From These Stones - Spring 2009 by Mars Hill University

Spring 2009

Volume 11, Number 2

From These Stones â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spring 2009

Magazine Staff EDITOR :: Mike Thornhill ’88, Director of Communications ASSOCIATE EDITOR :: Teresa Buckner, Media Relations Coordinator CONTRIBUTORS :: Bud Christman Brian Danforth ’06 Ophelia DeGroot ’58 Rachel Granger Gill ’52

Mars Hill College Administration PRESIDENT :: Dr. Dan G. Lunsford ’69 VP OF ADMINISTRATION :: Bob McLendon VP OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT :: Bud Christman VP OF ACADEMIC & STUDENT AFFAIRS :: Dr. Nina Pollard STRATEGIC PLANNING & INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH :: Dr. Grainger Caudle CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER :: Neil Tilley SPECIAL ASST. TO THE PRESIDENT/ALUMNI RELATIONS :: Ophelia DeGroot ’58

From These Stones: The Mars Hill College Magazine is published regularly by the Office of Communications. It is distributed, without charge, to alumni, donors, and friends of the college. Notices of changes of address and class notes should be addressed to the Alumni Office, Mars Hill College, P.O. Box 370, Mars Hill, NC 28754. Phone 828.689.1102. Fax 828.689.1292. E-mail alumni@mhc.edu. Letters to the editor and all other correspondence regarding the magazine should be addressed to the Office of Communications, Mars Hill College, P.O. Box 6765, Mars Hill, NC 28754. Phone 828.689.1298. Fax 828.689.1105. E-mail mthornhill@mhc.edu. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Alumni Office, Mars Hill College, P.O. Box 6665, Mars Hill, NC 28754. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

New and returning Mars Hill College trustees for 2009: (l-r) Outgoing chairman Lee Cain, Ron Martin, Fred Day, Arlo Jennings, Jerry H. Cades, Cheryl Pappas, Joel Newsome. Not pictured: Bonnie Adams, Johns Ayers, Jr., Michael Groce, and Robert Merrill. 2

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

Spring 2009 Volume 11, Number 2

In This Issue 4

It’s His Calling

Cherokee Night

Around Campus

Reﬂecting on Changes

The Hill is Alive

Advancing the Cause

Alumni News & Notes

Class Notes

Jim Jones ’53 flunks retirement, returns to caring for his community

Honoring the original Appalachians

First Montgomery Scholars named; Hall of Fame relocates to MHC

Charity Ray provides unique perspective on historic times

Summer will bring variety of sounds of music

Capital Campaign approaching final mark

Opportunities for you to stay connected

Keeping up with fellow alums

On the cover: The Ferguson Math & Science Center, under the watchful eye of Bailey Mountain. From These Stones – Spring 2009

It’s His Calling by Rachel Granger Gill ’52

Jim Jones ’53 was officially retired. It was his time to relax a bit. But the hard-working family doctor discovered that cleaning fish and keeping his boat in good shape was not his idea of pleasure. “To tell the truth, I flunked retirement,” he says with a hearty laugh. “Fishing every day wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.” This jovial, caring man returned to work, back to practicing family medicine. That’s where his heart is. Jones is now a part-time medical director and staff physician for three community primary care clinics in Pender County, not far from his home. “I fell in love with the place,” he says. “I’m totally enjoying it.” “He’s an old-fashioned doc,” says Bruce Williams, a family nurse practitioner at the Black River Family Practice. “He just has a love of medicine. He fills a great need here.” Jones began his practice in Family Medicine in Jacksonville, N.C. “The first year, I delivered 200 babies,” he says with pride. For 16 years, Jones was a very busy man, happily taking care of patients from newborns to the elderly and every one in between, when he was invited to found a Family Medicine Department at Eastern Carolina University’s medical school in Greenville, N.C. “Family medicine was built on the prototype of the general practitioner, the ‘good ole doc” who was always there, made house calls, delivered babies and acted as adviser if you needed him,” says Jones. In the 1940s, specialization became the wave of the future. It appeared, to some, that family medicine was doomed to extinction. With Jones’ leadership, the university generated a series of innovations that led to today’s specialty of family practice. “Certain principles of family medicine influence the way we practice. One of the most important is continuity of care, which means the patient repeatedly sees the same physician. It also means that, as much as possible, we care for a patient from the cradle 4

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

to the grave,” Jones continues. “Over the years we get to know our patients, as well as their families. In my opinion you cannot be a good family practitioner if you don’t genuinely care about people and enjoy interacting with them. You must be a compassionate person, too. You can never be sure what the day will bring.” Although it was diﬃcult to leave his family practice in Jacksonville, Jones accepted East Carolina’s oﬀer. A year later he was appointed Chair of the Family Medicine Department. At ECU, Jones became aware that many people in Eastern North Carolina lived in remote small towns and rural areas where there was very little medical care. To Jones’ delight, many of his students began to settle in these areas. Today, around 80 percent of family medicine doctors who trained at ECU have chosen to remain in the area. With his current job in Pender County, Jones and his former students are working together to take care of people in need of medical care. It’s his calling.

call to full-time Christian service as a missionary,” he recalls. Later, he began to have questions. “In reading Dr. Schweitzer’s work, I realized I did not have to go to Africa or India. I found my place of service wasn’t Africa; it was the medically underserved in Eastern North Carolina. I came to understand I could serve God and humanity here in North Carolina. I made my life around that, ﬁrst as a practitioner. As a professor at ECU, he trained doctors to serve in that area. In diﬀerent ways, my whole life has been devoted to serving the underserved people in that part of our state.” Jones grew up in Pembroke, N.C., a Lumbee Indian boy who knew what it meant to be underserved. In those day, members of the Lumbee tribe were treated poorly by whites in the town. Members of the tribe were often not welcomed in the community. Jim Crow laws required Indian children to attend separate schools from whites, restaurants refused to serve them, and non-Indians, taught from their birth to belittle their Indian neighbors, hurled hurtful words at Lumbees.

