B  averages  or  higher  (33  percent  of  the 
year's  freshman  class),  all  of  us  need  to  .  .  .  view  these  facts  in 
proper  context.  In  1969  there  were  changes  in  the  academic  pro- 
gram which  included  more  flexibility  in  course  choices  for  the  fresh- 
man year  than  existed  in  the  past. 

Though  the  Twig  and  I  share  the  same  concern  about  the  length 
of  the  Dean's  List,  we  need  to  recognize  there  are  legitimate  philoso- 
phies about  grading  that  differ  from  ours.  As  long  as  we  have  sound 
instruction,  none  of  us  need  quibble  too  much  over  grade  point  av- 
erages. ...  Do  students  enter  Meredith  expecting  a  more  challeng- 
ing program  than  they  find?  .  .  ^^ 

Also  by  way  of  the  Twig,  Frank  Grubbs,  professor  of  history,  joined  the 
conversation: 

I  am  somewhat  concerned  that  our  students  will  read  your  editori- 
als and  believe  that  things  are  going  down  at  Meredith.  This  is  not 
the  case.  Returning  alumnae  are  constantly  amazed  at  the  progress 
which  Meredith  has  made  since  they  graduated.  Let  us  not  create  a 
"gasoline  panic"  when  calling  for  better  programs.  I  think  that  your 
point  is  well  taken:  you  wish  to  make  a  good  college  better.'*'* 

A  second  editorial  apologized  for  having  omitted  a  reference  in  Josey's 
letter  to  an  article  in  the  News  and  Observer,  which  reported  that  col- 
leges nationwide  were  noting  a  rise  in  students'  grades. 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    1973-1975      I      55 

THE  COLLEGE  WAS  Small  cnough  to  adapt  its  academic  offerings  and  prac- 
tices to  its  students'  needs  yet  large  enough  to  offer  a  varied  selection.  But 
still  the  winds  of  specialization  swirled  more  briskly  than  some  liberal 
arts  traditionalists  thought  safe.  Dean  Burris  pointed  to  the  earliest  cata- 
logues of  Baptist  Female  University  which  "made  no  distinction  between 
hberal  arts  and  vocation.'"*^  And  President  Weems  said,  "Women  are  be- 
coming more  determined  to  use  their  college  training  in  economically 
productive  ways.  .  .  .  Our  versatility  in  this  area  is  .  .  .  one  of  the  major 
reasons  for  immediate  past  successes."'*^ 

By  1973,  Marie  Capel,  the  assistant  dean  of  students  for  vocational 
guidance,  carried  a  new  title:  director  of  placement  and  vocational  guid- 
ance. From  its  genesis  in  197 1  as  liaison  between  students  and  the  job 
market  or  graduate  school,  the  office  had  grown  in  those  two  years  to  in- 
clude vocational  guidance  and  testing.  In  Ms.  Capel's  first  year  at  Mere- 
dith, she  organized  a  Graduate  School  Day,  in  which  eleven  schools  par- 
ticipated and — a  first  for  Meredith — she  administered  the  Graduate 
Record  Exam  on  the  campus.  During  the  spring  semester,  recruiters  in- 
terviewed more  than  two-hundred  student  job  applicants. 

Also  in  1973,  Meredith  received  a  federal  grant  to  study  the  feasibility 
of  a  venture  into  cooperative  education.  Mary  Yarbrough,  former  chair- 
man of  the  chemistry  department,  was  campus  adviser.  In  1974,  after  a 
year  of  discussing  possibilities  and  gathering  convincing  information,  the 
College  gave  the  new  program  its  blessing.  A  student  with  at  least  fifty- 
eight  hours  of  college  credit  could  alternate  a  semester  of  study  with  a  pe- 
riod of  full-time,  career-related  employment  and  earn  academic  credit  for 
it.  While  the  program's  opportunities  were  not  immediately  seized  upon 
by  large  numbers  of  students,  other  facets  of  career  planning — seminars, 
job  fairs,  career  days,  day-to-day  guidance — became  increasingly  popu- 
lar. In  1974,  representatives  of  school  systems,  graduate  schools,  and 
businesses  interviewed  more  than  500  Meredith  students.  The  office  ex- 
panded its  program  of  career  development,  and  its  new  name — Office  of 
Career  Services  and  Cooperative  Education — reflected  the  change.  It  also 
moved  from  Johnson  Hall  to  Cate  Center,  a  mecca  for  some  of  the  stu- 
dent services  not  categorized  as  strictly  academic. 

Attesting  to  the  College's  commitment  to  provide  vocational  guidance 
and  pre-professional  direction  for  its  students,  attorney  Paul  Holcomb, 
director  of  estate  planning,  assumed  the  role  of  adviser  to  pre-law  stu- 


5^     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

dents,  and  Clara  Bunn,  chairman  of  the  biology  department,  to  pre-med 
students.  In  addition  to  law,  medicine,  and  social  work  courses,  pre- 
professional  studies  were  established  over  the  ensuing  years  in  such  areas 
as  dentistry,  veterinary  science,  theology,  library  science,  special  edu- 
cation, journalism,  and  others.  For  the  first  time  in  1974,  through  Coop- 
erating Raleigh  Colleges,  Meredith  women  could  participate  in  North 
Carolina  State's  year-old  Reserve  Officer  Training  Corps  (ROTC).  Subse- 
quent college  catalogues  stipulated  that  an  Army  or  an  Air  Force  com- 
mission was  possible  under  the  program. 

"real  world"  matters  were  often  weighed  heavily  on  the  grounds  of 
both  cultural  and  academic  considerations.  The  voting  booth's  accessibil- 
ity to  the  student  was  one  such  issue.  The  student  life  committee  submit- 
ted to  the  Academic  Council  a  resolution  strongly  urging  the  suspension 
of  classes  on  election  day,  November  6,  1973,  but  the  council's  vote  nul- 
lified the  resolution.  An  editorial  in  the  Twig,  implying  that  teachers  often 
scheduled  tests  on  election  day  to  make  time  to  cast  their  own  votes,  de- 
plored the  decision:  "Students  who  cut  classes  to  go  home  and  vote 
would  not  be  allowed  to  take  make-up  tests;  therefore,  Meredith  students 
are  [subtly]  being  prevented  from  voting.'"*^  The  editorial  writer  appar- 
ently had  not  received  word  of  Dr.  Lemmon's  motion  in  Administrative- 
Academic  Council  to  amend  the  schedule  for  1974  so  as  to  offer  no 
classes  on  election  day  and  to  compensate  for  the  lost  class  time  by  delet- 
ing a  day  from  autumn  recess.  Two  years  later,  the  subject  returned  to  the 
Administrative-Academic  Council  in  the  form  of  a  resolution  calling  for 
suspension  of  classes  for  election  primaries,  as  well.  Dr.  Thomas  moved, 
Dr.  Burris  seconded,  adoption  of  the  resolution,  but  the  discussion  that 
followed  produced  a  majority  vote  of  "nay."  In  the  same  meeting,  the 
Council  voted  to  suspend  classes  for  three  hours  on  Meredith's  first  Play 
Day  since  1966. 

On  February  Z4,  1973,  the  trustees  held  their  own  election.  Clara  Car- 
swell  of  Charlotte  and  United  States  freshman  Senator  Jesse  Helms  of 
Raleigh  were  tapped  to  fill  two-  and  three-year  unexpired  terms,  respec- 
tively. Mrs.  Carswell  was  present  and,  after  the  unanimous  vote,  took  her 
seat  on  the  board.  Senator  Helms  had  sent  regrets.  Mrs.  Carswell's  po- 
tential effectiveness  on  the  body  was  not  questioned  by  the  community; 
however,  Helms's  election  was  an  enigma  to  many.  The  archetypal  south- 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN   S   COLLEGES:    1973-I975      I      57 

ern  conservative's  representing  one  of  the  moderate  southern  states  w^as 
considered  by  some  to  be  unusual  in  itself;  that  he  would  be  making  pol- 
icy for  a  college  identified  as  progressive  seemed  an  anomaly  to  his  critics. 
Faculty  and  staff  hesitated  to  react  negatively  in  public,  but  Twig  editor, 
Janice  Sams,  was  fearless: 

"Guilt  by  association"  can  be  extremely  detrimental  to  an  institu- 
tion of  higher  learning,  particularly  one  which  strives  academically 
to  mold  free  and  responsible  women  into  involved  citizens.  .  .  . 

The  unanimous  election  of  Senator  Jesse  Helms  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees  will  probably  not  destroy  [Meredith's]  image,  but  I  do  not 
think  his  selection  can  be  made  without  some  question  or  comment. 
As  an  editorialist  with  WRAL-TV  in  Raleigh,  Senator  Helms  often 
employed  an  attitude  which  seems  entirely  too  contradictory  to  the 
very  principles  by  which  Meredith  College  stands."*^ 

Sams  cited  Helms's  position  as  a  proponent  of  the  Speaker  Ban  Law;  his 
attacks  on  Martin  Luther  King  in  particular  and  the  Civil  Rights  Move- 
ment in  general;  his  opposition  to  Medicare  and  other  social  issues.  As  it 
turned  out.  Helms  attended  no  meetings  of  the  Board  in  his  three-year 
term,  allowing  those  fearing  his  influence  to  breathe  a  collective  sigh  of 
relief. 

Another  trustee  election  made  history  at  the  1975  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention in  Asheville  when  Lucile  Oliver  of  Pinelevel  became  the  first  fe- 
male non-alumna  to  gain  a  seat  on  the  Board. 

CONCERNS  OF  AND  for  studcnts  Were  as  much  in  the  Meredith  tradition  as 
were  the  seriousness  of  academics  and  the  hilarity  of  Cornhuskin'.  But  as 
the  cultural  landscape  shifted,  so  did  the  vantage  points  for  change.  The 
early-  to  mid-seventies  found  Meredith  still  feeling  its  way  toward  meet- 
ing the  needs  of  minority  students.  In  February  1973,  Black  Voices  in 
Unity — organized  in  1972  as  Black  Student  Unity — sponsored  its  first 
annual  Black  Awareness  Week.  Through  oratory,  art,  music,  film,  and  live 
drama,  the  week  indeed  stirred  an  awareness  of  black  culture  and  was  de- 
scribed by  the  Raleigh  Times  as  "an  attempt  to  give  white  students  a  new 
insight  into  what  it  means  to  be  black.  It  also  was  designed  to  help  in- 
crease black  self-awareness  among  the  black  students."'*^  The  emphasis 
helped  editor  Sams  of  the  Twig  appreciate  "what  we  .  .  .  must  continually 


5^      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

Strive  for  if  we  are  ever  to  relate  as  human  beings  to  each  other." ^°  Soon 
afterwards,  BVU  called  for  "better  circumstances"  at  the  College.^^  Its 
charges  of  individual  harrassment  and  humiliation  were  particularly  seri- 
ous. The  organization  also  asserted  that  black  women  were  not  elected  to 
leadership  positions  nor  inducted  into  Silver  Shield;  that  minorities  were 
not  represented  in  the  admissions  office;  that  few  minority  professors 
taught  few  minority  studies;  and  that  Meredith  offered  no  counseling  for 
black  students.  Sadly,  some  of  BVU's  concerns — particularly  those  relat- 
ing to  individual  behavior — might  have  lingered  to  some  degree  at 
Meredith,  as  they  did  in  many  communities  of  mixed  races  and  differing 
cultures.  But  they  and  other  accusations  have  been  addressed  over  the 
years.  In  1994,  Dean  Burris  said,  "Generally  speaking,  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  we've  been  committed  to  trying  to  attract  black  faculty, 
and  we've  attracted  some  good  ones.  We  have  hired  a  good  many  Black 
Americans — and  other  races,  for  that  matter — but  it  has  not  been  an 
easy  road."  If  they  were  really  good,  he  said,  "they  would  get  offers  at 
higher  salaries  than  Meredith  could  pay;  otherwise,  they  would  leave  for 
the  same  reasons  that  white  teachers  leave" — because  they  were  working 
toward  advanced  degrees,  because  they  didn't  fit  in  here,  or  because  they 
weren't  competent.^^  As  to  whether  the  student  body  should  reflect  soci- 
ety, to  the  degree  that  it  is  possible  for  a  single-sex  college  to  do  so,  Bur- 
ris said,  "I  don't  think  the  student  body  has  to  reflect.  It  is  self-selecting. 
I  hope  people  who  come  from  a  culture  that's  a  little  different  feel  wel- 
come here,  whether  they're  African-Americans  or  South  Asians."^^ 

The  Twiggs  first  edition  of  the  1973-74  term  introduced  "Joyce  Mar- 
tin's Black  Perspective,"  a  column  that  assured  minority  students  a  voice 
through  the  newspaper.  Late  in  that  college  generation,  Deborah 
Matthews,  '77,  served  on  the  Judicial  Board  of  the  Student  Government 
Association  and  as  president  of  the  day  students.  In  1977-78,  Joyce 
Montgomery,  '78,  chaired  the  Judicial  Board,  was  named  to  Who's  Who 
in  American  Colleges  and  Universities,  and  was  tapped  into  Silver  Shield. 
Both  Matthews  and  Montgomery  were  African-Americans,  as  was  Yvette 
Brown,  1989  -90  president  of  the  SGA  and,  as  a  freshman,  was  president 
of  her  class.  And,  in  1989,  the  Office  of  Admissions  employed  Vanessa 
Goodman,  '88,  who  had  been  elected  president  of  her  senior  class,  as  a 
recruitment  assistant  for  minorities;  in  1993,  Ms.  Goodman  was  named 
assistant  director  of  admissions. 


WOMEN  AND  women's   COLLEGES:    1973  ~I975      '      59 

BVU  also  requested  professional  counseling,  as  had  some  individual 
students.  The  SGA's  legislative  board  and  student  life  committee  pro- 
posed the  creation  of  such  a  position;  the  administration  approved;  and 
Elizabeth  Wilson,  the  first  full-time  college  counselor,  joined  the  dean  of 
students'  staff  in  the  fall  of  1973. 

Students'  concerns  covered  a  wide  range  of  issues,  some  as  narrow  as 
others  were  broad,  many  involving  rules  for  campus  living  and  regula- 
tions governing  the  community.  Some  of  their  issues  continued  into  the 
nineties.  For  example,  open  house,  which  would  include  male  visitation 
in  the  residence  halls,  was  an  ongoing  topic  for  discussion.  In  the  fall  term 
of  1973,  the  legislative  board  of  the  SGA  considered  a  bill  that  would 
allow  a  three-hour  "open  house"  on  Sunday  afternoons.  In  1974,  how- 
ever, the  trustees  upheld  the  president's  veto. 

At  the  same  time,  the  student  life  committee  called  for  revision  of  the 
drug  policy,  deleting  the  words  "mandatory  suspension  or  expulsion"  for 
known  violations.  The  committee  preferred  the  penalty  of  probation, 
inasmuch  as  it  provided  some  opportunity  of  "helping  a  fellow  student 
with  her  [drug]  problem,  rather  than  multiplying  her  woes  with  swift 
punitive  action."^'* 

The  intensity  of  such  discussions  was  eased  by  what  seemed  to  be 
comic  relief,  such  as  an  SGA  report  in  the  Twig:  "Dr.  Weems  has  now  ap- 
proved the  hair  roller  policy.  . .  .  Rollers  can  now  be  worn  everynight  [sic] 
in  the  cafeteria  and  during  Saturday  and  Sunday  breakfast.  Rollers  can 
also  be  worn  in  the  library  on  Saturday  afternoons."^^ 

The  "lighter  side"  could  also  apply  to  some  of  the  entertainment  that 
students  booked  for  themselves.  The  Bathtub  Ring,  a  campus  singing 
group,  could  usually  count  on  a  "gig"  for  a  traditional  event  or  two. 
Founded  in  1968  by  Betty  King,  Ayn  Sullivan,  and  Peggy  Timmerman,  all 
members  of  the  Class  of  1970,  the  group  had  first  performed  during  Rush 
Week  at  a  Phi  luau.  The  Student  Handbook  reads,  "Their  blend  of  rebel- 
lion against  and  honoring  of  Meredith  traditions  has  made  them  a  peren- 
nial favorite  at  Cornhuskin'  and  other  campus  events."^^  In  the  late 
nineties,  the  Bathtub  Ring  was  still  alive  and  well  as  underclass  women 
had  replaced — by  audition,  of  course — graduating  seniors.  But  for  some 
occasions,  students  went  far  afield  to  find  their  crowd-pleasers.  Such  was 
the  case  in  1974  when  creative  juniors  transformed  the  usually  formal 
junior-senior  into  a  party  of  jeans-clad  classmates,  seniors,  and  their 


6o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

dates.  While  spaghetti  was  the  only  entree  on  the  menu,  the  real  main 
course  was  an  after-dinner  concert  by  the  world-renowned  Serendipity 
Singers.  And,  taking  advantage  of  the  football  season  at  neighboring 
universities,  students,  with  the  help  of  Dean  Joyce  White,  planned  mix- 
ers with  West  Point  cadets  for  the  Friday  nights  before  the  UNC-Army 
game  in  October  and  the  Duke-Army  game  in  November.  The  Twig 
reviewed  the  October  invasion:  "Dancing  rarely  lagged  as  the  band, 
'Faded  Blue,'  played  excellent  music."^''  The  gym  provided  the  dance 
floor;  the  hut  offered  a  coffee  house  for  conversation;  and  the  new  Gate 
Center  attracted  the  pool  players. 

Gate  Genter  opened  in  the  1972-73  school  year  and  was  dedicated  on 
Founders'  Day,  1974.  It  provided  space  for  student  activities  on  the  sec- 
ond floor  and  the  post  office,  book  store,  and  Kresge  Auditorium  on  the 
first.  The  center  was  named  in  honor  of  Kemp  Shields  Gate  of  Ghapel 
Hill,  whose  great  niece,  Frances  Gate,  was  a  sophomore  at  the  time,  and 
whose  niece,  Jane  Gate  Fowler,  had  graduated  in  1953.  The  retired  es- 
cheats officer  at  the  University  of  North  Garolina  had  given  Meredith 
more  than  $400,000,  the  College's  largest  single  gift  to  date.  Gate's  con- 
tribution was  supplemented  by  grants  from  the  Z.  Smith  Reynolds  and 
Kresge  Foundations. 

As  Gate  Genter  became  functional,  trustees  targeted  other  areas  for 
change.  They  determined  in  September  1973  to  construct  a  new  riding 
ring,  "properly  designed  and  large  enough  to  accommodate  horse 
shows."^^  The  new  show  ring  was  dedicated  on  Founders'  Day,  1976,  in 
memory  of  Zeno  Martin,  business  manager  and  treasurer,  1943-53,  who 
was  primarily  responsible  for  bringing  equitation  to  Meredith,  and  in 
honor  of  Lorna  Bell  Broughton,  '16.  In  April,  Mrs.  Broughton's  brother, 
Victor  Bell,  co-sponsored  the  arena's  first  major  event,  a  show  attracting 
more  than  two  hundred  participants. 

Another  structure  had  already  taken  shape  in  the  minds  of  administra- 
tors and  trustees  and,  later,  on  the  drawing  boards  of  architect  Garter 
Williams.  In  February  1973,  Glaude  Williams,  vice  chairman  of  the 
trustees'  buildings  and  grounds  committee,  recommended  that  the  College 
build  a  fine  arts  building  to  ease  the  crowding  of  the  music  and  art  facili- 
ties. With  the  stipulation  that  approximately  one-third  of  the  needed  funds 
would  be  in  hand  before  the  first  brick  was  laid,  the  board  voted  "aye"  to 
the  recommendation.  Since  1949,  the  music  department  had  thrived  in 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN  S   COLLEGES:    I973-1975 


61 


The  1974  show,  Applause,  receives  acclaim,  as  does  Jones  Auditorium, 
then  recently  renovated  to  serve  as  a  theater. 


and  outgrown  its  space  in  Jones  Auditorium  and  Music  Building;  the  art 
department  claimed  foster  homes  all  over  the  campus,  but  Joyner  Hall  was 
its  headquarters.  The  trustees  also  instructed  the  College  to  air-condition 
and  refurbish  Jones  Hall — its  auditorium  for  music  and  drama  produc- 
tions, its  classrooms  and  practice  areas  for  the  teaching  of  art  and  drama. 
On  completion,  the  renovations  received  rave  reviews.  Of  the  auditorium, 
drama  critic  Bill  Morrison  wrote  in  the  News  and  Observer,  "It's  a  most 
handsome  theater,  comfortable  and  acoustically  sound,  with  the  show 
[Applause]  soaring  easily  to  the  upper  reaches  of  the  balcony.  .  .  .  "^^ 

As  committees  and  individuals  pondered  the  proper  location  for  the 
new  building — ultimately  being  designed  only  for  music — they  suffered 
through  eleven  months  of  indecision.  Until  they  knew  where  to  build, 
they  could  not  know  when  to  start.  By  January  1974,  the  decision  seemed 
conclusive.  Some  trustees  pictured  the  structure  between  the  Mae  Grim- 
mer Alumnae  House  and  Joyner  Hall,  but  students,  faculty,  and  alumnae 


62     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

voiced  opposition.  In  addition,  the  master  plan  showed  a  yet-to-be-built 
chapel  on  that  very  spot.  Eight  months  later,  the  building  sat — in  the 
mind's  eye  and  only  briefly — between  Gate  Center  and  the  Weatherspoon 
Building.  Finally,  in  September,  the  trustees  decided  to  house  the  music 
department  close  to  its  roots,  its  new  home  to  be  constructed  next  to 
Jones  Hall  and  overlooking  the  lake  and  amphitheater. 

The  location  was  generally  agreed  upon  by  the  trustees,  even  if  it 
meant  the  dismantling  of  the  old  log  hut  nearby.  Built  in  1942  for  meet- 
ings and  social  occasions,  the  hut  had  become,  of  late,  a  coffee  house.  The 
cozy  friendliness  of  roaring  blazes  in  its  two  mammoth  stone  fireplaces 
had  alleviated  many  a  case  of  homesickness  in  students  who,  because  of 
the  times  and  the  social  regulations,  had  been  limited  by  having  few 
places  to  go  and  fewer  ways  to  get  there.  Both  they  and  the  faculty — 
particularly  the  long-timers — disparaged  destruction  of  the  hut  but  were 
assured  the  trustees  would  consider  a  new  version  of  the  old  cabin  at  a 
later  date.  In  fact,  said  Joe  Baker,  they  considered  moving  the  hut  to  a  dif- 
ferent location  until  the  lowest  bid  came  in  at  $3  5,000. 

As  construction  of  the  music  building  began,  the  President's  Dining 
Room,  which  would  accommodate  up  to  sixty  people,  was  almost  ready 
for  use.  In  the  lower  regions  of  Belk  Hall,  the  handsome  but  windowless 
dining  area  was  carved  out  of  the  forty-five-year-old  dark  and  eerie  pas- 
sageway familiarly  known  as  the  tunnel.  While  less  than  ideal,  especially 
for  claustrophobic  diners,  the  President's  Dining  Room  was  rarely  empty 
at  the  dinner  hour,  its  popularity  extending  beyond  the  College  to  the 
community. 

Plans  for  the  President's  Dining  Room,  Cate  Center,  and  the  music 
building  were  carefully  laid  before  the  launching  in  1968  of  the  Meredith 
College  Advancement  Program  (MCAP),  the  most  ambitious  to  date  of 
all  Meredith's  fund-raising  drives.  The  goal  of  MCAP  was  $5  million  in 
five  years,  the  money  to  finance  five  new  buildings,  renovations  of  older 
structures,  and  miscellaneous  college  needs.  On  Founders'  Day  in  1973, 
the  year  that  Meredith's  gift  income  exceeded  $1  million  for  the  first  time, 
MCAP  chairman,  Shearon  Harris,  announced  that  commitments  had  ex- 
ceeded the  goal  by  $93,000.  Indeed,  five  new  buildings — the  Weather- 
spoon  Physical  Education  and  Recreation  Building;  the  Massey  House; 
Heilman  and  Barefoot  Residence  Halls;  and  Cate  College  and  Continuing 
Education  Center — attested  to  the  success  of  the  drive. 


WOMEN  AND  women's   COLLEGES:    1973-1975      I     63 

The  financial  picture  was  good  in  1973,  and  the  administration  in- 
tended to  keep  it  that  way.  Despite  inflation — "the  greatest  financial 
problem  facing  our  college  in  these  uncertain  times,"  said  Weems^° — 
guardians  of  the  purse  strings  made  every  effort  to  hold  tuition  and  fees 
to  affordable  levels,  particularly  in  light  of  the  fact  that,  in  1974,  20-22 
percent  of  the  students  received  financial  aid.  In  1973,  the  $2,600  cost  for 
a  year  at  Meredith  was  considerably  lower  than  private  education's  na- 
tional average  of  $3,241.  Opponents  of  below-average  student  charges 
argued  that  the  faculty  and  staff,  therefore,  could  not  be  paid  on  the  level 
of  institutions  of  like  kind.  The  College  compensated,  at  least  to  some  de- 
gree, with  benefits  and  privileges.  But  some  of  the  remuneration  for  ser- 
vices rendered  was  dictated  by  Federal  law.  For  example.  Vice  President 
Baker  announced  in  April  1974  that  the  new  Wage  and  Flour  Law  would 
affect  some  pay  scales  and  that  on  May  i,  the  effective  date  of  the  bill, 
"all  Meredith  employees  would  be  paid  at  least  $2  per  hour."^^  His  an- 
nual report  contained  even  better  news:  "Effective  July  i,  1974  every  em- 
ployee at  Meredith  will  be  eligible  for  the  same  fringe  benefits  regardless 
of  position." ^^ 

In  1975,  the  State  of  North  Carolina  slightly  brightened  the  economic 
futures  of  its  private  colleges  and  their  in-state  students,  earmarking  $200 
per  student  for  each  school's  financial  aid  account  and  a  tuition  grant  of 
$100  per  semester  for  each  undergraduate  North  Carolinian. 

President  Weems,  the  futurist,  insisted  early  that  Meredith  develop  a 
substantial  endowment.  In  his  fourth  year,  he  could  point  with  pardon- 
able pride  to  the  growing  financial  base  and  to  his  administration's  en- 
dowment goal  of  $30,000,000.  At  the  time,  approximately  $3  million 
had  been  added  to  the  coffers. 

The  president  also  predicted  the  importance  of  computer  technology 
to  institutions  like  Meredith.  In  three  years,  the  College  advanced  from  a 
data-processing  system  of  limited  use  to  a  computer  terminal  connected 
to  the  Triangle  Universities  Computer  Center.  "One  of  the  major  uses  of 
the  computer  will  be  information  retrieval,"  said  Weems.  "It  is  my  phi- 
losophy that  the  best  decisions  can  be  made  by  those  people  with  the 
most  accurate  information.  .  .  ."^^  Congruent  with  his  statement  was  his 
decision  that  Meredith's  trustees  would  be  "the  most  informed  board  in 
the  country." ^"^  And  primarily  for  their  information  but  also  for  myriad 
other  uses,  he  initiated  two  publications:  first,  in  the  earlier  years,  the 


64     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

President's  Notebook  series,  and  later,  Strategic  Planning  Documents, 
both  of  which  emanated  from  his  office  at  the  rate  of  several  each  year. 

Video  technology  also  made  its  debut  in  1973-74.  A  studio  camera 
using  black-and-white  film,  a  video-cassette  player,  and  a  television  re- 
ceiver were  the  first  components  of  the  eventual  impressive  store  of  tech- 
nical equipment  to  swell  the  holdings  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library. 

Library  holdings  have  always  been  a  measure  of  academic  effective- 
ness. But  no  yardstick,  thermometer,  scale,  or  vessel  could  gauge  the  en- 
ergy expended  by  a  college  like  Meredith  for  the  general  well-being  of  its 
students,  whether  they  wanted  it  or  not.  Concern  for  students'  safety  had 
increased  over  the  years  as  the  need  for  it  had  multiplied.  The  rounds  of 
one  nightwatchman —  sufficient  security  for  most  of  the  previous  years — 
was  perceived  as  more  apropos  of  the  Victorian  era  than  of  the  restless 
society  of  the  seventies.  The  student  population,  as  well  as  the  number  of 
campus  facilities,  had  grown,  and  students  came  and  went  during  later 
hours.  As  of  1972.,  nighttime  security  guards  complemented  the  daytime 
force.  In  1974,  Mr.  Baker  reported  that  they  would  receive  police  training 
in  the  use  of  firearms  and  academic  training  from  Wake  Technical  Insti- 
tute. Daniel  G.  Shattuck  was  named  the  first  chief  of  security  in  1972; 
when  he  retired  in  1996,  his  successor,  Michael  Hoke,  inherited  a  force  of 
fifteen  women  and  men  who  wore  badges  but  carried  no  guns. 

AS  THE  COLLEGE  was  Concerned  for  its  students,  alumnae  were  concerned 
for  their  college.  Among  President  Weems's  early  observations  was  that 
Meredith  alumnae  "must  be  the  most  fiercely  loyal  in  the  world.  .  .  ."^^ 
And  Dean  Burris  remembered  his  first  impressions  of  Meredith  in  1969: 
"I  was  young  and  green  and  used  to  other  settings;  I  had  never  before 
seen  alumnae[/alumni]  like  the  alumnae  here."^^  Their  material  gifts  were 
one  measure  of  their  devotion.  Inspired  by  new  development  on  the  west 
campus,  Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill,  '27,  a  participant  in  the  Weather- 
spoon  family's  gift  of  the  physical  education  building,  assumed  her  own 
personal  project  of  soliciting  funds  for  the  purchase  of  oak  trees  to  be 
planted  near  Cate  Center  and  the  Weatherspoon  Building.  The  slogan  of 
her  direct  mail  campaign  to  alumnae  was  "Go  MOD  with  me  in  '73," 
MOD  being  the  acronym  for  Meredith  Oak  Donor.  Through  her  land- 
scape gardener's  discerning  eye,  Mrs.  Harrill  envisioned  an  avenue  of 
oaks  extending  from  the  Mae  Grimmer  Alumnae  House  to  the  Massey 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    1973-1975      I     65 

House.  Her  project  resulted  in  the  planting  of  ninety  trees,  including  a 
grove  of  twenty  at  Gate  Center.  The  grove — each  tree  of  a  variety  differ- 
ent from  the  others — w^as  Lucile  Withers  Ferrell's  gift  in  honor  of  her 
Class  of  1907. 

While  Harrill  beautified  the  landscape,  Sarah  Elizabeth  Vernon  Watts, 
'34,  refurbished  the  Harris  Rare  Books  Room  in  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary for  a  historical  collection.  Not  only  did  she  furnish  the  room,  but 
she  also  undertook  the  job  of  collecting  items  of  historical  significance. 
Portraits  of  Thomas  Meredith  and  his  wife,  Georgia  Sears  Meredith, 
dominate  the  wall  space  over  a  display  case  of  treasures  such  as  President 
Richard  Vann's  Bible  from  the  cornerstone  of  old  Faircloth  Hall  on  the 
original  campus;  Lillian  Parker  Wallace's  Phi  Beta  Kappa  key;  President 
Carlyle  Campbell's  watch;  the  original  words  and  music  to  "You're  the 
Queen  of  Our  Hearts,"  by  Mary  O'Kelly  Peacock,  '26;  and  the  Gold 
Medallion,  the  Governor's  Award  for  Achievement  in  Literature,  which 
was  presented  to  Bernice  Kelly  Harris,  '13,  the  first  novelist  to  be  pub- 
lished by  the  University  of  North  Carolina  Press.  In  the  Harris  Room, 
books  and  original  art  work  abound,  and  individual  and  class  scrap- 
books  combine  to  write  their  own  biography  of  the  College.  Occupying 
shelf  space  with  museum  pieces  are  contemporary  file  boxes,  one  for  each 
class,  "cunningly  made  to  look  like  beautiful  books  bound  in  maroon"^^ 
and  gilt-stamped  with  the  college  seal.  Inside  each  file  are  appropriate 
memorabiha — programs,  snapshots,  and  the  like — from  the  class  repre- 
sented. The  boxes  were  a  gift  of  William  M.  Watts  and  his  corporation, 
Mid-State  Paper  Box  Company. 

Throughout  Meredith's  history,  alumnae  have  given  money,  personal 
treasures,  time,  leadership,  and  talents.  They  have  also  given  of  them- 
selves to  their  society  and,  therefore,  to  their  College.  In  1975,  Susan 
Jackson  Mellette,  '42,  associate  professor  of  internal  medicine  at  the 
Medical  College  of  Virginia,  received  the  Virginia  Cancer  Society's  high- 
est award  for  her  outstanding  contributions  to  cancer  control,  and  Betty 
Duckworth,  '68,  was  named  manager  for  female  affirmative  action  for 
the  southern  region  of  the  Xerox  Corporation;  in  1974,  Anne  Bryan,  '71, 
was  elected  president  of  the  Meredith  College  Alumnae  Association,  the 
youngest  woman  in  many  years  to  hold  that  office;  in  1973,  Elizabeth 
Davis  Reid,  '46,  filled  a  seat  on  the  Raleigh  City  Council,  and  Casey  Mc- 
Daniel,  '73,  became  a  special  agent  with  the  State  Bureau  of  Investiga- 


66     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

tion,  proving  that  even  very  young  women  were  capturing  jobs  previously 
reserved  for  men. 

ON  OCTOBER  I,  197Z,  Oliver  L.  Stringfield,  M.D.,  son  of  Oliver  Larkin 
Stringfield,  early  fund  raiser  for  BFU,  wrote  President  Weems  a  letter: 

You  said  you  were  surprised  by  Meredith  girls  at  first  "because  they 
come  on  so  strong."  Do  you  know  why?  Anyone  who  has  been  on 
the  campus  for  any  length  of  time  will  get  that  unconscious  feeling 
of  well  being  by  noting  the  uplifted  faces  of  the  girls  and  their 
"doing  their  own  thing."  There  is  an  invisible  CANOPY  hovering 
over  the  campus  supplyed  [sic]  and  governed  by  the  Almighty 
which  supplys  [sic]  the  fuel  for  this  spirit.  There  you  have  it.^^ 

Meredith  liked  to  think  that  if  students  "came  on  strong,"  they  exem- 
plified the  benefits  of  a  woman's  college  environment.  In  any  case,  they 
contributed  greatly  to  spirit  and  to  academic  reputation.  In  the  1973 
North  Carolina  Student  Legislature,  the  Best  Small  College  Legislation 
Award  went  to  the  Meredith  delegation  that  sponsored  a  bill  "for  protec- 
tion of  information  or  sources  received  and  used  by  a  newsperson." ^^  That 
same  spring,  Cathy  Murff  won  a  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Award  for  her  paper  ti- 
tled "North  Bloodworth  Street:  the  Effects  of  Economic  Progress,"  which 
was  judged  "the  best  historical  research  done  by  a  student  in  Wake 
County  in  the  past  year."-"*^  And  Debbie  Edge  received  the  same  award  in 
1975  for  "William  Boylan:  Adopted  Son  of  Wake  County."  The  list  grew 
to  include  Julie  Jones  for  "Whigs  in  the  North  Carolina  Revolutionary 
Period";  Mazie  Fleetwood  for  "North  Carolina  Supreme  Court  Justices 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century";  and  the  fifth  history  major  in  seven  years  so 
recognized,  Nancy  Martin  for  her  paper  on  the  Pearsal  Plan.  And  the 
near  "monopoly"  continued  into  the  eighties  when  Phyllis  Wurst,  '84, 
again  captured  the  prize,  and  Silda  Wall,  '80,  won  the  State  Historical  So- 
ciety's Hugh  Lefler  Award  for  her  paper  titled  "Josephus  Daniels:  Per- 
sonal Injector  in  Political  Policy." 

In  1974,  another  talented  student,  sophomore  Beth  Leavel,  worked 
magic  through  her  original  choreography  for  Applause,  the  fall  playhouse 
production.  Ms.  Leavel  had  studied  dance  before  entering  Meredith,  but 
her  love  for  the  stage  was  sparked  by  drama  coach  Linda  Bamford's  hav- 
ing realized  her  potential  in  choreography,  and  by  her  previous  year's  role 


WOMEN  AND  WOMEN'S   COLLEGES:    I973-I975      I     67 

as  Rabbit  in  the  College's  production  of  Winnie-the-PoohJ^  In  his  review 
for  the  News  and  Observer,  Bill  Morrison  wrote  that  Applause  was  "con- 
vincingly danced — with  several  droll  touches  along  the  way  from  chore- 
ographer Beth  Leavel.  ..."  He  also  hinted  of  things  to  come:  "The  show 
had  a  Broadway  sheen.  .  .  ."''^  Even  before  the  rave  review,  Leavel  con- 
fessed to  the  Twig  that  she  dreamed  of  working  on  Broadway.  The  cast 
thought  she  was  well  on  the  way,  and  indeed  she  was.  In  her  first  major 
role  there,  she  sang,  danced,  and  acted  her  way  into  the  character  of 
Annie  Reilly — "Anytime  Annie" — in  the  multi-year  run  of  42nd  Street. 

For  Beth  Leavel,  Broadway  was  the  road  to  success;  for  Meredith, 
Hillsborough  Street  was  still  the  road  to  everywhere  in  town.  The  Col- 
lege and  the  city  never  developed  the  "town  versus  gown"  rivalry  of 
some  academic  communities.  To  the  contrary,  history  records  numerous 
instances  of  happy  cooperation.  On  the  memorable  occasion  of  July  4, 
1973,  Meredith  welcomed  8,000  revelers  who  rocked  the  campus  at  the 
city's  "first  Independence  Day  celebration  in  years.  .  .  ."^^  Memories  of 
the  event  lingered,  at  least  in  the  mind  of  columnist  A.C.  Snow,  who 
wrote  in  the  gloom  of  the  following  February,  "The  Meredith  ducks  .  .  . 
made  news  last  July  4  when,  during  [director]  Ira  Wood's  'Richard,  the 
Third'  at  Meredith's  pond,  they  drowned  out  the  actors'  lines  with  their 
quacking."^'* 

WHEN  SENIOR  CLASS  president,  Jo  Ann  Williford,  unveiled  the  1975  class 
doll,  she  described  the  doll's  apparel:  skirt,  tank  top,  sheer  shirt,  tie  scarf, 
clogs,  and  an  International  Women's  Year  pin.  That  summer,  the  Alum- 
nae Magazine  pictured  Vice  President  Sandra  Thomas  presenting  an  iden- 
tical pin  to  India's  Prime  Minister  Indira  Gandhi  at  Mrs.  Gandhi's  New 
Delhi  home.  (Thomas  had  represented  the  World  Education  Fellowship 
in  India  in  December  1974.) 

International  Women's  Year,  1975,  evolved  from  a  1972  resolution  of 
the  United  Nations  General  Assembly.  President  Gerald  Ford  ordered  its 
observance  in  the  United  States,  and  Meredith  celebrated  it  for  a  week 
but  observed  it  all  year.  To  begin  the  campus  celebration,  Betty  Friedan, 
founder  of  the  National  Organization  for  Women  (NOW)  and  the  Na- 
tional Political  Caucus,  addressed  a  college  and  community  audience  on 
October  6.  Her  topic  was  "The  Women's  Movement:  Where  Are  We 
Now  and  Where  Are  We  Going?"  During  the  celebration,  Lisa  Sergio, 


68      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

who  had  spoken  in  1972  at  a  United  Nations  Workshop,  appeared  for  a 
return  engagement.  Sergio  was  the  first  woman  radio  commentator  in  Eu- 
rope and,  for  many  years,  a  newscaster  and  opera  and  concert  broad- 
caster in  the  United  States. 

Vice  President  Thomas,  an  official  delegate  of  the  U.N.'s  World  Edu- 
cation Fellowship  to  the  International  Women's  Year  World  Conference 
in  Mexico  City,  June  19 -July  4,  reflected  on  the  year's  significance: 

International  Women's  Year  ...  is  a  call  to  action  for  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  achievements,  the  potential,  and  the  status  and  con- 
ditions of  women  throughout  the  world,  with  the  vision  that  it 
will  bring  advancement  for  women  in  every  country,  and  that  it 
will  introduce  an  era  when  governments  give  high  priority  to  the 
goal  of  women's  equality,  ergo,  the  betterment  of  the  condition  of 
all  people. ^^ 

KNOWLEDGE  REPRODUCES  ITSELF  in  understanding.  How  students  and 
alumnae  use  it  as  leavening  is  the  College's  primary  contribution  to  soci- 
ety. It  stands  to  reason,  then,  that  if  Meredith  is  the  maturing  of  a 
woman,  it  is  also  a  participant  in  the  maturing  of  a  society — locally,  na- 
tionally, and  globally. 


4 


"treasure  in 


EARTHEN  VESSELS" 


1976-1980 


IN  1976,  ALLEN  Burris  defined  the  Christian  college  as  "the  church  min- 
istering to  society's  needs  in  higher  education."^  The  church  college,  he 
said,  "acknowledges  its  Christian  pre-supposition  and  places  its  Christian 
bias  at  the  heart  of  what  it  is  about.  But,  like  a  hospital  whose  first  duty 
is  to  heal,  a  college's  first  duty  is  to  educate."-  Burris's  thoughts  on  the 
Christian  college  composed  the  lead  article  for  the  first  edition  of  Mere- 
dith, successor  to  the  Alumnae  Magazine. 

Because  of  the  College's  religious  heritage,  its  community  spoke  easily 
of  its  spiritual  dimensions;  however,  such  speech  was  often  foreign  to  so- 
ciety in  general,  particularly  outside  the  Bible  Belt.  But  even  before  the 
premier  edition  of  the  new  magazine  found  its  way  to  mailboxes  around 
the  country,  a  smattering  of  religious  language  crept  into  national  con- 
versations and  raised  questions,  if  not  eyebrows,  on  the  six  o'clock  news. 
This  was  the  period  of  Jimmy  Carter's  rise  to  national  political  power.  A 
Southern  Baptist,  governor  of  Georgia,  and  candidate  for  president  of  the 
United  States,  Carter  spoke  the  idiom  of  a  southern  churchman,  though 
much  of  the  nation  had  never  learned  the  language.  An  editorial  writer  in 
the  Christian  Century  said. 

The  arrival  of  a  "born  again"  Southern  Baptist  layman  on  the  na- 
tional political  scene  .  .  .  pushed  [journalists]  into  the  unfamiliar  ter- 

69 


70     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

ritory  of  subjective  religious  feelings,  and  away  from  more  familiar 
and  objective  issue  decisions  as  they  were  influenced  by  religion. 
When  Jimmy  Carter  began  talking  of  his  "born  again"  experience 
in  the  North  Carolina  primary  in  April  1976,  reporters  latched  on 
to  the  famihar  labels  of  "conservative"  and  "fundamentahst"  to  de- 
scribe the  candidate's  religious  views.  Gradually,  it  became  journal- 
istic shorthand  to  identify  Mr.  Carter's  "religious"  supporters  as 
evangelicals,  a  term  which  suggested  to  many  readers  a  group  of 
rigid,  deeply  committed  Christians  who  have  taken  strong  stands 
on  political  and  religious  issues.^ 

Partly  because  of  such  labels,  people  like  Jimmy  Carter  and  colleges  like 
Meredith  were — and  are — sometimes  misunderstood.  Burris's  magazine 
article,  however,  clearly  articulated  Meredith's  philosophy,  comparing  the 
dual  nature  of  the  church  college  to  that  of  the  human  creatures  found  in 
the  first  two  chapters  of  Genesis:  "they  are  made  in  the  image  of  God  and 
they  are  made  of  the  dust  of  the  earth."  In  like  manner,  he  said,  "the 
church  college,  as  a  human  institution,  .  .  .  partakes  of  [the]  attributes  of 
power  and  responsibility  with  all  the  limitations  of  earthliness.  In  this 
context,  we  have  no  excuse  for  inaction  and  no  basis  for  pride  in  our  own 
power  and  virtue.""^ 

Certainly  the  College  was  not  guilty  of  inaction  in  the  mid-  to  late- 
seventies;  however,  some  distractions  were  pardonable  in  1976  as  voters 
prepared  to  cast  their  ballots  for  the  first  elected  president  since  Watergate 
and  as  the  nation  observed,  often  with  spine-tingling,  emotion-packed  fer- 
vor, its  Bicentennial  Year,  Meredith  went  early  to  the  bicentennial  party. 
For  Parents'  Weekend  in  1975,  students  fashioned  a  Liberty  Tree  by  hang- 
ing signs  and  effigies  from  the  Umbs  of  a  small  red  maple  between  Johnson 
and  Joyner  Halls.  Through  the  Twig,  history  Professor  Frank  Grubbs 
reached  beyond  his  classroom  to  teach  the  meaning  of  the  tree: 

The  Liberty  Tree  was  used  during  the  Revolution  Period  as  a  focal 
point  for  Colonial  dissent  against  the  British  in  Boston  and  other 
towns.  The  Boston  Tree  was  the  most  famous  and  was  cut  down 
twice  by  the  British.  The  Meredith  tree  will  be  decorated  [similarly] 
to  the  first  Boston  tree  and  all  items  on  the  Meredith  tree  will  be 
copied  after  the  original.  ...  As  far  as  we  know,  Meredith  is  the 
only  College  in  North  Carolina  planning  such  a  restoration.^ 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    71 


Students  decorate  a  liberty  tree  in  commemoration  of 
America's  Bicentennial  in  1976. 


And  as  far  as  anyone  knew,  Meredith  was  the  only  college  "flying"  a 
19  X  12-foot  flag  patterned  after  specifications  set  forth  by  the  first  Con- 
tinental Congress  in  1777.  Home  economics  major  Mary  Lou  Journigan, 
'75,  hand-sewed  the  flag  in  a  special  studies  history  course.  Frequently  on 
loan  for  bicentennial  observances,  the  flag  came  home  only  occasionally 
and,  because  of  its  size,  was  draped  from  one  of  the  upper  levels  of  Bryan 
Rotunda  rather  than  flown  in  the  literal  sense.  Among  Meredith's  indirect 
contributions  to  the  celebrations  were  the  several  alumnae  who  accepted 
leadership  roles  in  their  cities  and  counties;  for  example,  Julia  Bryan,  '73? 
served  Meredith's  larger  community  as  executive  director  of  the  Wake 
County  American  Revolution  Bicentennial  Commission,  As  the  bicenten- 
nial wound  down,  Bryan  returned  to  Meredith  as  assistant  director  of 
development. 

For  the  bicentennial  convocation  on  February  2,  1976,  Alvin  Pous- 
saint,  associate  professor  of  psychiatry  at  Harvard  Medical  School,  spoke 
on  "The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Civil  Rights  Movement."  Dr.  Poussaint  was 
also  a  psychiatrist  at  Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  a  member  of 
PUSH  (People  United  to  Save  Humanity),  treasurer  of  the  Black  Academy 


72     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

of  Arts  and  Letters,  author,  and  student  of  black  and  white  relations  in 
the  United  States. 

Bicentennial  observances  ushered  in  1976,  and  the  presidential  elec- 
tion ushered  it  out.  Meredith  people  chose  political  sides  and  supported 
their  candidates — either  Jimmy  Carter,  the  Democratic  Party's  nominee, 
or  Gerald  Ford,  winner  over  Ronald  Reagan  for  the  Republican  Party's 
nomination.  The  fall's  first  edition  of  the  Twig  showcased  politics,  run- 
ning cleverly  biased  pieces  under  even  more  cleverly  constructed  titles, 
such  as  Phyllis  Burnett's  "Will  America  recall  Ford?"^  America  would 
readily  re-elect  the  incumbent  if  sophomore  Carol  Lancaster  had  her  say. 
An  active  student  partisan,  Lancaster  worked  in  an  official  capacity  to  or- 
ganize a  campaign  stop  at  Meredith  for  Jack  Ford,  son  of  the  incumbent. 
At  the  Heck  Memorial  Fountain  in  the  courtyard.  Ford  delivered  a  speech 
on  behalf  of  his  father  and  of  vice  presidential  candidate,  Robert  Dole. 
The  News  and  Observer  for  October  9  reported,  "President  Ford's  24- 
year-old  son  Jack  promised  a  Republican  victory  in  North  Carolina  in 
November  to  the  cheers  of  some  1,500  women  at  Meredith  College  here 
Friday."'^  Lancaster  had  been  a  youth  coordinator  for  Ronald  Reagan  in 
the  North  Carolina  presidential  primary  and  one  of  twenty  "Reagan- 
ettes"  at  the  Republican  National  Convention.  Kim  Farlow,  a  Twig  re- 
porter, called  her  "a  5'! "  package  of  political  dynamite."^ 

At  least  two  Meredith  students  witnessed  the  January  20,  1977,  inau- 
guration of  Jimmy  Carter,  the  thirty-ninth  president  of  the  United  States. 
Deciding  on  inauguration  eve  to  make  the  trip,  juniors  Vicki  Jayne  and 
Ginger  Gay  left  Meredith  within  the  hour  and  arrived  in  Washington, 
D.C.  at  3:00  A.M.  Jayne  told  the  Twig  that,  from  their  perch  atop  a  CBS 
News  trailer,  the  pair  enjoyed  an  unobstructed  view  of  Carter  and  his 
running  mate,  Walter  Mondale,  taking  their  oaths  of  office.^ 

SIMULTANEOUS  WITH  EARLY  political  rhctotic  and  bicentennial  obser- 
vances, Meredith  inaugurated  its  Raising  the  Sights  of  Women  program. 
In  1975,  the  College  had  received  a  grant  of  $75,000  from  the  Andrew  W 
Mellon  Foundation  to  underwrite  RSW  for  three  years,  beginning  in  Au- 
gust. Director  Sarah  Lemmon,  who  had  chaired  the  committee  and  been 
instrumental  in  fashioning  the  proposal,  said  RSW  was  not  to  offer  stu- 
dents "a  whole  smorgasbord  of  careers  but  to  help  them  strengthen  their 
psychological  tools  so  they  [would]  know  what  to  do."'°  Toward  that 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    73 

end,  Meredith  would  sponsor  symposia  and  panels;  artists-in-residence; 
student  exchanges;  and  other  enrichment  possibilities.  Workshops  for 
training  faculty  and  student  leaders  would  underscore  the  importance  of 
the  program  across  the  curriculum. 

A  year  after  the  first  grant  had  arrived,  Lemmon  accompanied  Presi- 
dent Weems  and  Vice  President  Kanipe  to  New  York  City  to  appeal  to  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation  for  additional  funding.  A  foundation  staff  mem- 
ber dashed  the  hopes  of  the  delegation  with  her  terse  statement:  "I  don't 
think  you  can  raise  the  sights  of  Southern  women."  ^^  That  opinion  not- 
withstanding, a  different — and  enthusiastic — foundation  official  called 
several  months  later  with  happier  news:  "I  have  just  been  reading  your 
proposal,  and  I  don't  know  of  anything  else  like  it  anywhere  in  the  coun- 
try. .  . .  We  want  to  give  you  $25,000,"  she  said,  "but  you  have  to  show  us 
what  you  will  do  with  it."  ^- 

The  committee  did  a  great  deal  with  the  Rockefeller  grant  and  others. 
In  addition  to  ongoing  symposia,  such  as  assertive  decision-making  and 
a  Life  Directions  Seminar  for  freshmen,  Raising  the  Sights  of  Women  pro- 
vided countless  opportunities  for  students  to  participate  in  off-campus 
events.  One  of  the  hallmarks  of  the  program  was  demonstrated  by  four 
students  who  attended  a  1977  International  Women's  Year  observance  in 
Houston,  Texas.  On  their  return  to  the  campus,  they  demonstrated  in 
every  way  available  the  advantages  of  their  opportunities.  The  same  held 
true  for  gymnastics  team  members  who  enrolled  in  a  week-long  clinic  in 
Florida  and  for  the  Outing  Club  who  went  camping  and  skiing  in  Colo- 
rado. Under  the  RSW  umbrella,  other  students  participated  in  programs, 
such  as  the  North  Carolina  Student  Legislature  and  the  United  Nations 
Seminar  at  Harvard  where,  in  a  mock  U.N.  session,  Meredith  women  vic- 
ariously became  the  delegates  from  Sweden. 

In  RSW's  first  year,  freshmen  suggested  a  spring  festival  of  creativity, 
bringing  to  the  campus  for  two  days  Heather  Ross  Miller,  Suzanne  New- 
ton, Sylvia  Wilkinson,  and  Patricia  H.  Howell —  writers  who  read  and 
discussed  their  work.  The  festival  also  sponsored  a  musical  treat  as  Alice 
Parker,  composer,  conductor,  and  arranger  for  the  Robert  Shaw  Chorale, 
conducted  her  original  choral  work,  Journey:  Pilgrims  and  Strangers, 
benefiting  from  student  vocalists  and  an  orchestra  from  North  Carolina 
State.  At  voice  instructor  Jane  Watkins  Sullivan's  suggestion,  the  College 
commissioned  Parker  to  compose  another  work  just  for  Meredith.  The 


74     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

commissioned  cantata,  Commentaries,  was  based  on  the  poems  of  Emily 
Dickinson  and  performed  not  only  by  Meredith's  Chorale,  Chorus,  and 
Renaissance  Singers  but  also  by  the  Brenau  College  Women's  Concert 
Choir,  the  Mississippi  University  for  Women  Concert  Choir,  and  the 
North  Carolina  Little  Symphony.  The  1978  premier  performance  of 
Commentaries  was  the  cornerstone  of  a  four-day  choral  festival  at  the 
College.  The  festival  was  reminiscent  of  a  similar  event  at  Loyola  Univer- 
sity in  New  Orleans  in  1977,  where  the  Chorale  was  one  of  ten  ensembles 
and  the  only  all-female  choir  invited  to  participate. 

Students  chose  Women  in  Sports  as  the  theme  for  the  second  semester 
of  Raising  the  Sights  of  Women,  inviting  to  the  campus  Janet  Guthrie,  the 
first  woman  to  drive  a  race  car  in  the  Indianapolis  500.  The  physicist- 
turned-sportswoman  captured  the  attention  of  the  News  and  Observer: 
"A  bachelor's  degree  in  physics  may  have  helped  in  her  mechanical  pur- 
suits, but  she  denies  she  is  unique.  'All  that  talk  about  women  not  being 
competent  in  math  is  brainwashing,'  she  said.  'Music  is  an  intricate  a  sub- 
ject as  math,  and  women  have  traditionally  and  easily  mastered  that.'  "^^ 

Maggie  Odell,  Twig  editor,  wrote  of  her  hope  that  the  theme  would 
arouse  new  diligence  in  bringing  women's  athletics  to  Meredith.  Her  edi- 
torial reminded  readers  that  "It  hasn't  been  long  since  Billie  Jean  King 
opened  the  question  with  her  defeat  of  Bobby  Riggs,  the  most  celebrated 
male  chauvinist  pig  in  America.  .  .  ."^"^  The  editor  alluded  to  the  heralded 
tennis  match  of  1973,  which  brought  victory  to  the  female  tennis  star  and 
energized  the  women's  movement.  Odell  would  have  been  a  freshman 
that  year;  perhaps  she  had  participated  in,  or  at  least  witnessed,  reaction 
to  the  match.  The  News  and  Observer  had  reported  the  celebration: 

Some  300  students  at  all-female  Meredith  College  here  celebrated 
Mrs.  King's  victory  over  Riggs  by  trying  to  stage  a  "jockey  raid"  on 
N.C.  State  University. 

The  students  massed  on  Hillsborough  Street  in  front  of  Meredith 
and  asked  for  a  police  escort  down  the  street  to  predominantly  male 
N.C.  State. 

But  the  policemen  talked  them  into  heading  back  to  Meredith 
where  they  held  a  joyous  celebration.^^ 

The  cutline  for  a  photograph  in  the  story  read,  "Meredith  students  chant 
'Bobby  Riggs  is  55  and  we  are  No.  i.'"^^ 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    75 

Raising  the  Sights  of  Women  offered  something  for  everybody.  One  of 
its  popular  presentations,  a  symposium  titled  What  Future  for  My  Gen- 
eration? intrigued  its  Meredith  audience.  Beginning  with  the  showing  of 
zooi:  A  Space  Odyssey,  the  four-day  symposium  ended  with  the  closing 
of  a  time  capsule  to  remain  sealed  for  fifty  years.  When  the  capsule  is 
opened  in  2028,  its  contents  will  indicate  "lifestyles,  interests,  and  pur- 
poses of  society  in  general  and  Meredith  in  particular,  1978  version."^^  Its 
"myriad  articles"  are  "as  Meredith  as  a  1978  Twig  and  as  universal  as  a 
Big  Mac  wrapper."  ^^ 

Some  years  later,  in  a  conversation  with  head  librarian  Jonathan  Lind- 
sey.  Dr.  Lemmon  reflected  on  Raising  the  Sights  of  Women.  Particularly 
pleased  with  the  active  roles  of  students  in  the  plans  and  procedures,  she 
said,  "It  was  in  the  practice  of  doing  [that]  one  of  the  objectives  .  .  .  [was 
met].  .  .  .  There  was  a  great  deal  going  on  during  those  three  years,  and  I 
think  the  campus  resources,  both  intellectual  and  tangible/physical,  were 
greatly  increased  during  that  time."^^ 

ONE  OF  THE  majot  considerations  of  the  seventies  was  curriculum  re- 
form. While  the  changes  were  adopted  in  the  late  seventies,  the  ideas 
were  generated  as  early  as  1974.  For  fifty  years  or  more,  the  College  had 
combined  a  student's  credit  hours  and  quality  point  ratio  to  determine 
her  classification.  In  1975,  however,  the  instruction  committee  and  Aca- 
demic Council  succeeded  in  their  efforts  to  eliminate  the  QPR  compo- 
nent in  such  considerations,  classifying  students  with  1-25  hours  of 
credit  as  freshmen;  with  26-59  hours  as  sophomores;  with  60-89 
hours  as  juniors;  and  with  90  or  more  hours  as  seniors.  The  change  came 
in  the  midst  of  intense  study  by  a  Task  Force  on  Curriculum  Reform, 
chaired  by  Sally  Horner  of  the  chemistry  department.  That  summer,  a 
study  committee  of  Drs.  Burris,  Horner,  Lemmon,  and  L.  Frazier  partic- 
ipated in  a  two-week,  UNC-sponsored  Institute  for  Undergraduate  Cur- 
riculum Reform  at  Appalachian  State  University  and  later  submitted  its 
proposal  to  the  task  force  for  study.  After  a  year's  consideration,  the  task 
force  recommended  to  Academic  Council  that  the  general  education  cat- 
egories— Humanities  and  the  Fine  Arts;  Natural  Sciences  and  Mathe- 
matics; and  Social  Sciences — be  changed  to  Human  Values;  Society;  the 
Natural  Universe;  the  Human  Body;  Language;  and  the  new  category 
"Life  Directions."  The  council,  however,  voted  to  retain  the  old  cate- 


76     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

gories,  with  the  addition  of  Health  and  Physical  Education.  It  also  ex- 
pressed a  philosophy: 

Meredith  College  is  committed  to  the  education  of  the  whole  per- 
son. Therefore,  basic  requirements  for  all  students  are  designed  to 
encourage  the  full  development  of  all  of  the  capacities  for  human 
knowledge — sensing,  feeling,  and  thinking.  Courses  in  the  arts,  sci- 
ences, and  humanities  are  required  of  all  students  as  essential  to  a 
hberal  education  that  is  dramatically  related  to  traditional  knowl- 
edge, values,  and  insights  and  to  the  demands  of  a  changing  age. 
These  courses  are  divided  into  four  categories  which  expose  the  stu- 
dent to  a  broad  distribution  of  human  knowledge  and  to  different 
modes  of  learning  about  herself  and  her  world.^° 

In  unveiling  the  new  general  education  program,  the  Academic  Coun- 
cil offered  the  following  statement,  which  has  since  been  printed  in  each 
edition  of  the  college  catalogue: 

Each  student  should  examine  human  values  and  begin  the  lifelong 
process  of  developing  her  own  beliefs  about  the  meaning  of  exis- 
tence in  relation  to  herself,  to  others,  and  to  God.  She  should  en- 
counter the  great  creative  achievements  of  mankind  and  discover 
those  values  which  are  for  her  most  essential  to  a  rich,  full,  and  sig- 
nificant life.  She  should  understand  herself  in  society  and  develop 
her  knowledge  about  the  human  community,  both  in  local,  na- 
tional, and  world  expressions  and  in  its  past  and  present  forms.  She 
should  have  an  informed  concept  of  herself  as  a  part  of  the  natural 
universe,  and  she  should  develop  skills  in  the  processes  of  scientific 
reasoning  and  mathematics.  She  should  know  her  own  body  and 
should  develop  skills  consistent  with  her  physique,  natural  abilities, 
and  interests.  She  should  develop  an  analytical  and  practical  mas- 
tery of  language  as  the  primary  medium  through  which  we  learn 
and  share  our  knowledge. 

Toward  these  ends  each  student  who  receives  the  B.A.  or  B.S.  de- 
gree must  fulfill  the  requirements.^^ 

The  task  force,  said  Burris,  "affirmed  concern  for  vocation  and  voca- 
tional education  .  .  .  and  gave  rise  to  career  planning  and  cooperative  ed- 
ucation."^^ As  the  general  changes  took  effect,  individual  departments 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    77 

busily  fashioned  new  and  improved  programs,  or  they  revised  old  ones. 
In  his  1976-77  annual  report,  Dean  Burris  matched  departments  and  de- 
scriptive terms:  art,  "complete  rethinking";  business,  "major  significantly 
strengthened";  elementary  education,  "reworked";  foreign  language, 
"significant  changes  next  year";  music,  "revised  curriculum  for  all  ma- 
jors;" sociology,  "anticipates  study  and  revision;"  equitation,  "program 
has  improved  markedly  this  year."^^ 

For  relevancy  in  a  rapidly  changing  culture,  curriculum  revision  was 
commonplace.  Since  Dr.  Huber  had  become  chairman  of  the  psychology 
department  in  1974,  he  had  steered  the  focus  away  from  the  philosophi- 
cal and  toward  the  scientific,  declaring  that  his  predecessors  had  "put  to- 
gether a  psychology  major  with  spit  and  bailing  wire."^"*  Now,  he  said,  the 
department's  two  priorities  were  to  put  a  "solid  curriculum"  in  place  and 
to  get  students  involved:  "In  the  first  year,  we  had  student  representatives 
come  on  board  and  attend  department  meetings,  and  since  that  time  they 
have  had  input.  I  like  to  think  we're  a  little  bit  ahead  of  our  time  on  that. 
We  applied  that  first  year  and  got  the  psychology  honorary  [Psi  Chi]."^^ 
In  just  two  years,  the  department,  in  cooperation  with  North  Carolina 
State,  hosted  the  1976  Carolinas  Psychology  Conference.  The  event,  at- 
tracting several  hundred  students  from  the  Carolinas  and  neighboring 
states,  was  the  first  of  the  annual  conferences  for  undergraduates  in  the 
area.  It  grew  out  of  a  philosophy  of  "trying  to  provide  opportunities  for 
women  to  become  the  very  best  scientists  possible." ^^ 

In  some  instances,  revised  curricula  brought  new  faces  to  the  fore,  and 
vice  versa.  In  1977,  alumna  Rebecca  Murray  became  chairman  of  the  De- 
partment of  Education.  Murray  received  her  A.B.  at  Meredith  in  1958, 
her  M.Ed,  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  her 
Ed.D.  at  Duke.  She  left  Columbia  College  in  South  Carolina  to  return  to 
Meredith,  where  she  immersed  herself  in  campus  activities.  Her  students 
usually  saw  her  as  an  encourager;  the  College  in  general  saw  her  as  a 
lover  of  the  classroom,  of  Meredith  history,  and  of  the  stage  on  which  she 
acted  in  many  a  presentation  of  the  Meredith  Playhouse  and,  later,  of 
Meredith  Performs.  But  policy  makers  and  planners  from  entities  as  di- 
verse as  Meredith  and  City  Hall  sometimes  felt  the  sting  of  Dr.  Murray, 
the  gadfly,  as  she  questioned  motives  and  actions. 

John  Holt  had  moved  from  acting  to  permanent  chairman  of  the  De- 
partment of  Foreign  Languages  in  1976.  He  had  recently  completed  his 


78      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Ph.D.  degree  at  Harvard,  after  having  earned  his  A.M.  there  and  his  A.B. 
at  the  University  of  Virginia.  Ann  Kurtz  succeeded  him  in  1979.  Dr. 
Kurtz's  extensive  teaching  experiences  abroad  included  her  then-most- 
recent  tenure  at  Damavand  College  in  Iran,  a  country  very  much  in  the 
news  at  the  time  of  her  appointment.  She  had  earned  her  A.B.  at  Welles- 
ley  and  her  A.M.  and  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  Maryland. 

In  other  instances,  reorganization  dictated  personnel  changes.  As  the 
continuing  education  program  grew  sufficiently  to  warrant  additional  ad- 
ministrators, Sarah  Lemmon,  history  department  chairman  since  1962, 
was  named  the  first  dean  of  continuing  education  and  special  programs  in 
1977.  Frank  Grubbs,  already  a  member  of  the  history  department,  suc- 
ceeded Dr.  Lemmon.  Dr.  Grubbs  completed  his  work  for  the  A.B.  at 
Lynchburg  College  and  for  the  A.M.  and  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia. Both  he  and  his  future  wife,  Carolyn  Barrington,  '60,  had  joined 
the  department  in  1963,  and  their  ensuing  courtship  delighted  starry-eyed 
students,  as  had  the  romance  of  L.E.M.  Freeman,  religion,  and  Katherine 
Parker,  home  economics,  five  decades  earlier.  Historian  Mary  Lynch 
Johnson  recorded  the  Grubbs's  marriage  in  1965  as  "the  first  between 
faculty  members"  since  the  Freemans  wed  in  1916.^^ 

Another  reorganization  occurred  when  Sally  Horner,  chemistry  de- 
partment chairman,  joined  the  administration  as  the  first  director  of  in- 
stitutional research  in  1978.  Reginald  B.  Shiflett,  who  replaced  Dr. 
Horner,  earned  the  B.S.  degree  in  chemical  engineering  as  well  as  the 
Ph.D.  in  chemistry  at  the  University  of  Virginia.  Before  coming  to  Mere- 
dith, Shiflett  was  chairman  of  the  division  of  natural  sciences  at  Camp- 
bellsville  College,  a  Baptist  institution  in  Kentucky. 

In  1980,  as  dean  of  students,  Dorothy  J.  Sizemore  became  the  newest 
member  of  the  student  development  staff,  and,  by  virtue  of  her  office,  a 
member  of  the  faculty.  Charles  Davis  resigned  his  chairmanship  of  the 
mathematics  department  to  join  the  administration  as  assistant  dean  and 
registrar.  Replacing  him  was  Ed  Wheeler,  "a  young  scholar  and  teacher 
with  deep  roots  in  Baptist  colleges."^^  Dr.  Wheeler,  who  had  taught  at 
Northern  Kentucky  University  for  seven  years,  was  an  alumnus  of  Sam- 
ford  for  his  A.B.  and  of  the  University  of  Virginia  for  his  Ph.D. 

Having  just  completed  his  doctorate  at  the  University  of  Utah  in  1980, 
Eugene  M.  Sumner  assumed  the  chairmanship  of  the  Department  of  So- 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    79 

ciology  and  Social  Work  as  Leslie  Syron  asked  to  be  relieved  of  her  ad- 
ministrative duties.  Sumner  joined  the  faculty  in  1973  after  holding  sev- 
eral pastorates  and  an  administrative  post  with  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Chil- 
dren's Home  in  Middlesex.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Mt.  Olive  Junior  College 
and  of  Atlantic  Christian  College.  He  earned  the  M.Div.  degree  at  South- 
eastern Baptist  Theological  Seminary  and  the  M.S.W.  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill. 

IN  THE  mid-seventies,  predictions  of  a  dearth  of  college-age  students 
dominated  planning  sessions  and  even  some  casual  conversations.  In 
1976,  President  Weems  said, 

There  is  no  growth  indicated  for  private  higher  education  in  North 
Carolina  in  the  next  five  years.  .  .  .  because  of  a  decline  in  high 
school  graduates.  Demographic  material  .  .  .  indicates  that  there  is 
an  out-migration  flow  from  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  Most  pri- 
vate colleges  within  the  state  have  depended  upon  recruitment  ac- 
tivities in  other  states  to  maintain  their  enrollments.  As  a  result 
enrollments  in  private  institutions  now  exceed  fifty  percent  in  out- 
of-state  students.  National  figures  suggest  that  this  availability  of 
students  also  will  decline  rapidly  in  the  i98o's.-^^ 

Such  predictions  would  not  have  seemed  to  bode  well  for  Meredith  in 
light  of  the  fact  that  83  percent  of  its  students  were  North  Carolinians, 
but  the  College  continued  to  enjoy  year  after  year  of  record-breaking  en- 
rollment. In  fact,  the  Twig  called  attention  to  a  housing  shortage  in  the 
fall  of  1978:  "Due  to  the  increase  in  resident  students  this  year  .  .  .  three 
and  four  girls  are  sharing  single  rooms  because  of  overcrowded  condi- 
tions."^°  The  spring  term  of  1979  was  no  different:  Forty-nine  new  stu- 
dents enrolled,  bringing  the  resident  population  to  1,104,  the  highest  ever 
recorded  for  a  second  semester.  And  that  number  would  be  thirty-four 
fewer  than  enrollment  for  the  second  semester  in  1980.  Dean  White  had 
shed  some  light  on  the  overcrowding  when  she  reported  a  1977  retention 
rate  of  85.5  percent,  as  compared  to  the  national  average  of  67  percent 
for  women's  colleges.  To  ease  the  dilemma,  Dr.  Thomas  recommended  in 
April  1979  that  as  many  as  twenty  seniors,  preferably  those  graduating  in 
mid-term,  be  allowed  to  live  off -campus;  however,  no  students  accepted 


8o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

the  invitation,  either  that  year  or  the  next.  In  September  1980,  ninety-six 
prospective  freshmen  opted  for  a  residence-hall  waiting  list,  hoping  that 
attrition  would  finally  admit  them  to  the  college  of  their  choice. 

Overcrowding  was  a  solvable  problem,  markedly  preferable  to  the  op- 
posite extreme.  Other  predicaments  thrust  upon  the  College,  to  its  bewil- 
derment, also  required  creative  and  sometimes  painful  solutions.  For  ex- 
ample, another  energy  crisis  struck  in  the  winter  of  1977,  as  Raleigh 
suffered  its  coldest  temperatures  since  19 18.  The  maintenance  staff  quickly 
insulated  exposed  pipes  and  installed  new  radiator  controls  in  the  origi- 
nal residence  halls,  "making  it  possible  for  the  first  time  to  regulate  heat 
in  each  room."^^  But  Mr.  Baker  took  additional  steps  toward  conserva- 
tion. Some  were  drastic:  Hot  water  temperature  was  lowered,  and  all 
thermostats  were  set  at  65  degrees;  heat  in  Johnson  Hall  and  the  class- 
room buildings  was  turned  off  from  Friday  to  Sunday  nights,  making  the 
weekend  use  of  specified  buildings  almost  non-existent.  While  Baker's 
practices  might  have  seemed  harsh,  he  was,  after  all,  responsible  for  bal- 
ancing a  budget  against  six  fuel  oil  price  increases  that  winter.  And  in  the 
warmer  days  of  April,  campus  residents  and  workers,  who  had  shivered 
in  January,  February,  and  March,  understood  that  Meredith's  having 
saved  about  twenty-five  gallons  of  oil  every  hour  was  necessary  to  sur- 
viving the  winter  with  any  warmth  at  all. 

The  high  cost  of  energy  was  indicative  of  the  economy  of  the  period. 
Inflation  was  a  nemesis  of  the  one-term  presidency  of  Jimmy  Carter.  Col- 
lege fund  raiser  Royster  Hedgepeth,  new  vice  president  for  institutional 
advancement,  understood  economic  pressure  as  it  applied  to  educational 
institutions.  In  his  first  year,  he  wrote,  "The  bulk  of  college  spending  oc- 
curs in  those  areas  where  inflation  has  been  most  severe  —  areas  ranging 
from  salaries  to  energy  costs.  In  some  cases,  the  rate  of  increase  in  oper- 
ating costs  has  approached  20  per  cent  a  year  for  the  past  five  years."  He 
cited  startling  statistics  of  the  years  1973 -1978:  "^^e  cost  of  oil  has  in- 
creased 298  per  cent  and  the  cost  of  electricity  98  per  cent.  .  .  ."  Dr. 
Hedgepeth  warned  that  if  tuition  climbed  at  the  rate  of  expenses,  Mere- 
dith would  price  itself  out  of  the  market.  Inflation,  he  said,  was  one  of 
three  factors  "reshaping  the  face  of  higher  education  in  America."^-  The 
other  two  pressures,  he  said,  were  the  shortage  of  students  and  changes  in 
attitudes  toward  higher  education,  from  the  standpoints  of  both  students 
and  supporters. 


'treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    81 


Snow  blankets  the  campus  in  the  winter  of  1996. 

Into  1978,  Weems  continued  the  flow  of  information  regarding  a  de- 
clining student-age  market.  For  example,  he  said,  in  North  Carolina  in 
1980,  "there  would  be  74,000  high  school  graduates,  and  ...  in  1990 
there  would  be  only  56,000.  .  .  ."^^  How  those  statistics  would  affect 
Meredith  depended,  to  a  degree,  on  how  the  College  defined  itself, 
Hedgepeth  said.  "America's  colleges  and  universities  cannot  be  all  things 
to  all  people.  They  must  define  whom  they  serve,  where  their  money  will 
be  spent,  and  how  they  will  present  themselves.  .  .  .  Terms  such  as  mar- 
ket analysis,  product  management,  and  cost  effectiveness  will  be  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  college's  new  definition."  He  added,  "In  the  process  of  de- 
finition, there  is  an  inherent  conflict  between  the  need  to  change  and  the 
need  to  remain  the  same."^"* 

Royster  C.  Hedgepeth  joined  the  administration  June  i,  1977,  succeed- 
ing John  T  Kanipe,  who  had  accepted  the  presidency  of  Southern  Semi- 
nary Junior  College.  Hedgepeth  reached  Meredith  by  way  of  Hampden- 
Sydney,  one  of  the  then-few  remaining  private  colleges  for  men — perhaps 
the  only  one — where  he  was  associate  director  of  institutional  develop- 
ment. The  thirty-two-year-old  had  earned  the  B.A.  at  Wake  Forest,  the 
master's  at  the  University  of  Florida,  and  the  Ph.D.  at  Cornell.  The  first 


82     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

new  vice  president  since  Sandra  Thomas's  election  in  1974,  Hedgepeth 
arrived  as  Tliomas  prepared  for  a  year's  leave  of  absence,  the  College's 
having  honored  her  request  to  fill  a  gubernatorial  appointment  as  execu- 
tive director  of  the  new^  office  of  citizen  affairs  for  the  State  of  North 
Carolina. 

In  one  of  Hedgepeth 's  early  sessions  v^ith  trustees,  he  reported  that 
Madaline  Elliott  Buchanan,  '28,  w^anted  to  give  money  to  Meredith  for 
her  class  project  to  raise  $50,000  toward  a  chapel  fund.  Minutes  of  the 
meeting  read,  "In  discussing  this  matter,  it  was  deemed  necessary  first  to 
determine  whether  or  not  Meredith  wishes  to  accept  money  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  chapel.  .  .  .  Following  discussion  [it  was  moved  and  sec- 
onded] that  Meredith  accept  funds  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  chapel 
and  that  it  be  included  in  the  long-range  priorities."^^  Long-range  prior- 
ities, according  to  Hedgepeth,  depended  upon  raising  in  the  next  few 
years  more  than  $17  million  for  buildings,  faculty  and  program  devel- 
opment, and  scholarships.  In  September  1979,  when  the  Board  of 
Trustees  approved  the  fund-raising  effort,  they  also  adopted  its  name — 
the  Visions  Program — and  its  goal  of  $20  million.  The  goal  was  divided 
into  two  parts:  $6  million  for  faculty  development  and  capital  outlay 
and  $14  million  for  the  general  endowment.  A  month  before  the  board 
formally  inaugurated  the  Visions  Program,  the  executive  committee 
learned  that  Sarah  Cook  Rawley,  '29,  and  her  husband,  D.A.  Rawley, 
had  given  Meredith  stock  in  a  family-owned  newspaper,  the  sale  of 
which,  Hedgepeth  said,  would  mean  approximately  $628,000  in  unre- 
stricted money  for  the  College.  Rarely  were  gifts  of  that  size  unre- 
stricted. 

Only  months  into  the  Visions  Program,  Vice  President  Hedgepeth  re- 
signed. As  of  January  14,  1980,  he  was  succeeded  by  Jerry  E.  McGee,  a 
graduate  of  East  Carolina  University,  who  had  earned  his  M.A,  from 
Appalachian  State  and  his  Ed.D.  from  Nova  University.  Dr.  McGee  came 
from  a  five-year  stint  at  Gardner- Webb,  also  a  Baptist  college,  where  he 
had  served  as  assistant  to  the  president.  On  football  Saturdays,  he 
donned  a  striped  shirt  and  was  spotted  on  television  screens  as  an  official 
in  the  Atlantic  Coast  Conference  of  the  National  Collegiate  Athletic  As- 
sociation. But  on  Monday  through  Friday  —  and  some  weekends — 
McGee  coordinated  the  ambitious  fund-raising  effort,  to  be  divided  into 
two  four-year  phases,  beginning  in  March  1980  and  concluding  in  June 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    83 

1988.  The  College  anticipated  raising  approximately  $10,000,000  in 
each  phase. 

THE  LIST  OF  top  priorities  grew  shorter  on  completion  of  the  Harriet 
Mardre  Wainwright  Music  Building.  Dedicated  on  February  25,  1977,  it 
was  named  to  honor  the  memory  of  an  alumna  whose  generous  bequest 
had  inspired  an  additional  magnanimous  gift  from  her  husband,  Irving 
H.  Wainwright  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  The  building's  Clara  Cars  well 
Concert  Hall,  itself  dedicated  just  a  month  earlier  on  January  21,  1977, 
was  the  site  for  the  ceremonies.  As  new  as  it  was,  the  175-seat  Carswell 
Hall  had  already  been  acclaimed  as  an  answer  to  a  community  need,  and 
rave  reviews  accompanied  almost  every  mention  of  its  acoustical  capabil- 
ities. In  addition  to  Carswell  Hall,  the  Harriet  Mardre  Wainwright  Music 
Building  housed  twenty-two  teaching  studios,  eight  practice  rooms,  three 
classrooms,  and  a  music  library.  At  the  time  of  the  dedication,  130  of  the 
1,500  degree  candidates  were  music  mjors.  Among  the  first  guests  of 
Wainwright  were  alumnae  who  returned  on  March  19  for  "A  Day  of 
Music  at  Meredith,"  theme  for  the  annual  Alumnae  Seminar. 

Mr.  Wainwright  said  he  admired  Meredith's  "sound  management, 
growth  with  progress,  and  compassion  for  those  being  served."  He  also 
said  that  he  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  had  been  aware  "of  the  plight  of  inde- 
pendent colleges  in  times  of  accelerating  inflation."  ^^  Some  foundations 
and  corporations  were  also  knowledgable  of  the  struggles  in  private 
higher  education,  the  Kresge  Foundation,  for  example,  having  been  gen- 
erous in  the  past,  was  helpful  again  with  a  contribution  toward  the  music 
building.  On  the  reverse  side  of  the  check  from  the  foundation,  Stanley  S. 
Kresge  had  handwritten  this  statement:  "In  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

Dedication  of  Wainwright  Music  Building  was  an  event  of  Founders' 
Day,  1977.  That  celebrated  day,  like  its  predecessors,  was  memorable  for 
its  own  style  of  ceremonies  and  observances  of  heritage.  The  longtime 
practice  of  placing  flowers  on  Thomas  Meredith's  grave  had  shifted  from 
the  literal  to  the  metaphorical  in  1976,  thanks  to  alumna  Sarah  Eliza- 
beth Vernon  Watts  and  her  family.  The  Wattses  provided  a  small  garden 
near  Jones  Auditorium,  mounting  there  a  plaque,  on  which  is  quoted  a 
simple  poem  by  Richard  T.  Vann,  president  of  the  College  from  1900- 
1915: 


84     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

THOMAS  MEREDITH 

(1795-1850) 

While  others  slept  below,  he  climbed  the  height. 

He  stood  alone,  with  vision  strained  afar. 

And,  peering  long  into  the  lingering  night, 

He  saw  the  morning  star. 

At  that  place,  the  wreath-laying  ceremony  has  continued,  and,  from  time 
to  time,  a  member  of  the  college  family  reports  inquiries  as  to  whether  the 
tiny  garden  is  Thomas  Meredith's  actual  grave  site.  College  archives  do 
not  record  a  motive  for  the  Watts's  gift,  but  friends  of  Mrs.  Watts  might 
surmise  that  her  interest  was  in  rescuing  the  tradition  before  it  fell  to  the 
inevitable  fate  of  mental  and  physical  inaccessibility  caused  by  the  intim- 
idating traffic,  both  human  and  vehicular,  around  the  City  Cemetery  in 
downtown  Raleigh,  where  Thomas  Meredith's  grave  remains. 

Under  the  assumption  that  the  College  was  continually  being  founded, 
the  trustees  added  a  new  tradition  to  the  annual  Founders'  Day  obser- 
vance by  remembering  an  early  founder  and  recognizing  a  contemporary 
counterpart.  In  1976,  the  first  year  of  the  practice,  Oliver  Larkin  String- 
field  and  C.C.  Cameron  were  selected  for  the  honors.  Stringfield,  "the  man 
destined  to  bring  success  to  the  new  venture  in  education,"  was  elected  a 
trustee  in  1892  and  employed  as  a  fund  raiser  for  Baptist  Female  Univer- 
sity in  1 89 3.^'^  Cameron,  elected  a  trustee  in  i960,  had  chaired  the  board 
in  1969  and  1971-1974.  A  volunteer  fund  raiser  for  the  College,  he  was 
founder  of  one  of  the  largest  mortgage  banking  firms  in  the  nation. 

Oliver  Larkin  Stringfield  died  in  1930,  but  his  family  and  Meredith  re- 
tained close  ties.  The  previous  chapter  quotes  his  son  Oliver  Linwood 
Stringfield's  conviction  that  "there  is  an  invisible  canopy  hovering  over 
the  campus."^^  Time  and  again,  the  son's  adage  was  repeated.  Certainly, 
tangible  progress  seemed  evidence  enough  that  the  protective  canopy  was 
in  place.  On  a  campus  valued  at  $22  million,  landscaping,  building,  and 
remodeling  excited  donors  and  recipients  alike.  Such  was  the  case  when 
trustee  J. C.  Faw;  his  wife,  Patsy;  and  their  children,  Diane,  a  Meredith  ju- 
nior, and  Jimmy,  saw  an  opportunity  to  beautify  the  courtyard  behind  the 
new  Harriet  Mardre  Wainwright  Music  Building  with  a  garden  of  aza- 
leas, rhododendron,  and  evergreens.  The  Faw  Garden  was  dedicated  dur- 
ing Parents'  Weekend  activities,  April  16,  1977. 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    85 

Meanwhile,  members  of  the  Class  of  1928,  led  by  Mabel  Claire  Hog- 
gard  Maddrey  and  Mary  Rodwell  Smith  of  Raleigh,  planned  a  fiftieth  an- 
niversary gift  far  surpassing  other  class  gifts,  both  in  amount  and  scope. 
The  initial  installment,  in  excess  of  $50,000,  sparked  the  drive  to  build 
the  long-awaited  chapel.  An  on-campus  place  of  worship  had  not  reached 
the  top  of  the  Hst  of  needs — nor  even  the  hst  of  heartfelt  wishes,  as  far  as 
the  administration  and  trustees  were  concerned — until  the  Class  of  1928 
placed  it  there;  however,  records  indicate  that  architects  for  half  a  century 
"took  the  hopes  of  a  place  of  worship  to  the  drawing  boards,  and  every 
master  plan  from  the  beginning  shows  a  chapel  facing  the  front  drive." ^^ 
But  since  relocating  from  downtown  to  the  edge  of  the  city,  the  College 
had  some  catching  up  to  do,  as  far  as  construction  was  concerned.  The 
last  of  the  temporary  buildings  had  been  replaced  as  recently  as  the  late 
sixties  and  early  seventies.  Also,  students  were  encouraged  to  worship  in 
the  local  churches  rather  than  to  isolate  themselves  from  the  townspeo- 
ple. In  fact,  Meredith  and  most  of  Raleigh's  larger  churches  provided 
Sunday  bus  service  until  the  number  of  students  with  their  own  cars  ren- 
dered chartered  transportation  unnecessary.  But  when  President  Weems 
announced  the  drive  to  raise  funds  for  a  chapel,  he  expressed  pleasure  at 
the  interest  of  alumnae:  "Their  efforts  greatly  stimulate  the  fund  drive 
that  will  provide  a  focal  point  for  worship  on  the  campus  and  affirm  our 
heritage  in  Christian  higher  education."'*" 

Soon,  a  chapel  planning  committee  sat  in  the  midst  of  constituent 
groups  and  individuals  who  mentally  designed  the  chapel  in  their  own 
images,  so  to  speak.  In  19  81,  the  editor  of  Meredith  wrote  of  the  com- 
mittee's apparent  struggles:  "The  words  and  thoughts  [have]  seemed  to 
come  easily.  The  building  has  not.  In  fact,  it  may  be  safe  to  say  that  no 
other  structure  on  the  campus  has  elicited  so  much  interest  and  so  many 
deeply  felt  and  openly  expressed  opinions."'*^  When  chairman  Marion 
Lark  reported  for  the  chapel  planning  committee,  he  said. 

The  committee  began  to  see  that  if  the  chapel  is  to  be  a  building  that 
will  thoughtfully  reflect  our  Christian  heritage,  it  was  necessary  to 
give  attention  ...  to  theological  understanding  and  symbolism 
rather  than  architectural  design.  In  other  words,  we  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  more  appropriate  to  build  a  place  of  worship 
from  the  "inside  out"  than  from  the  "outside  in.""*^ 


86     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Larry  Williams,  campus  minister,  also  served  on  the  committee.  To  him, 
"building  a  chapel  is  like  'parenting.'  Both  tasks  take  a  lot  of  skill,  a  lot  of 
patience,  and  a  lot  of  love.'"^^ 

When  the  executive  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  met  in  Sep- 
tember 1980,  they  considered  the  proposed  locations,  one  betw^een  the 
Mae  Grimmer  Alumnae  House  and  Joyner  Hall  and  the  other  on  the 
drive  in  front  of  the  alumnae  house.  Architects  Carter  and  Turner 
Williams,  as  well  as  twelve  of  the  fourteen  voting  members  of  the  build- 
ings and  grounds  committee,  recommended  the  latter  site.  At  the  same 
meeting,  trustee  and  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  Mary  Vir- 
ginia Warren  Poe,  '48,  moved  that  the  executive  committee  "authorize 
the  architect ...  to  proceed  with  designing  a  chapel  in  the  traditional  style 
of  architecture,  with  a  steeple,  designed  basically  for  worship,  of  moder- 
ate proportions  but  of  great  beauty  and  highest  quality.'"^''  The  motion 
carried. 

First  estimated  at  $500,000,  the  cost  was  revised  upward  to  approxi- 
mately $1,058,000.  But  the  very  prospect  of  a  chapel  inspired  alumna 
Martha  Salisbury  Smoot,  '33,  to  see  that  an  organ  was  installed  there  in 
memory  of  her  mother,  Mary  Estelle  Johnson  Salisbury,  one  of  the  "Im- 
mortal Ten"  members  of  the  first  class  of  1902.  Mrs.  Smoot's  efforts 
added  $62,000  to  the  fund.  Until  the  chapel  was  built,  Wednesday  wor- 
ship services  were  held  in  Jones  Auditorium  or,  occasionally,  in  Bryan  Ro- 
tunda, while  more  intimate  devotions  were  offered  in  various  nooks  and 
crannies. 

Jones  Auditorium  and  the  proposed  chapel  combined  would  not  have 
accommodated  some  audiences,  including  commencement  crowds;  there- 
fore, Meredith  was  dependent  upon  the  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheater 
for  such  occasions.  Often,  the  College  reserved  North  Carolina  State's 
Wilham  Neal  Reynolds  Coliseum  or  Raleigh's  Memorial  Auditorium  as 
alternative  sites  in  the  event  of  bad  weather.  The  weather  was  fine  on  the 
evening  of  September  18,  1978,  for  the  inaugural  Lillian  Parker  Wallace 
Lecture  by  Great  Britain's  former  prime  minister,  the  Right  Honourable  Sir 
Harold  Wilson.  An  audience  of  about  2,000  heard  the  nation's  long-time 
ally  speak  on  "The  Transatlantic  Connection  from  Winston  Churchill  to 
Today,"  in  which  he  told  of  his  relationships  with  American  presidents 
from  Truman  through  Ford.  The  four-term  prime  minister  had  retired 
from  office  in  1976.  On  this,  his  first  visit  to  the  United  States  in  four 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    87 

years,  he  warmly  greeted  members  of  his  audience  at  a  courtyard  recep- 
tion following  the  evening  lecture. 

The  number  of  Raleighites  attending  open-to-the-public  occasions 
seemed  to  increase  from  year  to  year.  A  more  impressive  phenomenon, 
however,  was  the  number  of  people — a  predicted  25,000  in  1975-76 — 
using  the  campus  for  their  own  agendas.  The  calendar  already  showed  a 
summer  schedule  of  thirty-four  events,  from  the  state  games  of  the  Special 
Olympics  to  the  North  Carolina  Congress  of  the  PTA;  from  the  statewide 
Festival  of  Magic  to  the  national  convention  of  the  American  Dairy  Sci- 
ence Association.  Only  a  year  later,  Joe  Baker  reported  that  52,000  visi- 
tors had  discovered  the  inviting  campus,  and,  in  1979-80,  the  guest  list 
numbered  about  75,000. 

A  footnote  to  the  summer  of  1977  elaborated  on  members  and  guests 
of  the  National  Men's  Garden  Club  Association  who  suffered  food  poi- 
soning from  a  meal  served  on  a  summer  day  in  Belk  Dining  Hall.  Of  the 
750  people  who  ate  lunch  there,  200  became  ill,  and  the  Health  Depart- 
ment determined  that  chicken  salad,  refrigerated  the  night  before  in  a 
deep  container,  had  not  cooled  thoroughly  and  therefore  caused  the  ill- 
ness. A  physician  and  member  of  the  garden  club  wrote  in  the  organiza- 
tion's newsletter. 

No  one  had  any  idea  that  in  the  center  of  that  deboned,  chopped 
chicken  being  removed  from  the  refrigerator  lay  the  now  chilled 
Staphylococcus  germs  that  had  remained  warm  long  enough  the 
previous  evening  to  produce  its  debilitating  and  sometimes  terrify- 
ing toxin.  .  .  .  Some  13-14  ambulance  units  and  crews  answered 
our  distress  call.  .  .  .  The  hospitals  all  turned  out  as  though  an 
atomic  bomb  had  hit."^^ 

Ironically,  as  the  luncheon  progressed  that  day,  the  Health  Department 
routinely  inspected  the  kitchen,  awarding  it  an  above-average  grade  of 
95.  And  as  distressing  as  the  illness  was,  it  would  have  been  more  dis- 
turbing had  poor  sanitation  caused  the  problem. 

But  from  the  college  menu — then  and  always — one  could  find  more 
nourishing  entrees  to  the  campus  than  simply  the  open  doors  to  facilities. 
For  example,  in  the  spirit  of  friendly  cooperation  between  the  College 
and  the  community,  Meredith  and  the  Junior  League  of  Raleigh  cospon- 
sored  a  forum  on  eleven  Monday  nights  in  the  fall  of  1976,  exploring 


88      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

such  topics  as  the  interaction  of  state  and  national  governments;  reHgion, 
moraUty,  and  human  rights;  crises  in  the  cities;  and  the  future  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  quahty  of  Ufe.  The  first  speaker  for  the  series  was  Saul 
Mendlovitz,  president  of  the  Institute  for  World  Order  and  professor  of 
law  at  Rutgers  University,  and  the  final  speaker  was  Barbara  Hubbard, 
president  of  the  Committee  for  the  Future  in  Washington,  D.C.,  and  au- 
thor of  The  Hunger  of  Eve.  The  interim  participants,  except  for  a  return 
engagement  of  Lisa  Sergio,  were  from  among  North  Carolina's  civic  lead- 
ers and  educators. 

By  invitation,  Meredith  hosted  in  1978  the  fiftieth  anniversary  cele- 
bration of  the  Inter- American  Commission  of  Women  of  the  Organiza- 
tion of  American  States.  The  OAS  comprised  twenty-six  member  nations, 
and  the  commission  expected  a  delegate  from  each.  The  organization 
chose  Meredith  because  of  "its  high  academic  standards  and  leadership 
development  of  its  students.'"^^  Speakers  included  His  Excellency  Jorge 
Luis  Zelaya,  assistant  secretary  general  of  the  OAS;  Her  Excellency  Maria 
Eugenia  Oyarzum,  ambassador  to  Chile;  the  Hon.  Gabriela  Touchard 
Lopez,  president  of  CIM;  and  the  Hon.  Carmen  Delgado  Votaru,  principle 
U.S.  delegate  to  CIM. 

PAGE  (Parents  for  the  Advancement  of  Gifted  Education),  a  program 
founded  in  1978  for  gifted  and  talented  children,  was  also  a  cooperative 
effort.  Meredith  provided  not  only  the  facilities  but  also  the  first  director 
and  several  faculty  and  student  volunteers  to  lead  classes,  such  as  com- 
puter technology  and  astronomy  in  the  sciences,  and  music  appreciation 
and  drama  in  the  arts.  The  Twig  professed  the  faith  that  PAGE  was  "the 
only  program  of  its  kind  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina  and  only  one  of  a 
few  in  the  entire  nation.'"^-'  Lyn  Aubrecht,  professor  of  psychology,  was 
PAGE'S  first  director;  he  reported  in  1996,  eighteen  years  after  PAGE's 
creation,  that  the  program  still  thrived. 

If  statistics  for  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges  were  reliable  indications 
of  Meredith's  general  appeal,  they  were  also  bases  for  truth  in  Weems's 
belief  that  high  expectations  are  "hallmarks  of  a  superior  college.'"*^  In 
the  mid-seventies,  more  than  half  the  exchanges  between  the  six  colleges 
and  universities  of  CRC  involved  Meredith.  More  specifically,  for  1976- 
77,  the  consortium  reported  that  109  Meredith  students  were  enrolled  in 
courses  at  North  Carolina  State,  and  Z84  State  students  took  courses  at 
Meredith.  Enrollment  in  courses  at  State  was  one  of  five  options  for 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    89 

Meredith's  undergraduates.  Other  possibiUties  included  Shaw  University 
and  Peace,  St.  Mary's,  and  St.  Augustine's  Colleges. 

But  students  could  also  select  from  their  own  campus  programs  that 
had  been  inaccessible  to  earlier  college  generations.  Meredith  Abroad,  for 
example,  enjoyed  increasing  popularity.  At  first  glance,  the  possibilities 
seemed  most  beneficial  to  students;  however,  the  faculty  also  vied  for  the 
annual  teaching  positions,  faculty  development  and  international  travel 
having  become  almost  synonymous  terms.  Also,  the  College  expanded  its 
travel  opportunities  for  alumnae.  In  1977,  Roger  Crook,  chairman  of  the 
religion  department,  traded  his  three-year-old  "subtitle,"  of  director  of 
Meredith  in  Europe  for  that  of  coordinator  of  international  studies,  his 
responsibilities  to  include  "planning,  promoting,  and  directing  programs 
directly  or  indirectly  related  to  study  abroad"  but  not  be  limited  to  the  se- 
mester abroad  program  in  London."*^  In  an  interview  with  Julia  Bryan, 
Crook  provided  some  background  information:  Shera  Jackson,  '69, 
Raleigh's  1973  Community  Ambassador  to  West  Germany,  returned  to 
her  job  as  admissions  counselor  after  a  summer  in  Herford  and  environs, 
enthusiastically  describing  the  old  castles  on  the  Rhine  that  Meredith 
could  buy  for  "a  song."  That  winter,  Crook  and  Joe  Baker  looked  into 
possibilities.  They  found  that  any  one  of  the  old  castles  would  have  pro- 
vided facilities  and  ambiance  for  a  Meredith  campus  in  Europe;  however, 
estimates  for  costs  of  repairs  and  remodeling  soon  dispelled  the  dream. 
"Our  alternative  was  to  see  about  using  existing  institutions  which  could 
accommodate  our  students  when  the  facilities  would  otherwise  be  unoc- 
cupied," Crook  said,  and  he  found  such  a  residence  hall  at  the  University 
of  London.  "We  are  convinced,"  he  added,  "that  an  international  thrust 
is  imperative.  ...  To  be  well  educated,  we  think,  a  student  needs  a  cos- 
mopolitan approach.  We  feel  that  living  abroad,  for  even  a  short  time, 
and  studying  in  another  culture  enriches  education  in  a  way  that  text 
book  work  simply  cannot."  Our  program  is  unique,  he  said.  It  costs  the 
same  as  a  semester  at  Meredith,  "and  it  is  always  geared  this  way  so  that 
it  is  possible  for  any  student  who  can  take  a  semester  at  Meredith  to  take 
this  program."^°  In  1979,  the  Meredith  entourage  spent  the  initial  two 
weeks  in  Scotland  before  moving  from  St.  Andrews  to  Durham,  England, 
and  finally  settling  at  Whitelands  College  near  Wimbledon  for  the  rest  of 
the  stay. 

Vice  President  Thomas  also  believed  in  introducing  Meredith  people  to 


90     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

cultures  different  from  their  own.  During  spring  break  in  1976,  she  took 
a  group  of  twenty  students  for  a  week's  study  in  Mexico.  The  next  year's 
exploration  was  a  bit  more  elaborate  as  she  led  forty-seven  people,  in- 
cluding students  and  faculty  members,  to  Peru  for  "cross  cultural  learn- 
ing" in  a  "global  classroom."^^  The  classroom  expanded  to  include  a  jun- 
gle expedition  into  the  rain  forest  region;  side  trips  to  Cuzco  and  Machu 
Piccu;  a  Peruvian  fiesta;  and  exchanges  of  ideas  on  cultural  issues.  And, 
for  a  concert  in  the  salon  of  the  Entre  Nous  Society,  Meredith  pianist 
Thomas  Hardison  played  universally  recognized  works  as  well  as  the  pre- 
mier performance  of  "Lines,"  a  composition  by  his  faculty  colleague  Peter 
Klausmeyer.  As  for  the  appreciative  audience,  which  included  the  cultural 
attache  of  the  American  embassy  in  Peru,  Thomas — referred  to  by  her 
group  as  "Safari  Sandra" — reported  "hearty  applause  and  a  standing 
ovation"  for  Hardison's  performance.^^  The  vice  president  continued 
leading  educational  tours  throughout  her  years  at  Meredith.  At  Christ- 
mas, 1979,  faculty,  students,  and  other  friends  followed  her  to  Cuba,  an 
excellent  place,  she  said,  "to  study  .  .  .  the  concept  of  revolution  and  also 
to  experience  third  world  development."^^ 

If  Meredith,  the  college  magazine,  were  wired  for  sound,  the  1979 
winter  edition  would  have  blared  forth  spring  and  summer  travel  plans. 
Page  26  alone  was  a  drum  roll  in  print  for  "the  second  annual  Meredith 
in  Britain  for  Alumnae  and  Friends,"  to  be  coordinated  by  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Crook;  for  a  "nine-day  travel  odyssey  through  the  best  of  Spain,"  to  be 
led  by  Sandra  Thomas;  for  six  weeks  of  study  at  the  University  of  Peru- 
gia, Italy,  with  two  weeks  of  travel,  offered  by  Bluma  K.  Greenburg  of  the 
art  department;  and  for  a  tour  of  Egypt,  Jordan,  and  the  Holy  Land,  to  be 
led  by  John  and  Frankie  Weems.  The  same  page  pointed  toward  1980, 
when  the  College  would  host  a  European  tour  to  include  the  Passion  Play 
at  Oberammergau. 

While  young  women  from  Meredith  studied  abroad,  some  high  school 
students  extended  their  intellectual  reaches  in  summer  programs  on  the 
campus.  In  1973,  thirteen  students  enrolled  in  the  new  Summer  Study  for 
High  School  Students;  in  1974,  fourteen  participated.  At  that  point,  the 
admissions  committee  recommended  to  the  Academic  Council  that 
Meredith  open  some  courses  to  area  young  women  who  were  high  school 
senior  scholars,  enabling  them  to  earn  early  college  credits.  Later  cata- 
logues described  an  evolution:  "High  school  senior  girls  in  the  local  area 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    91 

who  are  ready  to  undertake  college-level  study  may  enroll  as  special  stu- 
dents in  courses  at  Meredith.  A  student  approved  for  participation  in  the 
Senior  Scholars  Program  may  attend  classes  for  college  credit  in  the  sum- 
mer prior  to  her  senior  year  or  in  either  or  both  semesters  of  her  senior 
year."^'*  Also  geared  to  high  school  students  was  merit  weekend,  an  an- 
nual event  for  national  Merit  semifinalists  and  other  select  gifted  students 
from  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia.  The  1976  version  explored  the  avant- 
garde  topic  of  "Human  Engineering:  Hope  or  Thrust  of  the  Future?"  Fac- 
ulty panelists  Lyn  Aubrecht,  psychology;  Betty  Webb,  English;  George 
Hoffman,  biology;  and  Allen  Page  and  Roger  Crook,  religion,  were 
charged  with  developing  the  theme  as  well  as  with  helping  the  young 
women  deal  with  complex  ethical  questions. 

As  the  College  led  students  to  confront  the  complexities  of  their  cul- 
ture, it  also  enticed  them  to  explore  their  own  educational  and  economic 
interests.  Both  cooperative  and  continuing  education  rapidly  won  con- 
verts. Starting  with  one  student  in  one  job  in  1973-74,  cooperative  edu- 
cation mushroomed  to  thirty-seven  placements  in  1976-77.  Marie  Capel 
boasted  of  a  student's  placement  in  Sears  Roebuck's  first  ever  co-op  posi- 
tion; the  same  was  true,  she  said,  of  the  Washington,  D.C.,  office  of  the 
National  Labor  Relations  Board,  In  1976,  at  the  request  of  the  City  of 
Raleigh  and  with  a  grant  of  $1,900  to  underwrite  the  effort,  Capel  and 
Shirley  Ihnen,  special  projects  coordinator,  completed  a  study  of  cooper- 
ative education  in  the  four  senior  colleges  and  universities  in  the  capital 
city  and  recommended  municipal  job  classifications  that  could  translate 
into  cooperative  education  positions. 

Career  preparation  had  indeed  found  a  place  at  Meredith.  Dean  Bur- 
ns said,  "In  our  efforts  to  find  common  ground  for  the  twin  concerns  for 
the  liberal  arts  and  vocational  education,  the  College  attempted  to  make 
some  progress  toward  meeting  the  growing  desire  for  careers  by  the  stu- 
dents."^^  Career  Day  in  1977  must  have  reflected  the  desired  progress.  Oc- 
cupational Outlook,  '77,  (OO77)  attracted  to  the  campus  one-hundred 
representatives  from  business,  government,  service  jobs,  and  graduate 
schools.  Students  exuded  enthusiasm.  Kathy  Keith  was  one  of  the  nation's 
sophomores  selected  by  Mobil  Oil  for  its  "Explore  the  Business  World" 
program.  Keith  spent  four  days  discovering  business  in  the  "real  world" 
of  New  York  City  with  students  from  colleges  and  universities  from 
around  the  nation,  including  Duke  and  William  and  Mary  from  the 


92     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

neighborhood.  After  the  exploration,  Keith  reimbursed  her  host  company 
by  acquainting  her  peers  with  opportunities  in  business. 

In  1979,  the  Woodrow  Wilson  Foundation  appointed  Meredith — one 
of  the  fifty  colleges  in  the  nation — to  its  Visiting  Fellows  Program. 
Through  the  three-year  program,  which  would  fund  a  Fellow  each  se- 
mester, students  would  associate  with  outstanding  career  people  "with 
liberal  arts  backgrounds  who  have  succeeded  in  one  or  more  fields  of  en- 
deavor, not  necessarily  the  traditional  ones."^^  In  November,  Meredith 
welcomed  Max  and  Esther  Krebs  of  the  United  States  Foreign  Service,  as 
the  first  Fellows  on  campus.  And,  perfectly  fitting  the  specification  of 
"not  necessarily  the  traditional.  .  .  ,"  Johanna  Dunn,  who  held  a  doctor- 
ate in  art  history  but  was  a  vice  president  of  the  New  York  Futures  Ex- 
change, was  one  of  five  Fellows  who  came  later.  The  Twig  reported  that 
Becky  Batson  Shaw,  '69,  a  staff  member  at  the  foundation,  was  instru- 
mental in  Meredith's  appointment  to  the  program.  When  the  specified 
three  years  expired,  the  Parents'  Association  voted  to  underwrite  the  vis- 
iting fellows  for  another  three,  with  head  librarian,  Jonathan  Lindsey, 
succeeding  Sarah  Lemmon  as  coordinator. 

Continuing  education,  meanwhile,  captured  the  imaginations  of  and 
offered  possibilities  to  countless  women  past  the  traditional  college-student 
age.  If  they  could  not  come  to  Meredith  for  classes,  Meredith  sometimes 
took  classes  to  them.  Such  was  the  case  for  thirteen  employees  of  Rex 
Hospital,  who  completed  Fielen  Jones's  English  course  on  their  own  cam- 
pus, scheduling  their  classes  around  shift  changes.  But  back  at  the  Col- 
lege, increasing  numbers  of  students  returned  to  pursue  their  interrupted 
or  postponed  educations.  The  staff  increased,  and  its  headquarters  ex- 
panded. When  Sarah  Lemmon  became  dean  of  continuing  education  and 
special  programs  on  July  i,  1977,  Anne  Dahle  assumed  responsibilities  as 
director  of  counseling  and  the  credit  program;  and  Rosalie  Gates,  an  as- 
sistant professor  in  the  history  department,  became  director  of  enrich- 
ment. The  "special  programs"  segment  of  Lemmon's  title  included  Rais- 
ing the  Sights  of  Women;  cooperative  education;  and  some  summer  and 
miscellaneous  programs.  With  her  appointment  came  continuing  educa- 
tion's move  into  a  modular  unit  behind  Belk  Dining  Hall. 

Dean  Lemmon  sought  to  expand  the  types  of  programs  offered  by  con- 
tinuing education.  Agreeing  that  a  paralegal  course  was  right  for  Mere- 
dith, the  trustees  approved  it  as  a  post-baccalaureate  offering  in  February 


"treasure  IN  EARTHEN  vessels":    I976-1980     I     93 

1979.  Dean  Lemmon  said,  "To  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  this  is  the  only 
post-baccalaureate  legal  assistants  program  between  Philadelphia  and 
Atlanta.  .  .  .  We  believe  we  are  meeting  a  definite  need  for  career  women 
interested  in  law  but  not  interested  in  attending  law  school  at  this  time."^^ 
Meredith  offered  the  first  "edition"  in  the  summer  of  1980,  limiting  the 
enrollment  to  thirty  women,  twenty-seven  of  whom  completed  the  pro- 
gram. By  late  September,  twelve  were  working  under  their  new  certifica- 
tion. Lemmon  reported  "an  auspicious  beginning,"  thanks  to  the  board 
of  advisers,  the  faculty,  the  library's  "good  collection  through  purchase 
and  gifts  from  friends  in  the  legal  community,"  and  to  alumna  Emily 
Johnson,  '75,  who  returned  to  promote  the  concept  and  direct  the  annual 
summer  studies. ^^  Johnson  held  the  J.D.  degree  from  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill. 

The  College  had  long  delighted  in  the  progress  of  continuing  educa- 
tion. Women  in  the  re-entry  program  developed  a  kinship  of  sorts,  at  first 
meeting  informally  as  the  Koffee  Klatch  but  changing  their  name  in  1979 
to  WINGS  (Women  in  New  Goal  Settings)  and  becoming  the  collective 
voice  of  adult  students.  In  fact,  WINGS  evolved  into  a  major  organiza- 
tion that  merited  a  vote  in  the  Student  Government  Association.  The  or- 
ganization's purpose  was  "to  provide  information,  fellowship,  support, 
and  leadership  opportunity  for  all  students  at  Meredith;  to  serve  as  a  li- 
aison between  the  WINGS  student  and  the  on-campus  community;  and 
to  voice  WINGS  student  concerns  through  representation  on  the  SGA  Ex- 
ecutive Committee."  ^^ 

For  WINGS  in  particular  and  for  continuing  education  in  general,  Vir- 
ginia Norton  was  one  of  the  trailblazers,  not  as  faculty  or  staff,  as  many 
of  the  pioneers  were,  but  as  student.  A  senior  in  1977-78,  a  grand- 
mother, and,  at  61,  the  oldest  degree  candidate  of  the  period,  Norton  ex- 
emplified the  appreciation  and  enthusiasm  that  many  re-entry  students 
declared.  If  Meredith  was  good  for  Mrs.  Norton,  Mrs.  Norton  was  also 
good  for  Meredith.  After  enrolling  in  1973,  she  participated  in  campus 
life  to  the  fullest,  serving  as  president  of  the  non-resident  students'  orga- 
nization, winning  the  outstanding  day  student  award,  and  being  tapped 
into  Silver  Shield.  The  News  and  Observer  named  her  Tar  Heel  of  the 
Week,  citing  the  subject's  own  epithet  for  herself:  "Generation  Gap 
Jumper."^''  Of  her  hunger  for  learning,  Norton  said,  "I  am  often  hesitant 
to  leave  campus  to  go  home,  being  fearful  that  some  lecture  or  concert  or 


94     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

play  may  take  place  without  me."^^  Of  her  joy  in  discovering  "this  smor- 
gasbord of  delights,"  as  she  called  the  academic  menu,  she  said,  "For  the 
literary  enthusiasts  who  always  wanted  to  read  with  understanding  the 
love  poetry  of  Robert  Browning  or  Milton's  Paradise  Lost;  or  for  southern 
women  who  wanted  to  understand  Faulkner's  interpretation  of  woman's 
role  during  the  Civil  War,  there  are  experts  in  every  field  to  lead  the  way."^^ 
Reflecting  on  cultural  traditions  and  new-found  choices  for  women  like 
herself,  she  asked  a  rhetorical  question:  "Who  knows  what  painter's  pic- 
tures have  been  drowned  in  dish  pans  of  the  past?"^^ 

While  women  like  Norton  were  ecstatic  over  choices,  the  Carlyle 
Campbell  Library  touted  its  own  "smorgasbord  of  delights."  In  1976,  the 
library  joyfully  received  financial  support  from  the  WK.  Kellogg  Foun- 
dation for  Meredith's  membership  in  the  Southeastern  Library  Network, 
for  a  computer  terminal  that  would  link  the  College  to  the  network,  and 
for  training  the  staff  to  use  the  terminal.  The  grant  having  arrived  in  li- 
brarian Michael  Dodge's  final  year  at  Meredith,  his  successor,  Jonathan 
Lindsey,  elaborated  on  the  benefits  of  SOLINET:  "This  system  unites 
Meredith's  library  with  many  other  libraries  over  the  country  and  helps 
facilitate  the  location  of  volumes  and  the  securing  of  cards  for  the  card 
catalogue  ."^"^ 

The  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  agressively  increased  its  use  of  technol- 
ogy, but  in  the  eyes  of  at  least  one  student,  one  of  the  library's  new  elec- 
tronic devices  was  "an  outrageous  atrocity  .  .  .  committed  against  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Meredith  College  students."^^  The  Twig  had  reported  the 
recently  installed  security  system  in  an  innocuous  statement  on  page  2  of 
the  August  30,  1978,  issue:  "Located  in  each  item  in  the  fibrary  is  a  metal 
strip  which  must  be  desensitized  before  that  particular  item  may  be  re- 
moved. .  .  ."^^  This  meant  that  all  library  patrons  exited  through  a  sensor 
that  would  sound  an  alarm  if  one  attempted  to  smuggle  out  an  article. 
Three  Twigs  later,  a  guest  editorial  writer  lambasted  the  installation  of 
the  electronic  security  system,  calling  it  "literally  appalling"  and  "the 
gradual  destruction  of  our  Honor  Code."  She  added, 

Although  in  reality  the  idea  may  be  well  founded,  in  that  there  was 
a  degree  of  theft  prevailing  in  the  library,  the  installation  of  such  an 
instrument,  however,  is  a  virtual  slap  in  the  face  to  the  students  who 
abide  by  the  Honor  Code. 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    95 

It  is  sheer  hypocrisy  to  claim  that  we  have  a  working  Honor 
Code  and  simuhaneously  install  a  machine  that  questions  the  hon- 
esty of  students,  faculty,  and  friends  of  the  College.  .  .  .^^ 

The  writer  abhorred  the  fact  that  the  student  life  committee  and  the  Silver 
Shield  had  no  time  to  educate  students  to  the  problems  before  the  sen- 
soring  device  was  put  into  effect.  Twenty  years  later,  people  who  traveled 
in  and  out  of  the  library  accepted  the  system  as  a  matter  of  course,  ac- 
customed as  they  were  to  similar  commentaries  on  their  society.  In  the 
last  quarter  of  the  twentieth  century,  an  unconscionable  greed  spawned 
theft;  and  metal  detectors,  burglar  alarms,  and  hidden  cameras  searched 
out  offenders  in  airports,  department  stores,  convenience  marts,  banks, 
office  buildings,  private  homes,  automobiles,  and  the  Carlyle  Campbell 
Library  at  Meredith  College. 

But  despite  the  theft  detector,  the  library  acquired  new  Friends. 
Alumna  Sarah  Elizabeth  Vernon  Watts,  who  had  already  instigated  sev- 
eral projects,  such  as  the  Thomas  Meredith  memorial  in  1976  and  the  li- 
brary's historical  collection  in  1973,  led  a  movement  to  re-establish 
Friends  of  the  Library,  the  original  and  then-defunct  version  having  been 
formed  in  194 1.  Such  a  group,  thought  Mrs.  Watts,  would  not  only  cre- 
ate interest  in  and  provide  resources  for  the  library  but  would  also  bring 
writers  and  other  associates  of  books  and  ideas  to  the  campus.  L.A.  Pea- 
cock, professor  emeritus  of  English  and  dean  of  the  College,  1948-69, 
served  as  the  organization's  first  president.  The  board  set  membership 
fees  at  $5.00  for  a  contributing  member;  $10.00  for  an  associate  member; 
$25.00  for  a  sustaining  member;  and  $100.00  for  a  life  member.  In  the 
first  four  months  of  its  infancy,  Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library 
welcomed  180  charter  members,  almost  one-fourth  of  whom  were  life 
members.  Carolyn  Andrews  Wallace,  '40,  director  of  the  Southern  His- 
torical Collection  in  UNC's  Louis  R.  Wilson  Library,  spoke  at  the  first 
meeting  on  May  5,  1977.  She  suggested  that  the  Friends  group's  greatest 
good  would  be  monetary  support  for  the  library.  "With  the  number  of 
students  increasing  from  nine  hundred  in  1966  to  thirteen  hundred  in 
1976,"  she  said,  "it  is  no  wonder  that  the  growth  in  the  library,  gratify- 
ing as  it  has  been,  has  not  kept  pace  with  that  of  the  student  body."^^  She 
reminded  her  listeners  that,  according  to  the  standards  of  the  Association 
of  College  and  Research  Libraries,  Meredith  was  about  6,000  volumes 


^6     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

short.  But  Dr.  Wallace  was  optimistic,  as  had  been  Julia  Hamlet  Harris  in 
her  message  to  the  first  Friends  of  the  Library  group  in  1948:  "You  may 
do  anything  from  building  a  wing  on  the  old  library  to  furnishing  it  with 
duplicate  copies  of  More's  Utopia.'"^^ 

The  organization  scheduled  two  meetings  a  year:  a  membership  dinner 
in  the  spring  and  a  book-author  luncheon  in  the  fall.  The  inaugural  lun- 
cheon on  October  26,  1977,  was  an  auspicious  occasion,  featuring 
Tarheel  novelists  Reynolds  Price  and  Frances  Gray  Patton,  with  Walter 
Spearman  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  as  moderator. 

Trustees  learned  of  the  new  organization  at  their  September  25  meet- 
ing, the  day  on  which  the  Board  of  Associates  established  an  endowment 
to  supplement  faculty  salaries.  FAME  (Faculty  Applied  Meredith  Endow- 
ment) was  the  brainchild  of  Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill,  '27,  who  chaired 
the  ten-year-old  Board  of  Associates  in  its  only  fund-raising  project  to 
that  time.  Assistant  Professor  George  Hoffman,  returning  after  a  year's 
absence  to  teach  for  one  more  semester  in  the  biology  department,  re- 
ceived the  first  FAME  grant  in  1978.  While  Dr.  Hoffman's  stipend  helped 
pay  his  salary,  later  grants  definitively  fit  the  awards  category.  The  family 
of  Pauline  Davis  Perry,  '38,  honored  her  by  establishing  two  cash  awards 
in  the  endowment  to  replace  the  Outstanding  Teacher  Awards  initiated 
by  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Greensboro  and  later  funded  by  the  Par- 
ents' Association.  The  Perry  awards  honored  excellence  in  teaching  and 
outstanding  research,  publication,  or  artistic  achievement,  and,  at  the  in- 
augural Dinner  With  Our  Friends  in  April  1980,  the  first  honors  went  to 
Jay  D.  Massey,  chairman  of  the  health,  physical  education,  and  recreation 
department,  for  teaching,  and  to  Thomas  C.  Parramore,  associate  profes- 
sor of  history,  for  research  and  publishing.  On  the  same  occasion.  Presi- 
dent Weems  announced  the  Board  of  Associates'  establishment  of  two 
Laura  Harrill  Awards  for  faculty  adjudged  by  the  president  to  be  deserv- 
ing of  merit  for  campus  involvement,  academics,  and  commitment.  Mrs. 
Harrill  was  present  at  the  dinner  and  was  as  surprised  at  the  establish- 
ment of  the  awards  in  her  name  as  were  Olive  Taylor  and  Joe  Maron  at 
receiving  them.  Mrs.  Taylor  was  an  instructor  of  mathematics  and  Mr. 
Maron  an  assistant  professor  of  art.  Dinner  With  Our  Friends  also  rec- 
ognized retirees  and  those  members  of  the  faculty  and  staff  who  had 
given  twenty-five  years  of  service  to  the  College. 

Such  annual  occasions  extended  the  long  list  of  time-honored  practices 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    97 

by  a  college  already  abounding  in  tradition  and  traditions.  In  the  seven- 
ties, the  word  "tradition"  did  not  always  inspire  reverence  in  a  student- 
age  population  bent  on  breaking  the  mold,  defying  "the  system."  But  the 
young  women  at  Meredith  protected  their  own  traditional  events  with 
tenacity.  Cornhuskin',  for  example,  always  evoked  protective  passion.  In 
1978,  some  students  and  faculty  dared  to  suggest  changing  the  celebra- 
tion from  Thursday  to  Friday  night.  The  Twig  interpreted  an  emphati- 
cally negative  reaction:  "[S]tudents  complain  over  placing  Cornhuskin' 
on  a  weekend  night  because  it  will  interfere  with  their  social  plans;  yet 
when  Cornhuskin'  interferes  with  Thursday  classes,  the  students  com- 
plain about  the  classes  interfering  with  their  celebration  of  the  fall  festi- 
val."^°  Before  writer  Kristie  Beattie  signed  off,  she  punctuated  her  editor- 
ial with  a  bit  of  sarcasm:  "Granted,  a  solid  education  is  not  the  first 
priority  of  every  woman  here,  but  because  Meredith  is  here  for  the  pur- 
pose of  providing  an  education,  academics  must  be  given  priority."^^  Sub- 
sequent activity  calendars  suggest  that  the  wheels  of  change  turned 
slowly;  Cornhuskin'  remained  a  Thursday  evening  phenomenon  until 
1995  when,  on  its  fiftieth  anniversary,  it  was  rescheduled  for  Friday. 

