Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 23 text:

A BUSINESSMAN in an academic society, William Nash Davis says jokingly that this raises no problems at least none that money can't solve. As director of plant, housing and food operations, Mr. Davis works under the Vice-President of the University; among those who find him directly above them in the chain of command are Mr. Hill, Mr. Dunham, and Mr. Daggett at Brown and Miss Law at Pembroke. A 1931 Cornell graduate, Mr. Davis spent several years in private business and ten years as housing supervisor at M.I.T. before coming to Brown in 1947. President Wriston hired him at that time to help consolidate dining lacilities in Sharpe Refectory. With the opening of the Wriston Quad in 1951, Mr. Davis also took on the task of overseeing residence halls. Then in 1955, he assisted Mr. Keeney, Mr. Durgin, the architects, and a student board in plan- ning the West Quad. Taking control of the Building and Grounds department six years ago, Mr. Davis added the responsibility for all academic buildings to his previous concerns of residences and food opera- tions. His job today includes budgeting and expendi- tures in all these fields. Mr. Davis feels that Brown's expansion under President Keeney has been well organized and well directed, due to the fact that specialists have been hired in each necessary field. He notes that a net of some 100 acres of land have been acquired in the past ten years, and that the development in general has been directed by a well co-ordinated team. Personally, Mr. Davis likes to think of himself as basically an educator, since education comes first in an educational corporation. He enjoys talking to students and misses the close contact he had with undergraduates when he was manager of dining halls. When we get to the point where we can't listen, he says, it's time to fold up the tent and get out.

Page 22 text:

GREAT-GRANDSON of Nicholas Brown, Jr., after whom the University was named in 1804, Mr. John Nicholas Brown has ably served Brown for many years and now holds the prestigious position of Secre- tary of the Corporation of the University, Mr. Brown, an honorary member of the class of 05, first became connected with the University as a member of the Board of Management of the John Carter Brown Li- brary, which was originally the Brown family library. Elected to the Board of Trustees in 1930 and to the Board of Fellows in 1985, he is presently chairman of the Planning and Buildings Committee which is in overall charge of the physical needs of the University and is responsible for general planning, choosing ar chitects, and checking of designs and bids. Calling himself a frustrated architect he is an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, Mr. Brown insists that Brown should have a beautiful campus; and he has been a moving force in develop- ing the striking buildings recently erected here. Mr. Brown feels strongly that final decisions about the University must be made by an outside board. While he believes that it is healthy and good for the Corporation to meet more with students, it is, he says, not the function of either the students or the faculty to run the University. According to M. Brown, most students do not realize that the trustees spend an enormous amount of time and resources, rewarded only by the satisfaction of helping a good cause. Since graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Brown has been an outstanding participant in varied activities. He is president of the Counting House Corporation and a director or officer of several other business corporations. A devoted student and patron of the arts, he has been president of the Byzantine Institute, treasurer and fellow of the Medieval Acad- emy of America, and a fellow of the American Acad- emy of Arts and Sciences. For his work in preserving works of art in Europe after World War II, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor, and the Belgian government presented the Order of Leopold II. President Truman appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in 1946, and he served in Washington until 1949. At this time, he is a regent of the Smithsonian Institute and is chairman of the National Portrait Gallery Com- mittee and of the Armed Forces Museum Advisory Board. With a record of service and achievement behind him that would be the pride of any man, John Nich- olas Brown continues to make z great contribution of energy and ability to Brown and to many other ac- tivities.

Page 24 text:

22 INTEGRATING the assistance of the various alumni offices, the advice of the admissions commit- tee, and the experience of fifteen years in University Hall, Mr. Charles H. Doebler 1V, Director of Admis- sions, strives for one main objective: quality. As the number of applicants increases and the size of the student body does not, quality becomes more and more difficult to isolate; it is not necessarily reflected in such concrete data as college board scores or aca- demic records. What is needed is sensitive discernment, subjective examination, and empirical intuition. When the task of admitting applicants reaches this point, the work becomes very arduous. Although Mr. Doeb- ler's approach to this crucial area cannot be divulged entirely, his success is amply evident in the continuing high calibre of the student body. Serving as a member of the Admissions Board since 1951 and as director since 1958, Mr. Doebler's official capacity does not confine him to the hallowed halls of U.H. Throughout the year he travels to various lo- cales, often interviewing interested applicants. De- scribing his job in no less a term than fascinating, Mr. Doebler emphasizes the wide range of selection that now challenges his committee and its resources because of the ever-growing national popularity of Brown. Admitting that the actual quality of a class is not best judged until many years after its members have departed from Brunonia's halls, Mr. Doebler never- thelessasserts that the potential of a class does fall within his committee's evaluative jurisdiction. Con- cern is concentrated in this area, and thus far a nota- ble record has been achieved. SERVING as acting University chaplain while Mr. Baldwin is on leave, the Reverend Julius Scott em- phasizes that the goal of the University Christian As- sociation and the chaplain's office is not to evange- lize the student body, but rather to analyze critically and, wherever it might prove beneficial, to offer guid- ance to the new thrusts which are manifesting them- selves in the University community. The classical concepts of theology are no longer sufficient to meet the questionings of the contemporary collegian. A more relevant and meaningful dialogue between the possibilities of religious faith and the student's aca- demic and social pursuits must be established. We want to examine opportunities for students to get involved in crucial areas, and Mr. Scott singles out the Latin American Project, run under the auspices of the U.C.A., as a prime example of this concern. The outline of this project calls for a number of stu- dents to spend two months during the summer living in a village in some Latin American country. This summer it will be held in Guatemala. This frank and realistic confrontation of religious pursuits with criti- cal, secular situations is, Mr. Scott believes, respected on the Brown campus, and he hopes that it will be continued. Mr. Scott came to Brown in 1963 to serve as execu- tive secretary of the UCA. In 1965 he was appointed Assistant Chaplain, and he assumed his present office in June of 1965 He received his Bachelor of Divinity at Garret Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Presently he is studying for his Ph.D. at Boston Uni- versity. His plans for the future are uncertain, but one can be sure that he will continue his own brand of Christian activism.