“Growing up, I read a lot about Albert Schweitzer and how he went to Africa to serve humanity. I read with fascination about the Lambarene Hospital he When Jim was 10 years old, his parents set up near the Ogowe River in Gabon,” abandoned their children. “Our parents says Jones. left in the “Schweitzer middle of believed if the night,” Jones had not been admitted patients were says Jones. close to their “Our grandbecause Bowman Gray would accept homes and parents took families, the us in and only white students. For Mars Hill, healing proprovided cess would be for us” The that was a moral issue. Letters faster, better ﬁve siblings and easier. grew up in a of complaint from Dean Lee and I became loving famcaptivated ily, but they the MHC Board of Trustees were by the life of were very this German poor, Jones successful in helping Bowman Gray physician. remembers. “It was a Helping in to drop its whites only policy. struggle, but remote areas, our grandI thought, parents did was exactly the best they the way I could.” His teacher grandmother “was a wanted to spend my life.” powerful lady,” he says, “but the 22-acre farm was not big enough to support the As a teenager, Jones dedicated his life family.” to become a foreign missionary. “I was trying to answer what I thought was a From These Stones – Spring 2009

To help feed the family, Jones got a job delivering papers and became very close to a friendly couple on his route. While Jones was a senior in high school, the husband died. When Jim told his widow he planned to going to Wake Forest in the fall, she broke into tears. “’Oh, Jim,’” she cried. “’Papa would be so disappointed that you’re not going to Mars Hill.’ That was a lot of pressure for a 17-year-old boy to deal with,” he remembers. Although he knew very little about Mars Hill, he could not bear to hurt his friend. Quickly, he applied and was accepted to Mars Hill Junior College. “It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” he says. “Attending Mars Hill was a ﬂuke. It had to be a divine intervention.” Within a short time after Jones arrived at Mars Hill, everybody on campus

knew him. The fact that Jones was the first Lumbee Indian to study at Mars Hill interested students, but his talent to entertain really got their attention. Classmates howled with laughter as they listened to his gentle but funny jokes. Jones was best known for his imitation of Mars Hill’s President Hoyt Blackwell; his impersonation was so skillful that even Dr. Blackwell had to laugh. “I got so good, I could even fool Mrs. Blackwell on the phone,” says a laughing Jones. But Jones was much more than a comedian. He was also a serious student who graduated from the college with honors. He praises the college for its emphasis on academics and values. “At Mars Hill, I learned values that have guided my life all these years and still do,” he says. Like many other students, Jones came to Mars Hill from a high school that did not offer advanced math. Each year, Math professor Emmett Sams offered extra classes to help students who were struggling. Jones jumped at the chance. After a time, he was the only student left in 6

the tutoring session. It was then that the two, professor and student, became good friends. Mr. Sams invited Jim to his house and made him feel like one of the family. “I am so grateful for him. With Mr. Sams’ help I made a B on one math class, and an A on the second. Without his help, I never would have graduated,” Jones says. Jones studied hard, but he also loved adventures. Warner Bumgardner (‘53), was Jones’ roommate and good friend. One of Bumgardner’s fondest memories was a heavy snow. “About midnight,” he remembers, “Jim and I took sleds and sneaked out of Treat Dorm. We had the time of our lives sledding down a steep hill near the town cemetery. The only problem was a barbed-wire fence at the bottom of the hill. We had to fall oﬀ the sleds before reaching that fence, or we

could have been prime candidates for the cemetery.” The two survived and are still best friends. After graduating from Mars Hill, Jones continued his education at Wake Forest College, where he majored in pre-medicine. One of his required subjects was Philosophy. His professor, Dr. A.C. Reid was revered on campus. When Jones’ first test was returned, with a failing grade, he was horrified. It was the lowest grade he had ever made, and he was frantic it would keep him out of medical school. He ran immediately to see Dr. Reid. Jones told Reid of his anguish. “He looked at me, shook his head and asked, ‘Mr. Jones, did any of your other teachers ever ask you to think?’” Jones was dumbfounded for a moment. With all his other courses he could go to the chalkboard and fill it up with formulas, but Dr. Reid obviously meant something else. “I guess not Dr. Reid, but if you would be willing to take me on and teach me how to think, I’ll do whatever you say.” Reid was visibly moved by that and invited Jones to come

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

by his oﬃce on a regular basis. “Finally, he allowed me to retake the test. I got an A, and he became a fast friend,” a smiling Jones recalls.

Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina

Jones graduated from Wake Forest with great grades, and he had no doubt he would be accepted by Wake’s Bowman Gray Medical School. But while his friends were accepted quickly, Jones was left to worry. Eventually, he was called to a second interview. Again, he waited. On the ﬁrst day of the ﬁrst semester, Bowman Gray admitted him, with no explanation why his acceptance was so late.

“I’ve been blessed in so many ways. I’m grateful for every day,” says Jones. He no longer teaches medical students. Instead, this cherished family doctor is back, caring for patients at a clinic in Maple Hill, N.C., where patients and doctor work together.

