Lambuth College - Lantern Yearbook (Jackson, TN)

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TOP LEFT — 1979 Commence- ment Ceremony moves to the gymnasium due to bad weather. TOP RIGHT - Concert Choir adds to Commencement festivi- ties. MIDDLE LEFT — Graduates file into the gymnasium. BOT- TOM LEFT — Parents and Graduates converse after Bacca- laureate Service. 17

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Commencement 1979 Spring Showers Force Activities Indoors The ' 79 graduating class began the last day at Lambuth College on May 20 with a Baccalaureate Service in the chapel. The Baccalaureate speaker was L. Scott Allen, resident bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. He served as pastor of several Georgia churches from 1938- 56, was an instructor in philosophy and religion at Clark College in 1956, and was editor of the Central Christian Ad- vocate in New Orleans before his conse- cration as a bishop of the Methodist Church in 1967. He was bishop of the Gulf Coast Area in Mississippi, and the Holston Area in Tennessee before his present assignment in North Carolina. Dr. Wilder gave the benediction. At 2:00 p.m. a President ' s Reception was held in the College Union for the graduates, their families, and friends. The graduation activities ended with the commencement service at 5:30 p.m. in the Lambuth College gymnasium. The commencement ceremony was scheduled to take place on the front lawn of Spangler Hall; however, rain throughout most of the day forced the move to the Athletic Center at the last minute. The invocation was presented by The Rever- end Wood K. Whetstone, who served as Dean of Student Services at Lambuth College. Dr. Winfred L. Goodwin, president of the Southern Regional Education Board, was commencement speaker. An in- structor in sociology and anthropology at North Carolina, he was a research as- sociate with the University of North Carolina ' s Institute for Research in So- cial Science and was survey director of the Jefferson (Alabama) Coordinating Council. In 1953 he joined the Southern Regional Education Board to direct ef- forts to strengthen professional pro- grams in southern colleges and universi- ties. Dr. Walter H. Whybrew, Executive Vice President and Dean of the College, presented the degrees and recognized the 50th anniversary of the Class of 1929. A closing prayer and benediction were giv- en by Bishop L. Scott Allen. Linda Piper. 16 III

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Retirement brings new responsibilities Who is full of life and ambition? Who possesses charm, dignity, and is sensitive to the needs of students as well as other people? Who is extreme- ly interesting to converse with, be it serious or otherwise? Dean W.K. Whetstone celebrated his 65th birthday last year, which sig- nifies eligibility for retirement. Whet- stone has been with Lambuth College for two generations as a professor and as Coordinator of Student Services, which was his position upon retire- ment. Since his retirement last May, Whetstone has taken on some new re- sponsibilities, and we at The Lantern were interested to find out exactly what some of these new attainments were and to question him about his new lifestyle. I entered his small office in the Stu- dent Services Center, tape recorder in hand, feeling somewhat skeptical about the interview for I had never met him personally. Yet, as soon as my eyes beheld him, I loosened my grip on the tape recorder, sighed, and felt right at home among the plants and books. We exchanged greetings and then sat down for discussion on the subject previously mentioned. I began by in- quiring about the changes in his lifes- tyle and the amount of spare time he had acquired, if any. His immediate response was that retirement was BELOW — Dean Wood K. Whetstone receives award at Retirement Banquet. RIGHT — Dean Whetstone reviews for one of his testing sessions. just a nice term used to describe his coming of age so to speak, as far as he was concerned. He claimed that he saw very little difference in his life now compared to last year. However, his pattern of life has changed. I then questioned him about his average working day: Well, it begins early in the morning with the walking of the dog and eating of breakfast. Then I come to the office and spend at least 30 hours a week here or testing. He continued by describing other ac- tivities of his. I ' m called on to speak for different groups, and I have re- cently spoken at Forest Heights Church and Lambuth Memorial. In addition, he attends Rotary Club, works with JACOA, and visits elderly groups of people. So I think I keep just about as busy as I was before I retired. My next question concerned major achievements of his since retire- ment. He responded by saying he couldn ' t think of any real major achievements, except the adjustment to his new style of life. His smiling eyes saddened somewhat when he re- layed to me his empty feeling of no longer belonging to any particular group, which in turn terminated his voting privileges and committee posi- tions. Whetstone concluded by say- ing, When I have completed this ad- justment and have developed a new style of life to include all my new ac- tivities and interests, then I think that will be an achievement. Suzanne R. Fletcher 18