The  faculty's  quadrennial  performance  of  Lewis  Carroll's  Alice  in 
Wonderland  was  another  of  the  traditions  lovingly  embraced,  despite  its 
time-  and  energy-consuming  preparations.  The  first  showing  of  Alice  lit 
up  the  stage  on  March  15,  1924;  the  fourteenth  version  in  1976  was  as 
well  received  as  any  previous  one  could  have  been.  The  first  performance 
featured  Carolyn  Mercer,  '22,  instructor  in  French,  as  "an  irresistible 
Alice,  round-faced  and  wide-eyed,"''-  and  the  fourteenth  introduced  Vice 
President  Sandra  Thomas  in  the  starring  role — "a  natural  choice  for  Alice 
with  her  softspoken  voice  and  fair  complexion." ^^  The  1976  production 
also  introduced  Dr.  Huber  of  the  psychology  department  as  the  new 
White  Rabbit,  a  role  played  from  1924 -19 68  by  the  late  Lillian  Parker 
Wallace.  As  the  student  body  expanded,  so  did  the  number  of  perfor- 
mances of  each  version  of  Alice.  In  1996,  the  show  attracted  a  full  house 
for  dress  rehearsal  and  a  standing-room-only  audience  for  its  two  sched- 
uled performances. 

The  Philaretian  and  Astrotekton  Societies  traced  their  tradition  all  the 
way  back  to  the  first  year  of  Baptist  Female  University.  Until  1920,  the 
two  literary  societies,  organized  as  Club  A  and  Club  B,  met  every  Satur- 
day night  for  the  purpose  of  "inspiring  each  other  with  a  love  for  litera- 


98      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ture  and  with  a  desire  to  promote  the  higher  principles  of  self  government 
and  self  control." ^"^  For  students,  society  by  assignment  in  the  early  years 
gave  way  to  freedom  of  choice  as  Rush  Week  became  one  of  the  most 
competitive  of  all  activities,  each  society  vying  for  the  largest  number  of 
recruits.  The  societies  had  dropped  the  word  "Literary"  from  their  names 
in  1950,  their  constituents  professing  the  love  of  deeds  over  the  love  of 
words.  In  the  seventies,  they  had  become  service  clubs,  the  Astros  adopt- 
ing the  Shelley  Child  Development  Center  for  physically  and  mentally 
handicapped  children  and  the  Phis  committing  their  efforts  to  the  local 
Cerebral  Palsy  Center.  But  the  Human  Services  program  was  then  the 
clearing  house  for  service  projects,  and  there  seemed  to  be  slight  raison 
d'etre  for  either  society.  In  1976,  project  leaders  Ruth  Cralle,  Astro,  and 
Menda  Sue  Godfrey,  Phi,  saw  "very  few  dedicated  members  in  either  so- 
ciety. .  .  ."  In  fact,  they  questioned  "whether  Billy  Astro  and  Milton  the 
Bear  would  ever  arise  from  their  present  lethargy." -"^  But  traditions  died 
hard,  and  the  service  clubs  continued  to  the  end  of  the  decade  and  be- 
yond, each  with  its  own  activities,  and  each  with  its  own  form  of  rush. 

The  societies'  apparent  malaise  might  have  been  symptomatic  of  the 
times.  In  1972,  Janice  Sams,  editor  of  the  Twig,  mentioned  in  the  Alum- 
nae Magazine  "the  formal  killing  of  'Apathy'  in  early  January."''^  But 
from  later  reports,  such  as  those  relating  to  the  two  societies,  apathy  ap- 
peared to  be  alive  and  well  in  1977,  and  the  Twig  published  a  cartoon  by 
senior  Beth  Wicker.  The  two  young  women  pictured  were  in  conversa- 
tion. One  asked,  "What's  'apathy,'  Julie?"  Julie  replied,  "Gosh,  I  don't 
know.  Who  cares  ?"^^ 

Two  entities  which  had  never  been  apathetic  in  their  relationship  were 
Meredith  and  its  founding  organization,  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  In 
1979-80,  the  1,115,124  North  Carolina  Baptists  contributed  through 
the  Cooperative  Program  $498,768.17  to  the  College. ^^  The  generosity  of 
the  state  convention  was  not  predicated  on  constant  accord,  although  the 
bond  was  strong  and  usually  cordial.  Occasionally,  murmurs  emanated 
from  one  side  or  the  other — or  both.  In  1976,  for  example,  trustee 
Shearon  Harris  spoke  of  "a  matter  of  concern"  that  the  convention  might 
limit  the  number  of  trustees  from  any  single  church  to  serve  on  Baptist 
boards.  Mr.  Harris's  view  was  that  such  a  move  "would  probably  deny 
the  institutions  of  the  state  some  extremely  able  leadership. .  .  ."''^  The  fol- 
lowing year.  President  Weems  confided  to  the  trustees  his  belief  that  "a 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    99 

change  in  the  attitude  and  tone  of  the  convention  was  apparent  in  the  re- 
lation of  the  colleges  to  the  church  and  to  the  Convention.  .  .  .  [and]  that 
it  might  be  necessary  for  colleges  to  begin  justifying  to  the  Convention  the 
need  for  support."  ^°  Still  another  hint  of  concern  entered  the  minutes  of 
the  executive  committee  for  November  1980:  A  v^eek  after  Weems  had  at- 
tended the  annual  meeting  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  he  said  "there 
appeared  to  be  a  conservative  trend  within  the  Convention,  but  that  there 
was  no  indication  of  growth  among  the  ultra-conservative  groups." ^^ 

Labels,  such  as  "conservative,"  "moderate,"  and  "liberal,"  had  no 
bearing  on  an  interesting  exchange  between  Meredith  and  the  Conven- 
tion in  1980.  That  summer,  Cecil  Ray,  the  convention's  executive  secre- 
tary, queried  President  Weems  and  trustee  chairman,  Seby  Jones,  as  to  the 
possibility  of  Meredith's  selling  four  acres  of  its  prime  real  estate  for  a 
new  Baptist  building.  The  trustees,  however,  expressed  reluctance  "to  sell 
any  of  the  land  now  owned  by  Meredith  College  because  of  the  possibil- 
ity of  future  expansion."^-  At  their  November  executive  committee  meet- 
ing, they  heard  from  their  buildings  and  grounds  committee  additional 
reasons  not  to  sell: 

1.  The  property  in  question  is  the  wooded  corner  of  Wade  Avenue 
and  Faircloth  Street.  If  a  building  is  constructed  on  that  site, 
along  with  the  proper  parking  spaces,  the  grove  of  trees  would 
have  to  be  taken  down  and  Meredith  would  lose  the  screen  which 
now  exists  between  the  College  and  the  shopping  center. 

2.  Over  the  years  the  Convention  probably  will  need  more  prop- 
erty for  expansion,  and  the  only  land  available  for  expansion 
would  be  additional  property  from  the  Meredith  campus. 

3.  This  area  would  lend  itself  to  only  limited  parking. ^^ 

The  vote  was  12-2  against  selling. 

While  the  relationship  between  the  state  convention  and  the  College 
remained  solid,  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  through  some  of  its 
leaders,  was  beginning  to  rankle.  In  his  first  term  as  president  of  the  huge 
body  of  Southern  Baptists,  Bailey  C.  Smith  was  widely  quoted  in  major 
newspapers,  including  the  News  and  Observer,  as  having  said  "God 
Almighty  does  not  hear  the  prayer  of  a  Jew."^'*  On  the  day  following  the 
newspaper  reports,  the  faculty  unanimously  passed  and  mailed  the  fol- 
lowing statement  to  President  Smith: 


lOO     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

We,  the  faculty  of  Meredith  College,  are  proud  of  our  Baptist  her- 
itage and  affirm  the  strength  which  we  gain  through  the  roots  of 
this  heritage. 

A  part  of  this  heritage  is  the  freedom  of  open  inquiry  and  the 
freedom  of  individual  conscience.  It  is,  however,  a  political  reality 
that  the  voice  of  one  who  has  been  elected  president  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  may  be  popularly  understood  to  be  representa- 
tive of  all  Southern  Baptists  and  Southern  Baptist  institutions.  It  is 
in  light  of  this  reality  that  we  note  the  recent  statement  of  Bailey  C. 
Smith,  President  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  "...  God 
Almighty  does  not  hear  the  prayer  of  a  Jew." 

While  we  recognize  Mr.  Smith's  right  to  his  views,  we  do  not  ac- 
cept this  as  our  view.  Standing  within  the  Judeo-Christian  tradition, 
we  affirm  that  God  is  the  God  of  all  people  and  that  God  alone  is 
judge. ^^ 

In  its  semi-annual  meeting  of  September  26,  1980,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
voted  unanimously  to  support  the  faculty's  statement. 

AS  THE  CULTURE  changed,  so  did  the  problems  and  concerns  of  students 
and  Meredith's  ways  of  addressing  them.  Vice  President  Thomas  reported 
to  the  trustees  in  January  1977  that  the  college  counselor  as  well  as  the 
campus  minister  were  dealing  with  students  who,  "particularly  this  year," 
had  home  problems. ^^  No  statistics  are  available  as  to  the  number  of  stu- 
dents whose  parents  were  among  the  1,083,000  divorce  cases  in  the 
United  States  in  1976,^^  but  the  counselor's  section  of  the  Annual  Report 
of  the  President  i<)j6-i<)jj  elaborated  on  the  encroaching  pattern:  "It 
became  apparent  during  the  year  that  many  students  were  experiencing 
problems  related  to  the  separation  or  divorce  of  their  parents.  In  an  effort 
to  meet  some  of  the  needs  of  these  students,  the  counselor  and  campus 
minister  attempted  to  provide  a  group  situation  in  which  the  students 
could  express  and  deal  with  their  feelings  and  concerns.  .  .  ."^^ 

The  Federal  Government  also  expressed  concern  for  students  in  the 
mid-  to  late-seventies,  through  an  Internal  Revenue  Service  mandate  dis- 
allowing discrimination.  In  compliance,  in  a  January  1976  meeting,  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  issued  a  statement  declaring 
that  "Meredith  College  does  not  discriminate  against  applicants  and  stu- 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    lOI 

dents  on  the  basis  of  race,  color,  national  or  ethnic  origin"  and  a  directive 
"that  such  a  statement  be  included  in  all  brochures  and  catalogues  deal- 
ing with  student  admissions  programs  and  scholarships."  Furthermore, 
vowed  the  trustees,  "Meredith  College  has  a  racially  nondiscriminatory 
policy  as  to  employment  of  faculty  and  staff  .  .  .  [and]  does  not  discrimi- 
nate against  applicants  for  employment  on  the  basis  of  race,  color,  and 
national  or  ethnic  origin."  ^^  Bill  Norton,  who  oversaw  publications,  was 
adamant  that  the  policy  statement  be  included  in  all  printed  material  pub- 
licizing the  College.  He  had  to  be;  noncompliance  would  have  meant  loss 
of  Meredith's  status  as  a  charitable  institution.  The  1977  catalogue  car- 
ried the  first  nondiscriminatory  policy  statement,  which  would  be  virtu- 
ally unchanged  in  the  nineties,  except  for  additions,  as  shown  below, 
dealing  with  handicap  and  age: 

Meredith  College  admits  women  students  of  any  age,  race,  creed, 
national  and  ethnic  origin  to  all  the  rights,  privileges,  programs, 
and  activities  generally  accorded  or  made  available  to  students  at 
the  College.  It  does  not  discriminate  on  the  basis  of  age,  race,  creed, 
national  and  ethnic  origin  in  administration  of  its  educational  poli- 
cies, admissions  policies,  scholarship  and  loan  programs,  and  ath- 
letic and  other  school-administered  programs.  Furthermore,  it  does 
not  discriminate  in  admission  or  access  to  its  programs  and  activi- 
ties on  the  basis  of  handicap  as  defined  by  Section  504  of  the  Reha- 
bilitation Act  of  1973.  The  vice  president  for  business  and  finance 
at  Meredith  coordinates  the  College's  nondiscriminatory  policy  on 
the  basis  of  handicap. 

intercollegiate  athletics  seemed  to  take  on  new  life  in  the  seventies. 
Perhaps  the  momentum  was  inspired  by  the  success  of  Meredith's  first 
full-semester  golf  team  in  1976,  its  having  placed  sixth  in  the  Duke  invi- 
tational competition;  or  the  first  winning  seasons  of  both  the  tennis  and 
volleyball  teams.  Already  in  place  were  basketball,  gymnastics,  and  swim 
teams.  If  sports  enthusiasts  of  1976  could  have  peered  into  1980,  they 
would  have  witnessed  the  golf  team's  winning  the  NCAIAW  state  cham- 
pionship and  the  tennis  team's  taking  the  conference  title. 

The  teams  were  known  as  the  Meredith  Angels.  From  the  earliest  days 
of  the  College,  "Angel"  was  a  frequently  used  epithet  for  a  student;  and 
"Angel  Farm"  had  been  the  home  of  the  Angels  since  the  campus  moved 


I02     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

from  downtown  Raleigh  to  the  Tucker  farm  in  1926.  Finally,  in  1980,  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Student  Government  Association  led  the  Col- 
lege to  adopt  the  angel  as  the  school's  official  mascot,  and  the  student 
body  selected  senior  Teresa  Parker  Hamby's  stylized  drawing  as  the  offi- 
cial representation  of  the  Meredith  Angel. 

"Why  angels?"  asked  Caroline  Vaught  McCall,  '64,  in  a  1989  college 
publication.  Mrs.  McCall,  editor  of  Meredith  Writes  Home,  a  newsletter 
for  parents  of  students,  answered  the  question  for  her  readers: 

In  the  early  years  of  the  College,  a  "brother-sister"  relationship  de- 
veloped between  Wake  Forest  College  (then  located  in  the  town  of 
Wake  Forest,  only  17  miles  from  Raleigh)  and  the  new  Baptist  Fe- 
male University  (Meredith  College).  Though  Meredith  exerted  strict 
social  rules,  the  young  women  were  allowed  to  share  concerts,  lec- 
tures, etc.  with  their  "brother"  college.  In  1903  the  editor  of  the 
Wake  Forest  newspaper  wrote,  "There  is  a  ladder  extending  from 

the  Baptist  school  in  Raleigh  to  Wake  Forest,  and  angels  come  and 
go."9o 

McCall  also  found  that  the  campus  water  tank,  circa  19Z6-63,  fre- 
quently bore  the  words  "Angel  Farm"  in  letters  large  enough  for  all  of 
West  Raleigh  to  read.  The  daring  display  of  questionable  art  was  usually 
attributed  to  Wake  Forest  or  North  Carolina  State  students,  who  were 
reckless  enough  to  climb  the  tank  and  clever  enough  to  elude  the  night- 
watchman's  flashlight,  to  say  nothing  of  his  ire.  And  in  the  eighties,  par- 
ents proudly  displayed  their  bumper  stickers  and  oversized  pins  declar- 
ing, "My  daughter's  a  Meredith  Angel."  While  critics  decried  the  angel 
image  as  that  of  a  "Baptist  girls'  school"  rather  than  of  a  progressive 
woman's  college,  the  Meredith  Angels  were  as  socially  sophisticated  as 
their  counterparts — the  Lady  Deacons  of  Wake  Forest,  for  example — 
and  as  athletically  aggressive  in  Division  III  of  the  National  Collegiate 
Athletic  Association  (NCAA)  as  the  Lady  Tarheels  of  Division  I. 

None  of  the  Angels  played  in  the  Olympic  Games;  however,  it  would 
be  safe  to  say  that  they  joined  other  athletes  and  sports  enthusiasts 
throughout  the  nation  in  stunned  disappointment  when  President  Jimmy 
Carter  requested  of  the  United  States  Olympic  Committee  a  vote  "against 
participation  in  the  [1980]  Moscow  Summer  Olympics"  in  Russia,  and 
the  committee  adhered  to  his  request.  Carter's  decision  was  among  the 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    103 

"punitive  measures  against  the  USSR  ...  in  retaliation  for  the  Soviet  in- 
vasion of  Afghanistan."^^ 

With  no  athletic  scholarships  to  offer,  Meredith  was  rarely  featured  on 
the  sports  page  of  the  daily  paper;  however,  the  College  made  news  else- 
where as  it  graduated  from  the  provincial  image  of  many  of  the  women's 
colleges  of  the  era  into  higher  degrees  of  sophistication  for  its  students 
through  travel  and  other  opportunities  for  understanding  their  world. 
Early  in  1978,  senior  Cindy  Truelove  flew  to  Ghana  to  attend  a  confer- 
ence sponsored  by  the  United  Nations  Trade  and  Development  Confer- 
ence and  the  IBM  Foundation  for  Global  Equality.  In  the  meantime,  her 
classmate  Vicki  Jayne  planned  a  second  trip  to  Washington,  D.C.,  in  as 
many  years.  As  editor  of  the  Twig,  Jayne  was  invited  to  a  White  House 
news  briefing,  at  which  she  could  question  President  Carter,  whose  inau- 
gural ceremonies  she  had  attended  a  year  earlier. 

President  Carter's  administration  was  beset  by  problems,  two  of  which 
were  the  steaming  inflation  rate  at  home  and  the  simmering  hostage  cri- 
sis abroad.  When  the  Ayatollah  Khomeini  wrested  control  of  Iran  in  1979 
from  Shah  Pahlavi,  who  was  in  New  York  for  medical  treatment,  the  dis- 
sident forces  captured  the  United  States  Embassy  in  Teheran  and  held 
fifty-two  Americans  hostage  for  444  days — until  after  Ronald  Reagan 
had  soundly  defeated  Jimmy  Carter  in  the  1980  presidential  election  and 
had  been  inaugurated  as  fortieth  president  of  the  United  States.*  Mean- 
while, the  nation's  people  became  increasingly  hostile  toward  the  Ayatol- 
lah and  his  regime.  Inspired  by  the  popular  song,  "Tie  a  Yellow  Ribbon 
'Round  the  Old  Oak  Tree,"  Americans  everywhere  displayed  yellow  rib- 
bons as  a  show  of  support  for  the  hostages,  and,  in  March  1980,  the  SGA 
sponsored  a  ceremony  in  which  students  so  adorned  one-hundred  cam- 
pus oaks. 

In  addition  to  Ann  Kurtz,  new  member  of  the  foreign  languages  de- 
partment, who  had  just  arrived  from  Iran,  Meredith  also  claimed  per- 
sonal ties  to  the  territory  through  Helen  Turlington,  former  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  sociology,  and  her  husband,  Henry  Turlington,  a  former  trustee. 
In  1977,  the  Turlingtons  had  left  their  respective  posts  to  serve  as  mis- 
sionaries in  Iran,  and,  for  a  time  in  1979,  their  well-being  was  uncertain. 

*The  Charter  Centennial  issue  of  the  student  newspaper  for  February  27,  1991, 
reported  that,  in  a  1980  mock  election,  46  percent  of  the  Meredith  students  voting 
had  cast  ballots  for  Reagan  and  3  8  percent  for  Carter. 


I04     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

But  finally  the  good  news  of  their  safety  reached  the  campus,  and  Mere- 
dith reported  that  "Helen  and  Henry  Turlington  .  .  .  were  the  last 
Southern  Baptist  missionaries  to  leave  the  country,  according  to  the 
Biblical  Recorder.  .  .  ."^^  On  their  return  home,  Mrs.  Turlington  re- 
joined the  faculty. 

WITH  ALUMNAE  NUMBERING  in  the  thousands,  and  with  all  its  constituen- 
cies growing,  Meredith  constantly  dealt  with  death  in  the  college  family. 
In  that  context,  the  years  1976-80  were,  in  many  ways,  some  of  the  sad- 
dest. The  historical  account  of  an  era  cannot  note  all  rites  of  passage;  but 
neither  can  it  fail  to  acknowledge  the  loss  of  some  of  the  very  young 
women,  whose  tragic  deaths  so  deeply  affected  their  peers  in  the  residence 
halls  and  classrooms,  or  the  older,  wiser,  legendary  women  and  men, 
whose  influence  had  already  shaped  the  College  forever.  Ellen  Amanda 
Rumley,  a  senior,  died  October  3,  1976;  Linda  Morgan  and  Susan  Gen- 
carelli,  both  juniors,  died  in  1978.  All  three  students  were  killed  in  auto- 
mobile accidents.  And  students  Lynn  Knott  and  Martha  Nell  Tucker  died 
in  1976,  both  of  natural  causes.  Carlyle  Campbell,  Meredith's  fourth 
president,  who  served  for  twenty-seven  years,  died  on  July  27,  1977. 
Louise  Lanham,  associate  professor  of  English,  1935-54,  died  April  i, 
1976;  Ralph  McLain,  professor  of  religion  and  chairman  of  the  depart- 
ment for  thirty-two  years,  died  August  27,  1977,  only  three  months  after 
he  retired;  L.E.M.  Freeman,  professor  of  religion  and  head  of  the  depart- 
ment, 1910-49,  died  January  21,  1979;  and  Ellen  Brewer,  professor  of 
home  economics,  1922-1966,  died  September  19,  1979.  The  deaths  of 
trustees — both  current  and  former — included  Kemp  S.  Cate,  July  23, 
1976;  Robert  W.  Kicklighter,  October  19,  1978;  Bland  B.  Pruitt,  Febru- 
ary 12,  1980;  Henry  M.  Shaw,  June  15,  1980;  and  Shearon  Harris,  Vice 
Chairman  of  the  Board,  August  28,  1980.  Harry  Dunston,  cook,  and 
Louise  Booker,  member  of  the  housekeeping  staff,  each  having  served 
Meredith  for  forty-one  years,  died  in  May  1980  and  July  17,  1980,  re- 
spectively; and  Mary  Davis,  in  her  fourth  year  as  resident  adviser,  died 
August  28,  1976. 

In  memory  of  Ellen  Rumley,  and  with  the  financial  help  of  her  parents, 
the  seniors  in  1977  specified  their  class  gift  as  a  gazebo,  which  was  later 
built  near  the  lake  and  the  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheater.  And  in  their 
daughter's  honor,  Sarah  Katherine  Lurches  Rumley,  '43,  and  Leon  Rum- 


"treasure  in  earthen  vessels":  1976-1980    I    105 

ley  established  the  Ellen  Amanda  Rumley  Memorial  Scholarship  Endow- 
ment. Classmates  and  friends  of  Lynn  Knott  bought  and  hung  in  the  Fire- 
side Room  of  Gate  Center  a  seascape  by  Lynn's  favorite  artist,  Austin 
Johnson. 

Because  Dr.  Campbell's  death  occurred  between  semesters,  Meredith 
chose  the  first  convocation  of  the  new  academic  year  to  remember  him. 
Norma  Rose,  '36,  spoke  for  the  faculty;  Zelma  Green  Williams,  '61,  for 
the  alumnae;  Edith  Stephenson  Simpson,  '48,  for  the  trustees;  and  John  E. 
Weems  for  the  administration. 

The  News  and  Observer  also  paid  tribute  to  President  Campbell: 

Campbell  was  a  man  of  great  civility,  scholarship  and  religious  con- 
viction. And  despite  his  distinguished  bearing,  he  was  a  completely 
unpretentious  man — open,  approachable  and  genuinely  caring  for 
others.  During  his  29  years  as  head  of  the  Baptist  liberal  arts  college 
on  Hillsborough  Street,  he  imparted  those  ideals  of  knowledge  and 
insight  that  give  meaning  and  purpose  to  the  lives  of  thousands  of 
the  school's  alumnae. ^^ 

While  Shearon  Harris's  service  on  the  Board  spanned  only  ten  years,  it 
was  of  such  significance  that  his  fellow  trustees  had  voted  in  April,  before 
his  death  in  August,  to  "look  with  favor"  upon  constructing  a  new  build- 
ing for  the  math  and  business  departments  and  naming  it  in  Mr.  Harris's 
honor.  ^"^ 

To  reflect  on  these  "saints" — students,  faculty,  staff,  and  trustees  alike 
— is  to  revisit  the  meaning  of  "treasure  in  earthen  vessels."  In  his  1976 
Meredith  article  under  the  same  title.  Dean  Burris  said,  "Every  Christian 
is  a  minister,  called  to  mediate  between  God  and  other  people,  called  to 
do  the  work  of  the  world.  This  assumption  is  at  the  heart  of  curriculum 
planning,  faculty  selection,  and  instruction  in  a  Christian  college."^^ 


5 


LARGER  COLLEGE, 

SMALLER  WORLD 

1981-1983 


ON  HER  RETURN  from  3.  Summer  seminar  in  India,  Susan  Gilbert,  assistant 
professor  of  English,  said, 

I  think  it  is  right  remarkable  that  Meredith,  which  was  once  a  tra- 
ditional— a  very  provincial — college,  has  a  faculty  of  real  world 
travelers.  .  .  . 

We  have  in  our  minds  now  a  picture  of  the  Indian  women  and 
children,  and  somehow  we  have  to  help  the  young  women  at 
Meredith  include  in  their  life  experiences  a  concern  for  those  peo- 
ple. At  eighteen  or  twenty,  students  can't  be  blamed  for  having  their 
imaginations  focused  more  narrowly  on  their  own  lives.  Surely  in 
these  times  they're  worried  about  jobs.  Will  they  be  prosperous? 
Will  they  be  secure?  Our  experiences  in  India  must  make  us,  their 
teachers,  more  secure  in  helping  them  gain  perspective  on  their 
enormous  wealth — to  help  them  see  it,  be  comfortable  with  it,  be 
generous,  and  to  find  ways  of  being  happy  in  being  generous.^ 

Dr.  Gilbert  was  one  of  fourteen  professors  from  Raleigh  who  partici- 
pated in  the  1982  Meredith-sponsored  seminar,  which  was  funded  by  a 
Fulbright-Hayes  grant  from  the  U.S.  Office  of  Education.  She  kept  com- 
pany in  India  with  colleagues  Dorothy  Preston,  mathematics;  Ann  Kurtz 
and  William  Ledford,  foreign  languages;  Evelyn  Simmons,  economics; 

106 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-1983      I      IO7 

and  nine  faculty  members  from  the  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges  consor- 
tium. Mrs.  Simmons  directed  the  group's  search  to  determine  how  science 
and  technology  had  affected  India.  She  said  the  seminar  "was  designed  for 
us  to  gain  insight  into  Indian  problems  and  prospects  and  culture;  to  re- 
turn to  the  Raleigh  community  and  infuse  others — students,  faculty,  and 
the  community  at  large — with  some  of  these  ideas  that  would  create  a  bet- 
ter understanding  between  the  United  States  and  India. "- 

Gilbert  recalled  a  highlight  of  the  trip:  "I  don't  know  how  many  of  us 
had  been  received  by  a  head  of  state  before,  but  we — only  our  group — 
were  in  Mrs.  Gandhi's  residence  for  an  hour  around  the  conference  table 
on  Saturday  morning."^  Indira  Gandhi  had  met  in  1974  with  Vice  Presi- 
dent Sandra  Thomas,  representative  of  the  World  Education  Fellowship, 
and  in  1976  with  history  professor  Rosalie  Gates,  participant  in  a  two- 
month  seminar  in  India.  Dr.  Kurtz's  meeting  with  Mrs.  Gandhi  was  her 
second  opportunity  for  an  audience  with  a  head  of  state,  she  having  met 
with  the  Shah  of  Iran  in  1978. 

In  April  1983,  K.R.  Narayanan,  India's  ambasador  to  the  United  States, 
enriched  the  India-Meredith  exchange  when  he  addressed  the  subject  of 
U.S. -Indian  Relations  in  a  public  lecture  on  the  campus.  In  smaller  groups, 
he  spoke  informally  about  Gandhi,  about  the  progress  of  his  country  as  an 
industrial  power,  and  about  issues  common  to  the  United  States  and  India. 
Narayanan  noted  that  "no  bilateral  differences  exist  between  the  two  na- 
tions, just  differences  in  their  approach  to  the  rest  of  the  world.'"^ 

While  his  colleagues  traveled  in  India,  Lyn  Aubrecht,  associate  profes- 
sor of  psychology,  used  a  sabbatical  leave  to  travel  the  world  of  politics  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  where  he  was  on  the  staff  of  Congressman  Austin  J. 
Murphy  of  Pennsylvania,  chairman  of  the  House  Subcommittee  on  Select 
Education.  Dr.  Aubrecht  accepted  his  appointment  as  Congressional  Sci- 
ence Fellow  of  the  American  Psychological  Association  because  of  his 
advocacy  for  programs  for  gifted  children.  Whatever  he  contributed  to 
Representative  Murphy's  efforts  toward  such  programs,  he  also  found 
himself  immersed  in  "the  sale  of  AWACS  planes  to  Saudi,  Arabia;  the 
Clean  Air  Act;  the  'Apple  Computer  Bill';  Student  Financial  Aid;  and  .  .  . 
[research  on]  the  MX  missile."^ 

AIR  TRAVEL  AND  iustaut  Communication  decreased  the  size  of  the  world. 
And  programs  that  attracted  students  to  Meredith  increased  the  size  of 


I08      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

the  College.  In  the  early  days  of  the  19  8 1  fall  term,  three  applicants  for 
admission  vied  for  every  available  space.  Mr.  Baker  had  already  urged  the 
trustees  to  act  on  alleviating  a  continuing  "critical  housing  shortage"  by 
transforming  the  fourth  floor  of  Barefoot  Residence  Hall  from  attic  to  liv- 
ing quarters.^  But  the  renovations  were  not  enough.  By  1983,  a  modular 
housing  unit  provided  rooms  for  twenty-three  more  students,  increasing 
the  residence  possibilities  on  the  campus  to  about  1,245. 

An  ideal  student  population,  said  the  administration,  would  be  ap- 
proximately 1,600,  including  residents  and  commuters.  In  the  1982-83 
term,  enrollment  declined  at  twenty-one  of  the  thirty  private  senior  col- 
leges in  North  Carolina,  and  even  with  its  residence  halls  overflowing, 
Meredith  felt  the  pressure  of  the  shrinking  student-age  population.  In  the 
fall  of  1982,  admissions  counselors  were  on  the  road  almost  constantly. 
And  to  four  Open  Days  during  the  year,  they  invited  high  school  seniors 
and  their  parents  to  see  for  themselves  the  college  routine  and  to  absorb 
the  campus  ambiance.  High  school  juniors  were  not  ignored;  Meredith 
gave  them  and  their  parents  full  attention  as  they  conferred  with  both  fac- 
ulty and  admissions  people  during  an  annual  Visitation  Day.  These  re- 
cruitment efforts  were  in  addition  to  the  Summer  Scholars  program, 
through  which  rising  high  school  seniors  took  college-level  courses;  and 
to  Acteens  Day,  when  members  of  the  Baptist  organization  for  teenage 
girls  flooded  the  campus.  And  just  to  be  sure  it  had  covered  all  bases,  dur- 
ing Christmas  break  in  1983,  when  prospective  students  would  likely  be 
free  to  watch  television,  Meredith  aired  its  first  television  commercial  on 
the  local  ABC  and  CBS  affihates. 

The  Class  of  1983  had  unwittingly  posed  a  problem  by  graduating  353 
seniors,  approximately  thirty-five  more  than  usual,  leaving  the  admis- 
sions staff  with  thirty-five  additional  spaces  to  fill.  The  housing  policy 
was  clear:  A  student  under  the  age  of  23  lived  either  on  the  campus  or 
with  her  husband  or  a  close  relative,  but  in  unusual  circumstances,  a  se- 
nior might  receive  special  permission  to  live  off  campus;  however,  a  stu- 
dent over  the  age  of  23  was  not  "eligible  for  campus  housing,"  unless  she 
reached  that  age  while  a  resident.^ 

In  1981-82,  half  the  commuting  students  and  ten  percent  of  the  stu- 
dent population  were  over  twenty-three  years  of  age.  Also  during  that 
term,  twenty-five  international  students  made  their  impact  on  the  cam- 
pus. More  students  and  more  programs  necessitated  additional  faculty 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-I983      I      IO9 

and  staff.  "Additional"  faculty  did  not  necessarily  imply  "new"  faculty. 
For  example,  Betty  Webb,  '67,  was  a  new  department  head  but  a  seven- 
year  veteran  of  the  English  department.  As  a  Danforth  Scholar,  she  had 
spent  the  previous  three  years  pursuing  the  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  in  Chapel  Hill.  The  Irish  literature  specialist  was  named 
chairman  of  her  department  in  198 1,  succeeding  Norma  Rose,  who  con- 
tinued to  teach.  Having  been  a  student  of  Dr.  Rose's,  Dr.  Webb  was  reti- 
cent to  acknowledge  a  new  "pecking  order."  But  one  of  her  directives  was 
that  the  department  shed  its  reputation  of  formality,  beginning  with  the 
use  of  first  names  in  extra-classroom  situations.  She  admits  to  having  had 
difficulty  speaking  the  first  name  of  her  professor  "tripplingly  on  the 
tongue,"  as  Hamlet  admonished  his  players  to  "speak  the  speech,"^  but 
Webb  was  taken  aback  when  the  former  chairman  issued  her  own  in- 
structions: "Betty,"  said  Rose,  "if  you  want  to  be  less  formal,  you're  going 
to  have  to  stop  answering  'yes  ma'am'  to  everything  I  say."^ 

In  its  informal  mode,  the  department  honored  Donald  Samson,  its  one 
male  member,  at  a  wedding  shower  on  St.  Valentine's  day  in  1982.  The 
Twig  zealously,  and  with  tongue  in  cheek,  covered  the  event:  "The  groom 
was  lovely  in  his  red  flannel  shirt  and  black  garter,  which  was  worn  fetch- 
ingly  around  his  upper  arm."  Gifts  from  his  colleagues  included  "a  mul- 
titude of  kitchen  gadgets"  and  a  pottery  casserole  dish.^°  At  the  shower. 
Dr.  Rose  reportedly  won  the  prize  for  knowing  the  greatest  number  of 
married  couples  in  British  literature.  (She  captured  the  edge  by  naming  all 
six  wives  of  Henry  VIII.) 

The  Departments  of  Art  and  Education  also  came  under  new  leader- 
ship in  1982.  Craig  Greene,  a  member  of  the  faculty  since  1977,  was  ap- 
pointed chairman  of  the  art  department  and  Daniel  Todd  of  the  educa- 
tion department.  Dr.  Greene  studied  at  Mars  Hill  College  for  the  A.B.;  at 
the  University  of  North  Carohna  in  Greensboro  for  the  M.F.A.;  and  at 
North  Carolina  State  University  for  the  Ed.D.  During  his  tenure  of  almost 
two  decades,  he  would  be  highly  effective  in  bringing  the  then-scattered 
art  department  under  one  roof.  Dr.  Todd,  on  the  other  hand,  remained 
only  briefly  as  chairman  of  the  education  department,  but  in  the  second 
year  of  his  stay  at  Meredith,  his  department  became  one  of  three  to  offer 
graduate  work.  In  addition  to  his  three  years  at  Meredith,  his  service  to 
higher  education  included  Pembroke  State,  North  Carolina  State,  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Charlotte,  East  Carolina  University,  and 


no     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

Appalachian  State.  He  had  earned  the  bachelor's  and  master's  degrees  at 
East  Carolina  and  the  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in 
Chapel  Hill. 

About  70  percent  of  the  faculty  held  doctorates.  Of  the  administra- 
tion's emphasis  on  credentials,  Dean  Burris  said,  "I  wouldn't  say  that 
every  good  teacher  who  has,  say,  a  master's  degree  will  become  a  better 
teacher  by  getting  a  doctorate,  but  I  think  that,  in  most  cases,  it's  true. .  .  . 
We're  in  the  business  of  education,  and  if  we  assume  that  formal  educa- 
tion doesn't  improve  one,  we're  pretty  hard  to  defend." ^^  While  teachers 
with  terminal  degrees  were  available  in  most  disciphnes,  there  was  "still 
considerable  difficulty  in  finding  doctorates  in  business,"  he  said.^^ 

Finding  enough  money  in  their  pockets  was  also  difficult,  according  to 
the  faculty.  Although  salaries  had  increased  about  ten  percent  in  198 1- 
8z,  inflation  was  high,  and  the  teaching  staff  voiced  concern  that  neither 
their  purses  nor  their  services — meritorious  or  otherwise — were  rewarded 
in  "real  dollars."  But  sometimes  tenure  was  more  desirable  than  money. 
In  1982,  thirty-one  of  the  seventy-eight  full-time  faculty  enjoyed  that  as- 
surance. Those  who  taught  in  the  smaller  departments  seemed  to  be 
more  at  risk  than  others  because  the  governing  policy  expressly  stated 
that  no  academic  department  could  be  completely  tenured.  The  trustees 
discussed  suspending  those  rules  in  unusual  circumstances  but  discarded 
the  idea  in  favor  of  authorizing  multi-year  contracts  for  up  to  five  years. 
Joe  Maron,  assistant  professor  of  art,  was  the  first  recipient  of  such  a 
contract. 

TO  CREATE  A  fifth  vice-presidency,  the  trustees  again  amended  the  by-laws, 
naming  Joe  Baker  to  the  new  administrative  post  of  vice  president  for  ad- 
ministrative affairs.  Baker,  who  had  served  for  seventeen  years  as  vice 
president  for  business  and  finance,  thereby  assumed  the  role  of  official  rep- 
resentative of  the  president  and  liaison  to  North  Carolina  Baptists.  On  Oc- 
tober I,  1983,  Charles  E.  Taylor,  with  a  B.S.  and  M.B.A.  from  East  Car- 
olina University,  joined  the  administration  in  the  post  vacated  by  Baker.  At 
the  time  of  his  appointment,  Taylor  was  business  manager  of  Vance- 
Granville  Community  College  in  Henderson,  North  Carolina.  At  Mere- 
dith, he  would  be  responsible  for  financial  services,  information  services, 
the  office  of  campus  activities,  the  college  store,  central  services  and  print- 
ing, environmental  services,  maintenance  and  housekeeping,  food  services, 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-1983      I      III 

light  and  sound,  the  post  office,  security,  the  stables,  and  the  switchboard. 
But  as  the  decade  of  the  eighties  unfolded,  perhaps  the  employment  of  a 
full-time  painter  and  a  full-time  plumber  was  more  indicative  of  the  Col- 
lege's expansion  than  was  the  naming  of  a  fifth  vice  president. 

Contracts  with  architects  and  builders,  as  well  as  with  administrators, 
faculty  members,  and  staff  people,  signaled  a  growing  institution.  "His- 
toric" was  Joe  Baker's  word  for  the  fact  that  both  the  chapel  and  the  busi- 
ness building  were  on  the  drawing  boards  in  198 1.  Not  since  1926  had 
two  buildings  been  under  construction  simultaneously,  he  said.  The  busi- 
ness building  was  dedicated  on  August  30,  1982,  and  the  chapel  twenty- 
five  days  later  on  September  24,  1982.  When  the  contractor  applied  for  a 
building  permit  for  the  Harris  Business  Building,  he  was  surprised  to 
learn  that,  in  1973,  the  city  had  zoned  some  of  the  land  in  Meredith's  im- 
mediate neighborhood  as  "agricultural  productive,"  including  "a  large 
portion  of  the  western  part  of  the  .  .  .  campus  which  at  that  time  was  out- 
side the  city  limits."  ^^  Then  when  Raleigh  annexed  the  College  property,  it 
failed  to  rezone  the  acreage  as  "office  and  institutional."  A  tongue-in- 
cheek  Meredith  news  item,  titled  "Right  Needle,  Wrong  Haystack,"  won- 
dered "if  the  city  fathers  take  Meredith's  nickname,  the  Angel  [Farm] 
more  seriously  than  the  College  does."  A  three-week  waiting  period  and  a 
speedy  hearing  met  the  requirements  for  rezoning,  and,  finally,  the  Har- 
ris Building  was  underway.  "And  one  more  row  has  been  hoed  at  the 
Angel  Farm,"  said  the  magazine.  ^"^ 

The  24,000-square-foot  structure  would  house  the  Departments  of 
Business  and  Economics  and  of  Mathematics.  As  recorded  in  the  previous 
chapter,  the  building,  which  faces  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  and  is  ad- 
jacent to  Joyner  Hall,  was  named  in  honor  of  the  late  Shearon  Harris,  a 
Meredith  trustee  and  the  former  president,  chief  executive  officer,  and 
chairman  of  the  board  of  Carolina  Power  and  Light  Company.  Harris 
had  also  been  a  director  of  the  North  Carolina  Foundation  of  Church  Re- 
lated Colleges  and  parliamentarian  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  Pres- 
ent at  the  dedication  on  August  30,  1982,  were  Mrs.  Harris  and  her 
daughters,  Jenny  Harris  Wallace  and  Sarah  Harris,  who  presented  a  por- 
trait of  Harris  for  the  new  building.  Fred  Tolson  was  the  architect  and 
Davidson  and  Jones  the  builder. 

One  of  the  intriguing  features  of  the  Harris  Building  was  its  purple 
walls.  The  Twig  sought  the  reaction  of  Dr.  Wheeler,  chairman  of  the 


IIZ     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

mathematics  department  and  one  of  Harris's  tenants.  He  said,  "I  thor- 
oughly enjoy  the  color  scheme.  .  .  .  Besides  the  aesthetic  considerations, 
I've  noted  that  confronting  a  student  by  a  purple  wall  at  8:00  a.m. 
markedly  increases  her  alertness  in  class."  ^^  But  one  of  the  most  talked- 
about  topics  in  general  was  the  accelerated  interest  in  business  and  math. 
When  Lois  Frazier,  chairman  of  the  Department  of  Business  and  Eco- 
nomics, said,  "Business  is  a  viable,  changing,  dynamic  field,"^^  one  needed 
only  to  look  at  statistics  for  proof.  About  the  time  she  made  the  state- 
ment, her  department  had  attracted  approximately  200  majors.  In  fact,  in 
the  previous  spring,  Dr.  Frazier  had  reported  that  i,2z6  Meredith  stu- 
dents were  taking  some  kind  of  course  in  business. 

The  firm  of  F.  Carter  Williams  designed  the  chapel,  and,  again,  general 
contractor  Davidson  and  Jones  built  it.  Even  before  its  dedication,  the 
building  was  named  in  honor  of  Christina  and  Seby  Jones,  both  of  whom 
were  generous  contributors  to  the  College.  The  honor  also  recognized 
Mr.  Jones's  advocacy  for  Meredith  as  a  trustee.  He  was  president  of 
Davidson  and  Jones. 

Somehow,  every  stage  of  construction  of  the  chapel  was  of  intense  in- 
terest to  people  who  were  already  intensely  interested  in  Meredith,  and  to 
some  who  were  merely  acquaintances.  St.  Mary's,  the  neighboring  Epis- 
copal junior  college  for  women,  was  a  case  in  point.  The  school's  chap- 
lain, Starke  Dillard,  hand-delivered  to  the  College  a  gift  of  $100  from  the 
students  and  faculty  of  St.  Mary's,  "with  the  hope,"  reported  the  Twig, 
"that  Meredith's  chapel  becomes  as  dear  to  our  campus  as  St.  Mary's 
chapel  has  been  to  them."^^  Early  in  1982,  a  horde  of  "sidewalk  superin- 
tendents" crowded  the  front  drive  as  a  huge,  yellow  crane  gingerly  lifted 
the  cross-topped  steeple  to  the  roof,  but  none  of  the  onlookers  seemed 
prepared  for  the  emotion  of  the  moments. 

The  work  of  two  chapel  committees  might  have  contributed  to  the  per- 
sonal interest  displayed  in  the  construction.  The  programming  commit- 
tee, chaired  by  Marion  Lark,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Hen- 
derson, North  Carolina,  was  dubbed  the  "Inside-Out"  Committee,  and 
the  buildings  and  grounds  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  chaired  by 
Claude  Williams,  was  known  as  the  "Outside-In"  Committee.  The  for- 
mer group  entertained  ideas  from  Meredith  constituents;  visited  other 
campuses  in  an  effort  to  understand  all  the  ways  a  chapel  could  benefit 
the  College;  and  studied  archival  documents  as  bases  for  their  recom- 


On  a  very  early  spring  day  in  1982,  the  steeple  is  put  in  place,  and  a 
cross  is  hoisted  to  the  pinnacle  of  the  Seby  and  Christina  Jones  Chapel. 


114     '     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

mendations.  For  example,  they  applied  to  their  thinking  Thomas  Mere- 
dith's historic  phrase,  "on  strictly  religious  principles,"  from  his  1838 
Baptist  State  Convention  resolution  to  establish  a  female  seminary.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  historical  and  the  religious  components,  the  committee  con- 
sidered the  functional  and  the  aesthetic — "  'a  strong  presence'  but  not  an 
overpowering  one,"  they  determined. ^^ 

The  13,000-square-foot  chapel  sanctuary  seats  about  four  hundred 
people.  The  building  also  houses  the  offices  of  the  campus  minister.  A 
small  meditation  chapel,  made  possible  by  a  bequest  from  Ellen  Brewer,  is 
adorned  with  a  batik — also  a  gift  of  the  Class  of  19x8 — by  artist  Pat 
Stumpf.  And  the  batik  was  not  the  final  gift  to  the  chapel  from  the  class; 
in  1988,  it  donated — to  hang  over  the  fireplace  in  the  common  room — 
a  Paul  Mennis  oil  painting  of  the  original  campus. 

The  architects  wisely  included  a  bride's  room  in  the  plans;  in  January 
1983,  Mr.  Baker  reported  that  the  three-month-old  chapel  had  been  the 
site  of  sixteen  weddings  and  that  eighteen  more  were  penned  in  on  the  col- 
lege calendar.  Over  the  next  decade,  the  number  of  weddings  in  the  chapel 
would  very  nearly  equal  the  number  of  weekends  in  the  same  time  period. 
Marie  Mason,  coordinator  of  campus  activities,  said  that  by  the  end  of  the 
summer  of  1993,  the  weekends  were  already  booked  for  1994,  although 
the  fees  had  increased  from  $75-$ioo  for  people  with  Meredith  connec- 
tions and  from  $200 -$3 00  for  others. 

President  Weems  spoke  of  the  building  as  a  "special  gift  to  the  greater 
community."  He  also  saw  it  as  a  "special  witness"  and  as  "the  gentle  re- 
minder of  our  religious  heritage."  ^^  In  the  dedicatory  address  on  Septem- 
ber 24,  1982,  Duke  McCall,  president  of  the  Baptist  World  AUiance  and 
chancellor  of  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  said, 

I  thank  God  that  we  .  .  .  can  be  reminded  by  this  chapel  that  at  the 
very  heart  of  the  human  search  for  knowledge  and  truth  is  set  this 
symbol  of  the  redemptive  act  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  to  remind  us 
that  "If  you  continue  in  my  word  (my  message),  then  you  are  my 
disciples  indeed;  and  you  shall  (not  you  may)  know  the  truth  and 
the  truth  shall  set  you  free." 

May  every  benediction  here  be  but  a  sign  that  the  worship  is 
ended  and  the  service  has  begun.^° 

Dedication  of  the  Estelle  Johnson  Salisbury  Organ  on  Sunday,  April 
10,  1983,  completed  the  chapel  sanctuary.  W.  David  Lynch  played  a 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD: 1981-1983      I      II5 

recital  to  a  standing-room-only  crowd.  Custom-built  by  the  Andover 
Organ  Company  of  Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  the  ornate  instrument  of 
1,394  pipes  was  the  only  mechanical  action  organ  in  the  family  of  the 
seven  North  Carolina  Baptist  colleges.  It  resembled  an  eighteenth-century 
model;  in  fact,  said  Dr.  Lynch,  "There  are  organs  like  this  built  in  the 
17th  century  in  Europe  that  still  play."-^  While  Martha  Salisbury  Smoot 
initiated  the  largest  gift  toward  the  $150,000  instrument,  the  DuPont 
Foundation  contributed  $50,000.  And,  as  a  special  golden  wedding  an- 
niversary gift  to  each  other,  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard  Maddrey,  '28,  and  her 
husband,  Gordon  Maddrey,  furnished  a  carillon  of  Flemish  bells.  Since  its 
installation  by  the  Maas-Rowe  Carillon  Company  of  Escondido,  Califor- 
nia, it  has  chimed  the  hours  from  7:00  a.m.  until  midnight.  At  noon  and 
at  5:00  P.M.,  it  plays  a  concert — often  of  familiar  hymns — for  Meredith 
and  its  neighbors. 

The  chapel  faced  a  beautified  front  drive.  In  a  valiant  stand  against  age 
and  weather,  the  few  gnarled  old  cherry  trees,  circa  1926,  that  still  lined 
the  avenue  from  Hillsborough  Street  to  Johnson  Hall  had  been  rejuve- 
nated by  a  host  of  younger  trees.  Through  a  letter  to  the  Twig,  Donald 
Samson  of  the  Enghsh  department  had  planted  the  idea  of  students'  re- 
questing cherry  trees  for  Valentine's  Day  gifts  in  1980.  In  198 1,  he  again 
promoted  his  cause:  "I  think  .  .  .  you  would  rather  receive  a  cherry  tree, 
which  will  cost  $20  for  a  four  to  five  foot  tree  and  last  for  twenty  years  or 
more,  than  an  $80  dozen  of  roses  which  would  wilt  in  four  days."^^  The 
idea  took  root.  In  April  of  the  same  year,  Samson  wrote  another  letter:  "In 
the  last  two  years,  fifty  Japanese  cherry  trees  have  been  planted  along  the 
drive  in  front  of  Johnson  Hall  for  all  of  us  at  Meredith  to  enjoy."-^ 

More  cherry  trees,  more  people,  more  cars  were  undeniable  evidences 
of  growth.  In  the  past  decade.  Vice  President  Baker  said  in  1982,  the  stu- 
dent body  had  grown  to  about  1,600  young  women.  "And  where  to  park 
[students']  cars  is  only  one  of  the  situations  we  face."^'*  He  named  other 
challenges:  an  abundance  of  governmental  red  tape;  a  gross  payroll  of 
$352,668.42;  a  greatly  expanded  food  service;  and  the  privatization  of 
some  services,  such  as  the  cleaning  of  classrooms  and  offices.  Ten  years 
ago,  he  said,  the  operating  budget  was  just  over  $3  million;  in  1982  it  was 
more  than  $9  million.  Tuition  and  room  and  board  had  almost  doubled 
from  $2,500  to  $4,400.  But  the  good  news  that  the  endowment  had  in- 
creased to  about  $10  million  from  only  $2  million  brought  a  sense  of 
freedom  from  fear  of  the  proverbial  rainy  day.^^ 


Il6     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

As  fees  climbed,  some  of  the  people  who  charged  them  as  well  as  some 
who  paid  them  asked  why.  Others  wondered  why  charges  were  not 
higher,  inasmuch  as  Meredith's  costs  remained  far  lower  than  those  of 
most  of  the  private  colleges  in  the  state.  President  Weems  explained: 
"Meredith  is  less  likely  to  face  competition  [for  students]  from  private 
schools  than  from  public  schools  [where  the  tuition  is  lower],  and  this  has 
a  very  strong  effect  on  the  amount  of  tuition  that  Meredith  is  able  to 
charge."^^ 

THE  COLLEGE  GREW  not  Only  in  numbers  of  people  and  facilities  but  also 
in  the  interpretation  of  its  mission.  Continuing  education  continued  blaz- 
ing trails.  In  1982,  the  post-baccalaureate  Cultural  Resources  Manage- 
ment Program  awarded  its  first  certificate  to  Jane  Williamson  Teague, 
'54,  executive  director  of  Raleigh's  ArtsPlosure.  And,  in  1983,  the  Legal 
Assistants  Program — one  of  only  three  on  the  east  coast — earned  the  ap- 
proval of  the  American  Bar  Association. 

For  several  years,  adult  students  had  composed  approximately  12  per- 
cent of  the  student  body;  in  1983  alone,  forty  of  them  progressed  from 
the  re-entry  level  to  degree-seeking  status.  Recruiting  was  often  a  word- 
of-mouth  phenomenon,  but  advertising  also  helped.  In  October  of  that 
year,  the  program's  new  director.  Dr.  Ironside,  announced  An  Evening  at 
Meredith  for  women  over  twenty-three.  If  the  idea  of  personally  intro- 
ducing the  College  to  prospective  students  had  worked  for  high  school 
women,  it  should  be  helpful  for  older  ones  as  well.  Ellen  Ironside  was 
named  associate  dean  for  continuing  education  in  1983.  An  undergradu- 
ate philosophy  major  at  Wells,  the  New  Yorker  earned  a  master's  degree 
in  music  from  Columbia.  "When  I  began  to  think  about  what  I  might  do 
when  I  grew  up,  I  found  I  wanted  to  know  more  about  adults'  develop- 
ment,"^^ she  said,  and,  on  moving  to  Chapel  Hill  with  her  family,  she  en- 
rolled at  the  university  in  a  doctoral  program  in  adult  education,  and 
"Meredith's  continuing  education  program  was  waiting  not  too  far  be- 
yond her  dissertation."^^ 

A  long-time  advocate  for  continuing  education  for  former  students, 
the  office  of  alumnae  affairs  had  introduced  in  1981-82  its  Meredith-on- 
the-Road  seminars,  to  be  offered  wherever  an  organization  of  alumnae 
deemed  suitable.  In  the  first  year,  Jon  Lindsey  taught  a  short  course  in  re- 
source information  to  alumnae  in  Richmond  and  Anson  Counties,  North 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-1983      I      II7 

Carolina,  and  Rebecca  Murray  offered  Children's  Literature  Revisited  to 
a  group  in  Red  Springs.  In  the  1982-83  term,  the  Alumnae  Re-entry 
Club  (ARC)  was  organized  to  function  much  like  a  traditional  alumnae 
chapter.  One  of  its  first  projects  was  to  establish  the  Anne  C.  Dahle  Schol- 
arship for  adult  students.  By  1996,  the  scholarship's  principal  had  climbed 
to  $47,000. 

Dahle  cited  some  of  the  changes  in  the  continuing  education  program 
since  197 1:  "registration  by  mail,  evening  classes,  transfer  credit  for  nurs- 
ing school  programs,  official  transcript  evaluation  for  pre-admission 
advising,  contract  majors,  credit  for  extra-institutional  situations.  .  .  ."^^ 
Her  best  experiences,  she  said,  involved  students:  "More  than  one  who 
has  come  in  timid  and  frightened  has  developed  self-confidence,  self- 
understanding,  as  well  as  academic  knowledge,  and  has  gone  out  with  a 
better  ability  to  cope  with  her  environment." ^°  Especially,  she  remem- 
bered Lillie  Lawson-Jones,  who  graduated  in  1982  after  only  five  regular 
semesters  and  three  summers: 

Lillie  Lawson-Jones  dropped  out  of  high  school  in  the  tenth  grade 
because  of  disagreement  with  her  mother.  She  worked  in  a  variety 
of  jobs,  including  driving  a  taxi  in  a  large  northern  city.  Later  she 
moved  south  to  live  near  her  grandparents.  When  she  was  just  past 
thirty,  a  series  of  unfortunate  incidents  led  to  her  imprisonment. 
Her  term  was  for  eighteen  to  twenty  years.  She  tells  me  that  on  her 
first  day  in  the  correctional  center  for  women  that  she  made  a  vow 
to  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  that  would  improve  her  sit- 
uation. .  .  . 

She  had  completed  the  high  school  equivalency  (GED)  prior  to 
her  incarceration  and  had  made  acceptable  scores.  She  took  the 
Scholastic  Aptitude  Test  in  prison  and  again  scored  satisfactorily.  By 
the  time  she  could  apply  for  study  release,  she  had  applied  to 
Meredith  and  had  conferred  with  me  about  her  courses  for  the  first 
semester. 

This  was  a  new  experience  for  both  of  us.  She  had  to  learn  col- 
lege procedure,  and  I  had  to  learn  prison  procedure.  .  .  .  She  may 
have  been  the  first  study  release  person  to  attend  a  small  liberal  arts 
college  where  the  student  is  expected  to  participate  in  a  total  pro- 
gram, not  just  attend  classes.  .  .  .  Faculty  members  and  students 


Il8      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

happily  provided  transportation.  .  .  .  Prison  officials  were  under- 
standing and  helpful.  .  .  . 

For  Lillie,  learning  was  an  exciting  experience.  She  made  no  effort 
to  avoid  difficult  courses  and  met  each  challenge  with  enthusiasm.^^ 

When  Lawson-Jones  applied  for  parole,  she  knew  it  would  be  granted 
only  after  she  had  found  a  job  and  a  place  to  live.  A  retired  member  of  the 
college  staff  rented  her  a  room,  and  she  landed  a  job  with  flexible  hours. 
Dahle  continued. 

Again  Lillie  had  to  work  through  a  new  experience — freedom,  .  .  . 
When  she  entered  college,  her  goal  was  to  become  a  social  worker. 
.  .  .  Lillie  is  in  her  second  year  of  a  graduate  program  in  social  work 
at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  Chapel  Hill.  ...  It  is  not 
often  that  an  academic  adviser  is  able  to  watch  such  progress. 
Working  with  Lillie  Lawson-Jones  has  been  that  most  rewarding 
experience  of  my  last  five  years.  Probably  of  my  entire  career. ^^ 

As  exceptional  people  in  exceptional  times  lift  careers  beyond  day-to- 
day routine,  a  vision  revisited  can  inspire  a  college  to  step  boldly  past  the 
ordinary.  Meredith  climbed  above  the  status  quo  in  February  1983  with 
the  re-establishment  of  graduate  studies.  Offering  the  master's  degree  was 
not  a  spur-of-the-moment  decision,  the  1978-80  self-study  having  raised 
the  possibilities.  Clara  Bunn  chaired  an  ad  hoc  commitee  on  graduate 
studies,  its  members  including  Allen  Page,  religion;  Lyn  Aubrecht,  psy- 
chology; Gene  Sumner,  sociology  and  social  work;  Jon  Lindsey,  library; 
Susan  Gilbert,  English;  and  Allen  Burris,  ex  officio.  Of  their  work.  Page 
said,  "If  there  is  a  stone  unturned,  it  is  because  we  didn't  find  the  stone."^^ 
The  committee's  recommendation  was  short  and  to  the  point: 

The  offering  of  post  baccalaureate  studies  is  consistent  with  Mere- 
dith College's  mission,  purpose,  and  history  of  providing  outstand- 
ing educational  opportunities  to  women.  Therefore,  we  recommend 
that  the  college  proceed  to  establish  a  process  by  which  specific 
graduate  programs  can  be  considered  and  implemented.^'* 

The  offering  of  graduate  studies  was  consistent  with  Meredith's  mission 
in  1983,  as  it  had  been  in  1902.  Although  the  College  had  awarded  only 
three  such  degrees  in  the  ten  years  between  1902  and  191 1,  it  had  indeed. 


LARGER  COLLEGE,   SMALLER  WORLD: I981-I983      I      II9 

in  those  early  years,  granted  the  master's  degree. ^^  The  Academic  Coun- 
cil endorsed  the  recommendation,  and  the  faculty  amended  it  to  read, 
"that  the  college  proceed  to  establish  a  process  by  which  specific  graduate 
programs  and  other  post-baccalaureate  programs  can  be  considered.  . .  ?^ 
By  unanimous  vote,  the  Board  of  Trustees  authorized  graduate  studies  in 
business  administration,  education,  and  music  on  February  25,  1983. 
News  of  the  giant  step  was  accompanied  by  a  statement  of  rationale  from 
each  chairman  of  the  three  departments  involved.  Lois  Frazier  of  the  busi- 
ness department  said,  "Until  Campbell  University  initiated  a  satelllite 
master's  program  in  business  at  Peace  College  in  Raleigh,  the  nearest 
MBA  possibilities  were  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  Chapel  Hill 
and  at  Duke."^^  Daniel  Todd,  education,  quoted  statistics:  "There  are 
3,159  women  teaching  in  the  public  schools  of  seven  area  counties  to 
which  Meredith  is  accessible;  of  those  teachers,  2, zoo  do  not  have  grad- 
uate certification,  there  is  no  elementary  education  master's  degree  in 
Raleigh,  and  Meredith  is  already  the  certifying  agent  for  elementary  edu- 
cation students  at  North  Carolina  State  University." ^^  And  David  Lynch, 
music  and  the  performing  arts,  said,  "Not  only  are  no  such  programs 
available  in  our  geographic  area,  there  are  only  a  few  comparable  ones  in 
the  entire  Southeast."  ^^  In  fact,  the  committee  had  discovered  that,  in 
Meredith's  neighborhood,  only  East  Carolina  and  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  at  Greensboro  offered  master's  degrees  in  music  performance. 
Meredith  would  offer  one  in  performance  and  one  in  pedagogy. 

"Meredith  must  not  limit  its  future  by  defining  itself  too  narrowly," 
said  President  Weems  as  he  encouraged  the  estabfishment  of  graduate 
studies."*"  And  Dean  Burris  added,  "Of  the  thirty  women's  colleges  in  the 
nation  with  graduate  programs,  Meredith  will  be  one  of  two  offering 
graduate  programs  exclusively  for  women.  .  .  ,"''^  the  second  being  Sim- 
mons College  in  Boston.  As  plans  were  made  and  procedures  outlined, 
dual  responsibilities  became  apparent:  Meredith  must  continue  to  scruti- 
nize its  mission  in  the  light  of  educating  women  for  their  times,  and,  to 
survive  the  approaching  lean  years  of  available  college-age  students,  it 
must  maintain  a  steady  enrollment.  In  the  practicality  of  the  second  area 
of  concern,  plans  called  for  classes  to  be  scheduled  "for  the  convenience 
of  the  working  adult  woman";  for  the  instruction  to  come  from  the  reg- 
ular faculty  "plus  some  outside  appointments  for  special  expertise";  and 
for  a  six-year  time  limit  to  be  set  for  completing  the  master's  degree."*^  The 


I20     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

first  year's  enrollment  more  than  doubled  expectations.  By  August  1983, 
forty-eight  students  had  applied  to  begin  the  MBA,  and  forty  were  ex- 
pected to  enroll;  matriculation  of  all  thirty  applicants  in  education  was 
anticipated;  and,  of  the  eight  music  department  applicants,  four  or  five 
were  near  certainties.  A  month  later,  at  the  September  1983  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  president  reported  that  ninety  students  had  ac- 
tually enrolled.  Establishment  of  the  program  was  partially  underwritten 
by  a  portion  of  a  million-dollar  bequest  that  came  to  the  College  from  the 
estate  of  Minnie  Huffman  Reddish  formerly  of  Morganton,  North  Car- 
olina. Dr.  Bunn  accepted  the  post  as  first  director  of  graduate  studies. 

With  all  the  indications  of  success  in  the  new  graduate  studies,  the  core 
of  the  academic  program  remained  at  the  undergraduate  level.  Given  the 
number  of  graduate  students  seeking  the  MBA,  it  was  not  surprising  that 
undergraduates  also  had  been  declaring  majors  designed  to  groom  them 
for  careers  in  business  and  the  professions.  Both  the  Departments  of  Busi- 
ness and  Home  Economics,  for  example,  boomed  with  popularity.  In 
198 1  and  1982  respectively,  each  of  those  departments  installed  charter 
members  of  national  honor  societies:  in  business,  the  Gamma  Rho  Delta 
Chapter  of  Delta  Mu  Delta,  and,  in  home  economics,  the  Delta  Omicron 
Chapter  of  Kappa  Omicron  Phi.  In  1982-83,  home  economics  initiated 
concentrations  in  child  development  and  family  relations;  clothing  and 
fashion  merchandising;  consumer  resource  management;  foods  and  nu- 
trition; interior  design  and  housing;  as  well  as  general  home  economics. 
The  American  Dietetic  Association  approved  the  department's  program 
in  dietetics.  In  the  same  year  and  at  the  invitation  of  Duke  University,  the 
biology  department,  under  its  new  name  of  biology  and  health  sciences, 
offered  its  senior  majors  the  opportunity  to  spend  their  final  year  at  Duke 
in  medical  technology  and  to  graduate  from  Meredith  with  a  degree  in 
that  specialty.  Curricular  changes  dictated  a  new  name  not  only  for  the 
biology  department  but  for  the  math  department,  as  well:  in  1982,  it  be- 
came the  Department  of  Mathematical  Sciences.  Even  the  Department  of 
English  opened  its  door  to  specialization  when,  in  1983,  it  began  offering 
for  juniors  and  seniors  a  concentration  in  professional  communications. 

In  that  year,  for  the  first  time,  the  number  of  students  receiving  the 
Bachelor  of  Science  degree  exceeded  the  number  earning  the  Bachelor  of 
Arts  degree.  Those  and  other  statistics  began  to  tell  a  story.  For  example, 
the  number  of  graduates  who  became  teachers  dropped  from  22.4  per- 
cent in  1979  to  12.5  percent  in  1982;  but  the  number  who  went  into  busi- 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-I983      I      121 

ness  and  industry  climbed  from  41.9  to  51.0  percent.'*^  With  some  fre- 
quency, questions  arose  about  vocational  education  in  a  liberal  arts  col- 
lege. Dean  Burris  commented  on  the  subject  in  Meredith: 

The  theme  I've  pounded  on  is  that  we  try  to  plan  and  provide  an  ed- 
ucation which  takes  into  account  all  the  needs  of  our  students  on 
the  proposition  that  a  liberal  arts  education  ...  is  not  only  not  in- 
compatible with  vocational  education  but  is  essential  to  it,  and  vice 
versa.  .  .  . 

Meredith  has  always  included  concern  for  work.  We've  always 
trained  working  women.  And,  in  the  last  ten  years,  we've  tried  to 
make  that  more  explicit,  both  in  our  propaganda  and  in  the  pro- 
grams we've  supported  and  pushed."^ 

IN  HIS  ANNUAL  messagc  for  1983,  President  Weems  recounted  the  three 
phases  of  his  administration:  Phase  one,  the  securing  of  Meredith, 
1972-76,  was  "devoted  primarily  to  securing  funds  and  devising  a  fi- 
nancial plan  that  ultimately  would  make  Meredith  one  of  the  most  finan- 
cially secure  private  institutions  in  our  region."  Phase  two,  the  unfolding 
of  Meredith,  1977 -198 1,  "prov[edl  to  ourselves  and  the  community  at 
large  that  Meredith  could  provide  many  new  needed  services."  In  Phase 
three,  academic  reshaping,  1982-83,  the  College  sought  to  "devise  a  pro- 
gram that  would  prepare  the  .  .  .  student  for  living  in  the  21st  century."  "^^ 
Records  of  the  twelve  years  of  the  then-current  administration  attest  to 
the  pattern,  but  they  also  show  each  phase  overlapping  the  others.  For 
example,  the  securing  of  Meredith  in  the  seventies  gained  momentum  in 
the  eighties.  In  fact,  in  1983,  the  projected  eight  years  needed  to  complete 
the  $20  million  Visions  program  were  adjusted  to  six.  Dr.  McGee  spread 
the  good  news  that  every  group  of  supporters  had  increased  its  level  of 
giving.  He  told  of  the  Chronicle  of  Higher  Education's  report  that  Mere- 
dith ranked  "among  the  top  colleges  and  universities  in  the  country  in  the 
largest  gifts  received  during  1983. "'^^  It  was  one  of  the  years  in  which  the 
Alumnae  Association  placed  among  the  finalists  for  the  United  States 
Steel  Award  for  annual  giving,  the  37.2  percent  of  contributing  alumnae 
placing  Meredith  in  the  top  15  percent  of  all  colleges  in  the  nation.  The 
faculty  were  also  generous.  Sarah  Lemmon's  gift  of  her  residence  in  1982 
serves  as  a  case  in  point:  The  home,  across  Faircloth  Street  from  the  cam- 
pus, filled  Meredith's  need  for  a  guest  house,  as  Dr.  Lemmon  knew  it 
would. 


IZ2     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

IN  PHASE  TWO,  the  College  attempted  to  distance  itself  from  any  perceived 
provincial  image.  The  first  paragraphs  of  this  chapter  indicate  that  the 
"unfolding"  of  Meredith  continued  beyond  the  five  years  assigned  to  it.  It 
was  a  time  when  the  world  seemed  to  be  everybody's  responsibility.  Af- 
fairs of  nations  and  their  people  intruded  by  television  upon  the  nesting 
places  of  those  who  had  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear.  Occasionally,  listen- 
ers heard  the  term  "global  village." 

Airplanes  transported  travelers  to  farflung  places  in  a  few  hours,  in- 
cluding the  students  in  Meredith  Abroad.  Those  who  participated  in 
19  8 1  recalled  the  excitement  of  England's  royal  wedding.  Senior  Jill  Kib- 
ler  remembered  July  29  as  "The  day  we  all  looked  forward  to  and  which 
made  our  trip  complete.  .  .  ."  She  told  of  the  "few  brave  souls  [who] 
camped  out  along  the  wedding  route  [to  see]  Prince  Charles,  Lady  Diana, 
and  other  members  of  the  Royal  Family  firsthand." '^^  Melody  West,  '83, 
spent  the  following  summer  in  the  same  territory.  She  wrote. 

The  students  who  went  to  Britain  .  .  .  saw  the  Royal  Family,  met 
Sylvester  Stallone,  saw  Elizabeth  Taylor,  witnessed  the  horror  of 
IRA  bombings,  walked  on  Hadrian's  Wall,  camped  out  at  the  hos- 
pital where  Prince  William  was  born,  saw  the  Rolling  Stones,  met  a 
guard  at  Windsor  Castle,  and  heard  a  certain  professor  sing  in  an 
Irish  pub. 

They  also  attended  an  embassy  party  in  Paris,  visited  Shake- 
speare's birthplace,  walked  on  mosaic  floors  made  by  the  Romans, 
walked  in  the  footsteps  of  Chaucer's  pilgrims,  and  saw  the  Crown 
Jewels."*^ 

A  HISTORY  OF  the  College  has  been,  is,  and  will  be  greatly  enriched  by  its 
neighborhood  of  educational  institutions,  state  government,  the  Research 
Triangle  Park  (RTP),  business  and  services,  the  arts,  and  by  people  from 
around  the  nation  and,  indeed,  from  around  the  global  village.  As  a  grow- 
ing Meredith  provided  services,  an  also-growing  community  returned  the 
favors.  After  almost  two  decades  at  Meredith,  Dr.  Shiflett  of  the  chemistry 
department  reflected  on  his  move  to  Raleigh — a  wise  one,  he  said,  for  a 
chemistry  professor.  "For  something  very  specialized  that  we  want  our 
students  to  see  and  have  some  experience  with,  we  can  go  over  to  N.C. 
State  or  to  some  of  the  companies  in  the  Triangle  and  get  exposure  that 
would  be  much  more  difficult  for  students  at  an  isolated  college."'*^ 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    I981-I983      I      123 


Conductor  Gerhardt  Zimmermann  conducts  the  North  Carolina 
Symphony  in  its  annual  Labor  Day  concert  by  the  Meredith  lake. 

On  a  list  of  Meredith's  characteristics,  one  would  never  find  the  word 
"isolated."  In  1981,  Bob  Wharton  joined  the  faculty  because  he  saw 
Raleigh  "as  a  theater  town  and  [was]  bent  on  Meredith's  being  as  strong 
in  community  theater  as  some  of  the  long-established  playhouses,  such  as 
Theater  in  the  Park  and  the  Raleigh  Little  Theater." ^°  In  addition  to 
teaching,  Wharton  directed  Meredith  Performs,  an  "ambitious  new  ap- 
proach to  theater  on  the  campus."^^  In  his  second  year,  he  persuaded  a 
local  television  station  to  produce  a  professional  ad  as  a  public  service  an- 
nouncement. The  spot  aired  frequently  during  the  ticket-buying  season, 
and  the  results  were  impressive,  as  were  the  performances  of  Rodgers  and 
Hammerstein's  The  King  and  I,  Charles  Dickens's  Nicholas  Nickelby,  and 
other  presentations,  including  concerts  by  the  choral  and  dance  groups. 
Mr.  Wharton  was  right;  Raleigh  was  a  theater  town,  and  reviews  for 
Meredith  Performs  often  compared  favorably  with  those  of  the  more  pro- 
fessional playhouses  in  the  city. 

And  what  would  any  college  give  to  see  the  handsome  new  North  Car- 
olina Museum  of  Art  relocate  from  downtown  to  the  school's  own  neigh- 


124     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

borhood  in  1983  ?  Or  what  would  any  college  give  to  host  the  North  Car- 
olina Symphony's  Labor  Day  concert,  heard  by  thousands  of  music  lovers, 
by  the  campus  lake  every  September?  (Admission:  free!)  The  first  such 
event  was  held  on  Sunday,  September  5,  1982,  and  the  annual  concert  has 
continued  through  1998.  Music  has  contributed  significantly  to  the  Col- 
lege's reputation.  In  fact,  the  music  department  once  ran  an  advertisement 
in  a  symphony  concert  program  that  read  "Where  there's  Meredith,  there's 
music."^^  In  turn,  the  symphony  has  been  and  is  an  arts  treasure  for  the 
College,  as  is  the  Raleigh  Symphony,  and  the  National  Opera  Company. 
And  the  North  Carolina  Museum  of  Art,  relocated  to  Meredith's  neigh- 
borhood in  1983. 

Almost  as  joyous  as  hearing  a  symphony  or  visiting  a  gallery  is  finding 
the  very  course  one  seeks  at  a  Cooperating  Raleigh  College.  By  1982,  ju- 
nior Kellie  Farlow  had  taken  three  courses  at  North  Carolina  State.  She 
wrote  about  her  experiences  in  a  guest  editorial  for  the  Twig: 

My  NCSU  registration  card  entitles  me  to  .  .  .  ( i )  use  of  the  library, 
(2)  intercollegiate  athletic  events,  (3)  use  of  the  University  Student 
Center,  (4)  membership  in  Friends  of  the  College,  (5)  use  of  univer- 
sity infirmary,  (6)  use  of  Student  Supply  Store,  and  (7)  other  univer- 
sity facilities,  services,  and  programs. 

It  just  seems  a  shame  to  me  not  to  take  advantage  of  one  of  the 
best  universities  in  the  country  .  .  .  when  we  are  one  mile  down  the 
road. . .  P 

In  the  eyes  of  Meredith  people.  North  Carolina  State  University  has 
long  been  "one  of  the  best"  in  many  ways.  Statistics  are  unavailable  as  to 
how  many  Meredith  women  and  State  men  have  met  in  college  and  mar- 
ried later,  but  a  1983  photograph  in  a  college  magazine  depicted  a  differ- 
ent kind  of  love  affair  between  the  two  schools.  The  picture  showed  what 
appeared  to  be  hundreds  of  Meredith  students  lining  a  beltline  overpass, 
cheering  wildly  as  a  bus  transporting  the  1983  N.C.  State  basketball  team 
rolled  down  the  highway  below.  On  their  way  to  the  airport  and  Albu- 
querque, New  Mexico,  for  the  NCAA  finals,  the  team's  players  could  not 
have  missed  seeing  a  huge  banner  that  Meredith  students  had  draped 
over  the  bridge.  It  read,  "Bring  it  back.  Pack."  The  Wolfpack  indeed 
brought  it  all  back,  N.C.  State's  having  won  the  national  basketball 
championship  that  year. 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-1983      I      125 

The  consortium  of  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges  was  among  Mere- 
dith's many  resources.  It  received  a  Title  II-A  Higher  Education  Act  grant 
for  1981-82,  which,  with  a  gift  to  Meredith  from  the  Jessie  Ball  DuPont 
Religious,  Charitable,  and  Educational  Fund,  helped  provide  "the  com- 
plete run"  oi  Music  Index.  The  acquisition,  housed  at  Meredith,  was  "the 
primary  research  tool  for  a  strong  music  department .  .  .  [and]  not  other- 
wise available  in  any  academic  institution  in  Wake  County."^'* 

Local  people  in  business  and  government  and  in  the  denomination  also 
brought  high  levels  of  expertise  to  the  campus.  For  example.  North  Car- 
olina insurance  commissioner  John  Ingram  taught  the  capital  city  class  a 
lesson  in  the  responsibilities  of  his  office.  About  the  same  time,  state  trea- 
surer Harlan  Boyles  and  municipal  funds  analyst  John  Barnes  instructed 
residents  of  first  Heilman  on  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  inflation.  And, 
in  a  speech  sponsored  by  student  government,  R.G.  Puckett,  editor  of  the 
Biblical  Recorder,  identified  some  organizations — such  as  the  Moral  Ma- 
jority—  and  some  people — such  as  Jerry  Falwell,  Bill  Bright,  and  Jim 
Bakker — as  "ringleaders  in  the  attempt  to  legislate  morality." ^^ 

In  March  1982,  Jay  T.  Mullins,  director  of  the  Shearon  Harris  Visitors' 
Center  of  Carolina  Power  and  Light  Company,  spoke  in  convocation  on 
nuclear  energy.  He  said  he  expected  the  nuclear  power  plant,  then  under 
construction  about  twenty  miles  from  the  College,  to  be  on  line  in  1985 
with  one  unit  and  in  1989  with  the  second. ^^  The  first  unit,  he  said,  would 
supply  electricity  for  400,000  people,  although  Wake  County's  popula- 
tion at  the  time  stood  at  only  300,000.  In  close  time  proximity,  the  busi- 
ness policy  class  heard  David  Rendal,  vice  president  of  Northern  Tele- 
com, speak  on  international  marketing.  And,  in  1983,  Delta  Mu  Delta, 
the  honor  society  for  business  administration,  brought  to  the  campus 
Jane  Bergman,  marketing  and  research  specialist  for  WRAL-TV,  for  a  dis- 
cussion on  Career  Paths  in  Marketing.  Government  also  made  its  many 
contributions.  Meredith  hosted  a  1982  winter  seminar  for  the  North  Car- 
olina Federation  of  College  Democrats,  drawing  on  local  leaders — Jane 
Patterson,  secretary  of  administration;  Chris  Scott,  secretary-treasurer  of 
the  state  AFL-CIO;  and  Judge  Willis  Whichard  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  — 
as  speakers. 

TOWNSPEOPLE  ALSO  GAVE  the  College  high  marks  for  including  them  in 
events  of  mutual  interest.  When  Ross  Millhiser,  vice  chairman  of  the 


126     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Board  of  Philip  Morris  in  New  York,  visited  in  April  1982,  the  planners 
invited  thirty-five  local  business  leaders  to  lunch.  Perhaps  neither  the 
guests  nor  the  business  students  who  heard  him  could  have  imagined  the 
extent  of  the  disfavor  that  would  be  heaped  upon  the  giant  tobacco  com- 
panies in  the  mid-nineties.  Mr.  Millhiser  came  to  discuss  topics  other  than 
problems  associated  with  smoking,  however;  he  came  to  praise  liberal 
arts  colleges:  "I  never  knew  a  time  when  we  needed  the  Meredith  Col- 
leges of  our  land  more,"  he  said.  ...  "I  think  I  could  more  readily  entrust 
the  destiny  of  Philip  Morris  to  a  scholar  of  Greek  philosophy  who  em- 
ploys modern  science  to  deepen  his  understanding  than  to  a  genius  of  so- 
phisticated technology  to  whom  Greek  philosophy  is  Greek." ^^ 

Mr.  Millhiser  was  one  of  an  interesting  variety  of  speakers.  Among 
other  notables  in  1982  were  Gwendolyn  Brooks,  poet  laureate  of  Illinois 
and  the  first  black  woman  to  receive  a  Pulitzer  Prize;  Alexander  Julian,  an 
award-winning  designer  of  men's  fashions;  and  Chris  Sizemore,  who  had 
suffered  through  a  multiple-personalities  disorder,  and  whose  story  be- 
came public  through  the  film  titled  The  Three  Faces  of  Eve.  But  each  aca- 
demic year  offered  its  own  rewards.  In  198 1,  for  example,  just  one  two- 
day  symposium  on  "Toward  Conscious  Conscience"  had  stirred  such 
interest  that  classes  were  suspended  at  three  o'clock  Monday  afternoon 
until  eight  o'clock  Wednesday  morning.  The  purpose  was  "to  explore  de- 
finitions of  conscience.  .  .  ;  to  raise  levels  of  awareness  about  the  roles  of 
conscience  for  the  individual  and  in  culture;  and  to  provide  a  variety  of 
forums  through  which  the  Meredith  community  can  grapple  with  the 
outcomes  of  conscience  as  a  conscious  benefit  of  personal  interaction  and 
decision  making."^^  Virginia  Carter,  vice  president  of  Tandem  Produc- 
tions; Frank  Wood,  professor  of  neuro-psychology  at  Bowman  Gray; 
Hedda  Sharapun,  associate  producer  of  Mr.  Rogers'  Neighborhood,  and 
Carll  Tucker,  editor  of  Saturday  Review,  addressed  the  topics. 

IN  THE  THIRD  phase  of  the  administration's  emphases,  the  College  ad- 
dressed academic  reshaping,  but  one  modification  was  not  initiated  by 
Meredith.  In  the  1981-82  term,  the  Council  on  Social  Work  Education 
directed  that  the  College  replace  its  certification  program  with  a  degree 
program,  offering  a  major  in  social  work.^^  The  change  appeared  for  the 
first  time  in  the  1982-83  catalogue.  And  a  year  later,  totally  at  Mere- 
dith's prerogative,  computer  science  made  its  debut  as  a  major.  The 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    I981-1983      I      I27 

1981-82  catalogue  had  also  carried  a  new  entry  that  drew  attention 
more  to  location  than  to  subject  matter:  "Through  an  arrangement  with 
Marymount  College  in  New  York  City,  students  may  visit  the  college  for 
one  semester.  The  program  provides  many  opportunities  for  study  in  the 
Manhattan  area." 

To  a  greater  degree  than  ever  before,  technology  became  the  tool  of 
choice,  both  for  teaching  and  for  learning.  Ignited  by  the  gift  of  a  teach- 
ing computer  from  the  Data  General  Corporation,  the  "computer  explo- 
sion on  campus"^°  yielded  a  fall-out  of  a  fully  equipped  laboratory  in  the 
new  Harris  Building  and  some  computers  in  other  buildings.  Music  stu- 
dents were  among  the  first  to  learn  the  value  of  technology  in  their  stud- 
ies, but  all  freshmen  learned  word  processing  in  English  in.  In  1983, 
Dean  Burris  said,  "The  regular  course  in  the  introduction  to  computing  is 
growing  faster  than  we  can  get  teachers  to  teach  it.  And,  the  new  major 
is  thriving."^^  As  early  as  198 1,  Meredith  added  an  office  of  computer 
services — or  information  services,  as  it  was  later  called — although  some 
computer  technicians  had  been  employed  earlier.  Mr.  Taylor,  who  over- 
saw such  operations,  said  in  1983  that  the  office  "supports  some  1600 
computer  programs,  2000  procedures  to  run  these  programs  and  150 
milhon  bytes  of  data  storage."^-^ 

While  Meredith  lived  in  the  new  world  of  technology,  it  returned  to 
the  Middle  Ages  for  a  time  in  September  1983.  Beginning  with  convoca- 
tion on  Monday  and  continuing  through  a  courtyard  fair  on  Friday,  a 
week-long  medieval  festival  recreated  the  ambiance  of  the  period.  The 
festival  was  a  "week  of  music,  lectures,  films,  drama,  art,  games,  feasting, 
simulated  combat,  heresy,  worship,  sheep  milking,  medieval  science, 
troubadors,  knights,  monks,  nuns,  tradesmen,  shepherds,  kings,  queens, 
and  fools."^^  Duke  University  lent  the  College  a  display  of  ancient  manu- 
scripts; the  coastal  town  of  Manteo's  brass  rubbing  shoppe  lent  expertise 
in  its  craft;  and  the  religion  department  lent  its  talents  to  write  and  per- 
form a  heresy  trial.  Guest  speakers;  musicians;  and,  at  times,  a  costumed 
faculty,  contributed  to  the  mood. 

THE  LARGER  MEREDITH  became,  the  greater  were  its  concerns  for  security. 
From  time  to  time,  the  College  suffered  the  indignities  of  mischief,  threats, 
even  vandalism.  In  October  198 1,  for  example,  a  bomb  threat  disrupted  a 
Meredith  Performs  production  of  Once  Upon  a  Mattress  in  Jones  Audito- 


128      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

rium.  After  the  security  staff  and  the  Raleigh  police  saw  to  the  evacuation 
of  the  building,  searched  thoroughly,  and  found  nothing,  the  play  contin- 
ued. Even  more  surprising  were  the  several  episodes  of  arson  in  the  early 
evening  of  Tuesday,  February  i6,  19  8  z.  In  the  first  and  most  destructive 
incident,  the  arsonist  set  fire  to  a  wastebasket  in  a  third-floor  restroom  in 
Johnson  Hall,  completely  destroying  the  room  and  costing  the  insurance 
company  $32,000.  That  same  evening,  six  additional  blazes  were  extin- 
guished quickly,  but  the  trauma  of  fear  and  uncertainty  made  for  a  long 
evening.  On  the  following  Sunday  morning,  a  smoke  alarm  on  the  fourth 
floor  of  Vann  Residence  Hall  alerted  students  to  a  hot  iron  left  on  a  stack 
of  clothes  in  the  laundry  room.  And  a  week  after  the  initial  scare,  some- 
one set  fire  to  a  sign-out  card  in  Vann.  Bill  Norton,  director  of  information 
services  and  official  college  spokesperson,  became  a  regular  on  the  six 
o'clock  news  as  reporters  interrogated  him  on  the  status  of  the  investiga- 
tion. Concerned  parents  also  wanted  answers.  The  College  assured  the 
public  of  increased  security;  of  Raleigh  police  investigations;  of  a  "com- 
munity watch"  by  an  SGA-appointed  student  task  force;  of  additional 
smoke  detectors  in  all  buildings.  And  the  North  Carolina  Arson  Aware- 
ness Council  offered  a  $10,000  reward  for  incriminatory  evidence. 

With  the  sign-out  card  burning,  the  harassment  stopped,  but  detectives 
continued  their  work.  Surprisingly,  they  found  that  the  largest  blaze  was 
not  the  first  after  all,  earlier  ones  having  been  discovered  but  dismissed  as 
accidental.  All  in  all,  twelve  fires  were  set  between  January  24  and  Feb- 
ruary 23.  The  arsonist,  thought  to  be  a  student,  was  not  identified. 

Threats  to  and  destruction  of  property  were  signs  of  the  times — but 
not  the  only  signs.  As  women,  in  particular,  heard  the  gospel  of  thinness 
preached  by  fitness  experts  and  makers  of  perfume  and  clothing,  some  en- 
thusiasts threatened  their  own  bodies  with  eating  disorders.  In  1983,  Dr. 
Thomas  was  solicitous  of  the  six  to  eight  students  suspected  of  anorexia 
nervosa.  While  it  was  a  small  number,  she  said,  it  "represents  a  sizeable 
increase  over  the  number  of  cases  at  any  previous  time."^'*  Her  staff  at- 
tended counseling  workshops  and  designated  places  at  which  students 
could  find  help  with  such  disorders  and  with  other  kinds  of  mental,  emo- 
tional, and  social  problems. 

Students  needed  academic  help,  as  well.  The  English  department  found 
it  necessary  to  offer  a  non-credit  course  to  prepare  students  for  English 
III.  Louise  Taylor,  associate  professor  in  the  department,  reported  that 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    I981-1983      I      12,9 

"forty  Students  identified  as  likely  to  have  difficulty  were  sent  a  letter 
telling  them  about  the  course  and  that  thirty-two  of  them  enrolled  in  the 
voluntary  course." ^^ 

THE  DEGREE  OF  importance  attached  by  students  to  their  interests  was 
usually  discernible  through  the  Twig.  In  the  fall  of  198 1,  for  example, 
women's  issues  still  elicited  response,  as  ERA  supporters  made  their 
rounds  seeking  ratification  for  the  amendment,  which  would  fail  in  1982. 
Of  another  issue  that  concerned  women.  Melody  West,  a  junior,  wrote, 

At  the  November  6  SGA  meeting,  the  Meredith  College  student 
body  decided  to  add  its  name  to  a  petition  urging  Raleigh  newspa- 
pers not  to  print  the  names  of  rape  victims. 

It  is  uncertain  how  influential  this  petition  will  be,  but  at  least  the 
Raleigh  papers  will  be  aware  of  the  concern  in  the  area  over  print- 
ing these  victims'  names. ^^ 

And  an  editorial  writer  called  for  Duke  University,  where  former  Presi- 
dent Nixon  earned  his  law  degree,  to  reconsider  its  refusal  to  house  the 
Richard  M.  Nixon  Library: 

Duke  University  has  been  made  an  offer  to  build  a  library  to  house 
Nixon's  6,000  hours  of  tapes  and  3  6  million  pages  of  archives  from 
the  White  House.  Duke  University  Administration  and  Faculty  have 
made  a  stand  that  they  do  not  want  to  commemorate  Nixon  by 
building  a  shrine  to  honor  him. 

Although  some  concern  is  understandable  and  justified  in  this  sit- 
uation, over  concern  seems  to  be  somewhat  unfounded.  The  Nixon 
Library  would  be  a  great  asset  to  the  triangle  area.  The  Library 
would  draw  national  attention  to  this  area.  Because  Watergate  has 
only  occurred  once  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  .  .  .  this  library 
would  stand  as  a  historical  monument  to  attract  many  historians 
and  political  scientists  to  the  area.  .  .  .^^ 

THE  administration's  FOURTH  phase,  beginning  in  1983,  saw  Meredith 
as  "the  New  Leader."  And,  in  that  capacity,  said  Weems,  it  is  important 
that  "our  accomplishments  are  viewed  by  other  institutions  as  attain- 
able."^^ This  historical  record  documents  some  of  the  ways  by  which 
Meredith  emerged  as  a  new  leader.  When  the  president  coined  the  phrase. 


130     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

however,  he  probably  gave  little,  if  any,  thought  as  to  hov^  the  College 
would  lead  in  the  denominational  struggles  of  the  seventies  and  eighties. 
The  situation  was  reminiscent  of  remarks  by  Edward  Hughes  Pruden,  se- 
nior minister  at  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Washington,  D.C.,  during  the 
presidencies  of  Roosevelt,  Truman,  Eisenhower,  Kennedy,  Johnson,  and 
Nixon,  all  of  whom  he  knew.  (President  Truman  had  attended  his 
church.)  While  he  was  pastor-in-residence  at  Meredith,  1970-79,  Dr. 
Pruden  wrote  for  the  Alumnae  Magazine  an  article  titled  "From  a  Pulpit 
in  Washington":  "Washington  Baptists  sometimes  say  that  they  are 
Northern  Baptists  with  a  southern  accent  and  Southern  Baptists  with  a 
northern  exposure.  They  hope  that  some  day  this  spirit  may  be  shared 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  War  Between  the  States  be  laid  to  rest."^^ 
Little  could  he  have  known  then  of  the  civil  war  to  be  fought  in  the  eight- 
ies and  nineties  between  Baptist  inerrantists  and  moderates.  Trouble  was 
brewing  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and  battle  lines  were  being 
drawn.  The  Christian  Century  warned, 

The  biblical-inerrancy  dispute  that  is  currently  upsetting  the  South- 
ern Baptist  Convention  is  the  most  dangerous  controversy  the  de- 
nomination has  ever  faced,  according  to  Walter  Shurden,  professor 
of  church  history  and  dean  of  the  school  of  theology  at  Southern 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary  in  Louisville. 

"The  unique  thing,"  said  Shurden,  "and  the  most  dangerous 
thing,  is  that  we  now  have  for  the  first  time  ...  a  highly  organized, 
apparently  well-funded,  partisan  political  party  going  not  only  for 
the  minds  of  the  Southern  Baptist  people  but  for  the  machinery  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention."  He  charged  that  "the  Southern 
Baptist  inerrantists  are  a  part  of  both  the  new  religious  and  politi- 
cal right  wing,"  and  that  they  have  been  promoting  a  "fundamen- 
talist ecumenism"  and  a  "new  non-denominationalism"  by  cooper- 
ating more  with  other  biblical-inerrancy  advocates  than  with  other 
Southern  Baptists. ^° 

When  Biblical  Recorder  editor  R.G.  Puckett  spoke  to  the  Student  Gov- 
ernment Association  that  same  year,  he  accused  the  "New  Right"  of  try- 
ing to  accomplish  politically  what  they  couldn't  achieve  spiritually.^^  It 
was  the  beginning  of  unprecedented  changes  for  Baptists  and,  therefore, 
for  Meredith.  But  at  the  time,  North  Carolina  Baptists  had  designated 


LARGER  COLLEGE,  SMALLER  WORLD:    1981-1983      I      131 

more  Cooperative  Program  dollars  to  Meredith  than  ever  before.  While 
they  had  contributed  $498,768.17  in  1980,  as  reported  in  Chapter  4, 
they  had  designated  $704,000  for  Meredith  in  198 1,  attesting  to  a  con- 
tinuing pleasant  relationship — so  far — w^ith  each  entity  proud  of  and  co- 
operative with  the  other. 

GIVEN  THE  CULTURE  of  the  new  decade,  Meredith  students,  like  most 
Americans,  expressed  opinions  about  the  thousands  of  men  and  women 
marching  on  Washington  to  oppose  the  draft  registration  and  on  Chicago 
to  support  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment.  They  discussed  the  grain  em- 
bargo that  President  Carter  imposed  upon  the  Soviet  Union  for  its  action 
against  Afghanistan.  They  wept  for  joy  when,  in  198 1,  Iran  released  the 
Americans  whom  it  had  held  hostage  for  444  days.  Meredith  freshmen 
sponsored  a  religious  service  celebrating  the  event.  Juniors  Ann  String- 
field,  Debbie  Huchinson,  Georganne  Narron,  and  Marie  Hiott  drove  to 
Washington  to  see  the  drama  unfold.  Stringfield  reported,  "I  recognized 
a  few  of  the  hostages.  Elizabeth  Ann  Swift  waved  a  flag  at  us.  Others  gave 
victory  signs,  waved,  shouted,  or  simply  smiled.  Two  hostages  were  prac- 
tically hanging  out  the  windows  [of  the  bus].  We  yelled.  We  waved.  We 
laughed.  We  cried.  .  .  .  "'-  On  the  campus,  students  ceremoniously  re- 
moved the  yellow  ribbons,  which  had  adorned  the  trunks  of  one-hundred 
campus  oaks  since  the  hostage  crisis  began. 

Students  then,  as  students  always  have,  tempered  their  academic 
work  with  other  interests —  sports,  for  example.  That  the  golf  team 
played  in  the  198 1  AIAW  Division  III  national  tournament  was  hardly 
an  everyday  occurrence,  however.  The  golfers  not  only  made  history  by 
taking  second  place  in  the  tourney,  but  they  were  also  members  of 
Meredith's  first  athletic  team  to  receive  a  bid  to  compete  for  a  national 
championship.  The  invitation  to  play  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  followed  the 
team's  winning  the  state  title  and  finishing  second  only  to  Wake  Forest  in 
the  regionals.  In  Sioux  City,  additional  honors  went  to  rising  sophomore 
Luann  Johnson,  who  finished  fifth  individually  and  was  named  AU- 
American.  Not  to  be  overshadowed,  an  inspired  tennis  team  captured 
the  state  title  in  1982. 

And  students  enjoyed  an  innate  capacity  for  refreshing  frivolity.  One 
of  the  Twig's  lead  stories  in  1982  reported  on  two  Meredith  groups,  the 
No  No's  and  the  90  Percent  Angels,  who  placed  in  the  top  five  of  an  air 


132     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

band  contest  sponsored  by  WQDR,  a  local  radio  station.  The  paper  ex- 
plained, "The  term  'air  band'  applies  to  a  band  which  mimes  with  silent, 
homemade  instruments  to  the  recording  of  actual  performers ."^^  Jan 
Drach,  lead  singer  for  the  No  No's,  sang  into  a  hair  brush.  The  90  Percent 
Angels — with  lead  singer  Carole  Stebbins;  keyboard  (ironing  board) 
player  Randi  Jones;  guitarist  (tennis  racquet)  Karen  Mills;  and  drummer 
(barrels  and  stools)  Nancy  Byrns — appeared  on  WRAL-TV's  eleven 
o'clock  news. 

However  proficient  the  airband  "musicians,"  or  even  the  golfers  and 
tennis  players,  academics  always  came  first.  A  student  studying  in  the 
Carlyle  Campbell  Library  had  "a  date  with  Carlyle."^'*  (In  fact,  Lou 
Rosser,  English,  would  report  in  1997  that  one  of  her  re-entry  students 
spent  so  many  hours  of  her  pregnancy  in  the  library  that  she  named  her 
new  son  "Carlyle.")  In  198 z,  students  apparently  had  many  such  dates 
if  the  unusually  large  number  of  seniors  named  to  Who's  Who  Among 
Students  in  American  Colleges  and  Universities  indicated  intellectual 
prowess.  Members  of  a  campus  nominating  committee  submitted  the 
names  of  thirty-one  of  their  peers  on  the  basis  of  "decidedly  above  aver- 
age academic  standing,  community  service,  leadership  ability  and  future 
potential."''^  The  honor  attracted  particular  attention  in  1982  because 
only  one-third  of  that  number  had  made  the  list  in  198 1.  Phyllis  Wurst, 
one  of  the  seniors  named  to  Who's  Who,  captured  the  LiUian  Parker  Wal- 
lace Phi  Beta  Kappa  Award  for  "the  best  historical  research  paper  in 
Wake  County,"  ^^  a  feat  that  was  becoming  almost  routine  for  Meredith, 
as  recorded  in  Chapter  3. 

Soon  thereafter,  the  Twig  reported  a  contest  of  a  different  ilk:  the  first 
annual  freshman-sophomore  mathematics  competition.  Sophomore  Beth 
Madren  and  freshman  Cheryl  Bailey  pulled  away  from  the  fourteen 
other  contestants  to  win  first  and  second  places,  respectively.  The  news 
story  implied  admiration  for  the  contestants,  who  had  "tested  their 
analytical  skills  and  acumen  against  the  treacherous  shoals  of  the  .  .  . 
competition."^^ 

The  math  students'  academic  victories  and  the  Meredith  Chorale's  in- 
stant celebrity  boded  well  for  diversity.  In  November  198Z,  the  chorale 
performed  in  Reynolds  Coliseum  with  renowned  singer  Barry  Manilow 
—  and  at  his  invitation.  The  forty-voice  group  sang  backup  for  Manilow's 
encores  "I  Write  the  Songs"  and  "One  Voice." 


LARGER  COLLEGE,   SMALLER  WORLD: 1981-1983      I      I33 

SO  MEREDITH,  THE  larger  college,  knew  and  became  known  in  a  smaller 
world.  As  Suzanne  Britt  wrote  in  1991, 

We  do  not  live  in  a  vacuum,  despite  youthful  convictions  that  only 
the  here-and-now  matters,  only  the  immediately  useful  seems  ap- 
propriate to  learning.  Meredith  College  has  understood  and  demon- 
strated this  fundamental  conviction  about  education.  It  is  what  the 
tired  professor  says  to  the  querulous  student  after  a  classroom  lec- 
ture. When  the  student  asks  the  age-old  question,  "Will  this  count}" 
the  professor  answers,  with  all  the  energy  she  can  muster,  "Every- 
thing counts."  And  the  gap  between  what  we  know  and  what  we  can 
do,  in  this  world  or  the  next,  mercifully  narrows. ^^ 


6 


morning's  energy 


I984-I985 


WAS  IT  "morning  in  America"?  Long  after  President  Ronald  Reagan's 
1984  election  to  a  second  term,  political  analysts  continued  to  remind  the 
electorate  of  a  perceived  "morning  again"  sensibility  of  his  presidency. 
The  same  analysts  searched  for  historical  precedents  that  would  explain 
the  nation's  new-found  political  leanings  of  the  eighties.  Americans  had 
not  made  "a  simple  shift  to  conservatism,"  wrote  Bill  Boyarsky,  a  Reagan 
biographer.  "The  change  was  subtle  and  contradictory.  .  .  ."  But  however 
the  turn  to  the  right  was  precipitated,  he  said,  it  was  "in  a  way  that  ben- 
efited Reagan."^  And  Michael  Schaller,  author  of  Reckoning  with  Rea- 
gan, America  and  Its  President  in  the  1980s,  observed  a  phenomenon: 
"College  students  liked  talk  of  renewal  from  America's  oldest  serving 
president.  On  campuses  where  a  few  years  before  undergraduates  had 
pelted  Lyndon  Johnson  and  Richard  Nixon,  20-year-olds  screamed  'U.S.A.! 
U.S.A.!'  in  response  to  Reagan's  oratory.  He  tapped  a  popular  yearning  to 
restore  a  sense  of  community,  real  or  imagined,  lost  over  the  previous  two 
decades."^ 

Even  among  Reagan  supporters,  few  took  the  eighties  as  an  unquali- 
fied step  forward  because  of  the  increasing  emphasis  on  material  success, 
image,  and  corporate  greed — sometimes  at  the  expense  of  compassion, 
kindness,  open-mindedness,  and  generosity.  But,  in  a  sense,  the  mid- 
eighties  brought  morning  to  the  College.  For  the  nation,  "morning" 

134 


morning's  energy:  1984-1985    I    135 

meant  restoration;  for  the  College,  it  meant  exploration.  Morning  meant 
academic  renewal;  optimum  enrollment,  even  in  a  declining  student  mar- 
ket; new  and  refurbished  campus  facilities;  an  established  place  in  the  In- 
formation Age;  and  financial  security.  The  College  was  alive  with  morn- 
ing's energy. 

A  lively  concept  sprang  into  being  in  May  1983,  when  the  admissions 
committee  recommended  "that  the  College  develop  some  identifiable 
program  to  enrich  the  educational  opportunities  for  superior  students."^ 
Actually,  a  challenge  for  superior  students  had  been  part  of  the  academic 
conversation  for  some  time,  but  the  ensuing  ad  hoc  committee  attacked 
its  assignment  with  such  vigor  that  chairman  Bernard  Cochran  was  ready 
in  September  to  recommend  that  Meredith  establish  an  honors  program. 
He  offered  the  committee's  rationale: 

The  Honors  Program  at  Meredith  is  envisioned  as  an  intellectually 
stimulating  and  innovative  educational  experience  which  will  serve 
to  attract  and  retain  the  superior  student.  While  in  the  best  sense 
all  academic  instruction  at  Meredith  is  viewed  as  "stimulating  and 
attractive,"  a  special,  identifiable  "Honors"  track  will  allow  the  es- 
pecially gifted  student  to  develop  academically  to  her  fullest  po- 
tential. .  .  ^ 

The  program  would  admit  honors  students,  on  scholarship,  to  each  en- 
tering class  until,  after  four  years,  approximately  seventy  young  women 
would  claim  that  status.  Through  her  honors  coUoquia  and  her  senior- 
year  honors  thesis,  each  scholar  would  be  exposed  "to  a  thorough  exam- 
ination of  a  broad  spectrum  of  human  knowledge."^  She  would  be  ex- 
pected to  maintain  at  least  a  3.0  grade  point  average  in  all  her  work,  and, 
at  graduation,  would  be  designated  an  Honors  Scholar  graduate.  In 
1984,  when  Meredith  enrolled  its  first  twenty-one  honors  students — 
more  than  the  projected  fifteen  to  twenty — the  prognosticators  upped 
their  predicted  total  number  from  seventy  to  eighty  by  1988. 

As  the  College  finafized  plans  for  its  first  class  of  honors  students,  it 
also  established  its  first  endowed  professorial  chair.  Even  before  Dr.  John- 
son's death  in  1984,  the  determination  was  clear:  the  professorship  would 
be  designated  the  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  Chair  of  English.  In  fact,  the 
Brown  Foundation  had  already  promised  to  underwrite  $100,000  of  the 
endowment  as  soon  as  Meredith  raised  $400,000.  Johnson  died  on  July 


136     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

17,  and,  on  July  20,  the  college  community  gathered  in  Jones  Chapel  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  legendary  teacher,  whose  commitment  to  Christian  ed- 
ucation at  Meredith  spanned  65  years.  The  college  magazine  reported, 

Dr.  Johnson  entered  the  academy  division  of  Meredith  (then  Baptist 
Female  University)  when  she  was  a  sixth-grade  student.  From  that 
time  until  she  taught  "The  Poems  of  Milton"  in  the  fall  of  198Z  she 
was  connected  with  Meredith  as  student,  professor,  and  college  his- 
torian. She  graduated  in  19 17,  returned  to  teach  in  19 18,  and  was 
made  chairman  of  the  department  of  English  in  1952.  She  remained 
in  that  post  until  her  retirement  in  1969  but  continued  to  teach  to 
full  classrooms  through  the  division  of  continuing  education.  .  .  .^ 

In  1984,  the  department  in  which  Dr.  Johnson  had  served  for  so  long 
led  the  College  to  introduce  Writing  Across  the  Curriculum,  a  program 
through  which  every  academic  department  would  endeavor  to  improve 
the  writing  skills  of  its  students.  Also,  the  English  department,  along  with 
art,  economics,  history,  Latin  American  studies,  psychology,  religion,  and 
sociology,  participated  in  a  new,  team-taught,  interdisciplinary  course  ti- 
tled "Woman's  Odyssey."  Funded  by  a  grant  from  the  Duke  University- 
University  of  North  Carolina  Women's  Studies  Center,  the  course  began 
in  the  spring  of  1985  to  help  students  "integrate  the  connections"  among 
"education,  selfhood,  career,  and  family,  and  .  .  .  address  the  problems 
confronting  women  in  many  aspects  of  life  in  the  modern  world,"  said 
Peggy  Starkey,  assistant  professor  of  religion  and  coordinator  of  Woman's 
Odyssey.^ 

Meanwhile,  other  departments  in  the  arts  and  humanities  planned 
innovations  of  their  own.  For  example,  the  cooperative  efforts  of  the 
Department  of  Foreign  Languages  and  of  the  student  development  di- 
vision, which  was  responsible  not  only  for  housing  but  also  for  pro- 
moting cultural  awareness  among  all  students,  created  a  Spanish  hall  in 
one  of  the  dormitories.  By  April  1985,  eighteen  students  had  applied  to 
live  on  the  hall,  where  they  would  concentrate  on  Spanish  language  and 
customs. 

And  more  and  more  students  were  "speaking  the  language"  of  dance. 
In  1984-85,  the  health  and  P.E.  department,  as  it  was  familiarly  known, 
changed  its  name  to  the  Department  of  Health,  Physical  Education,  and 
Dance,  attesting  to  the  importance  of  dance  in  the  curriculum. 


morning's  energy:  1984-1985    I    137 

THE  YEAR  CHALLENGED  planning  Committees  to  observe  in  new  ways 
some  of  the  old  traditions.  The  Founders'  Day  convocation,  for  example, 
opened  the  fall  term,  whereas  its  customary  late  February  date  was  usu- 
ally a  harbinger  of  spring.  And  the  moving  of  the  Baccalaureate  service  to 
the  chapel  after  a  thirty-five-year  observance  in  Jones  Auditorium  "gave  a 
new  flavor  to  this  very  special  time  of  worship  for  the  Class  of  1985,"  ac- 
cording to  the  Rev.  Sam  Carothers,  campus  minister.^  A  significant  aspect 
of  the  occasion  was  that  an  alumna,  the  Rev.  Margaret  Hess,  '78, 
preached  the  first  Baccalaureate  sermon  in  the  new  chapel. 

In  that  same  year,  Meredith  again  availed  itself  of  Dr.  Lemmon's  tal- 
ents, to  say  nothing  of  her  dedication,  by  appointing  her  acting  head*  of 
the  department  of  education  for  the  spring  semester,  until  Mary  John- 
son, associate  professor  of  education  and  a  four-year  veteran  of  the  de- 
partment, assumed  the  permanent  role  the  following  fall.  Dr.  Johnson 
earned  both  her  bachelor's  and  master's  degrees  at  Western  Carolina 
University  and  her  Ed.D.  at  Duke.  She  had  come  to  Meredith  in  1980 
but  was  lured  away,  except  for  her  continuous  teaching  in  the  graduate 
school,  by  the  Wake  County  School  System  in  1984.  A  consistent  advo- 
cate for  public  school  teachers,  Johnson  later  said,  "There  is  a  national 
crisis  in  education,  and  it  is  not  all  education's  fault.  I  think  it  deals  with 
some  of  the  cultural  changes  .  .  .  and  the  expectation  that  schools  are 
supposed  to  do  everything  for  everybody."^  While  she  had  become  well- 
acquainted  with  Meredith,  Johnson's  colleague  Ronald  Bird,  who  as- 
sumed headship  of  the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics  at  the 
same  time,  was  new  to  the  College.  He  was  still  "new"  when  he  left  after 
only  one  year. 

As  participants  called  attention  to  progress  in  the  arts,  humanities,  and 
business,  advocates  for  math  and  science  did  not  sit  idly  by.  The  mathe- 
matics department  took  center  stage  in  1984,  when  one  of  its  students  ex- 
celled in  a  North  American  mathematical  competition.  Several  official 
documents  recorded  the  event,  but  the  Twig  couched  the  news  in  the  stu- 
dent vernacular: 

Early  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  December  i,  1984,  while  most 
Meredith  students  were  still  dreaming  about  the  Christmas  dance 

*The  designation  "head"  replaced  the  title  "chairman"  in  1983. 


138      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

that  evening,  six  [others]  joined  2,144  students  from  350  colleges 
and  universities  in  Canada  and  the  U.S.  in  the  William  Lowell  Put- 
nam Mathematical  Competition.  .  .  . 

[Sophomore]  Laura  Litchfield  placed  among  the  first  quarter  of 
the  contestants  nationally.  .  .  .^° 

Dean  Burris  reported  that  Litchfield  placed  "very  high  in  the  scale  along 
w^ith  .  .  .  students  from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill, 
North  Carolina  State  University,  Duke  and  Davidson."  ^^  Meredith's  aca- 
demic reputation  continued  in  good  company  its  merited  place. 

In  the  good  company  of  the  Bov^man  Gray  School  of  Medicine  of 
Wake  Forest  University,  Meredith  established  a  Physician  Assistant  Train- 
ing Program,  which  would  require  a  student  to  major  in  health  science  at 
Meredith,  with  loi  semester  hours  at  the  College  and  1,000  hours  of 
clinical  experience,  and  to  complete  the  program  at  Bowman  Gray.  And 
in  collaboration  with  Duke,  the  College  announced  a  new  offering  in 
medical  technology.  The  1984-85  catalogue  described  it  as  involving 
"three  years  at  Meredith  and  one  full  calendar  year  at  Duke  University 
Medical  Center.  This  program  prepares  students  to  enter  the  field  as  med- 
ical technologists  with  the  Bachelor  of  Arts  degree.  .  .  ."  In  later  years,  the 
catalogue  added  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  "Career  opportunities  in 
hospitals,  laboratories,  research,  public  health  facilities,  and  educational 
institutions  are  widely  available."  ^^  But  if  catalogue  perusers  thought  a 
program  in  medical  technology  was  too  specialized,  or  even  that  it  was 
new,  they  might  have  been  surprised  to  find  the  following  statement  in  the 
1899 -1900  bulletin  of  Baptist  Female  University: 

Young  women  who  propose  entering  the  profession  of  medicine, 
and  who  do  not  feel  able  to  take  a  four  years'  course,  should  give,  at 
least,  a  year  or  two  to  the  study  of  those  branches  which  form  the 
basis  of  a  medical  education.  To  meet  the  needs  of  this  class,  a  two 
years'  Medical  Preparatory  Course  is  offered.'^ 

If  Meredith  was  concerned  about  the  whole  person,  as  it  claimed  to 
be,  then  it  promoted  physical  fitness.  In  1984-85  the  College  added 
weightlifting  to  its  training  programs.  To  what  degree  weightlifting  pre- 
pared the  athletes  of  1985  is  unclear,  but  the  volleyball  team  boasted  of 
a  9-0  record,  "even  after  playing  Francis  Marion,  a  division  II  school," 


morning's   ENERGY:    1984-I985      I      I39 

crowed  the  Twig.  The  newspaper  took  its  bragging  rights  seriously:  "As 
the  Angels  walked  into  the  gym  their  hearts  sank  when  they  watched  this 
IFrancis  Marion]  team,  who  looked  like  the  U.S.  Olympic  team,  warm 
up."i^ 

While  the  College  never  made  claim  to  fielding  a  team  in  the  Olympics, 
it  played  its  own  Superbowl.  A  new  intramural  sports  program  stirred 
competitive  spirits,  and  students  organized  twenty-six  teams  of  flag  foot- 
ball alone.  The  teams  would  compete  in  September  and  play  for  the  Su- 
perbowl III  championship  on  the  25th.  Intramural  soccer  and  volleyball 
followed. 

A  CURSORY  GLANCE  at  Meredith  from  the  inside  out  rightly  reveals  a  col- 
lege, which,  within  the  framework  of  its  mission,  shapes  its  academic  pro- 
gram to  the  needs  of  women  and  their  times.  On  the  other  hand,  a  picture 
of  the  College  from  the  outside  in  never  mirrors  the  soul  of  the  institu- 
tion. From  that  vantage  point,  one  sees  a  community  very  much  like 
a  small  city — buildings,  roads,  parking  lots,  landscaping,  population.  In 
fact,  in  1984,  Vice  President  Taylor  likened  the  everyday  services  offered 
by  Meredith  to  those  of  a  city:  "utilities,  security,  housing,  food,"  and  re- 
tail. ^^  But  the  onlooker  could  not  always  discern  the  transformations  tak- 
ing place  within  the  "city  limits." 

The  freshman  class  in  1985  was  the  largest  class  to  date.  Its  405  mem- 
bers had  been  selected  from  879  applicants  from  fifteen  states  and  three 
foreign  countries.  They  represented  more  than  150  high  schools.  Among 
the  freshmen  were  four  National  Merit  semifinalists,  several  National 
Merit  commended  students,  and  a  National  Achievement  commended 
student.  Fifteen  scored  high  enough  on  advanced  placement  tests  to  qual- 
ify for  sixty-seven  hours  of  advanced  standing.  The  profile  of  the  class 
also  revealed  that  five  members  received  Meredith  College  Academic 
Scholarships,  twelve  won  Julia  Hamlet  Harris  Scholarships,  and  seven 
qualified  for  Music  Scholarships.  Twenty  students  were  invited  to  partic- 
ipate in  the  honors  program. 

As  students  changed  the  "city,"  the  "city"  also  changed  them.  How 
they  were  to  be  changed  led  the  institution  periodically  to  revisit  the  vi- 
sion of  its  founders.  This  chapter  has  recorded  some  of  the  resources  used 
for  the  academic  transformations  of  undergraduate  degree  candidates, 
but  graduate  studies  figured  more  and  more  prominently  in  the  then- 


140     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

present  and  future  plans.  As  the  College  scrutinized  the  graduate  curricu- 
lum, it  approved  a  second  master's  degree  for  the  Department  of  Music: 
as  of  November  1984,  a  graduate  student  could  earn  a  master's  not  only 
in  performance  and  pedagogy  but  also  in  music  education.  In  a  graduate 
a  program  that  required  two  years  of  course  work,  students  in  any  one  of 
the  disciplines  could  take  up  to  six  calendar  years  to  complete  a  degree. 
Approximately  180  graduate  students  had  enrolled,  and  a  1985  profile 
showed  that  they  represented  "more  than  fifty  companies,  many  schools 
and  public  school  systems,  and  several  churches  in  the  Research  Triangle 
area."^^  Twenty-four  percent  of  them  were  Meredith  graduates;  38  per- 
cent came  from  seventeen  other  North  Carolina  institutions;  and  another 
3  8  percent  represented  thirty-nine  colleges  and  universities  from  outside 
North  Carolina  and  one  from  a  foreign  country.  ^^ 

Unlike  the  graduate  program,  continuing  education's  enrichment  pro- 
gram had  been  around  for  a  long  time,  constituting  a  body  of  students 
who  were  not,  by  definition,  degree  seekers.  Of  enrichment.  Dr.  Ironside 
said, 

[E]ducational  value  and  service  to  the  community  are  the  primary 
criteria  which  direct  our  programming.  .  .  .  We  believe  it  is  impor- 
tant for  Meredith  to  offer  a  quality  comprehensive,  non-credit  pro- 
gram with  content  appropriate  to  the  higher  education  setting. 
Thus,  we  see  the  Enrichment  Program  as  a  kind  of  "standing  invi- 
tation" to  the  lifelong  learners  in  our  community,  a  "showcase," 
and  a  place  where  people  may  discover  something  about  Meredith, 
and  perhaps  about  themselves. ^^ 

Statistics  for  each  spring  semester  from  1980-85  showed  that  the  num- 
ber of  enrichment  seekers  accepting  Meredith's  "standing  invitation"  had 
grown  year  by  year,  except  for  1984  when  the  numbers  dropped  signifi- 
cantly but  temporarily.  In  the  spring  of  1980,  enrollment  in  the  program 
was  525;  in  1985,  it  was  1,651. 

Despite  the  rosy  enrollment  picture  at  every  level,  the  facts  remained 
that  a  buyers'  market  was  expected  greatly  to  influence  the  aspirations  of 
Meredith  and  other  colleges  and  universities  over  the  next  few  years. 
President  Weems  reported  to  the  trustees  in  February  1985  that  many  of 
the  thirty-eight  private  colleges  in  North  Carolina  were  losing  students 
and  that  some  might  have  to  close  because  of  their  losses.  On  an  opti- 


morning's   ENERGY:    1984-1985      I      I4I 

mistic  note,  he  said  that  "Duke,  Davidson  and  Wake  Forest  are  strong  in- 
stitutions and  following  them  Meredith  and  Guilford  represent  the 
strongest  of  the  rest."^^ 

Although  cheered  by  enrollment  numbers,  the  College  nevertheless 
saw  a  gloomy  forecast  in  the  traditional-age  student  market  and  sought 
new  venues  for  preaching  the  good  news  of  Meredith.  In  fact,  the  admis- 
sions staff  appointed  Alumnae  Admissions  Representatives  (AARs)  in 
Florida,  Georgia,  New  Jersey,  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky  as 
liaisons  to  young  women  prospects  in  their  respective  areas. 

Meanwhile,  students  remained  comfortable  in  their  college  routines, 
even  as  they  aspired  to  reshape  their  parts  of  the  world.  In  an  election 
year,  one  of  their  challenges  was  to  make  the  changes  they  wanted  by  the 
votes  they  cast.  Politicians  courted  Meredith  students.  In  their  bid  for  the 
same  United  States  Senate  seat,  both  former  Democratic  Governor  James 
Hunt  and  incumbent  Republican  Senator  Jesse  Helms,  held  their 
statewide  youth  rallies  at  the  College.  Hunt  infused  a  breath  of  fresh  air 
into  his  teetering  campaign,  sending — at  her  own  request — Bonnie 
Franklin,  star  of  television's  popular  situation  comedy  One  Day  at  a 
Time,  to  speak  for  the  candidate  in  Jones  Auditorium.  Later,  clad  in  a 
Meredith  sweatshirt,  she  answered  questions  and  signed  autographs,  per- 
haps overhearing  some  Helms  supporters,  who  were  quite  vocal  in 
protesting  the  occasion's  political  focus. 

Apparently  gaining  momentum  from  the  energy  of  an  election  year, 
both  student  Democrats  and  Republicans  made  news  in  1985.  The  Twig 
reported  first  on  the  Democrats: 

Since  about  19  8  z  the  Meredith  Democrats  have  been  unseen  or  un- 
heard of .  .  .  .  Last  year  changed  this.  With  a  little  help  and  enthusi- 
asm from  Becky  Auman  [junior]  and  Dr.  Allen  Page  [professor  of 
religion]  Meredith  was  back  on  the  Democratic  map.  .  .  .  Last 
March,  in  Winston-Salem,  at  the  North  Carolina  College  Demo- 
crats' Convention,  Meredith  was  recognized  for  its  hard  work  and 
became  the  first  recipient  of  the  Best  Small  Club  Award.^° 

Two  weeks  later,  the  paper  touted  the  Republicans: 

Just  like  the  National  Republican  Party,  Meredith's  College  Repub- 
lican Club  is  growing  and  we  hope  you  will  become  a  part  of  it. 