It was ten years later, on a visit to Mars Hill College, that he learned why he had to wait for such a long before Bowman Gray accepted him. A conversation with Dean Ralph Lee answered his questions. Dean Lee had learned that Jones had not been admitted because Bowman Gray would accept only white students. For Mars Hill, that was a moral issue. Letters of complaint from Dean Lee and the MHC Board of Trustees were successful in helping Bowman Gray to drop its whites only policy. The intervention opened the door for Jones. Classmates elected him president of their class, and he was voted president the three years the class was together. With irony in his voice, Jones smiles, “I was the ﬁrst American Indian enrolled at the school. Wake Forest University is very proud of me now.” Jones does not talk about the awards and honors he received over the years, but his nine-page Curriculum Vitae tells an incredible life story. A few of these tributes follow: The Berbecker Distinguished Professor of Rural Medicine President of N.C. Academy of Family Physicians President of American Academy of Family Physicians Director, American Board of Family Practice Chairman, Improving the Health of Native American’s Program Member & past President, Jacksonville Housing Authority National Indian Physician of the year

“I think the best compliment I’ve ever had was by an elderly couple who had recently moved from Mississippi to North Carolina,” says Jones. After a few treatments, the couple asked Jones to manage their health care. “He told me that I was the best doctor they have ever had. ‘When we’re coming to see Dr. Jones, we’re coming to see a friend,’ his patient said. “To me, that is the highest accolade I have ever had.” One little lady who came to him was very ill with cancer but could not afford medicine. When Jones offered to find money to pay for her medication, she refused. “I won’t take somebody’s money,” she said. Again, Jones asked if there was anything she wanted. “No, I have everything I want. I have friends, my mind’s good, plenty to eat and I’m happy.” “She died with dignity,” Jones says, “but most patients do not choose to die that way. They want to live as long as possible. Many do not have health care; for them it’s either medicine or food. The American healthcare system must be changed. It must take care of those without.” With his patients in mind, Jones has become an active advocate for universal health coverage. Dr. Jim Jones loves his work, but sometimes he wonders if he should have gone to Africa like Albert Schweitzer, his hero! But his questions do not haunt for long. His wife, Michelle, who is also a family medicine doctor, assures him there is no doubt that he is following God’s call. “Eastern North Carolina is your calling,” she reminds him. And once again, he is content. From These Stones – Spring 2009

CHEROKEE NIGHT HONORS THE “ORIGINAL APPALACHIAN PEOPLE” by Teresa Buckner

Mars Hill College and the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies paid tribute to the original Appalachian people during Cherokee Night on April 18 at Moore Auditorium. According to Leslie Smith, Program Coordinator for the Ramsey Center, Cherokee Night was an unparalleled cultural event to honor this ancient piece of Appalachian heritage and share it with others. “Our Cherokee Heritage is such an important part of who we are here in the Southern Appalachians. It’s wonderful that in this region, we have so many events honoring the dance and song traditions of our European ancestors, but events like Cherokee Night help us honor the oldest part of our heritage,” she said.

CHEROKEE NIGHT FUNDED THROUGH NEH CHALLENGE GRANT Cherokee Night is one of a series of programs related to Mars Hill College’s receipt last year of a “Challenge Grant” from the National Endowment from the Humanities. During the 2008-09 academic year, Mars Hill College and the Ramsey Center have sponsored programs designed to highlight the value of Native American culture in Appalachian history. Specifically, this year’s programming relates to the Gertrude Ruskin collection of Native American artifacts in the Southern Appalachian Archives of the Ramsey Center. Additional collections of the Archives will be featured over the coming two years. According to Karen Paar, Archivist and Director of the Ramsey Center, Mars Hill College received the maximum amount offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will provide $500,000 in federal funds, available in installments. The challenge, however, is that the award requires the college to raise $1.5 million in matching funds. “With the award of a highly competitive Challenge Grant, the National Endowment for the Humanities has recognized the value of the Southern Appalachian Archives collections and enabled Mars Hill College to meet the stewardship challenge these collections represent,” Paar said. The $2 million total will establish an endowment that will permanently fund a professional archivist position and create a preservation and programming fund for the Southern Appalachian Archives. “Our hope is that events like Cherokee Night will call attention to the untapped treasures available in the Southern Appalachian Archives, and instill a sense of shared responsibility to preserve these gifts for future generations,” Paar said. Persons interested in helping Mars Hill College and the Ramsey Center to meet the challenge offered by the NEH Grant may contact the college’s Office of Advancement (828/689-1102) for additional details. 8

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

The guest of honor for Cherokee Night was revered Cherokee elder and spiritual leader Walker Calhoun. Widely recognized as a keeper of ancient Cherokee traditions, Calhoun and members of his family formed the Raven Rock dancers in the 1980s to keep alive the music and dance customs of the Cherokee people. According to Smith, this event is distinctive because of its authenticity. “This is the real thing,” Smith said. “They are the authentic traditions handed down by generations of Cherokee people.” The song and dance culture of the Cherokee People has existed for thousands of years in spite of pressure to acculturate to white ways, Smith said. The old ways of the Cherokee have held on despite the attempt in 1836 to completely remove the Cherokee people from western North Carolina, and the corruption of these traditions to accommodate the tourism industry. “The fact that these traditions still exist at all is due to the work of a few passionate individuals who have made preservation of the Cherokee song and dance traditions their life’s work. One of those individuals is Walker Calhoun,” Smith said. Calhoun learned the songs and dances of his people when he was a boy growing up in the community of Big Cove, on the Qualla Boundary, from his half- uncle,

Will West Long. A medicine man of vast knowledge of Cherokee culture, history, letters, and language, Will West Long died in 1947 at the age of 77. His elders were the men and women who had hidden from the soldiers during the Cherokee Removal. According to author Ted Olson, Calhoun learned most of his uncle’s repertoire by the age of ten. In his book, Blue Ridge Folklife, Olson wrote: “Although Long taught these songs and dances to others of Calhoun’s generation, Calhoun was virtually the only one to defy the trend toward cultural assimilation by carrying the songs and dances into the 1990s.” For his work in preserving Cherokee culture, Calhoun in 1988 received the ﬁrst Sequoyah Award, created especially to honor him at a gathering of the Eastern and Western Bands at the Cherokee Fall Festival in October 1988. In 1990, he received the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award, and in 1992, he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Calhoun’s cassette Where the Raven’s Roost, a collection of songs learned from Long, was selected by the Library of Congress for its “Best Folk Recordings List” of 1991. From These Stones – Spring 2009

