Chronicles

The book brigade in action. Will Mackie ’81 wears his Big Move T-shirt one last time before donating it to Special Collections.

THE BIG MOVE

BY LOUISE UFFELMAN

The call to action went out by word of mouth, was advertised in the Ring-tum Phi and announced by professors — we need you.

President Bob Huntley ’52, ’57L set aside Jan. 10, 1979, for The Big Move, a much-anticipated event. Faculty, students, staff and members of the Lexington community assembled early in the morning to load approximately 150,000 books at McCormick Hall Library into shopping bags (supplied by Leggett Department store) and walk them partway down Stemmons Plaza to their shelves in the new university library, now Leyburn Library.

The 1979 Calyx heralded the end of four years of “bulldozers, jackhammers, smoke and dust” and described the new space as “a modern gargantuan structure” that was “the symbol of a new age for W&L.” The new library could seat 800 students, included 560 individual carrels, was fully carpeted and was open from 8:30 a.m. to midnight.

Will Mackie ’81 remembers the occasion well. “It was quite a feat to have moved the entire book collection from McCormick Hall to the spanking brand-new library in one day,” he said. “The administration was clever enough to make this a festive event with free food and drinks, mapping out the course to move the books to the respective stacks, and giving us a day off from class.”

Many hands make light work, and the move was completed by 10:50 a.m.

“Having this new library was a pretty exciting development on campus,” said Mackie. “It was, in my recollection, the first big, modern space to be built on the Colonnade in a while.”

He added, “Being part of the book brigade still stands out in my mind as one of my most memorable moments at W&L. That kind of collective effort — being part of a larger project — doesn’t happen often, and it made us all feel like we contributed to the school in a tangible way.”

A FRIENDSHIP’S LEGACY

BY AMANDA MINIX

William “Skip” Davison ’67 had a rocky start at W&L when he entered as a first-year student in the fall of 1962. The New Jersey native supported civil rights and said it was not a popular stance at the university at the time. “I expressed my views, and I was ostracized socially,” he recalled. “It was a lonely experience.”

While studying in the chemistry library during his first year, Davison met James Keith Shillington, a chemistry professor who became his mentor and lifelong friend — a relationship that would later inspire Davison’s longstanding generosity.

“Shillington talked me into becoming a chemistry major,” Davison said. “He was really my savior — with his support, I developed a social and an intellectual life at the school.” Shillington invited Davison to join a small group of students for Friday evening visits in his home, and then later to faculty dinners that he hosted on Sundays. “We would socialize and solve the problems of the world,” Davison recalled. “And we didn’t just talk about chemistry, we discussed art, theatre, philosophy — Shillington was a Renaissance man when it came to education.”

After graduating from W&L in 1967 with a chemistry degree, Davison attended medical school at the Kimmel Medical College – Thomas Jefferson University and completed his residency at Northwestern University. He went into private practice as a neurologist in the Chicago area and retired a year ago after more than 40 years in practice. He is a faculty member at Northwestern and has taught clinical neurology there since 1977.

When the James Keith Shillington Scholarship was established in 1988, Davison made a gift and has remained a loyal donor to the endowment. Additionally, he included a generous bequest to the scholarship in his will.

After learning that there was another endowment created in memory of his mentor, Davison began giving to the Keith Shillington Summer Research Scholars Endowment. “Summer experiences for students is a great idea — supporting the sciences and getting young people interested in the sciences is a worthwhile investment,” he said.

A lifelong learner at heart, Davison took a class this fall on the Enlightenment at the University of Chicago, and he and his wife Dale were able to travel to Italy and France recently. The couple plans to visit Antarctica through the W&L Traveller program in January 2022.

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SCENE ON CAMPUS: THEN & NOW

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Pics 1 & 2: Getting that group shot, starting in the early 1870s Pics 3 & 4: Walking to and from class with your friends Pics 5 & 6: Reading the White Book and signing the pledge