142.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Last  year  at  the  National  Convention  Meredith  won  most  out- 
standing College  Repubhcan  Club  for  a  woman's  college  on  a  na- 
tional level.^^ 

While  the  Twig  probably  never  reached  federal  and  state  lawmakers 
and,  therefore,  had  little  chance  of  significantly  influencing  them,  its  edi- 
tors expressed  their  sentiments  anyway.  For  example,  co-editor  Beth 
Blankenship  disliked  having  to  "buckle  up"  in  her  car:  "The  seatbelt  law 
has  passed  in  North  Carolina,  and  there's  really  nothing  I  can  do  about 
it. ...  I  feel  that  this  law  has  taken  away  one  of  my  fundamental  freedoms 
of  choice.  .  .  ."^^  In  1985,  the  two  editors  took  opposing  stands  on  one  of 
the  "laws"  of  the  campus.  Soon  after  installation  of  the  telephone  system, 
switchboard  operators  were  instructed  to  avoid  giving  students'  private 
numbers  to  outsiders.  Co-editor  Cynthia  Church  was  incredulous: "Oh, 
please,  what  next?"  she  wrote.  "Now,  the  outside  world  can't  get  into  us 
because  they  can't  get  our  number."^^  In  the  same  issue,  co-editor  Beth 
Blankenship  expressed  her  relief  :  "Have  your  number  put  in  the  phone 
book  if  you  want  it  to  be  public  knowledge.  As  for  me,  I'll  take  my  pri- 
vacy any  day."^"^ 

From  the  use  of  telephones  to  the  care  of  college  property,  the  growing 
campus  "city"  sometimes  found  it  necessary  to  mimic  the  bureaucracies 
of  its  "real  world"  counterparts.  Beginning  in  the  1984-85  term,  Mere- 
dith assessed  a  damage  deposit  fee  of  $50.00  from  each  resident  student, 
all  or  part  of  which  she  would  reclaim  upon  graduation  or  withdrawal, 
depending  upon  the  condition  of  her  room  or  whether  a  lost  key  had  ne- 
cessitated new  locks. 

But  the  academic  community  usually  discussed  topics  infinitely  farther 
reaching  than  whether  to  limit  the  distribution  of  telephone  numbers  or 
to  refund  a  damage  deposit.  One  who  inspired  more  substantive  discus- 
sion was  Alex  Haley,  author  of  Roots,  who  attracted  more  than  800  peo- 
ple to  a  morning  convocation  during  "the  strongest  and  most  well  at- 
tended" Black  Emphasis  Week  in  three  years.^^  Later  in  the  spring,  several 
African-American  students  attended  in  Atlanta  a  seminar  on  Black  Stu- 
dents on  White  Campuses.  Returning  with  enthusiasm  and  workable 
ideas,  the  students  were  able  to  influence  some  attitudes  toward  change. 

As  students  underwent  various  metamorphoses  in  their  college  experi- 
ences, they  were  able  to  move  beyond  their  natural  habitats  toward 


morning's  energy:  1984-1985    I    143 

changing  someone  else's  world.  In  that  context,  the  Meredith  Christian 
Association  excelled  in  leadership.  In  1984,  the  campus  minister,  Sam 
Carothers,  reported  "an  exciting  year  for  Meredith  in  the  area  of  student 
missions."^^  One  student,  he  said,  spent  six  months  in  Togo,  West  Africa, 
operating  a  Baptist  Student  Center  on  a  university  campus;  another  opted 
to  become  an  intern  at  the  Raleigh  Food  Bank;  still  others  would,  in  the 
near  future,  be  ministering  in  Germany  and  Argentina. 

For  other  types  of  work,  twenty-one  students  chose  co-ops,  either  the 
full-time  alternating  program  (a  semester  in  class  and  a  semester  at 
work),  in  which  five  were  enrolled,  or  the  parallel  part-time  program 
(part-time  work,  part-time  school),  which,  with  sixteen  students  partici- 
pating, constituted  "the  largest  enrollment  during  a  regular  semester  in 
the  history  of  Meredith's  program."^'' 

SOMETIMES,  A  YOUNG  woman's  private  world  changed  almost  too  radi- 
cally for  coping.  Through  the  help  of  her  friends,  a  resourceful  student 
handled  her  own  crisis  and  helped  others  struggle  through  theirs: 

After  learning  of  my  parents'  separation  last  semester,  my  entire 
world  rocked  and  tossed  in  utter  disarray,  leaving  me  feeling  quite 
betrayed  and  alone.  However,  my  friends,  with  their  strong  hearts 
and  endless  compassion,  have  helped  me  work  through  the  situa- 
tion. Their  support  is  proving  invaluable  to  my  dealing  with  the  sit- 
uation and  my  coming  through  on  top  of  things.  As  more  and  more 
students  on  this  campus  and  other  college  campuses  are  directly  af- 
fected by  the  epidemic  of  separation  and  divorce,  this  type  of  sup- 
port is  needed.^^ 

Those  statements  in  the  March  18,  1985,  Twig  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
support  group  for  students  in  similar  circumstances.  By  the  time  the  April 
I  issue  went  to  press,  six  young  women  had  joined. 

But  most  common  bonds  fostered  happier  circumstances  than  those 
created  by  broken  relationships.  The  Meredith  ring,  for  example,  has 
been  a  "tie  that  binds"  since  1954,  according  to  Dru  Morgan  Hinsley, 
'52,  who,  at  her  retirement  in  1996,  had  managed  the  Meredith  Supply 
Store  for  almost  as  long  as  she  had  been  an  alumna.  Carolyn  Carter,  '73, 
elaborated  to  members  of  the  Class  of  1997  just  after  they  had  received 
their  rings  in  their  junior  year:  "This  ring  which  is  a  symbol  of  everything 


144     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

precious  that  Meredith  stands  for  binds  you  in  a  tangible  way  to  the  Sis- 
terhood which  now  numbers  over  iz,ooo.  My  observation  is  that  more 
people  wear  their  Meredith  rings  than  any  other  college  or  university  that 
I  am  aware  of."^^  And  Annette  Gregory,  reporting  on  the  ring  tradition  in 
the  Twig,  wrote,  "Meredith  was  the  first  college  to  adopt  the  dinner  ring 
style."^°  The  ring,  with  its  oval  onyx  stone,  into  which  is  etched  the 
slightly  off-center  college  seal,  is  a  creation  primarily  of  Ann  Lovell,  '54. 
An  oak  leaf  engraved  on  the  band  and  flanking  the  stone  further  distin- 
guishes the  ring  as  Meredith's.  A  ring  on  the  finger  of  a  student  or  an 
alumna  possibly  introduces  more  strangers  than  one  can  imagine.  In 
1995,  a  student  wrote. 

This  summer  I  was  approached  in  two  unusual  places  because  an 
alumna  spotted  my  ring. 

One  was  on  the  shore  of  Emerald  Isle,  North  Carolina  and  the 
other  was  in  a  store  in  Soho,  New  York.  .  .  . 

All  that  matters  is  that  we  could  relate  to  each  other  and  feel  the 
bond  of  sisterhood  that  this  college  creates.^^ 

In  1984,  Emily  Pool  Aumiller,  '50,  also  proved  the  point  in  her  letter  to 
the  editor  of  Meredith,  although  her  Southern  accent  initiated  the  con- 
versation: 

Recently  my  husband  and  I  stopped  for  an  early  Saturday  supper  at 
a  trendy  restaurant  on  Highway  1 7  in  Ramsey,  New  Jersey,  where 
attractive  young  college  people  serve  potato  skins  and  fried  veggies 
and  variations  on  a  theme  by  Hamburger.  When  our  waitress,  a 
cheerful  and  beautiful  brunette,  brought  our  bill,  she  asked  me, 
"Are  you  from  the  South?" 

"Yes,  I'm  from  the  Carolinas.  .  .  ." 

"I  went  to  college  down  South,"  she  said. 

Naturally  I  asked  where,  and  when  she  said  Meredith,  we 
were  both  incredulous.  Then  she  added,  "I  should  have  noticed 
your  ring.  They  don't  let  me  wear  mine  here.  It  might  fall  in  the 
soup." 

Anyhow,  the  brief  encounter  between  Karen  Smith  of  Allendale, 
New  Jersey,  '83  biology  major,  and  Emily  Pool  Aumiller,  '50  En- 
glish major,  warmed  our  hearts. ^^ 


morning's   ENERGY:    1984-1985      I      I45 

A  primary  tie  that  binds  the  campus  "city"  is  the  facuhy.  Literature 
through  all  the  ages  has  extolled  educators.  Amos  Bronson  Alcott  wrote 
in  1840  from  an  interesting  viewpoint:  "The  true  teacher  defends  his 
pupils  against  his  own  personal  influence.  He  inspires  self-trust.  He 
guides  their  eyes  from  himself  to  the  spirit  that  quickens  him.  He  will 
have  no  disciple."^^  The  late  Ralph  McLain  of  Meredith's  religion  depart- 
ment expressed  the  same  idea  but  from  a  student's  viewpoint:  "A  good 
student  never  stays  attached  to  the  limitations  of  her  teachers."^'*  In  1988, 
when  Meredith  was  ranked  fifteenth  among  the  nation's  small  compre- 
hensive colleges,  President  Weems  credited  the  faculty:  "I  am  pleased  that 
they  are  being  recognized  for  their  hard  work  and  high  standards,"  he 
said.^^  Historian  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  quoted  from  President  Bruce  Heil- 
man's  inaugural  address:  "[F] acuity  members  are  at  the  heart  of  the  aca- 
demic enterprise,  and  the  end  result  depends  on  their  quality." ^^ 

As  a  body,  these  scholars  covet  academic  freedom  as  one  of  their  "un- 
alienable rights  [of]  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."^^  The  fac- 
ulty often  raises  its  collective  voice  in  support  of  a  cause  that  ultimately 
boils  down  to  the  cause  of  academic  freedom,  even  if  the  vocal  reaction 
causes  strained  relationships.  Such  was  the  case  in  1985  when,  by  resolu- 
tion, the  faculty  supported  its  colleague  Clyde  Edgerton  in  his  perceived 
struggle  with  academic  freedom  at  Campbell  University,  a  sister  institu- 
tion of  North  Carolina  Baptists.  Mr.  Edgerton's  first  novel,  Raney,  had 
satirized  conservative  Baptists  but  had  been  well  received  by  critics  and 
the  general  public.  Its  publication  would  have  been  less  threatening  had 
it  not  appeared  when  Campbell's  president,  Norman  Wiggins,  was  also 
president  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention.The  Meredith  faculty's  resolu- 
tion voiced  support  for  Mr.  Edgerton;  in  reaction,  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  Meredith's  trustees,  also  by  resolution,  expressed  regret  that  Camp- 
bell might  have  been  offended.  As  far  as  public  records  show,  the  matter 
ended  there,  and  Clyde  Edgerton  has  continued  his  writing — and  his 
irony — through  several  novels  since. 

IN  1984,  A  new  building  gave  the  chemistry  department  a  rebirth  of  sorts, 
beginning  with  the  announcement  of  a  gift  of  approximately  $100,000 
toward  a  chemistry  research  center.  With  the  gift  came  the  condition  that 
the  center  be  named  in  honor  of  Mary  Yarbrough.  Plans  moved  swiftly. 
Groundbreaking  was  on  the  Alumnae  Day  agenda  for  May  12,  and  the 


146     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

honoree  herself  turned  a  spade  or  two  of  dirt.  On  May  10,  1985,  one  year 
after  the  groundbreaking  and  six  months  after  Dr.  Yarbrough's  death,  the 
Mary  E.Yarbrough  Research  Center,  adjacent  to  Hunter  Hall,  was  dedi- 
cated. Joe  Baker  said  the  facility  represented  "a  significant  step  forward," 
adding,  "For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Meredith  College  there  is  a  fa- 
cility on  campus  totally  dedicated  to  research.  This  building  contains 
two  labs,  one  climatically  controlled,  two  offices,  and  a  greenhouse  [that] 
will  add  substantially  to  the  science  programs  at  Meredith.  .  .  .  This  is 
truly  a  fitting  monument  to  the  progressive  leadership  of  Dr.  Mary  Yar- 
brough,"^^  The  legendary  professor  of  chemistry  and  physics,  1928-72, 
died  following  a  stroke  on  November  14,  1984,  and  a  service  in  Jones 
Chapel  honored  her  memory.  A  member  of  Meredith's  Class  of  1926, 
Yarbrough  was  the  first  woman  to  earn  a  graduate  degree  from  North 
Carolina  State  University.  The  Raleigh  Times  paid  tribute  to  her:  "Her 
lamp  stayed  steady,  lighting  for  younger  women  the  path  to  career 
achievement.  She  held  that  lamp  ahead  of  them,  but  never  so  far  ahead 
that  they  would  despair  of  following." ^^ 

Mary  Yarbrough  was  an  alumna  extraordinaire — one  of  many. 
Meredith  was  and  is  fortunate  in  the  high  degree  of  loyalty  of  its  former 
students.  For  their  careers,  their  communities,  and  their  college,  many  of 
them  have  held  lamps,  carried  torches,  lit  pathways — each  in  her  own 
fashion.  Alumna  Roxie  Collie  Laybourne,  '32,  started  a  career  in  taxi- 
dermy after  earning  a  master's  degree  at  George  Washington  University. 
But,  according  to  an  article  in  a  1982  Smithsonian  magazine,  she  became 
an  "ornithologist  and  research  associate  in  the  Smithsonian's  Division  of 
Birds  .  .  .  [and]  a  part-time  zoologist  with  the  Division  of  Law  Enforce- 
ment of  the  FWS  (Fish  and  Wildlife  Service)."  Mrs.  Laybourne  was  so  ac- 
complished in  ornithology  that  two  subspecies  of  birds  were  named  in  her 
honor.  In  fact,  said  writer  Mike  Lipske,  she  was  "this  country's  absolute 
last  word  on  the  identification  of  feathers."'^°  The  distinction  has  led  air- 
craft engineers  and  archaeologists  alike  to  rely  on  her  expertise. 

Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill,  '27,  almost  made  a  career  of  lending  to 
Meredith  her  generous  heart  and  her  eye  for  beauty.  In  1984,  after  her 
successful  oak-planting  campaign  a  decade  earlier,  she  identified  another 
spot  on  the  campus  that  needed  attention  and  wrote  to  certain  alumnae 
asking  for  support: 


morning's   ENERGY:    1984-I985      I      I47 

When  I  found  that  at  least  as  much — if  not  more — traffic  passes 
through  the  east  gate  [as]  the  south  entrance  on  Hillsborough 
Street,  and  that  so  many  people  traveling  on  Interstate  40  see  the 
east  campus,  I  thought,  "What  a  commentary  Meredith  could  make 
by  replacing  the  existing  entrance  with  a  gate  and  a  fence  as  attrac- 
tive as  the  other  campus  landmarks."  So  I  made  my  decision  to  ask 
for  permission  to  appeal  to  the  alumnae  for  funds,  knowing  that  I 
would  underwrite  any  difference  in  amount  raised  and  amount 
spent.'^^ 

Harrill's  idea  became  tangible  over  the  summer,  and,  on  September  z8,  a 
new  gate  was  dedicated  in  honor  of  and  named  for  the  late  Elva  Wall 
Davis,  '10.  Mrs.  Davis's  daughter,  Nan  Davis  Van  Every,  '43,  was  the 
major  financial  underwriter.  The  wrought-iron  gate,  centered  with  an 
oversized  "M"  for  "Meredith,"  is  affixed  to  lantern-topped  stone  columns, 
which  are  similar  to  those  ushering  in  the  long  front  drive  at  Hillsbor- 
ough Street. 

If  visitors  who  attended  the  dedication  rites  toured  the  campus,  they 
likely  saw  an  interesting  new  sculpture  on  the  Faw  Garden  side  of  Jones 
Auditorium.  The  commissioned  work,  A  Joyful  Noise,  sculpted  at  the 
College  by  artist  Dorothy  Gillespie,  was  a  collection  of  colorful  alu- 
minum strips  affixed  to  the  outer  wall  of  Jones.  Sara  Hodgkins,  secretary 
of  North  Carolina's  Department  of  Cultural  Resources,  commented,  "It 
looks  like  she  tossed  ribbons  up  on  the  wall."'^^  At  the  dedication  on  Jan- 
uary 23,  1984,  critics  used  words  such  as  "excitement"  and  "energy"  to 
describe  the  sculpture.  According  to  Blue  Greenberg,  art  instructor  at 
Meredith  and  art  critic  for  the  Durham  Morning  Herald,  Gillespie  was  "a 
major  force  in  the  women's  art  movement.""*^  The  artist  counted  the 
Guggenheim  Museum  among  the  collectors  of  her  work. 

The  sculptor  was  one  of  the  "extra  dimensions"  made  possible  by  the 
Kenan  grant,  which  had  also  brought  other  distinguished  guests  to  the 
campus  for  varying  lengths  of  time:  Betty  Adcock,  poet;  Ann  Vorus,  di- 
rector of  the  Raleigh  School  of  Ballet;  Edouard  Morot  Sir,  professor 
emeritus  of  French  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina;  Julian  Stanley, 
professor  of  psychology  at  Johns  Hopkins  University;  Peggy  Kirk  Bell, 
golf  professional;  Leon  Megginson,  research  professor  of  management  at 


148      1     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

the  University  of  Alabama;  George  Watson,  senior  lecturer  in  English  at 
the  University  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland;  and  Elizabeth  Kennan,  president  of 
Mt.  Holyoke  College. 

Dorothy  Gillespie's  week  on  the  campus  was  credited,  at  least  in  part, 
with  rekindling  interest  in  a  new  art  building,  and,  in  September,  the 
trustees  declared  the  need  for  such  a  facility.  The  big  question  was  whether 
it  should  be  a  separate  building  or  a  wing  added  to  Jones-Wainwright.  Be- 
fore the  problem  was  resolved,  Fred  Tolson  was  named  architect,  and,  by 
February  1985,  he  unveiled  his  preliminary  plan:  The  two-story  art  build- 
ing would  stand  alone  between  Gate  Center  and  the  Weatherspoon  Gym- 
nasium. With  a  million-dollar  price  tag  to  work  toward,  the  trustees  de- 
clared that  funds  would  be  pledged  or  in  hand  before  the  foundation  was 
laid. 

Vice  President  Baker  predicted  the  building's  worth  to  both  art  and 
women  artists:  "It  will  make  possible  the  establishment  of  a  Center  for 
Women  in  the  Visual  Arts.  The  fact  that  Meredith  is  committed  to  the  ed- 
ucation, enrichment,  and  career  development  of  women,  plus  the  close 
proximity  of  the  campus  to  the  North  Carolina  Museum  of  Art,  makes 
Meredith  the  ideal  home  for  such  a  program.'"*"*  Among  the  attributes  of 
such  a  center,  said  Baker,  would  be  the  role  it  would  play  in  providing  a 
possible  graduate  program  in  art. 

Whether  Meredith  needed  the  art  center  was  never  a  question.  But  dis- 
appointment permeated  the  trustees,  the  administration,  and  the  art  fac- 
ulty when  builder  Davidson  and  Jones  estimated  that  construction  costs 
would  almost  double  the  projected  amount.  And  whether  the  architect 
would  return  to  the  drawing  board  depended  upon  the  trustees'  answers 
to  some  of  the  same  questions  they  had  posed  a  year  earlier:  Should  they 
authorize  construction  of  a  smaller  facility  near  Wainwright  and  Jones? 
Should  they  persist  in  their  preference  for  the  west-campus  location  but 
reduce  the  size  of  the  building?  Should  they  adhere  to  the  plans  for  the 
larger  center  but  build  it  in  phases?  Department  head  Craig  Greene  was 
adamant  that  all  art  programs  be  under  one  roof.  As  the  year  ended,  an- 
other question  arose  as  to  whether  contributors  toward  a  building  of  a 
certain  size  and  type  would  welcome  significant  changes.  The  Twig 
quoted  an  anonymous  trustee  as  having  speculated  that  Meredith  "would 
have  to  give  contributors  the  opportunity  to  revoke  their  donations.""*^ 
The  struggles  would  continue  through  completion  of  the  building. 


morning's   ENERGY:    1984-1985      I      I49 

Further  enhancing  the  reputation  of  the  art  department — scattered 
across  the  campus  as  it  was — Dr.  Greene  announced  in  February  1985 
that  renowned  artist  Ben  Long  would  soon  be  setting  up  his  easel  on  third 
floor  of  Johnson  Hall  to  paint  the  official  portraits  of  former  Governor 
James  B.  Hunt  and  of  President  Weems.  In  North  Carolina,  the  name 
"Ben  Long"  evoked  images  of  the  artist's  frescoes  in  the  little  mountain 
Episcopal  churches  of  West  Jefferson  and  Glendale  Springs,  North  Car- 
olina. 

While  the  art  department  claimed  its  share  of  the  College's  attention, 
the  daily  routine  of  academe  never  suffered  from  a  dearth  of  guardian- 
ship— nor  from  a  shortage  of  humor.  On  February  22,  1985,  the  same 
day  that  Dean  Burris  announced  to  the  trustees  that  "approximately  50 
percent  of  the  faculty  is  tenured,'"*^  Rhonda  Zingraff  recorded  the  min- 
utes of  the  faculty  affairs  committee's  meeting  on  tenure  recommenda- 
tions: "Following  weeks  of  hard  thinking,  the  committee  members  dis- 
tinguished themselves  at  this  meeting  with  a  refreshing  blend  of  cerebral 
and  kinetic  accomplishments:  heads  were  in  gear  and  hands  were  in  the 
air!"'^''  Another  honest  reaction  is  also  on  record  for  all  time:  Charles 
Davis,  registrar  and  secretary  of  the  Academic  Council,  was  seldom  given 
to  hyperbole,  but  cancellation  of  the  February  1983  meeting  of  the  coun- 
cil somewhat  altered  his  demeanor.  The  minutes  read,  "There  was  only 
one  item  of  business  that  the  proposer  agreed  could  wait  until  the  March 
meeting.  There  was  heard  around  the  campus  a  great  rejoicing! '"^^ 

Dr.  Davis,  formerly  a  professor  of  mathematics,  sought  to  keep  the 
registrar's  files  "manageable"  by  facetiously  prodding  the  admissions  of- 
fice to  enroll  students  with  surnames  of  rarely  seen  initials,  such  as  "I"  or 
"U"  or  "Q."  On  February  4,  1985,  Davis  wrote  the  first  memorandum  of 
a  facetious  exchange: 

ADMISSIONS  ALERT!  Before  you  complete  your  admissions 
process  for  fall,  1985,  I  think  you  should  know  that  we  are  gradu- 
ating three  (3)  out  of  our  five  (5)  U's  in  May,  1985.  I  will  do  what  I 
can  from  this  end  to  find  at  least  one  of  them  lacking  graduation  re- 
quirements but  should  this  be  impossible,  I  think  you  should  be  pre- 
pared to  step  into  the  breach  and  do  your  duty. 

Sue  Kearney,  who  succeeded  Mary  Bland  Josey  as  director  of  admissions 
at  Miss  Josey's  early  retirement  in  1984,  responded  to  Davis  on  May  20: 


150     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

I  wish  you  to  be  aware  that  we  did  not  take  hghtly  your  ADMIS- 
SIONS ALERT.  . . .  Your  concern  about  our  loss  of  U's  in  May  1985 
came  a  bit  too  late  for  us  to  do  a  special  SEARCH  for  students 
whose  last  names  begin  in  that  letter.  We  have,  however,  been  able 
to  plug  in  one  hole.  We  will  have  at  least  one  freshman  enrolling 
whose  last  name  begins  with  U.  I  do  hope,  as  you  suggested,  that 
you  were  able  to  hold  back  at  least  one  of  the  three  graduating  se- 
niors! 

As  I  know  you  are  often  concerned  also  about  the  thinness  of 
your  I  and  Q  files,  you  will  be  happy  to  know  that  we  have  two  en- 
rolling freshmen  whose  last  names  begin  with  I  and  one  whose  last 
name  begins  with  Q. .  . .  I  hope  you  will  agree  that  we  have  stepped 
into  the  breach  and  done  our  duty! 

Other  humorous  incidents  were  probably  not  laughable  at  the  time 
they  occurred,  but  their  memories  doubtless  bring  a  smile;  for  example,  in 
all  seriousness,  the  senior  class  spent  time,  effort,  and  money  "in  search 
of  twelve  of  North  Carolina  State's  finest  men'"*^  for  a  1984  calendar  to 
depict  a  State  student  for  each  month  of  the  year.  "The  nominations  are 
in,"  announced  the  Twig  in  September  1983.  "After  the  pictures  are  re- 
ceived, the  entire  Meredith  student  body  will  vote  on  which  nominees 
they  feel  are  calendar  material.  .  .  ."^°  The  calendars  sold  for  $5.00  each, 
and  profits  went  for  class  projects. 

The  sight  of  men  on  the  campus — whether  in  photograph  or  in  per- 
son, whether  North  Carolina  State's  "finest"  or  those  of  other  colleges 
and  universities — was  as  commonplace  as  the  students'  push  for  open 
house  in  the  residence  halls.  But  in  November  1985,  a  visitor  of  a  differ- 
ent species  made  the  local  news:  "A  200  pound  black  bear  was  captured 
by  the  Raleigh  police  and  Wildlife  officers  Monday  morning  between 
7:30  and  8:30,  but  not  before  he  took  a  tour  of  the  Meredith  campus  and 
surrounding  Raleigh  area."^^  The  Twig  reported  fully: 

"The  bear  was  sighted  near  the  stables  between  11:00  and  12:00 
A.M.  by  Meredith  security,"  according  to  Chief  Dan  Shattuck,  head 
of  security  at  Meredith.  The  bear  was  kept  in  the  general  area  of  the 
stables  and  the  president's  home. 

"It  is  not  really  known  how  the  bear  got  to  the  campus,"  said  Lt. 
A.D.  Bachelor  of  the  Raleigh  Police  Department.  "He  could  have 


morning's  energy:  1984-1985    I    151 

followed  a  river.  We  just  don't  know,  but  Wake  County  is  not 
known  for  its  bears.  .  .  ." 

The  bear  was  tranquilized  and  taken  ...  to  a  better  suited  envi- 
ronment.^^ 

Certainly  not  intending  to  prophesy  other-worldly  visitations,  a  Raleigh 
Times  editorial,  published  three  months  before  the  bear's  appearance, 
commended  Meredith  for  allowing  "such  extensive  use  of  the  campus  by 
outside  organizations  and  individuals."^^  The  College  set  boundaries, 
however,  as  to  the  use  of  the  campus,  and  perhaps  the  limitations  grew 
more  rigid  as  suggestions  of  permanence  entered  the  conversations.  Rem- 
iniscent of  earlier  discussions  with  the  Baptist  State  Convention  regarding 
a  building  site,  the  trustees  again  received  an  inquiry — this  time  from  a 
representative  of  the  School  of  Pastoral  Care  of  the  North  Carolina  Bap- 
tist Hospital,  who  asked  about  leasing  enough  land  to  erect  a  small  build- 
ing for  a  regional  Life  Enrichment  Center.  Again,  the  request  was  denied. 
So  despite  thousands  of  visitors  and  unusual  requests  for  the  use  of  its 
land,  the  225  acres  remained  intact.  On  at  least  two  occasions  during  the 
year,  clever  displays  of  student  ingenuity  beckoned  friends  and  strangers 
alike  to  the  campus.  The  first  rainbow  of  helium-filled  balloons,  under 
which  new  students  and  all  other  comers  passed  on  the  first  day  of  fall 
orientation,  was  erected  in  1983  and  has  since  become  the  standard  wel- 
come to  a  new  academic  term.  The  second  occasion  was  a  quiet,  almost 
ethereal,  Christmas  display.  In  early  December,  the  SGA  sponsored  the 
placing  of  luminaries  along  the  front  drive,  all  other  campus  streets,  and 
in  the  courtyard.  For  each  white  bag  containing  a  candle  anchored  in 
sand,  students,  faculty,  or  staff  paid  fifty  cents,  or  bought  five  bags  for 
$2.00.  More  than  5,000  luminaries  glowed  that  night  as  hundreds  of 
townspeople  drove  slowly  through  the  campus.  An  impromptu  concert 
emanated  from  around  the  Shaw  Fountain,  where  about  300  students 
gathered  spontaneously  to  sing  Christmas  carols.  The  Raleigh  Times  was 
so  taken  with  the  scene  that  it  printed  on  the  following  day  a  photograph 
measuring  the  full  width  of  page  i.^'*  And  the  luminaries,  with  Johnson 
Hall  in  the  background,  provided  the  cover  for  the  Biblical  Recorder  of 
December  21.^^  From  donations  and  luminaria  sales,  the  Student  Gov- 
ernment Association  cleared  $200,  which  it  donated  to  the  Raleigh  Food 
Bank. 


152     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 


A  Student  lights  one  of  the  j,ooo  luminaria  that  beautify 
the  campus  at  Christmas. 

The  local  media  often  awarded  Meredith  good  press  and  positive  tele- 
vision coverage.  For  example,  in  late  1985,  newspapers  around  the  state 
ran  comments  of  the  newly  crowned  Miss  North  Carolina,  Joni  Bennett 
Parker,  '83.  In  a  press  conference,  she  had  said  that  her  decision  to  attend 
Meredith  was  "one  of  the  most  important  in  her  life."^^  Unabashedly,  the 
College  acknowledged  such  stories  as  excellent  public  relations.  But,  in 
the  desire  to  aim  its  message  at  specific  audiences,  Meredith  also  paid  its 
share  for  radio  and  television  spots,  newspaper  notices,  and  magazine 
ads.  In  1985,  however,  it  went  beyond  its  customary  practices  by  con- 
tracting with  a  local  outdoor  advertising  firm  for  eight  billboard  locations 
to  promote  the  graduate  program. 

Students  have  always  been  the  College's  most  effective  representatives. 
However  limited  their  territory,  the  young  women  studying  abroad  have 
spread  the  good  news  of  their  alma  mater.  In  1985,  the  Meredith  Chorale 
added  its  talent  and  charm  on  its  first  concert  tour  in  Europe,  including 
travels  to  West  Germany,  France,  Austria,  and  Switzerland.  The  thirty- 
one  singers,  directed  by  artist-in-residence  James  Powers,  performed  at 


morning's  energy:  1984-1985    I    153 

public  sites  and  several  churches.  "In  Rothenburg,"  reported  the  Twig, 
"the  chorale  arrived  at  the  St.  Jakobskirche  just  as  a  wedding  party 
emerged.  The  chorale  assembled  on  the  steps  and  sang  'A  Blessing'  to  the 
.  .  .  bride  and  groom."  ^^ 

THIS  CHAPTER  HAS  alluded  to  Meredith's  having  installed  in  1984  its  own 
telecommunications  system,  which  included  a  telephone  for  each  resi- 
dence hall  room.  A  student  would  no  longer  pay  an  annual  installation 
fee  but  only  a  $7.50  charge  for  the  use  of  her  phone  plus  her  long  distance 
calls.  Vice  President  Taylor  estimated  a  savings  of  more  than  $100,000 
per  academic  year  in  long-distance  service  discounts  and  in  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  per-phone  seventy-dollar  installation  fee.  The  system  was  in- 
stalled by  the  Heins  Telephone  Company  and  partly  underwritten  by  the 
Parents'  Association. 

On  the  subject  of  technology.  Dean  Burris  made  a  telling  statement 
about  Meredith's  advanced  standing  in  the  field:  "The  proposal  to  require 
computer  experience  of  every  student  was  studied  by  the  academic  com- 
puting committee  and  deemed  unnecessary.  Use  of  the  computer  in  so 
many  disciplines,  especially  freshman  English,  made  a  requirement  su- 
perfluous and  burdensome."^^  As  President  Weems  encouraged  progress 
in  technology,  the  year  1985  seemed  to  be  an  ideal  time  to  create  the  po- 
sition of  media  specialist  and  employ  John  Kincheloe  to  fill  it.  Mr.  Kinch- 
eloe  joined  the  faculty  and  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  staff  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fall  term. 

in  1984-85,  Meredith's  files  contained  names  and  addresses  of  10,245 
alumnae:  Among  the  6,467  in  North  Carolina  were  1,903  in  Wake 
County.  The  remainder  lived  in  forty-eight  states  and  twenty-seven  for- 
eign countries.  Forty-four  percent  of  the  alumnae  contributed  to  the  col- 
lege in  1983-84,  giving  Meredith  a  coveted  place  nationally  in  the  per- 
centage of  alumni/ae  contributing  to  their  alma  maters.  Financially,  the 
College  was  strong  and  getting  stronger.  In  August  1985,  Dr.  McGee  an- 
nounced a  gift  of  $400,000  toward  the  art  center,  a  grant  of  $250,000  for 
honors  scholarships,  and  a  pledge  of  $500,000  to  endow  a  professorial 
chair  in  the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics.  Because  of  the  first 
gift,  the  new  building  would  be  named  the  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center; 
the  grant  for  scholarships  came  from  the  Jessie  Ball  Dupont  Religious, 


154     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Charitable  and  Educational  Fund;  and  the  endowment  to  establish  a 
chair  was  pledged  by  the  Board  of  Associates. 

As  contributions  increased,  so  did  Meredith's  ability  to  assist  finan- 
cially its  students.  One  of  the  College's  aspirations  was  that  no  qualified 
student  be  turned  away  for  economic  reasons.  In  1983-84,  about  342 
young  women,  or  22  percent  of  the  student  body,  received  some  financial 
assistance,  usually  in  the  forms  of  grants  and  scholarships,  but  some  as 
loans  and  campus  employment.  And  the  North  Carolina  Legislative  and 
Tuition  Grants  program,  which  began  in  1975-76,  had  increased  to 
$950  per  in-state  student.  Even  some  students  from  middle-income  fam- 
ilies received  help  if  family  size  and  other  conditions  warranted  it.  But 
John  Hiott,  director  of  scholarships  and  financial  assistance,  expressed 
concern  for  the  future.  How  long,  he  pondered,  would  the  College  be 
able  significantly  to  assist  students  in  paying  for  their  educations?  He 
cited  new  directives  from  the  federal  government: 

Federal  grants  will  be  directed  to  the  low  income  students.  Larger 
grants,  with  no  increase  in  the  total  amount  of  grant  money,  mean 
fewer  students  from  middle  income  ($15,000 -$20,000)  families 
will  receive  significant  grants.  Work  study  funds  will  be  increased 
and  loan  funds  will  continue  to  be  supported.  This  will  force  the 
student  to  assume  a  larger  share  of  her  educational  expenses  and 
commit  herself  to  a  long-time  debt.  The  interest  rate  on  Direct  Stu- 
dent Loans  is  proposed  to  move  from  5  to  8  percent.^^ 

Hiott  regretted  the  lack  of  financial  assistance  for  students  in  other  pro- 
grams. "We  do  not  have  any  college  administered  funds  for  graduate  stu- 
dents," he  said.  "The  re-entry  students  encounter  a  barrier  at  the  point  of 
establishing  their  'budget,'  which  is  the  basis  of  our  determination  of 
their  'need.'  We  need  larger  resources  for  these  categories  as  their  num- 
bers continue  to  increase."^° 

EVEN  "in  the  morning,"  Meredith  knew  about  reaching — for  more  re- 
sources for  its  students,  for  academic  excellence,  and  for  financial  secu- 
rity. It  seemed  also  to  reach  for  a  renewed  sense  of  self  and  of  purpose. 
Not  only  did  the  mid-eighties  predict  difficult  days  to  come,  but  they  also 
seemed  to  prepare  the  College  to  face  them. 


7 


WHO   IS   MEREDITH? 
1986 


EVER  SINCE  1909,  when  Baptist  Female  University  became  "Meredith," 
the  College  has  treasured  its  identity  as  "a  small,  liberal  arts,  Baptist  col- 
lege for  women."  Perhaps  by  1986  it  measured  its  smallness  more  by  stu- 
dent-teacher relationships  than  by  the  size  of  its  enrollment  or  the  extent 
of  its  acreage.  And,  with  a  broad  general  education  core,  it  held  to  its  lib- 
eral arts  definition  while  adding  some  specialized  courses  to  the  curricu- 
lum. But  of  the  fact  that  Meredith  was  Baptist-related  and  a  college  for 
women,  there  was  never  any  doubt — until  events  of  the  eighties  called  on 
the  College  ultimately  to  define  itself  in  those  traditional  respects. 

ON  AUGUST  8,  1994,  the  Raleigh  News  and  Observer  ran  a  front-page  ar- 
ticle titled  "A  female  minister's  30-year  path  of  righteousness."  The  sub- 
ject was  Addie  Davis,  Meredith  Class  of  1942.  and  "the  first  woman  to  be 
ordained  a  minister  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention."  ^  The  story  was 
not  only  about  a  woman  minister  but  also  about  a  changing  denomina- 
tion: this  incident  would  foreshadow  almost  two  decades  of  division 
among  Southern  Baptists,  and  Meredith  would  sometimes  find  itself  at 
the  center  of  the  controversy. 

Ironically,  in  1964,  the  year  of  Addie  Davis's  ordination,  the  same  de- 
nomination that  established  Baptist  Female  University  so  that  women 
could  receive  an  education  equal  to  that  of  men,  opposed  "women  taking 

155 


156     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

on  supreme  clerical  authority."^  In  its  autonomy  as  a  local  congregation, 
however,  Watts  Street  Baptist  Church  in  Durham  ordained  Davis  anyway. 
She  held  pastorates  in  the  American  Baptist  Convention  because,  said  the 
News  and  Observer,  of  the  churches  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
"none  needed  a  pastor  so  much  as  to  hire  a  woman."^  Conditions 
changed  slightly  over  the  years,  however,  and  women — including  other 
Meredith  alumnae — have  indeed  held  pastorates  in  North  Carolina  and 
in  other  southern  states.  In  fact,  said  the  newspaper,  "In  three  decades  .  . . 
more  than  1,000  women  have  followed  Davis  in  becoming  Southern  Bap- 
tist ministers.'"^  The  1994  story  sounded  hopeful  in  many  respects,  but  it 
also  revealed  that,  in  1984 — twenty  years  after  the  precedent-setting 
event  at  Watts  Street  Church — Southern  Baptists  had  passed  a  resolution 
opposing  the  ordination  of  women.  Randall  LoUey,  president  of  South- 
eastern Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  had  spoken  to  the  issue  in  a  convo- 
cation address  at  the  seminary: 

The  resolution  consists  of  86  lines;  it  has  542  words.  Four  times,  the 
resolution  mentions  "ordination."  Four  times  it  mentions  "min- 
istry." Fifteen  times  it  mentions  "women." 

Thus,  the  real  agenda  in  the  resolution  was  neither  ministry  nor 
ordination,  but  WOMEN.  Women  themselves — all  the  women  in 
all  the  churches  of  this  Convention. 

And  in  that  hotly  controverted  resolution,  the  most  debated  con- 
cept is  in  the  loth  WHEREAS — the  woman  was  last  in  the  creation 
and  "first  in  the  Edenic  fall." 

Now  that  phrase  makes  plain  the  real  issue  before  Southern  Bap- 
tist churches  today.  It  is  not  vocation.  It  is  not  ordination.  It  is 
WOMANHOOD!^ 

Dr.  Lolley  cited  scriptural  references  to  women  and  their  ministries;  to 
historical  facts  regarding  women  in  the  church  during  and  since  biblical 
times;  and  to  the  resolution's  language  of  "last  in  creation  and  first  in  the 
.  . .  fall,"  for  which  he  substituted  "last  at  the  cross  and  first  at  the  tomb." 
He  said. 

So  you  are  a  woman.  Congratulations!  The  issue  is  whether  you  are 
a  Christian  woman.  If  so,  you  are  already  a  minister — inevitably, 
unavoidably.  At  Bethlehem  and  at  Golgotha,  in  Joseph's  Garden 


WHO   IS   MEREDITH:    I986     I      I57 

and  in  Pentecost's  upper  room,  the  Lord  Christ  Himself  has  given 
you  your  credentials  for  ministry.^ 

At  English  professor  Betty  Webb's  suggestion,  the  Meredith  faculty  had 
requested  that  the  president  issue  a  statement  of  support  for  Lolley. 

Six  months  later,  minutes  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  recorded  George  McCotter's  express  concern  for  the  annual  con- 
vention. McCotter  had  urged  his  trustee  colleagues  to  seek  the  status  of 
messenger  from  their  various  churches  and  to  attend  the  meeting  in  Dal- 
las, Texas,  the  following  June.  "Important  decisions  which  will  shape  the 
convention  for  years  to  come  will  be  decided  there,"  he  had  predicted.^ 

In  November  1985,  the  executive  committee  had  again  discussed 
problems  which  seemed  to  be  impinging  upon  Baptist  institutions  and 
agencies,  and  again,  the  minutes  sounded  an  ominous  tone:  "Baptists 
must  continue  to  be  alert  to  special  interest  groups  who  would  seek  to 
control  and  dominate  the  convention."^  But  even  in  their  pessimism,  the 
trustees  believed  somehow  in  an  imminent  lift  in  "the  effectiveness  and 
stability  of  the  organization."^  Over  the  next  several  years,  however,  the 
number  of  scriptural  literalists  calling  themselves  "inerrantists"  would  in- 
crease, as  would  the  trustees'  pessimism,  and  Meredith  would  seek  a  new 
relationship  with  North  Carolina  Baptists. 

In  September  1986,  President  Weems  published  a  confidential  message 
to  the  trustees,  the  faculty,  and  the  staff.  He  titled  the  forty-six-page  doc- 
ument A  Matter  of  Importance.  Early  in  the  publication,  he  touched  the 
heart  of  the  problem  for  Meredith: 

Freedom  at  our  college  is  dependent  upon  the  members  of  our 
Board  of  Trustees.  The  Meredith  trustees  have  always  fostered  a  cli- 
mate of  free  inquiry  on  our  campus.  In  order  for  our  college  to  re- 
main free,  it  is  essential  that  we  continue  to  have  board  members 
committed  to  academic  freedom  and  who  reflect  their  own  best 
judgment,  not  that  of  special  interest  groups.^*' 

Weems  cited  specifics: 

It  is  assumed  that  by  1988  all  the  boards  and  institutions  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  with  the  exception  of  Southern  Sem- 
inary, Louisville,  Kentucky,  will  have  solid  conservative  majorities. 
It  is  evident  that  this  special  interest  group  has  as  its  objective  the 


158      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

control  of  all  seminaries,  boards,  state  Baptist  newspapers,  colleges, 
and  as  many  local  Baptist  churches  as  possible. ^^ 

In  the  same  document,  the  president  pledged  to  make  every  effort  to  keep 
Meredith  free,  "regardless  of  the  course  of  events  in  the  convention." ^^  In 
light  of  the  fact  that  trustees  w^ere  elected  by  the  convention,  a  funda- 
mentalist takeover  of  boards  of  trustees  was  the  crippling  fear  of  Baptist 
institutions.  When  Meredith's  trustees  met  in  September,  many  voiced  the 
opinion  that  the  College  should  "plan  her  own  strategy  to  prevent  dam- 
aging actions  against  the  school."  ^^  Elizabeth  Barnes,  '60,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  theology  at  Southeastern  Seminary,  moved  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  "study  the  critical  issues"  facing  Meredith  regarding  the 
convention.^"*  Chairman  Seby  Jones  named  Charles  Barham  to  chair  the 
committee  and  appointed  Theo  Pitt  and  Luther  Brewer  to  serve  with  him. 
At  that  point,  the  power  of  the  inerrantists  was  in  the  early  stages  of  de- 
velopment, and  several  years  would  pass  before  Meredith  and  North  Car- 
olina's Southern  Baptists  were  sure  of  their  relationship  to  each  other. 

BUT  WOMEN  AND  men  alike  understood  the  ultimate  definition  of  a 
woman's  college;  nevertheless,  when  Elizabeth  Tidball  came  to  the  cam- 
pus on  October  21,  1985,  to  praise  women's  colleges,  she  turned  Mere- 
dith upside  down.  Possibly  the  decade's  foremost  authority  on  female  ed- 
ucation. Dr.  Tidball  initiated  with  President  Weems  a  discussion  of  Title 
IX  of  the  1972  Educational  Amendments  Act,  which  prohibits  sex  dis- 
crimination. Recalling  her  experience  as  a  trustee  of  Mount  Holyoke  and 
Wellesley,  Tidball  suspected  that,  by  limiting  its  graduate  programs  to 
women,  Meredith  was  not  in  compliance  with  Title  IX.  Weems  immedi- 
ately launched  an  investigation.  After  informing  his  administration  and 
consulting  the  college  attorney,  he  asked  Senator  Jesse  Helms  for  clarifi- 
cation, and  he  wrote  to  thirty  women's  colleges  with  graduate  programs. 
To  the  presidents  of  well-known  institutions  like  Bryn  Mawr,  Columbia, 
Converse,  Goucher,  Hood,  Mills,  Mundelein,  and  Queens,  he  asked  the 
following  questions:  "Do  you  allow  men  to  enroll  in  your  graduate  pro- 
grams as  degree  candidates?"  "Is  it  your  understanding  that  under  the  sex 
discrimination  section  of  Title  IX  men  must  be  admitted  to  graduate  pro- 
grams?" "If  you  admit  men  .  .  .  has  it  adversely  affected  your  undergrad- 
uate program  for  women?"  Of  the  twenty-eight  presidents  who  re- 


WHO   IS   MEREDITH:    1986     I      I59 

sponded,  all  said  they  admitted  men  to  their  graduate  programs,  and  all 
denied  any  adverse  effects  on  their  undergraduate  schools.  Eleven  of  the 
tv^enty-eight  were  sure  that  Title  IX  required  the  admission  of  men;  four 
did  not  think  so;  and  the  rest  did  not  care  because  they  admitted  men  for 
philosophical  rather  than  legal  reasons. 

Meanwhile,  Weems  talked  with  Bernice  Sandler,  director  of  the  Project 
on  the  Status  and  Education  of  Women  with  the  Association  of  American 
Colleges.  Dr.  Sandler  said,  "Title  IX  exempts  private,  undergraduate  ad- 
mission, but  it  does  not  exempt  graduate  admission.  There  are  no  excep- 
tions for  graduate  admission  if  the  institution  receives  any  financial  aid. 
...  So  if  men  apply,  it  gets  very  hard  to  say  no  to  them."^^  Renee  Keever, 
associate  director  of  college  relations,  elaborated  on  financial  aid:  "Al- 
though Meredith's  federal  funding  is  limited,  the  college  does  accept  aid 
for  student  loans  and  receives  interest  subsidies  through  bond  issues  sold 
to  the  federal  government  for  construction  of  several  campus  build- 
ings." i^ 

All  the  above  action  occurred  between  Tidball's  speech  in  October  and 
the  end  of  the  year.  The  minutes  of  the  November  meeting  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  board  of  trustees  read,  "The  discussion  pointed  out 
that  the  law  most  likely  does  not  exempt  schools  for  their  graduate  pro- 
grams."^'' To  examine  the  matter  further,  the  chairman  appointed  a  com- 
mittee headed  by  David  Britt  and  staffed  by  Charles  Barham,  Hugh 
Ashcraft,  Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill,  and  Gordon  Sinclair.  In  February, 
Judge  Britt's  ad  hoc  committee  had  concluded  that  Meredith  must  either 
admit  men  to  the  graduate  program  or  do  away  with  the  program  alto- 
gether. To  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  Britt  recommended  "that 
qualified  male  applicants  be  admitted  to  the  graduate  program."  ^^  The 
motion  passed.  But  when  the  full  board  met  eighteen  days  later,  Britt 
called  for  further  study  to  determine  what  was  best  for  the  College. 

Of  the  February  28  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
Keever  wrote. 

Trustees  arrived  on  campus  for  their  regularly  scheduled  meeting 
with  more  than  the  usual  attention.  Before  their  afternoon  session 
began,  a  determined  group  of  alumnae,  faculty,  and  students  gath- 
ered in  Bryan  Rotunda  in  Johnson  Hall  and  lined  the  stairway  to 
urge  trustees  to  oppose  admitting  men  into  the  graduate  program  or 


l6o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

to  ask  for  more  time  in  making  their  decision.  Some  wore  buttons 
with  slogans  such  as  "Preserve  the  Purpose"  and  carried  signs  that 
read  "Meredith  College:  where  old  traditions  never  die."^^ 

Adding  color  to  the  story,  the  Meredith  Herald'^  reported  that  Kathleen 
Folger,  a  junior,  took  the  minority  position,  as  revealed  by  the  poster  she 
carried:  "Meredith  College  grow  or  die."^° 

Once  the  trustees  made  their  way  through  the  demonstrators,  up  the 
stairs,  and  into  the  conference  room,  invited  guests  Mary  Lily  Duncan 
Gaddy,  '42,  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  and  Bridgette  Parker, 
president  of  the  Student  Government  Association,  each  voiced  opposition 
to  the  admission  of  males.  President  Weems  ultimately  made  several  rec- 
ommendations: that  every  constituent  group  in  the  College  discuss  the 
matter  and  report  its  views  to  the  executive  committee  of  the  board;  that 
a  questionnaire  be  mailed  to  every  alumna;  and,  on  the  assumption  that 
the  College  would  retain  the  graduate  school,  that  a  separate  administra- 
tive structure  be  formed  for  it. 

The  faculty  submitted  several  resolutions  of  its  own,  each  one  echoing 
the  others:  that  the  College  retain  the  graduate  school — with  male  stu- 
dents if  necessary — provided  the  changes  would  not  affect  the  under- 
graduate program.  While  the  faculty  acted  as  a  body,  Paige  Leist  of  the 
Meredith  Herald  elicited  individual  comments  from  the  heads  of  the  three 
graduate  departments: 

Ron  Bird,  business  and  economics:  "Federal  law  is  very  explicit  about 
making  all  graduate  programs  co-educational.  Having  a  few  men  enroll 
in  the  program  won't  hurt  anything.  We'd  be  able  to  offer  a  unique  ser- 
vice."^^ 

Mary  Johnson,  education:  "I  can't  foresee  any  changes  being  made  to 
accommodate  males;  however,  I  don't  want  to  see  anything  jeopardize  the 
single-sex  tradition  of  the  undergraduate  program."" 

David  Lynch,  music:  "I'd  be  very  happy  to  have  men  in  the  graduate 
program."  It  would  be  a  "happy  situation"  to  have  a  SATB  (soprano, 
also,  tenor,  bass)  ensemble,  he  said.^^ 

Finally,  in  a  session  less  intense  than  some,  the  executive  committee 
heard  a  new  slant  on  the  controversy  at  its  April  14  meeting.  The  presi- 

*Students  changed  the  name  of  the  Twig  to  the  Meredith  Herald  in  1986.  See  Chap- 
ter 8. 


WHO   IS   MEREDITH:    I986     I      161 

dent  reported  findings  that  private  colleges  like  Meredith  had  "the  right 
of  self-definition.  .  .  .  [which]  means  that  each  such  institution  may  decide 
how  its  student  body  will  be  constituted." -^"^  The  minutes  of  that  meeting 
also  read  that  "Judge  Britt  shared  a  written  opinion  from  Ms.  Suzanne 
Reynolds,  [Meredith  alumna,  Class  of  'ji],  an  attorney  and  member  of 
the  Wake  Forest  Law  School  faculty."  Reynolds's  opinion  was  not 
recorded  in  the  minutes;  however,  the  prevailing  knowledge — among 
alumnae  who  had  elicited  her  legal  research —  was  that  she  also  found 
Meredith  exempt.  Reynolds  was  one  alumna  of  many  who  responded  to 
the  situation.  Those  who  returned  the  survey  voted  1,786  to  969  for  lim- 
iting graduate  degree  candidates  to  women  only. 

The  saga  continued.  In  May,  the  executive  committee  of  the  board 
again,  yet,  and  still  discussed  the  idea  of  men  in  the  graduate  school. 
Judge  Britt  moved  to  recommend  to  the  full  Board  of  Trustees  that 
Meredith  continue  "the  current  policy  without  change."^^  The  vote  by  the 
committee  was  unanimous  then  and  again  by  the  full  board  in  a  called 
meeting  on  June  16.  The  happy  ending — happy  at  least  for  the  majority 
who  had  spoken — included  Clara  Bunn's  appointment  as  dean  of  the 
graduate  school  and  the  program's  full  accreditation  by  the  Southern  As- 
sociation of  Colleges  and  Schools. 

And,  at  least  to  the  end  of  1986,  Meredith's  identity  as  a  Baptist  col- 
lege for  women  remained  intact. 


8 


VINTAGE  YEARS 

AND   BETTER  NAMES 

1986-1988 


WORLDWIDE,  THE  MID-  to  latc-eightics  were  probably  similar  to  most 
years  in  their  ratio  of  good  news  to  bad,  but  sometimes  it  was  difficult  to 
sift  through  the  bad  to  find  the  good.  The  nation  grieved  when  the  space 
shuttle  Challenger  exploded  on  January  28,  1986,  killing  the  seven  peo- 
ple aboard,  including  astronaut  Michael  J.  Smith  from  North  Carolina 
and  teacher  Christa  McCauliffe  from  New  Hampshire.  Three  months 
later,  the  world  was  stunned  by  the  tragic  accident  at  the  Chernobyl  nu- 
clear facility  in  the  Soviet  Union.  In  April,  basketball  fans  reeled  at  news 
of  the  drug-induced  sudden  death  of  the  University  of  Maryland's  star 
Len  Bias. 

In  1987,  a  scandal  erupted  when  the  public  learned  that  the  govern- 
ment had  allegedly  sold  arms  to  Iran  in  exchange  for  Iran's  negotiating 
the  release  of  American  hostages  in  Lebanon,  the  profits  supposedly  aid- 
ing the  Contras  in  Nicaragua.  But  Americans  turned  their  attention  in- 
ward when  Wall  Street  experienced  "its  three  biggest  one-day  point  losses 
ever."i 

Presidential  politics  of  1988  produced  possibly  as  divisive  a  campaign 
as  most  voters  had  ever  witnessed;  but  when  election  day  ended.  Repub- 
lican George  Bush  and  his  running  mate,  Dan  Quayle,  had  soundly 
defeated  their  Democratic  counterparts,  Michael  Dukakis  and  Lloyd 
Bentsen,  in  the  race  for  the  presidency  and  vice  presidency,  respectively. 

162 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    I986-I988      I      163 

In  the  same  time  period,  the  Higher  Education  Research  Institute  at 
UCLA  pubhshed  its  findings  from  a  survey  of  students  at  550  colleges: 

Today's  college  freshmen  are  more  likely  to  drink  beer,  but  less 
likely  to  smoke  cigarettes  and  cfing  to  liberal  political  ideas  than 
their  counterparts  of  zo  years  ago.  They  also  made  higher  grades  in 
school  than  their  predecessors,  but  need  more  remedial  help  in  col- 
lege. They  are  ...  far  more  interested  in  being  well-off  financially.^ 

And  the  turmoil  in  Southern  Baptist  life  continued,  although  it  seemed 
that  no  particular  cultural  phenomena  were  at  play,  other  than  the  shift 
of  some  of  the  populace  to  the  religious  far  right,  perhaps  egged  on  by  tel- 
evangelists  and  their  guest  celebrities  and  an  obsessive  hunger  for  power. 

But  one  would  find  it  difficult  to  categorize  any  year's  worth  of  Mere- 
dith news  as  bad;  a  historian  of  the  era  would  more  than  likely  say,  with 
Dean  Burris,  "It  was  ...  a  vintage  year."^  Or,  in  light  of  Meredith's  nam- 
ing or  renaming  entities  as  diverse  as  the  newspaper  and  the  graduate 
school,  the  historian  might  also  quote  poet  Thomas  Moore:  "Oh,  call  it 
by  some  better  name.  .  .  ."'^ 

DURING  THOSE  TIMES,  One  of  the  most  recognized  names  among  Southern 
Baptists  was  former  president  of  the  United  States  Jimmy  Carter,  who  ac- 
cepted Meredith's  invitation  to  deliver  on  September  11,  1986,  the  sec- 
ond Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lecture.  The  one-time  president  and  the  beau- 
tiful autumn  evening  attracted  to  the  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheater  an 
audience  of  about  3,000  people.  The  words  they  heard  were  indubitably 
Carter: 

We  are  the  most  powerful  nation  on  earth — economically,  militar- 
ily, politically — and  with  that  power  comes  a  great  responsibility. 
We  are  so  powerful  we  need  not  fear  others  .  .  .  ;  however,  we  are 
not  all  powerful.  Our  power  and  influence  are  limited  .  .  .  but  there 
is  no  reason  why  we  cannot  live  within  the  limits  and  still  apply 
moral  standards  to  our  dealings  with  other  nations.  One  of  the 
most  important  ones,  I  think,  is  that  search  for  peace.  Peace  is  a  part 
of  agape  love.  Peace  is  also  a  part  of  justice.  And  for  a  nation  as 
powerful  as  we,  when  faced  with  a  potential  dispute  with  another 
national  directly,  or  with  a  region  that  is  in  dispute — like  Central 


164 


THE  VISION  REVISITED 


The  Hon.  Jimmy  Carter,  thirty-ninth  president  of  the  United  States, 
delivers  the  Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lecture  on  September  11,  1986. 


America  or  the  Middle  East  or  the  Persian  Gulf  Region — the  whole 
world  should  know  that  the  United  States  of  America  is  a  champion 
of  peace  and  is  working — not  through  military  means,  not  through 
threats,  not  through  the  interjection  of  troops — but  through  diplo- 
macy and  negotiation  to  bring  disputing  parties  together.  To  me, 
this  is  a  sign  of  greatness.^ 

In  his  lecture  titled  "America:  A  Champion  of  Peace?"  Carter  also  said, 

I  am  a  Christian,  but  I  could  not  make  a  policy  as  a  president  or 
governor  to  sacrifice  the  well-being  of  the  people  who  had  elected 
me  in  order  to  award  someone  else  in  a  foreign  country.  I  couldn't 
have  sacrificial  love  for  others,  so  the  highest  standard  that  a  nation 
can  hope  to  achieve  is  justice.^ 

At  a  news  conference  earlier  in  the  afternoon,  he  answered  questions 
in  Jones  Auditorium  to  a  full  house  comprising  much  of  the  Meredith 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-I988      I      165 

community,  as  well  as  reporters  and  photographers  from  twenty-five 
news  organizations.  He  spoke  of  peace  in  the  Middle  East,  terrorism.  So- 
cial Security,  sanctions  on  South  Africa,  the  Panama  Canal  Treaty,  the 
hostages  in  Iran,  the  Soviet  invasion  of  Afghanistan,  and  the  grain  em- 
bargo, among  other  topics.  A  newsman  asked,  "Since  you  were  so  in- 
strumental in  getting  the  treaty  signed  to  begin  with  between  Israel  and 
Egypt,  are  you  ever  called  upon  nowadays  for  your  expertise  in  these 
matters?"  Carter  answered  wryly,  "No.  I  have  not  been  called  on  by  the 
Reagan  administration  for  my  expertise  in  any  matters."^ 

Dr.  Cochran  of  the  religion  department  asked,  "in  light  of  the  Baptists' 
contribution  to  religious  liberty  and  to  church-state  neutrality,  how  do 
you,  as  a  Baptist,  respond  to  the  recent  demands  of  the  religious  right, 
some  of  whom  are  Baptists.  .  .  ."?^  Carter  was  not  reticent  in  expressing 
his  opinion,  which  echoed  some  of  Meredith's  fears: 

I  think  there  is  a  growing  danger  that  the  fundamentalists  or  right 
wing  extremists — or  whatever  you  want  to  call  it — are  closing 
their  grasps  on  the  institutions  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
— on  colleges,  home  missions,  foreign  missions,  building  programs, 
and  that  sort  of  thing.  And  this  is  a  great  concern  to  me.  I  think  the 
trend  is  very  strong  .  .  .  .^ 

Continuing  his  response,  he  seemed  to  equate  the  new  denominational 
leaders  with  television  evangelists  in  general  and  with  Independent  Bap- 
tist pastor  Jerry  Falwell  in  particular: 

Nothing  that  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  can  do — or  the  TV 
evangelists — could  shake  my  faith  in  Christ  or  my  commitment  as  a 
Christian  to  follow  his  precepts.  And  I  don't  let  Jerry  Falwell  or 
anyone  else  define  for  me  what  is  Christian.  You  know,  there  was  a 
time  when  Falwell  said  that  anybody  who  was  for  the  Panama 
Canal  Treaty  is  not  a  Christian;  anybody  who  would  support  SALT 

I I  was  not  a  Christian;  anybody  who  was  for  the  department  of  ed- 
ucation is  not  a  Christian.  Now,  in  a  very  Christian  way,  as  far  as 
I'm  concerned,  he  can  go  to  hell.^° 

The  hushed  seconds  that  followed  were  interrupted,  at  first  by  the  gasps 
of  those  who  questioned  their  own  hearing,  and  then  by  the  cheers  and 
applause  of  those  who  knew  they  heard  correctly  and  liked  what  they 


l66     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

heard.  Renee  Keever  later  wrote  that  Carter's  "condemnation  of  the  Rev. 
Jerry  Falwell  and  the  rehgious  right  .  .  .  drew  national  attention  to  the 
former  president's  visit  .  .  .  prompting  network  television  and  radio  cov- 
erage, as  well  as  reports  in  the  Washington  Post,  New  York  Times,  Chi- 
cago Tribune,  and  smaller  newspapers  across  the  country."  ^^  In  fact,  at 
least  one  newspaper  in  almost  every  state  in  the  Union  reported  Carter's 
view  of  Falwell,  as  expressed  at  Meredith  College  in  Raleigh,  North  Car- 
olina. Lewis  Grizzard  titled  his  syndicated  column  "Carter's  the  guy  to 
disconnect  Falwell's  hotline  to  heaven." ^^  Some  journalists  took  Carter  to 
task;  many  sought  Falwell's  response  (he  would  pray  for  the  former  pres- 
ident, Falwell  said);  but  most  news  simply  reported  the  facts.  If  "Mere- 
dith" had  not  been  a  household  word  before  Carter's  visit,  it  certainly 
carried  a  more  familiar  ring  afterward. 

As  the  "holy  war"  roared  on,  Meredith  students  fought  their  own  re- 
hgious skirmishes.  Soon  after  Jones  Chapel  was  completed  in  1982,  the 
Twig  had  campaigned  for  Sunday  services  there,  publishing  a  flurry  of  let- 
ters, as  well  as  editor  Linda  Sellers's  opinion  piece  titled  "But  where  are 
the  people?"^^  In  1986,  the  paper  again  took  up  the  cause,  quoting  the 
Reverend  Sam  Carothers  on  the  difference  between  a  chapel  and  a 
church:  A  church,  Carothers  said,  is  "made  up  of  people  committed  to 
doing  something,  who  then  group  to  form  a  church."  He  added,  "We  ac- 
tually have  a  chapel,  "  not  a  church.  Reporter  Kim  Allen  sought  to  refute 
Carothers's  logic,  citing  St.  Mary's  Episcopal  services  on  Sunday  and 
North  Carolina  State's  weekly  Catholic  mass."^'*  Cynthia  Church's  edito- 
rial in  the  same  edition  alluded  to  Meredith's  argument  that  students 
should  associate  themselves  with  local  congregations:  "For  a  small-town 
girl,  a  big  city  church  can  be  intimidating — so  much  that  the  student 
doesn't  go  at  all. .  .  ."^^  Enthusiasm  for  Sunday  worship  in  the  chapel  soon 
waned,  however,  and  more  than  a  decade  later,  Meredith  still  held  its  tra- 
ditional Wednesday  services. 

Losing  the  battle  for  Sunday  worship  on  campus  did  not  deter  stu- 
dents' efforts  to  effect  change.  One  of  their  quests  in  the  eighties  was  a 
better  name  (they  said)  for  their  newspaper,  the  Twig.  But  the  Twig  was 
more  than  just  a  name;  it  was  a  sixty-five-year-old  tradition.  For  eight 
years,  however,  members  of  its  staff  had  hinted  at  a  name  change,  begin- 
ning, apparently,  with  the  edition  of  February  2,  1978: 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      167 

What's  in  a  Twig?  Twig  is  used  by  the  British  as  a  slang  term  mean- 
ing to  observe  or  understand;  it  is  used  by  Americans  to  mean  a 
small,  fragile,  often  flimsy  shoot  of  a  tree. 

It  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  among  the  newspaper  staff  and  vari- 
ous innocent  bystanders  that  twig  ...  is  not  an  appropriate  name 
for  a  newspaper.  After  much  deliberation  and  lobbying  in  the 
smoke-filled  rooms  of  second  floor  Gate  Center,  we  declare  a 
revolution — we  want  a  new  name  for  our  beloved,  respectable 
newspaper! 

Lest  we  be  branded  as  "good-for-nothing-tradition-breakers,"  let 
us  announce  that  we  are.^^ 

In  response,  Maggie  Odell,  '77,  immediate  past  editor,  dashed  off  a  letter 
from  graduate  school: 

I  take  issue  with  the  adjective,  "flimsy,"  to  describe  the  American 
usage  of  the  word  "twig."  After  a  long,  long  winter,  the  new  twigs 
bearing  fresh,  bright  leaves  and  colorful  flowers  may  indeed  be  frag- 
ile, but  they  bear  up  well  enough  under  strong  Marsh  winds. 

Take  heart.  Editor:  at  least  you  are  not  encumbered  with  the  em- 
barrassment of  being  THE  HERALD  for  the  Angel  Farm.  I  say 
along  with  Lewis  Carroll,  "With  a  name  like  yours,  you  might  be 
any  shape,  almost." ^^ 

Readers,  both  for  and  against  the  name  change,  took  the  matter  seriously; 
for  example,  trustee  Marion  Lark,  pastor  of  First  Baptist  Church  in  Hen- 
derson, submitted  the  name  Angel  Dust.  But  somehow  the  campaign  lost 
its  fire  and  only  flickered  until  198 1,  when  an  editorial  by  Sonya  Am- 
mons  reignited  the  issue:  "To  have  a  college  newspaper,  which  should  be 
an  area  of  strength  in  any  college  community,  represented  by  a  name 
which  suggests  weakness  and  fragility  seems  inappropriate.  ...  A  twig  is 
that  part  of  a  tree  which  is  easily  broken  and  tossed  away.  Our  paper 
should  be  a  more  important  part  of  our  lives  at  Meredith  than  the  small 
twig  at  the  end  of  a  branch."  ^^ 

Mary  Beth  Smith,  '82,  shot  back  with  a  letter  to  the  editor:  "Think 
twice  before  changing  the  name.  We  humans  are  easily  broken,  too,  but  I 
hope  not  insignificant."^^ 


l68      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Once  again,  in  1985,  a  different  editor  confronted  the  same  issue  in  the 
same  paper  of  the  same  name: 

For  the  last  two  issues,  the  Twig  has  run  an  ad  concerning  the  fact 
that  the  editors  and  newspaper  staff,  in  conjunction  with  the  pubh- 
cations  board*  are  considering  changing  the  name  of  the  Meredith 
College  weekly  newspaper.  Included  in  the  ad  was  a  form  asking 
readers  to  voice  an  opinion  about  whether  or  not  this  step  should  be 
made.^° 

To  the  prevailing  objection  to  change — "It's  been  the  Twig  since  its 
birth!" — co-editor  Church  responded,  "Personally,  this  seems  contradic- 
tory coming  from  a  group  of  women  who  usually  can't  wait  to  change 
their  traditionl  name — the  one  they  have  had  since  birth — at  marriage."^^ 
In  the  last  issue  under  its  old  name,  the  Twig's  co-editor  Beth  Blanken- 
ship  urged  readers  to  "Be  a  part  of  the  new  tradition!"^-  The  student  life 
committee  approved  the  change  on  January  21,  1986,  and,  on  that  date, 
the  Meredith  College  student  newspaper  officially  became  the  Meredith 
Herald.  The  literary  magazine — the  Acorn — and  the  yearbook — Oak 
Leaves — stayed  with  the  symbolism  and  remained  true  to  the  traditional 
association  with  the  "City  of  Oaks." 

THE  NAME  "gaddy-hamrick"  soon  became  as  recognizable  on  the  cam- 
pus as  "the  Herald"  or  "Wainwright"  or  "Weatherspoon"  or  "Jones." 
The  long-awaited  art  center  took  shape  in  1986  under  the  name  that 
grew  out  of  Meredith's  long  and  warm  association  with  the  Caddy  and 
Hamrick  families.  The  late  Claude  R  Caddy  was  the  first  executive  secre- 
tary of  the  Baptist  State  Convention's  Council  on  Christian  Higher  Edu- 
cation. A  Meredith  trustee  in  the  forties,  Caddy  was  affectionately  known 
in  North  Carolina  as  "Mr.  Baptist."  And  the  late  Fuller  B.  Hamrick,  a  na- 
tive of  Shelby  and  also  a  well-known  Baptist  layman,  served  as  bursar  of 
the  College  from  1929-43.  Their  families  honored  their  memories  and 
the  College  with  a  generous  gift  toward  the  art  center. 

Groundbreaking  ceremonies  took  place  on  June  16,  1986,  at  a  loca- 
tion just  west  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  and  near  the  Weather- 


'^The  publications  board  was  formed  in  1985  as  an  advocate  and  guide  for  student 
publications. 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      1 69 

spoon  Building.  In  August  and  September,  the  College  continued  wres- 
tling with  the  dilemma  of  needing — wanting — more  building  than  the 
money  on  hand  would  finance.  But  after  months  of  discussion,  the 
trustees  authorized  the  addition  of  a  wing  to  house  a  gallery  and  an  art 
history  classroom/theater,  deciding  that  the  College  should  borrow  the 
needed  funds  to  "cover  construction  costs  until  other  funds  are  avail- 
able."^^ Obviously,  the  art  faculty  was  ecstatic.  Gaddy-Hamrick  "will  be 
an  important  first  step  in  establishing  Meredith  College  as  a  center  for 
women  in  art,"^"*  said  department  head,  Craig  Greene.  No  other  four-year 
art  program  could  be  found  in  the  area. 

Although  the  art  center  was  not  quite  complete  as  the  spring  semester 
got  underway  in  1987,  the  building  opened  anyway,  and  it  was  finally  ded- 
icated on  March  27,  1987,  after  the  original  February  date  was  snowed 
out.  Mrs.  Gaddy,  the  former  Mary  Lily  Duncan,  '42;  Charles  Gaddy,  Jean 
Gaddy  Scholl,  '49,  and  Lorena  Gaddy  Goodwin,  son  and  daughters  of  the 
late  Mr.  Gaddy;  and  Olive  Hamrick  Miller,  '40,  and  Martha  Hamrick 
Howerton,  '47,  daughters  of  the  late  Mr.  Hamrick,  attended  the  ceremony. 

In  April  1987,  the  center  hosted  its  first  student  art  show.  The  z8o 
works  represented  "every  area  of  the  Meredith  art  curriculum,"  reported 
the  Meredith  Herald r^  Dr.  Greene  thought  the  work  to  be  "of  superior 
quality,"  and,  he  said,  "I  think  the  abundance  of  energy  is  due  partly  to 
the  centralization  [in]  the  new  building."^^  In  November,  the  focus  shifted 
briefly  from  Meredith  to  New  York  City  when,  by  invitation,  the  entire 
faculty  of  the  Department  of  Art  exhibited  their  work  in  Lincoln  Center's 
Avery  Fisher  Hall,  attesting  to  the  mounting  respect  accorded  the  artists. 
The  date  coincided  with  the  annual  department-sponsored  tour  of  the 
city's  museums  and  galleries. 

Meanwhile,  the  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  stirred  the  hearts  of  local 
art  lovers,  one  of  whom  was  Mrs.  Weems.  A  long-time  advocate  for  the 
arts — and  for  Meredith — and  president  of  the  Raleigh  Fine  Arts  Society 
in  the  mid-eighties,  she  had  influenced  the  moving  of  the  Annual  Wake 
County  Artists  Exhibition  to  Johnson  Hall.  Again,  the  Meredith  Herald 
told  the  story: 

This  art  exhibition  made  its  home  in  the  Raleigh  downtown  library 
and  was  later  moved  to  the  UNC  campus.  Two  years  ago,  the  ex- 
hibit relocated  to  the  Meredith  campus.  .  .  . 


lyO     1     THE  VISION  REVISITED 


The  Frankie  Weems  Gallery  in  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  holds  its 
first  student  art  exhibit  in  April  ipSy. 

Mrs.  Weems  .  .  .  said  that  she  thought  the  campus  would  greatly 
benefit  by  hosting  the  exhibition,  the  only  kind  of  art  show  in  Wake 
County  that  accepts  and  displays  art  in  all  kinds  of  mediums. 

After  making  changes  and  additions  in  lighting  and  hanging 
alternatives  for  the  art,  the  Raleigh  Fine  Arts  Society  moved  the 
show  in.^^ 

Along  with  the  College,  the  artists  and  their  art  appeared  to  benefit  from 
the  move  to  the  new  exhibit  hall.  It  seemed  only  natural,  then,  to  name 
the  1,500-square-foot  gallery  in  the  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  in  honor 
of  Frankie  G.  Weems.  At  an  appreciation  dinner  for  her  and  President 
Weems,  trustee  chairman  Seby  Jones  announced  the  surprise  and  unveiled 
a  plaque  for  the  gallery: 

THE  FRANKIE  G.  WEEMS  ART  GALLERY 

FOR  HER  INTEREST  IN  THE  ARTS 

FOR  HER  INVOLVEMENT  IN  EDUCATING  STUDENTS 

FOR  THE  ARTS 

FOR  HER  OUTSTANDING  SERVICE  TO  MEREDITH 

AND  THE  GREATER  RALEIGH  COMMUNITY 

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  OF 

MEREDITH  COLLEGE 

DEDICATE  AND  NAME  THIS  EXHIBITION  GALLERY 

IN  HONOR  OF  AND  APPRECIATION  FOR 

FRANKIE  G.  WEEMS 

SEPTEMBER  25,  1987 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      I7I 

Jones  also  seized  the  opportunity  to  tout  the  building:  "Stephen  Litt,  art 
critic  for  the  News  and  Observer,  wrote  of  the  'small  handsome  gallery' 
and  predicted  it  could  become  'one  of  the  most  important  spaces  to  view 
art  in  the  Triangle  area,' "  he  said.^^  And  Meredith  took  its  turn  to  exult. 
In  the  Fall  1987  issue,  Renee  Keever  wrote  about  "A  Center  for  Women 
in  Art": 

Through  the  long,  sunny  windows  of  the  painting  studio.  .  .  ,  Dr. 
Craig  Greene,  head  of  Meredith's  department  of  art,  pointed  to  an- 
other art  building  of  note.  The  sharp,  sleek  angles  of  the  North  Car- 
olina Museum  of  Art  rise  above  the  treetops,  but  its  shadow  is  not 
too  long. 

"We  like  to  think  of  the  museuin  as  one  of  our  laboratories," 
Greene  said  with  a  laugh.  "It  has  a  superb  collection,  and  since  we 
can  get  there  in  five  minutes,  we  use  it  like  another  one  of  our  class- 
rooms."^^ 

As  Greene  and  his  staff  rejoiced  that  the  long  wait  was  over  and  a 
common  roof  finally  sheltered  all  their  programs,  the  staffs  of  publica- 
tions, public  relations,  continuing  education,  the  writing  center,  and  in- 
formation services  happily  made  plans  to  spread  out  over  art's  vacated 
territories  in  Jones  Auditorium  and  Johnson  Hall.  The  offices  of  public 
relations  and  publications,  formerly  the  office  of  college  relations,  would 
share  new  space  in  Johnson  Hall's  east  wing,  third  floor.  The  department 
had  operated  in  the  division  of  institutional  advancement  until  the  elec- 
tion of  LaRose  Spooner  as  vice  president  of  administrative  affairs,  suc- 
cessor to  Mr.  Baker,  who  retired  in  1987.  At  her  new  post,  Dr.  Spooner 
accepted  the  redefined  responsibilities  of  promoting  the  College  "with  an 
eye  toward  a  unified  marketing  approach."  ^°  She  would  direct  the  staff 
most  responsible  for  publications,  advertising,  news,  and  other  means  of 
reaching  the  public,  while  her  predecessor  would  temporarily  sever  his 
ties  of  more  than  two  decades  and  serve  a  two-year  assignment  in  Ger- 
many as  general  secretary-treasurer  of  the  European  Baptist  Convention. 
Spooner  had  joined  the  mathematics  faculty  in  1967.  In  1993,  she  spoke 
freely  of  how  "Raising  the  Sights  of  Women"  had  raised  the  sights  not 
only  of  students  but  also  of  faculty  members:  "Many  of  us  .  .  .  were  en- 
couraged to  go  on  and  get  our  doctorates,  maybe  to  look  beyond  what 
we  were  doing,"  she  said.^^  She  earned  the  Ed.D.  in  adult  education,  with 
a  concentration  in  administration,  at  North  Carolina  State,  later  moving 


172.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

into  Meredith's  administration  as  director  of  financial  aid  and  of  institu- 
tional research.  She  had  been  assistant  to  the  president  since  1980  and 
was  secretary  of  the  corporation.  Spooner  held  the  bachelor's  degree  from 
Tift  and  the  M.A.T.  from  Duke. 

Jerry  McGee  accepted  a  vice  presidency  at  Furman  University,  his  res- 
ignation creating  an  opportunity  for  part  of  his  staff  to  reorganize  under 
Dr.  Spooner's  supervision  before  his  successor,  Dennis  Taylor,  assumed 
the  responsibilities  of  vice  president  on  July  i,  1987.  A  doctoral  candi- 
date at  North  Carolina  State  University,  Taylor  came  to  Meredith  from 
there,  where  he  had  been  a  development  officer  and  executive  assistant  to 
the  vice  chancellor.  His  term  at  Meredith  was  short-lived,  however;  he 
came  in  July  and  left  in  November.  In  January,  1988,  Murphy  M.  Os- 
borne, Jr.,  was  introduced  as  the  new  vice  president  for  institutional  ad- 
vancement. He  would  be  responsible  for  "comprehensive  advancement 
planning  and  staffing,  current  fund,  capital  fund,  and  endowment  sup- 
port."^- Dr.  Osborne  had  been  executive  director  of  the  Children's  Home 
in  Winston-Salem  and  had  held  vice  presidencies  at  High  Point  and 
Catawba  Colleges.  His  bachelor's  degree  is  from  High  Point  College,  his 
master's  from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  his 
doctorate  from  the  University  of  Tennessee.  Meredith  reported  that  Os- 
borne "likes  the  religious  dimension  at  Meredith  and  the  'high  standards 
of  excellence'  he  finds  in  the  Meredith  people.  .  .  ."^^ 

It  was  1988  before  the  reorganized  staff  of  public  relations  and  publi- 
cations settled  into  new  third-floor  offices,  with  Jeannie  Morelock  and 
Carolyn  Robinson,  respectively,  heading  the  two  sections.  The  space  in- 
cluded a  graphics  studio  with  enough  sunlight  beaming  through  the  huge 
old  Johnson  Hall  windows  to  stir  creative  juices.  The  offices  were  next  to 
the  expanded  information  services  department,  directed  by  Glenn 
Sanderson,  who  was  responsible  for  the  telephone  system,  much  of  the 
computer  management,  and  other  technological  services.  The  writing 
center  had  opened  September  i,  1987,  on  the  ground  floor  of  Jones  Au- 
ditorium, with  Nan  Miller,  instructor  of  English,  as  director  and  with  a 
staff  of  students  providing  "one-on-one  tutoring  to  all  levels  of  writers  at 
any  stage  of  the  writing  process." ^"^ 

The  continuing  education  staff  was  as  elated  with  its  handsome  new 
suite  on  the  lower  floor  of  Jones  Auditorium  as  was  the  art  department, 
with  its  "everything  under  one  roof"  miracle.  And  the  chain  reaction  con- 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-I988      I      I73 

tinued:  when  continuing  education  moved  from  its  cramped  quarters  on 
the  northern  edge  of  the  campus,  security  and  maintenance  moved  in. 

Because  of  the  increasing  numbers  of  aduh  women,  continuing  educa- 
tion, in  particular,  needed  expanded  offices.  For  example,  the  sixty-three 
new  re-entry  students  who,  in  the  summer  of  1987,  had  already  preregis- 
tered  for  the  fall  term,  represented  a  no  percent  increase  over  the  num- 
ber of  registrants  in  1986.  And  the  1986  count  had  been  up  50  percent 
from  1985.  Other  statistics  were  also  impressive:  Four  of  the  thirty-eight 
re-entry  women  in  the  Class  of  1986  graduated  crnn  laude;  three  magna 
cum  laude;  and  one  summa  cum,  laude,  the  latter  being  the  only  member 
of  the  class  to  graduate  with  highest  honors.  A  year  later,  thirty-two  of 
the  334  undergraduate  degrees  were  awarded  to  women  over  twenty- 
three.  Dr.  Ironside  believed  the  College  had  "positioned  itself  geographi- 
cally, historically,  and  in  terms  of  its  will  and  motivation  to  do  wonderful 
things.  .  .  .  [W]ho  would  have  dreamed  that  this  piece  of  farmland  would 
be  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  prime  areas  in  this  whole  country  for  busi- 
ness, for  industry,  for  people  needing  the  kinds  of  things  that  a  college  can 
give?"  she  asked. ^^ 

Some  of  the  services  the  College  offered  through  continuing  education 
sprang  from  requests  for  classes  or  workshops  for  off-campus  organiza- 
tions as  diverse  as  the  IBM  Corporation  and  the  Wake  County  Schools — 
in  1985 — to  the  Instrument  Society  of  America — in  1987.  The  IBM  Cor- 
poration had  selected  twenty-five  women  employees  to  move  from  "the 
production  line  to  administrative  work  as  secretaries."^^  And  for  a  year, 
Meredith  provided  instruction  in  typing,  office  management,  language 
arts,  and  business  writing  to  the  women,  who  not  only  moved  up  in  their 
jobs  but  also  earned  transfer  credit.  The  Wake  County  School  System 
asked  for  and  received  a  fifteen-week  program  to  help  improve  the  math 
skills  of  thirty-one  elementary  teachers  as  they  developed  teaching  strate- 
gies for  their  young  charges.  Then  the  Instrument  Society  of  America,  a 
professional  association  of  engineers,  wanted  an  intense  four-day  leader- 
ship training  period  for  its  volunteers.  The  first  year's  training  was  so  suc- 
cessful that  the  society  asked  continuing  education  to  repeat  the  process 
in  1988,  1989,  and  1990.  While  Meredith  led  the  workshops  on  the  east 
coast,  Cal  Tech  held  similar  sessions  in  the  west. 

In  1988,  when  the  editor  of  Meredith  interviewed  newcomer  Page  Pot- 
ter, director  of  the  legal  assistants'  program  since  October  1987,  Duke 


174     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Law  School  graduate,  and  member  of  both  the  Ilhnois  and  North  Car- 
ohna  Bar  Associations,  she  made  a  statement  that  would  startle  readers 
unfamiliar  with  the  College's  philosophy  of  continuing  education:  "A  per- 
son who  goes  through  our  paralegal  program"  she  said,  "  knows  more 
about  the  nuts  and  bolts  ...  of  practice  than  someone  graduating  from  [a 
major  university]  law  school."^^ 

It  was  no  wonder  the  dean  remarked,  at  the  end  of  the  1987-88  aca- 
demic year,  "All  in  all,  it  was  a  good  year,  perhaps  a  vintage  year."^^  It  was 
also  the  year  that  Meredith  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  two  private  colleges 
in  the  state  to  participate  in  the  North  Carolina  Teaching  Fellows  Pro- 
gram, to  begin  in  the  fall  of  1988.  Of  the  thirteen  colleges  and  universities 
entrusted  with  the  state's  prestigious  program  of  attracting  four  hundred 
of  the  best  high  school  students  to  the  teaching  field,  Meredith  and  Elon 
were  the  only  independent  institutions.  The  state  would  award  $5,000 
per  year  per  Fellow,  and  Meredith  would  coordinate  grants  to  make  up 
the  difference  in  tuition  and  fees.  Recipients  would  repay  their  college 
loans  by  teaching  for  four  years  in  North  Carolina  following  graduation. 
In  the  first  class,  twenty-eight  Teaching  Fellows  enrolled;  of  those,  "one 
Ihad]  already  appeared  at  Carnegie  Hall,  another  at  Lincoln  Center."^^ 

President  Weems  beheved  Meredith's  selection  as  a  Teaching  Fellows 
participant  was  "a  clear  indication  of  the  regard  professional  educators 
throughout  the  state"  held  for  the  College. "^^  His  words  came  home  to  ed- 
ucation department  head  Gwen  Clay,  who,  returning  from  a  meeting 
sponsored  by  the  Wake  County  Public  School  System,  reported,  "The 
comments  about  the  Meredith  [education]  program  by  people  who  are 
working  with  student  teachers  were  so  incredibly  positive  and  so  abun- 
dant, I  almost  felt  a  little  embarrassed.""^^ 

Some  of  the  Teaching  Fellows  were  also  Honors  Scholars.  In  1987, 
when  the  Class  of  199 1  arrived  as  freshmen,  twenty-two  of  them  joined 
the  twenty-four  sophomores,  twenty-seven  juniors,  and  seventeen  seniors 
to  complete  the  first  generation  of  honors  students.  The  College  had  set  a 
goal  of  $1,000,000  to  endow  the  program,  and  minutes  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  for  February  26,  1988,  recorded  the  successful  endeavor:  "The 
College  now  has  funds  and  commitments  for  honors  scholarships  totaling 
$1,183,000." 

Of  the  honors  program,  Rhonda  Zingraff,  professor  of  sociology,  said 
she  believed  it  had  influenced  the  entire  campus.  "I  have  been  very 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988     I      I75 

pleased  at  the  differences  I  can  recognize  because  of  [it],"  she  said.  "I 
think  that  students  .  .  .  not  in  the  honors  program  benefit  by  reahzing  that 
their  thinking  can  be  taken  seriously,  too — that  they  are  here  to  do  more 
than  just  meet  the  requirements.'"^^ 

The  honors  students,  the  Teaching  Fellows,  and  all  other  students  ben- 
efited from  vintage  years.  In  the  spring  of  1987,  the  College  developed  a 
pilot  capstone  course  to  serve  "as  a  culminating  experience  to  the  general 
education  requirements,  focusing  on  thinking  processes,  broad  synthesis 
of  content,  and  values  in  action.'"^^  Students  would  use  the  knowledge 
gained  from  both  their  general  education  courses  and  their  major (s)  in  a 
"wholistic  overview  of  scientific  and  cultural  changes  in  society  and  action 
directed  toward  contemporary  problems  produced  by  these  changes.'"^"* 
The  first  capstone  course.  Human  Horizons,  was  team-taught  by  members 
of  the  art,  chemistry,  and  psychology  faculties.  While  the  pilot  program 
was  "extraordinarily  successful,'"*^  attracting  about  fifty  students,  it 
would  undergo  another  trial  year  before  becoming  a  permanent  part  of 
the  curriculum. 

"Capstone  courses"  entered  the  academic  vocabulary,  which  also 
came  to  include  such  phrases  as  "contract  majors";  "interdisciplinary 
majors"  or  "interdisciplinary  studies";  and  "independent  studies."  Inter- 
disciplinary studies  (IDS)  were  offered  from  time  to  time  by  several  de- 
partments and  were  "designed  to  encourage  synoptic  thinking  on  themes 
that  cut  across  several  disciplines."'*^  One  of  the  popular  interdisciplinary 
studies  appeared  in  the  catalogue  for  the  first  time  in  1988,  although  it 
had  been  offered  a  few  years  earlier:  Women's  Odyssey  explored  histori- 
cal, minority,  and  cross-cultural  perspectives  of  women,  A  contract  major 
was  allowed  when  the  student  requesting  it  won  the  approval  of  the  ap- 
propriate department  heads  and  successfully  petitioned  the  Academic 
Council  for  a  specific  course  of  study.  Dean  Burris  personalized  the  pro- 
gram in  his  annual  report  for  1988:  "A  number  of  contract  majors  were 
approved.  Of  particular  note  was  the  one  in  Art  History  for  Sarah  Lem- 
mon.  Professor  Emeritus  of  History."  So  in  1991,  Dr.  Lemmon  would  re- 
ceive the  A.B.  degree  from  Meredith,  becoming  a  bona  fide  alumna  after 
having  served  on  the  faculty  or  the  administrative  staff  since  1947.  But 
fifteen  years  before  she  earned  her  Meredith  degree,  she  was  the  first  non- 
alumna  invited  to  deliver  the  annual  Alumnae  Day  address. 

Many  new  majors  required  no  special  vocabulary,  though  they  sprang 


176     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

from  new  career  opportunities  for  women:  speech  and  theatre  in  1987; 
dance;  child  development;  clothing  and  fashion  merchandising;  foods  and 
nutrition;  and  interior  design  in  1988.  The  latter  four  subjects  had  been  of- 
fered as  concentrations  in  the  home  economics  department,  but,  by  chang- 
ing them  to  majors,  said  the  Academic  Council,  "the  students  will  gain 
greater  depth  in  their  chosen  field  of  study  and  earn  degrees  that  have 
greater  visibility  and  are  more  consistent  with  Departments  of  Home  Eco- 
nomics elsewhere,  or  with  accreditation  (as  with  the  A.D.A.).'"*^  Dean  Bur- 
ris  pointed  to  the  nutrition  program's  success  in  1988:  Five  of  its  students 
won  scholarships  "from  various  outside  organizations.  Of  particular  note 
was  the  first  student  in  North  or  South  Carolina  to  receive  a  North  Car- 
olina Diet  Center  scholarship  (one  of  ten  given  in  the  nation).'"*^  As  home 
economics  redefined  its  concentrations,  sociology  and  politics  jointly  ad- 
ministered a  new  one  in  criminal  justice. 

A  peruser  of  the  college  catalogue  needed  only  to  read  the  course  de- 
scriptions to  be  reminded  that  the  eighties  offered  an  unprecedented  array 
of  choices.  But  surrounded  by  sometimes-intimidating  course  descrip- 
tions, a  simple,  old-fashioned,  one-hour  course  titled  English  150  — 
Spelling — appeared  in  the  1988-89  and  subsequent  catalogues.  Skeptics 
inferred  that  the  computer's  spell  checker  was  to  the  ability  to  spell  as  the 
hand-held  calculator  was  to  the  ability  to  recite  the  multiplication  tables, 
but  experts  adamantly  refuted  the  theory.  In  any  case,  some  courses  never 
reached  obsolescence;  others  outlived  their  times  and  were  relegated  to 
history.  For  example.  Spelling  was  voted  in,  and  Typewriting  was  voted 
out.  No  longer  useful  in  the  Information  Age,  typing  suffered  the  same 
fate  in  1988  as  that  of  its  business  partner,  shorthand,  in  1986.  It  was  the 
end  of  an  era.  Typewriting  and  shorthand  had  been  offered  since  the 
1899 -1900  catalogue  of  Baptist  Female  University's  School  of  Business: 
These  courses,  read  the  old  catalogue,  "are  usually  taken  together  and  are 
offered  to  those  who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  for  office  and  general  re- 
porting work.'"*^ 

In  the  lively  Department  of  Business  and  Economics,  now  rid  of  its 
pre-technological-era  curriculum,  Donald  Spanton,  who  had  served  for  a 
brief  time  as  acting  head,  agreed  in  1986  to  wear  the  title  permanently.  A 
native  of  Rochester,  New  York,  Dr.  Spanton  received  the  B.S.  degree  in 
managerial  engineering  from  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  the  M.S.  in 
engineering  from  Georgia  Institute  of  Technology,  and  the  Ph.D.  in  busi- 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      I77 

ness  management  from  American  University.  His  career  had  already 
taken  him  to  service  in  the  army,  to  the  Lockheed  Corporation,  to  IBM, 
and  to  the  Federal  Government.  A  few  years  after  joining  the  faculty, 
when  corporations  were  "downsizing,"  forcing  faithful  and  experienced 
employees  to  alter  their  lives,  he  dispelled  any  notion  that  his  department 
at  Meredith  would  encourage  its  student  executives-to-be  to  "go  and  do 
likewise."  For  example,  "our  faculty  talk  about  hiring  and  firing,  sexual 
harrassment,  ethics,  and  family  values,  along  with  marketing  and  busi- 
ness law,"  he  said.  "The  women's  movement,  affirmative  action,  equal  op- 
portunity— whatever  label  you  want  to  put  on  it — has  certainly  had  an 
impact  on  the  materials  with  which  we  work,"  Spanton  added.  "Many  of 
us  use  the  Wall  Street  Journal,  for  example,  as  a  supplement  to  textbooks, 
and  the  textbooks  themselves  carry  articles  on  social  science-like  re- 
search, some  of  it  quantitative,  some  of  it  qualitative,  but  it  is  there."^°  In 
the  past  decade,  the  department's  focus  had  significantly  broadened  be- 
cause of  society's  expectations  of  women — and  women's  expectations  of 
themselves.  Spanton  gave  an  example  of  obsolescent  thinking:  "I  get 
about  one  call  a  year  from  some  irate  gentleman  from  downtown  Raleigh 
who  wants  to  know  when  I  am  going  to  send  him  a  decent  secretary.  I  tell 
him  we  are  not  in  that  business  anymore."^^ 

But  Meredith  was  always  in  the  business  of  change.  That  long-time 
colleagues  filled  vacated  positions  had  never  been  uncommon,  as  was  the 
case  when  Allen  Page,  who  had  taught  in  the  Department  of  Religion  and 
Philosophy  for  fourteen  years,  succeeded  the  retiring  Roger  Crook  as  de- 
partment head.  Dr.  Page  had  come  to  the  College  in  1973,  unwittingly 
drawn  to  the  alma  mater  of  his  wife,  his  mother,  his  sister,  and  seven  of 
his  aunts.  A  graduate  of  Mars  Hill  and  Wake  Forest,  Page  pursued  grad- 
uate study  at  Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  before  complet- 
ing the  M.Div.  at  Union  Theological  Seminary  and  the  Ph.D.  at  Duke.  In 
the  four  years  that  he  headed  the  department,  he  witnessed  a  decline  in 
the  number  of  religion  majors.  "I  think  it  had  to  do  with  the  role  of 
women  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Church,"  he  said.  "While,  in  the  broader 
spectrum,  women  were  being  encouraged  to  pursue  ministry,  in  the  Bap- 
tist context,  they  were  being  discouraged  ....  I  think  another  significant 
issue  has  had  to  do  with  the  broadening  roles  of  women  generally  ...  in 
the  expansion  of  opportunities  in  business."^^  The  year  of  Page's  appoint- 
ment to  the  administration  was  a  vintage  year  for  him  in  more  ways  than 


lyS      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

one:  also  in  1987,  his  book,  Life  After  Death,  rolled  off  the  press  and  out 
of  the  bindery. 

In  the  same  year,  Burgunde  Winz  became  head  of  the  Department  of 
Foreign  Languages,  succeeding  Anne  Kurtz,  who  continued  to  teach.  No 
newcomer  to  Meredith,  Dr.  Winz  had  been  a  member  of  the  department 
since  1978  and  had  completed  the  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina at  Chapel  Hill  after  joining  the  faculty.  She  arrived  in  the  United 
States  from  Europe  in  the  late  sixties  and  taught  on  the  high  school  level — 
for  a  time  at  Broughton  in  Raleigh.  She  speaks  fluent  English,  German, 
and  French,  having  grown  up  in  Ludwigsburg,  West  Germany.  After  hav- 
ing earned  her  bachelor's  and  master's  degrees  at  ADI-Germersheim,  she 
left  Germany  to  become  an  interpreter  in  France.  "I  once  even  inter- 
preted for  Mitterand  before  he  became  President,"  she  told  the  Meredith 
Herald.^^  Winz  said  she  wanted  her  department  to  be  sensitive  to  stu- 
dents' needs.  "I'm  very  thankful  that  Meredith  has  never  dropped  the 
language  requirement  in  general  education.  ...  In  a  year's  time  you  can 
teach  Istudents]  very  little,  as  far  as  speaking  goes,  but  I  think  you  can 
teach  a  lot  of  culture  and  civilization."^'*  The  department  has  added  two 
semesters  abroad — one  in  Madrid  for  Spanish  students  and  one  in 
Angers,  near  Paris,  for  French  students.  Because  of  possible  financial  and 
other  restraints,  study  abroad  has  not  been  a  requirement;  however, 
about  99  percent  of  French  or  Spanish  majors  have  taken  advantage  of 
the  opportunity. 

The  art  department  offered  a  semester  in  France,  as  well.  Artist  Ben 
Long,  who  had  spent  some  time  on  the  campus  painting  the  portraits  of 
Governor  Hunt  and  President  Weems,  was  named  an  adjunct  professor  of 
painting  and,  as  such,  instructed  ten  students  in  his  Paris  studio,  begin- 
ning in  the  fall  semester  of  1987. 

In  contrast  to  long-time  colleagues  wearing  different  titles  were  new 
acquaintances  wearing  familiar  ones.  In  1987,  Virginia  Knight  assumed 
leadership  of  the  Department  of  Mathematical  Sciences,  succeeding  Ed 
Wheeler.  Dr.  Knight's  background  included  impressive  experience  in 
computer  technology.  At  North  Carolina  State  University,  she  had  been  a 
research  associate  in  the  Department  of  Electrical  and  Computer  Engi- 
neering, and  prior  to  coming  south,  she  had  served  Western  New  England 
College  as  assistant  dean  in  the  School  of  Business  and  as  chairman  of  the 
Department  of  Quantitative  Methods  and  Computer  Information  Sys- 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      I79 

terns.  She  holds  the  A.B.  from  DePauw  University  and  the  A.M.  and 
Ph.D.  from  the  University  of  Oregon.  Of  women's  colleges,  Knight  said, 

I  feel  that  women  are  very  encouraged  in  women's  colleges.  Know- 
ing what  I  know  now  about  them,  I  think  I  would  have  gone  to 
one.  .  .  . 

When  I  came  to  Meredith,  the  first  class  I  walked  into  was  an  ad- 
vanced calculus  class.  It  was  a  course  that  I'd  taught  many  times  be- 
fore, and  it  was  usually  a  small  class  at  other  places.  My  first  class  at 
Meredith  had  thirteen  students  in  it,  which  was  about  average  for 
advanced  calculus,  and  it  was  just  so  amazing  to  me  that  all  these 
thirteen  students  were  women.  I  just  loved  it,  because  I  had  cer- 
tainly not  ever  taught  an  advanced  calculus  class  or  been  at  a  school 
where  thirteen  women  took  advanced  calculus.  Another  thing  I  no- 
ticed was  that  our  department  had  an  average  of  between  fifteen 
and  twenty  majors  each  year.  Let  alone  the  male/female  issue,  that's 
more  math  majors  than  most  liberal  arts  colleges  our  size  have."^^ 

Knight  also  told  of  finding  at  Meredith  a  mathematical  sciences  faculty  of 
seven  women:  "I  guess  for  my  first  two  years  there  were  all  women  faculty 
in  this  department.  We  never  looked  into  it,  but  we  wondered  at  the  time 
if  we  were  the  largest  all-women  math  department  in  the  world.  .  .  ."^^ 

Math  students  continued  to  excel,  according  to  Dean  Burris  in  1987: 
"Of  particular  note  was  the  success  of  our  students  in  the  prestigious 
William  Lowell  Putman  mathematics  competition.  They  were  71st  in  the 
nation,  ranking  above  such  schools  as  Duke  and  Wake  Forest."^^ 

As  earher  chapters  of  this  record  suggest,  the  people  who  arrive  and 
others  who  leave  play  into  the  dynamics  of  education.  Ninteen  eighty- 
seven  was  unusual,  however,  in  that  so  many  legendary  members  of  the 
faculty  and  staff  chose  to  retire,  either  then  or  in  late  1986.  The  retirees' 
combined  length  of  service  totaled  more  than  Z50  years:  Betty  Jean  Yea- 
ger,  '47,  faculty  secretary,  39  years;  Roger  Crook,  professor  of  religion, 
3  8  years;  Harry  Simmons,  supervisor  of  buildings  maintenance,  3  8  years; 
Virginia  Scarboro,  secretary  to  the  vice  president  for  business  and  finance, 
26  years;  Leonard  White,  professor  of  art,  23  years;  Joe  Baker,  vice  pres- 
ident for  administrative  affairs,  21  years;  Kay  Friedrich,  instructor  of 
home  economics,  20  years;  Dorothy  Quick,  circulation  librarian,  17 
years;  Marie  Capel,  director  of  career  services  and  cooperative  education. 


l8o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

1 6  years,  and  Cleo  Glover  Perry,  '45,  director  of  alumnae  affairs,  12 
years. 

In  1986,  Doris  Allen  Litchfield,  '54,  succeeded  Mrs.  Perry  as  director 
of  alumnae  affairs.  As  an  alumna,  Mrs.  Litchfield  was  no  stranger  to  the 
Alumnae  Association,  but  also,  she  had  worked  briefly  with  Mae  Grim- 
mer from  1957-58.  Conniesue  Barfield  Oldham,  '73,  came  "home"  to 
Meredith  as  dean  of  graduate  studies  and  as  faculty  development  officer, 
a  recently  established  position.  Raleighite  Gordon  Folger,  who  had  for 
five  years  directed  the  activities  of  the  local  Women's  Center,  succeeded 
Marie  Capel  in  career  services.  And  Ruth  Balla  was  introduced  to  the 
community  as  the  first  director  of  academic  computing. 

Academic  computing  was  a  natural  next  step.  As  long  ago  as  1985,  an 
IBM  System  36  computer  had  replaced  the  old  System  34,  allowing  the 
accounting  office  to  use  a  payroll  module  to  ease  the  pains  and  strains  of 
pay  day.  Also,  the  registrar's  office  and  the  students  eagerly  awaited  the 
fall  term,  which  promised  registration  by  computer.  And  the  book  store 
was  putting  in  place  a  computerized  system  for  ordering  supplies  and 
streamlining  the  inventory.  By  1988,  every  department  possessed  a  com- 
puter. President  Weems,  who  warmly  welcomed  all  advances  in  technol- 
ogy, said,  "Meredith  has  embraced  the  cybernetic  age  with  enthusiasm."^^ 
He  displayed  his  own  enthusiastic  acceptance  of  the  Information  Age  at 
opening  convocation  in  August  when,  with  the  assistance  of  the  media 
services  staff,  he  presented  to  the  community  "all  the  multi-media  oppor- 
tunities which  exist  at  Meredith  College,"  according  to  the  Meredith  Her- 
ald J^  From  an  audience  whose  reaction  to  convocation  was  often  luke- 
warm at  best,  the  accolades  were  generously  bestowed.  Cara  Lynn 
Groom  wrote,  "This  convocation  broke  the  mold  of  traditional  speeches 
.  .  .  ,  creating  an  excitement  about  Meredith  and  future  opportunities."^*^ 

Computer  laboratories  represented  tangible  progress,  and  endowed 
lectures  brought  intangible  rewards.  In  1988,  the  Department  of  Religion 
and  Philosophy  introduced  the  Mary  Stowe  Gullick  Lectures  in  Christian 
Ethics  and  the  Mary  Frances  Preston  Lectures  in  Biblical  Studies,  while 
the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics  inaugurated  its  Business 
Executive  Program,  which  also  included  a  lecture  series.  Trustee  Jonathan 
Gullick  had  established  an  endowment  "to  express  a  commitment  to 
higher  education,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  mother,  and  to  enhance 
the  Christian  influence  on  the  Meredith  campus."^'  Charles  Barham,  also 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    I986-1988      I      181 

a  trustee,  endowed  the  Preston  Lectures.  Mary  Frances  Preston  was  well- 
known  as  a  Christian  educator  and  for  family  ties  with  Meredith.  Her  hus- 
band, E.S.  Preston,  was  director  of  public  relations,  1949-50;  her  daugh- 
ter, Jerrie  Preston  Oughton,  graduated  in  the  Class  of  1963;  and  her 
daughter-in-law,  Dorothy  Knott  Preston,  '54,  is  a  professor  of  mathemat- 
ics at  the  College.  James  McClendon  of  the  Divinity  School  of  the  Pacific 
gave  the  first  Gullick  lecture,  and  John  Lewis,  senior  minister  at  Raleigh's 
First  Baptist  Church,  delivered  the  inaugural  Preston  Lecture.  Also,  Bill 
Carl,  co-founder  of  the  Golden  Corral  Corporation  initiated  the  program 
designed  "to  bring  outstanding  business  professionals  to  the  campus  for 
lectures  and  interaction  with  students,  faculty,  and  the  public." ^^ 

Also  in  1988,  the  music  department  inaugurated  its  chorus  for  chil- 
dren in  the  community.  After  a  time,  however,  it  accepted  girls  only — 
and  that  by  audition.  Eventually,  two  choruses  emerged:  the  Meredith 
Girls'  Chorus  for  elementary  school  children  and  the  Meredith  Girls' 
Chorale  for  middle  school  girls,  both  directed  by  Frances  M.  Page,  assis- 
tant professor  in  the  department.  Meanwhile,  the  traditional  Meredith 
Chorale  performed  in  New  Orleans  Mendelssohn's  Elijah,  with  the  New 
Orleans  Symphony  and  a  choir  from  the  Baptist  seminary  there. 

Other  students  continued  their  travels  as  well.  In  1987,  one  could 
choose  the  regular  Meredith  Abroad  program  in  Zurich  and  London  or 
a  study  group  in  Greece,  France,  Spain,  Germany,  or  Mexico.  For  some 
students,  of  course,  to  attend  Meredith  was  to  study  abroad.  In  1988, 
thirty-eight  young  women — the  largest  number  ever  to  enroll  from  other 
countries  —  boosted  the  international  population.  But  that  year,  students 
learned  of  a  rather  radical  departure  from  the  usual  meaning  of  foreign 
study:  In  addition  to  the  choices  of  a  semester  with  Ben  Long  in  Paris  or 
at  the  Catholic  University  in  Angers,  there  was  the  possibility  of  study  in 
China,  sponsored  by  a  consortium  of  six  colleges,  including  Meredith  and 
Wake  Forest  University.  Dr.  Winz  of  the  foreign  language  department  was 
probably  not  exaggerating  when  she  said,  "Dr.  Webb  Idirector  of  inter- 
national studies]  and  we  work  together  very  well  and  find  the  students 
any  kind  of  program  in  the  world  where  they  would  like  to  go."^^ 

At  home,  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges  worked  under  a  similar  prin- 
cipal— finding  a  student  any  kind  of  course  among  the  local  colleges  and 
universities  she  would  like  to  take.  The  consortium  observed  its  twentieth 
anniversary  in  1988.  At  the  time,  Dr.  Weems  was  in  his  second  term  as 


l82     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

president  of  the  organization,  and  Rosalie  Gates,  associate  professor  of 
history,  was  in  her  seventh  year  as  director. 

SOUTHEASTERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  Seminary,  Meredith's  neighbor 
twenty  miles  to  the  north,  announced  on  October  22,  1987,  that  its  pres- 
ident, Randall  Lolley,  and  its  dean,  Morris  Ashcraft,  intended  to  resign. 
The  press  release  stated  that  President  Lolley  and  Dean  Ashcraft  have 
"made  it  abundantly  clear  that  they  will  not  implement  the  policies  of  po- 
litical fundamentalism  now  being  enacted  by  a  narrow  majority  of  [the] 
board  of  trustees.  .  .  ."^'^ 

On  October  26,  Reginald  Shiflett,  Meredith's  faculty  affairs  committee 
chair,  sent  notice  to  the  faculty  and  administration  that  "Due  to  the  re- 
cent events  at  Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  there  will  be  a 
special  faculty  meeting  at  3:00  p.m.  on  Friday,  October  30.  The  attached 
resolution  will  be  the  only  item  of  business."  The  resolution,  as  passed  by 
the  faculty,  read. 

We,  the  Faculty  of  Meredith  College,  wish  to  exprss  our  distress 
about  the  actions  recently  taken  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  South- 
eastern Baptist  Theological  Seminary. 

We  respect  the  commitment  to  freedom  and  diversity  exemplified 
by  Southeastern  Seminary  throughout  its  history.  We  believe  that  re- 
cent actions  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  endanger  academic  freedom 
and  blur  crucial  distinctions  between  education  and  indoctrination. 

We  support  the  faculty  of  Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary in  their  struggle  to  maintain  academic  freedom.^^ 

A  1986  message  from  President  Weems  to  the  college  community  had 
predicted  Southeastern's  fate.  Throughout  his  ten-page  document  titled  A 
Matter  of  Importance,  Weems  alluded  to  a  "conservative  special  interest 
group": 

Their  ultimate  goal  is  to  propagate  their  philosophy  and  beliefs.  To 
accomplish  this  they  must  have  control  of  the  institutions.  .  .  .  Even 
a  small  number  of  vocal  trustees  can  have  a  profound  effect  on  the 
policies  and  direction  of  the  institution.  Should  these  people  who 
represent  this  special  interest  group  gain  a  majority  of  seats  on  the 
board,  the  nature  of  our  institution  will  change. 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    I986-I988      I      183 

For  almost  ninety  years  Meredith  has  operated  with  freedom,  in- 
tegrity, and  in  accordance  with  true  Baptist  principles.  It  seems  in- 
credible that  within  a  short  period  of  time  it  is  possible  that  our  col- 
lege could  be  controlled  by  a  special  interest  group  determined  to 
use  the  institution  for  its  own  purposes. 

While  I  have  no  assurance  that  these  dire  concerns  will  come  to 
fruition,  I  am  convinced  that  the  wheels  of  change  are  turning  inex- 
orably in  that  direction.  ...  It  is  my  opinion  that  our  faculty,  staff, 
and  trustees  should  make  the  discussion  of  these  issues  an  item  of 
high  priority.^^ 

The  "high  priority"  discussions  regarding  affairs  at  home  often  com- 
mingled with  conversations  about  actions  and  events  abroad.  In  that  era, 
one  of  the  topics  of  frequent  discussion — and  moral  despair — was  the 
practice  of  apartheid  in  South  Africa.  On  February  6,  1987,  the  Depart- 
ment of  Religion  and  Philosophy  sent  a  memorandum  to  the  faculty  af- 
fairs committee: 

We  wish  to  present  to  the  faculty  for  deliberation  and  action  the  fol- 
lowing resolution:  In  order  to  participae  in  the  struggle  against 
apartheid — internationally  recognized,  according  to  Webster's 
Third  New  International  Dictionary,  as  "a  policy  of  segregation  and 
political  and  economic  discrimination  against  non-European  groups 
in  the  Union  of  South  Africa" — the  Meredith  College  faculty  calls 
upon  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  join  Meredith  with  other  educational 
institutions  and  organizations  in  fighting  this  evil  with  the  weapons 
not  only  of  education  but  also  of  divestiture. 

Therefore,  we  request  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Meredith  College 
to  examine  its  endowment  portfolio  and  to  eliminate  all  investment 
instruments  in  those  companies  currently  doing  business  in  South 
Africa,  and  to  inform  the  faculty  of  the  nature  of  the  action  taken. 

On  February   20,    1987,  the  faculty  passed  the  resolution  with   an 
amended  final  sentence: 

Therefore,  we  request  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Meredith  College  to 
examine  its  endowment  portfolio  and  to  eliminate  all  investment  in- 
struments in  those  firms  with  direct  investments  in  South  Africa. . .  .^^ 


184     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

When  the  full  board  met  the  following  September,  Charles  Taylor  re- 
ported to  the  finance  committee  that  the  administration  "was  prepared  to 
instruct  the  College's  investment  managers  who  purchase  securities  di- 
rectly in  the  name  of  Meredith  not  to  buy  any  securities  for  the  College's 
account  from  firms  which  do  business  in  South  Africa  unless  such  firms 
adhere  to  the  Sullivan  Principles  in  the  treatment  of  their  employees 
in  South  Africa. "^^  In  the  executive  committee  for  November,  trustee 
Charles  Barham  interpreted  the  Sullivan  Principles  as  "a  set  of  general 
statements  in  support  of  positive  efforts  to  protect  human  rights."^^ 
Barham  said  the  finance  committee  believed  "that  this  should  be  the 
thrust  of  the  College's  position  on  its  investments  ."^° 

For  many  students,  the  issue  of  the  day,  every  day,  was  the  future.  For 
example,  at  that  time  in  history,  a  college  degree  no  longer  guaranteed  a 
job;  however,  students  were  also  concerned  about  their  communities  and 
the  world  at  large.  Meredith  conducted  a  non-scientific  survey,  asking  for 
thoughts  from  randomly  selected  young  women.  Some  of  the  comments 
follow: 

Cara  Lynn  Croom  '89,  an  English  major  from  Carrboro  said,  "The 
issue  that  concerns  me  most  is  the  problem  of  the  homeless  in  Raleigh 
and  even  in  the  small  cities  of  North  Carolina.  Far  too  many  people  are 
living  on  the  streets  and  must  rely  on  food  gathered  from  the  trash  cans 
and  alleys  of  'the  richest  country  in  the  world.'  "^^ 

Mary  Leslie  Joyner,  '90,  an  international  business  and  Spanish  major 
from  Farmville,  said,  "I  am  concerned  about  the  widespread  use  of  drugs 
in  the  nation's  high  schools,  the  spread  of  the  AIDS  virus  in  such  an  alarm- 
ing manner,  and  the  condition  of  the  job  market  for  college  graduates." ^^ 

Mary  Dickson,  '89,  a  social  work  major  from  Aurora,  Ohio,  said, 
"Homelessness  and  poverty.  As  a  social  work  major  .  .  .  my  classes  in  this 
area  have  heightened  my  awareness  of  these  increasing  problems.  .  .  .  We 
as  a  society  must  face  up  to  this  and  do  something  about  it."^^ 

Jennifer  Corn  explored  such  issues  as  date  rape,  diet  pills,  AIDS,  and 
eating  disorders  in  her  Meredith  Herald  column,  "A  Woman's  Room." 
But  always  at  issue  were  campus  living  conditions.  In  1986,  the  predica- 
ment of  overcrowding  prompted  discussion  of  whether  to  construct  an- 
other residence  hall.  Dean  Sizemore  alluded  to  the  seriousness  of  the 
problem  for  residents,  particularly  for  the  fifty-one  who  were  "housed  in 
'auxiliary'  spaces,  including  converted  parlors,  converted  study  rooms. 


VINTAGE  YEARS  AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      185 

converted  maids'  rooms,  and  22  rooms  in  freshman  housing  which  were 
converted  from  rooms  for  two  to  rooms  for  three."  She  said,  "The  effects 
of  overcrowding  rippled  throughout  the  campus,  affecting  quiet  hours, 
study  habits,  roommate  tension,  hall  unity,  student  attitude,  school  spirit, 
parental  satisfaction,  and  ultimately  the  quality  of  life  and  education  at 
Meredith."^^ 

The  overcrowding  eased  somewhat  the  following  year,  but  other  hous- 
ing problems  did  not.  The  large  freshman  and  sophomore  classes  of  1986 
translated  into  the  large  sophomore  and  junior  classes  of  1987.  There- 
fore, said  Sizemore,  "about  80  juniors  had  to  be  housed  in  traditionally 
sophomore  housing,  and  40  sophomores  housed  in  traditionally  fresh- 
man housing."  There  was  "a  significant  surge  of  parental  complaint,"  she 
said.^^ 

In  the  fall  of  1987,  students  who  wished  to  do  so  could  live  on  a  fitness 
hall  (no  smoking)  in  junior  and  senior  housing,  or  on  a  Spanish  or  French 
hall.  In  her  1988  assessment  of  student  housing  methods,  Sizemore  added 
a  new  twist:  "Freshman  roommate  assignments  are  based  on  computer- 
selected  personality/life-style  similarities  taken  from  personal  data  infor- 
mation cards  submitted  by  the  students.  Results  of  the  computer-based 
roommate  selection  have  been  amazingly  positive." ^^ 

Occasionally,  a  student  equated  satisfactory  living  conditions  with 
having  her  car  on  campus.  In  February  1986,  only  juniors  and  seniors 
were  granted  that  privilege,  except  under  unusual  circumstances.  The 
trustees,  however,  wanted  to  extend  the  offer  to  sophomores  who  earned 
a  2,.  5  grade  average  or  higher.  But  once  a  car  arrived,  it  had  to  be  parked 
somewhere,  and  the  College  found  it  necessary  to  raise  parking  fees  sim- 
ply to  "alleviate  the  current  crowded  conditions.  .  .  .  "^^  To  the  chagrin  of 
some  of  the  neighbors  on  Faircloth  Street,  a  mammoth  expansion  in  1987 
created  180  new  spaces  on  the  east  campus,  but  the  discreet  landscaping 
in  and  around  the  huge  lot  allayed  the  fears  of  nearby  homeowners.  In 
1988,  fifty  additional  parking  places  were  marked  off  between  the  Mae 
Grimmer  Alumnae  House  and  Gate  Genter.  Automobile  privileges  were 
extended  to  sophomores  in  1992-93  and  to  freshmen  in  1995-96. 

Parking  spaces  were  at  a  premium  and  therefore  precious  to  students, 
faculty,  and  staff  alike.  But  they  simply  represented  convenience,  or  the 
lack  thereof.  The  old  Bee  Hive,  on  the  other  hand,  elicited  nostalgia  with 
every  brush  stroke  as  it  became  a  giant  canvas  for  seniors'  art.  Kim  Allen 


l86     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

titled  2L  19S6  Meredith  Herald  piece,  "  'Bee  Hive'  becomes  ode  to  senior 
class." ^^  In  the  tradition  of  painting  the  exterior  of  the  old  wooden  struc- 
ture, members  of  the  Class  of  1986  spent  $100  and  part  of  April  to  cre- 
ate their  masterpiece.  They  included  their  Cornhuskin'  themes;  a  poem  to 
their  little  sisters  in  the  Class  of  1988;  poems  to  their  Poteat  Hall  resi- 
dence director,  Frances  Thorne,  and  their  director  of  student  activities, 
Rhoda  Sowers;  and  a  poem  by  Robert  Frost  in  memory  of  their  deceased 
classmate,  Jacquelyn  Edwards.  It  was  the  last  class  of  "artists"  to  exhibit 
a  mural  there;  at  least,  no  subsequent  class  saw  its  art  preserved  for  an  en- 
tire year.  (In  the  nineties,  seniors  exhibited  their  artistry  by  painting  mes- 
sages, slogans,  and  class  numerals  in  the  short  tunnel — between  the  main 
campus  and  the  grounds  of  the  president's  residence — supporting  the 
I-440  overpass.)  In  his  1987  annual  report.  Vice  President  Taylor  alluded 
to  the  demolition  of  "the  last  of  the  'temporary'  wood  frame  buildings 
which  have  served  as  classroom  space  over  the  years."  (The  Bee  Hive  was 
part  of  the  old  auditorium  building,  which  had  housed  the  music  depart- 
ment from  1926-1949.) 

Other  of  the  original  campus  buildings  received  attention  when,  after 
sixty  years,  the  College  air  conditioned  Brewer  and  Faircloth  Residence 
Halls  in  1987  and  Vann  and  Stringfield  in  1989.  Lest  some  readers  of  this 
history  know  only  an  air-conditioned  world,  let  the  record  be  set  straight: 
For  most  of  the  sixty  years  before  air  conditioning  in  the  residence  halls,  the 
fall  semester  started  in  September  when  nature's  cooling  had  already  begun. 