FOUR STUDENTS NAMED MONTGOMERY SCHOLARS by Teresa Buckner

Four students at Mars Hill College have been named as the first recipients of the James H. Montgomery scholarship, an award created and funded to further the education of students who study the southern Blue Ridge region. The Montgomery Scholarship was created last year by a $500,000 endowment from James H. Montgomery of Austin, Texas. A native of North Carolina, Montgomery graduated from Guilford College and pursued graduate studies in Spanish at the University of North Carolina, UCLA, the University of Havana, the University of Puerto Rico, and the University of Mexico. An old-time music aficionado and collector, he had long known of Mars Hill because the college houses the Bascom Lamar Lunsford collection of manuscripts, recordings, and instruments, and annually hosts the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Minstrel of the Appalachians Festival. In fact, Montgomery donated his own collection of recorded old-time music to help further enrich MHC’s holdings. Montgomery endowed the scholarship for students who are involved in Mars Hill’s regional studies minor – an interdisciplinary minor to study the region in terms of its history, culture and environment. For three of the Montgomery Scholars, an interest in regional studies grows from the fact that they hail from the western North Carolina region. But for the fourth, a study of the culture of Appalachia means an introduction to a very different culture which is half a world away from her birthplace. The 2009 Montgomery Scholars are: (back, left to right) Aki Masunaga of Osaka, Japan; Breanna Mason of Brevard, NC; Savannah Garrison of Mars Hill; and (front) Brandon Johnson of Lenoir, NC. According to professor of English and Regional Studies Joanna Pierce, there is no geographic qualification for either the Montgomery Scholarship or the regional studies program. Pierce said: “For local students, the regional studies program may help them see the culture they have known all their lives through fresh eyes. For students who are not from the Blue Ridge region, or possibly even the United States, regional studies can foster a recognition and appreciation for those characteristics that make each region in the world unique and special.” According to Pierce, a committee of faculty at the college chose students for the first Montgomery Scholarships who would exemplify the character of the award. “We were looking for the kind of student Mars Hill seems to specialize in—smart kids, interesting, interested in the world around them and interested in learning about where they are right now. We all knew these students, and we all agreed that each had that special Mars Hill quality—lots of promise, and lots of potential to live up to that promise,” she said. 10

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

MHC Is New Home to Hall of Fame Mars Hill College has been chosen as the new location for the Women Band Director’s International Hall of Fame. The WBDI Hall of Fame is located on the main floor of Robert L. Moore Hall, the center of Mars Hill’s music program. The collection of oil paintings will honor outstanding WBDI members who have distinguished themselves in the music profession through national and/or international recognition and musical achievement. Michael Robinson, band director and professor of music at Mars Hill, said the Hall of Fame is a “who’s who” among female band directors across the United States. He said he was thrilled that the memorial would be housed at the college for a number of reasons. “These women achieved great things at a time when being a band director was a man’s profession,” Robinson said. “Even now, many of them can continue to be role models for the future female band directors and educators here at Mars hill, and elsewhere. The presence of the Hall of Fame in Moore Hall will also draw attention to our excellent and rigorous music program here at Mars Hill. It is a great honor for Mars Hill to house this memorial.” The initial induction ceremony for the Women Band Directors Hall of Fame was held at Middle Tennessee State University. The collection was later moved to the Sousa House in West Lafayette, Indiana. The collection to be moved to Mars Hill College has now grown to six members: Gladys Wright; Helen May Butler, also known as “The Female Sousa”; Elizabeth Green (an author of one of the textbooks currently in use in the Mars Hill College music program); Marie Louisa Cotaya; Barbara Lovett; and Pat Garren. The Women Band Directors International was officially chartered in 1969. It is the only international organization for women band directors, and is intended to serve as an association which supports, promotes, and mentors women in the band field.

Do you know a high school student for whom Mars Hill would be a good fit? Let the Admissions Office know about her or him.

by Teresa Buckner

here the pavement ends on Mt. Olive Road in Mars Hill, there stands a remnant of a bygone era. Peeking out from numerous too-close sapling trees and a few stray vines, the remains of the Long Ridge School are not that diﬀerent from numerous other simple, boxy schoolhouses that once dotted the hills of Appalachia. But the Long Ridge School is not like many other community-built one- and tworoom school houses throughout the region. The Long Ridge School was one of nearly 5,000 schools for black children throughout the rural South built by the Rosenwald Initiative, a program funded by Julius Rosenwald, the one-time president of Sears, Roebuck and Company.

“Oh, I can’t even count how many of us there were that went to school there,” Charity Ray said recently. “See, we had students that came up from Hot Springs and Marshall too.”

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At 72, Charity Ray has been a resident of Mars Hill for most of her life, and she has been an employee of Mars Hill College for 38 years. She began as a secretarial assistant in the president’s oﬃce in 1970, but soon afterward, found her niche in the school’s library.

the community made clay pots from the clay found near the school and sold the pots to make money toward the school’s construction. By the time Charity was in school, the Long Ridge School and Mt. Olive Church had become the center of life in Mars Hill’s black community. “All the black people in Mars Hill bought land up around Mt. Olive so we could be near the school and the church,” she said. Charity’s mother did domestic work and her father sharecropped and did farm labor jobs on the side.

