Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

Page 9 text:

Davidson Experience? Does it even exist except in the imagination? Most students, although quite aware that what they are living is a singular and often harrowing experience, hold a conception of the D.E. that is nebulous at best. Senior premed Ellen Gyauch expresses the prevailing sentiment in saying I can ' t believe that we pay to do this. It would be one thing if somebody were paying us — I mean, the professors get paid. It really cracks me up. Senior Dan Harkins echoes that thought with I really don ' t enjoy working all that much, when asked why he transferred back to Davidson after only one year at Oklahoma State University. Even so, the strong academic program is precisely the reason why he returned. OSU was so slack; it K . A familiar scene in Chambers 102, Dean of Students Will Terry administers to hall counselors Tom Schember and John Mann. Dean since 1970, Will took the job over from Richard Burts, who now deals solely with academic headaches. was boring. The controversy rages on over the state of Davidson academics. Facilities Terry ' s Imagination . . . Opening 5

Page 8 text:

T he Davidson Experience — The Davidson Experience: Is It Just A Figment Of the Dean of Students ' office fairly glows with it, pulsating like a fluorescent light with a pale, greenish tint. In the early morning hours it grows strong, and seeps cautiously between the door and its jambs, rears it head, and peers sharply down each end of the hall. As the coast is clear, one arm extends confidently toward the Southwest in search of Admissions. Another takes the well worn track to the sanctuary of alumni relations, glibbering all the while with excitement at the prospect of another day ' s living endowment. Meanwhile, the first arm has completed its circuit and returned to home base, leaving the admissions office newly charged and ready to face the morning ' s prospectives with cheery smiles and tales of freshman mixers. The clock on the first floor reads 7:45 — it ' s 7:50 on the second — as the alu mni branch of the D.E. returns down the hall, pausing in its journey only long enough to circle the unwary head of a student rushing early to the front row of Perkins. Collecting itself in front of the door, the Davidson Experience turns and knocks. The knob begins to turn and the door to open, revealing a figure which solidifies amidst the aether as it advances slowly toward the threshold. It is Will Terry, the Dean of Students. With a quiver of delight the Davidson Experience leaps to his breast and is held, meeping contentedly all the while. But what is this eerie scene, this thing that cavorts wildly in the hallways far beneath the chambermaids? What is this 4 Opening

Page 10 text:

- ■ ' ■ - J5 .... 1 Wmr ' w • ' v • r i t 1 Sfcfr jS ( 1 ■ .■■ ■ 1 - ■■ v - 1 If . » . ,- ' . •. ...... J! ' ; « . are often not all they should be; one biology major claims, If I had it do over again, I ' d come back as philosophy major. One often hears the complaint that the students are passive, in spite of a high level of academic ability. Dean of Students Will Terry feels that a vital part of college experience lies in the exposure to new ideas, new thoughts, new feelings. But he observes that this is not as much a part of the Davidson Experience as it has been in years past. Dean Terry recognizes a need to challenge views which seem to be strongly entrenched in students before they even enter college, traditionally a time of questioning old values. To this end, the 1982 school year saw the implementation of the faculty ' s Task Force on Global Arrairs, a committee intended to enhance students ' understanding of world issues. Dan Harkins attributes the attitude not to the school, but to the mood, the generation we grew up in. He feels that, when one looks at the general picture of education in this country, Davidson does a reasonably good job of sticking to its philosophy. . . . Or Does It Really 6 Opening