IN  1987,  THE  College  participated  in  the  nationwide  observance  of  the 
200th  anniversary  of  the  United  States  Constitution,  with  most  of  the 
commemorative  rites  taking  place  in  September.  A  photograph  published 
in  Meredith  told  some  of  the  story:  Dean  Burris  was  pictured  in  a  period 
costume,  including  a  three-cornered,  plumed  hat,  with  Vice  President 
Thomas,  also  in  costume,  marching  beside  him  to  the  beat  of  his  drum 
and  the  trills  of  her  fife.  The  backdrop  for  the  photograph  was  the  quad- 
rangle, where  a  festival  kicked  off  the  period  of  celebration  with  "a  theme 
of  life  in  the  federal  period  of  American  history.  Pageantry,  costumes, 
food,  games  and  music  evoked  the  life  and  times  of  the  people  who  wrote 
the  Constitution  by  which  we  govern  our  lives  today."  ■'^  Among  other 
programs  commemorating  the  anniversary  were  special  short  courses  and 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      187 

a  rousing  debate  on  the  question  of  "What  Does  the  Constitution  Mean 
Today?"  The  debaters  were  an  unHkely  pair — George  McGovern,  United 
States  Senator  (D-South  Dakota),  1962-80,  and  unsuccessful  candidate 
for  the  presidency  in  1972.;  and  Phyhis  Schlafly,  president  of  the  conserv- 
ative Eagle  Forum  organization  and  the  outspoken  activist  who  was  cred- 
ited with  leading  the  battle  to  defeat  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment.  The 
status  of  women,  as  represented  in  the  Constitution,  was  only  one  of 
many  questions  raised  in  the  debate.  A  student  asked,  "What,  if  anything, 
should  the  constitution  say  about  women  in  American  political  and  social 
life.''"  Schlafly  responded, 

It  is  a  gross  error  that  the  Constitution  is  antagonistic  towards 
women.  This  myth  has  been  propagated  by  the  feminist  movement. 
.  .  .  From  the  day  the  Constitution  was  written,  a  woman  could 
have  been  president,  vice  president,  senator,  representative. 

There  was  absolutely  no  bar  to  women  doing  anything.  .  .  .  Now 
indeed  there  was  a  fact  that  women  could  not  vote.  But  voting  is  not 
a  Constitutional  right.  Voting  was  determined  by  the  states.  .  .  .  All 
kinds  of  people  .  .  .  did  not  vote  in  1787,  of  which  women  were 
only  one  of  those  types  of  people. ^° 

While  gentle,  McGovern's  rejoinder  was,  nevertheless,  firm: 

No  American  should  be  discriminated  against  on  the  grounds  of  sex. 
Not  until  passage  of  the  19th  amendment  and  the  ratification  of  that 
amendment .  .  .  were  all  citizens  treated  alike  pertaining  to  voting. 

We  should  all  rejoice  over  the  marvelous  devices  of  government, 
protections,  and  freedoms  the  Constitution  gives  to  everyone  in  the 
United  States.  One  of  the  rights  is  the  opportuity  to  bring  that  Con- 
stitution into  line  with  the  changing  circumstances  .  .  .  and  insights 
and  wisdom  of  our  society. 

Unfortunately,  there  remains  ...  a  large  body  of  federal  laws, 
.  .  .  thousands  of  statutes,  .  .  .  hundreds  of  state  laws,  regulations 
. .  .  which  have  the  cumulative  effect  of  setting  up  certain  barriers  to 
women.  .  .  .  The  purpose  of  the  ERA  [was]  to  make  it  easier  for 
women,  and  even  men,  to  enjoy  full  political  and  social  equality 
without  regard  to  sexual  discrimination  or  favoritism. ^^ 


l88      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  fall  courses  which  focused  on  the  Constitution  were  The  Cultural 
Context,  a  study  of  the  period  which  produced  the  Constitution;  Current 
Controversies,  based  on  the  Public  Broadcasting  System's  television  series, 
"The  Constitution:  That  Delicate  Balance";  and  Proposals  for  Change,  a 
course  that  led  students  "to  encounter  proposals  for  Constitutional 
change  as  if  they  were  delegates  to  a  second  Constitutional  Convention."  ^^ 

At  the  time  of  the  federal  festival,  the  college  people  were  still  a  bit 
heady  from  the  Triangle's  having  hosted  the  1987  summertime  Olympics 
Festival,  which  brought  3,000  athletes  and  more  than  300,000  spectators 
to  the  area.  While  most  of  the  Olympic  games  were  held  at  the  large  uni- 
versities nearby,  three  events  of  the  modern  pentathlon  took  place  on  the 
Meredith  campus.  In  addition,  the  College  was  the  "Olympic  Village"  to 
300  athletes,  including  Greg  Luganis,  gold  medalist  in  diving  competi- 
tion. Meredith,  Peace,  and  St.  Mary's,  the  three  women's  institutions  of 
Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges,  teamed  up  to  air  radio  commercials 
throughout  the  festival,  and  Meredith  featured  its  champion  sprint  cy- 
clist, junior  Gretchen  Holt. 

IN  1986,  THE  North  Carolina  Democratic  Party  selected  Meredith  for  its 
winter  seminar,  the  Meredith  Herald  reporting  that  attending  dignitaries 
included  Lt.  Governor  Bob  Jordan,  Attorney  General  Lacy  Thornburg, 
Wade  Smith,  and  Liston  Ramsey,  among  others.  But  the  campus  as  a  tem- 
porary site  for  a  statewide  seminar  bore  little  resemblance  to  the  campus 
as  the  permanent  home  of  student  traditions.  In  the  annual  hunt  for  the 
shepherd's  crook,  juniors  went  sleuthing  in  the  wrong  direction,  missing 
the  hiding  place  on  the  third  floor  of  Heilman  Residence  Hall,  so  the  vic- 
torious seniors  adorned  the  crook  with  a  pretentious  bow  of  green  and 
white,  their  class  colors,  and  their  president  carried  the  staff  as  she  led  her 
classmates  through  their  little  sisters'  daisy  chain  on  Class  Day.  (The 
1986  version  was  a  far  cry  from  the  first  crook  hunt  in  1906,  when  ju- 
niors found  the  crook,  and  seniors  had  to  drape  it  in  black. ^^)  As  the 
crook  hunt  ended,  the  senior  picnic  began.  It  seems  to  be  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  the  seniors  will  never  remember  the  picnic  food  but  will 
never  forget  the  reading  of  the  last  wills  and  testaments  nor  the  pro- 
nouncements of  class  prophecies.  Sports  made  headlines  in  both  the 
spring  and  fall  semesters.  In  April,  for  example.  Coach  Cynthia  Bross 
fielded  Meredith's  first  fast-pitch  softball  team. 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    I986-1988      I      189 

In  1987,  Stunt  Night,  reported  the  Herald,  would  no  longer  be  "a 
smaller  version  of  Comhuskin' "  in  that  an  overall  theme  would  be  pre- 
determined by  the  MRA  (Meredith  Recreation  Association),  and  each 
class  stunt  would  play  on  that  theme. ^"^  At  the  suggestion  of  alumna  Car- 
oline Vaught  McCall,  '64,  the  College  created  Meredith  Writes  Home,  a 
quarterly  newsletter  for  parents  of  students;  Mrs.  McCall  was  the  first  ed- 
itor of  the  publication.  The  North  Carolina  State  Library  selected  the 
Carlyle  Campbell  Library  as  one  of  sixty  test  sites  "for  the  North  Car- 
olina electronic  mail/bulletin  board  system,"  giving  Meredith  "access  to 
a  number  of  electronic  bulletin  boards  and  instant  written  communica- 
tion with  the  other  test  libraries. ^^  And,  for  four  days  in  October,  the 
Moving  Wall,  a  half-size  replica  of  the  national  Vietnam  Memorial  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  brought  about  18,000  visitors  to  the  campus.  The 
Business  and  Professional  Women's  Club  chose  Meredith  as  the  club's 
Employer  of  the  Year,  the  College  having  met  the  criteria  of  involvement 
in  and  promotion  of  "the  betterment  of  women  in  the  workplace."^^ 
(That  59  percent  of  the  faculty  members  were  women  doubtless  helped 
the  cause.)  Alumna  Christie  Barbee,  '83,  was  named  Tar  Heel  of  the 
Week  by  the  News  and  Observer  for  directing  the  Raleigh  Urban  Min- 
istries' soup  kitchen.  The  feature  article  asserted,  "Mrs.  Barbee  is  a  defi- 
nite product  of  Meredith,  a  Baptist  school  on  Hillsborough  Street  noted 
for  turning  out  spunky,  determined  women."  ^^  An  editorial  comment  in 
Meredith,  the  college  magazine,  read,  "The  'spunky,  determined'  females 
may  be  significantly  influenced  by  their  college,  but  more  than  likely 
Meredith  attracts  those  kinds  of  women  in  the  first  place." ^^ 

In  1988,  junior  Brenda  Faye  Anderson  was  vice  chairman  of  North 
Carolina's  College  Republicans  and  attended  the  national  Republican 
convention  in  New  Orleans.  In  the  tradition  of  the  Jewish  Chautauqua 
Society's  funding  a  course  at  Meredith,  Rabbi  James  Bleiberg  taught 
"Resurrection  in  the  Biblical  Tradition"  in  the  spring  semester.  On 
November  10,  the  College  commemorated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
Kristallnacht — night  of  shattered  glass — "the  first  night  of  organized 
violence  against  Jews  and  the  beginning  of  overt  anti-Semitic  acts  by 
Hitler's  Germany  against  German  and  Austrian  Jews." ^^  Also  in  1988,  as 
in  every  year,  more  Meredith  people  than  can  be  reported  in  this  volume 
were  in  the  news.  One  newsmaker  inspired  Carol  Brooks,  a  Meredith 
Herald  writer: 


I^O     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 


The  John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School  commencement  of 

August  1990  is  reminiscent  of  the  naming  of  the  school  in  1989 

in  honor  of  Meredith's  sixth  president. 

Catching  a  glimpse  of  what  has  helped  someone  become  successful 
is,  for  the  student,  like  emerging  from  a  fog  of  books  and  studies 
into  the  light  of  accomplishment.  Treasuring  those  glimpses  and 
learning  from  them  becomes  very  important  as  each  of  us  seeks  suc- 
cess 'in  our  given  field.  One  such  example  of  success  is  Margaret 
Person  Currin,  ['72]  a  Meredith  alumna.  On  March  11,  Currin  w^as 
sworn  in  as  U.S.  attorney  for  eastern  North  Carolina. ^° 

The  U.S.  News  and  World  Report  for  October  10,  1988,  ranked  Mere- 
dith fifteenth  among  the  nation's  167  small  comprehensive  colleges.  The 
editors  based  their  findings  on  the  quality  of  the  student  body  and  faculty, 
financial  resources,  and  the  percentage  of  freshmen  who  eventually  grad- 
uate. The  magazine's  survey  divided  colleges  and  universities  into  five  cat- 
egories, Meredith's  bracket  being  "small  comprehensive  college" — small 
because  its  enrollment  was  fewer  than  2,500  students;  comprehensive  be- 
cause it  "offer[ed]  students  the  fruits  of  both  academic  worlds:  The  vast 
array  of  liberal-arts  and  professional  programs  found  at  larger  institu- 


VINTAGE  YEARS   AND   BETTER  NAMES:    1986-1988      I      191 

tions  and  personal  settings  traditional  at  schools  specializing  in  the  liberal 
arts."^^  In  its  introduction  of  "the  best  colleges,"  the  article  said,  "Here 
are  those  schools  .  .  .  that  have  discovered  a  host  of  ways  to  set  them- 
selves apart  from  the  crowd." ^^  John  Weems,  the  president  of  the  fifteenth 
best  small  comprehensive  college  in  the  nation,  credited  the  faculty — 
their  "hard  work  and  high  standards" — for  the  recognition,^^ 

A  month  later,  the  trustees,  at  their  November  21  executive  committee 
meeting,  unanimously  accepted  George  McCotter's  recommendation  to 
name  the  graduate  program  the  "John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School  of 
Meredith  College."  Meredith,  among  other  news  vehicles,  reported  the 
"unprecedented  move,"  saying  it  marked  "the  first  time  in  the  98-year 
history  of  the  college  that  a  school  or  program  has  been  named  for  an  in- 
dividual." The  magazine  also  noted,  "In  his  i8th  year  as  president.  Dr. 
Weems  is  credited  with  playing  a  major  role  in  the  establishment  in  1983 
of  the  graduate  programs  in  business,  education,  and  music." ^"^  And  Pres- 
ident Weems  said,  "Nothing  the  trustees  could  have  done  would  have 
pleased  me  more  than  this."^^ 

THE  BEGINNING  PAGES  of  this  chapter  introduce  the  years  1986-88  in  the 
context  of  national  or  world  events,  while  the  ending  paragraphs  seem  to 
tuck  the  years  safely  away  in  the  narrower  confines  of  Meredith.  But 
"vintage  years  and  better  names"  can  never  be  tucked  safely  away.  They 
are  out  for  all  to  see  as  they  make  the  history  of  the  College. 


9 


IN   PURSUIT 

OF   EXCELLENCE 

1989 -1990 


"the  present  is  that  exciting  moment  where  past  and  future,  the  com- 
pleted and  the  incomplete,  come  together,"  reads  the  January  1989  report 
of  the  President's  Task  Force  for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence.  "We  feel  that 
we  stand  at  such  a  moment  in  the  history  of  Meredith  College,"  a  mo- 
ment of  "extraordinary  opportunity  for  us  to  pursue  an  even  more  excel- 
lent way  than  we  have  observed  in  Meredith's  past.  .  .  .  "^  For  almost  two 
years,  the  task  force  had  met,  researched,  discussed,  dreamed,  believed, 
and,  finally,  reported,  at  the  same  time  acknowledging  other  groups  that 
had  envisioned  a  future  of  excellence  for  the  College:  The  Alumnae  As- 
sociation's new  visions  committee,  for  example,  had  published  in  1987  "a 
range  of  issues  related  to  excellence  and  Meredith's  mission  for  its  second 
hundred  years."^  The  faculty  affairs  committee  had  developed  ideas  that 
excited  its  members  to  the  point  of  presenting  their  thoughts  to  some  of 
the  administration. 

In  January  1987,  the  faculty  had  asked  President  Weems  to  name  a 
task  force  "to  explore,  develop  and  refine  concepts  of  excellence  and  to 
find  ways  of  implementing  them."^  He  appointed  four  trustees;  four  vice 
presidents;  six  faculty  members  (one  of  whom  was  Allen  Page,  task  force 
chair);  four  alumnae;  and  two  students  to  handle  the  assignment.  Their 
work  proceeded  along  the  lines  of  their  own  questions:  What  would  it 
mean  for  Meredith  to  achieve  excellence  in  community  spirit?  In  student 

19Z 


IN   PURSUIT  OF   EXCELLENCE:    1989-199O     I      193 

population?  In  the  academic  program?  In  faculty  and  staff  development? 
In  physical  facilities?  In  fiscal  resources?"^  The  report  of  the  task  force 
comprised  sixteen  recommendations,  many  of  which  have  been,  are 
being,  or  will  be  implemented. 

To  arrive  at  its  recommendations,  the  task  force  considered  several  as- 
sumptions put  forth  by  the  president  in  1986-87.  The  assumptions  ad- 
dressed the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  On  them,  Weems  had  said, 
the  College  would  find  its  direction  and  plan  its  future.  The  first  assump- 
tion was  almost  a  given:  that  Meredith  would  remain  "a  small,  liberal 
arts,  church-related,  regional  college  for  women." 

"Small"  is  a  relative  term.  As  Meredith  grew,  it  saw  the  demise  of 
customs  intrinsic  to  a  community  in  which  employees  knew  one  an- 
other and  usually  held  each  other  in  high  regard.  One  such  loss  was  the 
weekly  lunchtime  "coffee,"  for  which  individuals  or  groups  volunteered 
— by  signing  a  list  on  the  kitchen  door  in  Vann — to  provide  refresh- 
ments. For  partakers,  the  choice  between  the  coffee  and  refreshments  in 
Vann  Parlor  and  lunch  in  the  cafeteria  was  usually  a  moot  point.  Tasty 
finger  food  notwithstanding,  the  beauty  of  the  coffees  was  the  cama- 
raderie between  faculty  and  staff.  While  the  practice  has  been  discon- 
tinued and  the  work  force  has  grown  too  large  for  each  employee  to 
know  everybody  else,  the  spirit  still  lives.  Meredith,  one  might  say,  is  a 
rather  large  small  college. 

But  the  entire  college  community  knew  Frankie  Weems.  Her  death  on 
January  16,  1989,  following  a  long  battle  against  leukemia,  cast  a  pall  of 
sadness  over  the  campus.  Throughout  her  illness,  which  included  a  bone- 
marrow  transplant,  she  had  been  optimistic  and  courageous;  and 
throughout  her  years  of  good  health,  she  had  responded  graciously  to 
Meredith's  affection:  on  Alumnae  Day  in  1972.,  for  instance,  when  the 
Alumnae  Association  awarded  her  honorary  membership,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 25,  1987,  when  the  College  named  the  new  art  gallery  in  her 
honor.  In  the  meantime,  she  had  effectively  served  the  larger  community, 
particularly  through  the  arts.  On  January  18  in  Raleigh,  her  friends  and 
family  at  a  packed  Hayes-Barton  Baptist  Church  paid  tribute:  "To  re- 
member Frankie  Weems  is  to  remember  the  legacy  of  her  loyalty  to  rela- 
tionships, particularly  to  her  family,  the  energetic  vitality  with  which  she 
gave  herself  to  her  community,  and  the  quiet  strength  with  which  she 
fought  her  extended  illness."^  Her  immediate  family  comprised  her  hus- 


194     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

band,  President  John  Weems;  their  daughter,  Nancy,  '83;  and  their  sons 
John  Mark  and  David.  Her  mother  and  a  sister  also  survived  her. 

At  commencement  in  May,  Meredith  also  paid  tribute  to  the  late 
Eleanor  Layfield  Davis,  '32,  when,  for  the  first  time,  the  already-festive 
occasion  was  embellished  by  Mr,  Davis's  gift  of  a  ceremonial  mace.  Eg- 
bert L.  Davis  of  Winston-Salem  chose  the  work  of  art  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  Mrs.  Davis,  a  widely  recognized  impressionist  painter.  At  Mere- 
dith, her  name  had  always  been  associated  with  art.  In  fact,  she  was  the 
first  alumna  invited  to  exhibit  her  work  in  a  one-artist  show  on  the  cam- 
pus. And  an  art  scholarship  was  established  in  her  name  shortly  after  her 
death  in  1985.  But  she  was  also  an  alumna,  a  trustee,  and  a  benefactor. 

A  historic  "symbol  of  authority  and  order  in  pageantry,"  the  ceremo- 
nial mace  "was  used  by  Cambridge  University  as  long  ago  as  the  13th 
century.  Traditionally,  it  is  carried  by  the  marshal  who  leads  the  academic 
procession."^  At  commencement  exercises  in  1989,  associate  professor  of 
psychology  Rosemary  Hornak  was  the  faculty  marshal  and  Meredith's 
first  mace  bearer.  Schiffman's  Jewelers  of  Greensoro  designed  and  pro- 
duced the  mace.  Its  natural  oak  staff  and  sterling  silver  acorns  and  oak 
leaves  were  "symbolic  of  Meredith's  heritage  and  .  .  .  century-long  loca- 
tion in  and  association  with  Raleigh,  historically  known  as  the  'City  of 
Oaks.' "''  Other  elements  of  the  mace  included  an  iris,  the  college  flower; 
a  replica  of  the  presidential  medallion;  and  an  ellipse,  on  which  the  orig- 
inal building  of  Baptist  Female  University  and  the  present  Livingston 
Johnson  Administration  Building  were  engraved. 

As  the  College  remembered  Mrs.  Davis  and  Mrs.  Weems,  it  welcomed 
others  to  new  places  of  service:  Sonya  Walters  succeeded  Billie  Jo 
Kennedy  Cockman,  '79,  as  director  of  corporate  and  foundation  rela- 
tions; Rebecca  Askew,  '76,  just  a  year  away  from  having  chaired  the  in- 
stitutional development  committee  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  followed 
Chandy  Christian  as  director  of  annual  giving;  and  Carson  Brisson,  for- 
mer registrar  and  assistant  to  the  dean  at  Southeastern  Baptist  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  succeeded  Charles  Davis  as  registrar.  Dr.  Brisson's 
three-year-old  son  explained  his  father's  new  job:  "He  counts  people  at 
Meredith  Cottage."^  And,  until  September  28,  1990,  when  Margaret 
Weatherspoon  Parker,  '38,  was  elected  to  the  position,  the  College 
needed  only  two  fingers  to  count  the  number  of  women  who  had  chaired 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  Although  Mrs.  Parker  was  the  first  woman  so 


IN   PURSUIT  OF   EXCELLENCE:    1989-199O     I      195 

elected,  circumstances  had  called  both  Elizabeth  James  Dotterer,  '30,  and 
Sarah  Elizabeth  Vernon  Watts,  '34,  into  service,  each  woman  having  pre- 
sided over  one  meeting. 

Mary  Johnson  left  her  post  as  head  of  the  education  department  to 
become  dean  of  the  John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School.  At  the  time  of  her 
appointment  to  the  deanship,  Dr.  Johnson  chaired  the  North  Carolina 
Professional  Practices  Commission,  w^as  a  member  of  the  International 
Reading  Association,  and  was  an  appointee  of  the  State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation's Evaluation  Committee  on  Teacher  Education.  Gwendolyn  Clay 
succeeded  Johnson  as  education  department  head.  Dr.  Clay  had  been  at 
Meredith  for  only  two  years  when  she  won  the  1987  Pauline  Davis  Perry 
Award  for  Excellence  in  Teaching,  Both  her  B.S.  degree  in  mathematics 
education  and  her  Ph.D.  degree  in  secondary  mathematics  education 
came  from  North  Carolina  State  University.  In  the  interim,  she  earned  a 
master's  degree  in  secondary  mathematics  at  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  at  Greensboro.  Of  her  students  heading  for  careers  in  teaching, 
she  said,  "One  of  the  hardest  things  we  have  to  do  is  to  make  sure  [they] 
understand  the  realities  of  the  workplace,  help  them  build  skills  and 
abilities  to  cope  with  that  reality,  and,  at  the  same  time,  help  them  hang 
on  to  that  vision  and  idealism  that  made  them  want  to  do  it  in  the  first 
place."  9 

Louise  Todd  Taylor  followed  Betty  Webb  as  head  of  the  English  de- 
partment, where  a  change  at  the  top  occurs  every  five  years.  Dr.  Taylor 
holds  the  A.B.  from  Swarthmore,  the  M.A.T.  from  Duke,  and  the  M.A. 
and  Ph.D.  from  Florida  State.  She  joined  the  faculty  in  1978  after  having 
taught  at  Campbell  University.  Teaching  is  not  the  only  way  a  professor 
relates  to  her  students,  Taylor  said.  "We  have  to  take  our  heads  up  out  of 
the  books  and  out  of  the  library  ,  .  .  and  be  aware  that  some  young 
woman  may  have  enormous  personal  problems.  Today  we  just  have  more 
students  who  face  health  problems,  family  problems,  problems  with  de- 
pression .  .  .  and  if  we  are  so  focused  on  the  Odyssey  that  we  don't  see 
this  young  woman's  problems,  we  are  not  serving  her  or  her  college  pro- 
gram."!'^ 

IF  PEOPLE  AT  colleges  like  Meredith  do  indeed  have  a  sense  of  kinship,  as 
the  opening  paragraphs  of  this  chapter  suggest,  then  family  disagree- 
ments occasionally  arise.  Such  was  the  case  on  February  23,  1990,  ac- 


196     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

cording  to  the  Meredith  Herald's  report  of  a  silent  protest  of  about  one- 
hundred  students  in  Bryan  Rotunda: 

The  purpose  was  to  show  their  support  for  their  student  govern- 
ment, for  the  Honor  Code,  and  for  the  "fair  and  impartial  treat- 
ment of  all  students"  according  to  their  banner  which  hung  in  John- 
son Hall  [all]  day.  .  .  . 

At  8:10  A.M.  President  John  Weems  joined  the  students  on  the 
steps  and  did  not  leave  until  almost  3:00  p.m.  when  he  was  called 
into  the  Board  of  Trustees'  meeting.  ^^ 

The  demonstration  followed  the  president's  veto  of  the  Honor  Council's 
decision  to  mete  out  to  a  student  that,  in  his  judgment,  was  too  harsh  a 
punishment  for  an  Honor  Code  violation.*  In  the  complicated  case,  sev- 
eral factors  seemed  to  have  been  at  work:  Dr.  Weems  had  never  before 
overturned  an  Honor  Council  decision;  the  accused  student  and  her  par- 
ents were  friends  of  the  president;  and  the  matter  was  prematurely  dis- 
cussed throughout  the  campus  when  discretion  should  have  prevailed. 

In  Bryan  Rotunda,  silent  students  sat  along  the  walls;  some  faculty, 
staff,  and  other  curious  onlookers  stood  at  the  edges  of  the  crowd;  and 
President  Weems  sat  near  the  bottom  of  the  red-carpeted  stairs  that  de- 
scended from  the  second  level.  From  time  to  time,  supporters  joined  him. 
It  was  an  uncommon  occasion — reminiscent  of  the  sit-ins  of  the  sixties. 
Also  unusual  was  the  common  ground  of  the  opposing  sides.  To  some,  in- 
cluding most  of  the  students,  the  president's  action  suggested  favoritism; 
therefore,  they  said,  they  were  there  "to  show  their  support  for  the 
Honor  Code."^^  Nona  Short,  assistant  professor  of  photography  and  for- 
eign languages,  who  sat  with  Weems  for  a  time,  was  the  faculty  member 
most  involved  in  the  case  and  had  appealed  to  the  president  to  intervene 
because,  she  said,  "she  felt  that  the  charges  were  not  in  line  with  the  of- 
fense." Ms.  Short  added,  "I  am  here  in  support  of  the  Honor  Code  as  it 
stands.  I  believe  that  the  president  worked  within  that.  .  .  ."'^  Finally, 
President  Weems  declared  that  his  hour-after-hour  presence  on  the  steps 


"■It  was  the  president's  right  to  veto  the  decision;  however,  this  situation  prompted 
an  amendent  to  the  SGA  constitution,  mandating  that  the  president  confer  with  a 
committee  of  the  dean  and  the  chairs  of  the  faculty  affairs  and  student  hfe  commit- 
tees for  community  advice  in  "all  cases  recommending  suspension  or  expulsion," 
according  to  Dr.  Jackson,  vice  president  for  student  development. 


IN   PURSUIT  OF   EXCELLENCE:    I989-199O     1      197 

also  was  to  show  his  support  for  the  Honor  Code.  It  appeared,  therefore, 
that  all  participants  demonstrated  for  the  same  purpose  but  from  differ- 
ent perspectives.  Dean  Dorothy  Sizemore,  praised  the  student  leaders  for 
"their  maturity  and  strength  of  leadership ."^"^  And  Susan  Gilbert,  profes- 
sor of  English,  wrote  to  the  Meredith  Herald: 

Enormous  disagreements  exist  in  the  current  case,  among  students 
and  faculty,  as  well  as  between  students  and  administrators.  The 
disagreement  .  .  .  did  not  begin  with  the  President's  action.  ...  It 
was  there,  apparently,  from  the  first.  Faculty  closest  to  the  students 
involved  disagree  over  the  nature  of  the  offense.  Truth  does  not  fal- 
ter when  two  women  disagree.  I  continue  to  trust  them  both;  so,  I 
believe,  do  you.  .  .  . 

So  long  as  we  know  the  integrity  of  truth  does  not  mean  una- 
nimity of  judgment,  we  can  deal  with  each  other  in  trust. '^ 

Crowded  conditions  sometimes  strained  relationships;  however,  in 
1990,  when  1,239  students  lived  in  residence  hall  space  for  1,23 1,  tension 
was  nominal.  But  the  statistics  might  have  reinforced  the  idea  of  Mere- 
dith's attractiveness  to  prospective  students  or  made  the  case  that  it  was 
not  so  small  a  college,  after  all.  Add  to  the  enrollment  figures  the  fact  that 
the  greatest  competition  for  students  came  not  from  other  "small"  col- 
leges for  women  but  from  the  state's  largest  universities,*  and  the  data  be- 
come even  more  surprising.  But  the  president  brought  to  earth  those  of 
the  community  whose  expectations,  he  thought,  were  unrealistic,  again 
reminding  them  that  "the  number  of  high  school  graduates  peaked  in 
1979"  and  would  "continue  to  decline  through  1995."^^  He  also  cited 
statistics  bearing  out  the  precipitous  fall  in  the  number  of  women's  col- 
leges— from  285  in  1965  to  93  in  1990,  and,  of  those  93,  half  were 
"vastly  different  from  Meredith,"  he  said.^'' 

But  to  make  sure  the  student  marketplace  heard  the  message,  the  Col- 
lege unveiled  a  heretofore-untried  procedure  in  getting  the  word  out  to 
prospective  students.  With  the  public  relations  and  publications  offices, 
the  admissions  staff  developed  a  recruitment  video  and  ways  of  ensuring 


*In  1989,  Meredith's  primary  competitors  for  students  were,  first.  North  CaroUna 
State  University;  second,  the  University  of  North  CaroHna  at  Chapel  Hill;  third,  East 
Carolina  University;  and  fourth,  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Wilmington. 


198      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

its  effectiveness.  Director  of  Admissions  Sue  Kearney  explained,  "In  ad- 
dition to  on-campus  use  with  visitors,  the  video  is  available  for  viewing  in 
over  1,350  high  schools  and  is  also  distributed  to  students  for  in-home 
viewing.  In  the  fall  [of  1990],  five  hundred  schools  will  have  Meredith's 
video  for  school-to-home  lendings."^^  From  the  video  came  a  sixty- 
second  television  commercial  that  was  seen  by  an  estimated  1,000,000 
viewers  during  intermission  at  the  North  Carolina  Symphony's  1989 
Labor  Day  pops  concert  on  the  campus.  The  commercial  received  an 
Award  of  Special  Merit  from  District  III  of  the  Council  for  the  Advance- 
ment and  Support  of  Education  (CASE),  an  organization  for  communi- 
cations and  marketing  professionals  in  higher  education.  District  III, 
which  included  more  than  six  hundred  colleges  and  universities  in  nine 
southeastern  states,  also  gave  Meredith  an  Award  of  Excellence  for  the 
design  and  use  of  its  new  graphics  identity  package. 

Identity  took  on  a  whole  new  meaning  when  representatives  of  Walt 
Disney  Studios  looked  at  the  campus  as  a  possible  site  for  a  feature  film. 
"While  Meredith  was  not  the  final  location  selection,"  said  Jeannie  More- 
lock,  director  of  public  relations,  the  College  "was  honored  to  be  consid- 
ered."^^ Mrs.  Morelock,  nevertheless,  soon  had  other  reasons  to  celebrate 
when  Southern  Bell  agreed  to  feature  the  College  on  the  cover  of  its 
500,000  Wake  County  telephone  directories  to  be  distributed  in  1991, 
Meredith's  charter  centennial  year. 

IN  THE  ASSUMPTION  that  "The  College  will  continually  move  to  improve 
and  develop  its  faculty  and  staff,"  the  task  force  recommended  that  some 
plan  be  devised  to  "attract  from  the  outside  or  cause  to  rise  from  the  in- 
side those  distinguished  faculty  and  staff  who  are  going  to  make  this  a 
more  excellent  institution."^^  Compensation  increases  were  high  on  the 
Hst  of  desirable  ways  to  fulfill  the  recommendation,  and,  in  1989-90, 
evidence  supported  efforts  in  that  direction.  Salaries  increased  in  amounts 
above  the  inflationary  level  and  "topped  the  national  average  for  higher 
education  salaries."^^  Also,  faculty  and  staff  alike  welcomed  year-end 
bonuses  for  longevity.  They  liked,  too,  the  possibility  of  tuition-free 
courses,  even  as  they  compensated  for  time  missed  from  work;  and  the 
long-time  practice  of  medical  benefits,  even  if  they  paid  for  their  own  de- 
pendents' coverage.  And,  in  1990,  John  Saunders,  assistant  professor  of 
religion,  particularly  liked  receiving  the  first  Sears-Roebuck  prize  for  ex- 


IN  PURSUIT   OF   EXCELLENCE:    I989-I99O     I      I99 

cellence  in  teaching.  The  Sears-Roebuck  Teaching  Excellence  and  Cam- 
pus Leadership  Award  swelled  the  number  of  tangible  accolades,  such  as 
the  FAME  awards  in  teaching,  research,  artistic  achievement,  and  special 
service. 

The  College  rewarded  itself  by  establishing  its  first  two  endowed  pro- 
fessorial chairs:  the  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  Chair  of  English  and  the  Irving  H. 
Wainwright  Chair  of  Business  and  Economics.  In  a  college-wide  cere- 
mony that  included  the  naming  of  alumna  and  professor  of  English  lone 
Kemp  Knight  as  the  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  Professor  of  English,  depart- 
ment head  Betty  Webb  said, 

In  the  classroom  IDr.  Knight]  was  awesome.  .  .  .  She  would  get  so 
excited  about  the  passage  under  examination  that  she'd  leave  the 
podium  but  continue  to  recite  lines.  When  she  would  eventually 
come  to  the  end  of  what  she  knew  by  heart,  she  would  blink  herself 
awake  and  dash  back  to  the  podium  looking  somewhat  embar- 
rassed. We  weren't  exactly  sure  where  she'd  been  but  we  loved  her 
for  going.^^ 

Lois  Frazier,  head  of  the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics  since 
1954  and  later  director  of  the  MBA  program,  postponed  her  retirement 
for  a  year  to  serve  as  the  first  Irving  H.  Wainwright  Professor  of  Business 
and  Economics.  An  "outstanding  teacher  and  administrator,  planner, 
thinker,  doer,  and  friend," ^^  Dr.  Frazier  was  active  in  the  Raleigh  Business 
and  Professional  Women's  Club,  had  been  inducted  into  the  Y.WC.A.'s 
Academy  of  Women,  and  had  steered  Meredith's  business  department 
into  the  Information  Age.  Her  appointment  came  just  months  before  Mr. 
Wainwright's  death  on  August  26,  1990.  The  late  Irving  H.  and  Harriet 
Mardre  Wainwright  were  long-time  benefactors.  Together  they  bequeathed 
to  Meredith  approximately  $2  million,  according  to  early  estimates  of 
Mr.  Wainwright's  estate. 

In  that  period,  an  ongoing  topic  of  conversation  was  that  of  terminal 
degrees  as  they  related  to  promotions  and  tenure.  A  condition  of  the  as- 
sumption on  faculty  development  was  that  the  College  would  try  to  em- 
ploy faculty  members  with  doctoral  degrees  or,  otherwise,  encourage 
teachers  to  return  to  school.  But  was  one  required  to  earn  a  doctorate  if 
doctorates  were  rare  in  her  or  his  field?  What  of  the  C.P.A.  who  taught 
accounting?  What  of  the  artist  who  taught  studio  art?  What  of  the 


zoo     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

dancer?  The  interior  designer?  What  of  the  computer  expert?  The  uncer- 
tainty was  put  to  rest  by  a  proposal  from  the  president  and  the  dean  and 
by  a  vote  of  the  Board  of  Trustees: 

Teachers  in  the  arts,  interior  design,  accounting  and  computer  sci- 
ence who  hold  an  appropriate  master's  degree  and/or  professional 
certification  in  the  absence  of  the  doctorate,  will  be  considered  for 
promotion  and  tenure  in  accordance  with  established  procedures 
and  regulations.^'* 

No  uncertainty  clouded  the  purposes  of  the  1990  Jesse  Ball  DuPont 
Religious,  Charitable,  and  Educational  Fund  grant  of  $151,200  for  four 
years  of  training  teachers  of  and  implementing  capstone  courses.  That 
fall,  Rhonda  Zingraff,  sociology,  and  Garry  Walton,  English,  prepared  to 
teach  Living  Revolutions,  the  spring  capstone  course;  and  in  the  spring, 
Allen  Page,  religion,  and  Gwen  Clay,  education,  would  be  planning  the 
fall  199 1  offering.  Rosemary  Hornak,  psychology,  and  Reginald  Shiflett, 
chemistry,  had  taught  Human  Horizons:  Past  and  Future  for  four  years. 

TEACHER  TRAINING  AND  course  implementation — the  dual  purposes  of 
the  DuPont  grant — provide  for  the  reader  a  natural  progression  from  the 
second  assumption  to  the  third:  i.e,  the  inference  that  faculty  develop- 
ment would  intrinsically  lead  to  a  stronger  instructional  program.  One  of 
the  conditions  of  strengthening  instruction  was  the  internationalizing  of 
the  curriculum.  In  1989,  Vice  President  Sandra  Thomas;  Blue  Greenberg, 
art;  and  Carolyn  Grubbs,  history,  accompanied  students  on  a  seventeen- 
day  study  tour  of  Egypt  and  Turkey — with  emphasis  on  study.  The 
students  could  apply  for  independent  study  credit  in  history,  art,  and 
archeology. 

While  Meredith  Abroad  had  been  a  mainstay  of  the  instructional  pro- 
gram for  several  years,  it  had  focused  primarily  on  Europe,  until  the  Col- 
lege looked  eastward  in  1990.  President  Weems;  Dean  Burris;  Betty 
Webb,  director  of  international  studies;  and  Donald  Spanton,  business 
and  economics,  flew  to  China  to  arrange  a  five-year  faculty  exchange  pro- 
gram with  the  Dongbei  University  of  Finance  and  Economics  in  Hei  Shi 
Jiao,  Dalian.  At  the  same  time,  Bernard  Cochran,  religion  and  philoso- 
phy, taught  at  Yangtai  University;  and  Vivian  Kraines,  mathematical  sci- 
ences, conducted  a  computer  software  workshop  for  college  professors  at 


IN   PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE:    1989-199O     I      20I 

Shanghai  Normal  University  during  her  extensive  travels  in  China.  Ben 
Judkins,  visiting  professor  of  sociology,  taught  at  Obirin  University  in 
Japan.  Weems  said, 

We  need  to  truly  globalize  our  education  and  make  eastern  studies  an 
integral  part  of  a  student's  experience.  .  .  .  Should  Meredith  make  a 
serious  eastern  commitment,  it  w^ould  be  positioning  itself  as  one  of 
the  forerunners  of  the  educational  movement  in  the  United  States. ^^ 

IN  THE  TERM  immediately  preceding  the  expeditions  to  the  Far  East,  the 
travelers  and  their  colleagues  on  the  campus  had  enjoyed  two  visiting 
Chinese  scholars  from  Beijing.  First  to  arrive  was  seventy-five-year-old 
Lugi  Yao,  an  artist  on  her  first  venture  outside  China,  w^hose  stay  was 
supported  by  a  Kenan  grant.  She  returned  to  Beijing  one  week  before  the 
infamous  human  rights  eruption  in  Tiananmen  Square;  and  the  second 
scholar,  Wang  Yunkin,  made  his  way  out  of  China  just  after  the  uprising. 
Wang,  a  Fulbright  scholar,  lectured  in  Meredith's  Department  of  History 
and  Political  Science  as  well  as  at  North  Carolina  State.  In  Beijing,  he  was 
a  researcher  at  the  Chinese  Academy  of  Social  Sciences  and  secretary- 
general  of  the  Chinese  Political  Science  Association. 

Dean  Burris  said,  "International  education  has  taken  a  quantum  leap 
and  challenges  us  to  encourage  permeation  of  the  whole  curriculum  with 
international  concern."^^  Students  who  spent  the  summer  of  1990  study- 
ing in  Europe  lived  in  both  Zurich  and  London.  And  still  other  groups, 
including  faculty  members,  traveled  in  Greece,  Switzerland,  and  Mexico. 
In  the  fall,  twelve  students  left  for  Paris  to  study  art  with  Ben  Long. 

Miles  away — both  literally  and  figuratively — the  College  acted  on  a 
strictly  "at  home"  matter,  deciding  to  discontinue  the  equitation  pro- 
gram. Since  1944,  when  the  first  horse,  belonging  to  a  homesick  student, 
had  occupied  the  stables,  equitation  was  offered  as  a  course  in  physical 
education,  its  popularity  peaking  in  the  mid-sixties  when  about  forty 
horses  and  two  hundred  students  underscored  the  program's  success.  In 
the  late  eighties,  however,  few  students  and  few  animals  attested  to  the 
obsolescence — at  least  for  the  Meredith  campus — of  horse,  stable,  and 
riding  ring.  But  student  equestrians  who  wished  to  continue  riding  classes 
for  credit  were  happily  welcomed  at  local  stables. 

The  department  that  had  once  beckoned  students  to  horseback  riding 


Z02     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

was,  in  1990,  emphasizing  dance.  Two  stories  in  the  same  edition  of  the 
Meredith  Herald  attested  to  the  popularity  of  the  Dance  Theatre.  One 
touted  the  dance  company's  invitation  "to  perform  in  a  gala  ...  to  be  pre- 
sented by  the  National  Dance  Association"  in  New  Orleans  in  April.^^ 
The  newspaper  also  promoted  the  Dance  Theatre's  annual  spring  concert 
of  original  work  by  students,  faculty,  and  guest  artist,  Gary  Masters.* 
Masters,  a  member  of  the  Jose  Limon  Dance  Company,  would  be  per- 
forming "Voices  of  the  Spirit,"  a  commissioned  work  set  to  Bach's  Bran- 
denburg Concerto  No.  3.  Alyson  Colwell,  assistant  professor  of  dance,  ti- 
tled her  work  "Triple  Play,"  and  Annie  Elliott,  also  an  assistant  professor, 
selected  the  music  of  Elvis  Presley  to  say  "farewell  to  a  bygone  era"^^  in 
her  "Requiem."  Student  works  included  those  of  Nancy  Sills  and  Amy 
Salter,  two  of  the  first  dance  majors. 

The  performing  arts  had  made  history  in  1989  when  Meredith  and  the 
A.J.  Fletcher  Foundation  announced  "the  establishment  of  a  series  of 
seminars  with  world-renowned  musicians,  actors,  directors,  and  other 
artists,  to  be  offered  through  the  Fletcher  School  of  the  Performing  Arts 
[to  be]  based  at  the  College."^^  The  foundation  saw  the  move  as  an  edu- 
cational opportunity  for  singers  in  the  National  Opera  Company,  for 
Meredith  students,  and  for  the  community;  and  David  Lynch,  head  of  the 
Department  of  Music  and  the  Performing  Arts,  saw  it  also  as  a  way  of 
"bringing  true  cultural  greatness  within  the  reach  of  our  community"  and 
as  "an  exciting  dimension  to  the  arts  in  the  Triangle  area."^°  Nico  Castel, 
principal  artist  (tenor)  with  the  Metropolitan  Opera  Company,  was  the 
first  guest,  teaching  master  classes  and  performing  on  the  campus  for  four 
days  in  February. 

Many  memorable  visitors,  and  perhaps  some  who  were  not  so  memo- 
rable, entered  the  campus  gates  each  year.  A  few  were  never  heard  from 
— or  of — again.  Others  lingered,  even  after  they  left,  because  of  some 
wisdom  they  introduced  to  a  mind  or  some  epiphany  to  a  spirit.  Jane 
Goodall  was  one  of  those  lecturers  who  haunted  the  campus  after  her 
two-day  visit  on  April  21  and  22,  1990.  The  expert  on  primate  behavior 
was  in  the  United  States  to  celebrate  her  thirtieth  anniversary  with 
Gombe  Stream  Research  Center,  her  base  of  operations  in  Tanzania, 

^Through  the  Kenan  grant,  the  dance  program  was  able  annually  to  attract  national 
artists. 


IN   PURSUIT  OF   EXCELLENCE:    1989-199O     I     203 


Jane  Goodall,  world-renowned  expert  on  primate  behavior, 

enjoys  a  1990  visit  with  President  Weems  on  her  visit  to  Meredith 

during  a  thirtieth  anniversary  respite  from  Gombe  Stream  Desert 

Research  Center  in  Tanzania. 

where  she  was  "still  conducting  what  is  recognized  as  the  longest  unbro- 
ken study  of  any  animal  species  in  the  wild."^^  In  an  hour-long  lecture  in 
Jones  Auditorium,  Goodall  carried  her  audience  through  exciting  discov- 
eries about — and  gentle  acquaintances  with — the  chimpanzees  in  Tanza- 
nia. And  she  added  an  interesting  observation  about  women:  "I  don't 
know  that  an  ability  to  study  animals  is  genetic — inherited.  It  can't  be. 
But  I  think  what  may  be  inherited,  particularly  in  women,  is  a  certain  de- 
gree of  patience.  .  .  ."^- 

Goodall's  visit  occured  two  years  after  Lyn  Aubrecht,  professor  of 
psychology,  had  met  her  at  the  North  Carolina  Museum  of  Natural  Sci- 
ence. Meredith  reported  Dr.  Aubrecht's  having  suggested,  "it  would  be 
a  fine  thing  if  some  day  we  could  get  you  on  campus  because  your  life 
has  in  it  a  message  for  young  women,  regardless  of  what  they  want  to 
be."^^  Thereafter,  he  corresponded  with  the  proper  people,  including 
Goodall  herself.  Finally,  he  said,  "a  beautiful  thing  happened — she  told 
her  people  [at]  the  Jane  Goodall  Institute  in  Tucson  that  the  only  thing 


204     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

she  knew  that  she  was  going  to  do  in  1990  was  to  come  to  Meredith 
College."^^ 

Another  speaker,  whose  work  has  inspired  many  a  scientist,  had  few 
miles  to  travel  to  her  September  17,  1990,  engagement  at  Meredith: 
Gertrude  B.  Elion,  recipient  of  the  Nobel  Prize  for  Medicine  in  1988, 
drove  only  the  distance  from  Burroughs-Wellcome  in  the  Research  Trian- 
gle Park,  where  she  had  worked  since  1944;  or  from  Duke,  where  she  was 
research  professor  of  pharmacology  and  medicine;  or  from  the  University 
of  North  Carolina  in  Chapel  Hill,  where  she  was  an  adjunct  professor  of 
pharmacology. 

The  history  of  the  period  points  to  further  undergirding  of  the  instruc- 
tional program  and  to  indications  of  existing  academic  strength.  Acts  of 
strengthening  the  curriculum  included  the  offering  of  new  majors;  exam- 
ples of  existing  strength  were  found  in  the  1989  establishment  of  Pi  Ep- 
silon  Mu,  national  mathematics  honorary  society,  and  installation  of 
Alpha  Lambda  Delta,  national  honor  society  for  freshmen.  A  further  il- 
lustration of  strength  came  with  the  American  Bar  Association's  re- 
approval  of  the  Legal  Assistants  Program.  Dr.  Ironside  said,  "Despite  the 
recent  emergence  of  at  least  two  other  paralegal  programs,  the  Legal  As- 
sistants Program  at  Meredith,  as  the  only  program  in  the  state  which  is 
both  post  baccalaureate  and  ABA  approved,  retains  its  leadership  role."^^ 

With  less  fanfare — except,  perhaps,  for  the  staffs  of  student  publica- 
tions— the  publications  board  announced  the  availability  of  academic 
credit  through  Individual  Special  Studies  for  work  on  the  Meredith  Her- 
ald, the  Acorn,  and  Oak  Leaves.  "The  Board  feels  that  academic  credit 
will  make  it  easier  to  fill  editorship  positions  as  well  as  retain  qualified 
staff  members,"  read  the  Herald?^ 

IN  CONSIDERING  THE  assumptiou  "that  Meredith  will  continue  to  assess 
the  adequacy  of  its  physical  facilities,"  the  assessors  used  such  words  as 
"beautification,"  renovation,"  "modernization,"  and  "innovation."  In 
1989,  the  College  beautified  the  entrance  to  the  Frankie  G.  Weems  Art 
Gallery,  planting  a  garden  there  and  dedicating  it  on  commencement 
weekend,  1989,  to  Cleo  Glover  Perry,  '45.  The  college  magazine  reported, 
"Cleo  Perry  has  a  garden  named  in  her  honor.  It's  fitting.  She's  a  garden 
lover,  and  she  has  earned  the  honor.  .  .  ."^^  Mrs.  Perry  was  president  of 


IN  PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE:    I989-199O     I     205 

the  Alumnae  Association,  1966-68,  and  the  fourth  director  of  alumnae 
affairs,  1976-86.  In  the  latter  position,  she  lifted  the  importance  of 
alumnae  giving  to  a  new  level. 

The  Frankie  G.  Weems  Memorial  Garden,  also  on  the  grounds  of  Gaddy- 
Hamrick  Art  Center,  was  dedicated  on  May  9,  1990.  A  vine-covered 
archway  is  the  invitation  to  enter  the  little  garden  nook,  and  a  bench  sur- 
rounded by  and  facing  a  profusion  of  blue  periwinkle  is  the  invitation  to 
stay.  The  identifying  plaque  cites  Mrs.  Weems  for  "her  love  of  nature." 

In  the  spring  of  1989,  the  Board  of  Trustees  resolved  to  consider  a  rec- 
ommendation of  the  task  force  to  construct  "a  new  building  for  special- 
ized classrooms  and  faculty  offices."^^  Only  a  month  later,  at  the  April  ex- 
ecutive committee  meeting,  President  Weems  announced  that  trustee 
Hubert  Ledford  had  indicated  his  intention  to  give  a  significant  sum  to- 
ward the  proposed  building,  which  would  probably  house  the  Depart- 
ments of  Education,  Psychology,  and  Foreign  Languages.  The  trustees  im- 
mediately moved  to  name  the  building  for  the  donor,  and  their  vote  was 
upheld  by  the  full  Board  in  September  1989.  A  trustee  and  former  chair- 
man of  the  Board,  Ledford,  then  retired,  had  been  a  co-chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  Durham  Life  Insurance  Company  in  Raleigh.  The 
Ledford  Building  would  become  "the  first  of  three  academic  buildings  to 
be  consructed  inside  the  new  loop  road."^^ 

The  loop  road  was  more  than  simply  a  way  of  getting  from  one  place 
to  another.  It  connected  the  existing  campus  streets  in  such  a  way  that  the 
distance  from  the  front  drive,  down  past  the  lake,  to  the  rear  of  the  cam- 
pus, and  around  the  loop  road  back  to  the  front  drive  measured  one  mile. 
The  route,  well-lighted  and  secured  with  strategically  placed  emergency 
telephones,  was  soon  known  as  the  Meredith  Mile  by  the  joggers  and 
walkers  who  sometimes  outnumbered  automobiles,  and  whose  fitness 
goals  were  admirable.  An  eavesdropper  heard  a  faculty  member  prophesy 
that  if  students  were  as  obsessed  with  fitness  of  mind  as  of  body,  the  word 
"college"  would  take  on  a  whole  new  meaning. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  campus,  at  its  intersection  with  the  front 
drive,  the  new  road  yielded  the  right-of-way  to  a  traffic  circle  at  a  six-by- 
eight-foot  gatehouse,  which  was  put  into  operation  in  September  1989, 
two  months  before  the  road  was  opened.  A  writer  for  Meredith  seemed  to 
grasp,  at  least  to  a  point,  the  function  of  the  gatehouse: 


206     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

Visitors  who  need  directions  to  Carswell  Concert  Hall,  who  want  to 
know  where  to  park  for  Open  Day,  where  to  deliver  flowers,  or 
how  to  reach  I-40  are  making  use  of  the  new  gatehouse.  Opened 
last  September  and  staffed  by  security  personnel,  the  facility  assures 
convenient  access  to  the  campus  for  visitors  and  guests. 

Additional  security  for  students  is  also  a  factor.  Dan  Shattuck, 
chief  of  security,  points  out  that  the  gatehouse  provides  the  only  ac- 
cess to  the  campus  after  the  late-night  closing  of  the  gate  at  Fair- 
cloth  Street.'^o 

The  small  building  ceased  to  be  controversial  to  students  once  they 
knew  it  would  not  detract  from  the  almost-pastoral  picture  of  the  campus 
from  Hillsborough  Street.  The  structure  also  illustrated  Meredith's  smart 
use  of  technology.  Dean  Sizemore  explained,  "Students  will  enter  the  res- 
idence halls  after  hours  by  electronic  release  of  the  lock  after  proper  iden- 
tification. Entry  will  be  monitored  by  a  security  guard  in  the  gatehouse  by 
use  of  a  closed-circuit  camera.'"*^ 

In  the  process  of  constructing  the  road  and  the  gatehouse,  the  College 
demolished  the  old  farmhouse — the  home  economics  department's  haven 
for  refinishing  furniture — which  had  stood  on  the  property  even  before 
Meredith  claimed  the  vast  expanse  of  land  once  known  as  the  "Tucker 
Farm."  News  of  the  razing  of  the  old  house  was  simply  included  in  a  list 
of  jobs  completed;  nevertheless,  the  wording  was  interesting:  "Demol- 
ished the  old  farmhouse  visible  from  the  Beltline.'"*^  The  hidden  message 
in  the  statement  was  obviously  about  image,  the  beltline  offering  travelers 
a  panoramic  view  of  the  campus  to  an  extent  not  possible  from  any  other 
vantage  point.  Perhaps  the  old  house  was  at  odds  with  age  and  place,  but 
the  parking  lots  that  dotted  the  grounds  were  definitive  signs  of  the  times. 
A  new  paved  lot  at  Gate  Center  accommodated  the  automobiles  of  sixty 
commuters.  But  long-range  plans  called  for  additional  green  space.  After 
studying  the  grounds  and  layout  of  the  buildings,  a  consulting  architect 
recommended,  for  beauty  and  safety,  the  return  to  a  pedestrian  campus, 
with  parking  confined  to  the  periphery.  A  cautious  Charles  Taylor,  vice 
president  for  business  and  finance,  emphasized  the  phrase  "long-range": 
"What  is  envisioned  by  an  architect  in  1989  may  not  resemble  the  actual 
product  in  the  year  2000  or  beyond,"  he  said.'*^ 

While  the  campus  plan  focused  on  the  future,  the  need  to  renovate  ex- 


2o8      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

isting  buildings  appeared  always  to  be  in  the  present — or,  sometimes,  in 
the  past.  In  1989,  two  separate  entries — one  in  the  August  minutes  of  the 
board,  and  another  in  the  annual  report — were  commentaries  on  moving 
full  speed  into  the  future  while  running  to  catch  up  with  the  past:  The 
trustees  learned  that  Vann  and  Stringfield  Residence  Halls  were  finally 
air-conditioned,  after  having  stood  for  more  than  sixty  years  without  that 
modern  touch  of  comfort.  And  readers  of  the  annual  report  were  hustled 
into  the  future  by  the  news  that,  in  the  following  year,  the  central  heating 
system  would  be  connected  to  "the  energy  management  microproces- 
sor."'^'* After  salaries  and  benefits,  the  electric  bill  required  the  largest  out- 
lay of  funds.  In  fiscal  1989-90,  the  cost  of  electricity  totaled  $535,000, 
and,  with  the  air-conditioning  of  the  last  of  the  major  buildings,  there  was 
little  hope  for  less  energy  usage. 

AS  THEY  CONSIDERED  assumptious,  members  of  the  the  task  force  often 
saw  the  word  "continue,"  as  in  "Meredith  will  continue  to  improve  the 
total  environment  for  learning  and  personal  development  among  its  stu- 
dents." The  total  environment  would  include,  but  not  be  limited  to,  spiri- 
tual life,  services  and  support,  and  activities.  Spiritual  life  has  long  been  a 
component  of  the  "education  of  the  whole  person,"  to  which  tenet  the  Col- 
lege holds  tenaciously.  Examples  punctuate  the  pages  of  this  book.  But,  in 
the  prevalent  atmosphere  of  the  Baptist  life  in  1989,  trustees  wanted  "a 
concise  report .  .  . ,  demonstrating  how  the  operation  of  the  College  during 
the  preceding  school  year  has  been  in  furtherance  of  its  stated  purposes  and 
consistent  with  the  mandate  of  its  charter.""*^  The  administration  obliged 
and,  through  a  sixteen-page  document  titled  Christian  Dimensions,  made 
the  case.  The  report  included  Wednesday  worship  and  other  services,  such 
as  the  traditional  Moravian  Love  Feast  at  Christmas  and  the  annual  alum- 
nae gathering  at  commencement;  curriculum  offerings  in  religion;  the  Free- 
man Religion  Club;  Religious  Emphasis  Week;  the  Staley,  GuUick,  and  Pres- 
ton Lectures;  community  ministry;  the  CROP  Walk  for  raising  money  for 
Church  World  Service;  the  MCA  Outreach  Team,  which  responds  to 
churches  in  search  of  student-led  programs;  recruitment  of  Baptist  students; 
and  Branching  Out,  the  MCA  (Meredith  Christian  Association)  newsletter. 
Components  of  the  philosophy  of  "wholeness"  also  included  physical 
and  emotional  support.  One  of  the  services  not  heretofore  offered  by  the 
health  center  was  a  gynecological  clinic,  established  in  the  fall  of  1989 
and  conducted  by  a  nurse  practitioner.  And  Meredith,  like  the  culture  at 


IN  PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE:    1989-199O     I     209 

large,  provided  support  groups,  at  first  for  students  from  dysfunctional 
families  and  for  those  with  eating  disorders.  But  in  a  span  of  five  years, 
the  young  w^omen  also  sought  counseling  in  gender  issues,  learning  dis- 
abilities, and  general  therapy — and  some  as  adult  children  of  alcoholics. 
Beth  Meier,  w^ho  succeeded  Gina  Roberts  as  counselor  in  1993,  reported 
that  her  attempt  to  start  a  "Wonder  Women's  Blues"  group  "didn't  get  off 
the  ground.  .  .  .""^^ 

Support  groups  of  a  different  ilk  w^ere  undergoing  change.  Students 
who  had  been  bound  by  interest  in  another  language  and  culture  and  had 
lived  together,  either  on  a  Spanish  or  a  French  Hall,  would  hereafter  have 
a  home  of  their  own  in  the  new  "IHOM"  (International  House  of  Mere- 
dith) as  Janie  Mullis,  international  studies  editor  of  the  Herald,  wrote. 
Mulhs  failed  to  explain  her  play  on  "IHOP"  (International  House  of  Pan- 
cakes), which  was  a  mile  or  so  down  Hillsborough  Street,  but  she  en- 
lightened her  readers  as  to  the  change:  "Meredith  College  no  longer  of- 
fers a  foreign  language  hall  or  the  Carroll  Annex  freshman  residence  hall. 
Instead,  the  College  has  combined  the  two  to  become  our  new  Interna- 
tional House.'"^^  She  said  the  twenty-two  occupants  included  ten  who 
were  Spanish-speaking,  six  who  were  French-speaking,  and  six  who  sim- 
ply wanted  to  live  there. 

Brenda  Faye  Anderson,  Ellen  Belk,  Carol  Brooks,  Paige  Gunter,  Mary 
Moore,  and  Krista  Holloman  found  their  own  support  group  among  col- 
lege Republicans.  On  January  20,  1989,  the  six  students  attended  the  in- 
auguration of  George  Herbert  Walker  Bush  as  forty-first  president  of  the 
United  States.  President  Bush's  oath  of  office  and  attendant  ceremonies 
also  marked  the  Bicentennial  Inauguration  of  the  United  States,  a  slogan 
reading  "1789 -19 89 — George  to  George"  appearing  on  banners  and 
buttons.  The  Meredith  Herald  reported  that  "All  students  were  able  to  at- 
tend one  of  the  two  Young  American's  Balls  Friday  evening,"  at  both  of 
which  the  president  and  vice  president  appeared."*^  But  the  students' 
biggest  thrill  might  have  been  their  introduction  to  President  and  Mrs. 
Bush  at  the  White  House. 

From  support  groups,  attention  turned  to  sports  groups  when,  again, 
WRAL-TV  telecast  the  5:30  sports  news  live  from  Superbowl  VII,  the  in- 
tramural flag  football  finals  in  1990.  Sportscaster  Bob  HoUiday  said,  "We 
try  to  cover  non-traditional  sports,  and  women  playing  football  is  cer- 
tainly that.""*^  Before  250  fans,  the  seniors  of  second-floor  Barefoot  won 
24-12  over  the  juniors  from  first-  and  second-floor  Poteat.  Activities  like 


ZIO     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

intramural  sports  contributed  to  the  environment  of  the  college  experi- 
ence, as  did  intercollegiate  sports.  In  NCAA  Division  III,  student  athletes 
competed  in  basketball,  softball,  golf,  tennis,  and  volleyball.  "Meredith 
athletics  took  a  leap  forward  "^°  with  the  arrival  of  Coach  Carl  Hatchell, 
the  first  full-time  basketball  and  softball  coach.  Under  Coach  Hatchell, 
1990  was  a  banner  year  for  basketball,  reported  the  Meredith  Herald. 
As  of  December,  the  team's  won-lost  record  was  12-4,  and  freshman 
players  Jennifer  Norris  and  Sylvia  Newman  contributed  significantly  to 
that  success. ^^ 

Regardless  of  athletic  prowess,  the  sports  program  probably  could 
never  vie  for  the  passion  for  Cornhuskin'.  The  student  newspaper  implied 
that  the  competition  became  more  intense  each  year.  But  in  1990,  stu- 
dents took  one  small  step  toward  pre-Cornhuskin'  civility  by  replacing 
the  courtyard  toilet  paper  fights  with  can  art  contests,  using  aluminum 
drink  cans  to  create  murals.  After  the  judging,  the  cans  were  sold  for  re- 
cycling, and  the  profits  went  to  the  winners'  favorite  charity.  Many  of  the 
older  and  wiser  heads,  who  had  seen  some  yesterdays,  surmised  that 
Cornhuskin'  could  hardly  be  less  competitive,  given  the  conditions  that 
prompted  United  States  President  George  Bush  to  plead,  in  his  1987 
speech  accepting  his  party's  nomination,  for  a  "kinder,  gentler  nation." 

Cornhuskin'  notwithstanding,  the  fall  academic  term  could  hardly  have 
had  a  better  start  than  to  have  Money  Magazine  name  Meredith  as  nine- 
teenth on  the  publication's  list  of  the  nation's  best  buys  among  private  col- 
leges. The  Money  College  Guide  ranked  the  best  buys  by  such  measure- 
ments as  the  amount  of  money  devoted  to  student  instruction;  the  number 
of  students  who  later  earned  Ph.D.'s;  the  graduation  rate,  SAT  scores  and 
class  rank  of  incoming  freshmen;  the  student-faculty  ratio;  the  number  of 
books  in  the  library;  and  the  College's  management  of  financial  aid. 

THAT  THE  COLLEGE  was  Considered  a  "best  buy"  by  a  national  publica- 
tion undergirded  the  assumption  that  "Meredith  will  continue  to  be  af- 
fordable to  the  constituency  it  has  traditionally  served,"  although  much 
of  the  burden  of  increased  tuition  and  fees  "will  fall  to  families  and  stu- 
dents," predicted  President  Weems.^^  The  worry  had  already  begun  in 
March  1989  when  Weems  informed  trustees  of  "a  shortfall  of  North  Car- 
olina Legislative  Tuition  Grant  funds  for  students  attending  private  insti- 
tutions."^^ By  the  time  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  met  in  April, 


IN   PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE:    1989-I99O     I     211 

Weems  had  written  to  parents  of  in-state  students  and  to  trustees  and  as- 
sociates, urging  contact  with  their  representatives.  Better  news  was  on  the 
agenda  the  following  August,  and  the  president  thanked  the  trustees  for 
their  contributions  to  the  overwhelming  flood  of  letters  to  legislators:  The 
General  Assembly  approved  increases  of  $50  each  for  the  tuition  grant 
and  the  contractual  program.  The  total  grant,  then,  would  be  $1,150  per 
year  for  each  full-time  student  from  North  Carolina. 

In  an  unusual  twist  of  circumstances,  the  College  sometimes  asked  not  so 
much  whether  students  could  afford  Meredith  but  whether  Meredith  could 
afford  some  of  its  students.  In  1990,  freshman  applicants  in  general  were  1 1 
percent  fewer  than  in  1989;  however.  Teaching  Fellows  clamored  for  ad- 
mission. "For  some  unknown  but  remarkable  reason,"  said  the  president, 
"Meredith  became  one  of  the  more  attractive  schools  in  North  Carolina  for 
Teaching  Fellows. . .  ."^'^  The  College's  financial  outlay  for  the  first  year  of  the 
highly  desirable  program  was  $30,000;  one  year  and  fifty-one  Teaching  Fel- 
lows later,  it  was  $85,000.  The  state's  obligation  of  $4,700  per  Fellow  was 
a  fixed  amount,  but  college  expenses  were  not;  so  managing  the  widening  fi- 
nancial gap  perplexed  decision-makers  until,  in  September  1990,  the  trustees 
voted  to  retain  the  Teaching  Fellows  Program,  to  limit  future  classes  to  fif- 
teen Fellows,  and  to  raise  tuition  enough  to  close  the  gap. 

Because  freshman  applications  were  fewer,  Meredith  could  afford  to  en- 
roll more  transfers  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  College.  The  Her- 
ald reported  that  the  1 1 1  new  transfer  students  from  eleven  states  repre- 
sented thirty-two  colleges  and  universities.  At  the  same  time,  an  alarm 
sounded  from  John  Hiott,  director  of  scholarships  and  financial  assistnce: 
For  some  time,  he  said,  Meredith  had  met  100  percent  of  a  resident  student's 
financial  need.  But,  he  added,  "  1990  -9 1  is  likely  to  be  the  last  time  the  Col- 
lege can  say  this  with  confidence.  The  increases  in  cost  with  no  increases  in 
grant  resources  [have]  forced  this  office  into  making  larger  loans."^^ 

"change  is  unavoidable  and  desirable  in  higher  education,"  stated 
an  assumption  that  unmistakably  applied  to  the  past,  present,  and  fu- 
ture. Change  indeed  came  to  Meredith  in  the  last  decade  of  the  twen- 
tieth century — as  it  had  in  the  first  and  all  decades  between,  and  as  it 
always  will.  Technology  alone  challenged  higher  education  to  advance 
rapidly  in  knowledge,  use,  and  equipment.  After  several  years  of  work, 
the   College   and   Cablevision  of  Raleigh  negotiated  an  agreement 


2IZ     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

whereby  "all  residence  hall  rooms,  classrooms,  and  offices  [would]  be 
wired  for  campuswide  communication."^^  The  capabilities  extended 
beyond  students'  rooms,  classrooms,  and  offices  to  include  assembly 
areas,  as  well.  For  example,  an  overflow  crowd  from  Jones  Auditorium 
could  assemble  in  Gate  Center's  Kresge  Auditorium  to  watch  a  live  per- 
formance via  cablevision.  Media  services,  the  staff  of  which  were 
among  the  primary  negotiators  for  the  service,  claimed  that  the  co- 
axial cable  link  between  Jones  and  Gate  "effectively  enlarged"  Jones 
by  25  percent. ^^  Fortunately,  the  service  was  available  for  the  Genten- 
nial  celebration  in  199 1. 

A  reader  of  the  president's  annual  message  for  1990 — particularly  if 
she  or  he  knew  of  Weems's  penchant  for  electronics — could  sense  excite- 
ment in  the  author's  words  and  style: 

Television  is  now  on  the  air  at  Meredith  24  hours  a  day.  To  allow 
for  Meredith  activities  to  be  announced  and  viewed  simply  by  turn- 
ing on  a  video  receiver,  three  channels  were  reserved  for  the  Col- 
lege's use.  These  three  channels  will  carry  live  programming  origi- 
nated by  faculty  and  students.  The  channels  are  also  available  to 
broadcast  filmed  materials  into  each  residence  hall  room.  .  .  . 

The  library's  media  services  can  originate  programming  for  class- 
rooms on  demand.  Recitals,  public  performances,  and  plays  can  be 
delivered  to  each  residence  hall  room  and  campus  office.  The  use  of 
these  three  channels  is  limited  only  by  our  imagination.^^ 

The  three  channels,  5,10,  and  13,  originating  in  the  Garlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary, were  in  the  care  of  MCTV  (Meredith  Cable  Television)  and  Cyn- 
thia Bowling,  cable  administrator.  Channels  10  and  13  were  for  educa- 
tional purposes  only;  Channel  5  was  the  vehicle  by  which  announcements 
reached  the  entire  campus  population;  it  was  Meredith's  "24-hour  info- 
center"  that  was  "fast,  easy,  and  free!"  said  the  Student  Handbook/^ 
Central  services  boasted  of  a  FAX  machine;  the  library  boasted  of  capa- 
bilities to  offer  "more  systematic  and  sophisticated  training  in  videogra- 
phy,  editing  and  writing  for  video" ;^°  and  information  services  boasted  of 
Cam-Tel,  the  telecommunications  system. 

The  Information  Age  advanced  alongside  a  decades-old  concern  for 
ecology,  dating  from  the  1962  publication  of  Rachel  Carson's  landmark 
expose  of  environmental  pesticides,  the  best-selling  Silent  Spring.  And  on 
Meredith's  campus,  there  arose  among  faculty  and  students  alike  a  grow- 


IN   PURSUIT  OF   EXCELLENCE:    I989-I99O     I      213 

ing  desire  to  protect  the  planet.  About  1990,  the  College  began  a  recy- 
cling program,  at  first  collecting  paper  only.  A  February  1990  edition  of 
the  Herald  reported  a  collection  of  "18,000  pounds  of  paper  since  last 
December."^^  Members  of  the  faculty  criticized  the  unavailability  of  recy- 
cled paper  in  central  services,  where  copy  machines  were  at  full  speed  al- 
most every  day.  While  Vice  President  Taylor  explained  that  moisture  in 
recycled  paper  affected  the  machines,  he  promised  to  stock  it  anyway  and 
took  the  opportunity  to  remind  the  faculty  of  the  collection  barrels  that 
were  strategically  placed  around  the  campus. 

FOR  THE  MOST  part,  the  College  was  a  good  citizen  in  and  for  its  envi- 
ronment, and  the  administration  anticipated  no  change,  according  to  the 
assumption  that  "Meredith  will  continue  to  serve  the  greater  Raleigh 
community."  One  of  the  most  effective  ways  of  serving  Raleigh  and  Wake 
County  was  through  the  continuing  education  program,  which,  said  Dr. 
Ironside,  was  "struggling  to  keep  up  with  its  own  success."^-^  In  1989  -90, 
a  rush  to  enrichment  and  special  programs  attracted  z,6oo  students, 
making  it  necessary  to  limit  to  sixty  the  number  of  non-credit  courses 
taught  in  a  semester.  In  the  summer,  the  program  served  children,  youth, 
and  public  school  teachers,  and  one  of  the  incentives  for  teachers  was  the 
awarding  of  teacher  renewal  credits  in  addition  to  continuing  education 
units.  The  re-entry  program  grew,  as  well,  then  totaling  20  percent  of  the 
undergraduate  population. 

Miscellaneous  archival  records  attest  to  the  continuing  good  will  of 
the  community  toward  the  College  and  vice  versa.  That  Meredith  gave 
the  community  a  learning  environment,  a  civic  forum,  a  wedding  and 
reception  site,  a  sports  arena,  a  playground,  and,  simply,  a  pretty  place 
was  more  a  rule  than  an  exception.  For  example,  in  the  category  of 
civic  forum,  continuing  education  had  coordinated  the  Great  Decisions 
Lectures  in  Raleigh  since  1979.  In  1989,  "participation  surpass[ed]  all 
previous  records."^^  As  a  sports  arena,  Meredith  hosted  the  1989  State 
Games  of  North  Carolina  Amateur  Sports,  the  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Am- 
phitheater's serving  as  the  setting  for  opening  ceremonies;  the  Weath- 
erspoon  Gymnasium's  supplying  the  basketball  court  for  girls'  state- 
wide competition;  and  the  residence  halls'  furnishing  beds  and  baths 
for  coaches  and  athletes.  As  a  playground,  the  campus  was  affirmed  by 
the  Spectator  magazine's  nominating  it  as  Raleigh's  best  place  to  fly  a 
kite. 


214     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

THE  ASSUMPTION  ADDRESSING  such  important  matters  as  financial  secu- 
rity and  Meredith's  relationship  to  North  Carolina  Baptists  stated, 
"Meredith  will  improve  with  the  implementation  of  systematic  planning 
techniques  and  the  acceptance  of  constructive  change."  The  planning 
process  included  a  capital  campaign  to  raise  $io  million.  The  goals  of 
the  Second  Century  Challenge,  as  the  effort  was  called,  comprised  the 
$2,200,000  Ledford  Building;  one-hundred  First  Family  scholarships  of 
$25,000  each;  an  increase  in  unrestricted  giving;  and  an  emphasis  on 
planned  giving.  Out  of  the  latter  objective  emerged  the  Heritage  Society, 
an  organization  of  future  givers  who  had  named  Meredith  in  their  wills. 
The  156  charter  members  already  represented  5  6  more  than  the  goal  set 
for  the  Charter  Centennial  in  199 1.  But  the  major  thrust  of  the  Second 
Century  Challenge  was  $6  million  for  scholarships. 

Financial  prospects  were  promising;  however,  Meredith's  Baptist  State 
Convention-related  status  was  uncertain.  In  1990,  President  Weems  titled 
a  portion  of  his  annual  report,  "A  Clear  and  Imminent  Danger,"  which  fo- 
cused on  that  uncertainty:  "It  becomes  important  for  those  of  us  related 
to  Meredith  to  consider  all  the  options  available  and  begin  to  position  the 
institution  for  possible  external  attacks  of  a  nature  we  have  never  before 
experienced,"  he  warned.^"*  One  of  the  statements  in  that  particular  pub- 
lication must  have  opened  some  eyes  to  a  reality  not  previously  discussed, 
at  least  not  in  the  obvious  archival  sources:  In  the  event  of  a  takeover  by 
fundamentalist  trustees,  Weems  said,  Meredith  would  more  than  likely 
become  coeducational  because  "Women  have  not  been  the  first  priority 
of  the  conservative  movement!  "^^  In  an  executive  committee  meeting  in 
November,  he  reported  to  trustees  the  changing  status  of  other  Baptist  in- 
stitutions (Furman,  Stetson,  Baylor)  to  their  conventions  (South  Carolina, 
Florida,  Texas)  and  potential  changes  for  Meredith.  While  Baptist  policy- 
makers struggled.  Baptist  college  students  went  to  their  spring  BSU  (Bap- 
tist Student  Union)  conference  and  elected  senior  Amanda  Carroll  presi- 
dent of  the  state  organization. 

IN  THE  FIRST  assumption  listed  in  this  chapter,  the  president  predicted 
that  the  College  would  always  be  church-related.  And  the  last  assumption 
also  implied  an  "always":  "Meredith  will  continue  to  stress  academic  ex- 
cellence as  fundamental  to  its  mission."  In  1989,  teams  from  six  accred- 
iting agencies  visited  the  College:  the  Southern  Association  of  Colleges 


IN   PURSUIT  OF  EXCELLENCE:    1989-I99O     I      215 

and  Schools  (SACS);  the  National  Council  for  Accreditation  of  Teacher 
Education  (NCATE);  the  North  Carolina  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion (SDPI);  the  National  Association  of  Schools  of  Music  (NASM);  and 
the  North  Carolina  Teaching  Fellows  Commission.  To  be  examined  for 
accreditation  was  to  spend  months  of  committee  introspection  and  hard 
work  prior  to  an  accrediting  team's  site  visit.  Committees  and  individuals 
who  gave  their  all  for  the  cause  were  ecstatic  when  things  went  well.  For 
example,  a  Meredith  Herald  reader  could  sense  the  exhilaration  of  Susan 
Gilbert,  English,  who  directed  preparation  for  the  SACS  visit  in  Novem- 
ber 1989:  Dr.  Gilbert  said  the  visiting  team  was  "glowing  with  praise" 
for  Meredith. ^^  The  more  subdued  minutes  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  board  for  November  recorded,  "The  members  of  the  team  were  very 
complimentary  of  Meredith  and  her  programs."^^ 

The  National  Council  for  Accreditation  of  Teacher  Education  created 
its  own  excitement:  In  its  first  visit  ever,  NCATE  recommended  no  changes. 
In  the  many  years  of  the  organization's  existence,  it  had  scrutinized  only 
six  other  schools  that  passed  the  test  without  warranting  a  single  recom- 
mendation, but  Meredith  wore  the  crown  as  the  only  college  ever  to 
achieve  the  distinction  the  first  time  around;  all  the  others  were  reaffir- 
mations of  the  original  accreditation.  Mary  Johnson  coordinated  Mere- 
dith's work  in  preparation  for  NCATE's  site  visit. 

THE  FIRST  PARAGRAPHS  of  this  chapter  imply  that  Meredith  will  remain  a 
small  college.  However  small  it  is,  was,  and  will  remain,  the  1990  com- 
mencement exercises  testified  to  rapid  growth  in  the  eighteen  years  of  the 
current  administration.  At  some  point  during  the  ceremony.  Dr.  Weems 
awarded  a  diploma  to  the  student  who  defined  the  point  at  which  50  per- 
cent of  all  Meredith  graduates  had  been  handed  diplomas  by  the  sixth 
president.  Furthermore,  80  percent  of  the  living  alumnae  had  graduated 
between  1972  and  1990.  All  the  graduates  who  have  been,  and  all  those 
who  will  be,  stand  on  common  ground.  The  Task  Force  for  the  Pursuit  of 
Excellence  said  as  much: 

While  we  are  unable  to  predict  the  future  with  certainty,  we  must 
prepare  our  graduates  to  live  in  it  as  responsible  citizens  who  are 
prepared  and  capable  of  dealing  with  change.  We  wish  to  educate 
them  as  leaders,  as  people  who  make  a  difference,  in  directing  the  fu- 
ture. Most  critical  is  that  learning  is  a  life-long,  integrative  process. ^^ 


lO 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION 
1991 


"how  do  you  say  'Happy  looth  Birthday'  to  a  college  like  Meredith?" 
With  an  eye  toward  199 1  and  in  quest  of  a  centennial  theme,  the  Cen- 
tennial Commission  had  put  the  question  to  the  college  family  in  1989, 
promising  the  creator  of  the  best  slogan  a  prize  of  $100.00  and  gifts  com- 
memorating the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  chartering  of  Baptist 
Female  University  by  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina.  At  a  college-wide 
theme  picnic  on  April  13,  1989,  Gay  Elliott,  secretary  to  the  campus  min- 
ister, was  declared  the  winner.  One  of  350  entries  from  students,  faculty, 
staff,  alumnae,  trustees,  and  parents,  Mrs.  Elliott's  slogan  had  been 
preprinted  in  Meredith  maroon  on  big  white  pins,  which  soon  adorned 
shirts,  sweaters,  notebooks,  and  backpacks  all  over  the  campus.  And 
from  that  day  forward,  until  the  Centennial  celebration  closed  in  1992, 
all  printed  materials,  including  the  college  stationery,  carried  the  theme, 
"Honoring  Our  Heritage  .  .  .  Expanding  Our  Vision." 

The  College  has  indeed  honored  its  century-long  Baptist  heritage, 
never  ceasing  to  pay  homage  to  those  nineteenth-century  visionaries  who 
gave  it  life,  those  women  and  men  who  "planned,  prayed,  sacrificed  lit] 
into  existence."'  But,  amid  all  the  honor  and  glory,  some  of  its  history 
also  encompassed  situations  that  fell  somewhere  between  the  extremes  of 
life-giving  celebration  and  life-threatening  struggle.  The  college  magazine 
alluded  to  Meredith's  heritage: 

216 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    1991      I      ZI7 

Independence — a  mark  of  true  Baptists  everywhere — assumed  its 
relentless  and  rightful  stance  in  the  life  and  times  of  the  North  Car- 
olina Baptist  Convention  from  the  organization's  inception  in  1830. 
Baptist  churches  have  cherished  their  autonomy;  Baptist  people 
have  preached — and  practiced — the  priesthood  of  the  believers; 
Baptist  organizations  have  bowed  to  no  hierarchical  assembly. 
While  Baptist  colleges  may  have  experienced  a  lesser  degree  of  in- 
dependence because  of  the  convention's  practice  of  electing  the  col- 
leges' governing  bodies,  the  institutions  have  .  .  .  remain[ed]  aca- 
demically free,  politically  untainted,  and — in  the  case  of  Meredith 
— adamantly  separate.^ 

The  article  more  specifically  covered  Meredith's  early  years:  From  its  be- 
ginnings in  the  1830s,  "with  the  radical  notion  of  some  progressive  Bap- 
tists to  provide  for  women  an  education  separate  from  but  equal  to  that 
of  men,"  3  Meredith  has  been  fought  for  and  fought  against;  loved  and 
merely  tolerated;  poor  and  relatively  prosperous.  North  Carolina  Baptists 
have  always  played  a  part  in  its  life  and  death  decisions.  Three  years  after 
Baptist  Female  University  was  chartered,  and  four  years  before  it  opened 
its  doors  to  students,  some  Baptists  would  have  been  happier  for  Wake 
Forest  to  accept  women  than  to  have  proceeded  with  BFU.  And  in  19Z3, 
there  was  a  movement  afoot  to  merge  Meredith  and  Wake  Forest.  An- 
other in  1939,  according  to  the  Biblical  Recorder,  "proposed  the  moving 
of  Meredith  to  the  Wake  Forest  campus  as  part  of  one  great  institution.'"* 
And,  in  1942,  when  Wake  Forest  voted  to  allow  women  students,  still  an- 
other groundswell  for  merger  loomed  large.  "To  the  Convention's  ever- 
lasting credit,"  said  the  Meredith  article,  it  pledged  its  continued  cooper- 
ation and  support  of  Meredith  as  a  four-year  college  for  women.^  The 
late  Gerald  Johnson,  a  prominent  writer,  editorialized  in  1944  that,  by  its 
tenacity  toward  the  status  quo,  Meredith  was  a  "gone  gosling."^ 

President  Weems  tells  the  story  of  generous  Baptists,  who,  one  year 
during  the  Depression,  allocated  to  Meredith  half  the  total  contributions 
to  the  convention  in  order  to  keep  the  College  "open  and  alive."^  He  also 
relates, 

In  1955  Meredith  was  offered  the  Reynolda  Estate  of  150  acres  in 
Winston-Salem  for  its  campus,  plus  $1,000,000  for  campus  con- 
struction. This  offer  was  predicated  on  the  condition  that  the  Pres- 


215      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

byterians  would  buy  our  campus  and  locate  the  new  school  they 
were  starting,  here.  The  Presbyterians  chose  to  build  their  new 
school,  St.  Andrews,  in  Laurinburg.^ 

But  as  the  College  approached  its  Charter  Centennial,  it  faced  one  of 
the  more  ominous  struggles  of  its  existence.  Trustee  George  McCotter 
had  sounded  an  alarm  as  early  as  1980,  warning  the  board  that  funda- 
mentalists would  gain  control  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  "state 
by  state  and  college  by  college."^  McCotter's  signal  possibly  rescued  a 
dark  reality  from  its  prison  of  denial,  but  he  would  help  to  brighten  the 
future  for  all  of  like  mind  and  spirit  by  his  efforts  in  founding  Friends  of 
Missions,  an  organization  of  moderate  Baptists.  And  President  Weems  re- 
calls "that  the  Southern  Baptist  Alliance,  a  broader-based  moderate  con- 
stituency, 'was  born  in  the  conference  room'  of  .  .  .  Jones  Chapel."  ^° 

The  convention's  power  to  elect  trustees,  granted  in  1927,  stemmed 
from  the  creation  of  the  Cooperative  Program  and  its  subsequent  annual 
allocation  of  funds  to  Meredith  and  other  Baptist  institutions.  And,  so 
far,  neither  the  convention  nor  the  College  had  been  seriously  bruised  by 
the  intermittent  crusades  against  Meredith's  separatism  and  indepen- 
dence or,  on  the  eve  of  its  one-hundredth  anniversary,  against  Meredith's 
freedom.  Rather,  such  encounters  had  often  served  as  healing  agents.  But, 
from  the  early  eighties  to  1991,  the  College  wondered  whether  future 
clashes  would  lead  to  divorce  of  the  two  entities.  Should  radically  con- 
servative Baptists  dominate  the  board,  said  the  then-current  trustees, 
Meredith  would  lose  its  identity  and  its  freedom,  as  had  some  of  the  sem- 
inaries. The  only  solution,  it  seemed,  was  to  find  a  way  for  the  College  to 
elect  its  own  trustees.  In  the  executive  commitee  meeting  on  January  14, 
199 1,  Margaret  Parker,  trustee  chair,  appointed  a  charter  resolution  com- 
mittee comprising  Leon  Smith,  chair;  David  Britt,  Norman  Kellum,  Theo 
Pitt,  Charles  Barham,  and  Barbara  Allen,  with  President  Weems  ex  offi- 
cio. In  February,  Parker  added  Eugene  Boyce,  college  counsel,  to  the  com- 
mittee. 

In  the  meantime,  the  convention  wanted  a  "blue  ribbon"  study  com- 
mittee to  consider  all  sides,  all  potential  problems,  of  all  Baptist  insti- 
tutions and  then  make  its  own  recommendations.  Gene  L.  Watterson, 
president  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  and  Roy  Smith,  executive 
director-treasurer,  along  with  some  other  convention  leaders,  thought 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    1991      I     219 

Meredith  was  moving  too  hastily  and  that  the  trustees  should  give  the 
convention  committee,  only  then  being  formed,  an  opportunity  to  func- 
tion. Both  Watterson  and  Smith  wrote  to  the  trustees  on  February  21, 
199 1,  pleading  that  they  take  no  action  at  the  the  next  day's  meeting.  The 
following  is  a  summary  of  Watterson's  reasoning: 

1.  A  fear  that  any  unilateral  move  to  alter  the  relationship  might 
cause  an  emotional  upheaval,  which  would  express  itself  in  po- 
litical polarization  and  a  catalyzing  of  anti-higher  education  ele- 
ments within  our  convention. 

2.  There  is  no  pressing  or  imminent  danger  of  an  influx  of  trustees 
who  hold  philosophies  of  education  or  theologies  that  are 
counter  to  the  present  circumstance. 

3 .  Meredith,  as  well  as  other  institutions  within  the  Baptist  family, 
now  enjoy  virtual  autonomy  in  the  selection  of  trustees.  .  .  . 

4.  A  special  committee  to  study  and  recommend  changes  with  re- 
gards to  trustee  selection  is  in  the  process  of  formation.  [Among] 
some  suggestions  of  .  .  .  that  committee  .  .  .  [is]  the  idea  of  al- 
lowing the  institution  to  have  complete  autonomy  in  the  selec- 
tion of  whatever  percentage  of  trustees  that  it  desires,  with  the 
understanding  that  the  North  Carolina  Baptist  State  Convention 
funding  to  the  institutions  would  be  reduced  by  that  percent- 
age.^^ 

But  the  suggestions  went  unheeded.  Unanimous  action  by  the  trustees 
came  on  February  22,  1991,  when  the  Board  voted  to  amend  the  charter, 
basing  the  legality  of  its  vote  on  the  state  law  that  requires  them  "to  act  in 
the  best  interest  of  the  organization  for  which  they  have  been  elected 
trustees." ^^  The  board  had  concluded  that  "some  ultimate  takeover  of  the 
College  by  a  non-sympathetic  group  was  not  in  the  best  interest  of 
Meredith.""  In  the  resolution  to  amend,  however,  the  trustees  reaffirmed 
Meredith's  Baptist  heritage: 

Resolved,  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  affirms  its  deep  and  profound 
appreciation  for  the  century  of  unselfish  support  and  oversight 
given  to  Meredith  College  by  the  Baptist  family.  The  Board  of 
Trustees  further  affirms  its  intention  that  Meredith  College  remain  a 
North  Carolina  Baptist  College  of  Christian  higher  education,  its 


220     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

intention  to  elect  trustees  who  are  North  Carohna  Baptists,  and  its 
intention  to  further  the  purposes  of  the  institution  as  they  are  stated 
in  its  charter.  The  amending  of  the  charter  ...  in  no  way  indicates 
a  new  direction  for  the  institution.  Rather,  it  reflects  the  ongoing  de- 
sire of  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  be  good  stewards  of  Meredith's  Bap- 
tist heritage,  to  protect  academic  freedom,  to  safeguard  the  financial 
security  of  the  institution,  and  to  comply  with  the  public  policies  of 
the  State  of  North  Carolina. ^^^ 

Most  constituents  of  the  College  happily  received  the  news.  The  faculty 
had  left  no  doubt  as  to  its  position  on  the  matter  when,  on  February  15, 
it  passed  its  own  resolution  urging  the  trustees  to  "rescind  the  previous 
action  of  the  Board  .  .  .  and  to  create  a  self-perpetuating  Board  of 
Trustees  comprised  of  North  Carolina  Baptists  which  will  ensure  the 
preservation  of  academic  freedom  while  preserving  the  historic  mission  of 
the  college  as  a  Baptist  institution."^^ 

Responding  to  Meredith's  turn  toward  further  independence,  the  con- 
vention placed  in  escrow  the  Cooperative  Program's  annual  allocation  of 
approximately  $1  million  to  the  College. ^^  Dr.  Weems  said,  "I've  never 
dealt  with  anything  of  this  magnitude.  We're  speaking  of  eternal  conse- 
quences here."^^  The  overwhelming  number  of  letters  of  appreciation  and 
support  somewhat  lightened  the  load.  For  example. 

As  an  alumna,  I  appreciate  this  move  being  made  to  safeguard 
Meredith's  future  and  to  protect  her  heritage.  You  certainly  have  my 
strong  support! 
— Carolyn  Carter,  '73,  Raleigh^ ^ 

Congratulations.  It  is  a  great  step  for  the  College. 
— WiUiam  C.  Friday,  Chapel  HilP^ 

I  applaud  your  courage  and  foresight.  Meredith  College  should  not 
become  a  victim  of  the  circumstances  creating  turmoil  among 
Southern  Baptists  today. 
— Rebecca  O.  House,  '74,  Burlington-"^ 

Believe  me,  I  understand  something  of  the  dimensions  of  your  strug- 
gle personally  and  professionally,  along  with  the  Meredith  trustees. 
Count  me  in  your  corner. 
— W.  Randall  LoUey,  Greensboro^' 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    I99I      I     221 

On  February  26,  The  News  and  Observer  ran  an  editorial  titled 
"Meredith,  out  of  the  fray,"  suggesting  that  "if  the  conflict  escalates  be- 
tween conservatives  and  moderates  in  the  State  Baptist  Convention, 
Meredith  College  will  not  be  one  of  the  'spoils  of  war.'  "^^  The  editorial 
complimented  the  College,  the  faculty,  and,  finally,  the  trustees,  who  "did 
the  only  thing  they  could  do  in  distancing  themselves  from  the  grasp  of 
those  in  the  convention  who  would  close  doors."^^ 

By  memorandum  on  March  20,  199 1,  President  Weems  gave  the  fac- 
ulty a  state-of-the-relationship  report: 

I  have  heard  from  more  than  one  hundred  people  from  outside  the 
immediate  Meredith  community  expressing  enthusiasm  for  this 
move.  .  .  . 

I  also  think  it  is  important  for  you  to  know  that  as  of  today  I 
have  not  heard  from  a  single  fundamentalist  criticizing  our  action. 
Further,  there  have  been  no  "letters  to  the  Editors"  that  I  know  of 
critical  of  this  action.  .  .  . 

We  are  not  without  our  problems,  however.  The  officials  at  the 
Baptist  State  Convention  headquarters  are  having  difficulty  with 
our  recent  action,  and  I  anticipate  that  most  of  our  future  problems 
will  come  from  those  Baptists  at  the  Convention  we  thought  we 
were  closest  to. 

After  many  meetings,  uncertain  funding,  and  the  threat  of  a  lawsuit, 
Meredith,  via  a  trustee  committee  chaired  by  Norman  Kellum,  proposed 
to  officers  of  the  convention  and  its  General  Board  that  "All  mention  of  the 
election  of  trustees  be  moved  from  the  charter  of  the  institution  and  placed 
in  the  by-laws."^"*  And,  to  comply  with  the  convention's  constitution,  the 
Meredith  delegation  also  agreed  to  submit  to  the  convention's  nominating 
committee  a  list  of  potential  trustees,  from  which  the  convention,  then, 
would  elect  a  slate  to  serve  the  College.  Meredith's  governing  body  would 
follow  suit,  electing  the  same  trustees,  thereby  adhering  to  the  provisions 
of  the  amended  charter.  With  the  agreements  understood  by  all  sides, 
eventually  Campbell,  Chowan,  Gardner- Webb,  Mars  Hill,  and  Wingate — 
the  other  five  convention-supported  colleges  and  universities — also  moved 
wording  regarding  trustees  from  their  charters  to  their  by-laws.* 

"Wake  Forest  University  had  redefined  its  relationship  with  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention five  years  earlier. 


222     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

In  199 1,  if  the  question  again  arose  as  to  how  to  say  "Happy  looth 
Birthday"  to  a  college  like  Meredith,"  the  answer  could  well  have  been, 
"Keep  it  academically  free." 

IN  1988,  PRESIDENT  WceiTis  had  named  Jean  Jackson,  '75,  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  English,  to  head  the  Centennial  Commission  and  had  appointed 
seven  others  who,  with  Dr.  Jackson,  formed  the  executive  committee: 
Anne  Clark  Dahle,  '54,  director  of  re-entry  programs;  Janet  Freeman,  li- 
brarian; Bluma  Greenberg,  instructor  of  art;  Carolyn  Harrington  Grubbs, 
'60,  associate  professor  of  history;  Brent  Pitts,  assistant  professor  of  for- 
eign languages;  Carolyn  Covington  Robinson,  '50,  college  editor  and  di- 
rector of  publications;  and  Betty  Webb,  '67,  professor  of  English.  Jackson 
continued  some  of  her  teaching  duties  but  also  opened  a  centennial  office 
in  Johnson  Hall.  With  the  executive  committee,  fifteen  additional  com- 
mittees and  innumerable  subcommittees  planned  a  year  "filled  with  op- 
portunities for  intellectual  and  spiritual  growth.  .  .  ."  and  "[wjith  re- 
newed commitment  to  honor  our  heritage  best  by  expanding  our  vision 
of  what  is  possible,  right,  and  good  for  the  life  of  the  College  as  it  enters 
a  second  century  of  educating  women."^^ 

On  February  26,  199 1,  a  coterie  of  Meredith  people  visited  the  Legis- 
lature of  North  Carolina  to  witness  the  House  and  Senate's  passing  of  res- 
olutions honoring  the  life  and  work  of  Thomas  Meredith  and  his  leader- 
ship in  founding  Baptist  Female  University.  Senator  Betsy  Cochrane,  '58, 
and  Representative  Judy  Hunt,  '71,  sponsored  the  resolutions. 

February  27,  199 1,  Charter  Centennial  Day,  was  one  of  the  more 
memorable  Founders'  Days  in  the  life  of  the  College.  It  was  crammed 
with  events,  people,  and  heritage.  Ruth  Schmidt,  featured  speaker  at  the 
morning  convocation,  was  president  of  Agnes  Scott  College,  also  a  col- 
lege for  women;  her  title  was  "Women's  Sphere  in  the  21st  Century."  Dr. 
Schmidt  admonished  women's  colleges  to  "take  seriously  our  history  as 
pioneers  in  a  new  social  order,  our  resources  of  people — students  being 
primary — and  devote  ourselves  to  preparing  women  to  lead  us  into  new 
ways  of  thinking  and  doing,  toward  a  whole  and  just  society  in  the  sphere 
which  is  the  globe."^^  Dr.  Jackson,  Dr.  Lynch,  the  Meredith  Chorale,  Pres- 
ident Weems,  and  T.  Robert  MuUinax,  executive  director  of  the  Council 
on  Christian  Higher  Education,  were  program  participants.  The  tradi- 
tional wreath-laying  rites  at  the  Thomas  Meredith  memorial  site  followed 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    I99I      I      223 

convocation.  Arranged  by  the  Granddaughters'  Club — an  organization 
of  daughters  and  granddaughters  of  alumnae — the  moving  ceremony  in- 
cluded an  antiphonal  naming  of  some  of  the  women  and  men — "a  cloud 
of  witnesses" — who  had  influenced  the  school  and  its  students  through 
the  years.  And,  then,  to  the  music  of  flutes,  strings,  and  singers,  party- 
goers  came  and  went  to  the  mammoth  birthday  celebration  on  all  three 
levels  of  Bryan  Rotunda. 

In  the  afternoon,  Jones  Auditorium  filled  with  witnesses  to  Parable  of 
the  Morning  Star,  a  centennial  play  by  Carolyn  Covington  Robinson,  di- 
rected by  John  Creagh,  and  performed  by  members  of  the  faculty  and  stu- 
dent body,  as  well  as  the  young  son  of  a  faculty  member.  A  fictional  story 
based  on  historical  fact,  the  play  introduced  Jennifer  Jordan,  a  college- 
age  young  woman  of  the  1890s,  who,  in  a  conversation  with  her  father's 
friend  O.L.  Stringfield  was  inspired  to  enroll  in  Baptist  Female  University. 
Her  struggle  to  enter  the  university  and  her  determination  to  stay  there 
were  probably  not  unlike  the  efforts  of  many  young  women  of  her  day, 
and  later.  In  Images:  A  Centennial  Journey,  Suzanne  Britt,  who  narrated 
the  drama  and  played  Jennifer  as  an  adult,  wrote  of  her  character,  "Her 
passion  for  learning  and  her  commitment  to  risk  and  challenge  are  char- 
acteristic of  all  Meredith  women  who  have  overcome  obstacles  to  arrive 
at  their  own  commencements."^^  Elizabeth  Eisele  played  young  Jennifer; 
Garry  Walton  was  O.L.  Stringfield;  Jean  Jackson  was  Lily  B.  Pearson; 
Owen  Zingraff  was  William;  and  Jack  Huber  and  Christa  Phillips  played 
Will  and  Mamie  Jordan. 

A  late-afternoon  centennial  vespers  service  replicated  the  first  chapel 
service  of  Baptist  Female  University  in  1899.  The  printed  program 
showed  the  order  of  both  services: 

Scripture:  1899,  Albert  Meredith  Simms,  Trustee;  199 1,  Mary  Vir- 
ginia Warren  Poe,  '48,  Trustee 

Prayer:  1899,  J.W  Carter,  Pastor,  First  Baptist  Church,  Raleigh; 
199 1,  R.  Wayne  Stacey,  Pastor,  First  Baptist  Church,  Raleigh 
Introductions:  1899,  President  James  C.  Blasingame  by  John  E. 
White,  Secretary,  Baptist  State  Convention;  199 1,  Vice  President 
and  Dean  Allen  Burris  by  Roy  J.  Smith,  Executive  Director,  Baptist 
State  Convention 
History  of  the  College:  1899,  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Skinner,  Chairman, 


224     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Board  of  Trustees;  199 1,  Margaret  Weatherspoon  Parker,  '38,  Chair, 
Board  of  Trustees 

Remarks,  N.C.  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction:  1899,  C.H. 
Mebane;  199 1,  Bob  Etheridge 

Remarks,  Superintendent,  Raleigh  Public  Schools:  1899,  E.P. 
Moses;  199 1,  Robert  E.  Wentz 

Remarks,  Representative  of  Shaw  University:  1899,  Charles  F. 
Meserve,  President;  1991,  Ernest  L.  Pickens,  Executive  Vice  Presi- 
dent 

Other  Denominations:  1899,  represented  by  Joseph  E.  Brown,  Pres- 
ident, Citizens  National  Bank:  199 1,  representatives  introduced  by 
the  Rev.  Sam  Carothers,  Campus  Minister 

Raleigh  Churches:  1889,  represented  by  Joseph  D.  Boushall  and 
Needham  B.  Broughton,  Trustees;  1991,  representatives  introduced 
by  Mr.  Carothers 

Benediction  Hymn:  1889  and  199 1,  "Praise  God  from  Whom  All 
Blessings  Flow" 

WHEN  SANDRA  DAY  O'Conuor,  Associate  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  accepted  the  Centennial  Commission's  invitation  to 
speak,  she  became  the  third  Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lecturer,  having  been 
preceded  by  Sir  Harold  Wilson,  former  prime  minister  of  Great  Britain, 
in  1978,  and  Jimmy  Carter,  former  president  of  the  United  States,  in 
1986.  The  first  woman  to  sit  on  the  Supreme  Court,  Justice  O'Connor 
took  the  oath  of  office  on  September  25,  19 81,  after  having  been  con- 
firmed on  September  21  by  a  vote  of  99-0  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
Her  lecture  on  March  11,  1991,  was  titled  "Women  and  the  Constitu- 
tion." She  said. 

Happily,  the  last  half  of  this  century  has  witnessed  a  revolution  in 
women's  legal  and  political  status.  My  chambers  window  in  Wash- 
ington, D.C.,  commands  a  view  of  a  small  brick  house,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  National  Women's  Party  and  the  home  of  suffragist 
Alice  Paul.  It  serves  as  a  daily  reminder  to  me  that  less  than  seventy- 
five  years  ago  women  had  yet  to  obtain  that  most  basic  civil  right, 
the  right  to  vote.  It  also  serves  as  a  reminder  that  single-minded  de- 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    1991      I     225 


Sandra  Day  O'Connor,  Associate  Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  delivers  the  third 
Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lecture  on  March  ii,  199 1. 

termination  and  effort  can  bring  about  fundamental  changes  in 
even  a  well-entrenched  system  of  discrimination. 

O'Connor  concluded  her  lecture  with  a  personal  word  to,  and  about, 
young  people: 

I  enjoy  speaking  to  young  women  and  reminding  them  of  the  all- 
too-recent  history  of  women  and  the  law.  Young  people  tend  to  be- 
lieve that  conditions  in  the  world  in  which  they  find  themselves 
have  always  existed.  In  fact,  there  have  been  dramatic  changes  in 
conditions  for  women  in  the  United  States,  and  those  changes  have 
occurred  for  the  most  part,  in  my  lifetime.  It  is  important  to  re- 
member that  everyone  in  this  room  is  part  of  the  process  of  making 


226     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

real  the  promise  of  equal  justice  under  the  law.  And  each  one  of  us 
has  a  role  to  play  in  completing  that  task. 

Anne  Bryan,  '71,  president  of  the  class  that  estabhshed  the  Lillian 
Parker  Wallace  Endowment,  moderated  an  afternoon  symposium  on 
"Women,  the  Law,  and  Justice  O'Connor."  U.S.  Attorney  Margaret  Per- 
son Currin,  '72;  legal  services  attorney  Martha  Dicus,  '71;  North  Car- 
ohna  Representative  Judy  Hunt,  '71;  and  Wake  Forest  University  law 
professor  Suzanne  Reynolds,  '71,  formed  the  panel. 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  Carlylc  Campbell  Library  made  one  of  its  contributions 
to  the  Centennial  at  the  annual  spring  dinner  on  April  9,  when  Rebecca 
Murray,  '58,  professor  of  education,  reviewed  her  new  publication.  This 
Essential  Part:  The  First  1000  Books  of  the  Library  of  Baptist  Female 
University.  For  $100,  one  could  buy  Dr.  Murray's  book  and,  with  it,  a 
brick — an  identifying  brass  plate  affixed — from  old  Faircloth  Hall, 
which  had  recently  been  razed  and  removed  from  the  parking  lot  that 
then  occupied  the  site  of  the  original  campus  downtown.  This  Essential 
Part  was  the  first  publication  of  the  new  Meredith  College  Press,  estab- 
lished in  the  centennial  year. 

On  April  24,  the  Rev.  F.  Sue  Fitzgerald,  '52,  director  of  Christian  edu- 
cation ministries  at  Mars  Hill  College,  preached  her  second  baccalaureate 
sermon  to  a  Meredith  congregation,  the  first  having  been  at  commence- 
ment in  1975.  Her  centennial  year  message  was  titled  "They  Hung  Their 
Harps  on  the  Willows." 

Jean  Jackson's  centennial  notes  record  commencement  speaker  Erma 
Bombeck  as  "Syndicated  columnist,  author,  broadcaster,  one  of  Amer- 
ica's favorite  humorists."^^  Jackson  quoted  the  opening  sentences  of  Bom- 
beck's  commencement  address: 

Although  we  have  never  met,  there  are  some  things  I  already  know 
about  you.  I  know  you  are  frightened  about  what  the  future  holds. 
I  know  you  are  apprehensive  about  being  on  your  own  for  the  first 
time.  I  know  you  are  asking  yourselves,  "What  do  I  do  now?"  After 
a  dramatic  pause  she  added,  "But  I'm  not  here  to  address  you  par- 
ents. I'm  here  to  talk  to  your  children."^^ 

The  speaker  identified  herself  as  a  "card-carrying  feminist"  who  had 
worked  "to  bring  about  equality  under  the  law  for  women.  We  have 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    1991      I      227 

brains  and  we  were  meant  to  use  them."  But,  she  said,  her  marriage  and 
children  were  more  important  than  anything  else.  "My  two  careers  don't 
control  my  life.  I  control  my  life ."3*^  Finally,  Bombeck  admonished  the 
graduates,  "Don't  confuse  fame  with  success.  One  is  Madonna;""  the 
other  is  Helen  Keller." ^^ 

Of  the  391  members  of  the  Centennial  Class,  sixty-five  were  re-entry 
women  and  twenty-one  were  Honors  Scholars,  representing  the  largest 
number  of  graduates,  to  date,  in  both  categories.  And  one  was  Sarah  M. 
Lemmon,  professor  emeritus  of  history,  who  received  her  fourth  degree,  a 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  art  history.  Of  her  previous  degrees,  the  Bachelor  of 
Science,  the  Master  of  Arts,  and  the  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  none  was 
earned  at  the  College,  but  Dr.  Lemmon,  who  had  taught  there  for  almost 
her  entire  career,  had  become  a  bona  fide  Meredith  alumna.  At  the  com- 
mencement ceremonies.  Flora  Ann  Lee  Bynum,  '46,  and  Jean  Batten 
Cooper,  '54,  each  received  an  Alumna  Award  for  their  service  to  Mere- 
dith and  to  their  community.  (Both  recipients  were  from  Winston-Salem.) 
And  Christie  Bishop  Barbee,  '83,  received  the  Recent  Graduate  Award. 
Also  recognized  were  winners  of  the  FAME  Awards:  Deborah  Smith,  as- 
sociate professor  of  biology,  for  teaching;  Mary  Thomas,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  foreign  languages,  for  research  and  publication;  Rhonda  Zin- 
graff,  professor  of  sociology,  and  Clyde  Frazier,  associate  professor  of 
politics,  both  for  their  contributions  to  the  College  and  its  programs;  and 
the  Sears-Roebuck  Teaching  Award:  Nan  Miller,  instructor  of  English. 

In  the  company  of  700  women  who  returned  for  reunions,  classes, 
meetings,  and  other  types  of  College  events.  Alumnae  College  made  its 
debut  on  the  weekend  following  graduation.  May  17-19,  replacing  Alum- 
nae Weekend  at  commencement.*""  Mimi  Holt,  "6-/,  president  of  the 
Alumnae  Association,  said,  "One  of  our  biggest  challenges  is  developing 
programs  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  incredibly  diverse  group  of  women."^^ 
And  of  the  women,  she  said,  "Right  now  we're  feeling  kind  of  schizo- 
phrenic because  we're  so  often  accused  of  living  in  the  past.  Well,  indulge 
us  in  the  centennial  year.  We're  also  very  focused  on  the  future."^^ 


"^In  the  event  that  readers  of  this  history  outlive  the  memories  of  Madonna,  they 
should  know  that  she  was  a  controversial  but  sometimes  celebrated  singer  and  actor 
of  the  period. 

** Alumnae  College  reverted  to  Alumnae  Weekend  in  1996  but  was  thenceforward 
held  on  a  weekend  following  commencement. 


228      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

IN  THE  FALL  term,  the  Centennial  celebration  continued.  Banners  waved 
along  the  front  drive,  and  an  interest  center  of  photographs  and  memo- 
rabilia attracted  people  to  Bryan  Rotunda.  Craig  Greene,  head  of  the  art 
department,  displayed  five  centennial  etchings,  which  he  had  produced 
on  a  press  "exactly  like  the  one  Rembrandt  once  used  to  produce  his  own 
prints." ^^  The  etchings,  including  one  scene  from  the  old  campus,  and 
four  from  the  "new,"  were  on  sale  for  $200 -$300  each.  Meanwhile, 
Suzanne  Britt,  prolific  writer  and  instructor  of  English,  watched  the 
progress  toward  publication  of  Images:  A  Centennial  Journey,  a  literary 
and  pictorial  history  of  the  College,  comprising  intriguing  essays  by  Britt 
and  colorful  photographs  by  Chip  Henderson,  Steve  Wilson,  and  other 
photographers.  Most  academic  departments  created  their  own  Centen- 
nial projects:  for  example,  Roger  H.  Crook,  author  of  several  books  and 
former  head  of  the  Department  of  Religion  and  Philosophy,  wrote  Sym- 
metry, a  history  of  the  department,  which  was  pubhshed  in  1992.  The  de- 
partment of  home  economics  sponsored  a  program  on  Historic  Fashion 
Silhouettes,  with  Vickie  Berger,  curator  of  the  historic  costume  collection 
at  the  North  Carolina  Museum  of  History,  as  speaker. 

The  first  major  centennial  event  of  the  fall  term  was  the  Honors  Con- 
vocation on  August  26.  It  might  have  been  helpful  if  every  member  of 
the  audience  had  been  an  Honors  Scholar  as  biopsychologist  Jerre  Levy, 
a  professor  in  the  department  of  psychology  at  the  University  of 
Chicago,  lectured  on  the  topic,  "Getting  Your  Head  Together:  The  Two 
Sides  of  the  Human  Brain."  Dr.  Levy's  speech  exploded  a  popular  myth 
or  two: 

Do  some  people  think  mainly  with  the  left  half  of  the  brain  and  oth- 
ers with  the  right?  Does  the  right  perceive  the  sizes  and  forms  of  ob- 
jects in  pictures  according  to  literal  measurements  in  the  two- 
dimensional  plane  and  the  left  according  to  meaningful  inferences 
about  the  three-dimensional  world  that  the  picture  represents? 
When  meaning  and  the  inferential  possibility  are  removed  by  turn- 
ing pictures  upside  down,  does  this  activate  the  right  hemisphere 
and  inhibit  the  left?  Is  the  left  active  and  the  right  idle  and  witless  in 
some  domains  of  human  behavior  and  vice- versa  for  others?  Such 
assertions  have  been  repeatedly  made  in  the  popular  literature,  but 
none  has  even  the  slightest  grain  of  truth. 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:   199I     I     229 

After  spending  twenty  years  "trying  to  pull  the  two  hemispheres  [of 
the  brain]  apart,"  in  search  of  the  differences  between  the  left  hemisphere 
and  the  right,  she  said,  she  was  now  "trying  to  put  them  back  together — 
as  I  think  all  human  beings  are  trying  to  do."^^ 

PHYLLIS  TRIBLE,  '54,  Baldwin  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  at  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  "came  home"  to  Meredith  on  September  30, 
199 1,  to  deliver  the  Staley  Distinguished  Lecture  on  Women  in  Religion 
in  the  21st  Century.  She  titled  her  lecture  "A  Striving  After  Wind,"  Of  the 
speaker.  Dr.  Jackson  said, 

Recognizing  the  Bible  as  a  patriarchal  document  has  led  some  fem- 
inists to  denounce  it  as  "hopelessly  misogynist."  Other  feminists 
sometimes  "reprehensively  use  documents  to  support  anti-Semitic 
sentiments."  Others  "read  the  Bible  as  a  historical  document,  de- 
void of  any  continuing  authority,  and  hence,  worthy  of  dismissal." 
Still  others  "insist  that  text  and  interpretation  provide  more  excel- 
lent ways."  The  last,  she  claims  as  "my  niche."  It  gives  her  a  chance 
to  explore  the  "pilgrim  character  of  the  Bible.  .  .  ." 

She  said,  "As  you  prepare  here  at  Meredith  College  to  enter  the 
twenty-first  century,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  go  empty-handed.  Our 
complicated  and  complex  world  almost  requires  that  you  enter  with 
a  lot  of  baggage.  .  .  .  may  I  suggest  you  take  that  ancient  and  per- 
durable book,  the  Bible,  but  do  not  take  all  the  partriarchal  baggage 
that  attends  it. 

"Insist  that  the  text  and  its  interpreters  provide  more  excellent 
ways.  .  .  ."  3^ 

While  Dr.  Trible  was  on  the  campus  from  September  30 -October  2, 
she,  in  her  own  excellent  way,  conducted  classroom  discussions  and  led  a 
symposium  with  other  women  in  ministry:  Kelley  Milstead,  '86,  a  hospi- 
tal chaplain;  Maggie  O'dell,  '77,  assistant  professor  of  religion  at  Con- 
verse College;  Deborah  Steely,  executive  director  of  Planned  Parenthood 
Public  Affairs  of  North  Carolina;  and  Anne  Burke,  '87,  executive  director 
of  Raleigh's  Urban  Ministries  Center. 

Also  at  the  end  of  September  and  beginning  of  October,  a  play  com- 
missioned for  the  Centennial  premiered  in  the  Studio  Theater.  Tom  Cope 
was  playwright  and  Nan  L.  Stephenson  was  director  of  Journey  Proud, 


Z30     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

an  introduction  to  Judith  Wilde,  a  ninety-six-year-old  woman,  who  "ex- 
amines the  high  points  of  her  life"  and  "reveals  her  personal  view  of  the 
accomplishments  of  Southern  women."^-^ 

IN  APRIL,  THE  College  had  launched  the  $10,600,000  Second  Century 
Challenge  capital  campaign,  with  Raleighites  Barbara  K.  Allen  and  Philip 
Kirk,  Jr.,  as  co-chairs.  Soon  thereafter — and  even  before,  for  that  mat- 
ter— Vice  President  Murphy  Osborne  continually  announced  news  of 
gifts  and  grants,  to  which  the  Winter  1992  edition  of  Meredith  attested: 
the  late  Irving  H.  Wainwright  had  bequeathed  $1,473,940  to  the  College, 
$800,000  of  which  would  estabHsh  a  scholarship  in  the  donor's  name;  the 
Jessie  Ball  DuPont  Foundation  had  awarded  a  grant  of  $183,600  to  sup- 
port ten  Teaching  Fellows;  and  the  A.J.  Fletcher  Foundation's  gift  had  to- 
taled $250,000.  Dr.  Osborne  also  said  that  trustee  William  W.  Lawrence 
and  Mrs.  Lawrence  of  Sanford  and  alumna  Dorothy  Loftin  Goodwin, 
'47,  and  Mr.  Goodwin  of  Apex  had  estabhshed  unitrusts  ranging  in 
amounts  from  almost  $200,000  to  $300,000,  the  Goodwins'  trust  to  be 
divided  between  Meredith  and  the  Baptist  Children's  Homes. 

Additional  good  news  came  by  way  of  the  Heritage  Society,  an  orga- 
nization of  supporters  who  had  named  Meredith  the  beneficiary  of  insur- 
ance policies,  wills,  trusts,  and  other  types  of  planned  gifts.  The  society's 
goal  was  one  hundred  charter  members  through  1991.  A  year  earlier,  as 
reported  in  the  previous  chapter  of  this  history,  the  goal  had  already  been 
exceeded  by  fifty-six.  At  the  society's  October  199 1  meeting,  with  three 
months  still  to  go  in  the  Centennial  year,  the  number  had  climbed  to  250 
charter  members.  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard  Maddrey,  '28,  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  society.  Speaker  for  the  centennial-year  meeting  was  C.C. 
Hope,  who,  as  a  Ronald  Reagen  appointee,  had  directed  the  Federal  De- 
posit Insurance  Corporation. 

THE  CENTENNIAL  DANCED  into  the  Raleigh  Civic  Center  on  November  15, 
as  the  Meredith  Entertainment  Association  hosted  the  White  Iris  Ball  for 
"festive  Meredith  students  and  their  handsome  dates" — so  said  the 
Meredith  Herald?^  The  White  Iris  Ball  blossomed  into  a  tradition  that 
night,  a  dance  by  the  same  name  having  been  held  every  year  since  1991. 
Dance  was  on  many  minds  at  Meredith  about  that  time  of  the  year.  Liz 
Lerman  and  the  Dance  Exchange,  widely  recognized  for  an  unusual  ap- 


HERITAGE  AND  VISION:    1991     I     23I 

proach  to  programs  of  their  art,  were  in  residence  from  November 
10-23.  Lerman  choreographed  a  centennial  work,  which  was  performed 
by  students  and  alumnae.  Jean  Jackson,  director  of  the  Centennial  Com- 
mission, was  one  of  the  dancers.  In  fact,  she  told  Meredith  that  "the  fun- 
niest moment"  of  the  Centennial  was  "When  I  found  myself  in  a  re- 
hearsal room  preparing  to  dance  in  public — and  people  were  going  to 
pay  to  see  me."^^  The  magazine  reported  that  the  Liz  Lerman  dance  per- 
formances "brought  to  startling  awareness  both  the  possibilities  of  inter- 
generational  and  experimental  dance  theatre  as  well  as  the  tensions  and 
triumphs  of  women.'"*" 

THE  FINAL  OFFICIAL  Centennial  activity  of  199 1  was  a  book  tea  in  Bryan 
Rotunda,  honoring  Suzanne  Britt,  author  of  Images:  A  Centennial  Jour- 
ney, and  Chip  Henderson,  primary  photographer  for  the  pictorial  history. 
Britt  and  Henderson  signed  books  for  two  hours  on  the  afternoon  of  De- 
cember 4,  while  Bill  Wade,  controller,  and  Donald  Spanton,  head  of  the 
Department  of  Business  and  Economics,  played  background  music  on  the 
piano.  The  year  of  the  Centennial  had  captured  the  essence  of  Meredith's 
special  ambiance,  as  quoted  from  Images:  "Meredith  College  is  a  world 
of  light  and  meaning — not  the  world  its  women  were  born  into  by 
chance  but,  rather,  a  world  searched  for,  singled  out,  chosen  when  the 
time  has  come  for  such  choices.""*^ 

THE  YEAR-LONG  CELEBRATION  Spilled  ovcr  iuto  1992,  lasting  through 
Founders'  Day.  On  February  6,  the  cast  of  Alice  in  Wonderland  gave  their 
all  to  the  Centennial  performance,  and  on  February  lo,  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  passed  a  resolution  of  appreciation 
for  Jean  Jackson's  "leadership  in  the  directing  of  the  celebration  of 
Meredith's  centennial.'"*^  A  framed  copy  of  the  resolution  was  presented 
to  Dr.  Jackson  on  Founders'  Day. 

Following  a  community  breakfast  in  Belk  Hall  on  February  24,  Patri- 
cia Schroeder,  member  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives  (D- 
Colorado)  delivered  the  Founders'  Day  address  titled  "Women  in  Lead- 
ership." Jackson  said,  "From  her  opening  remarks,  Rep.  Schroeder  urged 
participation  in  government.  She  told  the  senior  class,  robed  for 
Founders'  Day,  'you  look  great  in  basic  black,  and  I  hope  you're  all  on  the 
way  to  the  Supreme  Court.'  "'^^ 


232     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

She  urged  women  to  go  to  Washington  to  see  Sewall  House,  "where 
women  stayed  during  the  entire  campaign  to  get  women  the  right  to 
vote."  Purchased  with  funds  provided  by  North  CaroUna's  Sewall 
family  and  filled  with  North  Carolina  furniture,  the  house  provided 
a  residence  for  suffragists  because  "proper  ladies  at  that  time  could 
not  come  to  Washington  and  stay  in  hotels."  Citing  those  "proper" 
ladies,  Schroeder  marvelled  at  the  "amazing  commitment  that 
women  made  at  the  turn  of  the  century  to  get  us  the  right  to  vote — 
the  century  we  are  living  in.  It  had  to  be  gutsy,"  she  said."^"* 

On  February  26,  the  college  community  gathered  to  worship  and  to 
focus  on  the  future  of  the  College,  and,  immediately  afterward,  to  plant 
a  symbolic  oak  tree  just  outside  of  Jones  Chapel.  Since  the  Centennial's 
official  beginning,  the  grounds  had  grown  greener  and  shadier  by  the  ad- 
dition of  seventy-five  trees.  A  grove  of  oaks — one  tree  for  the  Centennial 
director  and  one  for  each  member  of  the  executive  committee — was 
planted  between  Joyner  Hall  and  the  Mae  Grimmer  Alumnae  House,  and 
new  crape  myrtles,  in  honor  of  committee  chairs  and  other  dedicated 
movers  and  shakers,  were  set  out  in  carefully  chosen  sites  around  the 
campus.  Thus,  the  observance  of  Meredith's  Charter  Centennial  came  to 
a  close. 