These days, Charity works at a school that enjoys the largest student minority population of any other college in western North Carolina. In her role as a library assistant, she sees and works with young people every day who have never known the sting of institutionalized segregation. Those young people have grown up in an America where their choices of friends, “I started school when I was five years roommates, and even dates, are increasold because my mother couldn’t get a ingly colorblind. babysitter and the teacher said, oh that’s alright, just let her come on to school Many of them helped to elect America’s and I’ll give her something to do,” Charity first African-American president, Barack said. “So that’s how that happened.” Obama. When President Obama was sworn into office on January 20th, most What Charity did, mostly, in her words, of those students, whatever their racial was “doodle.” The teacher gave her crayor political background, realized that the ons and she drew picture after picture. It event was a historic one. But it may be wasn’t long before the teacher realized hard for them to honestly fathom how far that Charity had a gift for art, and when America has come until they view see the Easter rolled around, she enlisted her story of segregation through the eyes of youngest student to draw bunnies to someone they know—like Charity. decorate the blackboard. “It seems almost like it never happened,” she says. Matter-of-factly and without rancor, she tells about a time when there were places she could not go and things she could not do. And then, with characteristic optimism, she shakes her head and says, “You just cannot dwell on the hard times.” Like the Rosenwald school, Charity’s memories tell a story of a time and a place when Americans were segregated at work, in their communities, at school, by the color of their skin. “I had white friends that I played with and they didn’t understand why we couldn’t go to school together,” Charity said. “But their parents explained it to them.” Charity’s mother was an elementary student when Long Ridge Elementary was built. The school was funded by the Rosenwald Initiative, with additional funds from a local fundraising venture. According to Charity, local parents in

“It was a gift; it wasn’t anything I learned” she said. “I could always just look at something and then draw it.” In the years since she discovered that gift, Charity has taken art classes and honed her artistic talent on canvas. She now sells her paintings in various local venues. Charity attended the Long Ridge School through the 8th grade. At that point, she joined other African-American students from Madison and Yancey counties in riding a public bus to Asheville. “The county paid for our tuition to go to a private school in Asheville because they didn’t want integration,” she said. So she caught the bus on Main Street in Mars Hill, and rode to Lexington Avenue in Asheville. She and her sisters then walked about a mile to Allen High School, a private school for black girls near the present-day tunnel on Tunnel Road. At the end of each school day, Charity remembers lugging a heavy load of books back to the bus stop. She and the other From These Stones – Spring 2009

black students had to sit, or stand, in the back of the bus, even if there were seats available in the front. “It did make you mad sometimes, because you were tired and you’d get to the bus and maybe you’d have to stand even if there were empty seats,” she said. “You got angry and then that was it, because you didn’t dare be rude. My parents wouldn’t have stood for that.” The forced separation of white and black children at the bus stop, on the bus and in school created fear and distrust. “I remember one time, some of the white kids thought that we had tails,” she said, laughing. “But we told things on them too. It was just something that kids do,” she said.

Sometime later, Charity had “a feeling” that she should return home for a visit. While in Mars Hill, her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Soon after his death, Charity’s mother got cancer and eventually passed away as well. Char(above) The Long Ridge School, as painted by Charity Ray. ity stayed with (below) The Long Ridge School as it looks today. her parents through their illnesses, while months turned into years. She never returned to her job in New York.

After graduation, Charity did domestic work for Dr. Hoyt Blackwell, the president of Mars Hill College. But she knew that she didn’t want that life forever. “I was determined not to be domestic for the rest of my life,” she said. So, during a visit to a cousin in New York City, she decided to stay. Charity worked at a department store in New York for about ten years. It was during this time that she heard about a Baptist preacher from Memphis who was making waves for his moving sermons about racial equality. Not one to be an activist, she never went to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak, even when he was in New York City, but she was impressed with his words. “I felt like it was going to take time for there to be equality, but I thought the 14

direction he was taking was in line with what Christians would think, that you don’t return evil for evil,” she said. A woman of deep faith, Charity applies scripture to every area of her life. “You should be bold in your beliefs, especially if they are according to scripture, but violence just never solved anything.”

Not long after returning to Mars Hill, Charity became the pianist for Mt. Olive Church, a position she’s held now for over 30 years. And, in 1970, she took a secretarial position at Mars Hill College. Charity and a few other people from Mt. Olive Church formed a small singing group, and for several years, they traveled to various churches in Madison County to sing. “In that way, we made so many friends in Madison County,” she said. Among the group of singers who traveled from church to church was Charity’s uncle, Manuel Briscoe, a well-known employee of the town of Mars Hill for many years. Briscoe had a reputation among older folks in Mars Hill as a godly man of character, and in fact, a small monument on Main Street commemo-

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

rates Briscoe’s many contributions to the town. It has been thus, in small and seemingly inconsequential ways, that Charity and her church family have fought—without ﬁghting—a cultural racism that relegated them to a segregated school as small children. “The color of your skin is just pigment,” she tells students at Mars Hill College when professors invite her to address a class. “All blood runs red.”

Charity’s brand of “activism” is gentle and loving, and recognizes that even the right words do not always make for equality. “Hatred and prejudice are things that happen in your heart, and it takes a heart change. You can act one way, but you can feel another way,” she said. Not long ago, she was asked if she thought that she and the other Mt. Olive singers had had a positive impact on race relations in Madison County through the years. “I think maybe we did,” she says, smiling. “Maybe we did.”

Witnessing History Mars Hill College students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Timberline room on January 20 to watch history unfold during televised coverage of the inauguration of President Barrack Obama.

