Gardner Webb University - Web / Anchor Yearbook (Boiling Springs, NC)

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WmiStm GRADUATION SPEAKER NOTES CHANGE We must master the process of change in order to be designers of the future, said Dr. Roberta van der Voort as she addressed the , 291 Gardner- Webb graduates on Saturday, May 14. Graduation activities began at G-W on Friday, May 13, with the pinning of 24 nursing students and climaxed Saturday with the conferring of 192 bachelor of science, 66 bachelor of arts, 27 associate of arts and six master of arts degrees. The honorary doctor of divinity degree was also conferred as well as the presentation of the Huggins and Curtis Citizenship medals and the Senior Scholastic Award. During the commencement address, Ms. van der Voort, who serves as group vice president of the United Way of America, stressed to the graduates that as future leaders they will need to deal with constant change an d uncertainty. Research has shown that effective leaders possess a tolerance for uncer- tainty, the ability to reconcile dif- ferences, the ability to predict with ac- curacy emd a tolerance for difference, she said. I don ' t speak of leadership in the traditionad authoritative way. All of us have to take the responsibility to master and manage change, lest we be- come its victim. Ms. van der Voort set the stage for her message by noting the amount of change that has taken place in the last 20 years. She predicted that by the year 2000 today ' s college graduates will be back in school learning the nec- cessary skills to deal with the continu- ing changes of the world. Dr. Craven Williams, president of Gardner-Webb, welcomed the guests to the 1983 commencement by relating the exercises to the traditions which encompass several hundred years of academic processions. Students and faculty in colorful academic regalia were first evidenced over 1000 years ago at the University of Bologna, noted Williams. Receiving the honorary doctor of divinity degree was T. Max Linnens, pastor of the Boiling Springs Baptist Church. He was awarded the honorary degree on the recommendation from the college ' s faculty and administra- tion with the approval of the college ' s board of trustees. Linnens has served as pastor of the Boiling Springs Baptist Church for 25 years. He is a graduate of Gardner- Webb Junior College, Wake Forest University and received a master of divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Linnens served as chaplain at Gard- ner-Webb for ten years. He also taught Greek, Hebrew, and the New Testa- ment at the college. The recipient of the J.D. Huggins Citizenship Medal was Franklin Craig Meadows, son of Mr. and Mrs. B. FVank Meadows of Mount Airy, N.C. The recipient of the Etta L. Curtis Citizenship Medal was Mary Joem F octor daughter of Drs. Dan 8md Lon- nie Proctor of Shelby, N.C. The recipient of the Senior Scholastic Award was Susanne B. Cardwell Davis. This award recognizes the senior with the highest grade point avertige. Ms. Davis graduated sununa cum laude with a grade point average of 3.95.