Lees McRae College - Ontaroga Yearbook (Banner Elk, NC)

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Give ' Em Califano Look at the time and money spent in trying to resist the heavy-handedness of the Federal Government — time and money which could and should have been spent in continu- ing to build the quality of education at one of the greatest universities in our land. And when I think of the inordinate power of Secretary Califano, 1 become all the more per- suaded that we should have kept our canal in Panama, and set ' em Mr. Califano. Act Like Americans What can we. as individual Americans, do about all of our problems? The answer is: Let ' s start acting like Americans again. And the way to begin is by realizing that our nation ' s travai ' is the result of our having failed, for too long, to realize that our problems are manmade. The moral implications of our mistakes are obvious: We have been seeking easy solutions. We have been passing the buck to the government. We have avoided our personal responsibility. We have cut too many comers in hot pursuit of the fast buck. We have tried to pretend that the religious foundations on which our fore- fathers created this country are no longer important. We have been reluctant, even embarrassed, to get on our knees to pray for guidance. Well, our founding fathers weren ' t — and that ' s why they were successful. And that ' s why we are not. What insanity it is that we ignore the very principles that set our country apart from all other nations in history. Stand Firm Helms concluded, In a very few years it will be your generation that will be guiding the destiny of our country. You will find, as I have found, and as others have found, that you can ' t remedy all of the problems overnight. You wi discover that there are no instant or easy solutions. But you can chart a course for yourself that will forbid you to com- promise your principles. It ' s not an easy course, and you wi not always win your point. But you can set an example by standing firm. And if you stand on principle, you ' ll leave this world better than you found it.

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MM 1 m i mSmKBBF Among the distinguished guests at the Forty-Ninth Graduation Exercises were Mrs. and Mr. Robert G. Hayes for whom Hayes Auditorium is named. at left. Senator Helms that the educational establishment, the courts, and the bureaucracy do not want children to learn too much, for fear they might begin to understand what is going on in Washington and at Harvard. We have people in Washington who fear private schools — not because they are afraid private schools won ' t teach students what they ought to know, but because private schools might succeed in teaching what Washington doesn ' t want all and sundry to know. Like, how to think for yourself. Can ' t Separate Religion Education cannot be separated from religion, Helms pointed out. Certainly we cannot have schools without teaching history, and we can ' t teach history without discussing the great religions of mankind. Nor can any teacher honestly discuss such things without indicating his or her own attitude toward religion. This does not mean that every teacher must proselyte for his own denomination but it does mean that every serious school must have some kind of position or belief in God. on the nature of Jesus Christ, on moral questions, and on the power and limits of knowledge itself, which is also a religious question. Helms alerted the audience to the Federal Government ' s assault on UNC: Now it is fundamental that the Federal Government is not supposed to take a position on arguable religious matters, but, according to the First Amendment of the Constitution, is to leave such matters to the states and to the people. Those two facts — that education is necessarily concerned with religion, and that the Federal Government should not interfere in religious matters — show the most basic reason why the Federal Government should stay out of the school busine ss. UNC — Tragic Example The University of North Carolina and its problems with the Federal Government offer a tragic example of what I mean. 1 don ' t believe there ' s one soul in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, or connected with the Federal Courts, with any com- petency to run a great university. Graduation 199

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The Moderator of the General Assembly stated, I believe that ' walking humbly ' is trying to say to you and me that we must ' know who we are. ' We really know who we are. We know that we are people in need of help. We know that we are people who cannot live without the love that surrounds us and we know that if we really look back on it then we realize that there is love there available to us that helps us to understand who we are. Then we live a certain way. I am not talking about being pious, !■ am not talking about being prissy, I am talking about a deeper awareness that we walk a certain way because we know we are loved by the Creator of the universe, and we know that love comes to us through the people whose lives touch ours. We become a channel of love — love that comes through other people to us. Maybe it would be best to say to walk modestly or to walk obediently. When there is something to be done and we know in our bones that we are the only ones who must do that then somehow we face up to it and we are will- ing because of our own sense of who we are, to undertake things that are risky, to undertake things we may very well fail in, and because we know the security of the love that undergirds us. What then is required of us? To do justice, to hear the people who are saying, ' that ' s not fair, ' and, see if we can do something about it. What is required of us? To love mercy and kindness, knowing who we are. The prophet Jeremiah has this to say that helps us know in another way these very same things ' Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this — that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practiced steadfast love, justice and righteousness on the earth for in these things, I delight. ' Moderator Mosely concluded. And this is what 1 might interpret that as meaning: It is not of ultimate impor- tance how many hats you wear. What matters is how many people ' s shoes you can fill, how many shoes you can walk in, even if they have none. Remember: do justice, show loving kindness, and walk in obedience. The text of Sara Moseley ' s remarks came from the Book of Micah where the prophet instructed the people to do justice, love kindness and mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. She illuminated several examples of the church ' s involvement in acts of kindness and mercy. Graduation 201