From These Stones – Spring 2009

Mars Hill is Alive with the Sound of Music This summer, the hills will be alive with music, as musicians from a variety of traditions converge on Mars Hill College for learning, jamming and keeping traditions alive. For almost 20 years now, Mars Hill College has hosted Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week, a week of intense classes, jam sessions, singing and concerts celebrating the oldest folk music of the Appalachian mountains. Using that same model, the college has added two more weeks of musical learning and exploration with “Bluegrass in the Blue Ridge Mountains” and “Strings, Rhythm and Song: African American Roots.” According to Conferences and Events Coordinator Loretta Shelton, the expansion in this summer’s offerings came about as a result of the resounding success of Old Time Music Week. “Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week has been so successful for so many years, that it has continued to generate more and more interest in related music traditions. It became a matter of needing more than one week so that we could serve a broader community of musicians,” she said. Hilary Dirlam, Director of the Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week for over fifteen years, has worked closely with Shelton in planning these new music weeks and getting them up and running. “There is a rich diversity in America’s traditional music, and it’s really exciting to be able to reflect this in the programs being offered this summer” Dirlam said.

June 7–12

June 21–27

June 28–July 3

To the uninitiated, separate courses celebrating “old time music” and “bluegrass music” may seem redundant. Not so, according to Dirlam. “They are two diﬀerent genres,” Dirlam said. ”Old time music is what I would call a precursor of bluegrass.” In general, bluegrass is more familiar to non-musicians and although it has its roots in the Appalachians, it is actually a later form of “old-time music,” she said.

“’Old time music’ is more like a folk relative of bluegrass music,” Dirlam said. “The music ﬁnds its roots in the old tunes that were handed down to the Appalachian settlers from their English, Scottish and Irish ancestors. Other tunes and rhythms from the African-American tradition share an equal place in the formation of old time music. Both bluegrass and old time would be nothing without the banjo, imported with the Africans who were brought to work as slaves.” For more information or to register for one of these conferences, go to www.mhc.edu and click on the “Conferences & Events” quick link, or call Loretta Shelton at (828) 689-1646.

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

Values and Vision Campaign Closing In on Goal The Values and Vision Campaign, the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in Mars Hill’s history, has surpassed the $33 million mark. Dr. Troy Day, campaign co-chair believes, “The success of the campaign has been instrumental to the improvements made on-campus the last few years. The generosity of our alumni and college friends is humbling, particularly in the midst of the harsh economic realities our country is experiencing. We look forward to the campaign’s timely completion and hope to further develop many of the important relationships forged during Values and Vision.” Several campaign priorities have been completed, including Bailey Mountain Residence Hall, Ferguson Math & Science Center, renovation to Nash Educational Hall, the Ammons Family Athletic Complex, and Scott Merrill Memorial Press Box. With approximately 7% still needed toward the $35.5 million goal, fundraising continues for Day Hall, renovation to Wall Science Building, and much needed improvements to the Don Henderson baseball field. It is not too late to be a part of the Values and Vision Campaign! Simply complete the form on the attached reply envelope and mail to the Office of Institutional Advancement.

Sign up to receive Inside MHC, the bimonthly e-newsletter from Mars Hill College. Find out the latest happenings on campus, information about upcoming alumni gatherings, and much more. Get on the list. Go to www.mhc.edu and click on Alumni, then fill out the simple subscription form. From These Stones – Spring 2009

Alumni News & Notes

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Willa Wyatt ’68 will serve as the next President of the National Alumni Board. The NAB Executive Board Meeting for Spring 2009 is scheduled for May 7, with the full NAB meeting on May 8 at 11:30 a.m. in Pittman Dining Hall. Senior Celebration, which recognizes graduating seniors and their families and friends, is sponsored by the National Alumni Board. It will be held at 5:30 pm on May 8 in Pittman Dining Hall. Reservations may be made by contacting Dean of Students Craig Goforth at (828) 689-1405 or cgoforth@mhc.edu no later than May 1. Mars Hill College alumni in Buncombe County will get together for a luncheon at noon on May 1 at the Country Club of Asheville. Thanks to a generous gift from a Buncombe County alumnus, there will be no charge for you to attend. We do need to know how many to expect, so please make your reservation with Fiﬁ DeGroot at (828) 689-1438 or fdegroot@mhc.edu no later than April 27. MHC alumni in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina will have a chance to get together for dinner and a ballgame on June 26. Join us at McCormick Field in Asheville to enjoy the Asheville Tourists’ game against the Greenville Drive. For more information contact the Oﬃce of Institutional Advancement at (828) 689-1102. Mark your calendars for Homecoming 2009. It’s the weekend of October 24. Plans are underway for a fun weekend. Watch your mail and the MHC website for more details as we get closer to Homecoming. Recent Alumni of the Month: February: Julian Cuthbertson ’08 March: Jim ’84 and Dee ’85 Hartz See all the past recipients and nominate someone you think is deserving of the title on the alumni page at www.mhc.edu.

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

Dime-a-Day Challenges Young Alums to Make Change It seems like a day can’t go by without the media bombarding us with the latest news of the economy. Mars Hill College, like many academic institutions, has a secure financial foundation but still faces the many challenges of this economy. Needless to say, we have experienced a decline in the ability to fund scholarships for the students who have filled your shoes, and for the students to follow. It’s crucial that we maintain the support for these students, because for some, these scholarships are critically necessary for them and their families. We realize that you, too, have been affected by this tough economy. That’s why we are excited to introduce the Dime-a-Day competition in which the classes of 1990-2006 will compete to show the most support for the MHC Annual Fund by donating just a dime a day. By giving a dime a day, you can help to support the place you trusted for your higher education. Many of us will pass up a dime found on the sidewalk, the street, or even underneath those infamous couch cushions. “Keep the change,” is heard at drive-thru windows across the nation. One dime may be miniscule, but collectively, we can make a change with just that—change! We have developed the following choices: 1. 1 year: $36.50….a tank of gas for a smaller car 2. 6 months: $18.25….pizza & a video rental 3. 3 months: $9.00…...a solo movie date 4. 1 month: $3.10…..the daily Starbucks run Our goal is to have participation from each of the 16 classes represented in this challenge. If 2000 people donate a dime a day, those gifts amount to $73,000! The winning class will be featured in the fall 2009 edition of From These Stones magazine, so gather up those dimes to make a change! For more information contact Brian Danforth ’06 at (828) 689-1148 or bdanforth@mhc.edu.

