October 12, 2016
Who is Lee Smith? Lizbeth Liefer-Hall, Staff Writer Lee Smith, renowned author and writer of Southern literature, has stories to tell and plenty of them. Since beginning her writing career over 45 years ago, she has authored four short story collections, 13 fiction books, an oral history of her hometown Grundy, Virginia, coauthored a Broadway musical play, and has had her articles and stories published in several anthologies and periodicals such as Southern Review and The New York Times. This list now includes her most recent publication Dimestore: A Writer’s Life, which is her autobiography and was chosen for Meredith College’s 2016 Summer Reading Program. Smith has received accolades for her writing,
some of which include the O. Henry Award (1979, 1981), Sir Walter Raleigh Award (1983, 1989), North Carolina Award for Literature (1984), Weatherford Award for Appalachian Literature (1988), Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts & Letters (1999), Southern Book Critics Circle Award (2002), North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame (2009), and Thomas Wolfe Award (2010). She was also invited to become a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Smith’s storytelling was inspired by stories told by both of her parents as well as the people who frequented her father’s store and her grandfather’s office in the courthouse. She
put pen to paper at nine years old to write her very first story. While a senior at Hollins College in Roanoke, Smith was awarded one of twelve fellowships after submitting an early draft of her first novel to a Book-of-the Month Club. Two years later, it became her first published work and was the beginning of her professional writing career. Throughout her writing career, she managed to raise two boys, publish several more books, articles, and stories, and held a teaching position at North Carolina State University for almost 20 years. Dr. Rebecca Duncan, member of the Summer Reading Committee commented, “Dimestore became the choice when Dr. Allen brought the book
to the committee. Several of the English department have connections to the author, Lee Smith. [We chose her because of the] opportunity to have the author come to campus and spend time with students.” Lee Smith is scheduled to speak at a lecture sponsored by the Meredith College English Department on Wednesday, October 12th, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in McIver Amphitheater.. A bluegrass concert begins the evening at 6:30 p.m. In case of rain, the event will be held in Jones Auditorium. These events are free and open to the public.
“You’ll just have to experience it” Teressa Berton, Staff Writer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right, Cornhuskin’ is here! While many students here on campus will be a part of this beloved Meredith tradition, few know its history on campus. Cornhuskin’ has been a part of campus life since its conception in 1945 as the Meredith College Corn Shucking Bee. The tradition was originally intended to be a way to welcome freshmen to campus, but quickly became the class-wide competition that
we know and love. In its earliest years, Cornhuskin’ was made up of many events, some familiar, like the parade and hog callin’, and others less familiar. Some of the less familiar events include cow milkin’, where students made their own cows compete, or the hillbilly couples’ dance. In the hillbilly couples’ dance competition, students would dress in their best hillbilly costumes and perform a dance. Over time, more events
were added, like tall tale and apple bobbin’, and competition continued to escalate. By the 1960’s, the competition heated up with water pranks and other pranks on dorms. In 1976, safety regulations were put into place, creating what we know today as Hall Raids, as well as safety guidelines for competition. As time has gone by, more events have been added including tall tale, skit, and the sing-song competition which has transformed into the
Women of MC: Neema Kimaru
SeungPang,StaffWriter
“The BLM protest was important to me because it forced students, faculty, and staff on our campus to acknowledge the issue of police brutality among innocent African Americans, as well as other minorities. For some people it’s easy to ignore that this is an issue. You can turn off the news, the radio, block things out on social media, but
it’s hard to ignore a group of over 100 people dressed in all black, laying in the grass protesting on your way to class. I appreciated that the Black Student Union offered a discussion session the following day so that people could come together, learn, and discuss change.” Over the years, Cornhuskin’ has continued
to be a beloved tradition, that has grown and evolved with the college becoming a unifying force across campus. Whether keeping students up all night, bringing Odds and Evens together, or joining alumnae across generations, Cornhuskin’ is a tradition worth experiencing.
class song event. Over the years, Cornhuskin’ has continued to be a beloved tradition, that has grown and evolved with the college becoming a unifying force across campus. Whether keeping students up all night, bringing Odds and Evens together, or joining alumnae across generations, Cornhuskin’ is a tradition worth experiencing.