Words  of  the  editor  of  the  Biblical  Recorder  in  the  late  1800s  span  the 
years: 

If  it  required  a  century  to  complete  the  Baptist  Female  University,  it 
would  be  worthy  of  our  labors  and  prayers  every  moment  of  the 
time.  Let  us  not  bother  our  minds  about  time:  God  rules,  and  we 
have  but  to  do  our  duty,  and  look  to  Him.  No  one  need  fear  that 
what  he  shall  do  for  this  institution  will  be  lost.  It  will  last  as  long  as 
the  world  shall  last."^^ 


II 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses" 


I99I-I993 


The  graduation  of  the  first  class  from  Baptist  Female  University 
occurred  on  Wednesday,  May  21,  1902,  at  eleven  o'clock.  The  ex- 
ercises began  with  a  prayer  offered  by  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Skinner,  pas- 
tor emeritus,  First  Baptist  Church  of  Raleigh,  which  invoked 
"Heaven's  blessings  on  the  'Immortal  Ten,'  that  they  might  add  the 
glory  of  true  Christian  lives  to  the  honors  of  intellectual  attain- 
ments."^ 

THE  TEN  YOUNG  womcu  of  the  first  graduating  class  of  Baptist  Female 
University  apparently  left  untarnished  the  shining  epithet  given  them  by 
Dr.  Skinner  in  his  prayer,  although  in  their  student  days,  before  they  be- 
came "immortal,"  two  classmates  were  severely  chastised  for  using  "un- 
becoming language."^  As  a  centennial  commemoration  and  labor  of  love, 
education  professor  Rebecca  Murray*  delved  into  the  past  to  bring  to 
memory  those  first  ten  graduates — all  from  North  Carolina:  Mary  Estelle 
Johnson,  was  honored  by  her  daughter,  Martha  Salisbury  Smoot,  '33, 
and  other  family  members  and  friends,  by  making  possible  the  Estelle 
Johnson  Salisbury  Memorial  Organ,  dedicated  April  10,  1983,  in  Mere- 


*On  June  6,  1992,  Rebecca  Murray,  '58,  professor  of  education  and  head  of  the 
department,  1977-82,  died  at  her  Raleigh  home.  The  Class  of  1993  estabhshed  a 
scholarship  in  her  memory. 

233 


234     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

dith's  Jones  Chapel.  Sophie  Lanneau  became  a  "pioneer  missionary"  in 
Soochow,  China,  where  she  founded  and  was  principal  of  the  Wei  Ling 
Girls'  School.  Elizabeth  Parker  continued  her  studies  in  art — primarily  in 
New  York,  but  also  in  Europe — and  became  a  professor  of  art.  Rosa 
Catherine  Paschal  did  graduate  work  at  both  the  University  of  Chicago 
and  at  Yale.  BFU  called  her  back  as  an  assistant  in  mathematics  and,  later, 
lady  principal.  When  the  institution  changed  its  name  to  "Meredith  Col- 
lege," she  requested  that  her  title  be  changed  to  "dean  of  women."  Mary 
Perry  taught  "all  grades"  and  recalled  "such  great  disparity  in  my  classes 
that  some  were  learning  to  read  while  others  were  translating  Latin."  ^  She 
married  one  of  her  students,  and  they  influenced  three  of  their  five  daugh- 
ters to  attend  Meredith,  Margaret  Whitmore  Shields's  early  forays  into 
the  "real  world"  took  her  to  Baptist  churches  over  the  state  to  speak  on 
behalf  of  the  University.  In  her  subsequent  studies  at  Harvard's  Radcliffe 
College,  she  attended  classes  with  Helen  Keller  and  Annie  Sullivan.  As  a 
Meredith  trustee,  she  was  on  the  committee  that  chose  the  present  site  for 
the  campus.  Minnie  Wilma  Sutton  was  president  of  the  class.  The  scant 
information  about  her  leads  only  to  the  facts  that  she  married,  had  a 
daughter,  and  died  prematurely  in  Richmond,  Virginia.  Elizabeth  Gladys 
Tull  returned  to  her  hometown,  where  she  was  a  homemaker,  a  church 
woman,  and  "an  astute  business  woman,"  having  kept  "her  own  set  of 
books  for  the  family  business."  Eliza  Rebecca  Wooten  was  remembered 
by  her  daughter  as  "a  real  intellectual"  and  by  her  fellow  students  as  the 
Gibson  Girl  of  her  class.  She  was  a  librarian  and  a  church  school  teacher. 
Marjorie  Kesler  was  the  "first  of  three  students  to  receive  the  M.A." 
Later,  she  also  studied  at  Columbia  University.  After  teaching  in  Texas 
and  living  in  the  Midwest,  she  returned  to  her  birthplace  to  live  "amid  the 
dearness  of  things  long  remembered  and  the  charm  of  the  ever  new.""*  Five 
of  the  young  women  pursued  graduate  work;  four  graduated  with  hon- 
ors; three  reared  daughters  who  became  alumnae;  two  were  on  the  pay- 
roll of  Baptist  Female  University,  and  one  was  a  Meredith  trustee.  Their 
diversity.  Christian  witness,  intellectual  rigor,  and  commitment  to  educa- 
tion for  women  contributed  to  the  forming  of  Meredith's  direction. 

The  Granddaughters'  Club  has  also  effectively  honored  the  memory  of 
some  who  have  gone  before.  In  a  relatively  new  Founders'  Day  tradition 
at  the  Thomas  Meredith  Memorial,  members  of  the  club  (students  whose 
mothers  and/or  grandmothers  are/were  alumnae),  usually  read  antiphonally 


A  CLOUD   OF  WITNESSES     :    1991-1993      I     235 

the  names  of  founders,  trustees,  alumnae,  faculty,  administrators,  and 
benefactors  who  have  joined  Meredith's  metaphorical  "so  great  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,"  as  set  forth  by  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  Hebrews: 

Wherefore  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so 
easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us,  looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith;  for  the  joy 
that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and 
is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.^ 

Dummelow's  One  Volume  Bible  Commentary,  recommended  to  stu- 
dents by  Ralph  McLain  (one  of  the  "witnesses"),  instructs  that  the  word 
"witness" 

passes  easily  over  to  the  further  sense  of  'spectator'.  .  .  .The  writer 
conceives  these  heroes  as  surrounding  in  a  cloud  .  .  .  ,  the  arena  in 
which  the  present  generation  of  God's  people  are  running  their  race. 
Once  they  were  themselves  runners;  now  they  are  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  spectators.  Their  presence  and  example  ought  to  be  a  stim- 
ulus to  those  running  now.^ 

"Those  running  now"  are  not  yet  the  "spectators"  alluded  to  in  the  Book 
of  Hebrews;  nevertheless,  as  participants,  they  also  witness  and  witness 
to  all  the  ramifications  of  higher  education  for  women  in  the  latter  years 
of  the  twentieth  century.  The  longer  they  run,  the  more  their  longevity 
gives  Meredith  "a  stability  that  any  college  in  the  nation  would  envy," 
wrote  President  Weems  in  1992.^  In  199 1,  for  his  twenty  years  of  "lead- 
ership and  contributions"  to  the  school,  the  trustees  rewarded  the  presi- 
dent with  a  trip  around  the  world. ^  He  and  the  five  vice  presidents  had 
served  a  combined  total  of  ninety  years,  with  Dr.  Spooner's  tenure  of 
twenty-five  years  outdistancing  the  others  and  Dean  Burris's  twenty-three 
years  capturing  a  close  second  place.  The  full-time  teaching  faculty,  num- 
bering about  one-hundred,  averaged  approximately  ten  years  each,  but 
Phyllis  Garriss,  music,  claimed  forty-one  years,  and  Jay  Massey,  health, 
physical  education  and  dance,  who  was  retiring,  had  amassed  thirty-five. 
Of  the  staff  of  almost  200  people,  nineteen  had  served  fifteen  years  or 
more,  but  Dru  Morgan  Hinsley,  '52,  manager  of  the  college  store,  held 
the  record  at  thirty-nine  years. 


Z^6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Students — as  students — have  a  limited  longevity,  but  they  are  alum- 
nae forever  and,  therefore,  stay  in  the  "race."  The  long  list  of  exceptional 
alumnae  in  Meredith's  history  includes  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard  Maddrey, 
'28,  in  whose  honor  the  parlor  in  the  Mae  Grimmer  Alumnae  House  was 
named  in  1992.  It  also  includes  Mary  Howard,  who,  in  1991,  wore  her 
commencement  robe  as  a  mantle  of  determination.  Of  her,  Meredith,  the 
college  magazine,  reported, 

Mary  Howard,  '91,  was  yj  years  old  when  she  earned  her  bache- 
lor's degree  in  art.  .  .  .  She  could  have  told  commencement  speaker 
Erma  Bombeck  a  thing  or  two  about  the  "trials  and  fibrillations"  of 
women  who  are  determined  to  have  it  all. 

Mary's  vita  reads  like  an  only  slightly  condensed  version  of  a 
C.I.A.  file.  In  addition  to  pursuing  her  primary  interest  in  art,  Mary 
has  been  to  secretarial  school,  taken  real  estate  courses,  written 
short  stories,  invented  a  collapsible  easel,  and  operated  a  restaurant. 
She  has  also  won  several  ribbons  for  her  art.  Now  she  can  add  "col- 
lege graduate"  to  her  list  of  credits.^ 

TO  SOME  DEGREE,  reorganization  occurred  regularly  among  the  runners 
in  the  administration,  faculty,  and  staff.  In  1991,  Allen  Page  left  his  fac- 
ulty niche  for  the  administrative  post  of  dean  of  undergraduate  instruc- 
tion and  registrar,  and  Bernard  Cochran  succeeded  Dr.  Page  as  head  of 
the  Department  of  Religion  and  Philosophy.  Dr.  Cochran  came  to  Mered- 
ith in  i960.  He  had  earned  the  bachelor's  degree  at  Stetson  University; 
both  the  bachelor  and  master  of  divinity  degrees  at  Southeastern  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary;  and  the  Ph.D.  at  Duke.  He  said  he  was  uncon- 
cerned that  fewer  numbers  of  students  sought  majors  in  religion  than 
those  subjects  leading  to  more  lucrative  careers.  And  he  encouraged  even 
those  planning  vocational  careers  in  ministry  "not  to  load  up  on  all  reli- 
gion courses  but  to  supplement  them  with  literature  and  abnormal  psy- 
chology. Goodness  knows,"  he  said,  "we  need  a  few  abnormal  persons  in 
the  profession."  Cochran  continued,  "Our  ideal,  as  I  express  it,  is  to  en- 
courage [students]  in  intelligent  faith  and — with  their  moves  into  areas  of 
math  and  science  and  business  or  in  liberal  arts  courses —  facilitate  for 
them  a  better  understanding  of  religion  as  they  sort  out  their  own  per- 
sonal beliefs  and  an  understanding  of  their  religious  experiences  and  tra- 
ditions." ^^ 


A  CLOUD   OF  WITNESSES     :    1991-1993      I     Z37 

Also  in  199 1,  Donald  Spanton,  head  of  the  Department  of  Business 
and  Economics,  occupied  the  Wainwright  Chair  of  Business,  succeeding 
the  retiring  Lois  Frazier;  Harold  West,  Jr.,  followed  retiree  Wortham  C. 
(Buddy)  Lyon,  Jr.,  as  director  of  planned  giving;  and  Madalyn  Gaito  suc- 
ceeded Cynthia  Edwards  as  director  of  student  activities,  when  Dr.  Ed- 
wards accepted  an  assistant  professorship  in  psychology. 

By  1992,  the  offices  of  public  relations  and  publications  had  merged 
into  one — the  office  of  college  communications,  with  Jeannie  Morelock 
the  director  and  Steve  Mosley  the  publications  manager.  And  in  1993,  Dr. 
Spooner,  the  vice  president  over  that  division,  also  took  under  her  ad- 
ministrative "wing"  the  office  of  admissions  and  the  office  of  scholarships 
and  financial  assistance,  both  of  which  had  previously  functioned  in  the 
division  of  student  development. 

At  the  retirement  of  Ellen  Ironside  in  1992,  Mary  Johnson,  dean  of  the 
John  E.  "Weems  Graduate  School  and  director  of  the  Teaching  Fellows 
Program,  added  to  her  responsibilties  the  deanship  of  continuing  educa- 
tion. Dr.  Johnson  had  headed  the  education  department  from  1985-90. 
And  when  Jay  Massey  retired  as  head  of  the  Department  of  Health,  Phys- 
ical Education  and  Dance,  Marie  Chamblee,  a  fifteen-year  veteran  of  the 
department,  succeeded  her.  A  graduate  of  East  Carolina  University,  Dr. 
Chamblee  earned  the  M.A.T.  and  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina in  Chapel  Hill.  She  was  hired,  she  said,  "to  teach  health  classes,  to 
coach  basketball,  and  also  to  teach  the  physical  activity  classes.  [But]  that 
first  year  I  taught  fitness  classes,  badminton,  and  volleyball  and  all  kinds 
of  different  things,"  efficiently  adapting  to  the  varied  duties  because  she 
was  a  generalist,  "which  is  good  at  a  small  college  where  you  have  to  do 
everything ."^1  Since  joining  the  faculty  in  1977,  Chamblee  has  seen 
Meredith  become  "much  more  competitive  [in  athletics]  than  it  ever  was 
before." '^^  After  all,  women  have  become  better  athletes,  and  the  College 
systematically  recruits  players,  even  though  it  offers  no  athletic  scholar- 
ships. Of  dance,  Chamblee  said,  "When  I  first  came  here  we  had  one 
dance  instructor.  Now  we  have  three  full-time  and  two  or  three  part-time. 
,  . .  We  have  grown  from  being  a  general  service  program  of  three  or  four 
dance  offerings  a  semester  to  where  now  we  have  twenty,  as  well  as  a 
major  and  a  K-12  teaching  certification  program." ^^ 

Also  in  1992,  Najla  Nave  Carlton,  '79,  became  only  the  sixth  director 
of  alumnae  relations  for  the  ninety-year-old  Alumnae  Association,  Al- 


Z38      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

though  the  organization  is  as  old  as  the  first  graduating  class,  it  was  not 
served  by  a  full-time  director  until  Mae  Frances  Grimmer,  '14,  accepted 
the  post  in  19Z8.  She  remained  at  Meredith  for  thirty-six  years,  retiring  in 
1964  and  living  nearby  until  her  accidental  death  in  1983.  But  one  year 
before  her  retirement,  Miss  Grimmer  saw  the  growing  Alumnae  Associa- 
tion's financial  affairs  win  their  rightful  place  in  the  college  budget,  elim- 
inating the  need  for  alumnae  dues.  In  1993,  at  fiscal  year's  end,  36  per- 
cent of  the  alumnae  had  contributed  $267,898.00  to  the  general  college 
fund.  And  in  199Z,  three  alumnae  had  been  responsible  for  a  grant  from 
the  Palin  Foundation  of  $100,000  toward  establishing  a  faculty  chair  in 
the  English  Department  in  honor  of  alumna  and  English  professor 
Norma  Rose,  '36.  The  foundation  awarded  the  grant  at  the  suggestion  of 
Margaret  Bullard  Pruitt,  '37,  and  her  daughters  Margaret  "Peggy"  P. 
Benson,  '64,  and  Shannon  "Shan"  P.  Rock,  '68. 

On  May  21,  1902,  Sophie  Lanneau,  one  of  the  "Immortal  Ten,"  was 
elected  first  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  and  on  May  26,  1993, 
Mary  Jon  Gerald  Roach,  '56,  was  elected  forty-eighth  president.  Lan- 
neau, Roach,  and  the  forty-six  women  in  between  served  terms  varying  in 
length  from  one  to  six  years;  however,  in  1990,  the  term  of  office  offi- 
cially became  one  year,  with  each  candidate's  having  gained  experience 
through  a  term  as  president-elect.  The  other  presidents  in  the  period  of 
this  chapter  were  Mimi  Holt,  '67,  1990-91;  Nancy  Young  Noel,  '57, 
1991-92;  and  Lois  Edinger,  '45,  1992-93.  Between  March  1990  and 
June  1991,  four  of  the  Alumnae  Association's  past  presidents  died,  an  un- 
usually high  number  for  so  short  a  span  of  time:  Lula  Ditmore  Sandlin, 
'12,  president  1922-23;  Kate  Johnson  Parham,  '14,  1929-31;  Sarah 
Elizabeth  Vernon  Watts,  '34,  1956-1958;  and  Lois  Morgan  Overby,  '35, 
1958-1962. 

In  1993,  Elizabeth  Vann  McDuffie  joined  the  staff  as  director  of  schol- 
arships and  financial  assistance  following  the  retirement  of  John  Hiott, 
who  had  also  served  both  as  registrar  and  director  of  planned  giving.  And 
visiting  professor  Nana  Khizanishvili,  a  native  of  the  Republic  of  Geor- 
gia in  the  former  Soviet  Union,  charmed  the  campus.  She  had  taught  En- 
glish in  Tblisi,  Georgia's  capital  city,  but,  at  Meredith,  "Dr.  Nana,"  was  a 
part-time  visiting  professor  of  Russian  studies,  a  first  for  the  College.  She 
and  her  Georgian  family  lived  in  the  Lemmon  Guest  House  across  Fair- 
cloth  Street  from  the  campus.  Her  husband,  Iraklie,  was  an  established 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    239 

star  of  Russian  films,  and  their  daughters  Ticko,  13,  and  Ann,  8,  were  en- 
rolled in  local  schools.  Dr.  Khizanishvili  said  to  Meredith,  "Everyone  here 
[in  the  United  States]  is  so  happy,  so  rejoicing  .  .  .  thinking  that  the  Soviet 
Union  no  longer  exists.  I  don't  want  you  to  become  relaxed  and  think 
that  everything  is  so  well  and  nice.  .  .  .  You  cannot  kill  a  monster.  The 
Communist  system  is  just  like  a  dragon  in  a  fairy  tale.  You  chop  off  one 
head  and  another  emerges.  .  .  ."^'^  Through  special  arrangements,  includ- 
ing a  Kenan  appointment,  Khizanishvili  was  able  to  remain  on  the  faculty 
for  a  second  academic  year. 

The  college  family  cheered  as  its  student  members  excelled.  In  199 1, 
the  Herald  congratulated  five  musicians  who  made  headlines  when,  in  the 
seventh  annual  Student  Concerto  Auditions,  they  won  opportunities  to 
perform  with  the  Raleigh  Symphony.  The  chosen  few  were  vocalists 
Susan  Wall,  '92,  and  Heidi  Sue  Williams,  '91;  and  pianists  Alice  Nell  Jor- 
genson,  '92,  Michele  Daughtry,  '93,  and  Heidi  Ann  Williams,  '93.^^  And 
the  community  applauded  the  findings  that,  in  199 1,  "close  to  25%  of 
Meredith  graduates  are  engaged  in  some  form  of  continued  education 
(frequently  part-time)  six  months  after  graduation." ^^ 

"Cheering  on"  is  a  literal  interpretation  of  support  for  Meredith's 
1990-91  basketball  team.  With  a  won-lost  record  of  18-3,  the  players 
proved  that  a  winning  team  could  generate  a  rapid  heartbeat  — or  at  least 
a  generous  outpouring  of  mild  enthusiasm — in  even  the  most  staid  of 
scholars.  Dean  Burris's  report  to  the  trustees  on  February  22,  199 1,  is  a 
case  in  point.  The  minutes  read, 

Dr.  Burris  commented  on  faculty  promotions  and  tenure  appoint- 
ments made  for  the  coming  year,  changes  in  the  art  major  and  art 
curriculum,  the  upgrading  of  the  curriculum  in  the  Interior  Design 
program  to  meet  national  standards,  the  on-going  assessment  of  in- 
stitutional effectiveness,  capstone  studies,  the  effect  of  current 
world  events  on  international  study  and  travel,  and  the  winning 
Meredith  basketball  team. 

And  President  Weems  proudly  announced  that  the  team  had  "the  best 
[women's  basketball]  win-loss  percentage  of  any  college  or  university  in 
North  Carolina."  ^^  Enthusiasm  for  basketball  escalated  as  statistics  im- 
proved. In  1993,  point  guard  Lesley  Cox  remembered  her  elation  at  see- 
ing an  extra  row  of  bleachers  installed  in  the  gym  to  accommodate  the 


240     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

crowds.  That  year,  the  enviable  record  was  23-1,  Meredith  having  lost 
64-61  to  Methodist  College  in  early  February.  Of  women's  teams  in  Di- 
vision III  of  the  NCAA,  the  Angels  ranked  first  in  field-goal  percentage 
(51.5%);  second  in  victory  margin  (83.6  to  54.8);  fourth  in  field-goal  de- 
fense (31.1%);  seventh  in  scoring  offense,  and  ninth  in  free-throw  shoot- 
ing (72.3%).^^  "Seniors  Sylvia  Newman  and  Jennifer  Norris,  with  shoot- 
ing percentages  of  63.4  and  57.2,  respectively,  were  listed  among  the  top 
national  scorers.  .  .  .  Lesley  Cox  also  ended  the  season  nationally  ranked 
in  assists  at  6.8  per  game.''^^  In  1988,  the  first  team  to  play  under  Coach 
Carl  "Sammy"  Hatchell,  had  recorded  a  7-14  season;  since  then.  Hatch- 
ell  has  recruited  good  student  athletes — a  challenging  occupation  when 
"[s]everal  of  the  current  players  were  offered  athletic  scholarships  at 
other  schools,  but  turned  them  down  to  come  to  Meredith."-^ 

Also  in  1993,  a  team  of  nine  members  of  the  Meredith  Christian  Asso- 
ciation headed  for  the  Florida  beaches  at  spring  break,  as  did  thousands  of 
other  students  from  all  directions.  But  this  team,  with  their  "coach" — 
campus  minister,  Sam  Carothers — spent  much  of  each  day  helping  to 
build  a  Habitat  for  Humanity  home  in  St.  Petersburg.  The  roof  and  the 
siding  were  MCA  members'  contributions  to  the  future  home  of  a  single 
mother  and  her  three  children.  The  popular  project  in  St.  Petersburg  began 
for  the  MCA  in  1989  and  was  still  on  the  spring-break  schedule  in  1998. 

While  MCA  students  contributed  time  and  energy  to  a  cause,  trustees, 
administrators,  faculty  and  staff,  alumnae,  and  other  benefactors  found 
cause  to  contribute  materially  to  Meredith  through  the  $10,600,000  Sec- 
ond Century  Challenge.  Early  in  1992,  for  example,  Betty  Webb,  English, 
challenged  the  faculty  to  endorse  a  five-year  goal  of  $100,000  and  100 
percent  participation.  At  mid-year.  Vice  President  Murphy  Osborne  re- 
ported that  Meredith  "has  recently  completed  its  best  fundraising  year  in 
the  loi-year  history  of  the  CoUege."^^  The  record-breaking  5,776  gifts  to 
the  College  in  1991-92  totaled  approximately  $4.4  million,  including 
$1,345  million  in  unrestricted  funds.  In  March  1993,  less  than  a  year 
later,  Osborne  announced  that  not  only  had  the  faculty  met  its  goal  of 
$100,000  but  also  that  the  capital  campaign  had  been  "successfully  com- 
pleted with  1 1.8  million  dollars  raised."-^ 

POLITICS  DOMINATED  THE  national  news  in  1992,  as  members  of  both 
major  political  parties  thrust  their  ideologies  on  the  voters.  William  Jef- 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    241 

ferson  Clinton,  the  first  Democrat  to  be  elected  president  since  Jimmy 
Carter  won  in  1966,  had  challenged  Republican  incumbent  George  Bush 
in  a  bid  for  the  White  House.  Closer  to  home,  in  the  most  expensive  cam- 
paign for  governor  in  North  Carolina's  history.  Republican  hopeful  Jim 
Gardner  lost  to  Democrat  incumbent  James  B.  Hunt.  In  a  story  titled 
"Political  Climate  Forecast:  Warm  and  Partly  Women,"  the  college  mag- 
azine featured  three  politically  astute  elected  officials,  who  happened  to 
be  Meredith  women:  Sarah  Parker,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  North  Carolina,  the  only  woman  to  be  elected  to  a  statewide  of- 
fice that  year;  Betsy  Lane  Cochrane,  '58,  State  Senator  and  minority 
whip;  and  Judy  Hunt,  '7I5  ^  member  of  the  North  Carolina  House  of 
Representatives . 

In  the  story  of  Justice  Parker,  the  magazine  read,  "The  imposing  dom- 
inance of  heavy  law  books  lining  the  walls  of  her  Justice  Building  office  is 
in  stark  contrast  to  the  computer  parked  on  her  desk,  whose  screen  lights 
up  with  the  words  'Go  Heels!'^^  "Following  her  sophomore  year  at 
Meredith,  Sarah  Parker  transferred  to  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
where  she  earned  the  A.B.  as  well  as — in  1969 — the  J.D.  "While  she  is 
the  third  woman  to  sit  on  the  State's  highest  court,  she  is  the  first  to  reach 
that  pinnacle  initially  by  election."-^  She  is  a  Democrat,  the  story  contin- 
ued, "so  how  come  the  newspapers  labeled  her  conservative?  She 
laughed.  ...  'I  don't  think  you  can  categorize  me  as  liberal  or  conserva- 
tive. I  am  a  moderate.  I  don't  approach  cases  with  an  agenda.  It  depends 
on  what  cases  I  get  and  where  the  law  is  in  the  development  of  those 
cases.  .  .  .  All  cases  are  significant  to  the  litigants.'  "^^ 

Betsy  Cochrane,  the  first  woman  to  preside  over  the  State  Senate,  did 
not  aspire  to  a  political  career,  she  said;  she  was  recruited.  In  her  third 
term  in  the  Senate  after  having  already  served  four  in  the  House,  she  com- 
mented to  the  magazine,  "  'Being  a  Republican  woman  in  a  Democratic 
male  domain,'  is  an  obstacle.  '[0]ur  success  does  not  come  as  automati- 
cally as  that  of  the  majority  party.  I  guess  I've  been  fairly  successful,  but 
I  chose  my  battles.'  "-^ 

Democrat  Judy  Hunt  was  in  her  fourth  term  in  the  State  House  of 
Representatives,  despite  the  fact  that  her  five-county  district  in  the  moun- 
tains of  North  Carolina  is  traditionally  Republican.  Of  her  first  race,  she 
said,  "Nobody  thought  I  had  a  chance  to  win,  but  my  encouragement 
came  from  those  who  thought  it  was  okay  to  run  even  if  I  didn't.  .  .  ."^^ 


242     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

And  of  women  in  political  office,  she  said,  "We  are  nowhere  near  pro- 
portionately represented,  but  there  are  men  here  who  are  more  sensitive 
to  women's  issues  and  women's  problems  than  some  of  the  women."^^ 

Also  featured  in  the  article  was  politico  Carol  Lancaster  Miiano,  ''j')^ 
who  had  immersed  herself  in  the  political  process,  even  though  she  held 
no  elective  office.  When  Ms.  Lancaster  was  a  student,  she  was  possibly 
the  busiest  Young  Republican  on  the  campus,  and  her  passion  for  politics 
then  set  her  course  for  the  future.  Meredith  reported,  "She  climbed 
quickly  but  through  many  steps  from  the  menial  tasks  of  a  campaign  vol- 
unteer [for  Ronald  Reagan]  in  her  hometown  of  Atlanta  to  the  awesome 
responsibilities  as  director  of  public  liaison  at  the  State  Department, 
where  she  was  special  assistant  to  Secretary  of  State  James  Baker."^^  She 
will  remember  the  experiences  of  the  latter  role  for  her  lifetime,  she  said. 
For  example,  she  preceded  the  American  delegates  to  the  199 1  Middle 
Eastern  Peace  Conference  in  Madrid  "to  work  with  the  king's  staff  and 
the  protocol  staff  'to  get  it  all  set  up.'  "^°  With  less  enthusiasm,  she  re- 
membered that  she  and  Secretary  Baker — then  secretary  of  the  trea- 
sury— were  traveling  in  Europe  in  1987  when  the  stock  market  crashed, 
and  they  stopped  in  Stockholm  "to  recuperate  from  the  blow."^^ 

Same  magazine,  different  story:  Vice  President  Thomas  wrote  of  the 
primary  role  of  Bridget  McMinn,  '78,  in  President  Clinton's  inaugural 
ceremonies.  McMinn  and  some  friends  discovered  at  dinner  one  night 
that  they  could  fashion  a  presidential  inauguration  to  rival  that  of  the 
best  of  brainstormers.  They  created  a  "full-blown  proposal  complete 
with  music,  themes,  and  inaugural  activity," ^^  delivered  it  to  the  De- 
mocratic National  Committee  and,  finally  to  Harry  Thomason,  inau- 
gural producer.  In  keeping  with  their  proposed  theme,  "Let  Freedom 
Ring,"  one  of  the  suggested  activities  was  the  simultaneous  ringing  of 
bells  throughout  the  country,  as  well  as  from  the  space  shuttle,  "as  a 
participatory  symbol  of  unity,  diversity  and  hope  for  a  new  President 
and  for  America."^^  While  McMinn  and  company's  theme  was  changed 
to  "An  American  Reunion,"  the  bells  indeed  rang,  but  the  alumna 
barely  had  time  to  hear  them  in  her  frantic  pace  as  deputy  director  of 
the  1993  inaugural  balls  and  dinners.  "'It  was  a  life-changing  mo- 
ment,' she  said.  .  .  .  "^^ 

At  Meredith,  the  History  and  Politics  Club,  the  SGA,  the  Residence 
Hall  Board,  College  Republicans  and  Democrats,  and  the  Watkins  Com- 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    Z43 

munication  Club  had  designated  a  day  in  September  1992  as  Political 
Awareness  Day.  While  the  state  and  local  politicians  on  hand  perhaps 
seized  the  day  to  garner  votes,  students  took  advantage  of  the  opportu- 
nity to  discuss  issues  and  ask  questions. 

The  Meredith  Herald  ran  an  interesting  Point/Counterpoint  feature 
one  month  before  the  1992  elections.  Kelly  Phillips  wrote  on  behalf  of 
presidential  hopeful  Bill  Clinton: 

It  is  not  surprising  that  more  viewers  tuned  in  last  week  to  watch 
the  presidential  debates  than  the  World  Series.  Never  before  have 
the  American  people  had  so  much  at  stake  in  an  election.  Unem- 
ployment is  up,  real  incomes  are  down,  health  care  costs  are  up,  and 
consumer  confidence  is  down.  America  is  desperate  for  a  change.^^ 

Beth  Lowry  supported  incumbent  George  Bush: 

Change  for  change's  sake  is  not  the  answer.  Governor  Clinton  says 
that  because  of  the  current  administration,  America  is  falling  apart 
at  the  seams.  We  are  the  world's  superpower.  ...  If  Bill  Clinton  has 
little  or  no  faith  in  America,  why  should  we  have  faith  in  him  as 
president?^^ 

In  September  1992,  during  the  heat  of  the  campaign,  Hillary  Rodham 
Clinton,  wife  of  the  Democratic  challenger,  spoke  at  North  Carolina 
State  to  college  newspaper  editors,  as  Traci  Latta  and  Tracy  Rawls  re- 
ported in  the  Meredith  Herald:  "If  she  becomes  first  lady,  Clinton  wants 
to  break  away  from  the  traditional  role  .  .  .  ,"  saying  she  pictured  a  time 
"when  the  role  [of  spouse  of  the  president]  is  NOT  gender-specific."^^ 

IN  THE  TEN  years  since  the  Equal  Rights  Amendment  had  failed,  "falling 
three  states  short  of  ratification,"^^  gender-specific  roles  remained  prob- 
lematic in  American  culture,  as  did  myriad  other  ingrained  societal 
habits.  The  all-male  Senate  Judiciary  Committee's  televised  hearings  on 
law  professor  Anita  Hill's  sexual  harrassment  charges  against  Clarence 
Thomas,  President  Bush's  nominee  to  replace  retiring  Supreme  Court  Jus- 
tice Thurgood  Marshall,  seemed  further  to  divide  the  sexes.  But  whether 
by  design  or  coincidence,  Meredith  offered  programs  for  women  and  men 
that  might  have  alleviated — or  at  least  helped  assuage,  however  subtly — 
some  of  the  residual  effects  of  obsolete  gender-based  traditions.  A  1990 


244     '     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

edition  of  Angels  Aware,  newsletter  of  the  Alumnae  Association,  had  in- 
sinuated as  much  in  its  promotion  of  the  first  annual  Alumnae  College: 
"We  look  to  Alumnae  College  as  a  chance  to  reunite  with  friends,  to  re- 
fresh our  minds  and  spirits,  and  to  restore  our  perspective  on  what  being 
a  Meredith  woman  means." ^^  And  an  unidentified  alumna  was  overheard 
vowing  that  the  weekend  restored  her  perspective  on  "what  being  a 
woman  means.  Period." 

Leadership  institutes  were  popular — and  some  were  not  gender- 
specific.  For  example,  in  May  1993,  continuing  education  brought  Stephen 
Covey,  a  management  expert  and  best-selling  author,  to  the  Sheraton 
Imperial  in  Morrisville  for  an  annual  "Lesson  in  Leadership"  seminar. 
Covey's  best-selling  book,  the  7  Habits  of  Highly  Effective  People,  "em- 
brace[d]  the  concept  of  ethics  in  business."'^°  Limited  to  1,000  partici- 
pants, the  seminar  attracted  eight  to  thirty  managers  each  from  IBM,  SAS 
Institute,  Capital  Associates,  Research  Triangle  Park  Institute,  and  Kerr 
Drugs.'*^  A  month  later,  the  John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School  sponsored 
the  Challenge  of  Leadership  Institute — for  women  only.  The  conference, 
funded  by  the  Z.  Smith  Reynolds  Foundation,  invited  women  managers 
to  spend  a  week  on  the  campus  "exploring  concepts  associated  with  lead- 
ership .""^^  T'he  president  reported  that  the  event  was  "such  a  success  that 
participants  requested  an  on-going  institute.  .  .  ."'*^ 

In  February  1993,  the  North  Carolina  chapter  of  the  Association  of 
Women  in  Mathematics  sponsored  Sonya  Kovalesky  Day  at  Meredith,  at 
which  time  fifty  selected  high  school  juniors  and  seniors  came  to  the  cam- 
pus to  learn  how  women  "use  math  and  computers  in  their  careers,  see 
computer  demonstrations,  and  gather  information  in  mathematics  and 
computer  science.  .  .  .  "'^'^  Virginia  Knight,  head  of  the  Department  of 
Mathematics  and  Computer  Science,  talked  about  Sonya  Kovalesky  after 
the  second  annual  event  in  1994,  at  which  some  middle  school  students 
were  also  invited,  more  than  doubling  the  number  of  participants:  Dr. 
Knight,  who  was  named  national  director  of  the  Association  of  Women 
in  Mathematics  in  1993,  described  Kovalesky  as  a  nineteenth-century 
Russian  mathematician  who  specialized  in  differential  equations  and 
whose  "work  and  research  are  well  used  now."  Kovalesky  was  able  to 
"bring  together  her  career  in  mathematics  and  her  life  as  a  mother  and  a 
society  woman,""*^  leading  one  to  imagine  that  she  was  a  nineteenth- 
century  embodiment  of  the  late  twentieth-century's  "super  woman." 


A  CLOUD   OF  WITNESSES     :    1991-1993      |      245 


The  Founders'  Day  wreath  ceremony  at 

the  Thomas  Meredith  Memorial  reminds  participants  of 

"the  great  cloud  of  witnesses"  gone  before. 

IN  1992,  MEREDITH  was  One  of  eight  colleges  in  the  state  and  one  of  iii 
in  the  nation  on  the  John  Templeton  Foundation  Honor  Roll  for  Charac- 
ter Building  Colleges.  The  Honor  Roll,  explained  the  foundation,  "is  to 
supply  students,  parents  and  philanthropists  with  a  valid  means  of  dis- 
cerning which  educational  institutions  promote  high  principles,  values 
and  traditions." "^^  Also,  the  College  was  included  in  the  1992  Barron's 
Best  Buys  in  College  Education.  Each  of  the  300  schools  listed,  said  the 
publication,  "consistently  received  high  marks  in  terms  of  faculty  atten- 
tion to  students,  inspiring  and  useful  programs,  and  opportunities  for 
personal  and  professional  development.'"''^ 

But  despite  its  successes,  Meredith  saw  its  enrollment  statistics  slip 
slightly  in  1992-93,  the  first  such  downward  turn  "in  more  than  twenty 
years.'"'^  Forty-nine  fewer  students  than  predicted  resulted  in  a  budget 
shortfall,  and  the  trustees  recommended  in  November  1992  "that  the 
President  become  personally  involved  in  student  recruitment  to  help  re- 
verse the  enrollment  trend  and  to  help  with  the  projection  of  more  accu- 
rate numbers  for  budgetary  planning.'"'^  Vice  President  Taylor  reportedly 


Z^6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

prepared  a  "three-case  budget: . . .  "best  case,  worst  case,  and  most  likely 
case."^'^  The  trend  was  not  a  serious  matter,  thought  the  administration; 
in  fact,  a  decline  had  long  been  predicted,  but  the  College  disallowed  the 
employment  of  any  new  personnel  and,  in  1993-94,  froze  salaries  for 
faculty  and  staff.  But  by  the  February  1993  executive  committee  meeting 
of  the  trustees,  President  Weems  worried  that  he  "had  not  emphasized 
sufficiently  the  value  of  a  raise"  and  that  an  increase  of  just  $50  over  the 
$400  already  added  to  students'  tuition  bills  would  "yield  a  raise  of 
about  $200  per  faculty  and  staff  member.''^^  George  McCotter  made  the 
motion,  the  trustees  voted,  and  the  personnel  actually  realized  a  raise  of 
about  $250  each.  In  other  action,  the  College  moved  swiftly  to  invite  Sta- 
mats  Communications,  Inc.,  a  consulting  firm  with  a  national  reputation 
in  marketing  research,  "to  help  us  more  effectively  and  efficiently  meet 
our  recruiting  and  enrollment  goals."^^  In  assessing  the  state  of  the  Col- 
lege, Stamats  responded,  "It  is  important  to  note  at  the  outset  that  Mere- 
dith has  a  long,  proud  history  and  over  the  past  100  years  the  College  has 
enjoyed  many  successes.  Furthermore,  the  College  has  evidenced  great 
foresight  and  stewardship  in  responding  to  the  changing  market.  Meredith 
is  not  facing  a  crisis.  It  is,  however,  facing  some  challenges.  .  .  J^  For  the 
most  part,  insisted  the  consultants,  Meredith's  strategies  were  working 
well,  as  enrollment  statistics  and  financial  history  bore  out;  however,  they 
said,  "the  time  to  act  is  now,  rather  than  later.  Each  day  that  slips  by 
means  that  competing  institutions  have  more  of  a  foothold  in  your  mar- 
ket and  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  your  prospective  students."^'* 

New  direct  marketing  strategies  will  be  visited  in  Chapter  13.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note,  however,  that  some  of  the  old  indirect  marketing  strate- 
gies were  simply  programs  and  traditions  which  had  been  integrated  into 
the  academic  and  social  life  of  the  community  simply  because  they  were 
the  right  things  to  do  at  specific  times  in  history.  Meredith  Study  Abroad, 
on-campus  cultural  events,  continuing  education,  the  honors  program, 
and  Teaching  Fellows  are  good  examples. 

Meredith  Study  Abroad  had  enjoyed  almost  two  decades  of  study  in 
foreign  cultures;  however,  in  199 1,  the  College  elected  to  cancel  all  sum- 
mer programs  abroad  because  of  the  serious  conflict  in  the  Middle  East. 
Iraq's  invasion  of  Kuwait  in  1990  reached  all  the  way  to  the  United 
States,  when  President  Bush  dispatched  armed  forces  to  defend  Saudi 
Arabia,  another  wealthy  neighbor  in  the  line  of  march.  Operation  Desert 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    Z47 

Shield  affected  the  Meredith  family  in  the  same  ways  it  touched  other 
communities.  The  Meredith  Herald  was  aware:  "Daily  doses  of  tragic 
headlines  and  confusing  news  stories  generate  a  very  real  need  for  infor- 
mation and  emotional  support  for  the  campus  community,"  it  read.^^  The 
division  of  student  development  as  well  as  some  academic  departments 
tried  to  address  in  an  organized  fashion  the  needs  of  that  student  genera- 
tion, which  knew  little  of  wartime.  And  the  Meredith  Christian  Associa- 
tion sponsored  a  special  service,  fashioning  a  worship  center  of  a  glass 
bowl  filled  with  desert-like  sand,  into  which  participants  buried  their 
written  prayers  and  concerns. 

Cultural  exchanges  were  possible  despite  the  unrest.  In  February  199 1, 
ten  visitors  from  Moscow  State  Institute  of  Inernational  Relations 
swapped  thoughts  with  Meredith  students  and  faculty  on  such  topics  as 
the  war  in  the  Middle  East,  the  Russian  people's  perception  of  life  in  the 
United  States,  and  their  own  lifestyles  in  the  USSR.  Less  than  a  year  later, 
the  world  took  note  of  the  break-up  of  Soviet  Russia. 

In  1992,  four  representatives  from  Dongbei  University,  Meredith's 
"sister  university"in  Dahan,  China,  toured  the  campus  and  signed  "the 
second  stage  of  a  formal  faculty  exchange  agreement."^^  Li  Kejian,  Zuo 
Xiuyin,  Liu  Jianmin,  and  Zhou  Yue  came  to  Meredith,  following  up  the 
1990  visit  to  Dongbei  by  President  Weems,  Dean  Burris,  and  Professors 
Spanton  and  Webb.  Immediately  preceding  the  Chinese  delegation's  ar- 
rival, Susan  Gilbert,  English,  and  Burgunde  Winz,  foreign  languages,  had 
taught  for  a  summer  at  Dongbei.  Also,  Dongbei's  Professor  He  had 
taught  Chinese  history  and  culture  at  Meredith  in  the  1991-92  term. 

In  addition  to  cultural  exchanges  between  nations,  the  College  had  of- 
fered opportunities  for  cultural  events  throughout  the  years;  in  1992, 
however,  the  division  for  student  development  designed  a  Fall  Semester 
Area  Cultural  Events  Subscription  Series:  for  a  season's  ticket,  one  could 
enjoy  a  Latin  American  Festival  and  a  production  of  Driving  Miss  Daisy 
in  September;  the  Little  Foxes  and  the  North  Carolina  Symphony  in  Oc- 
tober; a  fall  tour  of  Chapel  liill,  Duke  University,  and  Old  Salem,  as  well 
as  the  Preservation  Hall  Jazz  Band  in  November.  Except  for  local  flavor, 
the  cultural  benefits  of  the  horseback  riding  session  and  the  pig  pickin' 
scheduled  for  November  1 5  remain  debatable. 

Meredith  provided  its  share  of  culture,  such  as  theatre — "among  the 
Triangle's  and  state's  highest  quality  educational  theatre  programs  "^^ — 


248      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

dance,  music,  and  guest  lecturers.  While  each  Centennial  speaker  left  her 
own  signature,  other  guests  of  the  same  period  also  brought  celebrity  and 
substance  to  appreciative  audiences.  For  example,  Helen  Vendler,  well- 
known  poetry  critic,  lectured  in  successive  years,  speaking  in  199 1  on 
Yeats  and  in  1992  on  Gerard  Manley  Hopkins.  Sponsored  by  the  Mary 
Lynch  Johnson  Chair  of  English,  Vendler  was  professor  of  English  and 
American  literature  at  Harvard;  poetry  critic  and  author  for  the  New 
Yorker,  and  reviewer  for  the  New  York  Review  of  Books  and  the  New 
Republic. 

James  A.  Forbes,  Jr.,  senior  minister  of  New  York's  Riverside  Church, 
inaugurated  the  Jo  Welch  Hull  Lectureship  Series  in  March  1992,  with 
his  lecture,  "A  Deeply  Moving  Religious  Experience."  Announcing  James 
Hull's  establishment  of  the  lectureship  in  honor  of  his  wife,  a  Meredith 
news  release  reported  that  Jo  Welch  Hull,  '53,  had  "devoted  most  of  her 
adult  life  to  the  process  of  education."^^  Mrs.  Hull  was  an  educational 
consultant  in  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  and  had  been  a  classroom 
teacher  as  well  as  a  director  of  Christian  education  in  churches  of  several 
denominations.  At  the  time  of  the  announcement.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hull 
were  coordinators  of  the  Piedmont  Interfaith  Council  (PIC),  of  which  or- 
ganization Mrs.  Hull  was  a  co-founder. 

David  Steele,  curator  of  European  art  at  the  North  Carolina  Museum 
of  Art,  delivered  the  first  Mercer-Kesler  Lecture  Series  on  Art  and  Reli- 
gion, established  in  1993.  The  endowment  had  been  funded  by  Annie 
Mercer  Kesler,  '18,  and  Carolyn  Mercer,  '22,  to  honor  their  father,  Isaac 
Morton  Mercer,  associate  professor  of  religion,  1928-39;  and  John  M. 
Kesler,  their  husband  and  brother-in-law,  respectively,  an  architect  and  a 
former  trustee.  The  Kesler-Mercer  Endowment  specified  the  purchase  of 
library  resources  in  the  fields  of  visual  arts  and  theology  and  the  spon- 
sorship of  lectures  in  the  areas  of  visual  arts,  archtecture,  and  religion. 

Audiences  reacted  gratefully  to  educational  experiences  like  the  Hull 
and  Mercer-Kesler  Lectures  and  others  in  the  several  series  offered  by  the 
College.  While  the  lectureships  were  not  under  the  aegis  of  continuing  ed- 
ucation, their  benefits  fell  into  the  category  of  "lifelong  learning."  But 
continuing  education  regularly  sponsored  its  own  educational  programs. 
And  the  division  never  forgot  children.  In  the  summer  of  1993,  it  pro- 
vided two  events  that  attracted  youngsters  of  differing  interests:  One  pro- 
gram was  a  performing  arts  camp,  in  which  children  from  five  to  fifteen 
years  of  age  learned  some  of  the  basic  skills  of  acting,  the  use  of  music 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    249 

and  dance  in  dramatic  productions,  and  theater  technology.  And  they 
pooled  their  knowledge  to  produce  a  musical  as  the  grand  finale  of  their 
three  weeks  at  Meredith.  The  second  "special"  was  a  computer  camp  for 
children  as  young  as  nine  and  as  old  as  fourteen,  whose  instruction  in- 
cluded word  processing,  graphics,  and  programming  "in  a  learning  envi- 
ronment that  was  fun,  creative,  and  educational."^^  The  only  apparent 
disadvantage  to  the  computer  camp  was  that  some  of  the  youth  who  ap- 
plied had  to  be  left  on  the  waiting  list. 

Waiting  lists  were  not  unusual.  Had  Meredith  not  been  forced  to  limit 
the  number  of  new  Teaching  Fellows  in  199 1,  it  possibly  could  have  en- 
rolled sixty  freshmen  in  the  program.  But  the  1990  "bumper  crop"  of 
forty-one  freshmen  had  "forced  the  College  to  look  at  all  aspects  of  the 
Program  in  terms  of  growth  and  longevity"^°  and  had  resulted  in  the 
Teaching  Fellows  committee's  recommending  restriction  of  acceptances, 
at  least  for  that  year.  The  College,  therefore,  enrolled  only  nineteen,  mak- 
ing the  total  number  in  all  classes  112.  Minutes  of  the  faculty  meeting  for 
August  13,  199 1,  state  that  "Meredith  has  the  lowest  transfer  rate  of  all 
13  participating  institutions,"  despite  the  demanding  academic  require- 
ments. From  the  beginning,  the  College  had  stipulated  that  the  40  percent 
of  the  young  teachers-to-be  who  were  not  already  honors  students  would 
be  required  to  take  fifteen  hours  in  Honors  and  to  write  an  honors  thesis. 
Although  they  were  necessarily  limited  in  number,  the  Teaching  Fellows 
did  not  "limit  their  talents  to  campus.  Project  HALO  (Help  and  Learning 
Outreach)  was  initiated  by  one  of  Ithe  Fellows]  as  a  means  of  providing 
assistance  to  at-risk  students  in  the  Wake  County  Public  School  system." ^^ 

The  program  received  a  significant  boost  in  199 1,  when  the  DuPont 
Foundation  awarded  a  grant  of  $183,600  to  finance  ten  Teaching  Fellows 
for  four  years.  And,  in  1992,  such  major  corporations  as  ABB,  Burroughs- 
Wellcome,  First  Citizens  and  First  Union  Banks,  and  GE  Capital  Mort- 
gage Company  pledged  a  total  of  $192,580  in  support. 

Although  the  Teaching  Fellows  program  was  new,  it  had  already  be- 
come a  tradition  worthy  of  bold  print  display  in  the  recruiting  materials 
of  the  colleges  and  universities  that  administered  it.  But  non-academic 
traditions  also  attracted  prospective  students'  attention.  A  string  of  win- 
ning seasons  in  football  or  basketball,  for  example,  might  reach  more 
prospective  students  for  a  major  university  than  the  best  admissions 
counselor  ever  could.  At  Meredith,  however,  the  traditions  categorized  as 
"good  times"  and  "class  competition"  were  better  known  for  pleasing 


250     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

current  students  than  for  attracting  new  ones.  And  memories  of  them  Un- 
gered  in  the  hearts  of  students  and  alumnae  ahke.  For  example,  in  No- 
vember 1995,  when  Carolyn  Carter,  '73,  spoke  to  the  juniors — Class  of 
1 997 — at  a  dinner  celebrating  the  wearing  of  their  new  Meredith  rings, 
she  remembered  Cornhuskin': 

My  husband,  Lennie,  and  I  were  married  on  a  beautiful  June  day 
five  years  after  I  graduated  from  Meredith.  We  were  in  the  Bahamas 
the  next  day,  in  the  water,  incredibly  blue  water,  glorious  sky  and 
sun.  We  were  looking  at  each  other  adoringly,  and  Lennie  said  to 
me,  "Carolyn,  yesterday  was  the  most  wonderful  day  of  my  life." 

And  I  said,  without  thinking,  "Yesterday  was  the  most  wonder- 
ful day  of  my  life  too,  except  for  the  day  that  my  class  won  Corn- 
huskin'." And  the  miracle  is,  we're  still  married.  .  .  . 

As  previous  chapters  in  this  Meredith  story  verify,  Cornhuskin'  was  the 
premier  tradition  for  class  competition.  In  199 1,  the  instruction  committee 
suggested  that  the  Academic  Council  "consider  ways  of  reducing  the  con- 
flict between  Cornhusking  [sic]  and  the  learning  process." ^^  By  way  of  the 
democratic  process,  the  council  requested  "that  the  Student  Life  Commit- 
tee re-evaluate  the  time  of  week  and  semester  for  Cornhusking  out  of  con- 
cern that  Cornhusking  succeed."^^  Almost  a  year  later,  but  before  the  1992 
version  of  the  big  event,  a  decision  was  reached,  according  to  the  Meredith 
Herald:  "After  much  deliberation,  the  . . .  Academic  Council  voted  in  favor 
of  cancelling  classes  after  5:30  p.m.  on  Cornhuskin'  night."^"*  But  1992  was 
a  year  of  Cornhuskin'  reform.  The  Meredith  Recreation  Association 
(MRA)  sponsored  the  annual  bonfire  on  Sunday  night,  with  band  music 
by  Virtual  Reality,  with  toasted  marshmallows,  and  with  "big  sis/little  sis 
bonding." ^^  Monday  night  was  entertainment  night,  when  the  class  co- 
chairs  "revealed  their  classes'  themes  in  a  skit.  .  .  .  After  the  skit,  the  tradi- 
tions co-chairs,  Ellen  Powers  and  Amy  Willard,  announced  the  rules  for 
the  scavenger  hunt  which  followed." ^^ 

In  a  Herald  editorial  following  the  main  attraction  on  Thursday  night, 
Amity  Brown,  editor-in-chief,  wrote. 

At  this  time  last  year,  everyone  on  campus  was  licking  their  wounds, 
trying  to  recover  from  a  particularly  vicious  Cornhuskin'.  I'm  glad 
to  say  that  this  year  was  not  the  same.  .  .  . 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    251 

I  will  have  to  admit  some  of  the  attempts  at  being  positive  were 
a  bit  strained.  ...  To  be  honest,  and  I  think  a  lot  of  juniors  and  se- 
niors will  agree,  some  of  the  positive  efforts  were  a  tad  insincere  to 
begin  with,  but  reached  near-sincerity  by  the  end  of  the  week.^^ 

And  in  both  the  "thrill  of  victory"  and  the  "agony  of  defeat,"  students 
turned  to  food — breakfast  food — served  from  11:00  p.m.  until  midnight 
by  faculty  and  staff  volunteers. 

Stunt — another  long-standing  tradition — had  already  seen  reform  in 
1990.  The  Herald  reported  the  199 1  contests: 

For  the  second  year  in  a  row.  Stunt  was  similar  to  a  field  event.  Stu- 
dents participated  in  a  three-legged  race,  egg  toss,  flour  power,  halo 
chase,  and  sponge  toss  to  try  to  win  points  for  their  class.  .  .  .  Three 
lucky  students  from  each  class  got  the  opportunity  to  throw  wet 
sponges  at  President  John  Weems,  Dr.  Carson  Brisson  [registrar], 
Sam  Carothers  [campus  minister],  and  Janice  McClendon  [director 
of  residence  life].  .  .  ."^^ 

A  lip  sync  contest — new  in  1991 — also  made  the  grade,  the  1993  Oak- 
leaves  having  described  a  photograph:  "Seniors  Jodi  McCann  and  Jill 
Barlow  perform  in  the  senior  stunt  lip-synch  [sic]  to  the  song  ['So  Long, 
Farewell']  from  Sound  of  Music.  There  were  quite  a  few  teary  eyes  at  the 
end  of  this  song."^^  The  same  yearbook  recorded  a  Fall  Fest  in  September; 
a  Halloween  mixer.  Parents'  Weekend,  and  the  White  Iris  Ball  in  October; 
and  Little  Friends  Weekend  in  March. 

Pasttimes  were  almost  as  standard  as  traditions.  Janie  MuUis,  writing 
in  the  Meredith  Herald,  alluded  to  ongoing  problems — real  or  perceived 
—  between  students  and  college  food  services,  but  her  article  showed  a 
forgiving  spirit.  And  well  it  should  have: 

Complaining  about  dining  hall  food  is  a  classic  college  pasttime.  By 
participating  in  the  Interfaith  Food  Shuttle,  ARA  Food  Services  may 
have  redeemed  itself  in  the  eyes  of  many.  The  shuttle  is  a  program 
organized  by  several  local  volunteers  who  pick  up  leftover  food 
from  Meredith,  St.  Mary's,  and  Peace  College  [s]  five  days  a  week. 
ARA  provides  meal  services  to  the  three  schools.The  food  is  trans- 
ported to  the  Salvation  Army  and  to  Agape  Place. ^'^ 


252.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  food  donated  by  Meredith  in  comphance  with  North  Carohna's 
"Good  Samaritan  Law,"  amounted  to  "ten  to  twenty  servings  of  five  or 
six  different  menu  items." ^^ 

IN  199 1,  FOR  the  first  time  in  forty  years,  Meredith  trustees  elected  their 
own  successors.  In  the  Board  meeting  of  November  18,  Charles  Barham 
moved  to  elect  to  four-year  terms  Jane  S.  Byrd,  Rogers  H.  Clark,  Jean  B. 
Cooper,  George  V.  McCotter,  Ruby  C.  McSwain,  Ernestine  Newman, 
J.  Earl  Pope,  the  Rev.  Mack  Thompson,  and  Claude  Williams.  The  first 
class  under  the  amended  charter  took  office  January  i,  1992. 

WHILE  MEREDITH  WAS  redefining  its  relationship  with  the  Baptist  State 
Convention  of  North  Carolina,  it  was  also  claiming  a  place  "out  front"  in 
the  Information  Age.  A  new  computer  program,  first  used  in  199 1,  had 
simplified  the  process  of  registration  as  well  as  provided  a  comprehensive 
academic  file  on  every  student.  But  that  program  endured  a  low  profile 
compared  to  the  three  television  channels  available  to  every  residence  hall 
room,  classroom,  office,  and  pubfic  area,  as  reported  in  Chapter  9.  Imme- 
diately, the  channels  had  been  put  to  use  as  the  faculty  requested  208  of  the 
305  programs  broadcast  in  the  spring  of  199 1.  And  focusing  on  opportu- 
nities at  hand,  the  Meredith  Herald  announced  that  January  10  "marked 
the  kick-off  for  the  new  . . .  Video  Club"  and  its  eight- week  introduction  to 
the  equipment  and  its  use.^^  As  to  the  future,  Weems  predicted. 

The  new  liberal  arts  will  be  heavily  seasoned  [with  new  educational 
delivery  systems  that]  will  astound  the  intellect.  .  .  . 

Our  students  will  be  able  to  go  to  the  library,  secure  a  disc,  and 
visualize  living  history  as  part  of  their  out-of-classroom  assign- 
ments. Science  laboratory  demonstrations  will  be  created  in  full 
color  and  rotated  360  degrees  in  any  magnification  that  suits  the 
teacher.  .  .  .  Renowned  Shakespearean  actors  can  come  to  life  in  the 
classroom.''^ 

Technology  came  to  life  in  the  classrooms,  the  offices,  the  laboratories, 
the  residence  halls,  and  even  the  theater  wing  with  its  new  computerized 
box  office.  The  offices  of  public  relations  and  publications  disposed  of 
their  old  typesetter  and  stashed  away  obsolete  art  boards,  hot  wax  ma- 
chines, and  type  galleys  in  favor  of  desktop  publishing;  the  office  of  schol- 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    253 

arships  and  financial  assistance  had  already  amassed  five  years  of  experi- 
ence with  software  that  managed  the  processing  of  its  work;  and  career 
services  was  the  first  office  to  test  the  FAX  system  under  development  for 
campuswide  use.  Voice  mail  was  a  phenomenon  of  1992.,  as  was  the  ad- 
dition of  four  new  computer  science  courses  to  the  nine  already  listed  in 
the  catalogue.  Life  was  made  easier  by  technology — except,  of  course, 
for  those  times  when  an  electronic  wonder  caused  a  deadline  racer  seem- 
ingly to  lose  two  laps  for  every  one  gained.  For  example,  the  Herald  for 
September  16,  1993,  ran  an  apology  for  a  missed  publishing  date,  and  the 
staff  knew  where  to  place  the  blame:  "To  err  is  human,  but  it  takes  a 
computer  to  really  screw  things  up."^'* 

MEREDITH  "DIPT  INTO  the  futurc,  far  as  human  eye  could  see,"  as  did  the 
young  speaker  in  Tennyson's  "Locksley  Flall,"^^  but,  in  some  areas,  such 
as  architecture,  the  College  clung  to  a  past  that  had  served  it  well.  When 
architects  F.  Carter  Williams  and  Associates  designed  the  new  Hubert 
Ledford  Classroom  Building,  they  "signaled  a  return  to  the  more  tradi- 
tional modified  Georgian  design  of  the  original  campus  buildings."^^ 
Whatever  style  the  design  represented,  members  of  the  psychology  and 
education  departments  were  eager  to  move  out  of  crowded  Joyner  Hall 
into  the  new  quarters.  On  February  28,  1992,  at  the  semi-annual  meeting 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Bob  Bryan,  development  committee  chair,  had 
expressed  "great  pleasure"  in  moving  that  the  "College  proceed  with  the 
construction."  But  all  the  steps — the  authorization,  groundbreaking, 
construction,  and  dedication — made  for  a  long  process.  Groundbreaking 
in  April  and  excavation  in  July  signaled  that  Ledford  Hall,  one  of  three 
academic  buildings  of  the  future,  was  underway,  with  Peden  Construc- 
tion Company  as  the  general  contractor. 

In  1991-92,  Meredith  converted  the  Ellen  Brewer  House  from  a  prac- 
tice house  for  home  economics  students  in  home  management  to  an  in- 
fant and  toddler  lab  home  for  child  development  majors  practicing  child 
care.  The  program  would  provide  internships  for  approximately  ten  stu- 
dents per  semester.  But  as  much  for  the  benefit  of  babies  and  their  parents 
as  for  students,  the  new  Ellen  Brewer  Infant  and  Toddler  Lab  Home  first 
made  available  ten  slots — six  full-time  and  four  part-time — for  babies  as 
young  as  three  months  and  as  old  as  three  years,  many  of  whom  were 
children  of  Meredith  employees.  The  home  economics  department  had. 


254     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

since  i960,  made  good  use  of  the  building  as  it  was  originally  intended, 
but  times  had  changed,  as  borne  out  by  an  interesting — if  not  surpris- 
ing— 1987  report  of  the  committee  on  child  care  for  the  Meredith  Col- 
lege campus:  "Information  gained  from  recent  articles  on  child  care  re- 
ported that  eight  million  women  in  the  labor  force  have  children  under 
six  years  of  age.  In  addition,  two-thirds  of  women  working  outside  the 
home  have  school-age  childen.  Many  of  those  who  are  responsible  for  the 
children  are  single  parents."^^  The  staff  for  the  new  lab  home  comprised 
a  caregiving  director,  a  caregiver,  a  faculty  coordinator,  and  approxi- 
mately ten  students  per  semester.  Renee  Prillaman,  assistant  professor  of 
home  economics,  coordinated  the  project.  Even  in  its  change  in  emphasis, 
the  department  was  firm  in  its  belief  that  it  continued  "the  Brewers'  com- 
mitment to  provide  quality  field  experiences  for  Meredith  students."^^ 
Ellen  Brewer  was  department  head  in  home  economics  from  1922-66, 
and  the  house  named  for  her  was  funded  largely  by  her  cousin  Talcott 
Brewer. 

Renovations  in  Belk  Dining  Hall  in  the  summer  of  1992  transformed 
the  refectory,  which  had  been  fondly  likened  to  an  airplane  hangar,  into 
an  attractive  area  with  a  fresh  look  and  a  quieter,  more  amiable  ambi- 
ence. Architect  Mark  Dickey  said,  "We  wanted  to  give  the  interior  of  the 
dining  hall  more  of  the  character  of  some  of  the  other  traditional  build- 
ings. .  .  .  The  new  ceiling  and  division  of  the  space  into  two  separate  din- 
ing rooms  will  help."^^  A  food  court  separated  the  two  dining  areas.  And 
downstairs  in  the  same  building,  the  old  President's  Dining  room  gave 
way  in  1993  to  the  new  Wainwright  Conference  Suite,  comprising  five 
rooms  designed  for  meeting  and  dining.  According  to  President  Weems, 
"The  decor  is  as  uplifiting  as  the  current  dining  space  on  the  upper 
floor,"  ^°  and  the  attractive  outside  entrance  elicited  almost  as  many  com- 
pliments as  the  refurbished  interior.  The  suite  proved  as  beneficial  to  off- 
campus  guests  as  to  Meredith  gatherings,  frequently  calling  on  ARA  food 
service  to  cater  meals  for  several  groups  at  the  time. 

VARIOUS  NEWS  ITEMS  gave  witness  to  "the  running  of  the  race."  For  ex- 
ample, in  1992, 

Dr.  Osborne  described  the  success  of  the  first  Scholarship  Appre- 
ciation Dinner  where  donors  were  paired  with  recipients.  One- 
hundred  seventy-five  donors  and  students  attended.^' 


"a  cloud  of  witnesses":  1991-1993    I    Z55 

And  Mary  Thomas 

introduced  a  new  concept  to  Meredith  Coursework,  a  program  en- 
couraging Meredith  faculty  to  be  Hfelong  learners.  Currently,  fac- 
ulty are  offered  tuition  remission  for  courses  taken;  next  semester 
$50  per  semester  hour  completed  will  be  an  added  incentive. ^^ 

In  1993, 

The  Student  Government  Association  (SGA)  is  sponsoring  Faculty 
Appreciation  Day,  Friday,  according  to  Jennifer  Hartig,  SGA  presi- 
dent.^3 

Also  in  1993, 

According  to  a  report  by  the  city's  planning  department,  Raleigh  ex- 
perienced the  fastest  growth  since  1990  as  7,963  people  became  res- 
idents during  the  city's  last  fiscal  year.  Raleigh's  population  now 
stands  at  230,418.^"^ 

AN  ASTRONAUT  PEERS  through  spacc  that  separates  her  from  the  planet 
she  knows,  and,  through  the  clouds,  she  witnesses  the  earth  as  one  entity, 
with  no  divisions  by  race,  wealth,  religion,  or  political  ideology  or  by 
continents,  countries,  counties,  cities,  or  colleges.  Like  the  astronaut,  the 
cloud  of  witnesses  sees  Meredith  poised  for  the  twenty-first  century,  and 
the  lines  of  demarcation  have  dimmed.  In  the  nineties,  the  view  from  the 
College  was  wider,  more  urban,  and  more  diverse  than  it  was  in  the  early 
seventies.  And  the  view  of  the  College  was  also  broader,  in  part  because 
women  had  been  assimilated  into  the  culture  and,  therefore,  were  speak- 
ing in  louder  voices  than,  say,  the  Immortal  Ten,  who  had  contributed  ef- 
fectively but  were  rarely  heard  by  their  society.  Infant-toddler  day  care; 
the  comparative  wealth  of  alumnae;  cultural  exchanges;  highly  creden- 
tialed  faculty;  computers;  sophistication  of  academic  offerings;  attention 
from  national  magazines;  state-of-the-art  equipment;  and  insistence  on 
academic  freedom  and,  therefore,  a  clearer  independence,  were  among 
the  strengths  of  a  college  sending  and  receiving  messages  to  and  from  a 
different  world.  In  1993,  only  eighty-five  of  three-hundred  women's  col- 
leges had  survived  the  previous  two  decades. 


12 


ALIS   AND   OTHER 

WONDERLANDS 

1993-1994 


"the  MEREDITH  COMMUNITY  Celebrated  the  arrival  of  ALIS  last  Wednes- 
day at  an  official  'tea  party'  in  Carlyle  Campbell  Library,"  wrote  Jennifer 
Munden  in  the  October  10,  1993,  issue  of  the  Meredith  Herald.  "Faculty 
actors  from  .  .  .  'Alice  in  Wonderland'  were  .  .  .  surprise  guests.  .  .  ." 

ALIS  (pronounced  "Alice")  was  an  acronym  for  Automated  Library 
Information  System,  and  its  installation  in  the  library  was  cause  for  cele- 
bration. In  the  same  jovial  spirit  of  the  Meredith  family's  vicarious  joining 
of  the  Mad  Hatter's  Tea  Party  at  the  faculty's  every-college-generation 
production  of  Alice  in  Wonderland,  these  party-goers  raised  their  teacups 
to  ALIS,  another  electronic  wonder  on  the  campus.  The  user  had  only  to 
key  in  her/his  needs — by  title  or  subject  or  author — to  start  ALIS's 
search  of  the  main  or  the  music  library,  or  even  the  computer  catalogs  of 
North  Carolina  State,  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill, 
and  Duke  to  bring  up  on  the  screen  available  information.  In  other 
words,  said  Janet  Freeman,  college  librarian  and  guardian  of  the  new  sys- 
tem, "The  year  1993-94  may  well  be  called  the  'year  of  bringing  up 
ALIS.'"^  In  an  article  for  Meredith,  Freeman  said  she  "envisions  future 
'libraries  without  walls.'  The  library,  she  predicted,  'will  be  able  to  pro- 
vide the  users  with  information  they  need  whether  we  own  it  or  we 
don't — we  have  the  means  to  find  it  and  bring  a  copy  to  the  user.  It's 
about  access,  not  ownership."^ 

256 


ALIS   AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-1994     |     257 

The  few  discouragers  present  that  day  in  October  were  grieving  at  the 
demise  of  the  card  catalog,  which,  via  the  seekers'  manual  search,  had 
been  faithfully  supplying  information  by  title,  author,  subject,  and  Dewey 
Decimal  System  for  decades.  "You  could  browse  through  the  catalog," 
one  mourner  was  heard  to  say. 

A  reader  browsing  through  the  Fall  1993  issue  of  Meredith  would  see 
Anne  Pugh's  lengthy  treatise  on  computers  and  the  various  uses  of  the 
technology  in  several  departments.  From  her  own  office,  Pugh,  '8z,  noted 
that  Charles  Taylor  "detaches  the  Notebook  (portable  computer)  and 
carries  it  with  him  as  he  makes  his  rounds.  Notes  made  on  site  can  be 
printed  out  when  he's  back  in  the  office  and  appropriate  action  taken." ^ 
The  sophisticated  Internet  had  become  a  valuable  tool.  Ruth  Balla,  direc- 
tor of  academic  computing,  named  its  primary  functions:  "E-mail,  Telnet, 
and  FTP  [File  Transfer  Protocol].""*  Ted  Waller,  technical  services  hbrar- 
ian,  frequently  used  e-mail.  "It's  just  as  easy  to  send  a  message  to  Aus- 
tralia as  Apex,"  he  said.^  Waller's  colleague  Judy  Schuster,  a  reference  li- 
brarian, found  that  the  Internet  expanded  her  "access  to  materials  here 
enormously."^  And  Jeannie  Morelock,  director  of  college  communica- 
tions, accessed  ProfNet,  "a  free  news  service  that  allows  journalists  and 
authors  to  scan  over  230  U.S.  and  international  campuses  for  faculty  ex- 
perts' input."^  But  to  President  Weems,  "one  of  the  most  significant  addi- 
tions to  the  modern  office"  was  the  FAX  machine.^  Weems  noted  that 
"today's  students  are  outcome  oriented,"  and  that  "[o]ne  of  the  most  im- 
portant outcome-related  skills  our  students  need  to  compete  in  today's 
markets  relates  to  computers."^ 

An  information  systems  council,  formed  in  1993,  saw  the  "big  pic- 
ture" of  a  campus- wide  data  base  and  network  and  coordinated  those  in- 
stallations. Simply  put,  uses  of  technology  continued  to  multiply.  For  ex- 
ample, the  Center  for  Communications  at  the  Microelectronics  Center  of 
North  Carolina  (MCNC)  linked  Meredith  "with  a  global  communica- 
tions network  called  'superhighways  of  information.'  "  The  College  was 
one  of  eight  select  North  Carolina  institutions  of  higher  education  to  be 
able  to  avail  itself  of  this  "electronic  pathway  to  the  world." ^° 

And  beginning  in  the  fall  of  1993,  a  student's  electronically  read  Cam- 
Card  was  her  pathway  to  a  cashless  society.  The  CamCard  was  issued  to 
each  student  and  served  as  both  her  credit  and  identification  card  almost 
everywhere  on  campus,  including  the  dining  hall,  vending  and  copy  ma- 


Z$S     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

chines,  voter  registration  desks,  the  bookstore,  and  the  hbrary.  It  would 
also  allow  her  entry  to  locked  classrooms  and  laboratories.  Tales  of  lost 
or  forgotten  cards  are  not  among  public  records;  however,  the  Meredith 
Herald  once  published  the  "Top  Ten  Excuses  For  Not  Having  Your  Cam- 
Card" — a  parody  of  a  regular  feature  on  the  Late  Show  with  David  Let- 
terman: 

lo.  I  left  it  on  my  cafeteria  tray,  and  it  went  through  the  garbage 

tray  line. 
9.  I  let  a  girl  who  looks  kinda  like  me  use  it  so  she  could  eat 

lunch — she  forgot  her  card,  too. 
8.  I  left  it  in  the  left  pocket  of  my  dark  blue  jeans,  or  was  it  the 

back  pocket  of  my  slim  fit  jeans  [?] 
7.  It  got  ruined  during  the  down  pour  [sic]  of  rain  on  Cornhuskin' 

night. 
6.  A  bouncer  took  it  away  from  me  when  I  tried  to  use  it  to  get 

into  a  bar  on  Tuesday  night. 
5 .  I  got  locked  out  of  my  suite  yesterday,  so  I  used  it  to  break  into 

my  room.  Too  bad  it  cracked  in  half. 
4.  The  cashier  at  Ann  Taylor  thought  it  was  my  credit  card — she 

cut  it  in  half. 
3 .  Some  how  [sic]  Vogue  magazine  got  it.  They  liked  it  so  much, 

my  picture  is  going  to  the  cover  next  month. 
2.  I  thought  it  was  my  bank  card,  but  when  I  put  it  in  the  teller 

machine,  it  ate  my  CamCard. 
I.  Look,  I  just  don't  have  it  O.K.?  I  have  better  things  to  do  than 

keep  track  of  my  CamCard.^^ 

The  college  magazine  prophesied  that,  with  the  CamCard,  "Meredith  stu- 
dents will  get  a  crash  course  in  personal  finance  for  the  21st  century."'^  But 
for  campus  citizens  who  still  had  an  affinity  with  the  use  of  cash,  Wachovia 
Bank  installed  an  ATM  (Automated  Teller  Machine)  in  Cate  Center. 

IN  1994,  THE  City  of  Raleigh  became  a  "wonderland"  in  itself,  when 
Money  magazine  rated  it  the  best  place  to  live  in  the  United  States.  And 
once  again,  the  college  occupying  225  prime  acres  of  Raleigh's  western 
edge,  was  ranked  by  U.S.  News  and  World  Report  in  the  "top  tier  of 
Southern  colleges  and  universities,"  the  magazine  citing  Meredith's  award- 


ALIS   AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-I994     1     259 

ing  a  "full  range  of  bachelor's  degrees,  the  majority  in  occupational  and 
professional  fields,  and  ...  at  least  20  master's  degrees  yearly.'  "^^  Also  in 
1994,  and  for  the  second  consecutive  year,  Meredith  was  included  in  Bar- 
ron's Best  Buys  in  College  Education,  a  guide  for  prospective  students 
seeking  "the  most  for  their  education  dollars."^'* 

What  part  Meredith  played  in  Raleigh's  No.i  ranking  would  be  im- 
possible to  pinpoint,  but,  at  the  very  least,  it  contributed  positively  to  the 
cumulative  fortune  of  the  City  of  Oaks.  Through  the  years,  the  College 
consistently  enriched  the  intellectual  climate  of  the  region.  To  introduce 
by  name  all  musicians,  novelists,  poets,  theologians,  humanitarians,  and 
other  scholars — and,  yes,  entertainers — who  have  appeared  as  guests  on 
the  campus,  would  be  to  create  a  tome  of  lists;  but  to  include  a  random 
sample  of  the  visitors  in  the  time  period  of  this  chapter  may  well  serve 
history:  In  April  1993,  George  McGovern,  former  United  States  senator 
and  the  Democratic  Party's  presidential  nominee  in  1972,  lectured  on 
"Achieving  Peace:  Recommendations  for  U.S. -Arab-Israeli  Policy."  Win- 
ner of  seven  Emmy  Awards  and  a  Tony,  singer  Ben  Vereen  came — not  so 
much  to  sing,  although  he  sang;  not  so  much  to  dance,  although  he 
danced;  not  so  much  to  act,  although  he  acted — primarily  to  speak  to  his 
audience  on  "overcoming  adversity." ^^  Vereen  was  at  Meredith  on  Febru- 
ary 28,  1994,  by  invitation  of  the  Association  of  Black  Awareness  and  the 
convocation  committee.  Poet  Dana  Gioia,  author  of  Daily  Horoscope 
and  The  Gods  of  Winter,  spoke  on  "What  Are  Poets  For?"  at  an  Honors 
Convocation  on  October  4,  1994.  Joanne  Greenburg,  fiction  writer  and 
anthropologist,  discussed  a  writer's  life  in  convocation  on  October  24. 
One  of  Dr.  Greenburg's  well-known  novels  is  /  Never  Promised  You  a 
Rose  Garden. 

MEREDITH  WAS  COMMITTED  to  developing  the  leadership  potential  of  all 
its  students  of  all  ages.  In  1994,  the  College  was  able  to  strengthen  its  re- 
solve considerably  when  the  Broyhill  Family  Foundation  established  the 
Broyhill  Leadership  Institute — "the  first  program  of  its  kind  in  North 
Carolina" — with  a  view  toward  developing  "a  lifelong-leadership  pro- 
gram." ^^  Mary  Johnson,  dean  of  the  John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School  and 
of  continuing  education,  would  coordinate  the  institute's  agenda.  John- 
son said  it  would  incorporate  existing  leadership  programs,  such  as  the 
semester-long  Emerging  Leaders  Seminar  for  freshmen  and  sophomores, 


z6o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

inaugurated  in  1990-91,  and  would  comprise  "a  Leadership-in-Resi- 
dence  Program;  the  Broyhill  Lecture  Series;  and  Servanthood,"  giving  stu- 
dents "opportunities  to  develop  leadership  in  the  areas  of  teamw^ork,  de- 
cision making  and  mentoring,"^'' 

An  article  on  mentoring  by  Alumna  Del  Hunt  Johnson,  MBA,  '91,  in- 
troduced readers  to  a  three-year-old  program  of  ^""wo-mentors"  con- 
ceived by  Rebecca  Oatsvall,  business  and  economics,  and  by  Donna  For- 
rest, '9 1 .  Members  of  Tomorrow's  Business  Women,  a  national  club  with 
a  chapter  at  Meredith,  teamed  up  with  women  who  could  expose  stu- 
dents to  the  business  world  through  the  experiences  of  conversation,  of- 
fice visits,  and  professional  meetings.  In  1994,  each  of  twelve  women, 
four  of  whom  were  alumnae,  was  mentor  to  a  student.  Gina  Ledbetter 
Harwood,  '93,  a  pharmaceutical  sales  representative,  was  one  of  the 
alumnae:  "This  seems  like  an  extension  of  Meredith's  big  sister  program. 
I  really  feel  that  kind  of  bond,"  she  said.^^ 

Perhaps  recognizing  Meredith's  leadership  in  and  advocacy  for  the 
public  schools,  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  selected  the  College 
as  one  of  ten  institutions  of  higher  education  in  the  state  to  host  an  an- 
nual North  Carolina  Teaching  Academy,  a  new  General  Assembly- 
approved  program  of  in-service  training  for  public  school  teachers.  The 
academy's  method  of  "teachers  training  other  teachers"  would  bring  ap- 
proximately one  hundred  teachers  to  the  campus  for  each  of  three  one- 
week  summer  sessions. 

But  long  before  such  sophisticated  programs  for  leadership  develop- 
ment were  in  place,  and  prior  to  society's  ready  acceptance  of  women  as 
leaders — except  in  areas  known  as  "women's  work" — Meredith,  as  was 
the  case  in  every  good  college,  enhanced  its  students'  innate  capacities  to 
think,  to  act  intelligently  on  those  thoughts,  and  to  lead.  One  need  only 
to  refer  to  Chapter  1 1  and  the  brief  biographies  of  Baptist  Female  Uni- 
versity's first  ten  graduates  to  recognize  those  qualities  in  alumnae  of  the 
earliest  generations.  And  from  the  Class  of  1927,  Laura  Weatherspoon 
Harrill  emerged  as  one  among  many  visionaries  to  commit  to  strong  lead- 
ership on  behalf  of  the  College.  As  earlier  chapters  attest,  Mrs.  Harrill  in- 
fluenced and  supported  countless  efforts  to  improve  the  campus  and  its 
tools  for  learning.  Also,  she  was  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association  in 
1942-44  and  recipient  of  an  Alumna  Award  in  1969.  She  had  served  as  a 
trustee  and  had  chaired  the  Board  of  Associates.  After  years  of  honoring 


ALIS  AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    I993-I994      I     z6l 

Meredith  through  her  leadership,  particularly  in  the  area  of  philanthropy, 
Mrs.  Harrill  was  on  the  receiving  end  of  the  honors  in  1994  when  the 
College  presented  to  her  the  first  Outstanding  Alumna  Philanthropist 
Award.  She  met  the  award's  criteria  of  a  "significant  level  of  giving";  "vi- 
sionary leadership";  involvement  with  the  college;  "commitment  to 
Meredith's  mission";  and  encouragement  of  "philanthropy  of  others." ^^ 
And  before  the  award  was  announced,  her  son  and  daughter-in-law, 
James  and  Donna  Harrill,  established  the  $100,000  Laura  Weatherspoon 
Harrill  Scholarship  Fund  "to  honor  his  mother  .  .  .  and  to  perpetuate  her 
interest  in  providing  love,  friendship,  and  support  for  Meredith  Col- 
lege."^°  In  an  interview  with  Meredith,  the  philanthropist  turned  philo- 
sophical, saying,  "I  think  the  right  kind  of  education  is  the  only  thing 
that's  going  to  save  us.  .  .  .  Tell  lalumnae]  just  to  keep  loving  Meredith."^^ 
If  their  participation  in  the  Second  Century  Challenge  campaign  mea- 
sured their  esteem,  alumnae  had  already  heeded  Harrill's  admonition.  Of 
the  5,000  donors  to  the  fund-raising  effort,  4,000  were  alumnae.^^ 

In  1994,  a  criterion  of  one  of  FAME's  Harrill  Presidential  Awards  was 
"excellence  in  student  advising,"  and  Garry  Walton,  English,  was  the  first 
recipient  of  the  award  under  that  category.  In  1993,  Harry  Eberly,  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Associates,  and  Mrs.  Eberly  established  the 
Harry  and  Marion  Eberly  Faculty  Development  Awards  "to  recognize  ac- 
complishment and  to  encourage  on-going  development  of  faculty."^^  The 
very  first  presentations  went  to  Larry  Grimes,  biology;  and  Carl  Hatchell, 
health,  physical  education  and  dance. 

At  a  special  convocation  on  September  23,  1994,  Murphy  Osborne, 
vice  president  for  institutional  advancement,  announced  completion  of 
the  Second  Century  Challenge,  the  three-year  effort  that  had  raised  $11.8 
million,  surpassing  its  $10.6  million  goal.  To  an  audience  of  celebrants 
wearing  "Meredith  Pride"  pins,  Governor  James  B.  Hunt,  keynote  speaker, 
said, 

The  students  here  are  inspired  by  great  women  and  men.  They  are 
empowered.  They  feel  it  and  their  lives  show  it.  .  .  .  In  the  next  cen- 
tury, we  need  to  dedicate  ourselves  to  making  North  Carolina  and 
the  United  States  all  they  can  and  ought  to  be.  Do  it  the  way  Mere- 
dith has  done  it  all  of  these  years  and  put  a  spark  into  everyone  of 
the  United  States  to  fan  and  flame  up. 


Z62     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 


Dedicated  on  February  zj,  1994,  Ledford  Hall,  with  its 

"archways  and  Palladian  window  treatments  "  is  said  to  be  one 

of  the  handsomest  buildings  on  the  campus. 

Reporting  on  the  fundraising  effort  for  Meredith,  Del  Hunt  Johnson 
wrote  of  the  "unusual  twist"  that  allowed  donors  to  see  the  tangible  evi- 
dence of  their  contributions  before  the  campaign  ended.-"*  For  example, 
the  new  classroom  building  for  education  and  psychology  was  high  on 
the  list  of  priorities,  and,  following  a  substantial  gift  from  Hubert  F.  Led- 
ford, in  whose  honor  the  building  was  named,  contributions  and  pledges 
came  quickly.  Construction  began  in  July  1992,  and,  before  the  campaign 
ended,  donors  witnessed  the  completion  of  Ledford  Hall  and  its  domina- 
tion of  the  landscape  to  the  southwest.  But  prior  to  the  final  stages  of  con- 
struction, the  College  found  merit  in  expanding  the  use  of  the  building  by 
finishing  the  attic  for  the  Department  of  Sociology  and  Social  Work.  So 
the  three  departments  moved  into  a  new  home  during  the  1993  Christ- 
mas break,  and  all  were  ready  to  begin  spring  semester  classes  there.* 
Ledford  Hall,  a  25,000  square-foot  building  costing  $2,675  million, 

*The  three-department  exodus  from  Joyner  Hall  provided  space  undreamed  of  for 
the  Departments  of  English,  Foreign  Languages,  History  and  Politics,  and  Religion 
and  Philosophy.  A  major  renovation  of  Joyner  took  place  in  the  summer. 


ALIS  AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-1994     I      263 

was  dedicated  on  February  25,  1994,  in  the  company  of  a  crowd  of 
Meredith  advocates  who  expressed  appreciation  to  Mr.  Ledford  and  to 
others  who  had  contributed  financially  and  otherwise.  With  its  "arch- 
ways and  Palladian  window  treatments  incorporated  in  the  three-story 
facility's  brick  and  stone  exterior,"^^  Ledford  was  considered  to  be  one  of 
the  handsomest  structures  built  since  the  original  campus  was  completed 
in  1926.  News  and  Observer  critic  Chuck  Twardy,  however,  reviewed  the 
architecture  of  the  new  building  in  a  way  that  flouted  his  bias: 

In  the  first  step  of  plans  to  expand  Meredith  College,  tradition  once 
again  takes  the  day  and  modernism  takes  a  hike. 

Hubert  F.  Ledford  Hall,  a  worthy  successor  to  the  new- 
Colonial  structures  that  define  the  campus,  is  neatly  detailed,  and 
the  brick-faced  building  has  a  strong  presence  suited  to  its  current 
isolation.  ... 

Sometimes  a  traditional  touch  is  appropriate.  But  it  is  unfortu- 
nate that  we've  come  to  regard  modernist  buildings  as  hallmarks  of 
low-rent  "practicality"  rather  than  high-end  expression.  It  is  partic- 
ularly sad  that  modernism  has  come  to  such  a  pass  in  a  town  that 
used  to  be  its  hotbed.^^ 

Twardy  was  also  critical  of  the  fact  that  the  building  faced  away  from 
Hillsborough  Street.  And,  alluding  to  the  contemplated  companion  struc- 
tures, as  yet  visible  only  on  the  master  plan,  he  added,  "It  is  worth  not- 
ing that  the  planned  U-formation  of  buildings  potentially  turns  building 
backs  to  both  Hillsborough  Street  and  the  Beltline,  which  would  be  an 
unseemly  development."^'' 

Just  before  the  designated  departments  occupied  Ledford,  trustees  con- 
sidered another  renovation/addition.  Minutes  of  the  Board  for  September 
24,  1993,  read,  "Due  to  the  increased  interest  and  enrollment  in  the  areas 
of  physical  education,  health,  and  dance,  an  addition  to  the  Weather- 
spoon  Physical  Education-Dance  Building  was  proposed."  Of  course,  the 
students  and  faculty  in  the  dance  program  would  most  appreciate  the  ex- 
panded dance  studio,  and  all  the  faculty  in  the  department  would  be 
happy  with  additional  offices  and  storage  space,  but  the  new  ell  at  the 
rear  of  Weatherspoon  would  perhaps  serve  the  greatest  good  to  the  great- 
est number  of  students  and  faculty  and  staff  through  its  proposed  fitness 
center.  F.  Carter  Williams  Architects,  designers  of  the  original  Weather- 


264     i     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

spoon  Building,  would  also  plan  the  addition.  Citing  the  Weatherspoon 
addition,  the  Joyner  Hall  renovation,  the  Wainwright  Conference  Center 
(see  Chapter  11),  and  the  Ledford  Building,  President  Weems  said,  "No 
one  is  happier  than  I  to  announce  that  all  four  of  these  major  construc- 
tion projects  are  already  paid  for  and  Meredith  remains  debt  free."^^ 

The  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheater  and  its  island  stage  had  paid  the 
price  of  age.  More  than  a  quarter  century  old,  the  area  was  not  problem 
free.  For  instance,  the  lake  reproduced  algae  in  large  supply,  and  water- 
damaged  pilings  surrounded  the  island.  In  the  amphitheater,  loosened 
bricks  caused  hazardous  seating  areas,  and  sidewalks  crumbled  from  age 
and  erosion.  In  addition  to  repairs  to  the  theater,  the  College  drained  the 
lake  and  filled  in  the  moat  that  had  separated  the  audience  from  the  stage. 
Jean  Jackson,  English,  quipped,  "So  now  we  have  the  Meredith  Isthmus." 
But  the  "isthmus"  created  a  heretofore-missing  ambiance  of  intimacy  be- 
tween audience  and  performers  and  allowed  easy  access  from  one  area  to 
the  other. 

Some  renovations  in  the  original  residence  halls  might  have  gone  un- 
noticed as  historically  insignificant — replacement  of  windows  and  elec- 
trical wiring,  for  example — had  they  not  included  removal  of  the  radia- 
tors from  students'  rooms.  But  perhaps  nostalgia  would  rise  only  in 
earlier  generations  of  students  who,  as  a  nightly  ritual,  had  hung  their 
hand-washed  socks  to  dry  on  the  hissing,  clanging,  moaning  heat  mon- 
sters of  Vann,  Stringfield,  Faircloth,  and  Brewer. 

Usually  the  refurbishing  of  residence  halls  and  classroom  buildings 
elicited  positive  reactions,  but  sometimes  renovations  were  necessitated  by 
fear  and  sorrow  of  the  unforeseen  and  the  unwanted.  While  a  smoldering 
mattress  in  a  Heilman  Residence  Hall  storage  room  attracted  much  atten- 
tion in  the  fall  of  1993,  little  more  than  clean-up  was  required  to  return  to 
normalcy.  But  a  year  later,  Jeannie  Morelock  reported  a  much  larger  fire — 
this  time  in  a  classroom  building — to  members  of  the  Meredith  commu- 
nity, many  of  whom  were  on  Christmas  break  at  the  time: 

Some  time  in  the  early  morning  hours  of  Saturday,  January  8,  a  fire 
occurred  in  the  Shearon  Harris  Classroom  Building.  It  appears  that 
the  fire  was  started  by  a  faulty  appliance  in  the  kitchen  adjacent  to 
the  first  floor  lounge,  but  the  exact  cause  is  still  under  investigation 
by  the  fire  department.  .  .  .  No  one  was  in  the  building. 


ALIS  AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-1994     I      265 

The  kitchen  was  badly  damaged  by  heat  and  fire.  Fortunately, 
the  heat  caused  an  overhead  copper  water  line  to  become  loose.  The 
water  from  the  broken  line  extinguished  the  flame,  preventing  its 
spread.  Unfortunately,  however,  large  amounts  of  smoke  spread 
throughout  the  .  .  .  building  through  the  air  handling  system.  .  .  . 
[S]oot  covered  almost  everything  on  both  floors.^^ 

Investigators  found  the  culprit  to  be  faulty  wiring  in  a  refrigerator.  While 
the  amount  of  the  insurance  claims  soared  to  $400,000,  perhaps  the  most 
shocking  news  was  that  all  the  ninety  computers  in  Harris  were  rendered 
useless.  As  sometimes  happens,  however,  the  loss  became  an  opportunity, 
and  the  College  added  money  from  the  equipment  budget  to  the  insur- 
ance reimbursement,  outfitting  the  damaged  building  with  a  later  gener- 
ation of  computers  to  replace  the  older  machines. 

While  the  institution  had  little  or  no  control  over  the  accidental  burn- 
ing of  buildings  and  equipment,  it  had  very  much  to  say  about  the  use  of 
its  own  land,  except,  of  course,  when  it  learned  in  1993  that  the  State  of 
North  Carolina  required  6,500  square  feet  of  campus  property  to  widen 
the  beltline  (Highway  I-440).  The  College  and  the  government  agreed 
upon  a  settlement  of  $7,500.^°  But  dealing  with  government  and  negoti- 
ating with  private  entities  were  different  matters.  As  previous  chapters 
have  noted,  an  organization  or  institution  occasionally  broached  the  sub- 
ject of  buying  or  leasing  some  of  the  prime  campus  real  estate  for  its  own 
use.  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  April  11,  1994,  indicate  that  a 
lease  agreement  with  Raleigh  School  on  Ridge  Road  came  closer  to  real- 
ity, apparently,  than  had  negotiations  with  the  Baptist  State  Convention 
in  1980  and  the  Life  Enrichment  Center  in  1984,  and  certainly  closer 
than  a  proposal  from  Kroger  food  chain  in  1993.  But  Meredith  and 
Raleigh  Preschool  were  long-time  neighbors  and,  in  a  sense,  colleagues  at 
work.  In  the  first  place,  more  than  2,000  Meredith  students  had  partici- 
pated in  the  "rich,  30-year  history  of  mutually  beneficial  program- 
ming."^^ For  example,  child  development,  education,  and  psychology  stu- 
dents had  recognized  the  benefits  of  Raleigh  Preschool  as  a  laboratory, 
and  the  school,  in  turn,  had  welcomed  the  resourcefulness  and  helpful- 
ness of  students.  The  agreement  spelled  out  the  conditions:  Meredith 
would  lease  three  and  one-half  to  five  acres  of  land  for  one  dollar  per 
year;  the  lessee  would  finance,  build,  and  operate  a  preschool  and  ele- 


266     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

mentary  facility  approved  by  the  College;  and,  after  ninety-nine  years, 
"the  building  and  fixtures  would  revert  to  Meredith ."^^  The  decision  not 
to  lease  came  down  to  two  issues,  said  Robert  Lewis,  chair  of  an  ad  hoc 
committee  to  study  the  proposal:  "governance  and  non-Meredith  entities 
building  on  the  .  .  .  campus."^^ 

A  different  sort  of  land  use  was  credited  to  the  rising  popularity  of  soc- 
cer. When  Meredith  added  the  game  to  its  lineup  of  competitive  sports,  a 
new  playing  field  altered  the  landscape  a  bit,  and  Coach  Jose  Cornejo 
joined  the  adjunct  faculty  at  about  the  time  the  field  took  shape  across  the 
loop  road  and  west  of  the  Weatherspoon  Building. 

AS  CHAPTER  6  imphes,  the  campus  was  a  city — in  1993-94,  a  bustling 
city  within  the  nation's  best  bustling  city — attempting  to  plan  wisely  for 
the  future  and  to  keep  in  good  condition  both  the  academic  and  the  phys- 
ical aspects  of  past  achievements.  The  soccer  field  and  Ledford  Hall  rep- 
resented physical  facilities  of  the  future;  repairs  to  the  lake  and  Joyner 
Hall  represented  concern  for  keeping  useful  the  old.  Commitment  to  an 
evening  program  and  the  awarding  of  another  accreditation  represented 
new  academic  achievements.  Eighty-five  percent  of  the  fulltime  faculty's 
having  earned  terminal  degrees  and  the  American  Bar  Association's  reap- 
proval  of  the  Legal  Assistants  Program  represented  the  importance  of  up- 
dating the  familiar.  The  additional  accreditation  was  awarded  by  FIDER 
(Foundation  for  Interior  Design  Education  Research);  the  degree  statistics 
portrayed  the  highest  percentage  of  faculty-earned  terminal  degrees  in  the 
College's  history;  and  the  Legal  Assistants  Program  was  initially  ABA- 
approved  in  1983  and  reapproved  in  1989  and  1994.  Only  the  evening 
program  requires  elaboration:  Minutes  of  the  Academic  Council  for  No- 
vember I,  1994,  recorded  a  motion  "that  the  Instruction  Committee 
re-affirm  Meredith's  commitment  to  providing  an  evening  schedule  in 
which  a  student  may  complete  her  general  requirements  within  five  years 
in  the  evening  program  and  charge  the  Director  of  the  Re-Entry  program 
and  Registrar  to  work  out,  in  conjunction  with  department  heads,  a  pro- 
gram of  study  which  will  meet  these  needs."  President  Weems  offered  the 
rationale: 

Wake  County  and  the  Triangle  area  are  two  of  the  fastest  growing 
markets  in  the  south  for  college  degree  evening  programs.  North 


ALIS   AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-1994      I     Z67 

Carolina  Wesleyan  College  and  Campbell  University  already  have 
well-established  satellite  degree  programs  in  Wake  County.  Averett 
College,  located  in  Danville,  Virginia,  is  opening  a  satellite  campus 
in  the  Raleigh  area  ...  as  is  Warren  Wilson  College  located  in 
Swannanoa,  North  Carolina.  Most  satellite  campuses  are  located  in 
high  schools,  shopping  centers,  and  classroom  facilities  rented  from 
other  sources.  Meredith,  with  its  excellent  location  and  wonderful 
campus,  is  in  the  position  to  offer  evening  programs  with  full  col- 
lege support  facilities.^'* 

Only  months  before  the  Academic  Council  charged  the  registrar  and 
the  re-entry  programs  director  to  propose  a  course  of  study  for  Meredith 
After 5,  the  evening  program,  Sandra  Close  succeeded  Anne  Dahle  as  di- 
rector of  re-entry.  Close,  a  former  re-entry  student  herself,  had  served  as 
the  assistant  director  since  she  graduated,  magna  cum  laude,  in  1986. 

Also  tapped  to  shoulder  new  and  different  responsibilities,  Carolyn 
Barrington  Grubbs,  '60,  assumed  headship  of  the  Department  of  History 
and  Politics  and  Rebecca  Bailey  of  the  Department  of  Art.  Dr.  Grubbs 
succeeded  her  husband,  Frank  Grubbs,  who  continued  to  teach,  and  Dr. 
Bailey  had  completed  a  year  as  acting  head  of  her  department,  replacing 
Craig  Greene,  the  new  deputy  director  of  the  Department  of  the  Deaf  and 
Hard  of  Hearing  for  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  Carolyn  Grubbs,  '60, 
joined  the  faculty  of  her  alma  mater  in  1963  after  completing  the  M.A.T. 
at  Duke;  she  later  earned  the  Ph.D.  at  North  Carolina  State.  The  popular 
professor  received  an  Outstanding  Teacher  Award  in  1978  and,  in  1980, 
a  Delta  Kappa  Gamma  scholarship  toward  her  doctorate.  The  prestigious 
scholarship  was  "the  only  award  made  in  North  Carolina  and  one  of 
nineteen  given  in  the  United  States  and  twelve  other  nations  by  the  inter- 
national society  of  women  educators."^^  Grubbs  directed  the  honors  pro- 
gram from  1991-94  and  continued  actively  to  lead  students  and  faculty 
members  in  study  opportunities  abroad. 

Dr.  Bailey  was  a  ten-year  veteran  of  the  art  department,  having  started 
there  as  "very  part-time,"  she  said,  but  she  kept  adding  courses  to  her 
schedule  until  she  taught  on  a  full-time  basis.  Answering  the  challenge  to 
compare  Meredith's  art  facilities  with  other  schools,  she  said,  "I  think 
they  are  as  good  or  better  than  facilities  elsewhere,  and  Fm  not  going  to 
say  just  at  schools  this  size.  I  think  if  you  compare  what  we're  able  to 


268      I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

offer  on  a  square-foot  basis,  our  students  are  going  to  come  out  better. 
.  ,  .  We  really  try  to  get  to  know  [them]  and  .  .  .  help  them  to  become  the 
artists  that  they  are."^^ 

Garry  Walton,  English,  inherited  the  honors  program  from  Carolyn 
Grubbs.  And  Louise  Taylor  extended  for  one  year  her  headship  of  the  En- 
glish department  when  Jean  Jackson,  '75,  who  had  already  been  named 
successor  to  Taylor,  was  asked  to  join  the  administration  as  vice  president 
for  student  development,  following  Sandra  Thomas's  resignation. 

While  Dr.  Thomas  was  on  sabbatical  leave  for  the  1993-94  academic 
term,  she  was  elected  seventh  president  of  Converse  College,  also  a  four- 
year  institution  for  women,  in  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina.  In  her 
twenty-year  tenure,  Meredith's  first  female  vice  president  had  skillfully  in- 
tegrated the  student  development  division  into  the  administrative  struc- 
ture. Before  she  left,  Thomas  talked  with  alumna  Lou  Stephenson  Liver- 
man,  '88:  "[M]y  work  at  Meredith,  my  work  in  higher  education,  my 
educational  preparation  and  my  life  experience  have  all  led  me  to  this 
moment  and  will  serve  me  well.  ...  I  don't  think  you  say  good-bye  after 
20  years;  I  think  you  say,  'Thank  you  for  the  journey.'  "^-^ 

A  month  or  so  before  the  deadline  for  accepting  applications  for 
Thomas's  replacement,  the  Meredith  Herald  reported  the  search  commit- 
tee's having  received  "40-50  [applications]  from  all  over  the  country."^^ 
But  as  sometimes  happens,  the  one  who  seemed  most  qualified  for  the  po- 
sition had  not  applied  at  all.  Records  do  not  pinpoint  the  moment  of  rev- 
elation to  those  charged  with  finding  the  right  person  for  the  job — and 
for  the  right  time — but  they  do  disclose  the  fact  that,  effective  July  i, 
1994,  Jean  Jackson  became  the  new  vice  president  for  student  develop- 
ment. Dr.  Jackson  graduated  magna  cum  laude  from  Meredith  in  1975 
before  earning  her  master's  and  Ph.D.  degrees  at  the  University  of  Illinois, 
where  she  taught  in  the  English  department  from  1976-82.  She  returned 
to  Meredith  in  1983.  In  addition  to  her  classroom  teaching,  she  directed 
internships  and  professional  communications  as  well  as  the  Looking  To- 
ward College  summer  program  for  high  school  students.  And  having 
completed  her  stint  as  chair  of  the  Centennial  Commission,  during  which 
time  Meredith  named  her  "The  Centennial's  Essential  Quintessential 
Woman,"  Jackson  had  been  promoted  to  professor  of  English  and  elected 
to  head  the  department  when  she  accepted  the  vice  presidency.  "Dr.  Jack- 
son brings  to  this  position  experience,  strength,  warmth,  creativity,  and  a 


ALIS   AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-I994     I      Z69 

large  dose  of  humanity,"  said  President  Weems.  "I  think  she  will  offer  the 
kind  of  effective  leadership  our  students  deserve."^^  Her  leadership  would 
express  itself  through  the  campus  minister's  office;  the  personal  growth 
and  counseling  center;  the  dean  of  students'  office;  student  activities  and 
leadership  development;  residence  life;  and  career  services.  Soon  after  her 
appointment,  Jackson  told  Christina  Peoples  of  the  Meredith  Herald, 
"The  school  mattered  absolutely  to  me  as  a  student.  .  .  .  Meredith  is  the 
kind  of  place  that  invites  investment  of  self.'"^*^  In  addition  to  academic 
and  personal  credentials,  the  vice  president  brought  to  her  office  testa- 
ments to  her  talents:  the  Pauline  Perry  FAME  Award  for  excellence  in 
teaching  (1988);  the  Alumnae  Association's  recent  graduate  award 
(1988);  and  the  Laura  Harrill  Presidential  Award  (1992).  In  1996,  she 
would  receive  an  Alumna  Award  for  outstanding  service  to  Meredith  and 
the  community. 

When  she  moved  into  her  office  on  the  first  floor  of  Johnson  Hall, 
she  found  on  her  desk  student-related  issues  ranging  from  the  Ameri- 
cans With  Disabilities  Act  to  proposals  for  expanded  open  house  in  the 
residence  halls.  As  to  the  first  issue,  a  generic  reference  book  calls  the 
Act  "the  most  sweeping  anti-discrimination  legislation  since  the  Civil 
Rights  Act  of  1964.'"^^  Meredith's  responsibilities  to  students  enrolled 
under  the  law  are  printed  in  the  college  catalogue,  but  Dr.  Jackson  shed 
light  on  the  realities  of  compliance:  "This  semester  a  profoundly  deaf 
student  has  enrolled  as  a  freshman.  The  College  is  working  to  provide 
the  necessary  services  needed  for  her  to  function  well,  and  at  the  same 

time  evaluating  the  financial  implications  that  providing  these  services 
entails."42 

Open  house  in  the  residence  halls  was  not  a  new  concern.  In  a  Mere- 
dith Herald  editorial  in  199 1,  Jessica  Cook  had  referred  to  an  "impres- 
sive," "intelligent,  thorough  and  solid"  proposal  which  was  dismissed  by 
the  trustees  in  1987.^^^  The  first  open  house  finally  came,  coinciding  with 
Fall  Fest  1993.  But  in  their  semi-annual  meeting  on  February  23,  1994, 
the  trustees  heard  a  proposal  for  an  expanded  number  of  open  houses. 
Alumna  Jean  Batten  Cooper,  '54,  chair  of  the  trustees'  student  develop- 
ment committee,  moved  acceptance  of  the  proposal,  and  members  of  the 
board  approved;  however,  one  of  the  male  trustees  requested  "regular 
feedback,"  a  duty  which  was  assigned  to  the  dean  of  students.'*'*  The  new 
policy  was  restated  in  the  1994-95  Student  Handbook: 


270     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

A  maximum  of  three  Open  Houses  per  semester  occur  on  desig- 
nated Saturdays  or  Sundays  during  specified  afternoon  hours.  All 
open  houses  are  coordinated  with  other  major  campus  activities 
listed  in  the  Student  Activities  Calendar. 

While  the  above  events  occurred  before  Dr.  Jackson  assumed  the  vice 
presidency,  she  was  nevertheless  much  involved  in  helping  the  policy  suc- 
ceed and  in  overseeing  the  Student  Govenment  Association's  carrying  the 
process  through  to  still  further  expansion  in  1996. 

The  route  of  proposals  and  resolutions  led  ultimately  to  the  trustees' 
agenda.  On  August  25,  1994,  President  Weems  wrote  to  members  of  the 
board  a  letter  that  began,  "At  a  special  faculty  meeting  on  April  29,  1994, 
two  resolutions  were  endorsed  by  the  faculty.'"*^  And  the  correspondence 
ended  with  his  stance  on  the  matter:  "I  personally  do  not  agree  with  the 
majority  .  .  .  and  therefore  cannot  support  these  resolutions.  .  .  .'"'^  The 
body  of  the  letter  quoted  the  action  of  the  faculty: 

We,  the  members  of  the  faculty,  believe  that  diversity  of  experience 
and  respect  for  persons  are  desirable  of  an  institution  of  higher  learn- 
ing, and  beheving  that  sexual  orientation  ([or]  marital  status)  does 
not  affect  faculty  members'  ability  to  fulfill  their  professional  duties 
successfully,  to  interact  productively  with  other  members  of  the  Col- 
lege community,  and  to  make  a  positive  contribution  to  the  life  of  the 
College,  we  therefore  recommend  and  request,  first  that  in  adminis- 
tering employment  policies,  including  the  appointment,  tenure,  and 
promotion  of  faculty  members,  Meredith  College  does  not  discrimi- 
nate on  the  basis  of  gender,  race,  national  and  ethnic  origin  or  sexual 
orientation  ([or]  marital  status)  and,  second  that  a  member  of  the 
Faculty  Affairs  Committee  be  involved  in  revising  section  3.2.16  (Dis- 
crimination) of  the  Faculty  Handbook  accordingly. 

Fifty-five  of  the  faculty  had  voted  in  favor  of  the  sexual  orientation  reso- 
lution, with  32  against  it;  and  58  had  voted  in  favor  of  the  marital  status 
issue,  with  29  in  opposition.  Records  of  the  February  12  meeting  of  the 
executive  committee  indicate  that  the  trustees  discussed  the  matter  and 
resolved 

that  Meredith  College  affirms  its  current  employment  policies,  and 
that  Meredith  College  makes  no  revision  in  the  administration  of  its 


ALIS  AND   OTHER  WONDERLANDS:    1993-1994     I     Z7I 

employment  policies  as  suggested  in  the  two  resolutions  presented 
to  the  Executive  Committee  by  the  faculty  of  Meredith  College  on 
April  29,  1994. 

In  retrospect,  some  Meredith  people  theorize  that  the  trustees'  reaction  to 
the  faculty  resolutions  and  the  faculty's  counter-reaction  were  the  geneses 
of  unaccustomed  tension  between  the  two  bodies,  as  implied  in  later 
chapters. 

THE  WINDS  OF  relationships  and  rights  swirled  around  the  wonderland  of 
society  in  1993-94.  The  number  of  youth  participating  in  violence  and 
crime  was  among  those  "ill  winds."  Senior  Elizabeth  Rihani,  copy  editor 
of  the  Meredith  Herald,  was  disturbed  by  her  world: 

Ever  since  I  worked  in  Washington,  D.C.  this  past  summer,  I  have 
tried  to  avoid  television  news  altogether.  It  just  got  too  much  to 
hear  an  impassive  newscaster  tell  me  night  after  night  who  had 
died,  which  small  country  had  been  blown  off  the  map,  and  what 
precautions  I  should  take  when  I  ventured  out  of  my  home.  .  .  . 

I  guess  we  could  blame  inattentive  parents,  broken  homes,  vio- 
lence on  television,  or  evil  messages  in  rock  music,  but  I  don't  think 
any  of  those  [is]  the  culprit.  In  fact,  I  have  no  idea  how  society  has 
gotten  so  out  of  hand  even  in  the  ten  years  or  so  since  I  was  little. 
.  .  .  Well,  I  don't  have  any  answers,  but  I  do  wish  our  society  wasn't 
so  desensitized  towards  all  the  horrible,  horrible  things  going  on 
these  days.  .  .  .  I'm  just  glad  I'm  not  a  newscaster — I'd  be  crying 
through  the  report  every  night."*^ 

And  in  her  magazine  story,  "From  Classroom  to  Boardroom,"  Del  Hunt 
Johnson  hinted  that  young  adults  in  general  and  Meredith  young  women 
in  particular  might  prepare  to  shield  themselves  against  the  storms  of  the 
workplace: 

Beyond  Meredith's  comforting  gates  lies  a  mean  world.  Seniors 
without  job  prospects  face  the  reality  of  living  in  an  underemployed 
purgatory,  or  worse,  at  home  with  parents,  joining  the  "boome- 
rang" generation.  And  while  good  grades  look  nice  on  paper,  they 
don't  guarantee  success.  An  "A"  in  quantitative  statistics  doesn't 
mean  you'll  pass  "office  politics"  where  career  stakes  are  higher. 


272.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Textbooks  and  classroom  lectures  can't  cover  the  finer  points  of 
how  to  lead  a  committee  meeting,  ask  for  a  raise  or  confront  a  dif- 
ficult co-worker.  That  only  comes  with  experience."^^ 

But  many  crosscurrents  of  the  culture  stirred  much  ado  about  corpo- 
rate greed  and  politics,  some  about  gender  and  racial  bias,  some  about 
violence,  some  about  abortion  on  demand,  and  some  about  marital  status 
and  sexual  preference — and,  again,  much  about  terrorism,  following  the 
bombing  of  the  World  Trade  Center  in  New  York  City  that  killed  six  peo- 
ple, injured  hundreds,  and  left  a  jittery  public  to  ponder  the  workings  of 
international  politics  and  religious  fanaticism. 

President  Clinton  might  have  overcome  any  semblance  of  gender  bias 
by  nominating  Janet  Reno  as  the  first  female  attorney  general  of  the 
United  States,  who,  in  her  inaugural  year,  might  have  overcome  any  sem- 
blance of  partisanship  by  appointing  an  independent  counsel  to  investi- 
gate President  and  Mrs.  Clinton's  roles  in  a  questionable  real  estate  ven- 
ture in  Arkansas.  In  Congress,  Republicans  issued  their  Contract  with 
America,  promising,  among  other  things,  less  government  intervention 
than  that  initiated  by  the  long-time  controUing  "tax-and-spend"  Demo- 
crats. Voters  liked  what  they  saw  and  heard  and,  on  election  day,  1994, 
gave  the  Republican  Party  majorities  in  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  of 
Representatives  for  the  first  time  in  forty  years. 

While  political  tension  reached  a  high  point,  so  did  racial  unrest.  Ver- 
dicts of  innocence  in  the  trials  in  California  of  the  white  police  officers 
who  allegedly  beat  Rodney  King,  a  black  motorist,  and  of  O.J.  Simpson, 
a  black  football  hero  charged  with  killing  his  former  wife  and  a  friend — 
both  white — were  jeered  and  cheered,  often  along  racial  lines. 

FUTURE  STUDENTS  OF  the  Cultural  influences  of  1993-94  might  appreci- 
ate the  statement  printed  in  the  192.4  program  for  the  faculty's  first  pre- 
sentation of  Alice  in  'Wonderland: 

In  this  country  of  contraries  you  will  see  and  hear  many  strange 
things.  .  .  .  Come  to  Wonderland  with  Alice. 


13 


THE   MARKETPLACE 
^995 


IN  1904,  BAPTIST  Female  University,  "A  High  Grade  College  for  Women," 
advertised  that  six  men  and  nineteen  women  composed  its  faculty  and  ad- 
ministration. But  most  of  the  ad  copy  told  prospective  students  what  they 
needed  to  know  about  curriculum,  living  conditions,  and  costs: 

DIPLOMAS  given  in  the  Arts,  Science,  and  Philosophy;  in  Music, 
Art,  and  Expression  %  School  of  the  Bible  under  graduate  of  New- 
ton Theological  Seminary  f  Thorough  Business  Course  f  Excep- 
tional advantages  in  Music  %  Excellent  equipment  for  teaching  Sci- 
ence f  Club  system  adopted  by  two-fifths  of  the  boarding  pupils,  at 
a  saving  of  $50.00  per  session  |  Students  cared  for  by  lady  princi- 
pal, lady  physician,  matron,  and  nurse  f  Another  dormitory  in 
course  of  erection  to  accommodate  90  girls  %  Board,  Literary  tu- 
ition, heat,  light,  baths  (hot  or  cold),  fees  for  physician,  nurse  and  li- 
brary, $107.30  per  session — in  clubs,  $40.00  to  $50.00  less.^ 

So  five  years  after  the  university  accepted  its  first  students  in  1899,  it 
sought  visibility  in  the  marketplace.  But  Meredith  College,  BFU's  well- 
established  successor,  learned  more  about  marketing  strategies  in  the  last 
two  decades  of  the  twentieth  century  than  it  had  previously  needed  to 
know.  In  a  1983  pubHcation  titled  Marketing  Higher  Education,  authors 
Robert  Topor  and  M.  Frederic  Volkmann  wrote,  "Only  a  few  years  ago, 

273 


274     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

it  was  certain  political  suicide  in  higher  education  to  utter  the  words 
'marketing'  or  'market  research'  at  a  faculty  meeting  or  a  gathering  of  the 
president's  cabinet. .  .  .  Now,  we  regularly  hear  deans  and  professors  talk- 
ing about  targeting,  market  share,  positioning,  and  feedback  with  the 
same  excitement  that  scientists  talk  about  discovery."^  The  change  came, 
speculated  Meredith  in  1992,  as  colleges  vied  for  students  because  "that 
segment  of  society's  population  is  well  into  its  predicted  decline  and  .  .  . 
costs  of  private  higher  education  escalate  more  rapidly  and  more  visibly 
than  tuition  and  fees  of  state-supported  schools."^  The  magazine  also 
suggested  that  the  College  competed  in  the  marketplace  not  only  for  the 
enrollment  of  students  but  also  for  the  retention  of  those  already  en- 
rolled; for  donors;  for  the  best  faculty  for  the  money;  for  accreditation; 
for  a  favorable  image;  for  the  legislator's  ear;  for  the  alumna's  loyalty; 
and  so  on."^ 

In  intervening  years,  hundreds  of  Meredith  advertisements  reached 
their  targeted  audiences  through  almost  every  available  medium — 
radio,  video,  television,  print,  billboards,  the  Internet.  The  messages  were 
largely  informational  but  with  some  imaginative —  if  reserved — propa- 
ganda. 

But  in  the  spring  of  1996,  clever  ads  in  bold  print  would  catch  the 
collective  eye  of  readers  of  the  News  and  Observer  and  other  publica- 
tions. For  students  of  all  classifications,  a  message  teased,  "We  attract  the 
brightest,  most  ambitious  students.  (Naturally,  we're  a  women's  college.)" 
And  in  another  edition,  the  same  style  would  attract  prospective  re-entry 
women:  "You've  hemmed  a  skirt  using  only  office  supplies,  trained  your 
own  boss  and  argued  down  a  mechanic's  bill.  Going  back  for  your  degree 
will  seem  easy."  A  third  in  the  series  beckoned  women  with  M.B.A.  am- 
bitions: "Sit  around  discussing  economic  theories,  corporate  strategies 
and  the  latest  in  quantitative  analysis.  You  know,  typical  girl  stuff."  Ad- 
vertising was  expensive,  but,  in  college  and  university  development  of- 
fices across  the  land,  the  often-quoted  adage  of  uncertain  origin  was  "To 
make  money,  you  have  to  spend  money." 

The  17th  century  proverb — "Money  talks" — was  never  more  prover- 
bial than  in  the  nineties.  As  the  economy  fared,  so  fared  the  country. 
Americans  seemed  to  be  obsessed  with  "the  bottom  line" — originally  a 
euphemism  for  "financial  outcome" — the  lifeline  to  everything  material. 
The  profit  motive  helped  to  define  the  marketplace  as  a  territory,  with  or 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    I995      I      275 

without  physical  boundaries,  where  goods  and  services  were  bought  and 
sold  in  agreed-upon  amounts  for  the  current  medium  of  exchange.  But 
perhaps  the  metaphorical  marketplace — a  gathering  place  where  the 
media  of  exchange  are  ideas  and  opinions — was  rarely  considered  in 
those  days.  Meredith  functioned  in  both  forums. 

ALTHOUGH  THE  EVENING  of  February  9,  1995,  might  better  have  been  de- 
scribed as  a  drama  than  as  the  civil  discourse  usually  associated  with  the 
word  "forum,"  countless  ideas  and  opinions  were  exchanged — dramati- 
cally. The  marketplace  was  Belk  Dining  Hall  turned  theater,  and  the  plot 
was  about  change  at  Meredith,  Lead  players  were  President  Weems  and 
Claude  Williams,  chair  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Others  in  the  company 
were  trustees,  faculty,  staff,  and  a  few  alumnae  and  students.  Some  of  the 
cast  performed  cameo  roles,  which  were  alternately  applauded  and 
scoffed  at,  while  many  held  only  bit  parts  with  no  dialogue,  except  for 
whispered  asides.  And  there  was  no  audience;  the  hundreds  in  attendance 
were  participants  swept  up  in  the  emotion  of  the  evening,  wondering  how 
the  denouement  would  affect  their  own  lives.  In  his  invitation  to  the 
event.  President  Weems  had  touted  the  occasion  as  "the  most  important 
meeting  we  have  had  at  Meredith  College  in  the  twenty-four  years  I  have 
been  here."^ 

He  had  preceded  his  summons  with  correspondence  to  the  faculty  in 
general,  and,  with  slightly  edited  wording,  to  department  heads.  In  letters 
dated  January  3 1,  he  applied  to  Meredith  a  series  of  "reality  checks" — an 
expression  coined  in  the  nineties — such  as  a  shortfall  in  revenue  because 
of  an  enrollment  drop  and  an  unsatisfactory  student  retention  rate;  fierce 
competition  for  the  traditional-aged  freshman;  a  burgeoning  adult  popu- 
lation in  colleges  and  universities  across  the  nation;  a  buyers'  market;  in- 
efficiency in  cost  containment;  a  false  sense  that  Triangle  residents  knew 
Meredith  while,  in  reality,  the  thousands  of  newcomers  to  the  area  had 
had  no  contact  at  all  with  the  College;  a  five-year  decrease  in  numbers  of 
full-time  North  Carolina  students  at  private  colleges,  with  118  of  the 
1,733  lost  students  having  been  lost  by  Meredith;  and  the  fact  that  "[a]ny 
continued  loss  in  Meredith's  market  share  is  going  to  be  very  difficult  to 
recover." 

Weems  admonished  that  "Meredith  must  act  and  act  quickly"  through 
a  "small  window  of  opportunity  to  solidify  our  presence  in  the  commu- 


Z76     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

nity  and  firmly  stake  our  claim."^  Again  on  February  3,  he  expounded  on 
the  theme  in  a  six-page  catalogue  of  necessities  for  change,  insisting  to 
academic  department  heads  that  "Meredith  has  more  opportunities  than 
any  other  college  in  North  Carolina."^  Some  of  the  necessities  Weems 
cited  for  Meredith  were  "fiscal  vitality";  leadership  at  every  level  of  the 
administration;  innovation  and  creativity;  a  broader  clientele;  an  effective 
evening  program;  a  growing  graduate  program;  morning,  afternoon,  and 
evening  classes  on  a  "student-friendly"  campus,  where  offices  and  ser- 
vices are  available  during  off-hours  and  on  weekends;  reductions  in  time 
of  committee  meetings  and  in  costs  of  education  delivery;  and  a  "tight- 
knit,  cohesive  administrative  team,"  adding,  "From  this  point  on,  it  must 
be  my  team.  .  .  "^  The  perceived  declaration  of  unilateral  decision-making 
appeared  to  be  the  recurring  conflict  in  the  drama. 