From These Stones – Spring 2009

CLASS notes Class notes information is compiled from alumni submissions, news media reports, and other announcements. The Alumni Office welcomes pictures and/or news of weddings, babies and events (advanced degrees, career changes, church or community honors, etc.) from our alumni. You may e-mail fdegroot@mhc.edu or mail to Fifi DeGroot, Alumni Office, P.O. Box 370, Mars Hill, NC 28754.

1950s Class of 1951 Betty Shoaf Privette has launched an online gallery of some of her artwork. The website is www.plantsinthebible. com. Betty is also teaching art classes at Piedmont Crossing retirement community in Thomasville, NC. Class of 1952 Robert Reese and Bobbie Jean Thompson ’53 of Knoxville, TN, celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in March. They invite classmates to contact them at (865) 522-6455. Class of 1958 A composition by Jim Jerome Williams entitled “A Parting Blessing” will be performed at Carnegie Hall this summer as part of Shawnee Press’s 70th Anniversary Gala. (Mark Cabaniss '82 is president of Shawnee Press.)

1960s Class of 1960 Linda Simmons Parker married Lloyd Parker in October 2008 in Greenville, NC.

Class of 1969 Dr. Wayne P. Hunt, Clinical Director - Mental Health for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was Board Certified in Counseling Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in 2008. Dr. Hunt was also inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Counseling Psychology.

1970s Class of 1971 Timothy A. Bramlett has written and published three science fiction novels. They are entitled, in chronological order, Sharkey and the Space Pirates, Sharkey Explores the Unknown, and Science Gone Mad. His second book, Sharkey Explores the Unknown, was featured in the January 2008 issue Children’s Bookwatch and provided to the Helen C. White Library’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (University of Wisconsin). He had a short story published in Nova Magazine and was featured in a live radio interview by WOCM radio, Ocean City, Maryland. His third book, Sharkey And the Parallel Universe, will be out sometime next year.

Class of 1965 Gerald Lankford is chairman of the 200809 fundraising campaign for the United Way of Wilkes in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Class of 1975 Lew Deal was featured in Outdoor Life magazine’s December 2008/January 2009 issue as one of the “Top 25 Men and Women Who Have Changed the Face of Hunting and Fishing.” Lew was recognized for his work as an advocate for

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

CLASS notes disabled veteran outdoorsmen, including leading the efforts that resulted in passage of the Disabled Sportsmen’s Access Act. Graham Mintz continues to be a loyal donor of books to the Mars Hill College library.

in Education degree in English from Clemson University, Miriam completed a Doctorate in Theology in Conflict Management from Trinity Theological Seminary. Dr. Johnson currently teaches honors and senior English at Seneca High School, Seneca, SC.

1990s

Class of 1976 Gerry “Fish” and Vicki ’78 Hutchinson have moved to Culpepper, VA, where Gerry serves as Associate Pastor/Church Administrator for Culpepper Baptist Church. Gerry is also a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy–Reserve Component and his current assignment is the Chaplain for the 4th Marine Air Wing which is headquartered in New Orleans. Gerry observed his 20th anniversary in the Navy in August 2008 and holds the rank of Captain. Vicki works as a nanny. They have three children and three grandchildren.

Class of 1991 Ronette Chapman Dill has been selected as the 2009 NC Wachovia Principal of the Year for the Western Region. She is principal of Saluda Elementary School in Polk County. Class of 1992 Alex Freeman has been named retail sales manager for First Citizens Bank at its Inman, SC, location.

1980s

2000s

Class of 1980

Class of 2000

Dr. Gene Loflin has joined South Piedmont Community College in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina as vice president of student learning.

Ronnie Bowen married Jennifer Comer in September 2008. Ronnie is a network communications engineer at Langley Federal Credit Union. The couple lives in Hampton, VA.

Class of 1983 Dr. James Douthit was promoted to Full Professor and awarded tenure at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, where he is the Department of Music Chair. In the Fall of 2008, he traveled to Shandong University of the Arts in Jinan, China, to present a master class and performance piano students at the University. Additionally, Douthit was the soloist for the C Major Concerto, K 415 of Mozart with the Nazareth College Chamber Orchestra.

Kelli Herndon married Rodney G. Calcutt II in November 2008. She is currently a pharmaceutical rep for Merck & Co. The couple lives in Pinehurst, NC. Class of 2004 Joanna Robinson married Justin Cunningham in November 2008. She is employed by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. The couple lives in Morganton, NC. Class of 2005

Class of 1986 Miriam Stone Johnson announces the birth of her first grandchild, Olivia Leigh Strickland, born July 29, 2008. Additionally, after obtaining a Master

Maria Blake Russell married Kyle Ray Miller in September 2008. She is a third grade teacher at Bethel Elementary School. The couple lives in Canton, NC. From These Stones – Spring 2009

CLASS notes Matthew Wilson married Victoria Bittmann in August 2008. Matthew is pursuing his Master of Divinity degree at Campbell University and is the youth and children’s minister at First Baptist Church of Dunn, NC. Class of 2006 Katherine Gray Kellett married Lucas Andrew Mills in August 2008. Katie is a guidance counselor at Woodruff

Elementary School. The couple lives in Greer, SC. Class of 2008 Danielle Kamffer is living in Costa Rica and is entering the “Maestria en Traducción” program at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Costa Rica en Heredia. She is blogging about her experiences in Costa Rica at danielleincr.blogspot.com.

In Memoriam Since our last publication we have received word of the passing of the following members of the Mars Hill College family.

1920s Wade Edward Brown ’28, Boone, NC, March 9, 2009 Theron King ’29, Decatur, AL, July 13, 2008

1930s Swannie Smith Colvard ’32, Bridgewater, VA, January 27, 2009 Margaret Martin Bugler ’32, Clearwater, FL, January 11, 2009 William Yelton ’36, Charlotte, NC, February 2, 2009 Mildred Pigg Hartsell ’37, Charlotte, NC, October 20, 2008 Margaret Sparks Colb ’39, Little Rock, AR, January 5, 2009 Bettie Holland Renfrow ’39, Fair Bluff, NC, January 28, 2009

Frank Richardson ’39, Jacksonville, FL, November 20, 2008

1940s John Thigpen ’40, Charlottesville, VA, February 2, 2009 Evelyn Davis Bradley ’40, Rome, GA, August 20, 2007 Catherine Beattie Helms ’41, Charlotte, NC, November 26, 2008 Lounell Mullis ’42, Asheville, NC, February 10, 2009 William Stultz ’42, Matthews, NC, January 30, 2009 Mary Griffin Garrison ’42, Charlotte, NC, January 2, 2009 Kenneth Haynes ’43, Clemmons, NC, January 31, 2009 Margaret Sue Laton Carlton ’43, Manassas, VA, December 25, 2008 Conrad Stonestreet ’43, Winston-Salem, NC, & Myrtle Beach, SC, January 7, 2009 Bettie Hall Wallace ’44, Marion, SC, November 4, 2008

From These Stones – The Mars Hill College Magazine

CLASS notes Jewel Smith Driver ’44, Landis, NC, February 12, 2009

Glena Sprinkle Roberts ’63, Weaverville, NC, August 21, 2008

Mary Reece Snow ’44, Winston-Salem, NC, December 28, 2008

Stephanie McCall Streett ’67, Effingham, SC, January 23, 2009

William Roberts ’45, Spruce Pine, NC, January 14, 2009 Nellie Irene McKenzie Sumner ’46, Myrtle Beach, SC, May 14, 2008

1970s Donna Wiggins Stephens ’76, Greer, SC, October 5, 2008

Mary Clark ’46, Roanoke, VA, May 2007

Charles Rector ’76, Asheville, NC, December 20, 2007

Lorraine Harrington Stevens ’46, Cottonwood, AZ, March 27, 2007

Jim Taylor ’78, Marshall, NC, March 7, 2009

Anne Hendrix Cobb ’46, Columbia, SC, October 30, 2008 Doris Jones Redwine ’47, Columbia, SC, August 12, 2008 John Wallace ’48, Morristown, TN, November 27, 2008 Eugene Harrill ’48, Jamestown, NC, February 2007 Janette Jones Watson ’49, Albemarle, NC, February 6, 2009

1950s Bert Edwards ’50, Mars Hill, NC, March 4, 2009

1980s Christine Ahonen Williams ’89, Dunedin, FL, July 7, 2007

1990s Benjamin Poteate ’99, Charlotte, NC, December 19, 2008

2000s Melissa Danner ’08, November 17, 2007 Gayle Tracy Grant ’08, Asheville, NC, March 25, 2009

Faculty & Staff

Robert Keeter Jr. ’50, Lawndale, NC, December 20, 2008

Ernest Nial Coates, retired painter, Weaverville, NC, January 23, 2009

Eva McConnell Strauss ’50, Colorado Springs, CO, 2007

Dr. Joseph Godwin, retired professor of psychology (1967-1985), Ozark, AL, February 19, 2009

Ella Dungan Mitchell ’50, Richmond, VA, April 10, 2008 James McBee ’53, Salisbury, NC, January 22, 2009 Norma Faye Woody Leach ’57, Louisville, KY, January 6, 2004

Edith Swann, retired bursar (19431972), Asheville, NC, February 19, 2009

Friends Pat Hingle - former SART performer, Carolina Beach, NC, January 3, 2009

1960s Thomas Chapman ’63, Florence, SC, July 29, 2008 From These Stones – Spring 2009

Mars Hill College PO Box 370 Mars Hill, NC 28754

This year’s Senior Art Exhibition features the works of three graduating MHC seniors: Alicia Blaha "09, Ashley Griffin ’09, and Kim Perry ’09. The exhibition will be on display in Weizenblatt Gallery in Moore Auditorium until May 10. The gallery is open 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Alicia Blaha, The Color of Creativity: I was originally inspired by Astrology and how each Zodiac sign effected the personality of those born under it. Although there is an over-all dominant theme in each Zodiac personality, there is also a great deal of contradiction. I intended to show the duality in the personality through the work. The medium consists of wood, found and recyclable objects.

Ashley Griffin, Duality in Personality: My artwork is an installation piece containing twenty-six separate portraits. Each portrait consists of an individual, represented in black and white, presenting a product significant to their creativity or personality. This product was left in color and acts as the anchor each person holds on to to keep their own individualism.

Kim Perry, Identity: Originally inspired by the idea of selfidentity, as well as female identity in society. The imagery is inspired by themes surrounding the female identity. The ‘male gaze’, a theory describing different ways of seeing, in particular how men see women, is also a theme in the work.