The  Biblical  Recorder  ran  a  review,  which  borrowed  extensively  from 
coverage  of  the  event  by  the  News  and  Observer: 

John  Weems,  president  of  Meredith  College  in  Raleigh,  did  a  roll- 
call  of  financial  pressures  and  called  for  some  major  changes  during 
a  special  meeting  of  administrators,  faculty  and  trustees  on  Febru- 
ary 9. 

Weems  said  the  women's  college  is  facing  the  possibility  of  finan- 
cial disaster  in  the  next  10  years  unless  it  becomes  "more  consumer- 
oriented"  by  opening  its  doors  to  non-traditional  students  with 
evening  and  weekend  classes  and  accelerated  programs.  .  .  . 

Meredith  .  .  .  faces  constant  competition  from  other  educational 
institutions  in  the  city  which  offer  regular  campus  programs  in  the 
Raleigh  area,  plus  satellite  programs  in  Wake  County  from  schools 
which  are  outside  the  area.  .  .  . 

According  to  a  study  in  the  Raleigh  News  and  Observer,  Weems 
said  "the  problems  are  many  and  the  solutions  are  few.  In  a  labor- 
intensive  business,  the  only  way  to  make  major  cost  reductions  is  in 
personnel." 

That  statement  prompted  fire  from  faculty  present  in  the  session 
and  from  students  who  watched  the  proceedings  ...  on  closed- 
circuit  television.  The  students  "could  be  heard  hooting  and  holler- 
ing in  support  of  faculty  members,  who  themselves  gave  only  tepid 
applause  to  Weems'  remarks,"  the  N&O  reported. 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I      277 

In  contrast,  faculty  gave  enthusiastic  applause  to  the  critical 
comments  of  Bernard  H.  Cochran,  professor  of  philosophy  and  re- 
ligion, the  newspaper  article  stated. 

Cochran  charged  the  school  was  about  to  "sell  its  soul"  in  the  in- 
terest of  increasing  enrollment,  the  [News  and  Observer]  article  by 
Thomas  Hackett  said. 

The  professor  also  objected  to  what  he  called  the  "in-your-face" 
memos  from  the  president  to  the  faculty  in  recent  days.  Cochran 
also  said  the  faculty  was  shocked  and  dismayed  that  there  had  been 
so  little  collegiality  to  the  discussion  of  major  changes,  the  article 
added. 

Trustees  praised  Weems,  who  has  been  president  of  the  largest 
all-women's  college  in  the  Southeast  since  1972,  for  addressing  hard 
financial  realities.^ 

Before  all  reviews  were  in — resolutions  by  segments  of  the  school,  in- 
cluding the  Student  Government  Association;  letters  to  the  editor  of  the 
Meredith  Herald  and  to  Raleigh's  News  and  Observer;  phone  calls  from 
parents;  recommendations  from  the  Alumnae  Association;  some  rather 
formal  forums,  such  as  a  series  of  Open  Conversations,  for  the  faculty — 
President  Weems  wrote  to  academic  department  heads: 

Since  last  Thursday,  I  have  had  the  opportunity  to  talk  with  many 
trustees,  faculty,  administrators,  alumnae,  and  students.  These  con- 
versations have  been  very  good  for  me.  Almost  to  a  person  those  I 
talked  with  were  of  the  opinion  that  Meredith  could  evolve,  make 
the  right  moves,  and  continue  to  progress  without  the  misplaced 
zeal  I  have  exhibited  in  the  last  few  weeks. 

After  reflecting  on  their  comments,  I  am  convinced  they  are  right, 
and  I  went  about  pressing  for  immediate  change  in  the  wrong  way. 
.  .  .  Many  of  you  have  shared  with  me  great  ideas  for  change  that 
will  help  us  solve  the  problems  we  are  bound  to  face  within  a  very 
few  years. 

I  am  now  convinced  that  we  can  move  through  our  normal  chan- 
nels, without  emergency  meetings  and  without  trustee  oversight  to 
accomplish  all  we  need  to  do  to  keep  Meredith  at  the  very  top  in 
women's  education.  We  have  highly  intelligent  faculty  and  staff  who 


278      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

can  face  our  problems  and  satisfy  our  needs  without  my  creating 
the  crisis  atmosphere  that  I  invoked  last  week.  .  .  .^^ 

On  the  same  day,  which  happened  to  be  St.  Valentine's  Day  1995,  Weems 
also  wrote  to  students: 

It  has  come  to  my  attention  that  some  of  you  think  Meredith  has 
made  a  decision  to  become  a  community  college  or  a  technical  in- 
stitute. Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  Our  mission  and 
purpose  is  to  educate  women  in  a  liberal  arts  tradition.  While 
Meredith  has  evolved  over  the  last  twenty-five  years,  it  is  a  much 
stronger  college  today  and  is  considered  one  of  the  premier  institu- 
tions of  higher  education  in  the  state.  Meredith  has  always  main- 
tained a  strong  commitment  to  its  historical  core  of  traditional  aged 
students.  Whatever  strategies  we  embark  upon  in  the  future  will  be 
designed  to  assure  that  this  commitment  can  be  maintained.  Cer- 
tainly a  successful  college  such  as  Meredith  would  have  no  desire  to 
lessen  in  any  way  the  very  heart  of  the  institution.^^ 

Among  the  reams  of  correspondence  circulated  during  the  period  was  a 
letter  to  the  News  and  Observer  from  Nina  I.  McClellan,  a  member  of 
the  junior  class: 

I  am  proud  to  be  a  Meredith  junior.  Classes  here  are  demanding  and 
challenging.  I  attend  a  college  that  is  filled  with  self-sufficient,  cre- 
ative, strong  and  intelligent  women.  A  popular  misconception  held 
by  many  outside  of  this  school,  and  apparently  by  some  members  of 
our  board  of  trustees,  is  that  Meredith  exists  merely  to  prepare  its 
students  to  become  better  wives  and  mothers.  Although  these  roles 
are  truly  noble,  they  do  not  represent  the  only  desires  of  the  women 
at  Meredith  College.  I  know  that  some  of  us,  upon  graduating,  will 
be  fantastic  mothers  and  wives.  At  the  same  time,  however,  we  will 
also  be  fantastic  scientists,  teachers,  politicians,  artists,  musicians, 
businesswomen,  and  doctors. 

I  hope  that  before  [President]  Weems  makes  any  changes,  he  re- 
views very  carefully  the  things  that  are  right  at  this  school.'^ 

Cynthia  Griffith  McEnery,  '70,  president  of  the  Alumnae  Association, 
wrote  to  the  Meredith  Herald: 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    I995      I      279 

During  the  February  9  meeting,  I  expressed  my  support  for  the  con- 
cept of  re-engineering  the  college.  I  also  expressed  my  concern  that 
re-engineering  must  be  done  against  an  agreed-upon  vision.  I  indi- 
cated my  willingness  on  behalf  of  the  Alumnae  Association  to  par- 
ticipate in  a  process  to  define  both  the  vision  and  necessary  changes 
for  Meredith.  .  .  .^^ 

Under  McEnery's  leadership,  the  executive  committee  of  the  Alumnae  As- 
sociation proposed  to  the  trustees  the  appointment  of  a  task  force,  whose 
recommendations,  if  underwritten  by  the  board,  "would  position  Mere- 
dith College  for  the  21st  century."^"*  The  trustees  accepted  the  proposal 
and,  in  a  called  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  on  March  13,  1995, 
also  approved  the  composition  of  the  organization,  members  of  which 
were  elected  by  their  own  groups:  students  Kelly  Formy-Duval,  SGA  pres- 
ident, June  Holland,  president  of  the  executive  committee  of  SGA,  and 
Alyce  Turner,  president  of  Silver  Shield;  faculty  representatives  Drs.  Clay, 
professor  of  education.  Knight,  professor  of  mathematics,  and  Webb,  pro- 
fessor of  English;  administrative  staff  members  Drs.  Jackson,  vice  presi- 
dent for  student  development,  Johnson,  dean  of  the  John  E.  Weems  Grad- 
uate School  and  continuing  education,  and  Page,  dean  of  undergraduate 
instruction  and  registrar;  and  alumnae  Carolyn  Carter,  '73,  Anne  Clark 
Dahle,  '54,  and  task  force  chair,  Cindy  Griffith  McEnery,  '70.  Trustees  on 
the  executive  committee  were  adamant  that  the  task  force  report  only  to 
them  and  that  Dr.  Weems  "proceed  with  his  vision  for  the  institution."^^ 
In  staunch  support  of  the  president,  the  executive  committee,  on  Au- 
gust 21,  unanimously  passed  trustee  George  McCotter's  motion  to  "offer 
Dr.  John  E.  Weems  a  seven-year  contract  extending  through  the  year 
2002."  1^  An  experienced  president  would  bring  stability  to  the  College  in 
periods  of  rapid  change,  they  declared — particularly  in  light  of  the  ques- 
tionable relationship  with  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  In  executive  ses- 
sion at  a  called  meeting  on  September  22,  the  trustees  resolved  "that  the 
Board  ...  by  and  with  the  concurrence  of  President  John  E.  Weems,  com- 
mit themselves  individually  and  as  fiduciaries  of  the  institution  to  con- 
tinue together  in  the  promotion,  strengthening  and  preparation  of 
Meredith  College  to  fulfill  its  missions,  purposes  and  journey  into  and  be- 
yond the  Twenty-First  Century."  ^^  In  his  annual  message,  published  about 
the  same  time,  Weems  said. 


28o     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  trustees  have  a  new  role  to  play.  .  .  .  They  have  always  been  the 
legal  policy-making  body  for  Meredith.  Without  their  wisdom  and 
guidance  Meredith  would  not  have  become  the  institution  it  is 
today.  There  is  more  to  do,  however.  This  body  of  men  and  women 
literally  own  the  college.  .  .  .  The  vision  of  greatness  for  Meredith 
must  start  with  the  trustees.  ...  It  will  be  their  expectations  that 
continually  make  Meredith  evolve  into  greatness.  They  must  have  a 
vision  that  requires  us  to  be  more  than  we  are.^^ 

While  the  president  and  the  trustees  seemed  to  strengthen  their  bonds 
and,  between  them,  redefine  trustees'  roles,  the  faculty  sensed  an  es- 
trangement between  themselves  and  the  governing  body,  as  represented 
by  faculty  affairs  committee  co-chairs  Deborah  Smith,  biology,  and  Jerod 
Kratzer,  education.  To  a  September  19  memorandum  to  the  faculty. 
Smith  and  Kratzer  attached  a  copy  of  the  committee's  report  to  the 
trustees  for  consideration  at  the  board's  semi-annual  meeting  on  Septem- 
ber 22.  In  part,  the  report  read. 

During  the  past  year,  the  Meredith  community  has  struggled  with 
issues  wrought  with  emotion  and  often  delineated  by  blurred 
boundaries.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  events  of  the  last  year  have 
widened  a  chasm  between  the  faculty  and  Trustees,  leaving  us  to 
call  loudly  across  the  void  with  the  hope  of  being  heard. ^^ 

In  regular  session  in  October,  the  faculty  accepted  the  resignations 
from  the  task  force  of  Drs.  Clay,  Knight,  and  Webb  and  made  no  effort 
to  elect  new  representatives.^^  The  work  of  the  task  force  declined  from 
that  point.  Inasmuch  as  records  do  not  report  its  dissolution  by  the  body 
that  appointed  it,  the  task  force  presumably  died  a  natural  death.  Mean- 
while, Norman  Kellum,  an  attorney  from  Greensboro,  who  was  elected 
to  chair  the  Board  of  Trustees,  effective  January  i,  1996,  achieved  high 
visibility  as  he  met  with  individuals  and  constituent  groups,  narrowing 
some  of  the  rifts. 

THE  ENROLLMENT  MANAGEMENT  team  continued  into  its  second  year. 
Having  been  appointed  by  the  president  in  1994,  the  team  was  chaired  by 
Dr.  Spooner,  who,  by  amendment  to  the  bylaws,  had  been  assigned  the 
responsibility  of  enrollment.  Others  on  the  team  were  Gordon  Folger,  di- 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     281 

rector  of  career  services;  Melinda  Henderson,  assistant  director  of  alum- 
nae affairs;  Mary  Johnson,  dean  of  the  graduate  school  and  dean  of  con- 
tinuing education;  Sue  Kearney,  director  of  admissions  and  enrollment 
management  research;  Elizabeth  McDuffie,  director  of  scholarships  and 
financial  assistance;  Jeannie  Morelock,  director  of  college  communica- 
tions; Allen  Page,  dean  of  undergraduate  instruction  and  registrar;  Regi- 
nald Shiflett,  chemistry  department  head;  and  Dorothy  Sizemore,  dean  of 
students.  From  the  beginning,  the  team's  goals  included  a  "user-friendly" 
campus  and  improvement  in  the  retention  rate.^^ 

As  fans  were  often  called  the  tw^elfth  member  of  a  football  team,  so 
Meredith  alumnae  could  have  been  designated  the  eleventh  member  of 
the  enrollment  management  team:  Forty  women  in  fifteen  states  and  nine 
delegates  from  alumnae  chapters  in  North  Carolina  agreed  to  represent 
the  College  for  the  admissions  office.  Kearney  cited  other  volunteer  ef- 
forts by  the  12,000-member  body  of  alumnae:  "calling  accepted  appli- 
cants, hosting  socials  for  prospects,  and  representing  the  admissions  of- 
fice at  some  college  day  events."^^ 

By  the  first  faculty  meeting  of  the  fall  semester,  members  of  the  team 
were  ecstatic.  Kearney  reported,  "This  year's  420  anticipated  freshmen* 
will  be  the  largest  class  ever;  there  will  be  86  transfer  students,  6  re- 
admits, 4  international  visitors."^^ 

A  headline  on  Page  i  of  the  July  19  News  and  Observer  had  already 
announced  the  good  news:  "Enrollment  jump  delights  Meredith."  The  ar- 
ticle reported,  "A  record  number  of  high  school  seniors  have  signed  up  to 
attend  Meredith  this  fall.  .  .  .  Total  enrollment  is  expected  to  be  about 
2,400 — 50  more  women  than  last  year."  N&O  writer  Debbi  Sykes  said, 
"Something  seems  to  be  working  for  women's  colleges  even  as  universi- 
ties have  to  cope  with  some  of  the  smaller  high  school  graduating  classes 
in  decades."-"^  Sykes  had  conferred  with  Jadwiga  Sebrechts,  executive  di- 
rector of  the  Women's  College  Coalition  in  Washington: 

[F]or  the  fourth  consecutive  year,  applications  and  enrollments  have 
increased  at  more  than  three-quarters  of  U.S.  women's  colleges. 

Sebrechts  attributed  the  trend  to  several  factors. 

One,  she  said,  is  the  debate  over  gender  sparked  by  Anita  Hill's 

*  Later  statistics  show  that  416  freshmen  actually  enrolled. 


Z82     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

allegations  of  sexual  harassment  against  Clarence  Thomas  during 
his  confirmation  as  a  Supreme  Court  justice.  Another  is  the  1992 
Association  of  University  Women  report  that  said  girls  were  getting 
shortchanged  in  the  classroom.^^ 

President  Weems  also  exuded  optimism:  In  his  annual  message,  he  wrote, 

From  the  incoming  freshman  class,  34  students  are  expected  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  Honors  Program —  the  most  freshmen  ever  to  accept 
our  invitation.  The  six  recipients  of  the  Meredith  College  Academic 
Scholarships  have  average  SAT  scores  of  1328  and  rank  in  the  top 
one  to  two  percent  of  their  class.  The  Harris  Scholarships  were 
keenly  contested,  and  the  1 2  winners  bring  superior  academic  and 
leadership  qualities.  We  are  also  expecting  32  Teaching  Fellows  to 
enroll  this  fall.  .  .  ?^ 

Unclear  was  the  ratio  of  a  record-breaking  freshman  class  to  the  experi- 
ment of  allowing  "all  resident  students  .  .  .  the  opportunity  to  park  on 
campus."^^  In  fact,  freshmen  would  be  able  to  drive  their  own  cars  back 
to  Raleigh  after  spring  break  in  March.  Vice  President  Taylor  said  of 
the  enrollment  management  team's  recommendation:  "We  at  Meredith 
don't  hold  with  the  philosophy  that  having  a  car  means  doing  poorly  in 
school.  .  .  ."^^ 

The  evening  program,  so  vigorously  promoted  by  President  Weems, 
would  be  tested  in  the  1995  fall  semester,  although  a  similar  plan  had 
been  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  Academic  Council  as  early  as  March 
1983:  "Dean  Burris  reminded  the  group  of  the  College's  commitment  to 
an  evening  program  and  to  the  idea  that  students  could  satisfy  the  general 
education  requirements  for  degrees  by  attending  classes  in  the  evenings 
for  a  period  of  three  to  five  years."^^  But  the  1995  version  offered  a  more 
comprehensive  agenda.  While  it  started  rather  tentatively  with  twelve 
women,  it  gained  momentum  and,  by  the  fall  of  1996,  had  enrolled  forty- 
seven  new  students.  Specifically  for  working  women,  the  program  pro- 
vided "an  academically  excellent  four-year  degree  through  flexible  sched- 
uling and  sensitivity  to  women's  needs  in  accordance  with  the  overall 
mission  of  the  College."^"  The  idea  for  Meredith  After5  arose,  in  part, 
from  statistics  showing  that  more  than  half  the  adult  female  population 
worked  full-time.  While  the  program  faced  competition  from  similar  of- 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     283 

ferings  of  other  local  and  of  satellite  campuses,  it  believed  in  the  advan- 
tages of  its  all-female  status.  Classes  in  the  first  curriculum  of  Meredith 
After 5 — majors  in  social  work;  business  administration  management 
concentration;  American  civilization;  and  a  communications  concentra- 
tion in  the  English  department — would  also  be  available  to  re-entry 
women  and  traditional-age  students.  Madra  Britt,  who  had  directed  the 
enrichment  program,  was  named  to  direct  Meredith  After  5.  Raleighites 
— especially  those  frequenting  the  Fayetteville  Street  Mall  Thursday 
evenings  for  Alive  After  Five —  related  to  the  name  of  the  program.  "Alive 
After  Five"  was  a  corporate-  and  Raleigh  Convention  Center-sponsored 
event  for  the  commingling  of  bands,  fast  food,  and  droves  of  people — es- 
pecially young  adults — for  music  and  camaraderie.  Whether  on  purpose 
or  accidentally,  Carol  Swink  used  a  good  marketing  strategy  in  the 
Meredith  Herald  by  subtly  connecting  the  college  program  to  the  weekly 
downtown  activity  with  her  story  title,  "After  Five  Comes  Alive  ."^^ 

The  academic  pulse  of  Meredith  before  5:00  also  beat  strongly  and 
regularly  as  lively  new  treatments  were  prescribed.  For  instance,  the  psy- 
chology department  branched  out  beyond  its  own  students  to  reach  au- 
tistic children,  when  it  inaugurated  its  "in-lab  and  in-home  behavioral 
training  for  the  children  .  .  .  ."^'  The  program  served  five  pre-schoolers  in 
developing  their  "play  skills,  receptive  and  expressive  language,  social 
skills,  self-help  skills  and  pre-academics,"  and  it  also  served  about  eigh- 
teen Meredith  students  in  training  the  young  women  to  work  with  autis- 
tic children  and  their  parents. ^^  A  man  from  Raleigh  approached  Presi- 
dent Weems  at  a  Christmas  party  in  1995,  introduced  himself,  and  said, 
"Let  me  tell  you  something  fascinating."  The  man  told  of  his  grandson's 
having  been  diagnosed  with  autism  while  the  boy  and  his  parents  lived  in 
Switzerland.  Dr.  Weems  retold  the  man's  story: 

In  consultation  with  their  Swiss  doctor  [my  son]  and  his  wife  tried 
to  determine  the  best  course  to  follow  for  treatment  for  their  son. 
Their  doctor  contacted  a  specialist  in  Germany  for  advice.  The  Ger- 
man doctor  then  contacted  a  doctor  in  New  York  City.  . .  .  The  doc- 
tor in  New  York  City  contacted  a  doctor  in  California  ....  The 
doctor  in  California,  a  specialist  in  autistic  children,  said  that 
Meredith  College  in  Raleigh,  N.C.,  had  a  special  program  for  autis- 
tic children  that  he  thought  would  be  very  appropriate  for  their 


Z84     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

child.  My  son  resigned  from  his  job  in  Switzerland,  and  he  and  his 
family  are  moving  back  to  Raleigh  to  enroll  his  child  in  the  Mere- 
dith program.^"* 

Doreen  Fairbank,  Ed.D.,  assistant  professor  of  psychology,  was  named 
director  of  the  program. 

Other  injections  of  vitality  included  a  $37,500  grant  from  the  North 
Carolina  Biotechnology  Center  to  Elizabeth  Wolfinger,  assistant  profes- 
sor of  biology  and  health  sciences,  for  her  proposal,  "Integrating  Biotech- 
nology into  the  Meredith  College  Science  Curriculum."^^  Use  of  the  grant 
would  include  funding  of  a  new  course  on  Introduction  to  Biotechnology, 
said  Dr.  Wolfinger.  The  same  department  also  offered  a  new  concen- 
tration— environmental  science — for  students  pursuing  a  B.S.  degree  in 
biology. 

The  Department  of  Foreign  Languages  acquired  a  state-of-the-art  lan- 
guage laboratory  in  its  home  territory  of  Joyner  Hall,  replacing  the  lab  in 
Carlyle  Campbell  Library.  Meredith  reported  that  the  used  equipment 
"was  donated  to  a  Native  American  group  .  .  .  for  their  ancestral  lan- 
guage project  in  North  Carolina."^^  And  foreign  language  students  with 
a  3.0  average,  who  had  earned  "an  A  in  at  least  two  consecutive  semes- 
ters of  study  in  the  same  foreign  language,"  were  eligible  for  induction 
into  Alpha  Mu  Gamma,  Meredith's  chapter  of  the  National  Foreign  Lan- 
guage Honor  Society,  chartered  in  April.^^ 

The  Department  of  Sociology  and  Social  Work  introduced  a  new 
minor  in  women's  studies.  And  when  Meredith  added  a  licensure  pro- 
gram for  theatre  majors  preparing  to  teach  theatrical  arts  in  the  public 
schools,  the  College  became  one  of  only  two  in  the  state  granting  licen- 
sure in  the  four  areas  of  art,  dance,  music,  and  theatre  arts. 

Beginning  August  21  on  the  cable  channel  of  Cooperating  Raleigh 
Colleges,  Carolyn  Grubbs,  history  department  head,  and  Michael  Novak, 
associate  professor,  offered  a  telecourse  on  the  Western  Tradition.  De- 
signed for  Meredith  After5  students,  the  course  would  "survey  western 
history  from  its  origins  in  the  Ancient  Near  East  to  the  beginnings  of 
Modern  European  society  in  about  the  sixteenth  century,"  explained  Dr. 
Novak.  "In  this  respect,"  he  added,  "it  will  correspond  roughly  to  His- 
tory 1 01."^^  Students  in  the  course  would  participate  in  an  orientation 
session  to  cover  their  responsibilities  of  watching  the  lectures  and  reading 


THE   MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     285 

their  assignments;  and  their  teacher -student  communication  by  E-mail 
or  "telephone  office  hours"  would  suffice  until  Saturdays,  when  they 
would  come  to  the  classroom  for  "review  and  discussion."^^  During  the 
summer,  the  media  services  staff  photographed  and  edited  the  material 
for  fifty-two  television  classes. 

While  the  new  department  head  in  English  held  no  classes  on  cablevi- 
sion,  he  earned  at  least  a  modicum  of  celebrity  as  the  first  male  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  College  to  head  his  department:  W.  Garrett  (Garry)  Walton, 
Jr.,  holds  the  A.B.,  A.M.,  and  the  Ph.D.from  the  University  of  Virginia.  At 
the  time  of  his  appointment,  he  had  taught  at  Meredith  for  twelve  years 
and  had  directed  the  honors  program.  He  was  well-versed  in  his  depart- 
ment's history:  "While  Meredith's  Department  of  English  no  longer  fea- 
tures 'the  big  three'  (Professors  Johnson,  Rose  and  Knight),"  he  said, 
"their  dedication  and  commitment  to  excellence  continue  to  characterize 
the  department."  He  cited  "exciting  .  .  .  developments  of  the  last  decade  — 
off-campus  internships,  the  professional  communications  concentration, 
[and]  new  course  offerings  in  African- American  and  world  liter ature."'*° 

Although  the  message  of  Dr.  Walton's  appointment  spread  far  and 
wide,  it  never  quite  made  the  New  York  Times,  but  news  of  three  of  his 
colleagues  did:  Dr.  Knight,  one  of  the  "big  three"  mentioned  in  Walton's 
comments;  Dr.  Jackson,  vice  president  for  student  development  and  pro- 
fessor of  English;  and  Lou  Rosser  of  the  adjunct  English  faculty  were 
quoted  extensively  by  Times  writer  Sara  Rimer,  who  interviewed  the 
Meredith  scholars  at  a  Keats  conference  at  Harvard.  Ms.  Rimer  wrote  in 
her  "Cambridge  Journal"  for  September  ii,  "At  the  opening  dinner  .  .  .  , 
the  three  professors  from  North  Carolina  pointed  reverently  to  the  next 
table,  where  sat  Walter  Jackson  Bate,  the  Harvard  professor  who  wrote  a 
biography  of  Keats  that  won  a  Pulitzer  Prize."'^^  The  writer  added, 
"  'Everyone  who's  anyone  in  the  Keats  world  is  here,'  .  .  .  said  Professor 
Knight,  brushing  off  her  own  knowledge  of  the  poet  whom  she  has  been 
teaching  for  nearly  40  years."'*^  The  article,  titled  "At  Harvard,  Lovers  of 
Beauty  Sing  a  Collective  Ode  to  Keats,"  also  quoted  Mrs.  Rosser,  who 
said  she  "required  her  students  to  memorize  poetry.  'The  more  you  say  it, 
the  more  you  understand  it,'  she  said.  'And  if  you  have  to  get  an  MRI  or 
get  stuck  in  an  elevator,  how  much  better  to  recite  Keats  than  Snoop 
Doggy  Dogg.'  "'^^  The  five-column,  half-page  feature  ended  with  Knight's 
words:  "  'We  have  eaten,  we  have  lived,  we  have  breathed  Keats.  .  .  .  It's 


2.86     \     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

like  eating  steak  and  ice  cream  for  three  days.'  She  could  not  wait,  she 
said,  to  go  home  and  read  Keats.""*"* 

Simultaneously,  Professor  Rebecca  Oatsvall,  holder  of  the  Wainwright 
Chair  of  Business,  was  eating,  living,  and  breathing  "the  challenges  and 
excitement  of  leading  the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics  into  the 
2 1  St  century.""*^  At  the  announcement  of  her  appointment  as  head  of  de- 
partment, she  said,  "  [We  have]  the  honor  of  being  involved  in  many  new 
and  growing  programs  at  the  CoUege."'^^  The  new  programs  included  a 
major  in  accounting,  which  would  lead  to  a  B.S.  degree.  And,  with  that 
degree  in  hand,  the  accounting  major  could  then  complete  one  year  in  the 
John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School  for  the  M.B.A.  On  the  faculty  since 
1984,  Dr.  Oatsvall  holds  the  B.S.,  M.Acc,  and  Ph.D.  degrees  from  the 
University  of  South  Carolina. 

As  Dr.  Oatsvall  alluded  to  growing  programs  in  the  Department  of 
Business  and  Economics,  she  could  also  have  been  describing  the  Depart- 
ment of  Home  Economics.  But  just  as  a  young  woman  of  the  nineties — 
perhaps  the  daughter  of  baby-boomers — might  think  twice  before  choos- 
ing a  college  with  the  Victorian  name  of  "Baptist  Female  University,"  she 
might  also  wonder  at  a  progressive  department's  retaining  a  "home  eco- 
nomics" identity.  So,  to  reflect  more  accurately  its  directions  in  child  de- 
velopment; clothing  and  fashion  merchandising;  foods  and  nutrition; 
interior  design;  and  family  and  consumer  sciences,*  it  changed  its  name 
to  "human  environmental  sciences."  And  to  head  the  Department  of 
Human  Environmental  Sciences  rose  Deborah  Tippett,  holder  of  the  B.S., 
M.S.,  and  Ph.D.  degrees  from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at 
Greensboro  and  a  member  of  the  Meredith  faculty  since  1987.  Dr.  Tip- 
pett said  she  saw  the  past  as  a  challenge  for  the  future:  "I  am  excited 
about  the  growth  of  [our]  five  innovative  majors  .  .  .  and  at  the  same  time 
I  am  challenged  by  the  many  contributions  made  by  the  last  two  depart- 
ment heads  .  .  .  ,  who  gave  close  to  75  years  of  combined  service  to  the 
College — Marilyn  Stuber's  30  years  and  Ellen  Brewer's  44  years."'*''  In  the 
year  of  the  change  and  for  the  first  time,  Meredith  put  in  place  a  nine- 
month  post-baccalaureate  dietetic  internship  beyond  the  B.S.  degree  in 
nutrition,  leading  to  a  student's  becoming  a  registered  dietitian.  The  pro- 


*The  family  and  consumer  sciences  major  replaced  the  home  economics  major  in 
1997. 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I      287 

gram  was  administered  by  the  John  E.  Weems  Graduate  School;  directed 
by  Wilham  Landis,  assistant  professor  of  human  environmental  sciences; 
and  accredited  by  the  American  Dietetic  Association. 

With  a  nineties  name,  "First  Year  Experience"  was  a  new  course  for 
easing  freshmen  through  the  transition  from  high  school  to  college,  from 
home  to  campus,  by  offering  strategies  "for  academic  success  and  campus 
resources"  as  well  as  discussions  "on  self-esteem,  diversity,  values,  stress 
management  and  women's  issues.""*^  A  printed  flier  proclaimed,  "The 
class  is  designed  to  aid  you  in  becoming  a  master  student  from  the  very 
beginning  of  your  college  career!  .  .  .  Just  take  it!"  And  a  handout  pro- 
moting MAPS  (Meredith  Alumnae  Preparing  Students)  advertised  Career 
Networking  Day  for  students  of  all  classes.  Leaders  for  the  "sessions  in 
business,  communications  and  public  relations,  health  sciences,  paralegal 
and  MBA  programs,  and  in  those  hard-to-find  jobs  for  liberal  arts  degree 
graduates,"  would  be  alumnae  from  the  corporate  world,  state  govern- 
ment, law  firms,  publications,  and  health  organizations. 

With  the  office  of  career  services,  the  networking  committee  of  the 
Alumnae  Association  and  the  office  of  alumnae  relations  sponsored  MAPS, 
one  of  the  early  events  that  introduced  Mary  Kate  Keith,  the  new — and 
seventh — director  of  alumnae  relations.  A  1982  graduate  of  Stonehill 
College  in  North  Eaton,  Massachusetts,  Mrs.  Keith  was  the  first  non- 
alumna  appointed  to  that  office.  Her  selection  from  more  than  seventy 
applicants  attested  to  her  qualifications,  and  her  experience  alone  was  im- 
pressive: After  having  directed  the  alumae  program  at  Georgian  Court,  a 
woman's  college  in  New  Jersey,  she  was  named  director  of  alumni  affairs 
at  Utica  College  of  Syracuse  University,  where  she  served  for  more  than 
four  years.  In  a  Meredith  article  titled  "The  New  Voice  of  Experience," 
writer  Del  Hunt  Johnson  quoted  the  most  recent  occupant  of  the  alum- 
nae office:  "  'The  alumnae  are  the  one  thing  that's  a  constant  at  any  col- 
lege,' said  Keith.  'The  students  change,  the  faculty  and  administration 
change,  but  the  alumnae  are  always  there.  Their  involvement  in  college  is- 
sues is  crucial,  otherwise  the  college  will  lose  its  character.'  "'^^ 

Other  new  directors  in  1995  were  Sidney  L.  Cruze,  corporate  and 
foundation  relations;  Elizabeth  McDuffie,  who  transferred  from  the  of- 
fice of  scholarships  and  financial  assistance  to  continuing  education's  en- 
richment program;  Phillip  D.  Roof  who  replaced  McDuffie  in  financial 
aid;  and  Jufiellen  Simpson-Vos,  the  Brewer  House  Infant  Care  Labora- 


288      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

tory.  Three  months  after  Keith  occupied  the  Mae  Grimmer  Alumnae 
House,  Sharon  Cannon,  as  new  dean  of  students,  moved  into  the  miheu 
of  Dean  Dorothy  Sizemore,  who,  in  semi-retirement,  became  the  first  di- 
rector of  commuter  hfe. 

The  leadership  demonstrated  by  the  faculty  and  administrative  staff 
was  a  dynamic  force  in  every  facet  of  the  institution.  While  the  statement 
seems  so  obvious  as  to  be  unnecessary,  it  may  find  authenticity  as  a  re- 
minder of  this  chapter's  earlier  assertion  that  the  marketplace  is  often  a 
meeting  place  where  the  media  of  exchange  are  ideas  and  opinions;  that, 
even  in  its  growth,  the  College  remains  a  closely  knit  family  bred  of  civil- 
ity and  cooperation,  but  not  without  disagreements;  and  that  students  are 
taught  by  bona  fide  professionals,  as  compared  to  some  mammoth  insti- 
tutions, where  graduate  students  as  surrogates  release  professors  from 
classroom  duties  for  other  scholarly  pursuits. 

As  the  previous  chapter  indicated,  the  College  was  committed  to  lead- 
ership skills  for  its  students  and  to  providing  training  opportunities  for 
both  its  immediate  and  extended  communities.  In  1994-95,  the  Broyhill 
Leadership  Institute  brought  to  Raleigh  and  environs  such  renowned 
leaders  as  Stephen  Covey — again;  Denis  Waitley,  author  of  Empires  of 
the  Mind;  Tom  Peters;  and  Pat  Heim.  The  institute  also  inaugurated  its 
"Dinner  With  a  Winner"  series  with  guest  speaker — or  guest  winner — 
Charlie  Gaddy,  the  regional  counterpart  of  the  nationally  revered  Wal- 
ter Cronkite,  formerly  of  CBS  News.  Recently  retired  at  the  time,  Gaddy 
was  the  long-time  news  anchor  for  WRAL-TV,  the  city's  major  television 
station. 

Another  winner  was  Meredith's  selection  by  the  State  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  as  one  of  four  ideal  institutions — with  North  Carolina 
Central,  Fayetteville  State,  and  Shaw  Universities — to  form  the  state's 
new  STAR  (United  Star  Distance  Learning  Consortium)  program.  De- 
signed to  "assist  successful  integration  of  technology  into  elementary  and 
middle  school  curricula," ^°  STAR  would  have  use  of  the  two  new  satellite 
dishes  on  the  flat  roof  of  Carlyle  Campbell  Library  and  would  attract, 
said  President  Weems,  "[tjeachers  from  all  over  the  Triangle  ...  to  par- 
ticipate in  interactive  Satellite  broadcasts  which  we  will  deliver  over  our 
campus  cable  system."  ^^  Media  specialist  John  Kincheloe  boasted  of 
Meredith's  technological  opportunities: 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    I995      I     289 

Media  services  is  receiving  signals  from  space — from  25  satellites  to 
be  precise.  Using  our  two  new^  satellite  dishes,  we  are  able  to  receive 
an  incredible  range  of  educational  programming.  ...  In  September, 
our  new  equipment  enabled  the  entire  campus  to  participate,  along 
with  600  other  colleges  and  universities,  in  a  nationwide  teleconfer- 
ence. We  received  the  satellite  transmission  and  delivered  the  live 
program  over  our  cable  system  to  more  than  700  possible  viewing 
sites  on  campus."^^ 

Words  and  phrases  such  as  "satellite  dishes,"  "optical  fiber  network," 
"gopher,"  "Internet,"  and  "World  Wide  Web  home  page"  entered  the  lan- 
guage, not  only  of  technology  experts  but  also  of  English  majors,  social 
workers,  athletes,  musicians,  and  all  others  who  aspired  to  the  virtual  re- 
alities of  Cyberspace.  At  Meredith,  the  optical  fiber  network  stretched 
across  the  campus  and  through  appropriate  buildings,  including  residence 
halls,  giving  students  access  to  the  Internet  and  to  E-mail  capabilities. 
Through  the  gopher,  "a  search  and  research  tool"  that  "can  navigate  the 
INTERNET  worldwide,  .  .  .  [t]he  resources  of  60,000  main  frame  com- 
puters will  be  available  to  our  students  instantly."  ^^  Already  on  the  Internet 
and  with  a  web  page  on  line,  Meredith  advertised  its  new  addresses  in  the 
idiom  of  the  Information  Age:  For  example,  via  the  World  Wide  Web,  one 
could  reach  the  College  at  http://wvrw.meredith.edu/meredith/. 

AT  ITS  MORE  Conventional  address,  3800  Hillsborough  Street,  the  college 
effectively  marketed  itself  through  location  and  appearance.  In  1994,  one 
of  the  previously  nondescript  structures  had  undergone  a  facelift.  With 
the  option  to  buy,  the  College  had  leased  the  small  modular  building  in 
1983  in  a  desperate  move  to  solve  the  problem  of  crowded  housing,  and, 
because  it  had  been  placed  across  the  street  from  Carroll  Health  Center 
(then  Carroll  Infirmary),  it  was  known  as  Carroll  Annex.  As  the  shortage 
of  living  space  continued,  the  College  had  exercised  its  option  to  buy,  as- 
signing the  small  building  to  "students  wishing  to  speak  a  foreign  lan- 
guage exclusively,"^"*  a  concept  that  evolved  to  include  "both  Inter- 
national and  American  students  interested  in  cross-cultural  issues.^^ 
Marguerite  Warren  Noel,  '34,  had  given  generously  of  her  means  toward 
the  renovation  of  the  building  that  ultimately  became  the  Noel  Interna- 


290     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

tional  House.  And,  on  Meredith's  nomination  in  1993,  Mrs.  Noel  re- 
ceived the  first  Philanthropist  of  the  Year  Award  from  the  North  Carolina 
Baptist  Development  Officers'  Association.  The  organization  made  a  wise 
selection:  Because  of  the  alumna's  generosity,  there  is  a  Noel  Hall  for  vi- 
sually impaired  students,  as  well  as  a  scholarship,  at  Gardner- Webb  Uni- 
versity; an  endowed  performing  arts  series  at  Wingate  University;  a  schol- 
arship at  Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary;  another  scholarship 
at  Wake  Forest  University;  the  Noel  Home  "for  girls  who  cannot  function 
successfully  at  home  or  in  foster  care"  in  Caldwell  County;  the  Noel  En- 
richment Series  at  First  Baptist  Church,  Kannapolis,  North  Carolina; 
and,  in  addition  to  the  international  house,  a  Noel  First  Family  Scholar- 
ship Fund  at  Meredith, ^^  Noel  International  House  was  dedicated  on 
April  10,  1995,  three  months  after  Mrs.  Noel's  death  on  January  25. 

Students  saw  housing  as  a  major  attraction  to  or  distraction  from  aca- 
demic life.  In  its  desire  to  improve  retention  rates,  Meredith  re-examined 
its  policies  and  expanded  its  options.  As  a  result,  seniors  and  juniors 
could  elect  off-campus  living,  and  several  of  them  did,  leaving  single 
rooms  as  a  popular  choice  for  those  remaining  in  the  residence  halls. 

By  late  fall,  the  "house"  of  physical  education -dance  increased  in 
value  in  every  way:  Its  new  5,000-square-foot  dance  studio  and  fitness 
center  was  completed.  From  the  start,  the  fitness  center  bulged  with  mem- 
bers of  a  health-conscious  society,  the  price  of  admission  being  simply  the 
show  of  a  CamCard.  So  students  and  faculty  and  staff  members  alike 
could — and  did — avail  themselves  of  the  center's  state-of-the-art  exercise 
equipment — including  treadmills  and  muscle-toning  machines — and 
weight-training  area.  The  center  would  be  open  to  women  seven  days  a 
week,  said  Cindy  Bross,  professor  of  health  and  physical  education,  but 
Dr.  Bross  and  her  department  insisted  upon  orientation  sessions  for  users 
of  the  equipment.  In  a  serious,  yet  trendy,  passion  for  physical  fitness, 
four  of  the  eight  students  questioned  by  the  Herald  regarding  their  New 
Year's  Resolutions  for  1994  had  alluded  to  the  issue:  Sharon  Duffy,  '95, 
replied,  "I  made  several  [resolutions].  I  promised  to  exercise,  better  my 
eating  habits,  and  get  better  organized.  I  am  going  to  stop  drinking  caf- 
feinated  drinks."  Anissa  Jones,  '94,  said,  "I  promised  to  take  better  care 
of  myself."  Kristen  Elliott,  '97,  resolved  "to  tone  up."  And  Betsy  Powell, 
'95,  responded,  "I'm  going  to  cut  down  on  the  number  of  naps  I  take 
each  day."^^ 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     2^1 

In  September,  the  trustees  made  a  new  academic  year's  resolution  to 
renovate  and  add  to  Gate  Center,  the  funding  to  come  from  a  three-year 
mini  campaign  to  raise  $1,200,000  in  projected  costs.  Architects  Pierce, 
Brinkley,  Cease,  and  Lee  would  design  the  structure. 

In  the  same  meeting,  President  Weems  reported  that  endowment  and 
reserves  totaled  more  than  $42,000,000,  and  that  Meredith  was  again 
ranked  in  U.S.  News  and  World  Report's  "Best  College  Buys"  in  regional 
colleges  and  universities  in  the  South. ^^  Optimism  brightened  the  finan- 
cial picture.  The  Teaching  Fellows  Commission  contributed  to  the  sunny 
mood  by  approving  Meredith  and  Elon's  joint  proposal  to  "limit  the  es- 
calating costs"  of  the  program.  Both  colleges  were  relieved  by  the  com- 
mission's decision  to  obligate  the  colleges  to  only  $5,000  per  Fellow,  the 
same  amount  granted  by  the  state. ^^  President  Weems  spoke  of  the  action 
as  "an  incredible  breakthrough"  that  would  "allow  the  College  to  com- 
mit to  the  Teaching  Fellows  program  ad  mfinitum."^^ 

At  the  same  time,  184  named  scholarships  swelled  the  coffers.  Schol- 
arships, work-study  programs,  and  loans  were  primary  components  of 
the  financial  assistance  packages  earmarked  for  worthy  students.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Biblical  Recorder,  "[ajpproximately  one-third  of  Meredith 
students  receive[d]  loan  assistance,"  but  the  good  news  was  that  "[n]one 
of  the  162  Meredith  students  whose  loan  repayment  obligations  began  in 
1992  defaulted  on  their  loans."^^  In  the  147  schools  surveyed  statewide, 
reported  the  Recorder,  the  default  rate  was  14  percent,  the  average  rang- 
ing from  zero  to  41.6  percent.^^ 

NEITHER  DID  THE  College  default  on  its  selection  of  lecturers  in  1995.  For 
instance,  renowned  social  activist  Arun  Gandhi,  director  of  the  Arun 
Gandhi  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Non-Violence,  and  grandson  of  India's 
late  Mohandas  K.  Gandhi,  spoke  in  Jones  Auditorium  on  March  29  on 
"Non-Violence  or  Non-Existence:  Options  for  the  21st  Century."  Dr. 
Gandhi  founded  the  M.K.  Gandhi  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Non-violence 
at  Christian  Brothers  University  in  Memphis.  He  said  he  "was  inspired  by 
his  experiences  with  his  grandfather  in  India  in  the  1940s,  and  by  the 
time  he  spent  in  South  Africa  subject  to  the  government's  strict  policy  of 
apartheid."^^  His  adage,  "Non-violence  is  to  violence  what  light  is  to 
dark,"  was  widely  quoted  for  a  time  following  his  lecture.  Also  memo- 
rable were  Gandhi's  "seven  blunders  of  the  world,"  as  given  to  him  by  his 


292     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 


Sponsored  by  the  Hull  Lecture  Series,  Arun  Gandhi, 

grandson  of  India's  late  Mohandas  K.  Gandhi  and  director  of  the 

Arun  Gandhi  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Non-Violence,  visits  the  campus 

and  meets  with  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard  Maddrey,  '28,  Meredith's 

quintessential  alumna. 


grandfather:  "wealth  without  work;  pleasure  without  conscience;  knowl- 
edge without  character;  commerce  without  morality;  science  without  hu- 
manity; worship  without  sacrifice;  and  politics  without  principles."  The 
eighth  blunder — his  own,  he  said — was  "rights  without  responsibili- 
ties."^"^ Gandhi's  address  was  sponsored  by  the  Hull  Lecture  Series. 

A  paradisiacal  state  of  non-violence  was  hardly  imaginable  in  the 
global  society  of  1995.  Shortly  after  United  Nations  peacekeeping  forces 
withdrew  from  Somalia,  President  Clinton  asked  for  support  in  sending 
military  personnel  to  civil  war-ravaged  Bosnia,  where  they  and  troops  of 
other  NATO  countries  were  to  keep  the  peace  following  a  shaky  agree- 
ment between  the  Serbs  and  Croats.  On  the  other  side  of  the  world,  the 
assassination  of  Israel's  Prime  Minister  Yitzhak  Rabin  threatened  the 
long-sought  peace  between  Israel  and  the  Palestine  Liberation  Organi- 
zation. Rabin's  death  was  a  reminder  to  Meredith  of  former  Vice  Presi- 
dent Thomas's  return  from  a  "women's  interreligious  study  dialogue  for 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I      293 

peace"  in  Israel  in  1976,  and  her  comment:  "The  prospects  for  peace  are 
not  very  apparent."  ^^  The  Twig  had  reported  Dr.  Thomas's  meeting  with 
Israeh  women  at  Rabin's  home,  where  the  women  had  expressed  their  be- 
hef  in  their  "important  role  in  peace-keeping"  but  also  in  the  dim  hope 
that  Arab  and  Israeli  women  would  talk  to  each  other.  ^^ 

In  the  United  States,  the  unthinkable  occurred  on  that  infamous  day  in 
April,  when  a  bomb  planted  by  an  American  who  was  angered  by  his 
government  killed  more  than  160  people — many  of  them  children — in 
the  Alfred  P.  Murrah  Federal  Building  in  Oklahoma  City.  In  the  same 
month,  a  man  in  California  was  killed  by  a  package  bomb.  Because  of  the 
growing  frequency  of  occurrences  such  as  the  latter,  the  campus  postal 
service  was  alerted  to  characteristics  of  packages  containing  bombs,  and 
Meredith's  facilities  services  department  took  seriously  the  warnings,  is- 
suing a  terse  memorandum:  "Due  to  recent  package  bomb  incidents,  any 
packages  that  are  not  clearly  marked  with  a  name  and/or  department  on 
the  outside  will  be  returned." ^^ 

When  turbulence  shook  the  political  arena,  it  was  usually  in  the  form 
of  verbal  assault,  such  as  in  the  budget  impasse  between  Clinton  and 
the  Congress  that  led  to  a  six-day  partial  shutdown  of  the  government. 
In  November,  and  particularly  after  popular  Gulf  War  hero  General 
Colin  Powell  announced  his  intention  not  to  seek  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States,  the  myriad  Republican  presidential  hopefuls  played  one- 
upmanship  for  their  party's  nomination  in  1996,  while  President  Clinton 
ran  unopposed.  Powell's  decision  not  to  run  for  president  seemed  to 
evoke  reaction  from  almost  every  corner  of  the  world.  To  the  Meredith 
Herald's  "Question  of  the  Week" — "What  do  you  think  of  Colin  Pow- 
ell's decision?" — Hannah  Shelp,  a  sophomore,  responded  "If  he  had 
run,  he  would  have  made  a  great  stride  in  breaking  the  legacy  of  all 
white  presidents."^^ 

Former  member  of  Raleigh's  City  Council  and  alumna  Mary  Watson 
Nooe,  '69,  came  to  the  campus  in  September  to  promote  her  bid  to  be- 
come mayor  of  Raleigh.  The  Herald  reported,  "She  hopes  to  create  a 
strong,  diverse  city  where  citizens  know  there  is  room  for  all  who  are 
here.  Nooe  spoke  about  putting  Raleigh  back  on  track  to  being  a  world 
class  city  with  educated  people  and  quality  services.  .  .  ."^^  But  in  the  po- 
litical climate  of  1995,  voters  elected  her  opponent,  the  more  conserva- 
tive Tom  Fetzer. 


294      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

For  every  reminder  that  lack  of  communication  fostered  violence,  it 
seemed  that  a  new  Internet  devotee  went  on  line.  It  would  remain  to 
be  seen  whether  the  Information  Age  would  curtail  violence. 
Meredith  took  steps  toward  communicating  with  other  cultures 
through  its  Meredith  Abroad  and  diverse  travel  opportunities,  but 
traveling  to  another  country  to  do  manual  labor  was  a  new  activity. 
In  1995,  a  team  "of  willing  and  determined  volunteers"  set  out  for 
two  weeks  of  hard  work  in  Prague  in  the  Czech  Republic.''^  "The 
Meredith  Connection,"  as  the  team  came  to  be  known,  comprised 
April  Newlin,  Jessica  Drew,  Megan  Carney,  and  Jan  Yow,  all  stu- 
dents; David  Lynch,  head  of  the  music  department,  and  his  son, 
Dave;  Johnny  Evans,  a  retired  educator;  and  their  leaders,  Sam 
Car  others  and  Donna  Fowler-Merchant,  campus  minister  and  asso- 
ciate campus  minister,  respectively.  Their  task  was  to  help  trans- 
form the  "new"  200-year-old  International  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary  campus  in  Prague  from  a  state  of  disrepair  to  a  livable 
campus.  The  seminary  had  been  relocated  from  its  long-time  site  in 
Ruschlikon,  Switzerland.  On  the  return  of  "The  Meredith  Connec- 
tion," Fowler-Merchant  spoke  for  the  group: 

Isaiah  42  and  65  speak  of  God  laboring  to  give  birth  to  a  new 
ceation  in  innovative  or  unfamiliar  ways.  All  of  us  were  mid  wives  in 
that  "birth"  process  as  we  gave  of  our  time  and  talents  to  bring 
forth  something  new  in  Central  Europe.  And  who  would  have  ever 
guessed  that  the  darkness  would  be  turned  to  light  and  the  rough 
places  made  smooth  by  a  group  of  American  women  working  with 
a  group  of  men  from  the  former  Soviet  Union?  I  pray  that  we  never 
forget  our  experiences  in  Prague.  I  feel  certain  that  we  never  will.^^ 

If  women  effectively  helped  bring  light  out  of  darkness  and  smooth 
over  rough  places  in  the  world,  then  alumna  and  trustee  Jean  Batten 
Cooper,  '54,  offered  a  practicable  suggestion  to  the  executive  committee 
of  the  board,  as  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  November  meeting: 

In  keeping  with  the  developments  of  other  all-female  institutions 
and  in  conjunction  with  other  emphases  the  Meredith  trustees  are 
planning  for  the  turn  of  the  century,  Jean  Cooper  challenged  the 
board  to  set  a  goal  of  50  percent  male  and  50  percent  female  board 
members  by  the  year  2000.  Her  justification  for  this  plan  was  that 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     295 

all  alumnae  of  the  college  are  female,  the  school  depends  heavily  on 
alumnae  contributions  and  the  churches  from  which  the  trustees  are 
chosen  are  all  more  than  50  percent  female.  This  plan  was  given  for 
the  consideration  of  the  administration  and  the  nominations  com- 
mittee. 

The  minutes  of  the  meeting  recorded  no  action. 

Alumnae  were  diligent  in  underscoring  the  importance  of  Meredith  to 
women  and  women  to  society.  Through  monetary  gifts,  several  gradu- 
ates subscribed  for  the  College  a  one-year  membership  in  the  Women's 
College  Coalition  (WCC),  believing  that  "the  association  with  other 
women's  colleges  of  similar  academic  standards  would  be  beneficial.  .  .  ." ''^ 
The  national  organization's  roster  of  seventy-four  women's  colleges  in- 
cluded Salem  and  Bennett  Colleges  in  North  Carolina,  as  well  as  familiar 
schools  in  other  states:  Brenau,  Converse,  Randolph-Macon,  Wellesley, 
and  Radcliffe.  The  coalition  "is  a  lobbying  entity  for  single-sex  edu- 
cation and  a  research-funding  entity  for  grants  related  to  how  women 
learn," ^^  explained  Dr.  Webb  at  a  faculty  meeting.  Meredith  held  a  one- 
year  membership  in  WCC  in  1988-89  but  retains  its  more  recent  affili- 
ation. 

Single-sex  education  was  a  topic  of  spirited  debate  in  1995.  It  was  the 
year  that  Shannon  Faulkner  became  the  first  female  cadet  at  the  Citadel, 
an  all-male  bastion  since  1842.  Faulkner's  legal  battle  for  admission  to 
the  military  college  of  South  Carolina  had  been  raging  for  many  months, 
following  the  Citadel's  withdrawal  of  her  previous  acceptance  on  the 
school's  becoming  aware  of  her  gender.  All  in  their  August  22,  1994,  is- 
sues, three  widely  circulated  news  magazines  published  stories  about  the 
case.  Time  reported  that  a  federal  appeals  court  had  decided  against 
her;^"*  Newsweek  pondered  the  possibility  of  the  cadet's  shaved  head, 
should  she  gain  admission;^^'  and  U.S.  News  and  World  Report  said  her 
zealous  efforts  compared  with  the  struggles  of  the  first  female  cadets  ad- 
mitted to  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.^^  Faulkner 
was  eventually  admitted,  but  the  victory  was  short-lived.  She  withdrew 
because  of  "psychological  stress"  during  hell  week.^^ 

Unlike  the  Citadel,  Meredith  was  not  supported  by  public  money 
when  the  College  argued  for  single-sex  status  in  the  graduate  school  in 
1986,  nor  in  earlier  years.  But  the  case  of  Faulkner  versus  the  Citadel 


296     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

brought  reactions  pro  and  con  among  Meredith  students.  For  example, 
Traci  Latta's  editorial  in  the  Meredith  Herald  sided  with  the  Citadel: 

There  are  just  some  things  that  shouldn't  be  tampered  with — the 
safety  seal  on  aspirin,  radioactive  materials  and  traditional  institu- 
tions like  the  Citadel — and  Meredith  ."^^ 

And  Wendy  Kelly  took  the  alternative  view: 

I  bet  all  of  you  out  there  that  believe  [Faulkner]  shouldn't  have  been 
at  the  Citadel  in  the  first  place  are  having  a  ball  with  the  recent  turn 
of  events.  I  can  even  hear  "I  told  you  so"  being  muttered  across 
campus.  .  .  . 

But  you  know  what?  Shannon  Faulkner  .  .  .  did  accomplish 
something  by  setting  precedent  and  breaking  tradition. 

Another  woman  will  rise  to  the  occasion. 

She  will  attend  and  graduate  from  the  Citadel.  .  .  .  Who's  laugh- 
ing now?^^ 

WITH  WORLD  NEWS  as  available  as  the  nearest  campus  access  to  the  News 
and  Observer;  as  the  turn  of  a  radio  or  television  dial;  or  as  the  click  of 
a  mouse  on  the  Internet,  the  Herald  had  little  incentive  to  publish  head- 
line news  except  as  it  applied  to  the  College.  Rather,  page  one  carried  ar- 
ticles of  local  importance — the  slate  of  candidates  for  student  elections 
in  the  March  i  issue;  the  use  of  computer  technology  at  the  College  or  a 
recent  leadership  conference  at  North  Carolina  State,  in  the  October  25 
issue;  and  Cornhuskin'  1995  in  the  November  8  issue.  And  in  the  Feb- 
ruary I  edition,  a  front-page  headhne  read,  "Meredith's  Cat  Team's  cat 
trap  is  missing."  The  story  led  with  "We  have  all  seen  the  many  cats  cir- 
cling around  Johnson  Hall.  .  .  ."^°  The  strays  had  multiplied  for  several 
years  until  Anne  Pugh,  administrative  secretary  to  Vice  President  Taylor, 
and  Frank  Berry  of  the  general  services  staff  "invested  a  lot  of  time  into 
curing  Meredith  of  this  cat  problem,"  including  setting  a  trap,  which,  de- 
clared reporter  Kimberly  Zucker,  was  harmless  to  the  cats.^^  Her  story 
continued: 

However,  the  cat  trap  is  missing.  Pugh  and  Berry  fear  that  someone 
may  have  stolen  the  trap  because  they  feared  the  cats  were  being 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     I^J 

given  to  the  Humane  Society.  The  "Cat  Team"  wants  to  be  sure  the 
students  know  that  each  cat  is  given  a  home. 

Pugh  has  taken  several  of  the  cats  to  her  own  home.  Since  she 
cannot  fill  her  entire  house  full  of  cats,  she  takes  the  rest  to  [her  vet, 
who]  gives  each  cat  all  the  necessary  shots  and  finds  the  cat  a 
home. 

Berry  has  been  nicknamed  "The  Catman."  He  often  takes  the 
cats  home  to  tame  them  and  then  sends  them  to  the  Second  Chance 
Adoption  Agency.  ^^ 

The  cat  tale  ended  with  a  plea  for  the  return  of  the  Have-a-Heart  trap, 
and,  according  to  Patricia  Blackwell  of  facilities  services,  the  trap  was,  in- 
deed, returned;  however,  as  late  as  the  summer  of  1998,  two  cat  families 
remained — one  in  the  boiler  room  and  one  near  Johnson  Hall. 

ALMOST  EVERY  FACET  of  life  at  Meredith  made  a  statement  in  and  to  the 
marketplace;  however,  if  page  one  of  the  Herald  made  marketing  state- 
ments, they  were  subtle  ones  at  best.  The  handsome  viewbook,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  clearly  a  tool  for  targeting  prospective  students.  Positive 
statements  of  then-current  students  graced  almost  every  double-page 
spread.  For  example.  Teaching  Fellow  and  Honors  Scholar  Heather  Blake 
wrote  for  the  book's  section  on  academic  quality.  Her  essay  said,  in  part, 

One  of  the  most  memorable  events  of  my  freshman  year  was  my 
first  art  class.  I  had  originally  planned  to  major  in  biology.  But  be- 
cause of  the  liberal  arts  curriculum,  I  was  able  to  study  art,  an  in- 
terest that  has  now  turned  into  a  possible  future  occupation!  When 
I  walked  into  the  art  studio  that  first  day,  I  felt  so  excited — a  whole 
new  world  was  opened  to  me.  I  learned  to  appreciate  my  talent  and 
enjoyed  the  class  so  much  that  I  almost  decided  to  major  in  art. 
Even  though  I'm  still  a  biology  major,  I  have  not  ruled  out  art. 
Who  knows  .  .  .  maybe  I'll  be  a  medical  or  botanical  illustrator  one 
day. 

The  curriculum  here  is  not  easy,  and  I  have  to  study  hard  to  do 
well.  But  I  would  not  have  it  any  other  way,  because  I'm  not  here 
just  to  get  a  degree;  I'm  here  to  learn  and  grow.  There's  so  much  I 


298      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

want  to  do  with  my  life,  and  my  education  at  Meredith  is  the  per- 
fect beginning.  ^^ 

Essayist  Heather  Blake  graduated  in  the  rain  on  May  14,  with  207 
other  new  Bachelors  of  Science,  197  Bachelors  of  Arts,  12  Bachelors  of 
Music,  44  Masters  of  Business  Administration,  5  Masters  of  Educa- 
tion, and  4  Masters  of  Music.  She  heard  North  Carolina  Senator  Betsy 
Lane  Cochrane,  '58,  address  her  class  on  the  topic  of  "The  Circle  of 
Spirituality  and  Intellectual  Discovery."  Senator  Cochrane  said,  "You 
leave  Meredith  today  with  skills  that  will  help  you  live  a  worthwhile 
story,  prepared  to  pursue  your  hopes  and  ambitions  to  the  farthest 
star."  84 

Cynthia  Affronti  headed  the  alphabetical  lineup  to  receive  her  diploma 
on  December  16  at  the  first  mid-year  commencement  ceremony  since 
1967.  She  graduated  with  46  other  Bachelors  of  Arts;  i  Bachelor  of 
Music;  46  Bachelors  of  Science;  26  Masters  of  Business  Administration  i 
Master  of  Education;  and  3  Masters  of  Music.  As  larger  numbers  of 
women  completed  their  work  after  the  summer  session  or  at  the  end  of 
first  semester,  they  welcomed  an  optional  date  for  graduation.  At  the  De- 
cember ceremony,  reported  Meredith,  "The  600-seat  Jones  Auditorium 
was  full  beyond  capacity  with  spectators.  .  .  ."  And  the  same  newsletter 
quoted  Dean  Burris:  "  'Judging  from  the  magnitude  of  success  of  this  cer- 
emony, I'd  say  we're  on  track  for  continuing  to  have  a  fall  semester  com- 
mencement.' "8^  The  graduates,  with  the  overflow  crowd  of  families  and 
friends,  heard  one  of  their  teachers,  Suzanne  Britt,  address  their  places  in 
the  "real  world"  through  an  Emily  Dickinson  poem:  "I'm  Nobody!  Who 
Are  You?"  Britt  said,  "Despite  all  the  optimistic  chatter  surrounding  this 
important  day,  where  you  are  going  and  what  you  will  do  when  you  get 
there  will  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  all  other  journeys.  .  .  .  Life  is  Ufe, 
and  you  are  in  it,  like  it  or  not.  What  really  matters  is  not  where  you  are 
going  but  what  you  take  with  you." 8^, 

IN  Meredith's  journey  over  the  years,  advertising  styles  have  evolved; 
however,  the  wording  of  a  middle-of-the-road  ad  from  1991 — which 
might  have  reached  more  parents  than  their  college-seeking  daughters 
— then  told  of  and  still  implies  an  ageless  bond  of  College  with  student: 


THE  MARKETPLACE:    1995      I     2< 


Meredith's  students  are  its  raison  d'etre 
and  its  most  effective  advertisement. 


The  relationship  between  you  and  your  college  goes  on  forever. 

You  learn,  grow,  reach,  enjoy,  lead,  decide,  stretch  .  .  .  you  search,  discover. 

Your  college  teaches,  nourishes,  challenges,  encourages,  allows,  believes 

...  it  searches,  discovers. 

You  change.  It  changes.  You  make  a  place  in  its  history.  It  makes  a 

difference  in  your  life. 

At  least  that's  the  way  it  is  at  Meredith, 

the  largest  private  college  for  women  in  the  southeastern  United  States. 

It's  the  way  it  should  be — an  experience  for  a  lifetime. 


14 


THE  VISION  REVISITED 
1996 -1998 


Women  to  replace  embroidery  hoops  with  text  books? 

To  substitute  the  pohte  arts  with  the  Hberal  arts? 

Women  to  crowd  thoughts  of  home  and  heart  with 

philosophies  of  great  issues  of  their  society? 

FICTITIOUS  QUESTIONS  FROM  the  literature  of  the  Visions  Program, 
Meredith's  successful  capital  campaign  of  the  eighties,  alluded  to  the  very 
real  "half  century  of  debate  and  struggle"  that  was  "prelude  to  Baptist 
Female  University."  The  booklet  cited  Thomas  Meredith,  a  progressive 
Baptist  preacher  and  the  founding  editor  of  the  Biblical  Recorder,  as  hav- 
ing "linked  years  of  progress  and  temporary  defeats  to  the  school's  real- 
ity." But  Meredith,  the  man,  did  not  champion  the  cause  of  Meredith,  the 
college,  for  his  own  glorification.  (Who  would  have  dared,  given  the  dif- 
ficulty of  the  task?)  "Greatness  of  self  was  far  from  his  mind  or  from  the 
thoughts  of  [that]  handful  of  mid-nineteenth  century  Baptists  who  advo- 
cated education  for  women.  The  greatness  was  in  their  vision." 

For  as  long  as  freshman  English  students  have  recited  Chaucer  or 
Homer,  the  College  has  periodically  revisited  the  vision  of  its  founders,  as 
implied  throughout  this  document,  but  rarely  has  the  scrutiny  been  more 
intense  than  in  the  last  years  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  re-examination 
of  purpose  and  process  has  evolved  into  an  extended  period  of  strategic 

300 


THE  VISION   REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     3OI 

planning  for  Meredith's  entry  into  the  new  millennium — and  beyond. 
The  sequence,  called  "Initiative  2000,"  and  its  slogans,  "Defining  Higher 
Education  for  Women"  or  "Teaching  Women  to  Excel,"  are  integral  parts 
of  the  conversations  as  this  chapter  takes  form.  Revised  budgets,  com- 
mittee and  departmental  planning  sessions,  printed  documents,  barrages 
of  e-mail,  and  even  T-shirts  bearing  slogans  attest  to  the  renaissance  au 
courant. 

Mary  Lynch  Johnson's  A  History  of  Meredith  College  unearthed  the 
founders'  early  vision —  beginning  v^ith  a  seed  of  an  idea  for  a  school, 
planted  in  the  early  1800's — but  the  first  catalogue  of  Baptist  Female 
University  (announcements  for  1899 -1900)  also  accounted  for  the 
"v^hys  and  v^herefores"  of  the  college  for  young  women.  Throughout  this 
final  chapter  of  The  Vision  Revisited,  quotations  from  the  1899 -1900 
catalogue's  "Introductory"  are  printed  in  italics. 

"The  desire  for  this  institution  was  for  many  years  expressed  in  this 
form — 'We  ought  to  do  in  higher  education  for  our  young  women  what 
we  have  done  in  Wake  Forest  College  for  our  young  men.'  When  we  say 
that  in  the  Baptist  Female  University  this  desire  is  being  literally  fulfilled 
we  tell  the  whole  truth;  though  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  work  is 
identical,  since  this  can  scarcely  be  desired.  The  standard  is  fully  as  high, 
the  culture  is  quite  as  complete,  and  the  ideals  are  identical; — so  that  the 
comparison  with  our  college  for  young  men  will  convey  to  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  that  institution  a  better  idea  of  the  work  and  aims  of  the 
school  of  our  denomination  for  our  young  women  than  may  be  conveyed 
in  any  other  wayT 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  Baptists  who  foundcd  Meredith  also  established 
and  pointed  with  pride  to  the  college  for  "our"  young  men,  which  had 
opened  its  doors  in  1834  as  Wake  Forest  Institute,  becoming  Wake  Forest 
College  in  1838.^  Some  readers  might  find  points  to  ponder  in  that,  at 
Baptist  Female  University's  chartering  in  1891,  Wake  Forest  was  its  "big 
brother"  college.  Was  the  broader  college  education  more  desirable  for 
men  than  for  women?  Was  a  university  of  twelve  schools  more  appropri- 
ate for  women  than  for  men?  In  any  case,  the  status  of  each  institution 
was  reversed  in  the  1900s,  BFU  becoming  Meredith  College  in  1909  and 
Wake  Forest  a  university  in  1944. 


30Z     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Although  "our""  young  women  in  the  first  student  body  were  mostly 
North  Carolina  Baptists,  the  possessive  pronoun  did  not  then  nor  has  it 
ever  served  as  mandate  for  exclusion  as  to  denomination  or  region.  Of 
course,  in  darker  days,  the  College  excluded  according  to  society  and, 
sometimes,  because  of  narrow  minds  in  the  denomination.  Chapter  i  in- 
cludes news  of  the  first  African-American  graduate.  Over  the  ensuing 
years,  minority  students  have  remained  in  the  minority  to  a  greater  extent 
than  Meredith  might  have  liked,  although  efforts  toward  diversity  by 
race,  age,  nationality,  religious  affiliation,  and  by  programs  designed  to 
meet  the  needs  of  that  diversity  have  been  ongoing.  In  1997,  for  example, 
the  Association  for  Black  Awareness  decided  to  broaden  its  vision,  chang- 
ing its  name  to  the  "Association  for  Cultural  Awareness"  and,  to  reflect 
its  new  name,  revisiting  its  purpose  "to  promote  cultural  awareness  and 
increase  knowledge  of  diverse  women,  to  provide  a  channel  through 
which  cultural  concerns  may  be  recognized,  and  to  unify  all  women  at 
Meredith  College." 

For  a  time,  Meredith  sought  to  extend  its  base  beyond  the  region; 
however,  in  the  late  eighties  and  all  the  nineties,  it  found  and  pronounced 
its  strength  as  a  regional  college.  But  while  it  has  expended  most  of  its  re- 
sources, both  human  and  financial,  in  the  region,  it  has  welcomed  quah- 
fied  women  from  all  over  the  United  States — indeed,  from  around  the 
world.  In  1996,  "our"  young  women  represented  twenty-three  states  and 
twenty-four  foreign  countries,  and  the  627  Southern  Baptists  composed 
35  percent  of  a  student  body  comprising  26  other  denominations  and  re- 
ligions. A  clue  to  the  diversity  of  the  faculty  emerges  in  the  1996  listing 
of  the  professorial  staff  and  their  scholarly  credentials:  the  119  full-time 
members  earned  graduate  degees  from  71  institutions,  61  of  which  were 
in  states  outside  North  Carolina  and  in  foreign  countries. 

"In  the  prolonged  period  in  which  the  University  was  being  built,  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  institution  argued  that  the  North  Carolina  Baptists  believe 
in  the  higher  education  for  women;  that  they  believe  in  the  power  of 
women  in  the  realm  of  the  home  and  the  church  to  serve  God  and  His 
kingdom;  that  every  argument  for  the  education  of  young  men  is  but  the 
more  cogent  with  respect  to  young  women;  and,  therefore,  that  the  oblig- 
ation to  offer  our  young  women  the  opportunity  of  the  very  best  educa- 
tional advantages  at  the  lowest  possible  expense,  and  the  wisdom  of  es- 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     303 

tablishing  an  institution  under  the  control  of  our  denomination,  were 
commended  to  us  on  the  highest  of  grounds." 

THE  HERALD  BEGAN  in  1996  to  ruii  on  its  banner  a  line  borrowed  from  a 
Meredith  advertisement:  "We  attract  bright,  talented,  ambitious  students. 
Naturally  we're  a  women's  college."  And,  in  1997,  almost  a  century  after 
the  early  founders  established  Meredith,  the  News  and  Observer  pub- 
lished a  front-page  article  about  women's  colleges  and  their  "new  degree 
of  equality."  Reporter  Cynthia  Barnett  had  discovered  that  the  projected 
fall  enrollment  of  freshmen  in  North  Carolina's  four  women's  colleges — 
Peace,  Meredith,  Salem,  and  Bennett — jumped  from  795  to  1,043.  (The 
freshman  enrollment  at  Meredith  alone  increased  from  377  in  '96  to  416 
in  ^97.)  Barnett  wrote,  "The  growth  follows  two  rocky  decades  in  which 
women's  colleges  fought  the  perception  that  they  were  either  too  elite  or 
not  up  to  par  with  co-ed  schools.  Many  lost  the  battle:  of  298  women's 
colleges  in  the  United  States  in  i960,  only  8z  remain  today. ...  In  the  past 
decade,  however,  women's  colleges  nationwide  have  boosted  their  enroll- 
ment 20  percent.  .  .  ."- 

The  reporter  quoted  Julianne  Still  Thrift,  president  of  Salem  College  in 
Winston-Salem,  who  said  that  "statistics  debunk  the  idea  that  graduates 
of  women's  colleges  aren't  prepared  for  the  real  world." ^  In  March  1998, 
when  Dr.  Thrift  spoke  at  Meredith  in  observance  of  Women's  History 
Month,  she  offered  some  of  the  same  "real  world"  statistics  published  in 
the  article: 

Women's  college  graduates  are  twice  as  likely  as  their  coed-campus 
counterparts  to  earn  a  doctorate.  They  are  three  times  as  likely  to 
go  to  graduate  school  in  math  or  science.  While  less  than  four  per- 
cent of  college-educated  women  have  degrees  from  women's  col- 
leges, 24  percent  of  women  members  of  Congress  and  a  third  of 
women  board  members  of  Fortune  500  companies  graduated  from 
women's  colleges."^ 

And  an  undated  publication  of  the  Women's  College  Coalition  asserts, 
"Virtually  all  women  of  science  from  the  Nineteenth  and  early  Twentieth 
Centuries  received  their  training  in  women's  colleges." 

Organizations  hke  the  Women's  College  Coalition  and  women's  col- 
leges like  Meredith  long  ago  revisited  early  founders'  sentiments  about 


304     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

"the  power  of  women  in  the  realm  of  the  home  and  the  church."  Indeed, 
inferences  drawn  from  the  BFU  curriculum  would  credit  the  writer(s)  of 
the  first  catalogue  with  the  understanding  that  women's  knowledge,  in- 
terests, and  influence  reached  beyond  those  limitations.  Largely  through 
their  own  determination  have  women  and  women's  colleges  not  only 
placed  women  in  home  and  church  but  also  in  all  other  areas  of  society — 
the  arts,  the  sciences,  the  workplace,  civic  responsibilities,  finances,  poli- 
tics. .  .  .  The  list  continues. 

In  its  role  of  pioneer,  as  discussed  in  Chapter  2,  Meredith's  continuing 
education  program  has  learned  much  about  women's  leadership  potential 
and  has  taught  what  it  learned.  In  1966,  the  division  instituted  a  program 
through  which  women  twenty-five  or  older  could  earn  in  one  year  leader- 
ship certification  under  the  Broyhill  Leadership  Institute  umbrella.  The 
1997-98  brochure  for  Meredith  College  Women's  Leadership  Program 
enticed  and  enlightened:  The  program's  mission  is  "to  develop  competent, 
high-profile  leaders  who  make  a  positive  difference  in  the  community." 
The  two  levels  of  the  program  would  move  participants  toward  the  goal 
by  way  of  "new  approaches  to  leadership  in  today's  rapidly  changing  or- 
ganizational environments."  Leadership  symposia  in  1993  and  1994  en- 
couraged the  concept.  Another  symposium — this  one  in  May  1996 — in- 
spired representatives  from  twenty-two  women's  colleges,  including  six  of 
the  largest  in  the  nation,  throughout  a  day  of  Excellence  in  Continuing  Ed- 
ucation for  Women.  Guest  speakers  were  Jadwiga  Sebrechts,  executive  di- 
rector of  the  Women's  College  Coalition,  and  Sandra  Thomas,  president  of 
Converse  College  and  a  former  vice  president  at  Meredith. 

And  for  the  home  college  population,  the  office  of  student  activities 
and  leadership  development  in  1997  introduced  the  Sophie  Lanneau 
Leadership  Program.  The  example  of  Sophie  Lanneau,  '02,  one  of  the 
"Immortal  Ten"  and  a  lifelong  leader  herself,  inspired  the  name  of  the 
program  for  encouraging  students  to  be  "effective  leaders  and  active  par- 
ticipants in  their  communities." 

The  College  escalated  its  own  image  of  leadership  with  the  1996  found- 
ing of  the  Meredith  Center  for  Women  in  the  Arts.  And,  on  April  2,  1997, 
an  inaugural  festival  at  the  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  celebrated  every 
art  form  offered  on  the  campus:  visual  arts,  music,  drama,  and  dance. 

No  intention  of  hyperbole  hides  in  the  high-sounding  purpose  of  the 
center  that 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     305 

unites  faculty  and  students,  campus  and  community  for  learning, 
teaching,  research,  creation  and  performance  of  the  arts.  Long  rec- 
ognized for  its  excellence  in  the  performing  and  visual  arts,  Mere- 
dith has  renewed  its  commitment  to  significant  investment  in  arts 
support  and  funding  with  the  creation  of  the  Center.  .  .  . 

With  the  participation  and  the  support  of  faculty  and  students 
across  the  traditional  boundaries  of  discipline,  the  Center  brings  to- 
gether art,  dance,  music  and  theatre  for  planning,  production,  per- 
formance, proposal  writing  and  promotion.  .  .  .^ 

Although  Meredith  had  worked  for  a  decade  toward  establishing  the 
Center  for  Women  in  the  Arts,  Initiative  2000  gave  it  life.  Its  time  had 
come,  suggested  Jean  Jackson,  vice  president  for  student  development, 
who  oversaw  its  creation.  "The  arts  are  imbedded  deeply  in  our  culture 
— a  means  of  preserving  and  celebrating  our  civilization."  She  added,  "At 
a  time  when  the  arts  are  under  such  scrutiny, ...  it  is  vital  to  ensure  access 
to  all  the  arts."^* 

Access  to  the  campus  was  an  impetus  for  artist-in-residence  Robert 
Mihaly,  who  had  begun  sculpting  an  angel — "a  very  large  angel,"  de- 
clared Meredith — during  his  tenure  with  the  National  Cathedral  in 
Washington,  D.C.  The  cathedral  grounds  were  not  conducive  to  a  work 
of  that  magnitude,  and  Mihaly  welcomed  the  grassy  open  spaces  near 
Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  as  a  temporary  home  for  his  twelve-ton  mar- 
ble "work-in-progress."  His  graceful  angel  would  remain  in  full  view — 
except  in  bad  weather  when  a  blue  tarp  covered  it — until  it  was  com- 
pleted and  claimed  by  the  local  family  who  commissioned  it. 

Angelic  choruses  for  children  added  a  dimension  to  the  arts  through 
the  music  program  that,  historically,  has  served  the  Raleigh  community  as 
well  as  Meredith's  full-time  students.  The  younger  singers — from  Wake, 
Durham,  Johnston,  and  Orange  Counties — were  members  of  the  Mere- 
dith Girls'  Chorus  and  the  Meredith  Girls'  Chorale  (for  eight-  to  sixteen- 
year-olds),  directed  by  professor  of  music  Fran  M.  Page.  The  groups'  "de- 
manding" schedules  have  taken  them  to  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  D.C; 


*In  the  nineties,  the  conservative  bent  of  elected  officials  led  legislative  bodies  to 
decrease  dramatically  municipal  and  federal  funding  for  the  arts.  The  voice  of  United 
States  Senator  Jesse  Helms  from  North  Carolina  was  one  of  the  loudest  heard 
against  the  National  Endowment  for  the  Arts. 


306     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

the  White  House;  the  National  Cathedral;  the  North  Carolina  Museum 
of  Art;  the  Governor's  Mansion;  the  Spoleto  Festival  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina;  and  back  home  again  to  perform  in  the  National  Opera  Com- 
pany's Hansel  and  Gretel  and  La  Boheme.  But,  added  Dr.  Page,  "These 
girls  come  out  w^ith  an  appreciation  of  music  that  will  last  the  rest  of  their 
lives."^  An  announcement  in  a  1997  faculty  meeting  was  also  an  invita- 
tion to  hear  the  two  choral  groups  join  the  singers  called  "Encore!"  for  a 
presentation  in  Jones  Chapel.  Encore!  was  first  listed  in  the  1997-98  cat- 
alogue, although  its  description  was  the  same  as  that  for  MUS  434 — 
"Vocal  Ensemble"  in  earlier  announcements:  "A  group  of  about  12 
singers  who  perform  literature  covering  material  from  all  musical  periods 
and  styles,  both  on  campus  and  off.  Admission  by  audition  only." 

And  it  was  encore!  for  Beth  Leavel,  '77,  who  returned  to  inspire  the 
theatre  wing  of  the  College.  After  all,  according  to  Meredith,  "Leavel  has 
made  it  big  on  Broadway  (see  Chapter  3),  performing  in  such  hits  as 
Crazy  for  You  and  ShowboatT^  In  1997,  at  the  invitation  of  her  college 
contemporary,  assistant  professor  of  theatre  Catherine  Rodgers,  '76, 
Leavel  returned  to  the  campus  to  choreograph  the  Meredith  Performs 
production  of  Irene  and  to  hold  workshops  in  musical  theatre.  While 
Leavel  choreographed  the  Meredith  play.  Sherry  Shapiro,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  dance  and  "a  pioneer  in  the  field  of  choreography  as  critical  ped- 
agogy,"^ left  on  sabbatical  for  the  Givat  Haviva  Institute  of  Education  in 
Israel  "to  teach  and  to  study  the  relationship  between  dance,  the  arts  and 
education  for  social  understanding."  ^° 

The  "odd  couple"  of  academe — the  arts  and  the  sciences — are  mutu- 
ally inclusive.  While  Meredith  commemorated  the  arts,  it  also  celebrated 
Women  in  Science  Day  on  March  24, 1997.  As  prelude  to  the  observance, 
scientists  from  the  Raleigh  Astronomy  Club  set  up  telescopes  on  the  cam- 
pus for  the  viewing  of  a  triple  treat:  the  Hale-Bopp  Comet,  Mars,  and  a 
lunar  eclipse.  And  as  integral  parts  of  the  main  celebration,  chemistry 
professor  Reginald  Shiflett — or  Merlin  the  Magician  for  a  day — per- 
formed chemistry  magic;  Robert  Reid,  biology,  demonstrated  and  dis- 
cussed plant  (and  animal)  cloning;  and  Janice  Swab,  biology,  led  a  cam- 
pus tree  tour.  The  featured  convocation  speaker  was  Gertrude  Elion,  a 
scientist  so  accomplished  in  her  field  as  to  have  been  awarded  in  1988  the 
Nobel  Prize  in  physiology  of  medicine.  (See  Chapter  9.)  In  her  address 
titled  "Challenges  and  Rewards  of  Pharmaceutical  Research,"  she  ex- 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    I996-I998      I      307 

plained,  "We  started  out  with  .  .  .  the  idea  that  we  could  interfere  with 
DNA."^^  Elion  told  her  audience  of  her  "pilgrim's  progress"  as  a  scientist. 
Meredith  told  her  more  personal  story: 

No  one  wanted  to  offer  young  biochemist  Gertrude  Elion  a  job 
after  her  graduation  summa  cum  laude  from  Hunter  College.  In  the 
early  40s,  potential  employers  were  convinced  she  would  just  get 
married  and  leave.  Their  attitude  was  that,  as  a  woman,  Gertrude 
Ehon  would  be  a  distracting  influence  in  the  laboratory.  .  .  . 

"I  wasn't  sure  what  I  was  meant  to  do  about  that,"  she  told  the 
convocation  audience  ....  But  what  she  did  was  go  to  graduate 
school  at  NYU  and  get  her  MS  in  chemistry,  ,  .  . 

The  sad  thing  is,  it  took  [World  War  II]  to  make  employers  real- 
ize that  women  might  be  useful  in  the  laboratory,"  she  said.  Finally, 
in  1944  a  small  pharmaceutical  laboratory  in  the  little  town  of 
Tuckahoe,  just  north  of  New  York  City,  took  a  chance  on  Gertrude 
Elion.  She  was  hired  by  George  Hitchings,*  then  head  of  the  bio- 
chemistry department  at  Burroughs  Wellcome.  .  .  .  ^^ 

Because  of  her  gender,  Gertrude  Elion  was  shortchanged  in  the  early 
years  of  her  career,  and,  according  to  studies  by  the  American  Association 
of  University  Women,  students  who  happened  to  be  girls  were  still  being 
shortchanged — more  noticeably  so  in  math  and  science  than  in  some  other 
disciplines.  Although  similar  findings  were  later  questioned,  AAUW's  1996 
report  offered  "dramatic  evidence"  as  to  the  validity  of  theirs. ^^  Taking 
steps  toward  solving  the  problem,  Meredith;  local  members  of  the  na- 
tional organization.  Women  and  Mathematics;  Wake  County  Middle 
Schools;  and  area  businesses  teamed  up  to  provide  mentors — "women 
who  use  mathematics  in  their  professions" —  for  middle-  and  high-school 
girls  "who  might  be  interested  in  similar  career  paths. ^'* 

For  women  in  the  nineties,  career  paths  sometimes  led  to  business 
ownership.  In  1997,  the  College  established  "the  only  Small  Business 
Center  for  Women  in  the  Triangle"  for  women  of  all  ages.  In  addition  to 
formal  teaching,  workshops,  and  seminars,  the  center  offered  myriad  re- 
sources, including  a  quarterly  newsletter  for  statewide  circulation  and 


*Hitchings  and  James  Black  are  Glaxo  Wellcome  scientists  who,  with  Elion,  were 
awarded  the  Nobel  Prize. 


308      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

mentoring  and  consulting  opportunities.  Mentoring  (a  nineties  word)  and 
other  forms  of  leadersliip  sometimes  transcended  the  worlcpiace,  merging 
with  civic  responsibihty,  as  in  the  example  of  those  professional  women's 
gifts  of  time  and  knowledge  of  mathematics  to  young  girls  who  needed 
role  models.  As  alluded  to  in  earlier  passages,  Meredith  and  its  students 
have  assumed  civic  responsibilities  in  many  forms.  In  this  chapter's  time 
period,  the  culture  sometimes  called  for  extra-extra-curricular  activities 
to  take  stands  for  the  good  of  humankind.  For  example,  in  1996,  stu- 
dents Katie  Robinson,  Mary  Sharpe,  and  Danielle  Mir  founded  Angels 
for  the  Environment,  a  club  "to  promote  awareness  in  the  Meredith  com- 
munity of  environmental  concerns  by  working  on  and  beyond  the  cam- 
pus in  an  attempt  to  better  the  environment.  "Their  efforts  have  ranged 
from  recycling  to  post-Hurricane  Fran  cleanup,  from  "creating  a  nature 
trail"  to  "implementing  Earth  Day  events,"  and  their  territory  has  ranged 
from  the  campus  through  the  extended  community.  ^^ 

To  make  statements  about  issues,  Meredith  women  have  sometimes 
collaborated  with  students  from  other  area  colleges,  as  they  did  on  Hal- 
loween night,  1997,  for  a  Take  Back  the  Night  rally  and  candlelight  vigil, 
where  students  from  both  schools  protested  the  atrocities  of  rape  and 
other  acts  of  violence  often  targeted  toward  victims  in  the  darkness  of 
night. 

In  both  June  1997  and  1998,  Meredith  hosted,  and  students,  faculty, 
staff,  and  alumnae  participated  in  the  North  Carolina  Triangle  Race  for 
the  Cure®,  a  national  fund-raising  event  "to  benefit  breast  cancer  educa- 
tion and  research  efforts." ^^  Both  races  were  staged  on  the  campus. 

The  women  in  the  race  showed  their  true  colors — as  people  will  do — 
by  staunchly  supporting  a  cause  in  which  they  intensely  believed.  Fortu- 
nately, literally  thousands  of  family  members  and  friends  have  intensely 
believed  in  the  College.  While  alumnae  have  financially  supported  it,  usu- 
ally at  several  percentage  points  above  the  national  average,  the  nation's 
economy  was  always  a  barometer  for  charitable  giving.  In  the  years  of 
Baptist  Female  University,  legends  of  women  and  their  giving  trends  usu- 
ally referred  to  "egg  money"  or  "holding  back  some  from  the  food  bud- 
get." In  the  nineties,  women  bought  eggs  (or  egg  substitutes)  at  the  super- 
market; they  followed  the  stock  market  as  investors  and  investment 
brokers;  and  they  gave  to  charitable  institutions.  One  had  only  to  turn 
to  the  1996-97  Honor  Roll  of  Donors  for  the  Meredith  facts:  In  the 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    I996-1998      I     309 


James  Carter  Blasingame,  President,  1899-1900 

Thomas  Meredith  Society  alone,  membership  of  which  comprised  con- 
tributors of  hfetime  gifts  of  $100,000 -$1,000,000  or  more,  thirty-nine 
of  the  sixty-six  individual  members  were  women.*  In  1996-97,  alumnae 
contributed  $600,472  to  the  College,  and  those  who  contributed  $5,000 
or  more  over  a  successive  five-year  period  held  membership  in  the  Iris  So- 
ciety, a  new  giving  club  established  in  1997. 

Annually,  since  1994,  an  alumna  has  been  named  Philanthropist  of  the 
Year.  Chapter  1 2  introduced  the  award,  its  criteria,  and  Laura  Weather- 
spoon  Harrill,  '27,  its  first  recipient.  The  1995,  1996,  1997,  and  1998 
honors  went  to  Dorothy  Loftin  Goodwin,  '47;  Margaret  Weatherspoon 
Parker,  '38;  Jo  Ellen  WiUiams  Ammons,  '57;  and  Frances  Tatum  Council, 
'38,  respectively. 

From  the  generous  nature  of  friends  and  family  to  the  competitive  na- 
ture of  politics  is  not  an  easy  transition.  But  in  1996,  a  presidential  elec- 
tion year,  politics  permeated  all  of  society.  And  that  the  nineteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution,  allowing  women  finally  to  vote,  was  not 

*Twenty  of  the  women  listed  gave  jointly  with  their  husbands. 


3IO     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

ratified  until  1920  should  have  reminded  women  of  the  urgency  of  their 
seeking  office,  to  say  nothing  of  their  voting  responsibilities.  Previous 
chapters  introduced  some  alumnae — but  not  all — who  chose  politics  as 
a  way  of  life,  and  a  few  students — but  not  all — who  actively  participated 
in  the  process.  In  1966,  a  national  survey  reported,  "Most  students  (over 
80%)  said  they  intended  to  vote  in  the  .  .  .  elections." ^^  But  results  can 
never  be  measured  in  intentions.  The  Department  of  History  and  Politics 
at  Meredith  quoted  statistics  that  indicated  "30% -40%  of  all  18  to  24 
year  old  citizens  .  .  .  typically  register."  ^^  That  year,  the  number  of  regis- 
trants at  Meredith  came  close  to  the  percentage  of  students  who  intended 
to  vote  and  far  above  the  typical  college-age  voter  registration.  Clyde  Fra- 
zier  and  Michael  Novak,  professors  of  politics  and  history,  respectively, 
had  challenged  Meredith  students  "to  lead  the  nation  in  voting"  ^^  by  reg- 
istering ^6%  of  Meredith  students  and  getting  <^6%  of  those  to  vote.  The 
slogan  became  "96%  in  '96."  But  the  final  tally  was  78%  in  '96.  After  the 
November  elections.  Dr.  Frazier  said,  "Although  I'm  disappointed  that 
we  didn't  reach  96%,  I'm  happy  and  grateful  that  so  many  people  helped. 
.  .  .  We  ended  up  processing  about  400  registration  forms,  close  to  300 
absentee  ballot  requests,  and  we  drove  almost  75  people  to  the  polls." ^'^ 
He  identified  three  hardships  that  had  a  significant  impact  on  the  project: 
the  boring  election.  Hurricane  Fran,  and  a  fire  in  Heilman  Residence 
Hall.^^  But  the  very  good  news  was  that  100%  of  "the  eligible  full-time 
faculty  .  .  .  registered  to  vote."^^ 

In  the  fall  months  preceding  election  day,  a  veritable  chorus  of  idealo- 
gies  resonated  at  Meredith  from  a  choir  of  political  partisans:  David  Price, 
political  science  professor  at  Duke  and  Democrat  running  for  re-election 
to  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives  from  North  Carolina's 
fourth  district — which  includes  Raleigh;  Harvey  Gantt,  former  mayor  of 
Charlotte  and  Democratic  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate;  Kay 
Bailey  Hutchison,  Republican,  the  first  woman  to  represent  Texas  in  the 
Senate;  Robin  Dole,  daughter  of  Robert  Dole,  Republican  Presidential 
candidate;  and  not-so-partisan  Ferrel  Guillory,  coordinator  of  polls  for  the 
News  and  Observer  and  the  Ford  Foundation's  writer-in-residence.  Ap- 
parently, no  presidential  preference  polls  were  taken  at  Meredith,  but  the 
previously  quoted  nationwide  survey  of  college  students,  who  intended  to 
vote,  "favored  CHnton  over  Dole  by  a  margin  of  47.7%  to  33.9%.  Perot 
was  favored  by  8%  of  the  students."-^  The  Clinton  re-election  victory 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    I996-I998      I     31I 

notwithstanding,  tlie  favored  candidate  for  the  Club  of  the  Year  Award  of 
the  North  CaroHna  Federation  of  College  Republicans  was  Meredith's 
College  Republicans — for  the  second  consecutive  year. 

"The  institution  was  founded  by  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North 
Carolina;  it  has  been  built  and  is  now  owned  and  controlled  by  this  body, 
represented  by  a  Board  of  Trustees.  It  is  one  of  the  few  institutions  in  the 
South  founded,  built  and  conducted  by  the  Baptist  denomination. " 

BY  AUGUST  1993,  Meredith  and  the  Baptist  State  Convention  had  negoti- 
ated an  agreement  that  superseded  the  Meredith  trustees'  vote  in  199 1  re- 
garding the  election  of  trustees.  The  compromise  was  reflected  in  the  Col- 
lege's bylaws,  Article  III,  Section  1 1 : 

The  Trustees  Nominating  Committee  .  .  .  shall  work  with  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  College  to  develop  a  list  of  trustee  nominees  to  be  pro- 
vided to  the  Nominating  Committee  of  the  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion. Persons  from  this  list  will  be  elected  trustees  of  Meredith  by 
the  Convention.  .  .  . 

But  when  the  trustees  convened  in  February  1997,  they  voted  again  to 
amend: 

The  Trustees  Nominating  Committee  .  .  .  shall  work  with  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  College  to  develop  a  list  of  trustee  nominees  to  be  acted 
upon  by  the  full  Board.  The  Board  of  Trustees,  by  majority  vote, 
shall  elect  trustees  from  the  nominees  submitted  by  the  Trustees 
Nominating  Committee.  Any  member  of  the  trustees  may  submit  a 
nomination  to  the  Trustees  Nominating  Committee.  .  .  .* 

In  an  interview  with  President  Weems,  Jeannie  Morelock,  director  of 
marketing  and  communications,  asked  pertinent  questions,  such  as 
"Does  this  action  alter  Meredith's  mission?"  And  the  president  answered, 

Absolutely  not.  The  decision  by  the  trustees  to  establish  a  self- 
perpetuating  board  actually  strengthens  our  ability  to  fulfill  our 

*The  faculty  voted  to  ask  the  chairs  of  the  Faculty  Affairs  Committee  to  write  a  per- 
sonal letter  to  each  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  "expressing  the  appreciation  of 
the  faculty  for  the  action  taken  by  the  board  at  this  time."  (Minutes,  faculty  meeting, 
February  21,  1997) 


3IZ     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

mission  by  insuring  our  independence  and  identity.  Meredith  was 
founded  on,  and  remains  committed  to,  the  principle  of  preparing 
women  to  lead  in,  and  contribute  to,  society.  This  position  regard- 
ing the  role  of  women  as  leaders  is  becoming  increasingly  incom- 
patible with  that  of  some  groups  within  the  Convention.^"* 

Mrs.  Morelock  also  asked  whether  Meredith  would  continue  as  a  Baptist 
institution,  and  the  president  answered  emphatically  that  it  would — "in 
the  same  way  we  have  been  for  more  than  a  century."  ^^  In  his  President's 
Message  for  1997,  Weems  wrote, 

When  the  Trustees  changed  our  bylaws  and  moved  to  a  self-perpet- 
uating board,  they  made  it  clear  to  me  that  their  highest  priority 
was  to  protect  the  integrity  of  the  institution.  But  they  also  were 
firm  in  their  desire  to  maintain  the  strongest  possible  relationship 
with  the  Baptists  of  the  state.  With  this  in  mind,  the  new  bylaws 
stipulate  that  the  majority  of  our  trustees  be  from  North  Carolina, 
and  the  majority  of  our  trustees  be  Baptist. 

In  its  August  21,  1997,  issue,  the  Biblical  Recorder  reported  agreement 
between  Meredith  and  the  convention: 

Meredith  would  establish  an  endowed  scholarship  program  for 
Baptist  students  and  an  Office  of  Church  Relations.  Scholarship 
funds  for  North  Carolina  Baptist  students  would  continue  at  the 
current  level,  approximately  $62,000  annually.^^ 

But  the  strain  of  opposing  viewpoints  brought  emotional  stress  to  the  ne- 
gotiating table: 

BSC  leaders  felt  that  Meredith's  action  was  unwarranted  and  that 
trustees  acted  unilaterally  without  proper  process  and  discussion. 
Tensions  have  been  running  high,  and  strong  protest  statements 
have  been  made  by  Convention  leaders  about  the  manner  in  which 
Meredith  handled  the  situation.^^ 

The  matter  was  settled  once  and  for  all  when  the  convention,  in  its  No- 
vember 1997  annual  session,  voted  to  amend  its  own  constitution  to  re- 
flect, in  the  same  way  that  Wake  Forest  is  affiliated  with  the  convention, 
the  changed  relationship  between  Meredith  and  North  Carolina  Baptists: 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      313 


Richard  Tilman  Vann,  President,  1900-191  j 

Article  XIV. 
Relationship  with  Meredith  College 
The  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Carolina  and  Meredith  Col- 
lege shall  have  a  fraternal,  voluntary  relationship  under  which 
Meredith  College  is  autonomous  in  governance.  In  order  to  facili- 
tate that  relationship,  the  College  will  have  associate,  non-voting 
membership  on  the  Council  of  Christian  Higher  Education,  and 
will  be  represented  by  the  same  officers  as  schools  which  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Council.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  Meredith  College 
shall  be  elected  by  that  Board  in  accordance  with  such  procedures 
as  that  Board  may  prescribe.  Meredith  College  shall  not  share  in  the 
distrubution  of  Cooperative  Program  Funds.^^ 

Although  tensions  eased  significantly,  the  change  in  relationship  had 
taken  its  toll  on  Meredith;  however,  the  sacrifice  might  eventually  have 
been  greater  had  no  action  been  taken,  said  supporters  of  the  move.  One 
of  the  prices  the  College  paid  was,  literally,  a  price  paid.  When  the  con- 
vention's executive  committee  voted  in  August  1977  to  approve  the  new 


314     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

affiliation,  it  released  the  $275,000  in  escrowed  funds  that  would  have 
been  due  Meredith  from  April  i-June  30,  but  as  of  July  i,  the  College 
would  receive  no  Cooperative  Program  support.  After  the  November 
convention,  however,  "to  pay  tribute  to  its  rich  Baptist  history  and  to  rec- 
ognize outstanding  students  who  are  North  Carolina  Baptists,"  Meredith 
established,  from  funds  previously  given,  the  Thomas  Meredith  Baptist 
Heritage  Scholarship  Fund.^^  Each  year — and  without  regard  to  financial 
need — three  freshmen  meeting  the  criteria  of  "academic  excellence,  out- 
standing service  to  church  and/or  community,  leadership  ability  and  the 
recommendation  of  a  church  official"  would  be  awarded  renewable 
scholarships  of  $1,000  each.  One  of  the  goals  set  by  Harold  West,  new 
director  of  church  relations,  would  be  to  increase  the  scholarship  endow- 
ment. But  mainly,  he  said,  "we  want  to  continue  to  build  relations  with 
Baptist  churches  and  the  convention."  West's  new  responsibilities  were  in 
addition  to  those  in  his  role  as  director  of  planned  giving,  a  post  he  had 
held  since  199 1. 

"How  well  this  estimate  of  the  convictions  of  our  people  was  taken,  let 
the  notable  opening  .  .  .  in  September,  1899,  bear  its  own  evidence.  From 
one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other  the  students  came;  the  large  new  building 
was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  a  commodious  residence,  admirably 
adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the  situation,  adjoining  the  grounds  already 
occupied  by  the  University,  was  purchased  and  immediately  filled  with 
students.  The  fact  of  a  new  institution  being  compelled  to  enlarge  its  pro- 
visions in  the  very  hour  of  its  opening,  is  a  remarkable  one  in  educational 
history  anywhere,  and  is  worthy  of  record  as  a  testimony  not  only  to  the 
Baptist  people,  but  for  the  inspiration  of  all  who  uphold  education. " 

THE  180  STUDENTS  who  enrolled  on  opening  day  of  Baptist  Female  Uni- 
versity exceeded  the  fondest  hopes  of  the  administration.*  And  so  did 
Meredith's  record  enrollment  in  1995.  But  a  cautious  Sue  Kearney,  direc- 
tor of  admissions,  counseled,  "Given  the  demographic  trends,  that  rosy 
picture  was  not  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  nation,  the  southern  region, 
and  the  state  of  North  Carolina  are  still  in  the  years  of  the  lowest  num- 
bers of  high  school  graduates."  Kearney  pointed  to  future  challenges: 

'•'The  hoped-for  number  was  125,  but,  before  the  first  year  ended,  the  enrollment 
had  reached  zzo.  (Johnson,  p.  57) 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      I     315 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  high  school  graduates  will  be  grad- 
ual— taking  until  2004  or  later  to  reach  where  we  were  in  1979,  the 
peak  year.  As  the  numbers  increase,  so  will  the  diversity  factors.  A 
higher  percentage  will  be  from  single-parent  households,  from  mi- 
nority populations,  and  from  economically-deprived  backgrounds. 
There  will  be  more  students  [from  families]  who  have  not  always 
attended  college  and  who  have  not  been  drawn  in  large  numbers  to 
Meredith.  Among  other  factors  that  present  challenges  is  the  reality 
that  only  about  20%  of  students  attend  private  institutions  and  that 
less  than  5  %  will  even  seriously  consider  a  women's  college.^" 

But  1996-97  statistics  gave  no  reasons  to  lower  expectations.  The 
College  reported  a  record  number  of  students  in  the  fall — 2,574;  another 
record  number  for  the  spring  semester — 2,504;  and  still  another  record 
number  in  the  first  session  of  summer  school — 702.^^  In  the  same  year, 
2,882  people — both  genders  and  all  ages — took  part  in  the  community 
programs  of  the  continuing  education  division.  President  Weems  said, 
"The  question  legitimately  might  be  asked,  'If  you  have  a  record  enroll- 
ment each  year,  why  is  it  important  to  trumpet  it  so  loudly?'  The  answer: 
the  attention  to  and  celebration  of  .  .  .  enrollment  is  generally  indicative 
of  the  health  of  the  institution."^-  Dr.  Spooner's  prognosis  for  1997-98 
was  continued  good  health:  "As  of  May  9,  we  have  experienced  the 
largest  number  ever  of  freshman  deposits.  We  are  also  experiencing  more 
room  deposits  for  returning  students  than  we  had  this  time  last  year.  This 
number  includes  many  students  who  are  returning  to  the  dormitory  after 
exercising  the  off-campus  option."^^  Actual  enrollment  for  1997-98  to- 
taled twenty-two  fewer  students  than  the  year  before;  however,  the  good 
news  of  the  highest  freshman  SAT  scores  since  1989-90  gave  reason  to 
rejoice. 

Aggressive  recruitment  practices  included  telemarketing — a  telephone- 
to-telephone  approach  of  the  eighties  and  nineties  that  apparently  found 
no  household  exempt,  overshadowing  the  door-to-door  or  pen-to-paper 
communications  of  earlier  years.  In  January  1997,  paid  student  telemar- 
keters spent  250  hours  calling  2,573  prospective  students  and  continued 
phoning  as  the  focus  switched  from  prospects  to  accepted  applicants. 
Alumnae  volunteers  also  turned  to  recruiting  by  way  of  their  presence  at 
high  school  programs,  calling,  writing,  and  entertaining  prospects  and 


3l6     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

applicants.  On  November  i,  1996,  the  alumnae  and  admissions  offices 
joined  forces  to  host  the  first  Alumnae  Legacy  Day,  to  which  alumnae  ac- 
companied potential  students  to  the  campus  for  a  glimpse  into  their  own 
possible  futures  as  young  Meredith  women. 

When  prospective  students  visited  between  1898 -1926,  they  prob- 
ably rode  a  trolley  or  a  city  bus  —  depending  on  the  years — to  the 
block  flanked  by  Blount,  Edenton,  Person,  and  Jones  Streets,  next  to 
the  Governor's  Mansion,  where  sat  the  "commodious"  buildings — the 
early  catalogue's  description — of  Main,  Adams,  and  Faircloth.  But 
when  the  College  moved  to  West  Raleigh  in  1926,  the  word  "com- 
modious" took  on  new  meaning.  The  rolling  acres  of  meadowland  ac- 
commodated six  permanent  and  four  temporary  buildings  —  before  the 
student  population  boom.  Then,  in  the  1990s,  strangers — and  some 
alumnae — relied  on  campus  maps  to  identify  the  thirty-five  functional 
and  interesting  places  on  the  225  acres  of  land  between  the  outer  belt- 
line  (T440);  Hillsborough  and  Faircloth  Streets;  and  Wade  Avenue.  For 
that  matter,  by  1998,  some  of  the  campus  residents  probably  found 
themselves  in  the  wrong  hallway  as  they  oriented  themselves  in  new 
and  renovated  buildings. 

On  February  14,  1997,  the  Margaret  Weatherspoon  Parker  Fitness 
Center,  with  its  state-of-the-art  exercise  equipment,  its  dance  studio,  and 
its  faculty  offices,  as  described  in  previous  chapters,  was  dedicated  to  and 
named  for  Mrs.  Parker,  "highly  loyal"  alumna,  long-time  trustee  and  the 
first  woman  elected  to  chair  the  board,  and  major  financial  contributor.^"* 

That  same  day,  the  Park  Center  was,  as  Meredith  writer  Del  Hunt 
Johnson  expressed  it,  another  "Center  of  Attention."  From  the  Park 
Foundation  in  Ithaca,  New  York,  had  come  a  grant  for  $600,000;  and 
Meredith  gratefully  honored  the  Parks — and  itself — by  naming  and  ded- 
icating the  Park  Center,  "especially  because  Dorothy  [Dent]  Park  is  a 
1936  graduate,"  said  Vice  President  Murphy  Osborne. ^^  But  before  the 
trustees  named  and  the  contractors  built  the  building,  they — and  every- 
body else — knew  it  familiarly  as  part  of  the  new  student  services  center. 
It  would  abut  Cate  Center,  they  said;  in  fact.  Park  and  Cate  would  be 
"under  one  roof  and  joined  by  hallways."  Vice  President  Taylor  said  it 
would  be  more  than  a  building;  it  would  also  be  a  change  "in  the  way  we 
serve  students."-'^ 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      I      317 

A  mini-campaign  for  $i.z  million  in  building  funds  (later  increased  by 
$170,000  when  1,000  square  feet  were  added  to  the  plans)  had  been 
launched  in  1996  for  the  new  13,000  square-foot  facility  and  the  renova- 
tion of  Gate  Center.  By  way  of  campaign  literature,  President  Weems  led 
potential  donors  on  an  imaginary  tour  of  Park  Center,  though  "the  foun- 
dation is  not  yet  excavated  nor  is  the  first  brick  laid,  but  the  building  is 
real  and  is  part  of  our  commitment  to  women's  education."  On  the  first 
floor,  he  directed,  one  would  find  the  continuing  education  and  graduate 
school  offices  and,  upstairs,  some  of  the  offices  in  the  division  of  student 
development,  including  the  career  center.  And  in  the  entrance  to  Park 
Center,  an  oil  and  acrylic  mural — gift  of  the  Class  of  1997 — would 
"honor  and  celebrate"  the  lives  of  100  outstanding  alumnae. ^^  Linda 
FitzSimons,  associate  professor  of  art,  and  her  assistants  would  research 
the  names,  and  art  and  graphic  design  students  would  create,  with  names, 
footprints,  and  campus  scenes,  the  history-by-mural. 

Meanwhile,  the  aging  Cate  Center  earned  its  due: 

Other  than  checking  their  mailboxes  and  buying  textbooks  and 
supplies  there,  students  for  many  years  preferred  to  socialize  in 
dorm  rooms  and  parlors,  not  in  their  new  student  center.  .  .  . 

Nearly  25  years  later,  with  a  flourishing  commuter  student  pop- 
ulation— nearly  50  percent  of  the  College's  enrollment — the  path 
to  the  Cate  Center  is  well-worn.  Nearby  Harris,  Ledford  and 
Gaddy-Hamrick  buildings  constructed  since  1972  serve  hundreds 
of  day  students  and  graduate  students,  so  many,  in  fact,  that  a  new 
parking  lot  was  completed  earlier  this  year  across  from  Cate  Center 
to  accommodate  the  overflow.  ^^ 

A  new  and  larger  bookstore,  managed  by  Follett,  a  private  company  in 
the  business  of  college  bookstores;  recreational  facifities;  and  a  food 
court — again  to  be  called  the  "Bee  Hive" — would  "restore  Gate  Center 
to  its  original  purpose,"  promised  the  campaign  literature.  The  lounge 
renovations  gave  hands-on  experience  to  interior  design  students  and 
opened  a  world  of  choices  to  seniors  in  search  of  a  project,  the  Class  of 
1996  deciding  on  patio  furniture  for  "the  garden-style  outdoor  dining 
space  ."^^ 

The  new  student  services  complex  offered  creative  funding  opportuni- 


3l8     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ties  for  everybody.  For  example,  one's  name  could  linger  in  Meredith's 
history  for  $ioo — the  cost  of  a  brick  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the 
donor — and  class  year,  if  applicable — or  of  someone  to  be  honored  by 
the  donor.  The  collection  of  inscribed  bricks  would  then  become  part  of 
the  Gate  Center  plaza. 

Adjacent  to  Gate  Genter  and  in  honor  of  the  105  charter  members  of 
the  Iris  Society,  an  iris  garden — one  flower  per  charter  member — grew. 
The  iris  had  long  been  the  college  flower;  historian  Mary  Lynch  Johnson 
wrote  of  a  Meredith  Iris,  especially  developed  and  registered  in  1968  by 
Loleta  Kenan  Powell,  '41,  renowned  iris  and  day  lily  grower,  who  de- 
scribed the  blossom's  "standards  of  creamy  white  and  falls  of  maroon 
neatly  edged  with  white."'^°  The  Summer  1997  issue  of  Meredith  brought 
the  iris  story  up-to-date: 

The  variety  "Meredith  Hues"  iris  was  created  specifically  for  the 
Gollege  by  Loleta  Kenan  Powell,  '41,  of  Princeton,  N.G.  Powell,  an 
avid  gardener  since  the  age  of  five,  was  honored  in  a  ceremony  be- 
fore Meredith's  spring  Commencement  Exercises  on  Sunday,  May 
II  [1997].  At  the  same  time  the  "Meredith  Hues"  was  recognized 
as  the  official  flower  of  Meredith  Gollege."*^ 

Just  yards  away  from  the  iris  garden,  the  Norma  Rose  Garden  re- 
minded passers-by  of  the  much-loved  professor  of  English,  1937-86. 
The  idea  of  a  rose  garden  sprang  from  the  mind  of  Robin  Bailey  Golby, 
'81,  assistant  professor  of  English  and  Dr.  Rose's  former  student,  who 
thought  the  garden  a  fitting  expression  of  regard  for  Meredith's  own 
"Red"  Rose — as  the  honoree  was  known  by  her  college  contemporaries. 
Dr.  Golby  selected  a  site  along  the  path  of  Dr.  Rose's  daily  travels:  be- 
tween Joyner  Hall — home  of  the  English  department —  and  the  Garlyle 
Campbell  Library.  On  May  23,  1998,  during  Alumnae  Weekend,  dedi- 
cation ceremonies  moved  to  a  Joyner  classroom  while  Mother  Nature 
generously  watered  the  garden — and  all  of  Raleigh.  In  her  dedicatory  re- 
marks, Jean  Jackson,  vice  president  for  student  development  and  profes- 
sor of  English,  remembered  Norma  Rose: 

[M]any  of  us  owe  our  ability  to  read  with  understanding  and  to 
read  aloud  with  passion  and  insight  to  Norma  Rose.  The  increasing 
ability  to  read  closely  enabled  us,  as  we  struggled  through  Milton's 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      I      3^9 


Charles  Edward  Brewer,  President,  191^-19^9 


Paradise  Lost,  to  understand  Milton's  concept  of  Paradise,  of  Eden, 
when  lie  wrote  in  Book  IV  about  "Flowers  of  all  hue,  and  without 
thorn  the  rose"  (I.26).  And  to  compare  that  idyllic  rose  with 
Wordsworth's  description  in  Ode:  Intimations  of  Immortality  from. 
Recollections  of  Early  Childhood,  "The  Rainbow  comes  and  goes, 
/  And  lovely  is  the  Rose"  (st.z). 

I  keep  trying  to  imagine  what  Dr.  Rose  herself  would  say  about 
today.  I  think  she  would  be  glad  this  area  is  called  the  Norma 
Rose  Garden — avoiding  the  redundancy  of  the  Norma  Rose  Rose 
Garden.  .  .  . 

It  was  a  redundancy  of  sorts  that  the  library  had  outgrown  its  space. 
The  first  self-contained  library  on  the  campus,  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary was  constructed  in  1968  for  125,000  volumes;  in  1998,  it  held 
"over  135,000  volumes  plus  42,600  additional  items  in  non-print  for- 
mats. ...  In  the  last  decade  the  addition  of  a  computerized  online  library 
system  and  expanded  media  services  and  library  instruction  programs. 


320     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

services  and  staff  have  stretched  the  use  of  space  to  the  fullest.'"*^  While 
no  additions  to  the  hbrary  were  anticipated  for  the  immediate  future,  ren- 
ovations in  1998  effectively  reorganized  the  space.  In  the  summer  of  con- 
struction, workers  occupied  the  thirty-year-old  building  while  basic  li- 
brary services  moved  to  the  first  floor  of  Stringfield  Residence  Hall.  Ted 
Waller,  technical  services  librarian,  offered  an  opportunity  for  Meredith 
people  to  buy  a  bit  of  history — and  nostalgia,  perhaps — by  way  of  a 
silent  auction  for  the  sale  of  the  card  catalog  cabinets. 

Another  piece  of  history,  the  Fannie  E.S.  Heck  Fountain,  standing  tall 
where  walkways  merge  in  the  center  of  the  courtyard,  would  be  restored 
to  its  original  beauty  and  function  with  financing  from  the  Parent  and 
Family  Association.*  To  honor  its  first  president,  the  North  Carohna 
Baptist  Woman's  Missionary  Union  had  given  the  fountain  in  1928,  when 
the  new  campus  was,  indeed,  new. 

And  new  by  history's  standards,  the  grounds  of  Jones  Chapel  had 
some  dressing  up  to  do.  Because  of  a  generous  gift  of  $250,000,  plans 
could  get  underway  for  the  Spangler  Arboretum,  to  be  named  in  honor  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Earl  W.  Spangler  of  Shelby,  North  Carolina. 

Building  and  renovating,  renovating  and  building  were  continual.  But 
now  and  then,  both  the  forces  of  nature  and  the  errors  of  humankind 
wreaked  havoc,  as  in  the  month  of  September  1996.  Unusual  for  inland 
territories.  Hurricane  Fran  hit  the  Triangle  with  a  vengeance  in  the  early 
morning  of  Friday,  the  6th.  Meredith's  lost  electrical  power  was  restored 
that  same  afternoon,  though  many  Raleigh  residents  were  without  elec- 
tricity for  more  than  a  week.  A  month  later,  reported  the  employees' 
newsletter,  facilities  manager  Clarke  Suttle  could  not  yet  apply  a  dollar 
figure  to  campus  damage  "during  what  some  are  calling  the  'Hurricane  of 
the  Century'": 

Most  of  the  damage  was  quickly  repaired,  like  the  missing  pieces 
of  roof  on  Heilman  residence  hall  and  the  skylights  which  were 
torn  out  of  Stringfield  and  Vann  residence  halls.  The  ground 
floors  of  Ledford  Hall,  Poteat  residence  hall,  and  the  Waiwright 
Suites,  below  Belk  Dining  Hall,  all  sustained  damage  from  flood- 
ing  

^Formerly  the  Parents'  Association,  this  organization  changed  its  name  in  1990  to 
reflect  the  changing  student  constituency  of  the  College. 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     321 

What  cannot  be  repaired  or  replaced  are  the  100-1x5  large  trees 
downed  around  campus.  .  .  .'^^"' 

Although  clean-up  efforts  continued  into  the  next  spring  and  summer, 
"the  replanting  of  23  new  trees  and  the  replacement  of  some  shrubs  Ihad] 
begun  the  long  trip  back  to  normalcy.'"^'* 

The  second  September  catastrophe  struck  on  the  17th,  when  students 
in  Heilman  residence  hall  awoke  to  what  many  thought  was  a  5  a.m.  fire 
drill.  "It  was  not.  Room  201  was  on  fire."'*^  According  to  a  September  20 
news  release  by  the  College, 

Roommates  Jodi  Abbate  and  Susan  Fortunes  awoke  when  their 
battery-operated  smoke  detector  activated.  According  to  reports, 
they  ran  from  the  room  to  the  first  floor  and  pulled  the  manual  fire 
alarm,  which  failed  to  operate.  .  .  . 

The  Assistant  Chief  Earl  Fowler  said,  "The  situation  with  the 
first-floor  alarm  is  a  pure  fluke — it's  the  first  time  I've  ever  seen 
something  like  this.  .  .  .  Apparently,  this  alarm  has  been  used  for 
many  years  in  drills  and  in  testing.  Over  the  years,  the  activating  de- 
vice was  worn  down  by  the  switch  and  it  wore  a  groove  in  it."  But, 
according  to  Chief  Fowler,  the  alarm  was  tested  in  August  and  had 
been  certified  as  operational. 

Various  reports  offered  reassurance.  From  the  Meredith  Herald  for  Sep- 
tember 18: 

At  5:01  A.M.  campus  security  received  a  call  from  two  young 
women  who  awoke  to  find  their  room  in  flames.  When  the  fire  de- 
partment arrived  on  the  scene  by  5:07  a.m.,  the  approximately  135 
residents  in  Heilman  had  been  completely  evacuated,  according  to 
Chuck  Taylor,  Vice  President  for  Business  and  Finance.  .  .  . 

From  the  News  and  Observer,  September  18: 

Two  students  were  treated  at  the  scene  for  smoke  inhalation,  but 
there  were  no  other  injuries.  The  fire  was  contained  to  one  room 


*  "Janice  Swab,  biology  professor,  explained  that  many  oaks  fell  during  Hurricane 
Fran  because  they  had  been  damaged  by  Hurricane  Hazel  years  ago"  (Meredith, 
Summer  1997,  i). 


322     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

and  was  put  out  within  15  minutes,  but  adjacent  rooms  were  dam- 
aged by  smoke  and  water.  .  .  . 

Stanford  [fire  department  battalion  chief]  said  an  investigation 
found  that  the  fire  was  caused  by  "piggy-backing,"  when  too  many 
plugs  are  inserted  in  one  electrical  outlet.  .  .  . 

The  residents  of  the  second  floor  of  Heilman  were  relocated  to 
other  campus  rooms  that  had  extra  beds. 

A  September  17  letter  from  President  Weems  to  parents: 

Please  know  that  the  welfare  of  our  students  is  of  primary  concern. 
We  will  keep  your  daughters  informed  .  .  .  ,  and  we  welcome  your 
questions  about  procedures  and  follow-up  to  this  frightening  morn- 
ing. We  are  very  grateful  that  the  fire  was  contained,  that  our  fire 
training  procedures  served  us  well,  and  most  particularly,  that  all  of 
our  students  are  safe. 

And  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees'  meeting,  September  27: 

A  resolution  was  unanimously  passed  by  the  trustees  conveying  to 
Dr.  Qean]  Jackson  and  all  members  of  the  Meredith  family  the 
heartfelt  and  sincere  thanks,  appreciation,  and  commendation  for 
the  manner  in  which  these  emergencies  were  handled. 

At  the  same  board  meeting,  the  trustees  approved  planning  for  the 
construction  of  a  new  science  building  and  renovation  of  Jones  Audito- 
rium, the  latter  to  occur  in  the  summer  of  1998. 

"This  year's  work  has  been  no  less  satisfactory.  The  trustees  fixed  their 
purpose  to  select  the  best  faculty  available.  They  were  impressed  with  the 
conviction  that  they  had  no  ordinary  task  and  that,  whatever  the  hazard, 
they  were  bound  to  establish  the  university's  high  standard.  This  they 
did — employing  a  numerous  faculty  of  scholarly  men  and  women,  and 
providing  every  facility  for  the  instruction,  training  and  keeping  of  the 
young  ladies  entrusted  to  them.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year  they  have  been 
so  justified  that  where  many  felt  that  entrenchment  would  be  the  order, 
the  word  is  clear  to  go  foward. " 

THE  FIRST  TEACHING  faculty  of  Baptist  Female  University  comprised  thir- 
teen women  and  five  men,  including  President  Blasingame,  who  also 


THE  VISION   REVISITED:    I996-I998      I     3Z3 


Carlyle  Campbell,  President,  19^9-1966 

taught  psychology  and  pedagogy.  Blasingame  and  Deha  Dixon,  the  resi- 
dent physician  and  physiology  teacher,  held  doctorates,  and  three  of  the 
women  and  one  man  held  master's  degrees.  In  addition  to  the  University's 
professorial  staff,  the  first  catalogue  listed  a  principal  of  the  academy  and 
a  matron. 

Twenty-five  trustees  composed  the  governing  body  in  1898;  in  1966- 
67,  the  number  had  grown  to  twenty-eight,  including  lifetime  member, 
W.  Herbert  Weatherspoon;  and,  in  1997,  the  board  increased  from  thirty- 
six  to  forty  members.  At  the  November  18,  1996,  executive  committee 
meeting,  Margaret  Weatherspoon  Parker  proposed  that  an  emeritus  sta- 
tus be  instituted,  and  chairman,  Norman  Kellum,  appointed  a  three- 
member  committee  headed  by  Charles  Barham  to  consider  the  matter.  At 
a  special  meeting  on  April  21,  1997,  Barham  made  the  following  motion: 

Any  active  or  former  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  who  has 
served  in  such  capacity  a  minimum  of  8  years  may  be  elected  a 
Trustee  Emeritus  of  the  College.  Such  election  may  be  made  by  the 
full  Board  of  Trustees  upon  nomination  of  the  Trustees'  Nominat- 


324     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

ing  Committee.  This  election  shall  be  for  life  unless  revoked  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  the  Trustee  Emeritus  shall  have  the  right  to 
speak  but  shall  have  no  vote  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Board.  A 
Trustee  Emeritus  shall  not  be  counted  against  the  limitation  on 
membership  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  may  not  be  used  to  estab- 
lish a  quorum  necessary  for  meetings. 

The  motion  v^as  tabled  until  the  semi-annual  meeting  on  September  26, 
1997,  at  which  time  it  was  passed. 

In  1898,  the  trustees  outnumbered  the  faculty.  In  1997-98,  when  106 
full-time  and  141  adjunct  faculty  members  composed  the  teaching  force 
of  the  College,  the  situation  was  clearly  reversed.  While  the  previous 
chapter  alludes  to  a  somewhat  rocky  path  between  the  two  bodies,  this 
entry  suggests  a  road  to  recovery.  At  the  September  27,  1996,  board 
meeting,  faculty  affairs  committee  representatives  Susan  Wessels,  busi- 
ness and  economics,  and  Virginia  Knight,  mathematics  and  computer  sci- 
ence, issued  a  statement  on  behalf  of  the  faculty: 

We  appreciate  the  more  open  relationship  that  the  Board  of 
Trustees  has  created  with  the  faculty.  We  welcome  the  informal 
lunchroom  conversations  with  Mr.  Kellum  and  other  Board  mem- 
bers. The  Meredith  faculty  is  totally  committed  to  creating  a  pow- 
erful future  for  the  College.  We  offer  our  talents  and  energies  to  this 
endeavor.  We  look  forward  to  being  partners  with  the  Board  and 
the  administration  as  we  all  work  to  design  Meredith  College  for 
the  twenty-first  century. 

One  of  the  committed,  Michael  Novak,  became  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  History  and  Politics  in  1996.  He  earned  his  B.A.  from  Denison 
University  and  his  M.A.  and  Ph.D.  from  Harvard.  Dr.  Novak  said  his 
"primary  intention  is  to  follow  the  principle  of  Hippocrates:  'First,  do  no 
harm.' "  The  department  was  in  the  process  of  developing  an  undergrad- 
uate major  in  public  history  "that  will  take  our  graduates  directly  to  jobs 
in  museums,  historic  sites,  public  archives  and  similar  activities  in  applied 
history.'"*^  Novak  had  taught  at  the  College  for  nine  years  when  he  moved 
into  his  new  position. 

Brent  Pitts  came  to  Meredith  in  19  81  and  accepted  headship  of  the  De- 
partment of  Foreign  Languages  in  1997.  He  holds  the  A.B.,  A.M.,  and 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      325 

Ph.D.  degrees — all  from  Indiana  University — and  has  done  postdoctoral 
work  at  Princeton  and  at  Ecole  Superieure  de  Commerce  de  Lyon.  Dr. 
Pitts  is  a  firm  believer  in  the  ability  to  communicate  "in  a  language  other 
than  English.  ...  At  Meredith  College,"  he  said,  "  we  take  great  pride  in 
producing  specialists  of  the  spoken  word.  Our  majors  know  how  to  com- 
municate orally  in  their  language,  and  this  skill  alone  gives  them  a 
brighter  future.""*^ 

Also  in  1997,  Jerod  Kratzer,  an  eleven-year  veteran  of  the  education  de- 
partment, became  its  head.  Dr.  Kratzer  holds  the  B.S.  from  St.  Joseph's 
University,  the  A.M.  from  the  University  of  Delaware,  and  the  Ed.D.  from 
North  Carolina  State  University.  As  he  praised  his  department  for  its  em- 
phasis on  "team  work  and  collaborative  decision-making,'"^^  he  was  also 
highly  complimentary  of  his  predecessor,  Gwendolyn  Clay,  and  her  lead- 
ership. Dr.  Clay,  a  mathematician,  was  beginning  a  year's  leave  at  the  time 
of  Kratzer's  appointment — an  absence  that  took  her  on  a  sabbatical  jour- 
ney down  east  into  Jones  County — one  of  North  Carolina's  poorest — to 
assist  Superintendent  Norma  Sermon-Boyd  in  Teaching  Math  for  Learn- 
ing, a  National  Science  Foundation-funded  K-12  project.  As  Clay  re- 
ported "extremely  positive"  results  just  months  into  the  program,  she  also 
related  an  extremely  positive  story  of  how  she  came  to  help  with  it.  Dr. 
Sermon-Boyd's  initial  contact  with  Jean  Joyner  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  led  to  Miss  Joyner's  then  inviting  Dr.  Clay  and  Lee  Stiff  of 
North  Carolina  State  University  to  join  her  in  hearing  the  dreams  of  the 
superintendent  from  Jones  County.  Among  Sermon-Boyd's  first  words 
were,  "I  know  that  all  of  you  are  going  to  help.  I've  prayed  about  it,  and 
the  Lord  has  told  me  that  you  are."  Dr.  Stiff's  ready  reply  was  "If  the  Lord 
said  so,  we'd  better  get  on  with  the  planning.""*^  And  they  did. 

The  time  varied  as  to  each  Raleigh  educator's  presence  at  the  Jones 
County  project,  but  Dr.  Clay  was  the  only  one  of  the  three  on  sabbatical 
leave.  In  1990,  the  number  of  sabbaticals  awarded  had  increased  from  two 
to  five.  And,  in  1997,  28  faculty  members  had  received  summer  grants. 

"The  ideals  of  the  University  have  been  hinted  at.  Its  first  intention  is  to 
provide  .  .  .  instruction  of  the  noblest  and  most  thorough  sort.  ..." 

REFLECTING  ON  AND  holding  teuaciously  to  the  vision  of  the  early 
founders,  the  contemporary  ones  might  construe  this  quotation  as  an  un- 


326     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

necessary  intrusion  in  Chapter  14.  They  might  be  right.  Because  this  vol- 
ume of  Meredith's  history  describes  in  some  detail  the  constant  assess- 
ment of  a  curriculum  taught  by  a  highly  credentialed  and  dedicated  fac- 
ulty, this  chapter  will  not  elaborate,  except  to  report  revisions,  additions, 
and  noteworthy  accomplishments. 

For  many  years,  faculty  members  have  advised  students  in  their  jour- 
neys through  college;  however,  because  of  a  growing  adult  population,  an 
advising  support  center  was  created  in  1997,  but  Item  9  in  the  1997-98 
operating  budget,  titled  "New  Initiative  Proposals,"  did  not  relieve  the 
faculty  of  their  advising  responsibilities:  The  center,  directed  by  Ann 
Gleason,  "will  not  be  a  substitute  to  the  present  system,  but  will  allow 
students  access  to  advisement  when  their  advisors  may  be  unavailable 
and  will  provide  a  resource  for  faculty  seeking  help  in  their  role  as  pri- 
mary advisors." 

To  what  extent  advising  played  a  part  in  three  accounting  majors'  hav- 
ing passed  the  state  exam  "on  the  first  round"  in  1996  is  not  known,  but 
Rebecca  Oatsvall,  head  of  the  Department  of  Business  and  Economics, 
declared  the  success  "a  very  rare  thing  indeed."^°  In  the  same  year,  Dr. 
Oatsvall  announced  the  new  concentration  of  human  resources  manage- 
ment, available  with  the  Bachelor  of  Science  degree  in  business  adminis- 
tration. 

In  1997,  several  academic  "firsts"  made  news:  the  mathematics  and 
computer  science  department  sponsored  a  math  camp  for  high  school 
freshmen  and  sophomores;  the  English  department  offered  a  summer 
workshop  on  Writing  for  Women;  and  the  Mary  Lynch  Johnson  Chair  of 
English,  heretofore  held  by  one  professor  at  a  time,  was  awarded  to  the 
department's  three  writers:  Betty  Adcock,  Suzanne  Britt,  and  Suzanne 
Newton.  The  Templeton  Foundation  funded  "Issues  in  Science  and  Reli- 
gion," a  program  directed  by  Bernard  H.  Cochran,  religion,  and  Janice 
Swab,  biology.  Through  the  program,  the  theologian  and  the  scientist  led 
Meredith  in  hosting  a  South  Regional  Conference  workshop.  The  Caroli- 
nas  Chapter  American  Society  of  Interior  Designers  (CCASID)  announced 
the  winners  of  the  Otto  Zenke  student  competition  among  Western  Car- 
olina University  and  Meredith  and  Converse  Colleges,  in  which  the  com- 
petitors designed  "a  floor  plan,  elevations,  samples,  perspective,  reflective 
ceiling  plan,  and  design  concept"  of  a  fictitious  hotel.  First  place/school: 
Meredith;  first  place/student:  Pat  Polumbo,  Meredith;  third  place/  stu- 


THE  VISION   REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      327 

dent:  Laura  Boone,  Meredith;  Honorable  Mention:  Amy  Craig  and  Jenny 
Duncan,  Meredith.  Lori  Brown,  sociology  and  social  work;  Ann  Burlein, 
religion  and  philosophy;  Walda  Powell,  chemistry  and  physical  sciences; 
and  Paul  Wiriterhoff,  human  environmental  sciences,  winners  in  the 
broader  area  of  Capstone  courses,  received  grants  to  develop  new  courses 
for  1998-99.  Capstone  courses,  said  professor  of  psychology  Rosemary 
Hornak,  who  directed  the  program,  "share  a  common  goal:  helping  stu- 
dents apply  their  education  at  Meredith  to  society." ^^  The  Departments  of 
History  and  Politics;  of  Health,  Physical  Education  and  Dance;  and  of 
Mathematics  and  Computer  Science  announced  new  majors:  Public  his- 
tory would  prepare  a  student  "for  employment  in  a  variety  of  historical 
agencies,  nonprofit  museums  and  historic  sites,"  and,  as  far  as  anyone 
knew,  the  major  was  "the  only  known  program  in  the  Nation  that  pre- 
pares undergraduates  in  public  history." ^^  The  second  new  major,  exercise 
and  sports  science,  would  offer  students  the  option  of  focusing  on  fitness 
and  sports  management  or  of  concentrating  on  teacher  licensure  in  phys- 
ical education.  And,  according  to  the  1997-98  catalogue,  the  major  in 
computer  information  systems  would  give  the  student  "facility  with  com- 
puter theory,  abstraction,  and  design." 

The  realities  of  technology  jump  off  the  page  in  the  mathematics  and 
computer  science  section  of  the  college  catalogue:  "Because  of  the  veloc- 
ity at  which  change  in  technology  is  occurring,  students  will  learn  to 
manage  change  and  will  acquire  the  ability  to  learn  new  technology,  new 
'languages,'  and  new  techniques." 

Writers  of  the  first  catalogue  had  no  foreknowledge  of  the  Information 
Age.  Had  they  glimpsed  the  future,  they  might  have  applauded  much  of 
Meredith's  use  of  technology.  For  example,  in  November  1996,  students, 
faculty,  and  staff  gathered  in  Ledford  Hall  to  interact  "with  panelists  and 
10,000  students  from  300  other  colleges  on  tough  diversity  issues  such  as 
race,  gender,  class,  sexual  orientation,  disability  and  religion"  through  a 
video  teleconference.^^  And  at  the  February  21,  1997,  faculty  meeting, 
Vice  President  Osborne  alluded  to  a  warmly  welcomed  grant  from  the 
Jesse  Ball  duPont  Foundation  for  a  "two  year  program  of  faculty  and  cur- 
riculum development,"  which,  said  Dean  Burris,  would  focus  on  "get[ting] 
technology  into  the  classroom."  And  dean  of  students,  Sharon  Cannon, 
wrote  of  classroom  computers  which  would  provide  "tactile  teaching  de- 
vice [s]"  by  transforming  computer-scanned  images  into  Braille  text.^'^ 


328      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

Inasmuch  as  the  culture  immediately  preceding  the  twenty-first  century 
was  so  thoroughly  grounded  in  technology,  it  behooved  progressive  col- 
leges to  provide  not  only  understanding,  skills,  and  equipment  but  also 
logical  applications  to  areas  outside  classrooms  or  corporate  suites. 
Meredith's  Intranet  system — accessible  only  through  the  College's  own 
network — gave  a  new  dimension  to  information-gathering.  The  employ- 
ees' newsletter  admonished,  "Click  onto  the  21st  century  at  Meredith 
College!  Meredith's  new  Intranet  is  all  you  need  to  stay  up-to-date  with 
what  is  happening  on  campus"  by  access  "to  such  things  as  a  sports  cal- 
endar, vaccination  schedules,  travel  opportunities,  hours  for  the  Bee  Hive 
and  Fitness  Center,  speakers  for  chapel  and  classified  ads."^^  The  In- 
tranet's academic  section  would  even  provide  a  student's  assignments  and 
departmental  news. 

For  the  dual  purposes  of  educating  and  entertaining,  a  Meredith  Col- 
lege Television  (MCTV)-produced  talk  show,  Wake  Up  Meredith,  made 
its  debut  in  January  1997.  In  an  article  for  the  Herald,  student  Dina  Di- 
Maio's  lead  sentence  was  "Move  over  Good  Morning  America;  it's  time 
for  Wake  Up  Meredith.  .  .  ."^^  Two  weeks  later,  the  Meredith  Herald 
again  publicized  the  show  through  a  review  by  Addie  Tschamler: 

When  I  watched  on  February  13,  .  .  .  the  show  began  with 
professional-looking  clips  from  Star  Wars,  which  had  been  the  most 
popular  movie  over  the  past  two  weeks.  Host,  sophomore  Heidi 
Gruber,  made  mention  of  the  movie  throughout  the  show. 

Gruber  began  by  announcing  what  the  day's  show  would  in- 
clude: various  clips  of  candidates  for  campus  elections  and  an  inter- 
view of  students  about  the  cam.pus'  latest  eatery  the  Bee  Hive. 
Throughout  the  show,  there  are  comical  interruptions  by  Jennifer 
Franklin,  who  plays  Barbara.  .  .  .^^ 

Cynthia  Bowling,  cable  administor,  suggested  the  show  and  sophomore 
Courtney  Duncil  produced  it. 

Neither  television  nor  virtual  globetrotting  on  the  Internet  had  yet 
sated  the  explorer's  hunger  for  seeing  and  touching  the  world.  Without 
travel  in  the  eighties  and  nineties,  "Instruction  of  the  noblest  and  most 
thorough  sort"  would  have  gone  lacking.  Through  a  North  Carolina 
Teaching  Fellows  Junior  Enrichment  Program,  Maria  Pellizzari,  '98,  went 
to  Hawaii,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand  for  two  weeks.  Several  academic 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    I996-I998      I      329 

departments  have  offered  special  summer  studies  in  France,  Mexico, 
Spain,  Greece,  Italy,  Egypt,  Turkey,  Russia,  New  Zealand,  and  the  United 
Kingdom.  And  the  regular  Meredith  Abroad  program  moved  from 
Switzerland  in  1994  because  of  the  relocation  of  its  base — the  Baptist 
Seminary — from  Rushlikon  to  Prague,  and,  since  that  time,  the  agendas 
have  included  Italy,  the  Czech  Republic,  and  England. 

Blue  Greenberg,  retired  member  of  the  art  faculty,  had  planned  study 
trips  for  students  for  a  decade  before  she  agreed  to  direct  travel  adven- 
tures, "especially  tailored  to  Meredith  people."^^  Through  the  division  of 
institutional  advancement,  she  arranged  educational  tours  to  places  as 
close  as  Williamsburg  or  New  York  and  others  as  far  away  as  London  and 
Cornwall,  as  recreational  as  cruise  ship  excursions  or  golf  at  Sunset  Beach 
and  as  educational  as  discovering  the  eastern  cultures  of  Egypt  and 
Turkey.  An  alarm  signaled  an  abrupt  change  in  plans  for  the  summer  of 
1998:  "In  light  of  recent  acts  of  terrorism  in  Egypt,  the  American  govern- 
ment has  strongly  advised  independent  tour  groups  to  rethink  their  plans 
to  visit  [there] ."^^  In  response,  Meredith  travelers  headed  for  Italy  instead. 

The  continuing  education  division  had  practiced  constant  assessment 
of  curriculum  in  all  its  quarter  century  of  service.  And  in  1997,  it  remea- 
sured  and  altered  accordingly  its  re-entry  and  After5  programs,  the  fin- 
ished product  becoming  a  well-fitting  combination  of  the  two  called  Un- 
dergraduate Degree  Programs  for  Women  Age  23  +  —  or  23+,  for  short. 
The  fall  1997  issue  of  Continuing  Education  at  Meredith  offered  the 
rationale: 

With  an  increasing  number  of  students  working  full  or  part-time,  it 
was  apparent  that  women  needed  more  options  for  course  schedul- 
ing and  greater  flexibility  in  the  times  when  courses  were  available. 
By  combining  the  programs,  students  can  now  take  classes  during 
the  traditional  16  week  semester  during  the  day  or  night,  and  also 
enroll  in  accelerated  evening  classes  that  meet  only  8  weeks  [with] 
longer  class  periods. 

Of  23+,  Sandra  Close,  director  of  the  new  program,  and  Madra  Britt, 
former  director  of  After5  and  new  director  of  community  programs,  said, 
"In  23+,  a  student  can  set  her  schedule  to  accommodate  the  demands  of 
her  family,  career,  or  other  responsibilities  and  it  can  be  customized  every 
semester!  "^° 


330     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

The  practice  of  customizing  was  also  no  stranger  to  the  John  E.  Weems 
Graduate  School.  "In  response  to  the  growing  need  in  the  Triangle  area 
for  teachers  of  English-as-a-Second-Language  (ESL),  Meredith  College 
now  offers  ESL  licensure  under  two  .  .  .  options:  as  a  Master  of  Education 
with  an  ESL  Specialty  or  as  an  add-on  licensure-only  program." ^^  Stag- 
gering statistics  underscored  the  acute  need  for  the  program  in  North 
Carolina:  "The  number  of  limited  English  proficient  students  requiring 
ESL  services  has  grown  from  a  reported  3,000  in  1988-89  to  an  esti- 
mated 25,000+  for  the  1997-98  academic  year.  Although  more  than  170 
different  home  language  groups  have  been  identified,  about  half  of  these 
students  are  native  Spanish  speakers.  .  .  ."^^  Meredith's  ESL  licensure  pro- 
gram was  the  first  in  the  Triangle.  And  only  one  of  the  few  schools  in 
North  Carolina  to  offer  the  Master  of  Health  Administration,  Meredith's 
new  MHA  program  was  launched  in  January  1998. 

The  preceding  examples  of  academic  progress  reflect  the  early  and  on- 
going intent  of  Baptist  Female  University  in  1898  and  Meredith  College 
in  1998  to  provide  "instruction  of  the  noblest  and  most  thorough  sort"-, 
however,  the  school's  first  catalogue  had  preceded  the  phrase  with  "not 
simply"  and  followed  it  with  "but": 

".  .  .  but  instruction  made  perfect  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  for 
this  desire  that  the  higher  education  of  our  women  shall  be  Christian, 
shall  be  surely,  definitely,  positively  Christian,  the  University  would  never 
have  been  reared.  ..." 

PREPARING  FOR  A  planning  retreat  of  academic  administrators  in  1996, 
Dean  Allen  Burris  included  an  assumption  in  a  January  25  memorandum 
to  the  participants:  "Meredith  will  retain  and  strengthen  its  commitment 
to  being  a  'servant  institution' — solidly  grounded  in  the  Christian  tradi- 
tion and  related  to  North  Carolina  Baptists.  Student  needs  will  be  the 
guiding  principle  for  academic  decision-making.  The  spiritual  and  ethical 
dimensions  of  education  will  be  at  the  heart  of  all  we  do  here." 

And  "the  heart  of  all  we  do  here"  is  also  stated  in  the  historic  purpose 
of  the  College,  which  is  found  in  the  charter  and  in  every  issue  of  the  col- 
lege catalogue: 

The  purpose  of  this  corporation  is  to  provide  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  women  under  Christian  auspices  and  within  a  Christian  con- 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      I      331 

text,  fostering  in  all  its  activities  and  relationships  the  ideals  of  per- 
sonal integrity,  intellectual  freedom,  and  academic  excellence;  and 
to  that  end,  to  provide  operation,  and  development  of  a  college  at 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  under  the  name  of  Meredith  College.  This 
institution,  a  liberal  arts  college,  shall  emphasize  and  develop  its 
academic  program  in  terms  of  scholastic  standards  and  service,  and 
shall  maintain  procedures  implicit  in  an  educational  institution  of 
high  quahty;  and,  as  a  Christian  college,  shall  be  primarily  con- 
cerned to  deepen  and  broaden  the  Christian  experience  of  its  stu- 
dents and  to  prepare  them  for  maximum  service  in  the  Christian  en- 
terprise. 

Beginning  in  1997,  David  Heining-Boynton,  psychology,  chaired  a  fac- 
ulty committee  to  revisit,  "with  extensive  faculty  input,"  the  statement  of 
purpose: "^^  The  faculty  recommended  no  changes  in  the  purpose;  in- 
stead, it  developed  a  separate  and  more  objective  Statement  of  Mission, 
"which  is  faithful  to  the  historic  purpose,  but  interprets  it  in  a  contem- 
porary setting."^"*  The  trustees  approved  the  following  Statement  of  Mis- 
sion on  September  26,  1997: 

In  educating  women  to  excel,  Meredith  College  fosters  in  students 
integrity,  independence,  scholarship,  and  personal  growth. 
Grounded  in  the  liberal  arts,  the  College  values  freedom  and 
openness  in  the  pursuit  of  truth  and,  in  keeping  with  its  Christian 
heritage,  seeks  to  nurture  justice  and  compassion.  Meredith  en- 
deavors to  create  a  supportive  and  diverse  community  in  which 
students  learn  from  the  past,  prepare  for  the  future,  and  grow  in 
their  understanding  of  self,  others,  and  community.  To  these  ends, 
Meredith  strives  to  develop  in  students  the  knowledge,  skills,  val- 
ues, and  global  awareness  necessary  to  pursue  careers,  to  assume 
leadership  roles,  to  enter  graduate  and  professional  studies,  and  to 
lead  responsible  lives  of  work,  citizenship,  leisure,  learning,  and 
service. 

"Although  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Trustees  to  maintain  a  high  standard, 
appreciating  the  conditions  in  North  Carolina,  they  have  arranged 
preparatory  courses,  whereby  young  ladies  may  he  fitted  for  the  higher 
work.  ..." 


332.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

IN  THE  MEREDITH  Herald  for  February  19,  1997,  Emily  Fulghum  asked, 
"What  do  you  get  when  you  combine  reading,  writing  and  arithmetics 
[sic]  here  at  Meredith?"  And  she  answered,  "an  exciting  new  endeavor  in 
collaborative  learning  from  the  same  people  who  brought  you  the  Writ- 
ing Center  in  1987."^^  When  services  of  the  writing  center  expanded  from 
assistance  with  writing  and  grammar  also  to  include  tutoring  in  math, 
French,  and  Spanish,  it  became  "the  learning  center,"  staffed  by  "superb 
Meredith  students  who  have  been  recommended  by  faculty  and  trained  to 
work  one-on-one  with  their  peers ."^^  The  center's  director  and  assistant 
professor  of  English  Nan  Miller  said,  "Academic  support  for  students  is 
and  always  has  been  a  priority  at  Meredith.  .  .  "  but  insisted  that  the  cen- 
ter was  not  strictly  for  remedial  purposes:  "While  frequenters  are  typi- 
cally students  who  worry  about  'weak  backgrounds'  in  English  or  math, 
others  come  simply  for  confirmation  that  they  have  understood  an  as- 
signment or  worked  a  problem  correctly.  .  .  ."  She  added,  "  'I'm  clueless,' 
is  the  complaint  du  jour  of  the  bewildered  student."^'' 

"A  subsidiary  aim  is  that  the  advantages  of  the  institution  may  be  offered 
at  cost.  There  are  no  profits,  no  dividends.  The  student  is  required  to  pay 
a  sum  sufficient  to  maintain  her  and  obtain  the  services  of  her  teachers. 
The  cost  is  already  decidedly  less  than  that  of  institutions  of  lower 
grade. " 

TRUSTEES  HELPED  STUDENTS  ''obtain  the  serviccs  of  their  teachers"  by 
voting  in  1997  to  increase,  for  the  third  consecutive  year,  rewards  for  fac- 
ulty longevity.  The  year-end  bonuses  would  range  from  $zoo  for  a  part- 
time  faculty  or  staff  member  with  3-5  years  of  service  to  $1,200  for  a 
full-time  person  with  more  than  twenty  years. 

In  the  academic  year  1996-9-7,  only  six  of  the  thirty-seven  indepen- 
dent colleges  in  North  Carolina  charged  less  than  Meredith's  tuition  and 
fees  of  $10,990  for  resident  students  and  $7,420  for  commuters. ^^  For 
1997-98,  however,  the  cost  spiraled  upward  to  $12,240,  an  increase  of 
$1,2 50. Vice  President  Taylor  explained:  "The  changed  relationship  with 
North  Carolina  Baptists  and  the  funding  for  new  initiatives  resulted  in 
the  largest  increase  in  the  College's  history  for  1997-98.  In  fact,  the  per- 
centage of  tuition  increase  ranked  in  the  top  ten  among  the  nation's  col- 
leges."^^  But  Taylor  had  already  admonished,  "We  need  to  keep  in  mind 
that,  even  with  the  larger  than  normal  tuition  increase,  the  cost  of  a 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      333 

Meredith  education  will  continue  to  be  less  than  any  other  Baptist  college 
in  North  Carolina."''*^  In  his  prediction  of  less  drastic  increases  in  the 
future,  he  prophesied  correctly:  The  4  percent  increase  for  1998-99 
amounted  to  only  $500.00,  for  a  total  of  $12,740. 

While  regretting  the  necessity  of  rising  costs,  Meredith  had  no  regrets 
about  its  listing  in  Baron's  Best  Buys  for  1996  and  in  U.S.  News  and 
World  Report — again  for  1996  and  1997. 

"In  the  course  of  time  an  endowment  will  be  acquired.  Already  a  loan 
fund  is  being  accumulated.  And  besides,  a  club-plan  was  last  year  effected 
whereby  young  ladies  who  were  desirous  of  helping  themselves  were 
saved  considerable  expense. " 

AS  DISTANT  AS  the  possibilities  seemed  in  1899,  an  endowment  was  in- 
deed acquired.  In  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  President  Weems's  admin- 
istration, endowment  and  reserves  grew  from  $887,000  to  $45,000,000. 
Solid  financial  management,  a  diversified  endowment  investment  portfo- 
lio, and  increasing  numbers  of  contributions  combined  to  generate  the 
positive  numbers.  A  national  economic  boom  did  no  harm.  In  1995,  the 
Dow  Jones  reached  4,000  for  the  first  time;  in  1997,  7,000;  and,  in  1998, 
9,000.  Meredith's  good  economic  news  in  1996  included  a  26.5% 
growth  in  endowment  investments;  in  1997,  an  increase  in  numbers  of 
gifts  and  amounts  over  the  previous  year — 4,407  donors  giving  $2.8  mil- 
lion in  1996  and  5,232  giving  $3,438,270  the  next  year;  and  in  1998, 
four  one-million-dollar  deferred  gifts  in  eight  months'  time — "the  largest 
demonstration  of  giving  that  Meredith  has  had  in  history,"  said  Vice  Pres- 
ident Osborne.^*  The  gifts  were  received  as  three  charitable  remainder 
trusts  and  a  bequest.  Sidney  Martin,  the  long-time  college  physician,  ini- 
tiated the  Martin  Family  Scholarship  Fund  with  a  gift  of  $1  miUion  in 
honor  of  "the  long  relationship  between  the  Martin  family  and  Meredith 
CoUege."^^  Mrs.  Martin,  the  former  Sue  Jarvis,  is  a  member  of  the  Class 
of  1949,  and  daughters  Donna  and  Debbie  are  also  alumnae.  And  Dr. 
Martin's  father,  Leroy  Martin,  was  a  trustee.  The  two  additional  trusts 
were  established  by  anonymous  donors;  and  the  $1.1  million  bequest 
came  from  the  estate  of  Ella  Adams  Ogburn,  '30. 

In  1996-97,  the  ''considerable  expense"  of  attending  college  was  re- 
lieved somewhat  by  the  North  Carolina  Tuition  Grant  increase  from 
$1,250  to  $1,300  and  the  awarding  of  $10,851,172  in  financial  aid  to 


334     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

1,471  Students,  compared  to  $400,000  awarded  in  1972,  the  first  full 
year  covered  in  this  volume.  Although  the  later  figures  appeared  mag- 
nanimous, they  met  only  80  percent  of  the  need,  as  opposed  to  100  per- 
cent in  the  recent  past.  The  previous  chapter  reported  the  good  new^s  of  a 
zero  default  rate  on  repayment  of  student  loans  carried  by  Meredith 
women,  beginning  in  1992.  Though  not  perfect,  the  1994  default  rate  of 
1.4%  was,  nevertheless,  excellent,  considering  the  national  average  of 
9%.  Philip  Roof,  director  of  financial  assistance  said  low  default  rates 
meant  debts  were  manageable  and  "the  job  market  is  providing  sufficient 
entry-level  positions  and  salaries  to  permit  [graduates]  to  repay  their 
loans." ^^  In  fact  news  reports  in  May  and  June  of  1998  assured  new  grad- 
uates of  a  flourishing  job  market  of  promising  salaries — even,  in  the  era 
of  technology,  for  holders  of  liberal  arts  degreees. 

"The  University  is  admirably  located.  It  is  near  by  the  Capitol  of  the 
State,  within  easy  reach  of  the  State  Library.  Within  three  blocks  to  the 
west  or  the  southeast  are  the  First  Baptist  Church  and  the  Raleigh  Baptist 
Tabernacle.  The  City  of  Raleigh  itself  is  notable  for  its  genuine  culture,  its 
quiet,  orderly  life  and  its  beautiful  natural  environment " 

IN  1996-98,  ''ADMiRABVi  located"  still,  Meredith  remained  "near  by  the 
Capitol  of  the  State,"  three  miles  measuring  a  very  short  distance  in 
North  Carolina's  bustling  capital  with  ready  transportation — so  ready,  in 
fact,  that  traffic  snarls  on  Hillsborough  Street  might  have  discouraged 
frequent  trips  downtown.  Students  seeking  a  Baptist  church  no  longer 
had  only  two  choices,  the  125  churches  in  the  Raleigh  Baptist  Association 
being  well  within  reach,  as  were  numerous  other  temples  of  worship  for  a 
diverse  student  body  in  a  cosmopolitan  city. 

Raleigh's  '''genuine  culture"  and  '' beautiful  natural  environment"  con- 
tinued as  hallmarks  of  the  region;  however,  a  ''quiet,  orderly  life"  might 
have  been  questioned  by  the  hundreds  of  daily  commuters  to  the  campus, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  drivers  headed  for  Research  Triangle  Park.  The  pop- 
ulation more  than  doubling  since  1970 — 123,793  then;  266,035  in  1997 
— the  city  was  an  education  in  itself. 

"No  small  part  of  a  young  lady's  education  is  derived  from  the  people 
with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  Of  course,  proper  restrictions  are  put 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      335 


E.  Bruce  Heilman,  President,  1966-19J1 

upon  the  student  body,  and  contact  with  the  general  life  of  the  City  is  so 
guarded  that  it  may  occur  only  under  the  most  desirable  conditions. " 

MEREDITH  GRADUALLY  LIFTED  social  restrictions  over  the  years,  discon- 
tinuing its  in  loco  parentis  position  in  the  seventies;  however,  the  stu- 
dents' struggle  for  the  privilege  of  open  house  in  the  residence  halls  re- 
mained a  major  social  issue  of  the  nineties.  The  policy  since  1993 — the 
first  year  of  male  visitation  in  the  dormitories  —  allowed,  at  most,  three 
open  houses  per  semester,  always  during  specified  hours  on  a  designated 
Saturday  or  Sunday  and  scheduled  to  coincide  with  another  major  activ- 
ity. But  students  fashioned  a  more  liberal  proposal  for  the  trustees'  con- 
sideration in  1996: 

The  SGA  proposes  that  the  current  Open  House  policy  be  extended 
to  ten  (10)  hours  on  every  Saturday  and  seven  (7)  hours  every  Sun- 
day; that  the  extension  apply  only  to  one  experimental  senior  resi- 
dence hall;  that  only  seniors  be  allowed  to  live  in  the  experimental 
residence  hall;  that  the  number  of  floors  designated  as  experimental 


336     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

floors  be  based  on  the  amount  of  senior  interest;  and  that  the  cur- 
rent Open  House  poHcy  be  extended  to  seven  (7)  hours  on  two  des- 
ignated Saturdays  or  Sundays  per  month  for  all  students  not  living 
in  the  experimental  residence  hall7'* 

With  an  amendment  mandating  that  the  board  "be  brought  up-to-date 
on  any  substantive  problems  that  develop  for  the  administration  because 
of  this  policy,"  the  trustees  adopted  the  proposal/^  The  students  were 
thorough  in  their  preliminary  research  and  planning,  the  proposal  having 
been  based  on  an  SGA  referendum  in  1995,  in  which  92%  of  the  voting 
students  favored  the  extension.  And  they  were  clever — and  logical — in 
the  wording  of  their  rationale:  "The  goal  of  this  extension  is  to  provide  a 
more  relaxed  and  trusting  environment  for  visitors  and  students.  Benefits 
could  include  increased  retention  of  students  and  more  campus  centered 
activity  on  weekends. "^^  Jean  Jackson,  vice  president  for  student  develop- 
ment, supported  their  logic:  "Resident  students  are  young  adults  who, 
like  other  adults,  like  to  have  the  choice  to  invite  friends  to  their  place  of 
residence.  Part  of  a  student's  developmental  process  is  to  be  able  to  have 
relationships  with  men  included,  and  have  them  on  her  own  turf.  We 
don't  want  them  to  always  be  in  the  position  of  having  to  go  off-campus 
to  sociahze."  She  added,  "This  organized  effort  was  an  example  of  stu- 
dent government  at  its  best.  ...  To  have  an  issue  on  the  forefront  through 
an  entire  generation  of  students  is  quite  a  statement  in  itself."  ^^  Paula 
O'Briant,  director  of  residence  life,  reported  1,676  open  house  guests 
during  the  1996  fall  semester. 

Long  before  open  house  was  considered,  Meredith  encouraged  the  in- 
teraction of  students  with  the  "general  life  of  the  city";  i.e.,  local  church 
attendance;  cultural  events;  sports;  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges;  social 
mixers;  politics;  capital  city  learning  opportunities.  .  .  .  For  example,  on 
January  10,  1997,  the  eve  of  Governor  James  B.  Hunt's  second-term  in- 
auguration, Erica  Balmer,  1997-98  president  of  the  SGA,  met  with  Hunt 
and  seventy  other  student  government  leaders  from  around  the  state  to 
discuss  issues  in  higher  education  and  "a  variety  of  social,  political,  and 
educational  concerns."^^ 

But  if  "no  small  part  of  a  young  lady's  education  is  derived  from  the 
people  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact,"  the  young  woman  of  BFU 
learned  much  about  living — as  well  as  subject  matter  —  from  the  social 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      I     337 

beings  around  her,  limited  though  she  was  by  the  "'proper  restrictions" 
imposed  upon  her.  The  same  characteristics  of  learning  have  continued 
despite  the  reinterpretations  through  the  years  of  "proper  restrictions." 
In  1996,  Virginia  Knight  (mathematics),  Michael  Novak  (history),  and 
the  astronomy  class  issued  a  compelling  invitation  for  students  to  learn 
something  of  astronomy  while  also  seeing  the  informal  side  of  their 
teachers.  A  March  28,  1996,  memorandum  to  the  college  community 
read, 

Lord  willing  and  the  skies  don't  fall,  this  Wednesday,  April  3rd, 
should  be  a  big  night.  Beginning  just  before  6:30  pm,  the  moon  will 
rise  already  in  total  eclipse.  It  will  pass  from  totality  between  then 
and  about  7:45  pm.  Shortly  thereafter.  Comet  Hyakutake  should  be 
visible,  although  ambient  light  and  its  position  in  the  sky  will  not 
afford  the  best  possible  view. 

We  plan  to  be  stationed  on  the  soccer  field  or  thereabouts  with 
some  telescopes,  binoculars  and  volunteers  who  will  help  to  explain 
what  is  going  on  and  help  you  to  see  the  sights.  .  .  . 

Come  if  you'd  like,  bring  friends  and  family,  hope  for  the  best 
and  dress  for  mud." 

Sometimes,  students  taught  themselves,  as  in  the  case  of  Collyn  Evans, 
a  freshman  in  1993,  who  brought  her  own  idea  to  fruition.  Evans  pro- 
posed "that  Meredith  .  .  .  sponsor  a  student  art  exhibition  and  invite 
other  women's  colleges  in  the  Southeast  to  participate."''^  Three  years, 
much  hard  work,  and  a-decision-to-major-in-art-history  later,  Evans  wit- 
nessed the  opening  of  the  first  Annual  Women's  Colleges  of  the  Southeast 
Art  Exhibition  in  Bryan  Rotunda  Art  Gallery  on  January  21,  1996,  the 
show  running  for  three  weeks.  The  list  of  participating  colleges  was  im- 
pressive: Agnes  Scott,  Brenau,  Columbia,  Converse,  Hollins,  Meredith, 
Randolph-Macon,  Salem,  and  Sweet  Briar.  Speaker  for  the  opening,  Ter- 
rie  Sultan,  curator  of  contemporary  art  at  the  Corcoran  Gallery  in  Wash- 
ington, D.C.,  drew  a  standing-room-only  crowd  of  eager  listeners.  Regina 
Reid,  a  studio  art  major,  collaborated  with  Collyn  Evans  in  planning  and 
producing  the  exhibition.  The  two  earned  academic  credit  for  their  work 
under  the  classification  of  Independent  Study. 

Oftentimes,  teachers  learned  from  their  students,  as  did  English  pro- 
fessor Louise  Taylor.  One  of  her  American  literature  students  asked,  "Is 


338      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

the  Hugh  Meredith  in  Ben  FrankHn's  Autobiography  related  to  the 
Thomas  Meredith  the  college  is  named  for?"  Dr.  Taylor  was  so  curious 
that  she  buried  herself  in  researching  the  genealogies  of  both  Thomas  and 
Hugh  Meredith,  the  latter  a  business  partner  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Her 
thorough  and  interesting  research  caught  the  attention  of  the  Convo- 
cation Committee,  and  she  was  invited  to  translate  it  into  the  1998 
Founders'  Day  address.  Under  the  title,  "Searching  for  Hugh:  The  Mere- 
dith Connection,"  Taylor  took  her  audience  through  promising  discover- 
ies that  turned  to  false  hopes  before  she  reached  the  conclusion  that  "it 
appears  that  the  Hugh  Meredith  mentioned  in  Franklin's  Autobigraphy  is 
the  great-great  uncle  of  Thomas  Meredith."  So  the  speaker  learned  from 
the  student,  and  the  audience  learned  from  the  speaker:  "If  you  listened 
closely,"  Taylor  said,  "you  noticed  that  the  subtext  is  one  of  debt  and  re- 
payment. And  one  purpose  of  Founders'  Day  is  to  remember  our  debts  to 
those  who  have  worked  to  make  Meredith  an  institution  where  it  is  a 
privilege  to  study  and  a  pleasure  to  teach."  ^° 

A  notable  visiting  lecturer  in  early  1996  was  Mark  Plotkin,  "one  of  the 
world's  leading  ethnobotanists,"  whose  laboratory  is  the  rain  forest  and 
who  bemoans  the  fact  that  "rain  forest  cultures  are  disappearing  ...  as 
western  influence  intrudes  on  ancient  tribal  knowledge  of  medicinal 
plants. . . ."  Plotkin  is  the  founder  of  Shaman  Pharmaceuticals  and  author 
of  Tales  of  Shaman's  Apprentice.  He  told  his  audience,  "I  am  a  firm  be- 
liever that  a  liberal  arts  education  is  your  ticket  to  romance,  adventure 
and  making  the  world  a  better  place." ^^ 

And  in  the  fall  of  1997,  ethnobotanist,  biologist,  and  anthropologist 
Wade  Davis  delivered  the  Honors  Convocation  address.  His  lecture, 
"One  River:  Explorations  and  Discoveries  in  the  Amazon  Rain  Forest," 
was  based  on  his  book  One  River. "^  He  lived  in  the  rain  forests  to  dis- 
cover "the  origins  of  many  of  their  sacred  plants."^- 

A  week  prior  to  Dr.  Davis's  Honors  Convocation  address,  Doug 
Adams  delivered  the  Mercer-Kesler  lecture  on  art  and  religion.  Professor 
of  Christianity  and  the  Arts  at  the  Pacific  School  of  Religion  in  Berkeley, 
California,  Dr.  Adams  spoke  on  "Discerning  Biblical  Themes  in  Contem- 
porary Art  and  Film."  The  Meredith  Herald  reported,  "Adams  examined 
several  pieces  of  contemporary  art  by  George  Segal,  Stephen  De  Staebler, 

*Davis  is  also  the  author  of  the  best  seller  The  Serpent  and  the  Rainbow. 


THE  VISION   REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      339 

Jasper  Johns,  and  Christo,  and  brought  the  audience's  attention  to  the 
[artists']  use  of  reHgious  symbohsm."^^ 

The  lessons  students  taught  one  another  and,  for  that  matter,  the  com- 
munity, were  endless.  Sharing  a  small  room  with  another  student  has 
stirred  various  emotions  that  the  world  would  never  see  were  it  not  for 
students  like  Tory  Hoke,  writer  and  cartoonist  for  the  Herald,  who  in- 
troduced the  cartoon  characters  of  Meredith  and  Luna  and  their  nerve- 
racking  co-existence  in  a  dormitory.  But  the  College  was  sensitive  to  the 
problems — and  joys — occurring  in  the  period  of  home-to-institution  ad- 
justments, as  illustrated  in  the  title  of  the  1996  opening  convocation: 
"Meredith's  Little  Instruction  Book."  Convocation  committee  chair,  Cyn- 
thia Edwards,  promoted  the  event  in  an  undated  memorandum  to  the 
faculty  and  staff,  in  which  she  solicited  "short  words  of  wisdom,  advice, 
or  lessons  that  would  benefit  anyone  trying  to  achieve  her  goals  at 
Meredith."  And  prior  to  the  first  annual  Freshman  Frolic  in  1996,  a  ban- 
ner reading  "It's  a  freshman  thing — you  wouldn't  understand"  hung 
above  the  front  entrance  to  Johnson  Hall. 

A  segment  of  the  community  that  everybody  understood  was  the  in- 
creasingly impressive  collection  of  athletic  teams  and  the  coterie  of  stu- 
dent athletes  that  brought  recognition  to  intercollegiate  sports  at  Mere- 
dith. In  1996,  Melinda  Campbell  coached  the  tennis  team  to  a  Division 
III  national  ranking.  The  coach  pointed  to  "freshman  sensation"  Ann 
Mebane,  who  was  named  the  region's  rookie  of  the  year,  and  who  was 
ranked  34th.  "Mebane  and  Dorothy  Livesay  received  a  regional  ranking 
of  ninth  as  a  doubles  team  and  sophomore  Sarah  Huffman  received  a  re- 
gional singles  ranking  of  eighteenth." ^"^  The  1997-98  team  was  25th  in 
the  nation — the  best  ever  year-end  ranking,  according  to  department 
head  Marie  Chamblee.  Ann  Mebane  moved  up  to  30th.  President  Weems 
was  proud  of  all  the  teams: 

After  just  three  seasons  the  newly  formed  soccer  team  [Jose 
Cornejo,  coach]  burst  into  the  winning  ranks  this  fall.  The  team  fin- 
ished the  season  with  a  10-7  record,  after  just  five  wins  during  its 
first  two  seasons.  The  volleyball  team  [Kathy  Mayberry,  coach]  fin- 
ished its  strongest  home  stand  with  an  impressive  9-1  home  record, 
and  the  basketball  team  [Carl  Hatchell,  coach]  is  full-steam  ahead 
with  a  7-2  start  to  the  season."^^ 


34°     I     THE  VISION   REVISITED 

In  1997,  for  the  first  time,  the  tennis  team  competed  outside  the  United 
States.  At  the  Spring  Break  Sports  Program  in  Bermuda,  Meredith  played 
the  University  of  Rochester  and  Pace  University,  both  located  in  New 
York,  and  Case  Western  Reserve  in  Ohio,  winning  over  Case  but  losing  to 
Rochester  and  Pace.  In  1998,  the  basketball  team  captured  a  big  headline 
in  the  sports  section  of  the  News  and  Observer  for  January  11,  1998: 
"Meredith  has  32  assists  in  90-30  victory."  The  article  under  the  head- 
line on  page  16C  read,  "Meredith  shot  53  percent  from  the  floor  and 
handed  off  32  assists  as  it  crushed  Mary  Baldwin  90-30  at  home.  .  .  ." 
The  team  accomplished  its  second-best  record  with  twenty-one  wins  and 
two  losses.  At  the  North  Carolina-Georgia  Women's  College  Basketball 
Tournament  in  Greensboro  in  February,  sophomore  Beth  Goodale  was 
crowned  "Tournament  Most  Valuable,"  and  Aedrin  Murray  was  named 
to  "All  Tournament."  In  baseball  news,  Andrea  Carver  pitched  her  first 
no-hitter  in  a  17-0  victory  over  Bennet  in  March. 

The  College  welcomed  individual  and  team  accomplishments  in 
sports,  as  did  all  of  society,  as  exemplified  in  the  exceptions  made  for  a 
college  athlete's  academic  requirements  as  well  as  the  financial  compen- 
sation paid  to  professional  players.  But  Meredith  unabashedly  admitted 
that  its  playing  field  was  not  level  with  the  schools  whose  monetary  sup- 
port dwindled  in  a  losing  season  or  whose  athletes  were  more  widely  cel- 
ebrated than  the  scholars.  In  1996,  one  of  Meredith's  scholars,  junior 
Regina  Mack,  was  selected  as  one  of  only  twenty-five  students  nation- 
wide to  participate  in  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature's  Recruitment 
Conference  in  New  York  City,  October  11-13.  Calling  the  selection  "a 
rare  and  special  opportunity"  for  Mack,  assistant  professor  of  religion 
Cheryl  Kirk-Duggan  identified  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  as  "the 
major  professional  organization  for  scholars  of  biblical  studies." ^^ 

Student  researchers  from  all  disciplines  found  their  places  in  the  sun  at 
the  first  annual  Meredith  College  Undergraduate  Research  Conference  on 
April  25,  1998.  Through  the  Creative  Ideas  Fund,''"  the  College  invited 
students  to  submit  their  research  papers  for  possible  presentation  at  the 
conference,  the  authors  of  the  best  three  papers  to  win  cash  prizes.  Guest 

*Part  of  Initiative  2000,  the  Creative  Ideas  Fund  awarded  grants  of  up  to  $5,000  for 
selected  projects  "from  all  parts  of  the  community — students,  staff,  faculty,  adminis- 
tration. .  .  ."  (Jean  Jackson,  memorandum  to  faculty,  staff  and  student  organization 
presidents,  December  z,  1996). 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      34I 


John  Edgar  Weems,  President,  i^jz-i^^^ 


speaker  was  Mary  Shariff,  professor  of  art  at  the  University  of  North 
Carohna  in  Chapel  Hill. 

Freshman  Christy  Sanderson  taught  a  valuable  lesson  in  compassion, 
not  only  to  her  peers  but  also  to  viewers  of  local  television  and  readers  of 
Meredith,  the  News  and  Observer,  People  magazine,  and  the  Chicago 
Tribune.  Her  widespread  esteem  came  from  the  founding  of  her  Opera- 
tion Toy  Box,  a  nonprofit  agency  that  "collects  and  distributes  used  toys 
for  children  who  are  disaster  victims." 

Sanderson's  operation  evolved  from  her  concern  for  children  whose 
Virgin  Islands  homes  were  demolished  by  Hurricane  Marilyn  in  1995. 
Since  that  time,  she  and  her  helpers  have  provided  toys  for  literally  hun- 
dreds of  children.  The  collaborators  in  her  efforts  included  the  American 
Red  Cross,  schools,  churches,  day-care  centers,  U.S.  Air,  Food  Lion,  and 
"volunteers  who  provide  storage  space,  leadership,  packing  toys,  and 
heart  and  soul."^^  But  Sanderson's  most  constant  helper  was  her  mother, 
Carol  Sanderson,  associate  director  of  financial  assistance  at  Meredith, 
The  compassionate  student  with  a  major  in  business  administration  on 
her  mind  evokes  the  choice  words  of  Allen  Burris  in  a  1997  interview 


342.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

with  Meredith.  Reflecting  on  earlier  struggles  attached  to  educating 
women  and  the  still  faint  echoes  of  criticism  toward  today's  curriculum 
designed  "for  work  and  life,"  Burris  acknowledged  the  primary  impor- 
tance of  technology  to  the  educated  woman  of  the  nineties,  at  the  same 
time  articulating  a  necessary  balance:  "  'I've  learned,'  he  says,  'that  Mere- 
dith must  be  both  high  tech  and  high  touch.'  "^^ 

The  entire  community  learned  a  lesson  in  high  touch  from  the  reaction 
of  Meredith's  technology  services  department  to  the  illness  of  a  colleague. 
The  learners  included  readers  of  Nicole  Brodeur  in  the  News  and  Ob- 
server, who  told  the  story  of  department  head,  Ruth  Balla,  and  staff 
members  Doug  Aim,  Josh  Tate,  and  Tim  Bartlett's  having  shaved  their 
heads  in  support  of  co-worker  Ginny  Kemp,  who  had  lost  her  hair  through 
chemotherapy  treatment  for  Hodgkin's  disease. 

"It  was  such  a  great  thing  to  do,"  Kemp  said.  "Especially  for  Ruth, 
who  had  long  blonde  hair.  I  mean,  that  was,  like,  two  years  of  her 
life!  ...  I  have  always  been  glad  I  was  part  of  this  department,  but 
especially  now." 

"...  I  hope  so!"  said  Balla. ^^ 

Camaraderie  in  any  workplace  rates  an  "A."  Over  an  occasional  lunch 
together,  administrative  assistants  Sharon  Woodlief  and  Martha  Harrell, 
office  of  the  president;  Anne  Pickard,  office  of  the  dean;  Mary  Ann  Beam, 
office  of  student  development;  and  Joyce  Hinson,  office  of  institutional 
advancement,  found  one  another's  company  as  pleasant  away  from  work 
as  in  Johnson  Hall — so  enjoyable,  in  fact,  that  they  took  a  cruise  to- 
gether. And  another.  The  group  has  been  on  excursion  by  automobile, 
train,  ship,  or  plane  numerous  times  since  1996  or  thereabouts,  and  the 
fact  that  they  are  still  friends  after  all  those  miles  is,  in  itself,  insight  as  to 
who  these  women  are.  In  the  first  half  of  1998,  they  took  a  spring  jaunt  to 
Puerto  Rico  and  a  summer  weekend  trip  to  New  York  City.  They  call 
themselves  the  "Cruising  Ladies" — a.k.a.  "The  Power  Group." 

The  lure  of  travel  brought  a  visitor  to  the  campus  and  sent  a  colleague 
to  the  far-flung  regions  of  Australia.  In  July  1996,  Edward  "Ted"  Waller, 
technical  services  librarian,  sent  a  message  via  the  internet  to  librarians 
everywhere:  "I  would  like  to  exchange  jobs  with  someone  outside  the 
continental  United  States." ^°  Almost  a  year  and  one-hundred  e-mail  re- 
sponses later.  Waller  flew  to  Canberra,  Australia,  to  work  for  four 
months  at  the  library  of  Australian  National  University,  while  partner  in 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-I998      1     343 

exchange,  Sherine  Joacquim,  signed  on  at  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library. 
Not  only  did  Waller  and  Joacquim  exchange  jobs  but  also  houses,  pets, 
and  cars.  Joacquim  adjusted  readily;  however,  her  Meredith  co-workers 
were  a  bit  concerned  that  she  commuted  daily  from  Waller's  home  in 
Durham,  driving  "on  the  wrong  side  of  the  road." 

In  August,  1997,  Janet  Freeman,  librarian  since  1984,  was  promoted 
to  dean  of  library  information  services.  "  'There  have  been  major  changes 
in  libraries  over  the  past  several  years  and  this  title  change  reflects  the 
shift  from  keeper  of  books  to  provider  of  information,'  Freeman  said. 
'But  our  basic  purpose  remains  the  same:  helping  the  Meredith  commu- 
nity find  the  information  they  need.'  "^^  And  Sue  Ennis  Kearney,  '64,  di- 
rector of  admissions  since  1984  was  promoted  to  dean  of  enrollment 
planning  and  institutional  research.  Kearney's  new  responsibilities  in- 
cluded enrollment  planning,  in  which  she  would  use  "work  groups  to  ad- 
dress enrollment  issues,"  explained  Vice  President  Spooner  in  the  em- 
ployees' newsletter  for  September  1997.  In  addition,  she  would  lead  the 
College  in  defining  and  meeting  enrollment  goals.  Her  new  role  would  be 
independent  of  the  office  of  admissions,  and  Carol  Kercheval,  associate 
director  of  admissions,  was  promoted  to  fill  Kearney's  former  position. 

Sue  Ridge  Todd,  '59,  a  thirty-year  veteran  of  the  registrar's  office,  was 
promoted  from  associate  registrar  to  registrar.  She  followed  Allen  Page, 
registrar  and  dean  of  undergraduate  instruction,  who  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility of  academic  leadership  while  Dean  Burris  took  a  year's  sab- 
batical. Additional  new  colleagues  included  Alma  Lane  Lee,  '88,  director 
of  the  Teaching  Fellows  program;  Stephanie  Helms  Harris,  director  of 
commuter  life  and  special  services;  Anita  Gunn  Shirley,  director  of  grants 
and  program  development;  Robert  Vetter,  director  for  corporate  and 
major  gifts;  and  Mary  Ann  Morgan  Reese,  '8z,  manager  of  the  book- 
store. Reese's  predecessor,  Dru  Morgan  Hinsley,  '52,  who  "piloted  the 
Meredith  supply  store  through  four  decades  of  cultural  inventory,"^-  and 
her  entire  staff  had  agreed  to  stay  on  under  Follett  College  Stores,  Inc. — 
"the  largest  contract  manager  of  college  and  university  bookstores 
throughout  the  U.S.  and  Canada"^^ — when  Meredith  followed  the  busi- 
ness trend  in  1996  of  "outsourcing"  (another  high-tech  nineties  word) 
work;  but  Hinsley  retired  in  less  than  a  year  to  concentrate  on  treatment 
for  lung  cancer.  On  Friday,  October  18,  the  entire  campus  celebrated  Dru 
Hinsley  Appreciation  Day. 

An  earlier  instance  of  relinquishing  operations  to  an  independent  com- 


344     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

pany  occurred  in  1969,  when  the  College  contracted  with  the  Slater  com- 
pany as  food  services  concessionaire.  Slater  later  became  ARA  and,  more 
recently,  the  ARAMARK  Corporation.  Accepting  further  responsibilities 
in  1996,  ARAMARK  added  to  its  food  service  operation  that  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  facilities  services — capital  improvements,  maintenance, 
grounds,  and  housekeeping. 

And,  since  1996,  the  security  staff  has  evolved  into  the  campus  police 
force  under  Chief  Mike  Hoke,  a  retired  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  United 
States  Marines  and  certified  police  officer,  whose  last  military  assignment 
was  that  of  provost  marshal  at  Camp  Lejeune,  North  Carolina.  Vice  Pres- 
ident Taylor's  annual  report  for  1996-97  alluded  to  the  "576  hours  of 
state-mandated  training"  that  the  department's  eight  new  certified  offi- 
cers had  undergone.  In  January  1997,  Lisa  Marie  Robinson,  '95,  was 
sworn  in,  becoming  Meredith's  first  state-certified  policewoman. 

The  Meredith  Herald  playfully  reported  an  emergency  call  to  campus 
police: 

Campus  police  officers  armed  with  .357  magnum  pistols,  a  card- 
board box,  and  a  gray  wool  blanket  proved  to  be  more  than  a 
match  for  an  intruder  in  Johnson  Hall  last  Wednesday. 

While  concerned  Johnson  Hall  staff  members  looked  on  ner- 
vously, officers  Timmy  Morris  and  David  Richards  chased  a  fright- 
ened possum  toward  the  rear  rotunda  [door]  held  open  by  the  cam- 
pus police  chief. 

The  possum  exited  the  rotunda  unharmed  as  staff  members 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  and  returned  to  their  offices. 

"This  was  a  highly  successful  S.RA.T.  (Special  Possum  Adminis- 
tration Team)  operation,"  commented  Meredith  security  chief  Mike 
Hoke.  "This  is  the  type  of  thing  we  train  and  remain  ready  for.  We 
used  the  least  amount  of  force  necessary,  and  the  suspect  was  re- 
leased on  its  own  recognizance." ^■** 

OF  ALL  THE  title  chauges  and  the  promotions  in  1996-98,  two  were 
unique  in  that  they  involved  the  highest  level  of  the  administration  and, 
to  accommodate  them,  trustee  action  to  amend  the  bylaws.  On  Septem- 
ber Z7,   1997,  such  action  was  taken,  changing  the  title  of  LaRose 

*Vice  President  Jackson  reported  that,  while  in  Johnson  Hall,  the  possum  had  dined 
on  leftovers  from  a  recent  Johnson  Hall  reception. 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     345 


Spooner,  vice  president  for  administrative  affairs,  to  vice  president  for 
marketing  and  the  name  of  her  division  from  office  of  college  communi- 
cations to  the  office  of  marketing  and  communications.  In  the  same  meet- 
ing, the  Board  of  Trustees  created  the  position  of  executive  vice  president 
and  appointed  Charles  Taylor  to  fill  that  position.  Taylor  had  held  the 
vice  presidency  for  business  and  finance  since  1983;  his  new  responsibil- 
ities meant  a  broader  administrative  jurisdiction  for  twelve-year  veteran 
William  F.  "Bill"  Wade,  Jr.,  controller.  Public  relations  intern  Jennifer 
Lynch,  '98,  wrote  in  the  October  1997  employees'  newsletter,  "Taylor 
will  be  breaking  new  ground  as  he  works  with  the  Meredith  community 
to  prepare  for  the  future.  In  his  new  role,  Taylor  is  responsible  for  over- 
seeing the  College's  strategic  planning  [Initiative  2000]  and  implementa- 
tion of  the  recommendations  made  in  the  marketing  audit  by  Stamats." 
President  Weems  said  that  this  recommendation  of  Stamats  Communica- 
tions''" was  the  first  of  174  to  be  implemented. 


"Stamats  Communications  is  a  consulting  firm  commissioned  in  1996  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees  to  conduct  a  study  of  the  academic  programs  and  administrative  struc- 
ture of  the  College. 


34^     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

In  the  fall  of  1997,  Weems  appointed  and  the  trustees  empowered  an 
Initiative  2000  review  team  of  "representatives  from  each  of  the  College's 
major  constituencies"  to  "prepare  an  institutional  strategic  plan  docu- 
ment which  will  be  proposed  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  lin  the  fall  of 
1998]."^^  The  team  included  Executive  Vice  President  Taylor;  Vice  Presi- 
dents Jackson,  Osborne,  and  Spooner;  Deans  Johnson  and  Page;  trustee 
Robert  Lewis;  community  leader  Bob  Brooks;  faculty  members  Ellen 
Goode  and  Jack  Huber;  students  Kelly  Conkling  and  Kristy  Eubanks; 
alumnae  Del  Hunt  Johnson  and  Cleo  Glover  Perry;  and  administrative 
staff  members  Vanessa  Goodman  Barnes,  Gordon  Folger,  and  Jeannie 
Morelock. 

With  approval  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and,  said  Taylor,  "Armed  with 
historic  purpose,  a  current  mission  and  a  stated  vision  for  the  future,  the 
College  will  be  on  solid  ground  to  begin  developing  a  strategy  to  make 
the  vision  a  reality."  ^^ 

IN  THE  CONTEXT  of  Taylor's  statement,  vision  suggests  a  beginning.  And 
in  the  context  of  this  volume's  final  chapter,  vision  revisited  more  nearly 
suggests  an  ending.  And  an  elegiac  note  unavoidably  creeps  into  conclu- 
sions. Norma  Rose,  professor  of  English,  1937-86,  and  department 
head,  1986-91,  died  April  6,  1996,  on  the  day  before  Easter.  The  Easter 
Sunday  edition  of  the  News  and  Observer  took  note  of  the  "Legendary" 
professor  at  Meredith: 

Rose  retired  10  years  ago  when  she  turned  70,  but  she  kept  teaching 
continuing  education  courses  in  Shakespeare,  grammar,  and  other 
topics  until  two  weeks  ago,  when  she  became  too  sick  to  keep 
going 

But  Dr.  Rose  didn't  just  quit. 

She  left  behind  individual  study  guides  to  get  her  students 
through  the  rest  of  the  term.^^ 

Rose's  students,  to  whom  the  reporter  referred,  were  fondly  known  as 
"Dr.  Rose's  disciples."  Many  had  sat  in  her  classroom  almost  every  se- 
mester since  she  retired  from  full-time  teaching  to  enjoy  the  more 
leisurely  pace  of  continuing  education  enrichment  courses.  Her  long-time 
"disciples"  included  Margaret  Bullard  Pruitt,  Louisburg;  Alice  Goodman 
Satisky,  Raleigh;  and  Frances  Pittman  Woodard,  Selma  —  all  members  of 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      347 

the  Class  of  1937  and  all  college  contemporaries  of  their  teacher — as 
well  as  Drs.  John  Dotterer  and  trustee  Ehzabeth  James  Dotterer,  '30,  San- 
ford;  and  trustee  Robert  Lewis,  Raleigh.  And  although  Dr.  Rose  probably 
felt  like  it,  she  didn't  "just  quit"  editing  Chapel  Talks  by  Carlyle  Camp- 
bell, a  collection  of  memorable  messages  of  Meredith's  fourth  president, 
when,  for  his  student  audience,  chapel  was  a  "required  course."  Although 
publication  of  the  talks  had  been  a  topic  of  conversation  for  some  years, 
its  reality  in  1996  was  credited  to  Mary  Lily  Duncan  Gaddy,  '42,  instiga- 
tor of  the  project  and  head  of  the  alumnae  committee  that  saw  it  through. 
By  1998,  the  committee  had  donated  proceeds  of  more  than  $4,000  to 
Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library.  A  memorial  service  for  Dr.  Rose 
took  place  in  Jones  Chapel  on  April  z6.  Also  a  veteran  of  the  Department 
of  English,  Helen  Jones,  instructor,  1969-81,  died  June  10,  1998.  Mrs. 
Jones's  family  and  friends  honored  her  memory  at  a  June  12  memorial 
service  in  Jones  Chapel. 

Evelyn  Pope  Simmons,  associate  professor  emerita  of  economics  and 
twenty-seven  year  veteran — 1962-1990 — of  the  Department  of  Business 
and  Economics,  died  July  16,  1997.  And  James  R.  Johnson,  III,  also  pro- 
fessor emeritus  of  economics,  had  retired  six  months  before  his  death  on 
July  18.  Dr.  Johnson  joined  the  faculty  in  1979,  was  named  by  his  stu- 
dents Outstanding  Professor  for  1995-96,  and  was  remembered  at  a  ser- 
vice on  September  19  in  the  Elva  Bryan  Mclver  Amphitheatre.  The  James 
R.  Johnson  Meredith  Economic  Student  Fund  honors  his  memory. 

Less  than  a  year  after  Drulynn  Morgan  Hinsley,  '52,  enjoyed  a  day  of 
appreciation  in  her  honor,  she  died  on  May  11,  1997.  Vice  President  Tay- 
lor reminded  the  community  of  her  long  tenure  of  forty-three  years  as 
bookstore  manager.  "She  has  been  a  friend  to  thousands  of  students  and 
staff  .  .  .  and  she  will  be  missed,"  he  said.^^ 

Lucretia  L.  Peterson,  a  member  of  the  housekeeping  staff,  died  March 
12,  1998.  Mrs.  Peterson  was  employed  by  the  College  for  more  than  six- 
teen years,  having  joined  the  staff  in  1981  and  retired  in  1997. 

On  July  4,  1997,  Meredith  lost  Elizabeth  James  Dotterer,  member  of 
the  Class  of  1930  and  a  trustee  for  many  years,  beginning  in  1956;  and,  on 
August  31,  1997,  another  trustee,  1979-82,  Katherine  Wyatt  Flodgins, 
'48,  died.  Soon  after  completing  her  first  term  on  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
Helen  Harris  died  on  May  2,  1998.  Mrs.  Harris  and  her  late  husband, 
Shearon  Harris,  were  benefactors  of  the  College  for  many  years. 


34^      I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

The  Class  of  1998 — indeed,  the  entire  college  family — grieved  long 
and  deeply  for  senior  Erika  Suzanne  Woodlief,  who  died  in  a  car  accident 
on  November  15,  1997.  Ms.  Woodlief  was  riding  with  her  mother, 
Sharon  Woodlief,  '88,  administrative  assistant  to  President  Weems  and 
twenty-seven-year  employee  of  the  College,  who  was  injured.  Erika 
Woodlief  was  a  sociology  major  and,  said  the  News  and  Observer^ 

Ishe]  hoped  to  become  certified  to  teach  kindergarten  through  sixth 
grade.  .  .  .  Erika  had  been  inducted  into  Silver  Shield,  an  honorary 
leadership  society,  and  named  in  "Who's  Who  Among  American 
College  and  University  Students"  in  the  past  two  weeks.  .  .  .  Along 
with  her  studies  and  participation  in  numerous  extracurricular  ac- 
tivities, Erika  was  working  this  semester  as  an  intern  counselor  with 
the  Wake  County  juvenile  court.^^ 

Jeannie  Morelock,  director  of  marketing  and  communications,  told  the 
newspaper,  "Erika  basically  grew  up  on  the  campus.  .  .  .  Everybody  knew 
her  since  she  was  a  baby."  Her  faculty  adviser  and  professor  of  sociology 
Rhonda  Zingraff  said,  "The  youth  of  North  Carolina  have  lost  a  devoted 
advocate,  and  we  have  lost  one  of  our  treasured  students."  And  President 
Weems  added,  "Erika's  death  was  a  'crushing  loss,  both  for  Meredith 
College  and  for  me  personally.  [She]  was  one  of  the  finest  women  we  have 
ever  had  a  Meredith,  a  young  woman  of  great  promise.'  "^°°  A  Service  of 
Remembrance  and  Celebration  for  the  Life  of  Erika  Woodlief  was  held 
November  20,  1997,  in  Jones  Chapel.  Ms.  Woodlief's  parents,  Sharon 
and  Eugene  Woodlief,  established  the  Erika  Suzanne  Woodlief  Memorial 
Scholarship  to  provide  financial  assistance  to  a  Meredith  freshman  who 
has  interest  in  elementary  education  or  sociology. .  .  .  "^°'  The  office  of  in- 
stitutional advancement  announced  in  February  1998  that  "one-third  of 
the  192  gifts  received  for  the  .  .  .  scholarship  fund  were  received  from 
Meredith  faculty,  staff  and  students." '°- 

Freshman  Akie  Segawa  collapsed  on  a  hiking  trip  with  friends  near 
Sanford  on  February  15,  1998,  and  died  of  natural  causes  in  a  nearby 
hospital.  Ms.  Segawa  was  an  international  student  from  Hitachi-shi, 
Ibaraki-ken,  Japan.  Her  mother,  two  siblings,  and  a  family  friend,  who 
traveled  to  Meredith  to  attend  a  February  18  memorial  service  in  Jones 
Chapel,  were  guests  of  the  College  in  the  Sarah  Lemmon  House.  "Con- 
dolence books  for  the  family  of  Akie  were  placed  around  campus.  Hall- 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I     349 

mates  and  friends  .  .  .  made  and  distributed  white  ribbons  for  students, 
faculty  and  staff  to  wear  in  remembrance  of  her."i°^ 

In  1996-98,  Meredith  lost  by  death  approximately  200  alumnae,  as 
well  as  numerous  other  benefactors,  including,  on  November  27,  1996, 
Vivian  Dawson  Massey,  who,  with  her  husband,  L.M.  Massey,  initiated 
the  funds  for  the  Massey  House,  the  president's  residence.  These  few  rep- 
resent the  many — a  host  of  memorable  Meredith  "angels"  who  continue 
to  serve  as  guardians  of  the  College's  vision  and  tradition. 

EVEN  WHEN  A  collcague  retires,  those  "still  in  the  race"  suffer  a  sense  of 
loss,  although  retirement  is  a  gradual  process,  and  ties  are  rarely  broken 
permanently.  One  need  only  peruse  the  forty-plus  names  on  the  faculty 
emeriti  list  to  recognize  that  retirees  continue  to  appear  at  special  events, 
the  library,  and  any  number  of  old  haunts  with  any  number  of  old  friends. 
In  1996,  the  College  honored  the  retirement  of  Lon  Avent,  maintenance 
supervisor;  Vergean  Birkin,  assistant  professor  of  geography;  Carolyn 
Harrington  Grubbs,  '60,  professor  of  history;  Dru  Morgan  Hinsley,  '52, 
manager  of  the  bookstore;  Geraldine  Myers,  secretary/receptionist,  office 
of  institutional  advancement;  Anne  Carmack  Pugh,  '82,  administrative 
secretary  to  the  vice  president  for  business  and  finance;  Dan  Shattuck, 
chief  of  security;  and  Janice  Shattuck,  secretary,  office  of  security.  Retiring 
in  1997  were  Jacques  Comeaux,  associate  professor  of  foreign  languages; 
Frank  Grubbs,  professor  of  history;  James  R.  Johnson,  III,  professor  of 
business;  Dorothy  Knott  Preston,  '54,  professor  of  mathematics;  and  Lois 
Rowland,  member  of  the  housekeeping  staff.  The  College  bade  farewell 
to  fewer  retirees  in  1998:  Marie  Mason,  former  dean  of  students,  pro- 
fessor of  psychology,  and,  more  recently,  coordinator  of  campus  activi- 
ties; and  Craven  Allen  Burris,  Vice  President  and  Dean  of  the  College. 
The  service  to  Meredith  represented  by  the  faculty  and  staff  who  retired 
in  the  three-year  period  totals  401  years,  with  Dr.  Comeaux's  tenure  of 
fourteen  years  the  shortest  period  and  Mrs.  Hinsley's  49  years  the 
longest. 

Allen  Burris  announced  retirement  plans  as  early  as  1996,  and,  at  his 
request,  the  Board  of  Trustees  granted  him  a  year's  sabbatical,  beginning 
July  I,  1997.  He  and  Mrs.  Burris  spent  several  months  in  England,  and, 
on  return,  he  was  immediately  busy  preparing  the  annual  faculty  lecture 
and,  at  the  request  of  the  Class  of  1998,  the  annual  baccalaureate  ser- 


350     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

mon.  Burris  had  high  hopes  for  his  sabbatical,  and  many  of  them  materi- 
ahzed.  The  Biblical  Recorder  reported,  "During  this  year,  he  hopes  to  're- 
tool' himself  as  a  historian  and  political  scientist  by  reading,  writing  and  at- 
tending some  classes  at  one  of  the  Triangle's  universities.  .  .  ."^°'*  His 
long-range  retirement  prospects — learning  the  guitar,  folk  singing,  wood- 
working, volunteering  for  community  work,  teaching,  writing  a  book — 
suggested  a  man  of  many  interests. ^°^  For  Meredith,  Anne  Pugh  wrote,  "An 
educator  and  a  people  person.  Dean  Burris  has  regularly  taught  classes  in 
history  and  politics.  Some  summers  he  has  accompanied  students  to  Europe 
for  the  Meredith  Abroad  program.  One  year  the  students  presented  him 
with  a  sweatshirt  on  which  was  printed  his  newly  acquired  nickname: 
'Uncle  Dean."'^o^  Burris's  "Uncle  Dean"  shirt  prompted  eye-rolling  and 
quipping,  but  probably  not  as  much  as  has  the  sign  on  his  desk  that  read, 
"Flip  Not  Thine  Wig."  The  sign  was  a  gift  from  his  wife,  Jane  Burris. 

Dr.  Burris  reflected  on  the  "innumerable  ways"  that  Meredith  has 
grown.  It  has  "nearly  tripled  in  size,"  and,  academically,  it  "offers  gradu- 
ate programs,  a  capstone  program  with  a  national  reputation,  and  a 
holistic  honors  program."  He  said  he  will  miss  "the  daily  community 
with  people,  perhaps  even  committee  meetings, .  .  .  the  interaction  in  the 
classroom,  telling  jokes  in  the  hall,  and  making  hard  and  important  deci- 
sions." ^^^ 

In  April  1997,  before  Burris  left  on  sabbatical,  the  college  community 
threw — as  someone  said — "the  surprise  party  of  the  century"  in  his 
honor.  To  be  sure  the  dean  attended  his  own  party.  Police  Chief  Hoke 
"arrested,"  handcuffed,  and  transported  him — sirens  blaring — to  the 
Weatherspoon  Building.  He  was  tried  for  desertion  before  the  King  of 
Hearts  (shades  of  Alice  in  Wonderland)  and  sentenced  to  the  party.  Al- 
most overflowing  the  gymnasium,  the  crowd  enjoyed  antics,  toasts  and 
roasts,  videos,  including  an  Oscar-winning  documentary  narrated  by  Bur- 
ris's long-time  administrative  assistant,  Anne  Pickard;  a  few  serious  good- 
byes, and  the  announcement  of  a  scholarship  endowed  in  Burris's  name. 
One  of  Meredith's  legends,  Lon  Avent,  who  had  retired  in  1996  as  main- 
tenance supervisor  at  the  College,  prepared  and  oversaw  the  serving  of  a 
barbecue  feast  outside  the  gymnasium.  In  an  open  letter  to  the  commu- 
nity, Burris  wrote,  "Meredith  people,  my  colleagues  and  friends,  again 
gave  of  themselves  for  the  benefit  of  students  as  they  do  every  day.  This 
time  they  did  it  in  my  honor.  .  .  .  You  people  are  really  a  piece  of  work."^°^ 


THE  VISION  REVISITED:    1996-1998      I      35I 

AN  ERA  ENDS  categorically  on  June  30,  1999,  the  last  day  of  the  Weems 
presidency.  At  the  November  24,  1997,  executive  committee  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  chairman  Norman  Kellum  announced  the  presi- 
dent's plans  for  retirement  and  Vice  President  Taylor's  added  responsibil- 
ities of  administering  the  planning  and  operations  of  the  College.  Kellum 
also  said  that  the  president  would  be  granted  a  sabbatical  leave  for  the 
year  beginning  July  i,  1998,  and,  in  1999,  would  become  president  emer- 
itus. 

Accomplishments  of  the  Weems  administration  are  documented 
throughout  this  volume,  not  the  least  of  which  are  the  growth  in  endow- 
ment and  reserves  from  $887,000  to  $49,500,000  and  the  College's  debt- 
free  status.  Meredith  published  expressions  of  acclaim  from  faculty,  ad- 
ministrators, alumnae,  trustees,  students,  educators,  benefactors,  and 
other  friends.  One  of  the  accolades  came  from  North  Carolina's  Gover- 
nor James  B.  Hunt: 

Dr.  Weems  has  dedicated  twenty-seven  years  of  his  life  to  making 
Meredith  College  an  enriching  college  experience  for  women  in 
North  Carolina.  Under  Dr.  Weems's  leadership,  Meredith  College 
has  nearly  doubled  the  size  of  both  its  student  body  and  its  faculty, 
constructed  twelve  new  facilities  and  founded  the  John  E.  Weems 
Graduate  School.  He  has  left  a  legacy  of  strength  and  vitality  for 
Meredith  College  and  for  education  throughout  North  Carolina. 
Dr.  Weems  is  a  great  friend  of  mine  and  I  sincerely  thank  him  for 
making  the  young  people  of  our  state  a  priority  in  his  life.^*^^ 

William  Friday,  executive  director  of  the  William  R.  Kenan  Jr.  Charitable 
Trust  and  former  president  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  System, 
also  paid  tribute: 

Strong  colleges  require  strong  leaders.  John  Weems  has  provided 
Meredith  College  that  quality  of  leadership.  He  is  a  man  of  uncom- 
mon dedication,  intelligence,  integrity,  and  good  will.  This  Trust's 
respect  for  him  led  to  a  funding  grant  to  enrich  the  offerings  of 
Meredith. 

John  Weems  is  a  respected  and  longtime  friend  with  whom  I  have 
happily  joined  in  many  endeavors  to  benefit  Meredith  and  our  state. 
His  tenure  is  marked  by  growth,  expansion  of  progress  and,  above 


352.     I     THE  VISION  REVISITED 

all,  academic  excellence  while  maintaining  essential  freedom  and 
open  exchange.  He  has  been  a  very  good  president  during  a  stressful 
interval  of  American  history.  .  .  .^^° 

The  fact  that,  after  commencement  1998,  President  Weems  had 
awarded  10,587  of  the  16,060  diplomas  granted  since  1902^^^  was  a 
telling  statistic  of  the  growth  of  the  College  in  the  past  twenty-seven 
years.  But  Dr.  Weems's  life  in  the  period  of  this  chapter  was  more  than 
diplomas  and  trustee  meetings  and  technology  and  academic  decision- 
making; it  was  also  John  Edgar  Weems  and  Ruth  Ellen  Taylor  Weems, 
husband  and  wife.  Following  their  marriage  in  Florida  on  Thanksgiving 
Day,  1996,  and  two  weeks  in  Aspen,  Colorado,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Weems  re- 
turned to  the  Massey  House.  From  an  interview  with  Mrs.  Weems,  Anne 
Pugh  reported,  "Home  for  Ruth  Ellen  Weems  before  coming  to  North 
Carolina  was  a  working  ranch  in  Venice,  Florida,  on  which  she  raised 
cattle  and  mined  shell  road-base  material.  Real  estate  development  is 
presently  also  a  part  of  the  ranch's  business.  The  ranch  is  now  managed 
by  her  three  sons.  .  .  ."^^^  The  second  marriage  for  both,  the  Weemses  met 
in  Blowing  Rock,  where  each  owned  a  home. 

At  sabbatical  send-offs,  the  college  community  honored  President 
Weems  at  an  informal  gathering  in  Belk  Dining  Hall  on  April  23,  1998, 
and  the  trustees  feted  him  with  a  dinner  dance  at  the  Carolina  Country 
Club  on  June  2. 

TO  PUBLISH  AN  inclusivc  list  of  all  those  whom  the  community  has  gained 
and  lost  in  the  previous  three  decades  would  be  impossible.  But,  like 
William  Butler  Yeats,  we  do  our  part  "to  murmur  name  upon  name,  /  As 
a  mother  names  her  child." ^^^  All  who  have  come  are  appreciated;  yet 
none  who  is  missing  is  forgotten.  Each  name  is  written  in  the  human 
heart  and,  therefore,  in  the  annals  of  this  history. 


EPILOGUE 


IN  THE  FINAL  years  of  the  twentieth  century,  the  Baby  Boomers  turned 
fifty;  Israel  celebrated  its  golden  anniversary  of  independence;  Scottish 
scientists  cloned  a  sheep;  the  White  House  claimed  a  balanced  national 
budget  for  the  first  time  in  decades;  El  Nino  spawned  erratic  weather 
patterns;  septuplets  were  born  into  the  world  and  survived;  and  Mere- 
dith prepared  to  say  goodbye  to  its  sixth  president  and  to  undertake  the 
difficult  search  for  a  seventh.  On  April  20,  1998,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
finalized  the  appointment  of  a  thirteen-member  committee  charged  with 
the  selection  by  April  1999  of  a  new  president,  who  will  be  expected 
to  assume  official  duties  at  the  start  of  the  academic  year  1999-2000. 
Eugene  M.  Langley,  Jr.,  was  elected  search  committee  chair  and  Faye 
Arnold  Broyhill,  '59,  vice  chair.  Other  members  included  Sam  Ewell, 
Jerry  Harper,  Sr.,  Earl  Pope,  Judge  Gary  E.  Traywick,  and  Claude 
Williams  for  the  trustees;  Gwendolyn  Clay  and  Janice  Swab  would  rep- 
resent the  faculty;  Virginia  Gentry  Parker,  '83,  the  alumnae;  Amy  Smith, 
'99,  the  student  body;  Jeannie  Morelock,  '95,  MBA,  the  administration; 
and  Harry  Eberly,  the  community.  So  this  volume  of  Meredith's  biogra- 
phy has  come  full  circle — search  committee  to  search  committee  and  an 
era  between. 


353 


354      I     EPILOGUE 

A  NEW  MILLENNIUM  waits  just  ovcr  the  horizon,  and  history,  like  "William 
Shakespeare's  Antonio  in  The  Tempest,  teaches  that  "What's  past  is  pro- 
logue."^ As  the  era  concludes,  Meredith  honors  the  contrasts  between  the 
beginning  and  the  end  and  finds  the  vision  inevitably  revisited  by  its  peo- 
ple— its  leavening — working  "by  contagion,  until  the  whole  is  leavened."- 


NOTES 


PROLOGUE 

1.  Matthew  13:33  KJV. 

2.  Buttrick,  Parables  of  Jesus,  23. 

3.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  5. 

4.  The  World  Almanac  and  Book  of 
Facts  1997,  2.08. 

5.  Ibid.,  207. 

6.  Weems,  "Upheld  by  the  Affections  of 
a  Great  People,"  Inaugural  Address,  21 
September  1972. 

7.  Buttrick,  Parables,  24. 

CHAPTER  I 

1.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  v. 

2.  Ibid. 

3.  Alumnae  Magazine,  June  1971,  4-5- 

4.  Leslie  Syron,  "Notes  on  a  Sabbati- 
cal," Alumnae  Magazine,  December  1971, 

5- 

5.  E.  Bruce  Heilman,  "Paraphrasing 
My  Own  Propaganda,"  Alumnae  Maga- 
zine, September  1971,  5. 

6.  Laura  Weatherspoon  Harrill,  "What 
a  President!"  Alumnae  Magazine,  Septem- 
ber 1971,  4. 

7.  Margaret  Farmer,  "Multicolored 
Memories,"  Alumnae  Magazine,  December 

1971,7- 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  24  Sep- 
tember 1 97 1. 

10.  Ibid. 


11.  Encyclopedia  of  American  Facts 
and  Dates,  6th  ed.,  s.v.  "education." 

1 2.  "Are  Americans  Losing  Faith  in 
Their  Colleges? "Editorial  Projects  for  Edu- 
cation, Inc.,  insert.  Alumnae  Magazine, 
June 1971. 

13.  E.  Bruce  Fieilman,  "Meredith  Not 
in  Trouble,"  Alumnae  Magazine,  June 
1971,31-36- 

14.  Minutes,  faculty,  18  September  1971. 

15.  Ibid. 

16.  Susan  Van  Wageningen,  editorial, 
Twig,  16  September  1971. 

17.  Van  Wageningen,  editorial,  Twig,  2 
September  1971. 

18.  Anne  Wall,  "Juniors  Take  Pump- 
kin[;]  Sophomores  Place  Second,"  Twig,  4 
November  197 1. 

19.  Twig,  2  September  1971. 

20.  Janice  Sams  and  Eleanor  Hill,  edito- 
rial, Twig,  2  November  1972. 

21.  Meredith  McGill  to  editor.  Twig, 
31  October  1974. 

22.  Farmer,  "Multicolored  Memories," 
Alumnae  Magazine,  December  1971,  7. 

23.  Carlyle  Campbell,  "The  Idea  of 
Community,"  address  to  the  student  body, 
date  unknown,  Campbell  papers. 

24.  Jan  Johnson,  "Carol's  Cart  Be- 
comes Well  Known  on  Campus,"  Raleigh 
Times,  22  October  197 1. 

25.  J.  Eugene  White,  "Her  Spirit  Soars," 


355 


3  5^     I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  2 


Charity  and  Children  (Thomasville),  12 
September  197 1. 

z6.  Conversation  with  Joe  Baker,  18 
January  1995. 

zy.  Minutes,  called  meeting.  Board  of 
Trustees,  14  October  1971. 

28.  W.L.  Norton,  news  release,  14  Oc- 
tober 1971. 

29.  Ibid. 

CHAPTER  Z 

1.  W.L.  Norton,  news  release,  14  Octo- 
ber 1971. 

2.  Twig,  20  January  1972. 

3.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  277. 

4.  Judy  Yates  and  Diane  Reavis,  "What 
a  Great  Day  to  Be  Alive!"  Twig,  20  Janu- 
ary 1972. 

5.  Alumnae  Magazine,  March  1972,  12. 

6.  Report  of  the  President  i^ji-jz,  49. 

7.  Tw/ig,  30  March  1972. 

8.  Martha  Grafton,  "Women's  Lib:  a 
Second  Look,"  Alumnae  Magazine,  March 
1972,  36. 

9.  Ellen  Bullington,  "Overtime  Needed 
to  Pull  the  Meredith  Basketball  Team 
Through,"  Twig,  30  March  1972. 

10.  Report  of  the  President  i^yi-yz,  7. 

11.  Twig,  II  May  1972. 

12.  Alumnae  Magazine,  Summer  1972,  6. 

13.  Eleanor  Gardner  Bedon  to  Presi- 
dent, M.C.,  12  April  1970,  reprinted  in 
Alumnae  Magazine,  Summer  1972,  6. 

14.  Dorothy  Loftin  Goodwin,  "The 
Margaret  Bright  Gallery  of  Class  Dolls," 
Alumnae  Magazine,  Summer  1972,  8. 

15.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  23  Sep- 
tember 1972. 

16.  Alumnae  Magazine,  Fall  1972,  8. 

17.  Conversation  with  Allen  Burris,  20 
January  1994. 

18.  Conversation  with  Anne  Dahle,  28 
April  1994. 

19.  Ibid. 

20.  Minutes,  faculty,  6  August  1972. 

21.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  21  August  1972. 

22.  Twig,  8  September  1972. 

23.  Eleanor  Edwards  Williams,  "A 
Proper  Title  for  an  Heroic  Poem,"  Alumnae 
Magazine,  Winter  1973,  14-15. 

24.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  20  November  1972. 

25.  Twig,  8  September  1972. 

26.  Ibid. 


27.  Katherine  Inez  Hall  v.  Wake  County 
Board  of  Elections,  No.  37,  Supreme  Court 
of  North  Carolina,  15  March  1972,  South 
Eastern  Reporter,  vol.  187,  N.  C.  Ed. 

28.  Ibid. 

29.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  27  Feb- 
ruary 1971. 

30.  Report  of  the  President  i^yi-ji,  41. 

31.  Janice  Sams,  "Students  Care 
Enough  to  Become  Involved,"  Twig,  27 
April  1972. 

32.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  20  November  1972. 

33.  Twig,  8  September  1972. 

34.  Report  of  the  President  i^yi-ji,  42. 

35.  Twig,  8  October  1972. 

36.  Ibid. 

37.  Ibid. 

38.  Twig,  30  March  1972. 

39.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  23  Sep- 
tember 1972. 

40.  Minutes,  faculty,  14  October  1972. 

41.  Ibid. 

42.  Report  of  the  President  i^ji-yz,  33. 

43.  Inauguration  of  John  Edgar  Weems, 
printed  program,  22  September  1972. 

44.  Weems,  "Upheld  by  the  Affections 
of  a  Great  People,"  inaugural  address,  22 
September  1972,  reprinted  in  Alumnae 
Magazine,  Fall  1972,  13-15,  40. 

45.  Ibid. 

46.  Ibid. 

47.  Ibid. 

CHAPTER  3 

1.  Britt,  Images,  i. 

2.  "Making  a  Case  for  Women's  Col- 
leges," Wall  Street  Journal  (New  York),  14 
November  1974. 

3.  Suzanne  Reynolds  Greenwood,  "The 
Challenge  of  the  Women's  Movement  to 
the  Women's  Colleges,  Alum?tae  Magazine, 
Winter  1973,  4-5,  36. 

4.  Information  Please  Almanac  Atlas  & 
Yearbook  199s,  48th  ed.,  430. 

5.  Weems,  address  to  the  North  Car- 
olina General  Assembly,  February  1973. 

6.  Ibid. 

7.  Conversation  with  Weems,  11  Janu- 
ary 1994. 

8.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  27  Sep- 
tember 1974. 

9.  Clara  Bunn  to  John  Weems,  12  May 

1974- 

10.  Allyn  Vogel,  "Thomas  Addresses 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   3      I      357 


Group  at  First  SGA  Meeting,"  Twig,  26 
September  1974. 

11.  Genie  Rogers,  "V.P.  Move  for 
Good,"  editorial,  Twig,  8  November  1974. 

12.  Mary  Owens  and  Barrie  Walton, 
"Weems  Talks  on  Women's  Roles,"  Twig,  1 
March  1973. 

13.  Minutes,  Faculty,  21  August  1974. 

14.  Phyllis  Trible  to  editor.  Alumnae 
Magazine,  Fall/Winter  1973,  i. 

15.  Jane  Cromley  Curtis  to  editor. 
Alumnae  Magazine,  Spring  1974,  cover  2. 

16.  Elizabeth  Garner  McKinney  to  edi- 
tor, Alumnae  Magazine,  Fall  1974,  i. 

17.  Twig,  31  January  1974. 

18.  Conversation  with  Weems,  5  April 
1994. 

19.  Twig,  4  October  1973. 

20.  Twig,  4  May  1973. 

21.  Woody  Dicus,  Cookie  Guthrie,  Meg 
Pruette,  Elaine  Williams,  to  editor.  Twig, 
21  February  1974. 

22.  Rogers,  "Energy  Crisis  Ignored; 
Disregard  Is  Shocking,"  editorial.  Twig,  3 1 
October  1974. 

23.  Meredith  McGill,  "Administration 
Takes  Steps  Toward  Conserving  More  En- 
ergy, '''Twig,  21  November  1974. 

24.  Twig,  13  December  1973. 

25.  Lynne  Wogan,  Raleigh  Times,  i  De- 
cember 1975. 

26.  Sharon  Ellis,  "Meredith's  Twelve 
Sisters  Live  in  Poteat  Dorm  Basement," 
Twig,  4  December  1973. 

27.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  5  Feb- 
ruary 1975. 

28.  Leslie  Syron  to  John  Weems,  26 
September  1973. 

29.  Syron  to  Weems,  3  May  1973. 

30.  Greenwood,  "Working  With  People 
Has  a  New  Name,"  Alumnae  Magazine, 
Fall/Winter  1973,  7-9,  39. 

31.  Human  Services  at  M.,  an  Experi- 
mental Program,  brochure,  1973. 

32.  Greenwood,  Alumnae  Magazine, 
Fall/Winter  1973. 

33.  Report  of  the  President  I9y^-J4,  6. 

34.  Tivig,  I  May  1975. 

35.  Conversation  with  R.  John  Huber, 
18  April  1994. 

36.  Report  of  the  President  i<)jt,-j4,  25. 

37.  Ibid. 

38.  Ibid.,  6. 

39.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  6  No- 
vember 1973. 


40.  Eleanor  Hill,  "Is  Meredith  Becom- 
ing Merely  a  Diploma  Mill?"  Twig,  14 
February  1974. 

41.  Minutes,  faculty,  16  February  1974. 

42.  Ibid. 

43.  Mary  Bland  Josey  to  editor.  Twig, 
21  March  1974. 

44.  Frank  Grubbs  to  editor.  Twig,  21 
March  1974. 

45.  Conversation  with  Burris,  20  Janu- 
ary 1994. 

46.  Report  of  the  President  i^j^-y^, 
6-7. 

47.  Twig,  8  November  1973. 

48.  Janice  Sams,  "Helms  Selection  Not 
Questioned?"  editorial.  Twig,  21  March 

1973- 

49.  Michael  Hall,  "M.  Tastes  Black  Ex- 
perience," Raleigh  Times,  10  February  1973. 

50.  Sams,  editorial,  "BVU  Activities 
Challenging," Tti^/g,  16  February  1973. 

51.  Sams  and  Hill,  editorial,  "Racial 
Prejudice  Noted  by  BVU,"  Ttvig,  19  April 

1973- 

52.  Conversation  with  Burris,  8  Febru- 
ary 1994. 

53.  Ibid. 

54.  Hill,  "Input  Needed  for  Policy  Re- 
vision," editorial.  Twig,  27  September 

1973- 

55.  Twig,  20  September  1973. 

56.  Student  Handbook  1996-97,  77. 

57.  Maggie  Odell,  "Cadets  Mixed 
Well,"  Twig,  17  October  1974. 

58.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  22  Sep- 
tember 1973. 

59.  Bill  Morrison,  "Musical's  Inexperi- 
enced Ensemble  Deserves  'Applause,' " 
News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  8  November 

1974- 

60.  Report  of  the  President  i^j^-y^,  4. 

61.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  15  April  1974. 

62.  Report  of  the  President  1973  -74,  14. 

63.  Ibid.,  5-6. 

64.  Ibid. 

65.  Report  of  the  President  1971-72,  8. 

66.  Conversation  with  Burris,  8  Febru- 
ary 1994. 

67.  M.L.  Johnson,  "M.'s  Historical 
Collection,  a  Beautiful  Reality,  Alumnae 
Magazine,  Summer  1973,  8. 

68.  Oliver  L.  Stringfield  to  Weems,  i 
October  1972. 

69.  Twig,  5  April  1973. 


358      I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  4 


70.  Twig,  4  May  1973. 

71.  Rebecca  Askew,  "Beth  Leavel  Chore- 
ographs Applause,"  Twig,  31  October  1974. 

72.  Bill  Morrison,  "Musical's  Inexperi- 
enced Ensemble  Deserves  'Applause,' " 
News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  8  November 

1974- 

73.  Ibid. 

74.  A.C.  Snow,  "Ah,  Bread  for  the  Ducks 
at  M.!"  Raleigh  Times,  23  February  1974. 

75.  Sandra  Thomas,  "A  Challenge  for 
Global  Education,"  Alumnae  Magazine, 
Summer  1975,  4-5. 

CHAPTER  4 

1.  Burris,  "Treasure  in  Earthen  Vessels," 
Meredith,  Fall  1976,  3. 

2.  Ibid. 

3.  James  M.  Wall,  editorial,  "Carter 
and  the  Religion  Factor,  Christian  Century, 
31  August-7  September  1977,  739-40. 

4.  Burris,  "Treasure  in  Earthen  Vessels," 
Meredith,  Fall  1976,  4. 

5.  Frank  Grubbs,  "Symbol  To  Be 
Recreated,"  Twig,  17  April  1975. 

6.  Phyllis  Burnett,  "Will  America  Recall 
Ford?"  Twig,  i  September  1976. 

7.  Linda  Williams,  "Jack  Ford  Ap- 
plauded at  Meredith,"  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  9  October  1976. 

8.  Kim  Farlow,  "Lancaster  Campaigns 
at  Convention,"  Twig,  8  September  1976. 

9.  Vicki  Jayne,  "Impulse  Takes  Two 
Students  to  Inauguration,"  Twig,  8  Septem- 
ber 1977. 

10.  Allyn  Vogel,  "M.  Gets  Grant  for 
Consciousness  Raising  Program,"  Twig,  1 1 
September  1975. 

11.  Sarah  Lemmon,  conversation  with 
Jonathan  Lindsey,  archives,  taped  1 7 
March  1982. 

12.  Ibid. 

13.  Angela  Herrin,  "Janet  Guthrie  De- 
scribes Turmoil,"  News  and  Observer 
(Raleigh),  21  September  1976. 

14.  Maggie  Odell,  "RSW  and  Sports," 
editorial.  Twig,  i  September  1976. 

15.  "Coeds  Celebrate  Victory,"  News 
&  Observer  (Raleigh),  21  September  1973. 

16.  Ibid. 

17.  "Symposium  on  the  Future  Was  a 
Spring  Feature,"  Meredith,  Spring  1978,  25. 

18.  Ibid. 

19.  Lemmon,  conversation  with  Jona- 
than Lindsey,  archives,  taped  6  May  1982. 


20.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  1 1 
January  1977. 

21.  Undergraduate  Catalogue,  1994- 
95,41-42. 

22.  Burris  to  academic  administrators, 
25  January  1996. 

23.  Report  of  the  President  i^jG-jj, 
16-17. 

24.  Conversation  with  R.  John  Huber, 
18  April  1994. 

25.  Ibid. 

26.  Ibid. 

27.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  253. 

28.  Report  of  the  President  i^y^-yS, 
17-18. 

29.  Ibid. 

30.  Twig,  7  September  1978. 

31.  Report  of  the  President  i^j6-jj,  6. 
3  2.  Royster  Hedgepeth,  "The  Hazard 

of  Being  Who  We  Are,"  Meredith,  Fall 
1978,2-5. 

33.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  24  Feb- 
ruary 1978. 

34.  Hedgepeth,  The  Hazard  of  Being 
Who  We  Are,  Meredith,  Fall  1978,  2-5. 

35.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  18  August  1977. 

36.  Vivian  Keasler,  "Harriet  Mardre 
Wainwright  Remembered,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1977,  5-7. 

37.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  38. 

38.  Oliver  L.  Stringfield  to  Weems,  i 
October  1972. 

39.  Meredith  College  (newsletter),  April 
1978,  reprinted  in  Meredith,  Winter  198 1. 

40.  Meredith,  Fall  1978,  21. 

41.  Carolyn  Robinson,  "The  Chapel,  a 
Continuing  Challenge,"  Meredith,  Winter 
1978,  lo-ii,  30. 

42.  Marion  D.  Lark,  "From  the  Inside 
Out,"  Meredith,  Winter  1981,  13-17. 

43.  Robinson,  Meredith,  Winter  1978,  10. 

44.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  8  September  1980. 

45.  R.  Frank  Poole,  "Convention  Epi- 
log 1977,"  Newsletter,  Carolinas-Virginia 
Region  MGA. 

46.  Mary  Pickett,  "CIM  Chooses  M.  as 
Site  of  Celebration,"  Twig,  28  September 
1978. 

47.  Valerie  Ray,  "Area  Students  Work 
with  Gifted  Children,"  Twig,  16  November 
1978. 

48.  Report  of  the  President  I^j6-J7,  3. 

49.  Meredith,  Fall  1977,  25. 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   5      I      359 


50.  Julia  C.  Bryan,  "M.  Abroad," 
Meredith,  Fall  1977,  3-7. 

51.  Sandra  Thomas,  "M.  Classroom  in 
Peru,"  Meredith,  Fall  1977,  8-10. 

52.  Ibid. 

53.  "M.  Group  Spends  Holiday  in 
Cuba,  Meredith,  Winter  1980,  24. 

54.  Undergraduate  Catalogue 
1994-95,21. 

55.  Report  of  the  President  i^~/6--j-j,  16. 

56.  Twig,  3  May  1982. 

57.  "Alumna  to  Head  Legal  Assistants 
Program,"  Meredith,  Winter  1980,  22. 

58.  Report  of  the  President  i^y^-So, 
38-39. 

59.  Student  Handbook  i()()6-<)y,  99. 

60.  Ann  Pelham,  "She  Sees  Self  as  'Gen- 
eration-Gap-Jumper,' "  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  30  May  1976. 

61.  Virginia  Norton,  "Trade  In:  Old 
Experiences  for  New,"  Meredith,  Winter 
1977,  18. 

62.  Ibid. 
63. Ibid. 

64.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  23  Sep- 
tember 1977. 

65.  "Hypocrisy?"  guest  editorial.  Twig, 
21  September  1978. 

66.  Susan  Felts,  "Library  Improvements 
Made,"  Twig,  30  August  1978. 

67.  "Hypocrisy?"  Twig,  21  September 
1978. 

68.  Carolyn  A.  Wallace,  untitled  ad- 
dress. Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary, 5  May  1977,  M.  archives. 

69.  Julia  H.  Harris,  "Libraries  Old  and 
New,"  Alumnae  Magazine,  Winter  1948,  20. 

70.  Kristie  Beattie,  editorial,  "Move 
Cornhuskin'?"  Twig,  16  November  1978. 

71.  Ibid. 

72.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  170. 

73.  Sharon  Ellis,  review,  Alice  in  Won- 
derland, Twig,  29  March  1976. 

74.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  73. 

75.  Twig,  22  January  1976. 

76.  Janice  Sams,  "Spring  of  Awareness," 
Alumnae  Magazine,  Summer  1972,  lo-ii. 

77.  Beth  Wicker,  cartoon.  Twig,  22  Sep- 
tember 1977. 

78.  1979  Annual,  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion of  North  Carolina. 

79.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  27  Feb- 
ruary 1976. 

80.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  21  November  1977. 


81.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  18  November  1980. 

82.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  11  August  1980. 

83.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  18  November  1980. 

84.  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  18 
September  1980. 

85.  Faculty  to  Bailey  C.  Smith, 
reprinted  in  Meredith,  Winter  1981,  23. 

86.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  20  January  1977. 

87.  Information  Please  Almanac  Atlas 
and  Yearbook  1995,  836. 

88.  Report  of  the  President  i9j6-j-j,  68. 

89.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  19  January  1976. 

90.  Caroline  Vaught  McCall,  "Angels 
Come  and  Go,"  M.  Writes  Home,  Septem- 
ber 1989. 

91.  World  Almanac  1997,  507. 

92.  Meredith,  Spring  1979,  26. 

93.  "Campbell's  Legacy  to  Others," 
News  &  Observer,  reprinted  in  Twig,  i 
September  1977. 

94.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  14  April  1980. 

95.  Burris,  "Treasure  in  Earthen  Ves- 
sels," Meredith,  Fall  1976,  3. 

CHAPTER  5 

1 .  Susan  Gilbert,  Ann  Kurtz,  William 
Ledford,  Dorothy  Preston,  Evelyn  Sim- 
mons, interview,  "The  India  Aspect," 
Meredith,  Winter  1983,  2-7. 

2.  Ibid. 

3.  Ibid. 

4.  "Indian  Ambassador  Visits  the  Cam- 
pus," Meredith,  Spring  1983,  25. 

5.  Lyn  Aubrecht,  "D.C.  Sabbatical," 
Meredith,  Winter  1983,  8-10. 

6.  Minutes,  executive  committee.  Board 
of  Trustees,  17  March  198 1. 

7.  Minutes,  faculty,  2  October  198 1. 

8.  William  Shakespeare,  Hamlet,  III,  i, 
142. 

9.  Betty  Webb,  tribute  to  Norma  Rose, 
26  April,  1996. 

10.  Lisa  Sorrels,  "Samson  Surprised  by 
Shower,"  Twig,  1  March  1982. 

11.  Allen  Burris,  "The  Academic  Side," 
Meredith,  Fall  1982,  3-5. 

12.  Report  of  the  President  198^-84,  28. 

13.  Minutes,  executive  committee 
Board  of  Trustees,  12  October  1981. 


360     I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   5 


14.  Meredith,  Winter  1982,  17. 

15.  Kelly  Efirt,  "Department  Given 
New  Residence,"  Twig,  20  September  1982. 

16.  Linda  Sellers,  "Frazier  Discusses 
Advantages  of  New  Building,"  Twig,  1 3 
September  1982. 

17.  Sellers,  "St.  Mary's  Makes  Dona- 
tion," Twig,  18  November  198 1. 

18.  Marion  D.  Lark,  "From  the  Inside 
Out,"  Meredith,  Winter  1981,  13-17. 

19.  Weems,  remarks,  Jones  Chapel  ded- 
ication, September  24,  1982. 

20.  Duke  McCall,  dedicatory  address, 
Jones  Chapel,  September  24,  1982,  quoted 
in  Meredith,  Fall  1982,  15. 

21.  Sellers,  "New  Pipe  Organ  High- 
lights Chapel,"  Twig,  28  March  1983. 

22.  Donald  C.  Samson  to  editor.  Twig, 
28  January  1981. 

23.  Samson  to  editor.  Twig,  29  April 
1981. 

24.  Joe  Baker,  "Acting  on  Change," 
Meredith,  Fall  1982,  9-10. 

25.  Ibid. 

26.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  15  February  1982. 

27.  "Ellen  Ironside  on  Pulling  It  All  To- 
gether," Meredith,  Spring  1988,  4-8. 

28.  Ibid. 

29.  Anne  C.  Dahle,  "Continuing  Edu- 
cation, a  Way  Out  for  Lillie  Lawson- 
Jones,"  Meredith,  Fall  1983,  6-7. 

30.  Ibid. 

31.  Ibid. 

32.  Ibid. 

33.  Meredith,  Spring  1983,  1-2. 

34.  Ibid. 

35.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  in. 

36.  Minutes,  faculty,  19  November  1982. 

37.  Meredith,  Spring  1983,  1-2. 

38.  Ibid. 

39.  Ibid. 

40.  Weems  to  Academic  Council,  2  Oc- 
tober 1982. 

41.  Meredith,  Spring  1983,  1-2. 

42.  Ibid. 

43.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  25  Feb- 
ruary 1983. 

44.  Burris,  "The  Academic  Side," 
Meredith,  Fall  1982,  3-5. 

45.  President's  Message,  1983,  1-26. 

46.  Report  of  the  President  1983-84,  113. 

47.  Jill  Kibler,  "Students  Experience  an 
Unforgettable  Summer,"  Twig,  2  September 


48.  Melody  West,  "Meredith  Abroad 
Provides  Fun  Summer,"  Twig,  13  Septem- 
ber 1982. 

49.  Conversation  with  Reginald  Shi- 
flett,  18  April  1994. 

50.  Meredith,  Fall  1972,  17. 

51.  Ibid. 

52.  Advertisement,  North  Carolina 
Symphony. 

53.  Kellie  Farlow,  "NCSU  Not  All  That 
Bad,"  guest  editorial,  Twig,  22  February 
1982. 

54.  Report  of  the  President  1981-82. 

55.  Ann  Stringfield,  "Rev.  R.G.  Puckett 
Speaks  on  Moral  Majority,"  Twig,  23  Sep- 
tember 198 1. 

56.  Lisa  Sorrels,  "Mullins  to  Speak  on 
Nuclear  Power,"  Twig,  22  February  1982. 

57.  Meredith,  Summer  1982,  12-13. 

58.  Twig,  28  January  1981. 

59.  Report  of  the  President  1981- 

1982,  ID. 

60.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  25  Feb- 
ruary 1983. 

61.  Report  of  the  President  1983- 
1984,  36. 

62.  Ibid.,  102. 

63.  Ibid.,  36. 

64.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  14  February  1983. 

65.  Minutes,  faculty,  17  August  1983. 

66.  Melody  West,  "SGA  Signs  Peti- 
tion," Twig,  9  December  198 1. 

67.  Editorial,  "Library  or  Shrine?" 
Twig,  1 6  September  1 9  8 1 . 

68.  President's  Message,  1983,  1-26. 

69.  Edward  Hughes  Pruden,  "From  a 
Pulpit  in  Washington,"  Alumnae  Magazine, 
Spring  1974,  12-13,  39- 

70.  "Dangerous  Dispute,"  Christian 
Century,  7-14  January  198 1,  8. 

71.  A.  Stringfield,  "Puckett  Speaks  on 
Moral  Majority,"  Twig,  23  September  198 1. 

72.  A.  Stringfield,  "M.  Students  Greet 
Returning  Hostages,"  Twig,  4  February 
1981. 

73.  Emily  Craig,  "Success  for  M.Girls 
in  WQDR  Contest,"  Twig,  1 5  February 
1982. 

74.  Kathleen  McKeel,  "A  Date  with 
Carlyle?"  Twig,  4  November  198 1. 

75.  Twig,  25  January  1982. 

76.  Twig,  26  April  1982. 

77.  Twig,  22  February  1982. 

78.  Britt,  Images,  62. 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  7     I     361 


CHAPTER  6 

1.  Boyarsky,  Ronald  Reagan:  His  Life 
and  Rise  to  the  Presidency,  195. 

2.  Schaller,  Reckoning  with  Reagan, 
America  and  Its  President  in  the  i()8os,  36. 

3.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  10  May 
1983. 

4.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  13  Sep- 
tember 1983. 

5.  Ibid. 

6.  "Professor  Emerita  Mary  Lynch 
Johnson  Dies,"  Meredith,  Spring  1984,  i. 

7.  "'Odyssey'  Set  for  Spring  1985," 
Meredith,  Spring  1984,  i. 

8.  Report  of  the  President  1984-198^, 
i6z. 

9.  Conversation  with  Mary  Johnson, 
8  February  1994. 

ID.  Twig,  I  April  1985. 

11.  Report  of  the  President 
1984-198^,  18. 

12.  M.C.  Undergraduate  Catalogue, 
1996-97,47. 

13.  Catalogue  1899-1900,  Baptist  Fe- 
male University,  4  5 . 

14.  Twig,  7  October  1985. 

15.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  28  Sep- 
tember 1984. 

16.  Graduate  Program  Analysis  and 
Evaluation,  February  1985,  2. 

17.  Ibid.,  30. 

18.  Report  of  the  President  1984- 
198s,  54. 

19.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  22  Feb- 
ruary 1985. 

20.  Jennifer  Bruffey,  "M.C.  Democrats 
Coming  on  Strong,"  Twig,  9  September  1985. 

21.  Twig,  23  September  1985. 

22.  Beth  Blankenship,  "Is  Buckling  Up 
Better?"  Twig,  11  October  1985. 

23.  Cynthia  Church,  "'Big  Brother' 
System  Cuts  Students  Off  from  the  World," 
Twig,  2  September  1985. 

24.  Blankenship,  "Give  Me  Privacy  or 
Give  Me  No  Phone,"  Twig,  2  September 
1985. 

25.  Report  of  the  President  1984-8^, 
183. 

26.  Report  of  the  President 
1983-1984,  185. 

27.  Ibid.,  167. 

28.  Jenny  Beavers,  "Shaken  by  Di- 
vorce?" Twig,  18  March  1985. 

29.  Carolyn  Carter,  address,  junior 
class  ring  dinner,  16  November  1995. 


30.  Annette  Gregory,  Twig,  17  Novem- 
ber 1977. 

31.  Meredith  Herald,  i  November  1995. 

32.  Emily  Pool  Aumiller  to  editor, 
Meredith,  Winter  1985,  cover  2. 

33.  Amos  Bronson  Alcott,  "The 
Teacher,"  Orphic  Sayings  [1840]. 

34.  Phyllis  Trible,  tribute  to  Ralph  E. 
McLain,  30  August  1977. 

35.  Meredith,  Winter  1989. 

36.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  335. 

37.  Declaration  of  Independence,  4  July 
1776. 

38.  Report  of  the  President  1984- 

1985,9- 

39.  Raleigh  Times,  16  November  1984. 

40.  Meredith,  Fall  1982,  18. 

41.  Laura  W.  ITarrill  to  select  alumnae, 
reprinted  in  Meredith,  Winter  1984,  27. 

42.  "Dorothy  Gillespie  Brings  Her 
Sculpture  to  M."  Meredith,  Winter  1984,  5. 

43.  Ibid. 

44.  Report  of  the  President  1984- 
1985,  9. 

45.  Cathy  Manning,  "Problems  Arise 
vv^ith  Art  Building,"  Twig,  7  October  1985. 

46.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  22  Feb- 
ruary 1985. 

47.  Minutes,  faculty  affairs  committee, 
22  February  1985. 

48.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  8  Feb- 
ruary 1983. 

49.  Linda  Cheek,  "Calendar  to  Feature 
State  Men,"  Twig,  26  September  1983. 

50.  Ibid. 

51.  Susan  Harris,  "Bear  Spotted  on  M. 
Campus,"  Twig,  25  November  1985. 

52.  Ibid. 

53.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  12  August  1985. 

54.  Raleigh  Times,  December  1985. 

55.  Biblical  Recorder,  21  December  1985. 

56.  Meredith,  Summer  1986,  32. 

57.  Jenny  West,  "On  Tour!  The  M. 
Chorale,"  Twig,  11  November  1985. 

58.  Report  of  the  President 
1984-1995,  15. 

59.  Report  of  the  President 
1983-1984,  175-76. 

60.  Ibid. 

CHAPTER  7 

I.  Anne  Saker,  "A  Female  Minister's  30- 
Year  Path  of  Righteousness,"  News  &  Ob- 
server (Raleigh),  8  August  1994. 


36z     I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER 


2.  Ibid. 

3.  Ibid. 

4.  Ibid. 

5.  Randall  Lolley,  "Last  at  the  Cross — 
First  at  the  Tomb,"  convocation  address, 
Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary, 
published  in  Biblical  Recorder,  1 5  Septem- 
ber 1984,  3. 

6.  Ibid.  8. 

7.  Minutes,  executive  committee,  Board 
of  Trustees,  15  April  1985. 

8.  Minutes,  executive  committee.  Board 
of  Trustees,  18  November  1985. 

9.  Ibid. 

10.  Weems,  A  Matter  of  Importance, 
15  September  1986,  2. 

11.  Ibid.,  5. 

12.  Ibid.,  9-10. 

13.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  26  Sep- 
tember 1986. 

14.  Ibid. 

15.  Weems,  transcribed  telephone  con- 
versation with  Bernice  Sandler,  3 1  October 
1985. 

16.  Renee  Keever,  "Special  Report: 
Trustees  Vote  Women  Only  in  Graduate 
programs,"  Meredith,  Summer  1986,  1-5. 

17.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  18  November  1986. 

18.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  28  February  1986. 

19.  Keever,  "Special  Report,"  Meredith, 
Summer  1986,  1-5. 

20.  Betsy  Short,  "Demonstration  Ex- 
presses Student,  Faculty,  Alumnae  Discon- 
tent," M.  Herald,  15  March  1986. 

21.  Page  Leist,  "Grad  Studies  Depart- 
ment Heads  Comment  on  Admittance  of 
Males  Issue,"  M.  Herald,  22  March  1986. 

22.  Ibid. 

23.  Ibid. 

24.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  14  April  1986. 

25.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  12  May  1986. 

CHAPTER  8 

1.  New  York  Public  Library  Desk  Ref- 
erence, 1989,  s.v.  "Important  Dates  in 
American  History,"  738. 

2.  M.  Herald,  7  November  1986. 

3.  Annual  Report,  1988,  35. 

4.  Thomas  Moore,  "Oh,  Call  It  by 
Some  Better  Name,"  Ballads  and  Songs,  i. 

5.  Renee  Keever,  "Jimmy  Carter  Comes 


to  M.:  A  Day  to  Remember,"  Meredith, 
Fall  1986,  6. 

6.  Ibid.,  5. 

7.  Jimmy  Carter,  press  conference,  11 
September  1986,  Casette  A,  4.1.6,  Carlyle 
Campbell  Library. 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  Ibid. 
ID.  Ibid. 

11.  Keever,  "Jimmy  Carter  Comes  to 
M.,"  Meredith,  Fall  1986,  2,  4. 

12.  Lewis  Grizzard,  "Carter's  the  Guy 
to  Disconnect  Falwell's  Hotline  to 
Heaven,"  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  28 
September  1986. 

13.  Linda  Sellers,  editorial,  "But  Where 
Are  the  People?"  Twig,  27  September  1982. 

14.  Ibid. 

15.  Cynthia  Church,  editorial,  "Re- 
sources Available  but  Worship  Services  De- 
nied," M.  Herald,  28  February  1986. 

16.  Twig,  2  February  1978. 

17.  Maggie  Odell  to  editor.  Twig,  23 
February  1978. 

18.  Sonya  Ammons,  editorial,  "Newspa- 
per Title  Evaluated,"  Twig,  25  March  1981. 

19.  Mary  Beth  Smith  to  editor,  Twig, 
23  February  1978. 

20.  Church,  editorial,  "When  the 
Growing  Gets  Tough,  the  Tough  Get 
Growing,"  Twig,  25  November  1985. 

21.  Ibid. 

22.  Beth  Blankenship,  "Change!",  edi- 
torial. Twig,  25  November  1985. 

23.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  17  November  1986. 

24.  "Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center  Begins 
to  Take  Shape,"  Meredith,  Summer  1986,  42. 

25.  Jo  Hodges,  "Gaddy-Hamrick  Hosts 
First  Art  Show,"  M.  Herald,  20  April  1987. 

26.  Ibid. 

27.  Amber  Burris,  "M.'s  First  Lady,"  M. 
Herald,  16  October  1987. 

28.  Meredith,  Winter  1988,  14. 

29.  Keever,  "A  Center  for  Women  in 
Art,"  Meredith,  Fall  1987. 

30.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  10  August  1987. 

31.  Conversation  with  LaRose  Spooner, 
13  December  1993. 

32.  Meredith,  Spring  1988,  21. 

33.  Ibid. 

34.  Minutes,  faculty,  18  August  1987. 

35.  "Ellen  Ironside  on  Pulling  It  All  To- 
gether," Meredith,  Spring  1988,  5. 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER  9      I     363 


36.  Annual  Report  1988,  58-59, 

37.  Meredith,  Spring  1988,  14-15. 

38.  Annual  Report  1988,  35. 

39.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  23  September  1988. 

40.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  14  September  1987. 

41.  Conversation  with  Gwendolyn 
Clay,  18  April  1994. 

4Z.  Anne  Pugh,  "A  Social  Perspective," 
Meredith,  Summer  1988,  5. 

43.  Undergraduate  Catalogue 
1993-94,  6z. 

44.  Ibid. 

45.  Annual  Report,  September  1987,  60. 

46.  Undergraduate  Catalogue 

1994-9J,  57- 

47.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  18 
January  1988. 

48.  Annual  Report  1988,  33. 

49.  Catalogue  1899 -1900,  BFU,  45. 

50.  Conversation  with  Donald  Span- 
ton,  13  April  1994. 

51.  Ibid. 

52.  Conversation  with  Allen  Page,  24 
January  1994. 

53.  Becky  Butts,  "New  Foreign  Lan- 
guages Head  Hopes  to  Revitalize  Program, 
M.  Herald,  4  December  1987. 

54.  Conversation  with  Burgunde  Winz, 
13  April  1994. 

5  5 .  Conversation  with  Virginia  Knight, 
21  April  1994. 

56.  Ibid. 

57.  Annual  Report,  September  1987,  64. 

58.  President's  Message  1986. 

59.  M.  Herald,  13  September  1988. 

60.  Cara  Lynn  Croom,  "Opening  Con- 
vocation Begins  New  Year  with  a  Bang," 
M.  Herald,  7  September  1988. 

61.  Meredith,  Winter  1988,  19. 

62.  Meredith,  Winter  1989,  7. 

63.  Conversation  with  Burgunde  Winz, 
13  April  1994. 

64.  American  Association  of  University 
Professors,  Southeastern  Baptist  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  press  release,  22  October 
1987. 

65.  Minutes,  faculty,  called  meeting,  30 
October  1987. 

66.  President's  Message,  15  September 
1986,  8-9. 

67.  Minutes,  faculty,  20  February  1987. 

68.  Minutes,  finance  committee.  Board 
of  Trustees,  25  September  1987. 


69.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  16  November  1987. 

70.  Ibid. 

71.  Meredith,  Summer  1988,  7. 

72.  Ibid. 

73.  Ibid. 

74.  Annual  Report,  1986,  147-48. 

75.  Ibid.,  151. 

76.  Annual  Report,  1988,  159. 

77.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  10  February  1986. 

78.  Kim  Allen,  "  'Bee  Hive'  Becomes 
Ode  to  Senior  Class,"  M.  Herald,  14  April 
1986. 

79.  Meredith,  Winter  1988,  16-17. 

80.  Ibid. 

81.  Ibid.,  23. 

82.  "Fall  Courses  Focus  on  the  Consti- 
tution, Meredith,  Winter  1988,  3. 

83.  M.L.Johnson,  History,  135. 

84.  Casey  Bass,  "New  Image  for  Stunt," 
M.  Herald,  23  January  1987. 

85.  Annual  Report,  September  1987,  85. 

86.  Angle  Stroud,  "Meredith  Receives 
Prestigious  Award,"  M.  Herald,  4  Decem- 
ber 1987. 

87.  "Tarheel  of  the  Week,"  News  & 
Observer  (Raleigh),  December  1987. 

88.  Meredith,  Spring  1988,  8. 

89.  Susan  Worley,  "Holocaust  Com- 
memoration in  Jones,"  M.  Herald,  8  No- 
vember 1988,  6. 

90.  Carol  Brooks,  "Margaret  Person 
Currin:  From  Meredith  Graduate  to  U.S. 
Attorney,"  M.  Herald,  i  April  1988. 

91.  U.S.  News  &  World  Report,  10  Oc- 
tober 1988,  C20. 

92.  Ibid. 

93.  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  30 
October  1988. 

94.  Meredith,  Winter  1989. 

95.  Ibid. 

CHAPTER  9 

1.  Report  of  the  President's  Task  Force 
for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence,  January 
1989,  42. 

2.  Ibid.  3. 

3.  Ibid. 

4.  Ibid.,  6-7. 

5.  Meredith,  Winter  1989,  3. 

6.  "Egbert  Davis  Presents  Gift  of  Cere- 
monial Mace,"  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  18. 

7.  Ibid. 

8.  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  18. 


364     I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   lO 


9.  Conversation  with  Gwendolyn  Clay, 
18  April  1994. 

10.  Conversation  with  Louise  Taylor, 
iz  April  1994. 

11.  Jeannine  Manning,  "Meredith  Stu- 
dents Stage  Sit-in  in  Support,"  M.  Herald, 
2.-J  February  1990. 

12.  Ibid. 

13.  Ibid. 

14.  Annual  Report,  Student  Develop- 
ment, 1990,  112-13. 

15.  Susan  Gilbert  to  editor,  M.  Herald, 
2.-J  February  1990. 

16.  President's  Message,  August  1990,  29. 

17.  Ibid. 

18.  Annual  Report,  Student  Develop- 
ment, August  1990,  120. 

19.  Annual  Report,  Administrative  Af- 
fairs, 1989,  28. 

20.  Report  of  the  Task  Force  for  the 
Pursuit  of  Excellence,  1 1 . 

21.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, September  1990,  65. 

22.  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  15. 

23.  Meredith,  Spring  1979,  24. 

24.  Allen  Burris  to  personnel  commit- 
tee, Board  of  Trustees,  6  January  1989. 

25.  President's  Message,  August  1990,  3. 

26.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  Septem- 
ber 1990,  22. 

27.  Meredith  Herald,  3  April  1990. 

28.  Ibid. 

29.  Meredith,  Winter  1989,  7. 

30.  Ibid. 

31.  "Briefing,"  Jane  Goodall  Institute, 
as  reprinted  in  Meredith,  Fall  1990,  2. 

32.  Carolyn  Robinson,  "'Gombe  30': 
an  Anniversary,"  Meredith,  Fall  1990,  3. 

33.  Meredith,  Fall  1990,  8. 

34.  Ibid. 

35.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  Septem- 
ber 1990,  38-39. 

36.  Carol  Sessoms,  "Publications  Board 
Explains  Plan  for  Academic  Credit,"  M. 
Herald,  5  December  1989. 

37.  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  20. 

38.  Report  of  the  President's  Task 
Force  for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence,  1 1 . 

39.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1990,  70. 

40.  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  25. 

41.  Annual  Report,  Student  Develop- 
ment, 1989, 144. 

42.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1989,  100. 


43.  Meredith,  Winter  1990,  22-23. 

44.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1989,  105. 

45.  Weems,  Christian  Dimensions,  Sep- 
tember 1989. 

46.  Annual  Report,  Student  Develop- 
ment, 1994-95,  6. 

47.  Janie  Mullis,  "IHOM=International 
House  of  M.,  M.  Herald,  27  August  1990. 

48.  Krista  Holloman,  "Inaugural  Week- 
end for  College  Republicans,"  M.  Herald, 
31  January  1989. 

49.  Kym  Spell,  "A  Class  of  Champi- 
ons," M.  Herald,  i  October  1990. 

50.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  1989, 
40. 

51.  M.  Herald,  13  February  1990. 

52.  Report  of  the  President's  Task 
Force  for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence,  11. 

53.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  3  March  1989. 

54.  Annual  Report,  1990,  41. 

55.  Annual  Report,  Student  Develop- 
ment, 1990,  132. 

56.  Annual  Report,  1990,  11. 

57.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  1989,  49. 

58.  Annual  Report,  1990,  11. 

59.  Student  Handbook  1996-97,  63. 

60.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  1990,  32. 

61.  Marlea  Doane,  "Meredith  Recy- 
cling Efforts  Reported,"  M.  Herald,  13 
February  1990. 

62.  Annual  Report,  Academics,  1990,  37. 

63.  Ibid.,  39. 

64.  Annual  Report,  1990,  27-28. 

65.  Ibid. 

66.  Jayne  Potter,  "Accreditation  Team 
Evaluates  College,"  M.  Herald,  5  Decem- 
ber 1989. 

67.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  28  November  1989. 

68.  Report  of  the  President's  Task 
Force  for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence,  23. 

CHAPTER  10 

1.  Carolyn  C.  Robinson,  "Diary  of  a 
Decision,  Meredith  and  North  Carolina 
Baptists,"  Meredith,  Spring  1991,  9. 

2.  Ibid. 

3.  Ibid. 

4.  Ibid. 

5.  Ibid. 

6.  Gerald  Johnson,  "Meredith:  a  'Gone 
Gosling,'"  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh), 
October  1944. 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   II      I     365 


7.  Weems,  Founders'  Day  remarks,  25 
February  1996. 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  Robinson,  "Diary,"  Meredith,  Spring 

1991,9- 

10.  Ibid. 

11.  Eugene  Watterson  to  John  Weems, 
21  February  199 1. 

12.  Weems,  Founders'  Day  remarks, 
1996. 

13.  Ibid. 

14.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustee,  22  Feb- 
ruary 199 1. 

15.  Addendum,  Minutes,  Board  of 
Trustees,  22  February  199 1. 

16.  Robinson,  "Diary,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1991,  10. 

17.  Ibid.,  II. 

18.  Meredith,  Spring  1991,  cover  2. 

19.  Ibid. 

20.  Ibid. 

21.  Ibid. 

22.  "Meredith  Out  of  the  Fray,"  editor- 
ial. News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  26  Febru- 
ary 199 1. 

23. Ibid. 

24.  Weems,  Founders'  Day  remarks, 
1996. 

25.  Jean  Jackson,  Founders'  Day  re- 
marks, 1992,  reprinted  in  Meredith,  Spring 
199Z,  3. 

26.  Ruth  Schmidt,  as  printed  in  Mered- 
ith, Spring  1992,  9. 

27.  Britt,  Images,  126. 

28.  Jackson,  "Pilgrimage  to  a  New 
Century,"  Meredith,  Spring  1992,  11. 

29.  Ibid. 

30.  Ibid. 

31.  Ibid. 

32.  Meredith,  Spring  199 1,  20. 

33.  Ibid. 

34.  Britt,  "The  Fine  Art  of  Print  Mak- 
ing," Meredith,  Winter  1991,  3. 

35.  Jackson,  "Pilgrimage,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1992,  II. 

36.  Ibid. 

37.  President's  Message,  1991. 

38.  Jessica  Cook,  "White  Iris  Consid- 
ered a  'Big  Time'  by  Students,  M.  Herald, 
20  November  199 1. 

39.  Britt,  "The  Centennial's  Essential 
Quintessential  Woman,"  Meredith,  Spring 
1982,  4. 

40.  Ibid. 

41.  Britt,  Images, X. 


42.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  10  February  1992. 

43.  Jackson,  "Pilgrimage,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1992,  13. 

44.  Ibid. 

45.  Biblical  Recorder  (Quotation  from 
editor,  i8oo's). 

CHAPTER  II 

I.  Rebecca  Murray,  "What  Shall  I 
Make  of  Myself?  A  Glimpse  into  the  Lives 
of  the  Immortal  Ten,"  manuscript,  1994,  4, 
M.  archives.. 

z.  Ibid.  23-27. 

3.  Ibid.,  15-16. 

4.  Ibid.,  28-29. 

5.  Hebrews  12:1-2  KJV 

6.  The  One  Volume  Bible  Commentary, 
J.R.  Dummelow,  Ed.,  1028. 

7.  President's  Message,  1992,  15-16. 

8.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  27  Feb- 
ruary 199 1. 

9.  Meredith,  Winter  1992,  25. 
ID.  Conversation  with  Bernard 

Cochran,  12  April  1994. 

II.  Conversation  with  Marie  Cham- 
blee,  20  April  1994. 

12.  Ibid. 

13.  Ibid. 

14.  Anne  Pugh,  "Trouble  in  Georgia," 
Meredith,  Spring  1993,  10. 

15.  M.  Herald,  25  March  1991. 

16.  President's  Message,  1991,  68. 

17.  Minutes,  faculty,  13  August  1991. 

18.  Meredith,  Spring  1993,  9. 

19.  Ibid. 

20.  Ibid. 

21.  Meredith,  Fall  1992,  11-12. 

22.  Minutes,  faculty,  4  March  1993. 

23.  Robinson,  "Political  Climate  Fore- 
cast: Warm  and  Partly  Women,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1993,  17-22. 

24.  Ibid.,  17 

25.  Ibid. 

26.  Ibid.,  18. 

27.  Ibid.,  21. 

28.  Ibid.,  19. 

29.  Ibid.,  20. 

30.  Ibid.,  21. 

31.  Ibid,  22. 

32.  Sandra  Thomas,  "Having  a  Ball 
at  the  President's  Inaugural,"  Meredith, 
Spring  1993,  23-24. 

33.  Ibid. 

34.  Ibid. 


3  66     I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER    12 


35.  Kelly  Phillips,  Beth  Lowry,  "Point/ 
Counterpoint,"  M.  Herald,  21  October 
199Z. 

36.  Ibid. 

37.  Traci  Latta  and  Tracy  Rawls, 
"Hillary  Clinton  Stresses  the  College  Stu- 
dent Vote,"  M.  Herald,  30  September  1992. 

38.  The  New  York  Times  1998  Al- 
manac, John  W.  Wright,  Ed.,  s.v.  U.S. 
Hisory,  79. 

39.  Angels  Aware,  Fall  1990. 

40.  President's  Message,  1993,  i. 

41.  Ibid. 

42.  Ibid.,  21. 

43.  Ibid. 

44.  Karen  Howell,  "Meredith  Co-Spon- 
sors Event  to  Encourage  Women  in  Math," 
M.  Herald,  10  February  1993,  6. 

45.  Ibid. 

46.  Meredith,  Fall  1992,  15-16. 

47.  Meredith,  Winter  1993,  3. 

48.  Weems,  "Endangered  Species," 
Meredith,  Summer  1993,  3. 

49.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  25  Sep- 
tember 1993. 

50.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  23  November  1992. 

51.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  8  February  1993. 

52.  Ibid. 

53.  Ibid. 

54.  Ibid. 

55.  Juha  Haskett  with  Cynthia  Ed- 
wards, "Gulf  War  Support  Services,"  M. 
Herald,  18  February  1991. 

56.  Julie  Smith,  "Chinese  Reps  to  Visit 
M.,"  M.  Herald,  23  September  1992. 

57.  President's  Message,  1991,  43. 

58.  "Meredith  Announces  New  Christ- 
ian Lectureship,"  News  Release,  26  March 
1992. 

59.  President's  Message,  1991,  21. 

60.  Ibid.,  21. 

61.  President's  Message,  1991,  21. 

62.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  10  De- 
cember 1 99 1. 

63.  Ibid. 

64.  Sonali  Kolhatkar,  "Council  Makes 
Decision  on  Cornhuskin'  Issue,"  M. 
Herald,  21  October  1992. 

65.  Amity  Brown,  "Cornhuskin' 
Launched  by  Record  Attendance  at  Bon- 
fire," M.  Herald,  4  November  1992. 

66.  Brown,  "New  Dimension  Added  to 
Cornhuskin',"  M.  Herald,  4  November  1992. 


67.  Brown,  editorial,  M.  Herald,  11 
November  1992. 

68.  M.  Herald,  22  April  1991. 

69.  Oak  Leaves  1993,  38. 

70.  Janie  Mullis,  "ARA  Services  Become 
Good  Samaritan,"  M.  Herald,  8  April  1991. 

71.  Ibid. 

72.  M.  Herald,  14  January  1991. 

73.  President's  Message,  199 1,  77. 

74.  M.  Herald,  16  September  1993. 

75.  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,  "Locksley 
Hall." 

76.  Meredith,  Fall  1992,  12. 

77.  Child  Care  for  the  Meredith  College 
Campus:  A  Comprehensive  Report,  April 
1987. 

78.  President's  Message,  August  199 1, 

53-54- 

79.  Meredith,  Fall  1992,  12. 

80.  President's  Message,  1993,  16. 

8 1 .  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  13  April  1992. 

82.  Minutes,  faculty,  2  October  1992. 

83.  Rawls,  "SGA  To  Sponsor  Faculty 
Appreciation  Day,"  M.  Herald,  10  Febru- 
ary 1993. 

84.  M.  Herald,  8  September  1993. 

CHAPTER  12 

1 .  Anne  Pugh,  "At  Home  With  Com- 
puters," Meredith,  Fall  1993,  16. 

2.  Ibid. 

3.  Ibid.,  14-15. 

4.  Ibid,  15. 

5.  Ibid. 

6.  Ibid. 

7.  Ibid. 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  President's  Message,  1993,  13. 
ID.  Meredith,  Winter  1993,  i. 

11.  M.  Herald,  15  November  1995- 

12.  "M.  Goes  Plastic:  Introducing  .  .  . 
CamCard,"  Meredith,  Winter  1993,  4. 

1 3 .  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  14  November  1994. 

14.  Ibid. 

15.  Traci  Latta,  "The  Star  of  the  Scene: 
Ben  Vereen,"  Meredith,  Spring  1994,  13. 

16.  Meredith,  Spring  1994,  5. 

17.  Ibid.,  6. 

18.  D.H.  Johnson,  "From  Classroom  to 
Boardroom,"  Meredith,  Spring  1994,  12. 

19.  Robinson,  "Laura  Harrill:  Philan- 
thropist Cum  Laude,"  Meredith,  Fall  i994> 
9- 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   1 3      I      367 


zo.  Ibid, 
zi.  Ibid. 

22.  D.H.  Johnson,  "The  Winning  Cam- 
paign," Meredith,  Fall  1994,  14. 

23.  Meredith,  Summer  1994,  i. 

24.  D.H.  Johnson,  "The  Winning  Cam- 
paign," Meredith,  Fall  1994,  14. 

25.  Meredith,  Fall  1992,  12. 

26.  Chuck  Twardy,  "The  Cost  of  the 
Triumph  of  Tradition,"  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  6  March  1994. 

27.  Ibid. 

28.  President's  Message,  1994,  8. 

29.  Jeannie  Morelock,  "Special  Notice 
to  the  Meredith  Community,"  10  January 
1994. 

30.  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  24  September  1993. 

3 1 .  Minutes,  executive  committee, 
Board  of  Trustees,  11  April  1994. 

32.  Ibid. 

3  3 .  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  22  August  1994. 

34.  President's  Message,  1995. 

35.  Meredith,  Spring  1980,  30. 

3  6.  Conversation  with  Rebecca  Bailey, 
25  April  1994. 

37.  Lou  S.  Liverman,  "M.  VP  Chosen 
to  Lead  Converse  College,  Meredith, 
Spring  1994,  17. 

38.  M.  Herald,  13  April  1994. 

39.  Meredith,  Fall  1994,  4. 

40.  Christina  Peoples,  "Newf  VP  for 
Student  Development  Steps  Up  to  Bat,"  M. 
Herald,  25  August  1994. 

41.  New  York  Times  Almanac,  John  W. 
Wright,  Ed.,  81. 

42.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  22  August  1994. 

43.  Jessica  Cook,  editorial,  M.  Herald, 
II  November  1991. 

44.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  23  Feb- 
ruary 1994. 

45.  Weems  to  trustees,  25  August  1994. 

46.  Ibid. 

47.  Elizabeth  Rihani,  "Youth  Today," 
M.  Herald,  3  November  1993. 

48.  D.H.  Johnson,  "From  Classroom  to 
Boardroom,"  Meredith,  Spring  1994, 


CHAPTER  13 

1.  Meredith,  Winter  1991,  19. 

2.  Topor  and  Volkmann,  Marketing 
Higher  Education,  foreword. 


3.  Robinson,  "To  Market,  To  Market 
..."  Meredith,  Summer  1992,  2. 

4.  Ibid.,  4. 

5 .  Weems  to  faculty  and  staff,  7  Febru- 
ary 1995. 

6.  Weems  to  department  heads,  3 1  Jan- 
uary 1995. 

7.  Weems  to  department  heads,  3  Feb- 
ruary 1995. 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  Biblical  Recorder,  18  February  1995,  i. 
ID.  Weems  to  department  heads,  14 

February  1995. 

11.  Weems  to  students,  14  February 

1995- 

12.  Nina  I.  McClellan  to  editor,  News 
&  Observer  (Raleigh),  February  1995. 

1 3 .  Cynthia  Griffith  McEnery  to  editor, 
M.  Herald,  15  February  1995. 

14.  Alumnae  Association  executive 
committee  to  Board  of  Trustees,  24  Febru- 
ary 1995. 

15.  Minutes,  called  meeting,  executive 
committee,  Board  of  Trustees,  1 3  March 

1995- 

16.  Minutes,  executive  committee. 
Board  of  Trustees,  21  August  1995. 

17.  Minutes,  called  meeting  (executive 
session),  executive  committee.  Board  of 
Trustees,  22  September  1995. 

18.  President's  Message,  1995,  5. 

19.  Jerod  Kratzer  and  Deborah  Smith 
to  faculty,  19  September  1995. 

20.  Minutes,  faculty,  6  October  1995. 

21.  LaRose  F.  Spooner  to  John  E. 
Weems,  report  of  enrollment  management 
team,  1993-94. 

22.  Sue  Kearney  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  23  February  1994. 

23.  Minutes,  faculty,  15  August  1995. 

24.  Debbi  Sykes,  "Enrollment  Jump 
Delights  Meredith,"  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  19  July 

1995,  lA. 

25.  Ibid.,  9A. 

26.  President's  Message,  1995,  28-29. 

27.  Meredith,  Spring  1995,  2-3. 

28.  Ibid. 

29.  Minutes,  Academic  Council,  i 
March  1983. 

30.  Attachment  to  minutes,  executive 
committee.  Board  of  Trustees,  1 1  Septem- 
ber 1995. 

31.  Carol  Swink,  "After  Five  Comes 
Alive,"  M.  Herald,  25  October  1995. 


368      I     NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   I4 


32.  Meredith,  Fall  1995,  6. 

33.  Weems,  "President's  Corner," 
Meredith,  Spring  1996,  3. 

34.  Ibid. 

35.  Meredith,  Spring  1995,  3. 

36.  Meredith,  Fall  1995,  5-6. 

37.  M.  Herald,  x6  April  1995. 

38.  Michael  Novak  to  M.  community, 
21  August  1995. 

39.  Ibid. 

40.  Meredith,  Fall  1995,  7. 

41.  Sara  Rimer,  "At  Harvard,  Lovers  of 
Beauty  Sing  a  Collective  Ode  to  Keats," 
New  York  Times,  11  September  1995. 

42.  Ibid. 

43.  Ibid. 

44.  Ibid. 

45.  Meredith,  Fall  1995,  7. 

46.  Ibid. 

47.  Ibid. 

48.  Kim  Highland,  "First  Year  Experi- 
ence Is  Destined  To  Be  a  Great  Hit,"  M. 
Herald,  30  August  1995. 

49.  D.H.  Johnson,  "The  New  Voice  of 
Experience,"  Meredith,  Spring  1995,  5. 

50.  President's  Message,  1995,  22. 

51.  Ibid. 

52.  John  Kincheloe,  "Science  Fiction?" 
Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library, 
Fall  1995. 

53.  President's  Message,  1995,  22. 

54.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  28  Feb- 
ruary 1992. 

55.  Shannon  Batts,  "MIA  Brings  Diver- 
sity to  Campus,"  M.  Herald,  25  October  95. 

56.  Anne  Pugh,  "A  Woman  of  Vision," 
Meredith,  Spring  1995,  6. 

57.  M.  Herald,  19  January  1994. 

58.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  22  Sep- 
tember 1995. 

59.  President's  Message,  1995,  31. 

60.  Ibid. 

61.  Biblical  Recorder,  26  November 

1994,  4- 

62.  Ibid. 

63.  Meredith,  Summer  1995,  2. 

64.  Christina  Peoples,  "Hull  Lecturer 
Brings  Message  of  Peace  to  Meredith,"  M. 
Herald,  5  April  1995. 

65.  Debbie  Doss,  "Communication  is 
Major  Mid-East  Problem,"  Twig,  5  Febru- 
ary 1976. 

66.  Ibid. 

67.  Facilities  services  department  to  fac- 
ulty and  staff,  2  August  1995. 


68.  M.  Herald,  15  November  1995. 

69.  Clarky  Lucas,  "Nooe  Expresses  Vi- 
sion for  Raleigh,"  M.  Herald,  1 3  Septem- 
ber 1995. 

70.  Donna  L.  Fowler-Merchant,  "The 
M.  Connection,"  Meredith,  Fall  1995, 
12-13. 

71.  Ibid.,  14. 

72.  Meredith,  Summer  1995,  i. 

73.  Minutes,  faculty,  16  February  1996. 

74.  David  Van  Biema,  Time,  22  August 
1994,  61. 

75.  Pat  Wingert,  "Oh,  To  Be  a  Knob!" 
Newsweek,  28  August  1995.  22. 

76.  Amy  Bernstein,  "  'Shannon 
Faulkner  Should  Have  Come  Here,' "  U.S. 
News  &  World  Report,  22  August  1994,  6. 

77.  Marc  Peyser,  "Sounding  Retreat," 
Newsweek,  28  August  1995,  38. 

78.  Traci  Latta,  editorial,  "Women  at 
the  Citadel,"  M.  Herald,  19  January  1994. 

79.  Wendy  Kelly,  editorial,  "Who's 
Laughing  Now?"  M.  Herald,  13  September 

1995- 

80.  Kimberly  Zucker,  "Meredith's  Cat 
Team's  Cat  Trap  Is  Missing,"  M.  Herald,  i 
February  1995. 

81.  Ibid. 

82.  Ibid. 

83.  Heather  Blake,  "Why  I  Chose 
Meredith  College,"  M.  College  Viewbook, 

1994-95,  li- 

84.  Betsy  L.  Cochrane,  "The  Circle  of 
Spirituality  and  Intellectual  Discovery," 
commencement  address,  Meredith,  Sum- 
mer 1995,  6-7. 

85.  "Fall  Commencement  Draws  Over- 
flow Crowd,"  Meredith,  Spring  1996,  4. 

86.  Suzanne  Britt,  "I'm  Nobody.  Who 
Are  You?"  commencement  address,  16  De- 
cember 1995. 

CHAPTER  14 

1.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  7. 

2.  Cynthia  Barnett,  "A  New  Degree  of 
Equality,"  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh),  11 
July  1997,  lA,  14A. 

3.  Ibid. 

4.  Ibid. 

5.  "Committed  to  the  Arts,"  Meredith, 
Fall  1997,  8-9. 

6.  Ibid. 

7.  Ibid. 

8.  Ibid. 

9.  Ibid. 


NOTES  TO   CHAPTER   14     I      369 


10.  Nutshell,  March  1997. 

11.  Anne  Pugh,  "Making  a  Difference," 
Meredith,  Summer  1997,  1-2. 

12.  Ibid. 

13.  Weems,  "M.  Creates  Award  Win- 
ning Math  Mentoring  Program,"  Initiative 
2000,  February  1996. 

14.  Ibid. 

15.  Mary  Sharpe,  "Angels  for  the  Envi- 
ronment," M.  Herald,  4  September  1996. 

16.  Meredith,  Spring  1997,  7. 

17.  Converse  Survey  Reports,  M.  Her- 
ald, 20  November  1996. 

18.  Clyde  Frazier,  "78%  of  Resident 
Students  Registered,"  M.  Herald,  23  Octo- 
ber 1996. 

19.  Frazier,  "Will  M.  Lead  the  Nation 
in  Voting?"  M.  Herald,  4  September  1996. 

20.  Carey  Gore,  "Frazier  96  in  '96  Vol- 
unteers Pleased  With  Voter  Turnout,"  M. 
Herald,  20  November  1996. 

21.  Ibid. 

22.  Frazier,  "M.  Challenged  to  Lead  the 
Nation  in  Elections,"  M.  Herald,  1 8  Sep- 
tember 1996. 

23.  Converse  Survey  Reports,  M.  Her- 
ald, 20  November  1996. 

24.  In  a  Nutshell,  March  1997. 

25.  Jeannie  Morelock,  "An  Interview 
With  President  John  E.  Weems  Regarding 
Recent  Actions  Taken  by  the  Meredith 
Board  of  Trustees,"  Meredith,  Spring  1997, 

3-4- 

26.  Biblical  Recorder,  2  August  1997. 

27.  Ibid. 

28.  Weems,  "New  Relationship  with 
Baptist  State  Convention,"  Meredith,  Fall 
1997,  25. 

29.  Meredith,  Spring  1998,  4. 

30.  Sue  Kearney,  "Challenges  to  Enroll- 
ment," Angels  Aware,  Spring  1996. 

31.  Annual  Report,  Marketing, 
1996-97. 

32.  Employee  Newsletter,  November 
1996. 

33.  LaRose  Spooner  to  Board  of 
Trustees,  9  May  1997. 

34.  "New  Fitness  Center  Named  After 
Alumna,"  Meredith,  Summer  1996,  6. 

35.  D.FI.  Johnson,  "The  Center  of  At- 
tention," Meredith,  Summer  1996,  6. 

36.  Ibid. 

37.  Nutshell,  September  1997. 

38.  D.H.  Johnson,  "The  Center  of  At- 
tention," Meredith,  Summer  1996,  6. 


39.  Ibid. 

40.  M.L.  Johnson,  History,  415. 

41.  Meredith,  Summer  1997,  9. 

42.  Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Li- 
brary, Spring  1998. 

43.  Employee  Newsletter,  October 
1996. 

44.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1996-97,  12. 

45.  Employee  Newsletter,  October  1996. 

46.  Meredith,  Fall  1996,  9. 

47.  Meredith,  Fall  1997,  14. 

48.  Ibid. 

49.  Conversation  with  Gwendolyn 
Clay,  28  May  1998. 

50.  Minutes,  faculty,  15  August  1996. 

51.  Rosemary  Hornak,  "Capstone 
Course  Development  Grants  Awarded," 
Nutshell,  February  1998. 

52.  Allen  Page,  "New  Majors,"  Nut- 
shell, April  1997. 

53.  M.  Herald,  30  October  1996. 

54.  Sharon  Cannon,  "New  Technology 
for  Disabled  Students,"  M.  Writes  Home, 
October  1997. 

55.  Courtney  Lancaster,  "Tour  the  M. 
Intranet — a  Great  Way  to  Communicate, 
Conserve  Paper  and  Stay  Informed,"  Nut- 
shell, September  1997. 

56.  Dina  DiMaio,  "Turn  to  Wake  Up 
M.  on  MCTV,"  M.  Herald,  5  February 
1997. 

57.  Addie  Tschamler,  "MCTV  Enter- 
tains and  Informs  with  'Wake  Up  Mered- 
ith,'" M.  Herald,  19  February  1997. 

58.  "Travel  Adventures  Sponsors  NYC 
Trip,"  Meredith,  Spring  1996. 

59.  Nutshell,  December  1997/January 
1998. 

60.  Continuing  Education  at  M.,  Fall 
1997. 

61.  Continuing  Education  at  M.,  Spring 
1998. 

62.  Ibid. 

63.  Charles  Taylor,  "Initiative  2000 
Sets  Sights  on  Long-Range  Plans," 
Nm^s/;^//,  June/July  1997. 

64.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1996-97. 

65.  Emily  Fulghum,  "After  Ten  Years, 
Writing  Center  Improves  Options,"  M. 
Herald,  19  February  1997. 

66.  Nan  Miller,  "The  Learning  Center: 
One  Stop  Shopping  for  Academic  Success," 
M.  Writes  Home,  October  1997. 


370     I     NOTES  TO   EPILOGUE 


67.  Ibid. 

68.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees  14  Feb- 
ruary 1997. 

69.  Annual  Report,  Business  and  Fi- 
nance, 1996-97. 

70.  Charles  Taylor  to  John  Weems,  1 1 
February  1997. 

71.  M.  Herald,  18  February  1998. 

72.  "M.  Announces  new  Scholarships 
and  Gifts,"  Meredith,  Spring  1998,  4. 

73.  Nutshell,  April  1997. 

74.  Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  23  Feb- 
ruary 1996. 

75.  Ibid. 

76.  Ibid. 

77.  Brandi  Bettis,  interview  with  Jean 
Jackson  and  Erica  Balmer,  "Extension  of 
Open  House  Visitation  Policy:  A  Discus- 
sion," M.Writes  Home,  September  1996. 

78.  Erica  Balmer,  "N.C.  SGA  Presidents 
Meet  with  Governor,"  Nutshell,  February 
1997. 

79.  Betsy  Stewart,  "Good  Idea  Turns 
Into  a  Major  Art  Show,"  M.  Herald,  6  De- 
cember 1995. 

80.  Louise  Taylor,  "Searching  for 
Hugh:  The  M.  Connection,"  Founders' 
Day  address,  23  February  1998. 

81.  D.H.  Johnson,  "Lost  in  the  Rain 
Forest,"  Meredith,  Spring  1996,  7. 

82.  Kat  Allen,  "Dr.  Wade  Davis  Deliv- 
ers Honors  Convocation,"  M.  Herald,  i 
October  1997. 

83.  Beth  Hall,  "Visiting  Lecturer  Doug 
Adams  Connects  Religion  and  Art,"  M. 
Herald,  i  October  1997. 

84.  Wendy  Kelly,  "Tennis  Team  Re- 
ceives National  Ranking,"  M.  Herald,  7 
February  1996. 

85.  Weems,  M.  Athletic  Programs  Boast 
National  Rankings,"  Initiative  2000,  Feb- 
ruary 1996. 

86.  M.  Herald,  30  October  1996. 

87.  D.H.  Johnson,  "Operation  Toy 
Box,"  Meredith,  Fall  1997,  1-2. 

88.  Pugh,  "Continuity  and  Change," 
Meredith,  Spring  1997,  5. 

89.  Nicole  Brodeur,  "Her  Bald  Head's 
No  Island,"  News  &  Observer  (Raleigh), 
19  September  1997,  iD. 

90.  Ted  Waller,  "Australian  Journey," 


Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library, 
Fall  1997. 

91.  Meredith,  Fall  1997,  10. 

92.  Meredith,  Summer  1996,  6. 

93.  Weems,  "M.  Outsources  Bookstore 
Management,"  Initiative  2000,  February 
1996. 

94.  M.  Herald,  6  November  1996. 

95.  Taylor,  "Initiative  2000  Review 
Team  Appointed,"  Nutshell,  April/May 
1998. 

<^6.  Taylor,  "Initiative  2000  Sets  Sights 
on  Long-Range  Plan,"  Nutshell,  June/July 
1997. 

97.  Matthew  Eisley,  "Legendary  Profes- 
sor at  Meredith  Dies,"  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  7  April  1996,  15. 

98.  Taylor,  "The  Loss  of  a  Friend," 
Meredith,  Summer  1997,  25. 

^9.  Steve  Swindell,  "Collision  South  of 
Louisburg  Kills  Two,"  News  &  Observer 
(Raleigh),  17  November  1997,  iB,  5B. 

100.  Ibid. 

loi.  Nutshell,  March  1998. 

102.  Ibid. 

103.  Ibid. 

104.  Biblical  Recorder  (Raleigh),  19 
July  1997,  6. 

105.  Jennifer  Lynch,  "Allen  Burris: 
Making  Plans  to  Say  Good-bye,"  Nutshell, 
November  1996. 

106.  Pugh,  "Continuity  and  Change," 
Meredith,  Spring  1997,  5. 

107.  Lynch,  "Allen  Burris,"  Nutshell, 
November  1996. 

108.  Burris,  "My  Surprise  Party,"  Nut- 
shell, ]und]u\y  1997. 

109.  "The  Legacy  of  Our  President," 
Meredith,  Spring  1998,  2. 

no.  Ibid. 

111.  Conversation  with  Sue  R.  Todd, 
II  June  1998. 

112.  Pugh,  "A  New  Face  on  Campus," 
Meredith,  Summer  1997,  4. 

113.  William  Butler  Yeats,  "Easter 
1916." 

EPILOGUE 

1.  William  Shakespeare,  The  Tempest, 
II,  i,  261. 

2.  Buttrick,  Parables  of  Jesus,  23. 


WORKS   CONSULTED 


ADDRESSES 

Campbell,  Carlyle.  "The  Idea  of  Community."  Address  to  the  Meredith  College  student 
body,  date  unknown,  Campbell  papers. 

Carter,  Carolyn.  Address  to  Junior  Class,  i6  November  1995. 

Carter,  Jimmy.  "America:  A  Champion  of  Peace?"  Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lecture,  Mered- 
ith College,  II  September  1986. 

Lolly,  Randall.  "Last  at  the' Cross-First  at  the  Tomb."  Convocation  address.  Southeastern 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary.  Published  in  Biblical  Recorder,  150,  no.  32,  15  Septem- 
ber 1984:  3. 

Taylor,  Louise.  "Searching  for  Hugh:  the  Meredith  Connection."  Founders'  Day  address, 
23  February  1998. 

Wallace,  Carolyn  A.  Untitled  address.  Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library,  5  May 
1977. 

Weems,  John  E.  "Upheld  by  the  Affections  of  a  Great  People."  Inaugural  Address, 

Raleigh,  N.C.,  September  22,  1972.  Published  in  the  Alumnae  Magazine,  26,  no.  4  (Fall 
1972):  13-17,41. 

.  Address  to  the  North  Carolina  General  Assembly  in  support  of  Equal  Rights 

Amendment. 

ARCHIVAL  RECORDS 

Annual  Reports,  1972-97. 

Cooper,  Jean  Batten.  An  Oral  History  of  Meredith  College  Alumnae.  Master's  thesis. 

Wake  Forest  University,  1989. 
In-house  correspondence,  1971-98. 

Lemmon,  Sarah.  Conversations  with  Jonathan  Lindsey.  Taped  in  1982. 
Message  of  the  President  1972-97. 
Minutes,  Academic  Council,  1972-98 
Minutes,  Board  of  Trustees,  1971-98. 

Minutes,  Executive  Committee,  Board  of  Trustees,  1972-98. 
Minutes,  Faculty  Meetings,  1971-98. 
Minutes,  Select  Faculty  Committees,  1985-97. 

371 


372.     I     WORKS   CONSULTED 

Murray,  Rebecca.  What  Shall  I  Make  of  Myself?  A  Glimpse  into  the  Lives  of  the  Immor- 
tal Ten,  manuscript,  1994. 
Strategic  Planning  Documents,  1974-97. 

ARTICLES,  LETTERS,  PERIODICALS 

Bedon,  Helen.  Letter  to  the  President  of  Meredith  College.  12  April  1970. 

Biblical  Recorder.  Select  issues,  1971-98. 

"Dangerous  Dispute."  The  Christian  Century  (Chicago)  XCVIII,  no.  i  (7-14  January 

1981):  8. 
News  &  Observer  (Raleigh).  Select  issues,  1944-98. 
Paper  Trail.  Collection  of  papers  regarding  Meredith's  relationship  with  the  Baptist  State 

Convention  of  North  Carolina,  August  1993. 
Report  of  the  President's  Task  Force  for  the  Pursuit  of  Excellence,  1989 
Stringfield,  Oliver  L.  Letter  to  John  E.  Weems,  i  October,  1972.. 
Raleigh  Times  (Raleigh).  Select  issues,  1971 
Rimer,  Sara.  "At  Harvard,  Lovers  of  Beauty  Sing  a  Collective  Ode  to  Keats."  New  York 

Times  (New  York),  11  September  1995. 
Wall,  James  M.,  editorial.  "Carter  and  the  Religion  Factor."  Christian  Century  (Chicago), 

(31  August-7  September  1977):  739-40. 
Watterson,  Eugene.  Letter  to  John  E.  Weems,  21  February  1991. 

BOOKS 

Boyarsky,  Bill.  Ronald  Reagan:  His  Life  and  Rise  to  the  Presidency.  New  York:  Random 

House,  198 1. 
Britt,  Suzanne.  Images:  A  Centennial  journey.  Raleigh:  Meredith  College  Press,  1991. 
Buttrick,  George  A.  The  Parables  of  Jesus.  New  York:  Harper  and  Brothers,  1928. 
Johnson,  Mary  Lynch.  A  History  of  Meredith  College,  Second  Edition.  Raleigh:  Edwards 

and  Broughton,  1972. 
Schaller,  Michael.  Reconing  with  Reagan,  America  and  Its  President  in  the  1980s.  New 

York,  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press,  1992. 
Topor,  Robert,  and  M.  Frederic  Volkmann,  Marketing  Higher  Education.  Washington: 

Council  for  the  Support  and  Advancement  of  Education,  19 83. 

COLLEGE  PUBLICATIONS 

Alumnae  Magazine. Vols.  23  (1968)- 29  (1975). 

Angels  Aware  (Alumnae  Newsletter). 

Announcements,  1899-1900.  Baptist  Female  University. 

Continuing  Education  at  Meredith. 

Friends  of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Library. 

Meredith  (College  Magazine).  Vols,  i  (1976)- 22  (1998). 

Meredith  Writes  Home  (Parents'  Newsletter). 

In  a  Nutshell  (Employees'  Newsletter).  1996-98. 

Initiative  zooo. 

Student  Handbook,  1971-1997. 

Undergraduate  Catalogues.  1971-1997. 

Viewbook.  1992-95. 

INTERVIEWS 

Academic  department  heads 

Administrators 

Select  administrative  staff  members 

Select  alumnae 

Select  trustees 


WORKS  CONSULTED     I     373 

REFERENCE  WORKS 

Katherine  Inez  Hall  v  Wake  County  Board  of  Elections.  No.  37.  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina.  15  March  1972.  South  Eastern  Reporter  187,  North  Carolina  ed.  St.  Paul, 
Minn.:  West  Publishing  Company,  1972.. 

New  York  Times  1998  Almanac,  John  W.  Wright,  ed.  New  York:  The  Penguin  Group,  1997. 

One  Volume  Bible  Commentary,  J.R.  Dummelow,  ed.  New  York:  The  McMillan  Com- 
pany, 1958. 

STUDENT  PUBLICATIONS 

Meredith  Herald,  1985-98. 
Oak  Leaves,  -L9J-L-9J. 
Twig,  1971-85. 


INDEX 


Abbate,  Jodi,  321 

ABB  Corporation,  249 

Abbott,  Sidney,  47-48 

Academic  computing,  153,  180,  257 

Academic  Council,  31,  49,  53,  56,  75,  90, 
119,  175,  176,  250,  266,  267,  282 

Academic  freedom,  4,  5,  48,  145,  157, 
182-83,  218-22 

Academic  support  services,  332 

Accreditation,  49,  214-15,  266 

Acorn,  168,  204 

Adams,  Doug,  338-39 

Adcock,  Betty,  147,  326 

Admissions  office,  52-53 

Adult  education,  see  Continuing  education; 
Re-entry  program 

Advertising,  see  Recruitment  and 
marketing 

Affronti,  Cynthia,  298 

African- American  students,  13,  33-34, 
57-59,  302;  see  also  Minority  students 

Agnes  Scott  College,  222 

AIDS,  4,  184 

Alcott,  Amos  Bronson,  145 

Alexander,  Shana,  48 

Alford,  Jeanie,  17 

Alice  in  Wonderland,  97,  231,  256,  272 

ALIS  (Automated  Library  Information  Sys- 
tem), 256-57 

Allen,  Barbara,  218,  230 

Allen,  Kim,  166,  185-86 

Aim,  Doug,  342 

Alpha  Lambda  Delta,  204 

Alpha  Mu  Gamma,  284 

Alumna  Award,  25,  227,  260,  269 


Alumnae  Association,  23,  121,  180,  192, 
193,  205,  227,  237-38,  238,  244, 
260,  269 

executive  committee,  279 
Alumnae  College,  227 
Alumnae  Day,  25,  193 
Alumnae  Legacy  Day,  316 
Alumnae  Magazine,  9-10,  14,  17,  26,  49, 

67,  98,  130;  see  also  Meredith 
Alumnae  Re-entry  Club  (ARC),  117 
Alumnae  Seminar,  23 
Alumnae  Weekend,  227,  318 
American  Association  of  University 

Women,  307 
American  Bar  Association,  116,  204,  266 
American  Dietetic  Association,  120,  287 
American  University,  3  o 
Ammons,  Jo  Ellen  Williams,  309 
Amnions,  Sonya,  167 
Anderson,  Brenda  Faye,  189,  209 
Angel  Farm,  101-102,  iii 
Angels  Aware,  244 
Angels  for  the  Environment,  308 
Animal  laboratory,  48 
Annual  Women's  Colleges  of  the  Southeast 

Art  Exhibition,  337 
Anti-Semitism,  99-100,  189 
Apartheid  in  South  Africa,  4,  183-84 
Applause,  61,  66-67 
ARA  Food  Services,  251-52,  254,  344 
ARAMARK  Corporation,  344 
Architectural  and  Transportation  Barriers 

Compliance  Board,  1 8 
Art  center,  see  Gaddy-Hamrick  Art 

Center 


375 


376 


INDEX 


Art  Department,  109 

Ashcraft,  Hugh,  159 

Ashcraft,  Morris,  182 

Askew,  Rebecca,  194 

Associated  Press,  45 

Association  of  American  Colleges,  3  5 

Association  of  Black  Awareness,  302 

Association  of  Women  in  Mathematics, 

244 
Astrotekton  Society,  97-98 
Aubrecht,  Lyn,  48,  88,  91,  107,  118,  203 
Augustine  College,  89 
Auman,  Becky,  141 
Aumiller,  Emily  Pool,  144 
Autistic  children,  program  for,  283 
Avent,  Lon,  349,  350 
Averett  College,  267 

Bachelor  of  Arts  degree,  1 20 
Bachelor  of  Music  degree,  27,  298 
Bachelor  of  Science  degree,  12,  44,  45, 

120,  284,  326 
Bailey,  Cheryl,  132 
Bailey,  Rebecca,  267-68 
Baity,  Hazel,  17 
Baker,  James,  242 
Baker,  Joe,  10,  11,  14-15,  19,  35,  46,  63, 

64,  80,  87,  89,  108,  no,  III,  114,  115, 

146,  148,  171,  179 
Bakker,  Jim,  125 
Balla,  Ruth,  180,  257,  342 
Balmer,  Erica,  336 
Bamford,  Linda,  17,  66 
Baptist  Female  University: 

chartering  of,  301 

first  catalogue  of,  301,  302-303, 
311,  314,  325,  330,  331,  332, 

334-35,336-37 
renaming  of,  22,  234,  301 

Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Car- 
olina, 5,  98-99,  214,  221,  279,  312-14 

Barbee,  Christie  Bishop,  189,  227 

Barefoot,  C.  C,  21,  22 

Barefoot,  Kilty,  21,  22 

Barefoot  Residence  Hall,  21,  22,  62,  108 

Barham,  Charles,  158,  159,  180-81,  184, 
218, 323 

Barlow,  Jill,  251 

Barnes,  Elizabeth,  158 

Barnes,  John,  125 

Barnes,  Vanessa  Goodman,  346 

Barnett,  Cynthia,  303 

Barrington,  Carolyn,  78 

Barron's  Best  Buys  in  College  Education, 
2-45,  2.59 

Bartlett,  Tim,  342 

Bate,  Walter  Jackson,  285 

Bathtub  Ring,  The,  59 

Baylor  University,  1 3 

Beam,  Mary  Ann,  342 

Beattie,  Kristie,  97 

Bedon,  Helen  Davie,  26 

Bee  Hive,  185-86,  317 


Begin,  Menachem,  4 

Belk,  Ellen,  209 

Belk  Dining  Hall,  87,  92,  254,  275 

Bell,  Peggy  Kirk,  147 

Bell,  Victor,  60 

Bennett  College,  303 

Benson,  Margaret  "Peggy"  P.,  238 

Bentsen,  Lloyd,  162 

Berger,  Vickie,  228 

Bergman,  Jane,  125 

Berlin  Wall,  fall  of,  4 

Berry,  Frank,  296 

Best  Small  College  Legislation  Award,  66 

Biblical  Recorder,  125,  130,  151,  217, 
232,  2.J6-JJ,  291,  300,  312 

Bicentennial  celebrations,  3,  70-72 

Bird,  Ronald,  137,  160 

Birkin,  Vergean,  349 

Black,  James,  307n 

Black  Awareness  Week,  57 

Black  Emphasis  Week,  48,  142 

Black  Student  Unity,  33-34 

Black  Voices  in  Unity,  57-59 

Blackwell,  Patricia,  297 

Blake,  Heather,  297-98 

Blankenship,  Beth,  142,  168 

Blasingame,  James  Carter,  309,  322-23 

Bleiberg,  Rabbi  James,  189 

Board  of  Associates,  260 

Board  of  Trustees,  3,  5,  11-12,  42,  48, 
92-93,  96,  9S-99,  100,  108,  no, 
119,  120,  140,  149,  158,  160,  185, 
191,  205,  210-11,  218-20,  221, 
239,  253,  260,  263,  265,  271, 
279-80,  322,  332,  335-36,  345, 

35^ 

drug  policy,  3  2 

elections,  56-57,  84,  311-13 

Emeritus,  323-24 

executive  committee,  10,  11,  21,  86, 
loo-ioi,  157,  159,  161,  210-11, 
215,  218,  231,  246,  279,  294,  323, 

351 
Initiative  2000  and,  346 
investments  in  South  Africa,  184-85 
original,  323 
presidential  selection  committee,  10, 

19,353  ,   ,   ^       , 

task  force  to  prepare  Meredith  for  the 

2ist  century,  279,  280 
women  on  the,  194-95,  294-95 

Bombeck,  Erma,  226-27 

Booker,  Louise,  104 

Boone,  Laura,  327 

Bosnia,  292 

Bowling,  Cynthia,  212,  328 

Bowman  Gray  School  of  Medicine,  126, 
138 

Boyarsky,  Bill,  134 

Boyce,  Eugene,  218 

Boyles,  Harlan,  125 

Bradshaw,  Thomas  W,  Jr.,  36,  37 

Branching  Out,  208 


INDEX 


377 


Brenau  College  Women's  Concert  Choir, 

74 

Brewer,  Charles  Edward,  319 

Brewer,  Judge  Coy,  31-32. 

Brewer,  Ellen,  104,  114,  254,  286 

Brewer,  Luther,  158 

Brewer,  Talcott,  254 

Brewer  House,  Ellen,  253 

Brewer  Infant  and  Toddler  Lab  Home, 
Ellen,  253 

Brewer  Residence  Hall,  46,  186 

Bright,  Bill,  125 

Bright  Gallery  of  Class  Dolls,  Margaret,  26 

Brisson,  Carson,  194,  251 

Britt,  David,  159,  218 

Britt,  Madra,  283,  329 

Britt,  Suzanne,  39,  133,  223,  228,  231, 
298,  326 

Broadwell,  W.  J.,  10 

Brodeur,  Nicole,  342 

Brooks,  Bob,  346 

Brooks,  Carol,  189-90,  209 

Brooks,  Gwendolyn,  126 

Bross,  Cynthia,  188,  290 

Broughton,  Lorna  Bell,  60 

Browde,  Joseph,  51-52 

Brown,  Amity,  250-51 

Brown,  Lori,  327 

Brown,  Yvette,  5  8 

Brown  Foundation,  135 

Broyhill,  Faye  Arnold,  36,  37,  353 

Broyhill  Family  Foundation,  259 

Broyhill  Leadership  Institute,  259,  288, 
304 

Bryan,  Anne,  65,  226 

Bryan,  Bob,  253 

Bryan,  Julia,  71,  89,  90 

Bryn  Mawr  College,  40 

Buchanan,  Madaline  Elliott,  82 

Budget  deficit,  national,  4 

Bullington,  Ellen,  24 

Bunn,  Clara,  30,  41,  56,  118,  161 

Burke,  Anne,  229 

Burlein,  Ann,  3  27 

Burnett,  Phyllis,  72 

Burris,  Craven  Allen,  15,  24,  28,  36,  37, 
50.  53.  55.  56,  58,  64,  6s,  70,  75, 
77,  91,  105,  118,  119,  121,  127, 
138,  149,  153,  163,  176,  179,  186, 
200,  201,  235,  239,  247,  282,  298, 

32-7,  330,  341-42. 

as  acting  president,  10 -11,  19 

retirement  of,  349  —  50 

sabbatical  leave,  343,  349-50 
Burris,  Jane,  350 
Burroughs-Wellcome,  249 
Burton,  Mary  Jean,  36 
Bush,  Barbara,  209 

Bush,  George,  162,  209,  210,  241,  243,  246 
Business  and  Economics  Department,  120, 

153,  176-77,  180,  237,  286 
Buttrick,  George,  2,  6 
Bynum,  Flora  Ann  Lee,  227 


Byrd,  Jane  Sparrow,  252 
Byrns,  Nancy,  132 

Cablevision  of  Raleigh,  211-12,  252, 

284-85 
Cal  Tech,  173 
CamCard,  257-58,  290 
Cameron,  C.  Cliff,  9,  10,  19,  37,  84 
Campbell,  Carlyle,  11,  18,  20,  37,  65,  104, 

105,  32.3 
Campbell,  Melinda,  339 
Campbell  University,  145,  221,  267 
Cam-Tel,  212 
Cannon,  Sharon,  288,  327 
Capel,  Marie,  17,  55,  91,  179,  180 
Capital  Associates,  244 
Capital  City  Semester,  50 
Capstone  courses,  175,  200,  327 
Career  Day,  91 
Career  Networking  Day,  287 
Career  services,  253,  269,  281,  287 
Carl,  Bill,  181 

Carlton,  Najla  Nave,  237-38 
Carlyle  Campbell  Library,  11,  17,  52, 
64,  94-96,  132,  189,  212, 
319-20,  343 

ALIS  (Automated  Library  Information 
System),  256-57 

Friends  of  the  Library,  95-96,  226,  347 

Harris  Rare  Books  Room,  65 
Carolinas  Chapter  American  Society  of 

Interior  Designers  (CCASID),  326 
Carnegie  Foundation,  14 
Carney,  Megan,  294 
Carothers,  Rev.  Samuel  B.,  137,  143,  166, 

240,  251, 294 
Carroll,  Amanda,  214 
Carroll,  Lewis,  97 
Carroll  Annex,  209,  289 
Carroll  Health  Center,  289 
Carswell,  Clara,  56 
Carswell  Concert  Hall,  Clara,  83 
Carter,  Carolyn,  36,  37,  143-44,  220, 

250,  279 
Carter,  Jimmy,  4,  18,  69,  70,  72,  80, 

102-103,  131,  163-66,  224 
Carter,  Virginia,  126 
Carver,  Andrea,  340 
Castel,  Nico,  202 
Gate,  Frances,  60 
Gate,  Kemp  S.,  60,  104 
Gate  Center,  27,  55,  60,  62,  291,  316,  317 
Gates,  Fred,  21 
Celebration  of  Spring,  24n 
Centennial  celebration,  Meredith,  212, 

216-32 
Center  for  Communications,  Microelec- 
tronic Center  of  North  Carolina 

(MCNC),  257 
Center  for  Women  in  the  Arts,  171, 

304-305 
Cerebral  Palsy  Center,  98 
Challenger  shuttle  accident,  162 


378 


INDEX 


Chamblee,  Marie,  237,  339 
Chapel,  see  Jones  Chapel 
Chapel  Talks  by  Carlyle  Campbell,  347 
Charter  of  Meredith  College,  5,  221 
Chemistry  and  Physical  Science  Depart- 
ment, 30 
Chemistry  research  center,  145-46 
Chernenko,  Constantin,  4 
Chernobyl  nuclear  accident,  162 
Chicago  Tribune,  341 
Chisholm,  Shirley,  3,  23 
Chorale,  see  Vocal  ensembles 
Chorus,  see  Vocal  ensembles 
Chowan  College,  221 
Christian,  Chandy,  194 
Christian  Century,  69-70,  130 
Christian  Dimensions,  208 
Christman,  Ed,  22 

Chronicle  of  Higher  Education,  42,  121 
Church,  Cynthia,  142,  166,  168 
Citadel,  295-96 
Class  Day,  26,  188 
Class  of  1902,  86,  233-34,  2.38,  304 
Class  of  1907,  65 
Class  of  1927,  260 
Class  of  1928,  85 
Class  of  1972,  25 
Class  of  1975,  56 
Class  of  1983,  108 
Class  of  1985,  137 
Class  of  1986,  173,  186 
Class  of  1991,  174,  227 
Class  of  1993,  233n 
Class  of  1997,  143,  317 
Clay,  Gwendolyn,  174,  195,  200,  279, 

280,325,353 
Clinton,  Bill,  240-41,  242,  243,  292,  293, 

310-11 
Clinton,  Hillary  Rodham,  243,  272 
Close,  Sandra,  267,  329 
Cochran,  Bernard,  17,  24,  135,  165,  200, 

236,  277,  326 
Cochrane,  Betsy  Lane,  222,  241,  298 
Cockman,  Billie  Jo  Kennedy,  194 
Colby,  Robin  Bailey,  318 
Cold  War,  4 

Colwell-Waber,  Alyson,  202 
Comeaux,  Jacques,  349 
Commencement,  26-27,  48,  194,  215, 

226,  298 
Commentaries,  74 
Community,  181,  184,  213,  283 

service  in  the,  33-34,  248-49 
Computers,  5,  28,  31,  63,  126-27,  153, 
180,  249,  252,  253,  257,  265,  327 

laboratories,  180 
Conkling,  Kelly,  346 
Connors,  M.  Austin,  17 
Constitution,  U.S.,  200th  anniversary  of, 

186-88 
Continuing  education,  3,  28-29,  45, 
49,  52--53»  78,  9I5  92.-93,  "6, 
140,  172.-74,  2.13,  244,  248,  304 


Meredith  After5,  267,  282-83,  284, 
329 
Continuing  Education  at  Meredith,  3  29 
Converse  College,  229,  268,  295,  304,  326, 

337 
Convocation  attendance  requirement, 

46-47 
Cook,  Jessica,  269 
Cooper,  Jean  Batten,  7n,  227,  269, 

294-95 
Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges,  17-18,  56, 

88-89,  107,  12.4,  125,  181-82,  188, 

284,313,314 
Cooperative  education,  91,  92 

see  also  Cooperating  Raleigh  Colleges 
Cope,  Tom,  229 
Corn,  Jennifer,  184 
Cornejo,  Jose,  266 
Cornhuskin',  16,  57,  97,  210,  250 
Council,  Frances  Tatum,  309 
Council,  Marjorie  Moore,  13 
Council  for  the  Advancement  and  Support 

of  Education  (CASE),  198 
Council  on  Social  Work  Education,  13,  49, 

126 
Covey,  Stephen,  244,  288 
Cox,  Lesley,  239-40 
Craig,  Amy,  3  27 
Cralle,  Ruth,  98 
Creagh,  John,  223 
Creative  Ideas  Fund,  340-41 
Crews,  Nancy,  17,  24 
Crook,  Roger,  10,  29,  53,  89,  90,  91,  177, 

179, 228 
Crook  hunt,  188 
Croom,  Cara  Lynn,  180,  184 
Cross,  Eugenia  Sealey,  29 
Crouch,  W.  Perry,  3  6 
Cruze,  Sidney  L.,  287 
Cultural  Resources  Management,  116 
Curriculum: 

changes  in  the,  30-31,  75-78, 
92-93,  116,  120,  126-27,  136, 
138,  175-76,  204,  284,  286-87, 
326,  327 

Writing  Across  the  Curriculum,  136 
Currin,  Margaret  Person,  190,  226 
Curtis,  Jane  Cromley,  44 

Dahle,  Anne  Clark,  28-29,  52,  92, 

117-18,  222,  267 
Dahle  Scholarship,  Anne  C,  117 
Dance,  66-67,  136,  2.02,  230-31,  237, 

290 
Dance  Exchange,  230-31 
Dance  Theatre,  202 
Daniell,  Helen,  27-28 
Data  General  Corporation,  127 
Daughtry,  Michele,  239 
Davis,  Eleanor  Layfield,  194 
Davidson  and  Jones,  in,  148 
Davis,  Addie,  155-56 
Davis,  Charles,  78,  149,  194 


INDEX     I     379 


Davis,  Egbert  L.,  194 

Davis,  Elva  Wall,  147 

Davis,  Mary,  104 

Davis,  Wade,  338 

Davis  Foundation,  Arthur  Vining,  52 

Deane,  Charles  B.,  Jr.,  41 

Deese,  Jane,  5Z 

Delta  Mu  Delta,  120,  125 

Dickey,  Mark,  254 

Dickinson,  Emily,  74 

Dickson,  Mary,  184 

Dicus,  Martha,  226 

Dicus,  Mary  Woodley  "Woody,"  46 

DiMaio,  Dina,  328 

Dinner  With  Our  Friends,  96 

Directory  of  Volunteer  Opportunities, 

33-34 

Disney  Studios,  Walt,  198 

Dixon,  Delia,  323 

Dodge,  Michael,  52,  94 

Dole,  Bob,  72,  310 

Dole,  Robin,  310 

Dolls,  Margaret  Bright  Gallery  of  Class,  26 

Dongbei  University  of  Finance  and  Eco- 
nomics, 200,  247 

Dotterer,  Elizabeth  James,  10,  195,  347 

Dotterer,  John,  347 

Drach,  Jan,  132 

Drew,  Jessica,  294 

Drugs,  32-33,  59,  184 

Duckworth,  Betty,  65 

Duffy,  Sharon,  290 

Dukakis,  Michael,  162 

Duke  University,  119,  120,  127,  129 
-University  of  North  Carolina 
Women's  Studies  Center,  136 

Duncan,  Jenny,  327 

Duncil,  Courtney,  328 

Dunn,  Johanna,  92 

Dunston,  Harry,  104 

DuPont  Foundation,  115,  249,  327 

DuPont  Religious,  Charitable,  and  Educa- 
tional Fund,  Jessie  Ball,  125,  153-54, 
200,  230 

East  Carolina  University,  i97n 

Eastern  Europe,  emancipation  of,  4 

Eberly,  Harry,  261,  353 

Eberly,  Marion,  261 

Eberly  Faculty  Development  Awards, 

Harry  and  Marion,  261 
Edge,  Debbie,  66 
Edgerton,  Clyde,  145 
Edinger,  Lois,  238 

Editorial  Projects  for  Education,  Inc.,  14 
Education  Department,  77,  109,  137,  195, 

237,325 
Edwards,  Cynthia,  237,  339 
Edwards,  Jacquelyn,  186 
Eisele,  Elizabeth,  223 
Elion,  Gertrude,  204,  306-307 
Elks,  Renee,  1 3 
Elliott,  Annie,  202 


Elliott,  Gay,  216 

Elliott,  Kristen,  290 

Elon  College,  291 

Emerging  Leaders  Seminar,  259-60 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  7 

Employment,  academic  credit  for  career- 
related,  55 

Encyclopedia  of  American  Facts  and 
Dates,  13-14 

Endowments,  13,  25,  35-36,  96,  115, 
174,  248,  291,  308-309,  333,  351 
professorships  and  Chairs,  26,  50, 

135-36,  153,  199,  2.38 
Second  Century  Challenge  capital 

campaign,  214,  230,  240,  261-62 
Visions  Program,  82,  121,  300 

Energy  crisis,  national,  45-46,  80 

English  Department,  109,  120,  128-29, 
195,  285,  326 

Enrollment,  10,  22-23,  43?  S^-?  64,  79, 
108,  120,  139,  140,  155,  190,  197, 

245,  263,  275,  280-81,  314-15 
diversity  of  students,  302 

Equal  Rights  Amendment,  3,  40-41,  129, 

131,  187,  243 
Equitation,  28,  60,  201 
Etheridge,  Bob,  224 
Eubanks,  Kristy,  346 
Evangelicals,  70 
Evans,  CoUyn,  337 
Evans,  Johnny,  294 
Ewell,  Sam,  353 

Faculty,  109,  149,  176-80,  195,  220, 
236-37,  261,  267-68,  270-71, 
276-77,  285-86,  310,  32.4-2-5> 

343 
compensation,  14-15,  96,  no,  198, 

246,  332 
diversity  of,  302 

with  doctorates,  10,  14-15,  51,  no, 
199-200,  266,  323 

lifelong  learning  program,  255 

original,  322-23 

sabbatical  leave  for,  see  Sabbatical 
leave  program 
Fairbank,  Doreen,  284 
Faircloth  Residence  Hall,  46,  186 
Falwell,  Jerry,  125,  165-66 
FAME  (Faculty  Applied  Meredith 
Endowment),  96,  227,  269 

Harrill  Presidential  Awards,  261 
Family  Life  Education  conference,  28 
Farlow,  Kellie,  1 24 
Farlow,  Kim,  72 
Farmer,  Margaret,  10 -11,  17 
Faulkner,  Shannon,  295-96 
Faw,  J.  C.  and  Patsy,  84 
Faw  Garden,  84 

Fayetteville  State  University,  288 
Feek,  Peter,  53 
Feminist  Movement,  2,  3,  15,  23-24,  44, 

67-68 


380     I     INDEX 


Feminine  Mystique,  The  (Friedan),  23 

Ferraro,  Geraldine,  3 

Ferrell,  Lucile  Withers,  65 

Fetzer,  Tom,  Z93 

FIDER  (Foundation  for  Interior  Design 

Education  Research),  266 
Financial  aid,  63,  154,  210,  211,  291, 

333-34 

default  rate,  334 

see  also  Scholarships 
Fine  arts  building,  60-62 
First  Citizens  Bank,  249 
First  Union  Bank,  249 
Fisher,  Ben  C,  36,  37 
Fitzgerald,  Rev.  F.  Sue,  216 
FitzSimons,  Linda,  317 
Fleetwood,  Mazie,  66 
Fletcher  Foundation,  A.  J.,  202,  230 
Fletcher  School  of  the  Performing  Arts, 

202 
Folger,  Gordon,  180,  280-81,  346 
Folger,  Kathleen,  160 
Follett  College  Stores,  Inc.,  317,  343 
Food  service,  251-52,  254,  344 
Forbes,  James  A.,  Jr.,  248 
Ford,  Gerald,  67,  72 
Ford,  Jack,  72 
Ford  Foundation,  14 
Foreign  Languages  Department,  77, 
136,  178,  324-25 

laboratory,  284 
Formy-Duval,  Kelly,  279 
Forrest,  Donna,  260 
Fortunes,  Susan,  321 
4znd  Street,  6j 
Founders'  Day,  22,  48,  83,  84,  137, 

222-23,  2-31,  2,34,  245 
Fow^ler,  Earl,  321 
Fowler,  Jane  Gate,  60 
Fowler-Merchant,  Donna,  294 
Franklin,  Bonnie,  141 
Frazier,  Clyde,  227,  310 
Frazier,  Lois,  112,  199,  237 
Freeman,  Janet,  222,  256,  343 
Freeman,  Katherine  Parker,  78 
Freeman,  L.  E.  M.,  78,  104 
Freeman,  Thomas  M.,  36,  37 
Freshman  Frolic,  339 
Friday,  William,  220,  351-52 
Friedan,  Betty,  23,  57 
Friedrich,  Kay,  179 
Fulghum,  Emily,  332 
Fundamentalism,  182-83 
Fundamentalists,  214,  218 
Fund-raising,  see  Endowments 

Gaddy,  Charles,  169,  288 

Gaddy,  Claude  F,  168 

Gaddy,  Mary  Lily  Duncan,  160,  169,  347 

Gaddy  family,  168,  169 

Gaddy-Hamrick  Art  Center,  148,  153, 

168-71 
Gaito,  Madalyn,  237 


Galligan,  Katalin,  27-28 

Gandhi,  Arun,  291-92 

Gandhi,  Indira,  67,  107 

Gantt,  Harvey,  310 

Gardner- Webb  University,  221,  290 

Garriss,  Phyllis,  235 

Gates,  Rosahe,  92,  107,  182 

Gay,  Ginger,  72 

GE  Capital  Mortgage,  249 

Gilbert,  Susan,  106-107,  nS,  197,  215, 

247 
Gillespie,  Dorothy,  147,  148 
Gioia,  Dana,  259 
Gleason,  Ann,  326 
Godfrey,  Menda  Sue,  98 
Goodale,  Beth,  340 
Goodall,  Jane,  202—204 
Goode,  Ellen,  346 
Goodman,  Vanessa,  58 
Goodson,  Ann,  17 

Goodwin,  Dorothy  Loftin,  26,  230,  309 
Goodwin,  Lorena  Gaddy,  169 
Goodwin,  William  S.,  230 
Googe,  Ann  Victoria,  13 
Gorbachev,  Mikhail,  4 
Grades,  53-54 

Graduate  studies,  49,  140,  152,  195, 
2-59,  2.74,  330 

naming  of  John  E.  Weems  Graduate 
School,  190,  191 

reestablishment  of,  4,  118-20 

Title  IX  and  all  women's,  158-61 
Grafton,  Martha  S.,  23-24 
Granddaughters'  Club,  223,  234-35 
Grant,  Carol,  18 
Greenberg,  Bluma  K.,  90,  147,  200,  222, 

329 
Greenburg,  Joanne,  259 
Greene,  Craig,  109,  148,  149,  169,  170, 

171,  228,  267 
Greene,  Jane,  17 

Greensboro  First  Baptist  Church,  25 
Gregory,  Annette,  144 
Grimes,  Larry,  261 
Grimmer,  Mae  Frances,  238 
Grizzard,  Lewis,  166 
Grubbs,  Carolyn  Barrington,  200,  222, 

267,  268,  284,  349 
Grubbs,  Frank,  54,  70,  78,  267-68,  349 
Gruber,  Heidi,  328 
Guillory,  Ferrel,  310 
Gulf  War,  246-47 
Gullick,  Jonathan,  180 
Gunter,  Paige,  209 
Guthrie,  Cookie,  46 
Guthrie,  Janet,  7474 

Habitat  for  Humanity,  240 
Hackett,  Thomas,  277 
Haley,  Alex,  142 
Hall,  Kathy,  31-32 
Hamby,  Teresa  Parker,  102 
Hamrick,  Fuller  B.,  168 


INDEX     I      381 


Hamrick  family,  168 

Hardison,  Thomas,  90 

Harper,  Jerry,  Sr.,  353 

Harrell,  Martha,  3 42 

Harrill,  Donna,  261 

Harrill,  James,  261 

Harrill,  Laura  Weatherspoon,  10,  64-65, 

96,  146-47,  159,  260-61,  309 
Harrill  Awards,  Laura,  96 
Harrill  Presidential  Award,  Laura,  269 
Harrill  Scholarship  Fund,  Laura  Weather- 
spoon,  261 
Harris,  Bernice  Kelly,  65 
Harris,  Helen,  347 
Harris,  Julia  Hamlet,  29-30,  96 
Harris,  Shearon,  8-9,  10,  62,  98,  104, 

105,  111,347 
Harris,  Stephanie  Helms,  343 
Harris  Business  Building,  111-12 
Harris  Classroom  Building,  Shearon, 

264-65 
Harris  Scholarships,  Julia  Hamlet,  29-30, 

139, 282 
Hartig,  Jennifer,  255 
Harwood,  Gina  Ledgetter,  260 
Hatchell,  Carl  "Sammy,"  210,  240,  261,  339 
Health,  Physical  Education,  and  Dance, 

Department  of,  136,  237,  327 
Heck,  Fannie  E.  S.,  320 
Hedgepeth,  Royster,  80,  81,  82 
Heide,  Wilma  Scott,  44 
Heilman,  E.  Bruce,  2,  7-10,  12,  37,  335 
Heilman  Residence  Flail,  12,  62,  264, 

321-22 
Heim,  Pat,  288 
Heining-Boynton,  David,  331 
Helms,  Jesse,  56-57,  141,  158 
Henderson,  Chip,  228,  231 
Henderson,  Melinda,  281 
Heritage  Society,  214,  230 
Hess,  Rev.  Margaret,  137 
Hill,  Anita,  243,  281-82 
Hill,  Eleanor,  16,  53 
Hilliard,  Gwyndolyn  Matthews,  1 3 
Hinsley,  Drulynn  Morgan,  143,  235,  343, 

347,  349 
Hinson,  Joyce,  342 
Hiott,  John,  154,  211,  238 
Hiott,  Marie,  131 
History  and  Politics  Department,  267,  310, 

324,  327 
History  of  Meredith  College,  A,  Second 

Edition  (Johnson),  2,  7-8,  25,  301 
Hitchings,  George,  307 
Hobbs,  Rev.  J.  Dewey,  27 
Hodgins,  Katherine  Wyatt,  347 
Hodgkins,  Sara,  147 
Hoffman,  George,  91,  96 
Hoke,  Michael,  64,  344,  350 
Hoke,  Tory,  339 
Holcomb,  Paul,  17,  55-56 
Holland,  June,  279 
Holliday,  Bob,  209 


Hollins  College,  40 

Holloman,  Krista,  209 

Holt,  Gretchen,  188 

Holt,  John,  77-78 

Holt,  Mimi,  227,  238 

Home  Economics  Department,  1 20, 

2-53-54 
name  change,  286 

Honor  Code,  3,  94-95,  196-97 

Honors  Convocation,  228 

Honors  Program,  135,  268,  282 

Honors  Scholars,  174-75,  2-27 

Hope,  C.  C,  230 

Hornak,  Rosemary,  194,  200,  327 

Horner,  Sally,  10,  30,  75,  78 

Horton,  Hamilton,  47 

House,  Rebecca  O.,  220 

Howard,  Mary,  236 

Howell,  Patricia  H.,  73 

Howerton,  Martha  Flamrick,  1 69 

Hubbard,  Barbara,  88 

Huber,  R.  John,  51-52,  77,  223,  346 

Huchinson,  Debbie,  131 

Huffman,  Sarah,  339 

Hugh  Lefler  Award,  66 

Hull,  James,  248 

Hull,  Jo  Welch,  248 

Human  Environmental  Sciences  Depart- 
ment, 286-87 

Human  Services  Program,  49-50,  98 

Hume,  Britt,  47 

Hunt,  James  B.,  141,  149,  241,  261,  336, 

351 
Hunt,  Judy,  222,  226,  241-42 
Hurricane  Fran,  320-21 
Hurricane  Marilyn,  341 
Hutchison,  Kay  Bailey,  310 

IBM  Corporation,  173,  244 

Ihnen,  Shirley,  91 

Images:  A  Centennial  Journey  (Britt),  7, 

39,  223,  228,  231 
Ingram,  John,  125 

Initiative  2000,  301,  305,  34on,  345-46 
In  loco  parentis  role,  end  of  college's,  3 , 

335 
Instrument  Society  of  America,  173 
Inter- American  Commission  for  Women, 

42,  88 
International  House,  209 
International  Women's  Year,  43,  67-68,  73 
Internet,  257,  289 
Iran: 

American  hostages,  4,  103,  131,  162 

Shah  of,  107 
Iraq,  246-47 
Irene,  306 
Iris  Society,  309 
Ironside,  Ellen,  116,  173,  204,  213,  237 

Jackson,  Jean,  222,  223,  226,  229,  231, 
264,  268-69,  279,  285,  318,  322,  336, 
344n,  346 


382    I 


INDEX 


Jackson,  Shera,  89 

January  Religious  Emphasis  Week,  22 

Jayne,  Vicki,  72,  103 

Jenkins,  Emyi,  29 

Joacquim,  Sherine,  343 

Johnson,  Austin,  105 

Johnson,  Dei  Hunt,  260,  262,  271-72, 

287,  316,  346 
Johnson,  Emily,  93 
Johnson,  Gerald,  217 
Johnson,  James  R.,  Ill,  347,  349 
Johnson,  Luann, 131 
Johnson,  Mary,  137,  160,  195,  215,  237, 

259,  279,  281,  346 
Johnson,  Mary  Estelle,  233 
Johnson,  Mary  Lynch,  2,  7-8,  9n,  25,  36, 

37,  51,78,  135-36,  145,301 
Johnson,  Patsy,  17 
Johnson  Chair  of  English,  Mary  Lynch, 

135-36,  199,  326 
Johnson  Hall,  11,  43,  80 
Johnson  Library  Enrichment  Endowment, 

Mary  Lynch,  25 
Johnson  Meredith  Economic  Student  Fund, 

James  R.,  347 
Jones,  Anissa,  290 
Jones,  Christina,  112 
Jones,  Helen,  92,  347 
Jones,  Julie,  66 
Jones,  Randi,  132 
Jones,  Seby  B.,  10,  36,  37,  99,  112,  158, 

170-71 
Jones  Auditorium,  26-27,  47,  61,  86, 

127-28,  172,  212,  223,  322 
Jones  Chapel  (Seby  and  Christina),  6, 

85-86,  III,  112-15,  137,  166 
Jordan,  Bob,  188 
Jorgenson,  Alice  Nell,  239 
Josey,  Mary  Bland,  10,  22-23,  53,  54,  ^49 
Journey:  Pilgrims  and  Strangers,  73 
Journey  Proud,  229-30 
Journigan,  Mary  Lou,  71 
Joyful  Noise,  A,  147 
Joyner,  Jean,  325 
Joyner,  Mary  Leslie,  184 
Joyner  Hall,  61,  262n,  264 
Judkins,  Ben,  201 
Julian,  Alexander,  126 
Junior  League  of  Raleigh,  87 

Kanipe,  John  T,  Jr.,  10,  11,  36,  73,  81 

Kappa  Omicron  Phi,  120 

Kearney,  Sue,  149-50,  198,  281,  314-15, 

343 
Keever,  Renee,  159-60,  166,  171 
Keith,  Kathy,  91-92 
Keith,  Mary  Kate,  287 
Kellogg  Foundation,  W.  K.,  94 
Kellum,  Norman,  218,  221,  280,  323,  351 
Kelly,  Wendy,  296 
Kemp,  Ginny,  342 
Kenan  Charitable  Trust,  William  R.,  Jr., 

50,  147,  201,  239 


Kennan,  Elizabeth,  148 

Kent  State  University,  14,  33 

Kercheval,  Carol,  343 

Kerr  Drugs,  244 

Kesler,  Annie,  248 

Kesler,  John  M.,  248 

Kesler,  M.  L.,  38 

Kesler,  Marjorie,  234 

Khizanishvili,  Nana,  238-39 

Khomeini,  Ayatoliah,  103 

Kibler,Jill,  122 

Kicklighter,  Robert  W,  104 

Kincheloe,  John,  153,  288-89 

King,  Betty,  59 

King,  Rodney,  272 

King  and  I,  The,  123 

Kirk,  Philip,  Jr.,  230 

Kirk-Duggan,  Cheryl,  340 

Kitahata,  Carolyn  Massey,  25 

Klausmeyer,  Peter,  90 

Knieriem,  Gail,  10 

Knight,  lone  Kemp,  51,  199,  279,  280, 

285 
Knight,  Virginia,  178,  244,  324,  337 
Knott,  Lynn,  104,  105 
Kraines,  Vivian,  200 
Kratzer,  Jerod,  280,  325 
Krebs,  Max  and  Esther,  92 
Kresge  Auditorium,  212 
Kresge  Foundation,  60,  83 
Krogh,  Egil,  Jr.,  47 
Kurtz,  Ann,  78,  103,  106,  107,  178 

Lancaster,  Carol,  72 

Landis,  William,  287 

Langley,  Eugene  M.,  Jr.,  353 

Lanham,  Louise,  104 

Lanneau,  Sophie,  234,  238,  304 

Lanneau  Leadership  Program,  Sophie,  304 

Lark,  Marion,  85,  112,  167 

Latta,  Traci,  243,  296 

Latter  Day  Saints  retreat,  28 

Law^rence,  William  W  and  Mrs.,  230 

Lawson-Jones,  Lillie,  1 17-18 

Laybourne,  Roxie  Collie,  146 

Leavel,  Beth,  66-67,  3 06 

Lectures: 

Broyhill  Lectures,  260 

"Dinner  with  a  Winner,"  288 

Distinguished  Faculty  Lectures,  48 

Great  Decisions  Lectures,  213 

Hull  Lectures,  248,  291-92 

Lectures  in  Religion,  21-22 

Lillian  Parker  Wallace  Lectures, 
86-87,  163,  224-26 

Mary  Stowe  Gullick  Lectures  in 
christian  Ethics,  180 

Mercer-Kesler  Lecture  Series  on  Art  and 
Religion,  248,  338 

Preston  Lectures  in  Biblical  Studies,  180, 
181 

Staley  Lectures,  48,  229 
Ledford,  Hubert,  205,  262 


INDEX 


383 


Ledford,  William,  911,  27-28,  106 
Ledford  Hall,  205,  214,  253,  262-63, 

264,  266,  320 
Lee,  Alma  Lane,  343 
Leist,  Paige,  160 
Lemmon,  Sarah,  10,  34,  36,  54,  56,  72, 

73,  75,  78,  92--93>  12.1,  137,  175,  227 
Lerman,  Liz,  230-31 
Levy,  Jerre,  228-29 
Lewis,  John  M.,  36-37,  181 
Lewis,  Robert,  266,  346,  347 
Liberty  Tree,  70 

Library,  see  Carlyle  Campbell  Library 
Life  After  Death  (Page),  178 
Li  Kejian,  247 

Lindsey,  Jonathan,  75,  92,  94,  116,  118 
Lipske,  Mike,  146 
Litchfield,  Doris  Allen,  180 
Litchfield,  Laura,  138 
Litt,  Stephen,  171 
Little  Friends  Weekend,  251 
Liu  Jianmin,  247 
Liverman,  Lou  Stephenson,  268 
Livesay,  Dorothy,  339 
Lolley,  W.  Randall,  156-57,  182,  220 
Long,  Ben,  149,  178 
Long,  Meredith,  181 
Lopez,  Gabriela  Touchard,  88 
Lovell,  Ann,  144 
Lowry,  Beth,  243 
Lugi  Yao,  201 
Lynch,  Dave,  294 
Lynch,  Jennifer,  345 
Lynch,  W.  David,  10,  36,  51,  114-15,  119, 

160,  202,  294 
Lyon,  Wortham  C.  (Buddy),  237 

McCall,  Caroline  Vaught,  102,  189 

McCall,  Duke,  114 

McCann,  Jodi,  251 

McClellan,  Nina  L,  278 

McClendon,  James,  181 

McClendon,  Janice,  251 

McCotter,  George,  157,  191,  218,  246, 

279 
McDaniel,  Casey,  65-66 
McDuffie,  Elizabeth  Vann,  238,  281,  287 
McEnery,  Cynthia  Griffith,  278-79 
McGee,  Jerry  E.,  82-83,  121,  153,  172 
McGill,  Meredith,  16,  46 
McGovern,  George,  31,  187,  259 
Mclver  Amphitheater,  Elva  Bryan,  26,  86, 

163,  213,  264 
Mack,  Regina,  340 
McKinney,  Elizabeth  Garner,  44 
McLain,  Ralph,  104,  145,  235 
McLean,  Karen,  3  6 
McMinn,  Bridget,  242 
McSwain,  Ruby  C,  252 
Maddrey,  Gordon,  115 
Maddrey,  Mabel  Claire  Hoggard,  25,  85, 

115,  230,  236 
Madren,  Beth,  132 


Manilow,  Barry,  132 

MAPS  (Meredith  Alumnae  Preparing  Stu- 
dents), 287 

March  of  Dimes  Award,  1 8 

Marketing,  see  Recruitment  and  marketing 

Marketing  Higher  Education  (Topor  and 
Volkmann),  273-74 

Maron,  Joe,  ^6,  no 

Mars  Hill  College,  221 

Martin,  Debbie,  333 

Martin,  Donna,  333 

Martin,  Leroy,  333 

Martin,  Margaret  Craig,  333 

Martin,  Nancy,  66 

Martin,  Sidney,  333 

Martin,  Sue  Jarvis,  333 

Martin,  Zeno,  60 

Martin  Family  Scholarship  Fund,  333 

Marymount  College,  127 

Mary  Baldwin  College,  23,  340 

Mason,  Marie,  114,  349 

Massey,  Jay,  96,  235,  237 

Massey,  Luther  M.,  10,  19,  24,  25,  36,  37, 

349 
Massey,  Vivian  Dawson,  24,  25,  349 
Massey  House,  24-25,  62 
Masters,  Gary,  202 
Mathematical  Sciences,  Department  of, 

120,  137-38,  178-79 
Mathematics  and  Computer  Science 

Department,  326,  327 
Matthews,  Deborah,  58 
Mayberry,  Kathy,  339 
May  Day,  24n 
MCTV  (Meredith  Cable  Television),  212, 

252,  284-85,  328 
Mead,  Margaret,  44-45 
Mebane,  Ann,  339 
Megginson,  Leon,  147-48 
Meier,  Beth,  209 
Mellette,  Susan  Jackson,  65 
Mellon  Foundation,  Andrew  W,  72 
Mendlovitz,  Saul,  88 
Mennis,  Paul,  114 
Mentors,  260,  307,  308 
Mercer,  Carolyn,  97,  248 
Mercer,  Isaac  Morton,  248 
Meredith,  69,  70,  85,  90,  105,  in,  121, 

144,  171,  172,  173,  189,  191,  203, 

205-206,  216-17,  230,  236,  239,  241, 

242,  257,  261,  274,  284,  287,  298,  305, 

306,307,  316,  341,350,  351 
Meredith,  Georgia  Sears,  65 
Meredith,  Hugh,  338 
Meredith,  Thomas,  22,  65,  83-84,  114, 
222,  300,  338 

Memorial,  222,  245 
Meredith  Abroad,  28,  53,  122,  178,  181, 

200,  246,  294,  329,  350 
Meredith  Advancement  Program,  22,  36 
Meredith  After5,  267,  282-83,  284, 

329 
Meredith  Angels,  101-102 


384     I     INDEX 


Meredith  Baptist  Heritage  Scholarship 

Fund,  Thomas,  3 14 
Meredith  Center  for  Women  in  the  Arts, 

304-305 
Meredith  Christian  Association  (MCA), 

143.  2.47 
Meredith  Christian  Association  (MCA) 

forum,  24,  Z40 
Meredith  College: 

as  Baptist  college,  see  Baptist  State 
Convention  of  North  Carolina; 
North  Carolina  Baptists;  Southern 
Baptist  Convention 

Baptist  Female  University  renamed, 
22,  234,  301 

location  of,  334 

statement  of  purpose,  330-31 

Undergraduate  Research  Conference, 
340-41 

as  women's  college,  see  Women's 
colleges 

see  also  specific  subjects,  e.g. 
Curriculum;  Faculty;  Lectures 
Meredith  College  Academic  Scholarships, 

139, 282 
Meredith  College  Advancement  Program, 

62 
Meredith  College  Day,  3  6 
Meredith  College  Press,  216 
Meredith  College  Television  (MCTV),  328 
Meredith  Connection,  294 
Meredith  Entertainment  Association,  230 
Meredith  flower  (Iris),  318 
Meredith  Girls'  Chorale,  305-306 
Meredith  Girls'  Chorus,  305-306 
Meredith  Herald,  160,  168,  169,  180,  184, 

186,  188,  189-90,  196,  197,  202,  204, 

209,  211,  213,  230,  239,  243,  247, 

250-51,  252,  258,  268,  269,  277, 

278-79,  283,  290,  293,  296-97,  303, 

321,  328,332,338-39,344 
Meredith  in  Europe,  5  3 
Meredith  Mile,  205 

Meredith-on-the-Road  seminars,  116-17 
Meredith  Performs,  123,  127,  306 
Meredith  Playhouse,  17 
Meredith  Recreation  Association,  250 
Meredith  ring,  143-44,  2.50 
Meredith  Writes  Home,  102,  189 
Merit  weekend,  91 
Mihaly,  Robert,  305 
Milano,  Carol  Lancaster,  242 
Miller,  Heather  Ross,  73 
Miller,  Nan,  172,  227,  332 
Miller,  OHve  Flamrick,  169 
Millhiser,  Ross,  125-26 
Mills,  Karen,  132 
Mills  College,  40 
Milstead,  Kelley,  229 
Minority  students,  57-58,  302 
Mir,  Danielle,  308 
Mississippi  University  for  Women  Concert 

Choir,  74 


MOD  (Meredith  Oak  Donor),  64-65 

Mondale,  Walter,  72 

Money  magazine,  210,  258 

Montgomery,  Joyce,  5  8 

Moore,  Mary,  209 

Moore,  Thomas,  163 

Moral  Majority,  125 

Morelock,  Jeannie,  172,  198,  237,  257, 

264,  281,  311-12,  346,  348,  353 
Morgan,  Robert,  47 
Morris,  Naomi  E.,  27 
Morrison,  Bill,  56,  61 
Mosley,  Steve,  237 
Mt.  Holyoke  College,  40 
MuUinax,  T.  Robert,  36,  222 
MuUins,  Jay  T,  125 
MuUis,  Janie,  209,  251251 
Munden,  Sara  Joyce,  13 
Murff,  Cathy,  66 
Murphy,  Austin  J.,  107 
Murray,  Aedrin,  340 
Murray,  Rebecca,  77,  117,  226,  233 
Music,  Speech  Communication  and 

Theatre,  Department  of,  50-51 
Music  Department,  181 
Music  Scholarships,  139 
Myers,  Geraldine,  349 

Narayanan,  K.  R.,  107 

Narron,  Georganne,  131 

National  Association  of  Schools  of  Music 
(NASM),  215 

National  Council  for  Accreditation  of 
Teacher  Education  (NCATE),  215 

National  Men's  Garden  Club,  87 

National  Opera  Company,  124,  202 

National  Organization  for  Women,  44,  67 

National  Political  Caucus,  67 

National  Science  Foundation,  14 

New  Depression  in  Higher  Education, 
The,  14 

Newlin,  April,  294 

Newman,  Sylvia,  210,  240 

News  and  Observer,  48,  54,  61,  67,  72, 
74,  92-,  99,  105,  155,  156,  171,  189, 
221,  263,  274,  276,  277,  278,  281,  303, 
321,340,341,342,346,348 

Newsweek,  45,  295 

Newton,  Suzanne,  73,  326 

Nicholas  Nickelby,  123 

90  Percent  Angels,  131-32 

Nixon,  Richard  M.,  3,  14,  31,  47,  129 

Noble,  Gwen,  37 

Noel,  Marguerite  Warren,  289-90 

Noel,  Nancy  Young,  238 

Noel  International  House,  289-90 

Nondiscriminatory  policy,  loo-ioi 

No  No's,  131-32 

Nooe,  Mary  Watson,  293 

Norma  Rose  Garden,  318 

Norris,  Jennifer,  210,  240 

North  Carolina  Baptist  Development  Offi- 
cers' Association,  290 


INDEX     I      385 


North  Carolina  Baptists,  34,  98,  130-31, 

301,  31Z-14,  332 
North  Carohna  Baptist  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union,  3  20 
North  Carohna  Biotechnology  Center,  284 
North  Carolina  Central  University,  288 
North  Carolina  Committee  for  Continuing 

Education  in  the  Humanities,  34 
North  Carolina  Democratic  Party,  188 
North  Carolina  Department  of  Public 

Instruction  (SDPI),  215 
North  Carolina  Legislative  Tuition  Grant 


;ram,  154,  210-11 

Carolina  Little  Symphony,  74 

Carolina  Museum  of  Art,  123-24, 

Carolina  State  University,  18,  56, 
58-89,  124,  i97n 
Carolina  Student  Legislature,  66 
Carolina  Symphony,  124 
Carolina  Teaching  Academy,  260 
Carolina  Teaching  Fellows  Commis- 


pro^ 
North 
North 

124 
North 

77,' 

North 

North 

North 

North 
sion,  215 

North  Carolina  Teaching  Fellows  Enrich- 
ment Program,  174,  328 

North  Carolina  Triangle  Race  for  the 
Cure,  308 

North  Carolina  Tuition  Grant,  333 

North  Carolina  Wesleyan  College,  267 

Norton,  Bill,  42,  loi,  128 

Norton,  Virginia,  92-93 

Novak,  Michael,  284,  310,  324,  337 

Oak  Leaves,  168,  204,  251 

Oakwood  Project,  34 

Gates,  Wayne  E.,  24 

Oatsvall,  Rebecca,  260,  286,  326 

O'Briant,  Paula,  336 

O'Connor,  Sandra  Day,  3,  224-26 

Odell,  Maggie,  74,  167,  229 

Office  of  Career  Services  and  Cooperative 
Education,  55,  179,  180 

Ogburn,  Ella  Adams,  333 

Oklahoma  City  Federal  building,  bombing 
of,  6,  293 

Oldham,  Conniesue  Barfield,  180 

Oliver,  Lucile,  57 

Olympics,  102-103,  188 

Once  Over  Lightly,  1 8 

Once  Upon  a  Mattress,  127 

One  Volume  Bible  Commentary  (Dum- 
melow),  235 

Operation  Toy  Box,  341 

Oral  History  of  Meredith  College  Alum- 
nae, An,  yn 

Osborne,  Murphy  M.,  Jr.,  172,  230,  240, 
254,  261,  316,  327,  333,  346 

Oughton,  Jerrie  Preston,  181 

Outing  Club,  73 

Outstanding  Alumna  Philanthropist 
Award,  261 

Outstanding  Christian  Educators  Award, 

2-5 


Overby,  Lois  Morgan,  238 
Owens,  Mary,  43 
Oyarzum,  Maria  Eugenia,  88 

Page,  Allen,  91,  118,  177-78,  200,  236, 
279,  281,  343,  346 

Page,  Frances  M.,  181,  305-306 

Page,  Sally,  53 

PAGE  (Parents  for  the  Advancement  of 
Gifted  Education),  88 

Palin  Foundation,  238 

Parable  of  the  Morning  Star,  223 

Parent  and  Family  Association,  3  20 

Parents'  Association,  24,  25,  92,  153,  32on 

Parents'  Weekend,  24,  70,  84,  251 

Parham,  Kate  Johnson,  238 

Park,  Dorothy  Dent,  316 

Park  Center,  316,  317 

Parker,  Alice,  73-74 

Parker,  Bridgette,  160 

Parker,  Charles,  17 

Parker,  Elizabeth,  234 

Parker,  Joni  Bennett,  152 

Parker,  Laura  Weatherspoon,  309 

Parker,  Margaret  Weatherspoon,  194-95, 
218,  316 

Parker,  Sarah,  241 

Parker,  Virginia  Gentry,  353 

Parker  Fitness  Center,  Margaret  Weather- 
spoon, 290, 316 

Park  Foundation,  316 

Parramore,  Thomas  C,  35,  96 

Paschal,  Rosa  Catherine,  234 

Patterson,  Charles,  17 

Patterson,  Jane,  125 

Patton,  Frances  Gray,  96 

Peace  College,  6,  17,  89,  119,  303 

Peacock,  L.  A.,  95 

Peacock,  Mary  O'Kelly,  65 

Peden  Construction  Company,  253 

Pellizzari,  Maria,  328 

People  magazine,  341 

Peoples,  Christina,  269 

Perot,  Floss,  310 

Perry,  Cleo  Glover,  180,  204-205,  346 

Perry,  Mary,  234 

Perry,  Pauline  Davis,  96,  269 

Perry  Award  for  Excellence  in  Teaching, 
Pauline  Davis,  195 

Peters,  Tom,  288 

Peterson,  Lucretia  L.,  347 

Phi  Alpha  Theta,  5 1 

Phi  Beta  Kappa  Award,  66 

Philanthropist  of  the  Year  Award,  290,  309 

Philaretian  Society,  97-98 

Philip  Morris,  126 

Phillips,  Christa,  223 

Phillips,  Gene,  17 

Phillips,  Kelly,  243 

Phi  Omicron,  5 1 

Physically  challenged,  access  to  facilities 
for,  19 

Pickard,  Anne,  342,  350 


386     I     INDEX 


Pi  Epsilon  Mu,  204 

Pierce,  Brinkley,  Cease,  and  Lee,  291 

Pi  Kappa  Lambda,  51 

Pitt,  Theo,  158,218 

Pitts,  Brent,  222,  324-25 

Plotkin,  Mark,  338 

Poe,  Mary  Virginia  Warren,  86 

Poister,  Arthur,  50-51 

Polumbo,  Pat,  326 

Pope,  Earl,  353 

Poteat  Residence  Hall,  48,  320 

Potter,  Page,  172-73 

Poussaint,  Alvin,  71-72 

Powell,  Betsy,  290 

Powell,  Colin,  293 

Powell,  Loleta  Kenan,  318 

Powell,  Walda,  3  27 

Powers,  Ellen,  250 

Powers,  James,  152-53 

Pre-professional  studies,  56 

President's  Dining  Room,  62 

Presidents  of  Meredith  College,  see  names 
of  individuals,  e.g.  Weems,  John  E. 

President's  Task  Force  for  the  Pursuit  of 
Excellence,  192-93,  198,  215 

Preston,  Dorothy  Knott,  106,  181,  349 

Preston,  E.  S.,  181 

Preston,  Mary  Frances,  181 

Price,  David,  310 

Price,  Reynolds,  96 

Prillaman,  Renee,  254 

Project  HALO  (Help  and  Learning  Out- 
reach), 249 

Project  Help,  28 

Pruden,  Edward  Hughes,  130 

Pruette,  Meg,  46 

Pruitt,  Bland  B.,  104 

Pruitt,  Margaret  Bullard,  346 

Psi  Chi,  77 

Psychology  Department,  23,  77,  283 

Puckett,  R.  G.,  125,  130 

Pugh,  Anne,  257,  296-97,  349,  350,  352 

Putnam  mathematics  competition,  William 
Lowell,  179 

Quayle,  Dan,  162 
Quick,  Dorothy,  179 

Rabin,  Yitzhak,  292,  293 

Radcliffe  College,  234,  295 

Raising  the  Sights  of  Women  program, 

72.-75.  92. 
Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  258-59 
Raleigh  Fine  Arts  Society,  169-70 
Raleigh  Preschool,  265-66 
Raleigh  Symphony,  124,  239 
Raleigh  Times,  57,  146,  151 
Ramsey,  Liston,  188 
Randolph-Macon  College,  40 
Raney  (Edgerton),  145 
Rawley,  D.  A.,  82 
Rawley,  Sarah  Cook,  82 
Rawls,  Tracy,  243 


Ray,  Cecil,  99 

Reagan,  Ronald,  4,  72,  103,  134,  165,  242 

Reavis,  Dianne,  22 

Recent  Graduate  Award,  227 

Recruitment  and  marketing: 

job,  55 

of  students,  197-98,  273-75, 
298-99,  303,  315-16 
Recycling  program,  213 
Reddish,  Minnie  Huffman,  120 
Re-entry  program,  3,  173,  213,  266-67, 

329 
Reese,  Mary  Ann  Morgan,  343 
Reid,  Elizabeth  Davis,  65 
Reid,  Regina,  337 
Reid,  Robert,  306 
Religion  and  Philosophy  Department,  180, 

184 
Religious  Emphasis  Week,  48,  208 
Religious  right,  163,  165 
Renaissance  Singers,  74 
Rendal,  David,  125 
Reno,  Janet,  272 
Research  Triangle  Park  (RTP),  122,  244, 

266,  334 
Reserve  Officer  Training  Corps  (ROTC), 

56 

Residence  halls,  46,  108,  184-85,  197,  264 
air-conditioning  of,  186,  208 
male  visitation  of,  335-36 
off-campus  living,  79-80,  108 
Spanish  language,  136 
see  also  names  of  specific  buildings 

Reynolds,  Suzanne,  13,  49,  161,  226 

Reynolds  Foundation,  Z.  Smith,  60,  244 

Ride,  Sally,  3 

Rihani,  Ehzabeth,  271 

Rimer,  Sara,  285 

Roach,  Mary  Jon  Gerald,  23  8 

Roberts,  Gina,  209 

Robert  Shaw  Chorale,  73-74 

Robinson,  Carolyn  Covington,  17,  172, 
222,  223 

Robinson,  Katie,  308 

Robinson,  Lisa  Marie,  344 

Rock,  Shannon  "Shan"  P.,  238 

Rockefeller  Foundation,  73 

Rodgers,  Catherine,  306 

Rogers,  Genie,  42,  46 

Roof,  Phillip  D.,  287,  334 

Rose,  Norma,  17,  51,  105,  109,  238, 
318-19,346-47 

Rosser,  Lou,  132,  285-86 

Rowland,  Lois,  349 

Rumley,  Ellen  Amanda,  104-105 

Rumley,  Leon,  104-105 

Rumley,  Sarah  Katherine  Furches,  104 

Rumley  Memorial  Scholarship  Endow- 
ment, Ellen  Amanda,  105 

Rust,  Eric  Charles,  48 

Sabbatical  leave  program,  9,  10,  41,  107, 
268,  306,  325,  351 


INDEX     I      387 


Sadat,  Anwar,  4 
St.  Augustine  College,  17 
St.  Mary's  College,  6,  17,  89,  112 
Salem  College,  40,  303 
Salisbury,  Mary  Estelle  Johnson,  86 
Salisbury  Memorial  Organ,  Estelle  John- 
son, 114-15,  Z33 
Salter,  Amy,  zoz 
Sams,  Janice,  16,  33,  57-58,  98 
Samson,  Donald,  109,  115 
Sanderson,  Carol,  341 
Sanderson,  Christy,  341 
Sanderson,  Glenn,  172 
Sandler,  Bernice,  159 
Sandlin,  Lula  Ditmore,  23  8 
Sanford,  Terry,  25 
Sappho  Was  a  Right-On  Woman  (Abbott), 

47-48 
SAS  Institute,  244 
Satisky,  Alice  Goodman,  346 
Saunders,  John,  198-99 
Scarboro,  Virginia,  179 
Schaller,  Michael,  134 
Schiffman's  Jewelers,  194 
Schlafly,  Phyllis,  187 
Schmidt,  Ruth,  222 
Scholarships,  24,  29,  34,  117,  139, 

153-54,  154,  176,  194,  2.11,  214,  254, 

282,  290,  291,  314,  333,  348;  see  also 

Financial  aid 
Scholastic  Aptitude  Test  scores,  50,  53-54, 

210,  315 
SchoU,  Jean  Gaddy,  169 
Schroeder,  Patricia,  231-32 
Schuster,  Judy,  257 
Sears-Roebuck  Teaching  Excellence  and 

Campus  Leadership  Award,  198-99, 

227 
Sebrechts,  Jadwiga,  281-82,  304 
Security,  64,  94-95,  127-28,  150 

campus  police  force,  344 
Segawa,  Akie,  348-49 
Self-determining  hours,  1 5 
Sellers,  Linda,  166 
Serendipity  Singers,  60 
Sergio,  Lisa,  67-68 
Sermon-Boyd,  Norma,  325 
7  Habits  of  Highly  Effective  People 

(Covey),  244 
Sex  discrimination  laws,  4,  158-61 
Shapiro,  Sherry,  306 
Sharapun,  Hedda,  126 
Shariff,  Mary,  341 
Sharpe,  Mary,  308 
Shattuck,  Daniel  G.,  64,  349 
Shattuck,  Janice,  349 
Shaw,  Becky  Batson,  92 
Shaw,  Blanche,  46 
Shaw,  Henry  M.,  46,  104 
Shaw  University,  18,  89,  288 
Shelley  Child  Development  Center,  98 
Shelp,  Hannah,  293 
Sherrill,  O.  L.,  36,  37 
Shields,  Margaret  Whitmore,  234 


Shiflett,  Reginald  B.,  78,  122,  182,  zoo, 

281,  306 
Shirley,  Anita  Gunn,  343 
Short,  Nona,  196 
Siddell,  Hallie,  30 
Sills,  Nancy,  202 
Silver  Shield,  58,  93,  95 
Simmons,  Evelyn  Pope,  106,  107,  347 
Simmons,  Harry,  179 
Simmons  College,  119 
Simpson,  Edith  Stephenson,  10,  105 
Simpson- Vos,  Juliellen,  287 
Sinclair,  Gordon,  159 
Single-sex  education,  295-96 

see  also  Women's  colleges 
Sir,  Edouard  Morot,  147 
Sixty  Minutes,  48 

Sizemore,  Chris,  126,  184-85,  206 
Sizemore,  Dorothy,  78,  197,  281,  288 
Skinner,  Thomas  E.,  233 
Slater  company,  344 
Smith,  Amy,  353 
Smith,  Bailey  C.,  99-100 
Smith,  Barbara  Barefoot,  22 
Smith,  Deborah,  227,  280 
Smith,  Gloria,  3  6 
Smith,  Karen,  144 
Smith,  Leon,  218 
Smith,  Mary  Beth,  1 67 
Smith,  Mary  Rodwell,  85 
Smith,  Roy,  218-19 
Smith,  Wade,  188 
Smith  College,  40 
Smithsonian,  146 

Smoot,  Martha  Salisbury,  86,  115,  233 
Snow,  A.  C,  47,  67 

Social  restrictions,  lifting  of,  3,  15,  335-36 
Social  work  program  certification  by  CSWE, 

see  Council  on  Social  Work  Education 
Society  of  Biblical  Literature,  Recruitment 

Conference,  340 
Sociology  and  Social  Work,  Department  of, 

78-79,  262,  284 
SOLINET,  94 
Somaha,  292 
Sound  of  Music,  The,  17 
South  Africa,  4,  183-84 
Southeastern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary, 

182-83,  290 
Southeastern  Library  Network,  94 
Southern  Association  of  Colleges  and 

Schools  (SACS),  161,  214-15 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  99-100, 
155-58 

Journeyman  Program,  28 

ordination  of  women,  155-57 

ultra-conservative  dominance  of,  4-5, 
130-31,  156-58,  163,  165, 
182-83,  214,  218-22 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  5, 

156 
Southern  Bell,  198 
Soviet  Union,  4,  247 
Sowers,  Rhoda,  186 


INDEX 


Spangler,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Earl,  320 

Spangler  Arboretum,  3  20 

Spanton,  Donald,  176-77,  200,  231,  237, 

Spearman,  Walter,  96 

Spectator,  213 

Spooner,  LaRose,  171-72,  235,  237,  280, 

315,  343>  344-45»  346 
Sports,  101-102,  131,  138-39,  188, 
209-10,  249,  266,  339 

basketball,  24,  210,  239-40,  339, 
340 

golf  team,  loi,  131 

intramural,  139,  209-10 

soccer,  266,  337,  339 

softball/baseball,  188,  210,  340 

swim  team,  18,  loi 

tennis  team,  loi,  339-40 

volleyball  team,  138-39,  339 
Springs  Queen,  24 

Staley  Distinguished  Christian  Scholar  Lec- 
ture, 48 
Staley  Distinguished  Lecture  on  Women  in 

Religion  in  the  21st  Century,  229 
Staley  Foundation,  Thomas  E,  48 
Stamats  Communications,  Inc.,  246,  345 
Stanley,  Julian,  147 
Starkey,  Peggy,  136 
STAR  (United  Star  Distance  Learning 

Consortium)  program,  288 
State  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  49, 

260,  288 
State  Games  of  North  Carolina  Amateur 

Sports,  213 
Stebbins,  Carole,  132 
Steele,  David,  248 
Steely,  Deborah,  229 
Stephenson,  Nan  L.,  229-30 
Stiff,  Lee,  325 
Stoltz,  Robert  E.,  29 
Strav^^bridge,  Nelson,  10 
Stringfield,  Ann,  131 
Stringfield,  Oliver  Larkin,  66,  84 
Stringfield,  Oliver  Linwood,  66,  84 
Stringfield  Residence  Hall,  46,  186,  208, 

320 
Stuber,  Marilyn,  286 
Student  development,  vice  president  for, 

41-43 
Student  Government  Association,  15,  33, 

58,  93,  103,  130,  151,  255,  270,  277, 

335-36 
Student  Handbook,  59 
Stumpf,  Pat,  114 
Stunt  Night,  189 
Sullivan,  Ayn,  59 
Sullivan,  Jane  Watkins,  73 
Sultan,  Terrie,  337 
Summer  schools,  28,  53 
Summer  Study/College  Credit  for  High 

School  Students,  13,  90-91 
Sumner,  Eugene  M.,  50,  78-79,  118 
Support  groups,  209,  326 


Suttle,  Clarke,  320 
Sutton,  Minnie  Wilma,  234 
Swab,  Janice,  306,  32in,  326,  353 
Swift,  Elizabeth  Ann,  131 
Swink,  Carol,  283 
Sykes,  Debbi,  281 
Symmetry  (Crook),  228 
Syron,  Leslie,  9,  33,  34,  49 

Tate,  Josh,  342 

Taylor,  Charles  E.,  iio-ii,  127,  139, 
153,  183-84,  186,  206,  213,  245-46, 
257,  282,  316,  321,  332-33,  344,  345, 

346,347,351 
Taylor,  Dennis,  172 
Taylor,  Louise,  128-29,  195,  268, 

337-38 
Taylor,  Olive,  96 

Teacher  education,  49,  120-21,  174, 
249,  260 

English-as-a-Second-Language  (ESL) 
license,  330 
Teaching  Fellows,  174,  215,  249,  282, 

328 
Teaching  Fellows  Commission,  291 
Teague,  Jane  Williamson,  116 
Teague,  Jean,  17 

Technology,  94,  127,  172,  252-53,  257, 
284,  288-89,  32.7,  342. 

ALIS,  256-57 

cablevision  and  internal  television, 
211-12,  252,  284-85,  328 

CamCard,  257-58,  290 

Cam-Tel,  212 

computers,  see  Computers 

Intranet,  328 

telecommunications  system,  153 

video,  64 
Teen  Action  Program  (TAP),  18 
Television  evangelists,  163,  165 
Templeton  Foundation  Honor  Roll  for 

character  Building  Colleges,  John, 

245, 326 
Tew,  Susan,  17 
This  Essential  Part:  The  First  1000  Books 

of  the  Library  of  Baptist  Female  Univer- 
sity (Murray),  216 
Thomas,  Clarence,  243,  282 
Thomas,  Mary,  227,  255 
Thomas,  Sandra  Carol,  3,  42-43,  56,  67, 

68,  79,  89-90,  97,  100,  107,  200,  242, 

268,  292-93,  304 
Thomas  Meredith  Society,  309 
Thomason,  Harry,  242 
Thornburg,  Lacy,  188 
Thorne,  Frances,  186 
Three  Mile  Island  nuclear  disaster,  4 
Thrift,  Julianne  Still,  303 
Tiananmen  Square,  4,  201 
Tidball,  Elizabeth,  40 
Time,  295 

Timmerman,  Peggy,  59 
Tippett,  Deborah,  286 


INDEX     I      389 


Title  IX  of  1972  Educational  Amendments 

Act,  158-59 
Todd,  Daniel,  109-10,  119 
Todd,  Sue  Ridge,  343 
Tolson,  Fred,  iii,  148 
Tomorrow's  Business  Women,  260 
Topor,  Robert,  273-74 
Transfer  students,  211 
Traywick,  Judge  Gary  E.,  353 
Triangle  Universities  Computer  Center, 

63 

Trible,  Phyllis,  43-44,  229 

Triplett,  Elizabeth,  17 

Trueblood,  Elton,  21-22 

Truelove,  Cindy,  103 

Trustees,  see  Board  of  Trustees 

Tschamler,  Addie,  328 

Tucker,  Car  11,  126 

Tucker,  Charles,  25 

Tucker,  Martha  Nell,  104 

Tuition  increases,  332-33 

Tull,  Elizabeth  Gladys,  234 

Tunney,  John,  47 

Turlington,  Helen,  103-104 

Turlington,  Henry,  103-104 

Turner,  Alyce,  279 

Turpin,  William  Bradley,  5 1 

Twardy,  Chuck,  263 

Twenty-three  Plus  (23+),  329 

Twig,  15-16,  22,  23,  24,  25,  29,  31,  42, 
43,  45,  46,  48,  53,  54,  56,  57-58, 
59,  60,  70,  72,  74,  75,  79,  88,  92, 
94,  97,  98,  103,  109,  III,  115, 
124,  129,  131,  132,  137-38, 
139,  141,  142,  143,  144,  150, 
153, 293 
becomes  a  weekly,  34-35 
name  change,  i6on,  166-68 

U.S.  Constitution,  200th  anniversary  of, 

186-88 
U.S.  News  and  World  Report,  190-91, 

2-58-59,2.91,295,333 
United  States  Steel  Award,  121 
University  of  California  at  Los  Angeles 

(UCLA),  Higher  Education  Research 

Institute,  163 
University  of  North  Carolina,  119,  i97n 

Graduate  School  of  Social  Work,  49 

Vandiver,  Fran,  18 

Van  Every,  Nan  Davis,  147 

Vann,  Richard  T,  65,  83-84 

Vann  Residence  Hall,  46,  128,  186,  208, 

320 
Van  Wageningen,  Susan,  15,  16 
Vassar  College,  40 
Vendler,  Helen,  248 
Vereen,  Ben,  259 
Vetter,  Robert,  343 
Viccellio,  Nancy  Blair,  25 
Vietnam  War,  2,  3,  14,  15,  25,  31,  32,  45 
Visions  Program,  82,  121,  300 


Vocal  ensembles,  74,  132,  152-53,  181, 
222,  305-306 

for  community  children,  181 
Vogler,  Jill  Wine,  47 
Volkmann,  M.  Frederic,  273-74 
Vorus,  Ann,  147 
Votaru,  Carmen  Delgado,  88 
Voting,  56,  309-10 

lowering  of  voting  age,  1 5 

presidential  elections,  3 1 

residency  requirements,  31-32 

Wade,  William  E  "Bill,"  Jr.,  231,  345 
Wainwright,  Harriet  Mardre,  199 
Wainwright,  Irving  H.,  83,  199,  230 
Wainwright  Chair  of  Business  and  Eco- 
nomics, Irving  H.,  199 
Wainwright  Conference  Suite,  254,  264, 

320 
Wainwright  Music  Building,  Harriet 

Mardre,  83 
Waitley,  Denis,  288 
Wake  County  Schools,  173 
Wake  Forest  University,  102,  131,  181, 

217,  22in,  290,  301,  312 
Wake  Technical  Institute,  64 
Wake  Up  Meredith,  328 
Walker,  Alyce  Epley,  3  6,  3  7 
Wall,  Anne,  16 
Wall,  Lissy,  17 
Wall,  Silda,  66 
Wall,  Susan,  239 

Wallace,  Carolyn  Andrews,  95-96 
Wallace,  Lilhan  Parker,  13,  65,  97 
Wallace  Lectures,  Lillian  Parker,  86-87, 

163,  224-26 
Wallace  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Award,  Lillian 

Parker,  132 
Waller,  Edward  "Ted,"  257,  320,  342-43 
Wall  Street  Journal,  ^9-40 
Walters,  Sonya,  194 
Walton,  Barrie,  43 
Walton,  W.  Garrett  (Garry),  Jr.,  200,  223, 

261,  268,  285 
Wang  Yunkin,  201 
Warren  Wilson  College,  267 
Watergate  scandal,  2-3,  47 
Watson,  George,  148 
Watterson,  Gene  L.,  218-19 
Watts,  Sarah  Elizabeth  Vernon,  65,  83,  84, 

195,  238 
Watts,  William  M.,  65 
Weatherspoon,  Margaret  Parker,  323 
Weatherspoon,  W.  Herbert,  18,  323 
Weatherspoon  Physical  Education  and 

Recreation  Building,  18,  62,  213 
Weatherspoon  Physical  Education-Dance 

Building,  263-64 
Weaver,  Marjorie  Jo  Anne,  13 
Webb,  Betty,  91,  109,  157,  181,  195,  199, 

200,  222,  240,  247,  279,  280 
Weems,  Frankie  G.,  90,  169-70,  193-94, 

205 


390     I     INDEX 


Weems,  John  E.,  2,  24,  26,  27,  35,  40- 
49  passim,  54,  55,  63,  64,  66,  79, 
81,  85,  88-89,  90,  96,  98-99, 
105,  114,  116,  119,  121,  129-30, 
140-41,  145,  149,  157-58,  159, 
160,  174,  180,  181-83,  194,  203, 
210-11,  212,  214,  215,  217-18, 
218,  221,  222,  235,  239,  246,  247, 
251,  252,  254,  257,  264,  z66-6y, 
269,  270,  275-80,  282,  283-84, 
288,  291,  311-12,  315,  317,  322, 

339,  345,346,352- 

background  of,  20-21 

contract  through  year  2002,  279 

Honor  Code  protest  and,  196-97 

inauguration,  25,  36-38,  39 

named  as  president,  8,  19 

naming  of  graduate  school  after,  190, 
191 

photograph  of,  341 

retirement  plans,  6,  351-52 

Task  Force  for  the  Pursuit  of 
Excellence,  192-93,  198,  215 
Weems,  Ruth  Ellen  Taylor,  352 
Weems  Art  Gallery,  Frankie  G.,  170,  193, 

204 
Weems  Graduate  School,  John  E.,  259, 
286,  287,  330 

Challenge  for  Leadership  Institute, 
244 

naming  of,  190,  191,  195 

see  also  Graduate  studies 
Weems  Memorial  Garden,  Frankie  G.,  205 
Wellesley  College,  40 
Wessels,  Susan,  324 
West,  Fiarold,  Jr.,  237,  3 14 
West,  Melody,  1 29 
Westphal,W.  H.,  II 
Wharton,  Bob,  123 
Wheeler,  Ed,  78,  111-12,  178-79 
Whichard,  Judge  Willis,  125 
White,  Joyce,  60,  79 
White,  Leonard,  29,  179 
White  Iris  Ball,  230,  251 
Who's  Who  Among  Students  in  American 

Colleges  and  Universities,  132 
Wicker,  Beth,  98 
Wiggins,  Norman,  145 
Wilkinson,  Sylvia,  73 
Willard,  Amy,  250 
Williams,  Claude,  60,  112,  275,  353 
Williams,  Elaine,  46 
Williams,  Eleanor  Edwards,  29-30 
Williams,  F.  Carter,  60,  86,  112 
Williams,  Heidi  Ann,  239 
Williams,  Heidi  Sue,  239 
Williams,  Larry,  86 


Williams,  Turner,  86 

WiUiams,  Zelma  Green,  105 

Williams  and  Associates,  F.  Carter,  253, 

263-64 
Williford,  Jo  Ann,  67 
Wilson,  Elizabeth,  59 
Wilson,  Sir  Harold,  86-87,  2.24 
Wilson,  Henry  Hall,  22,  47 
Wilson,  Steve,  228 
Wingate  University,  221,  290 
WINGS  (Women  in  New  Goal  Settings), 

93 

Winnie-the-Pooh,  67 

Winterhoff,  Paul,  327 

Winz,  Burgunde,  178,  181,  247 

Wolfinger,  Elizabeth,  284 

Women  in  Science  Day,  306 

Women's  College  Coalition,  281,  295,  303 

Women's  colleges,  6,  158-61,  179, 
281-82,  295-96,  303 
fall  in  number  of,  197 
success  of  graduates  of,  40,  295,  303 

Women's  movement,  see  Feminist  Move- 
ment 

Wood,  Frank,  126 

Wood,  Ira,  67 

Woodard,  Francis  Pittman,  346 

Woodlief,  Erika  Suzanne,  348 

Woodlief,  Eugene,  348 

Woodlief,  Sharon,  342,  348 

Woodlief  Memorial  Scholarship,  Erika 
Suzanne,  348 

Woodrow  Wilson  Foundation,  Visiting  Fel- 
lows Program,  92 

Wooten,  Eliza  Rebecca,  234 

World  Almanac  and  Book  of  Facts,  5 

Wurst,  PhylUs,  66,  132 

Yarbrough,  John  A.,  18,  30 
Yarbrough,  Mary,  25-26,  30,  55 
Yarbrough  Chair  of  Chemistry,  Mary  E., 

26 
Yarbrough  Research  Center,  Mary  E., 

145-46 
Yates,  Judy,  22 
Yeager,  Betty  Jean,  179 
Yow,  Jan,  294 

Zelaya,  Jorge  Luis,  88 

Zenke,  Otto,  326 

Zhou  Yue,  247 

Zimmermann,  Gerhardt,  123 

Zingraff,  Owen,  223 

Zingraff,  Rhonda,  149,  174-75,  200,  227, 

348 
Zucker,  Kimberly,  296-97 
Zuo  Xiuyin,  247 


*«— ^  ,       Carolyn  Covington  Robinson, 

.  a  native  of  Rockingham,  NC, 
^  graduated  from  Meredith 
College  in  1950,  and  after  a 
hiatus  of  only  eight  years 
returned  to  Meredith,  where 
she  remained  for  34  years, 
serving  as  the  first  director 
of  publications  (1967-1970) 
and  as  director  of  alumnae 
affairs  (1970-1976).  She  completed  her  tenure  at 
Meredith  in  the  publications  division,  retiring  in 
1 99  z  as  college  editor  and  director  of  publications 
emeritus.  She  is  a  1988  recipient  of  a  Meredith 
alumna  award,  has  served  on  the  charter  centen- 
nial executive  committee,  and  has  also  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Carlyle  Campbell  Friends  of  the 
Library. 

Her  literary  and  civic  achievements  have  flour- 
ished alongside  her  Meredith  career.  In  1974,  she 
wrote  a  historical  drama  for  the  centennial  of 
Tabernacle  Baptist  Church  in  Raleigh;  in  1986, 
she  was  commissioned  to  write  a  play  for  the 
North  Carohna  WMU's  1986  annual  convention, 
in  observance  of  its  looth  anniversary;  and  in 
199 1,  she  wrote  Parable  of  the  Morning  Star, 
which  was  performed  at  Meredith's  charter  cen- 
tennial celebration. 

In  the  early  days  of  her  career,  the  City  of 
Raleigh  named  her  community  ambassador  to  the 
former  Yugoslavia,  and  she  lived  for  several 
months  in  the  Bosnian  city  of  Sarajevo.  Over 
the  years,  she  has  been  active  in  civic  affairs, 
serving  on  the  board  of  directors  of  the  YWCA, 
and  receiving  the  Golden  Deeds  Award  from 
the  Exchange  Club  of  Raleigh.  In  1994,  she  pre- 
sented a  paper  for  the  Harnett  County  Historical 
Society,  in  commemoration  of  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  former  Meredith  presi- 
dent Carlyle  Campbell.  The  first  woman  elected  to 
the  diaconate  at  Raleigh's  Tabernacle  Baptist 
Church,  Robinson  has  taught  Sunday  school  there 
for  30  years  and  currently  chairs  the  personnel 
committee. 

Author  photograph:  Suzanne  Britt 

The  Meredith  College  Press 

3800  Hillsborough  Street 
Raleigh,  North  Carohna  27607 


[J— 


"The  College's  most  valuable  history  can 


be  found  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all 


who  have  passed  through  her  doors. 


—  SARAH  ELIZABETH  VERNON  WATTS,  '35 


ISBN:  1-879635-01-1