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

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?if : Q ,. , 1: Q-2fi . face with your talent, to use the disci- pline that you've learned here, to un- dergird the moral imagination to make this world a different place because you have been a part of it. You have done your work wellf' A ., 14'-'sfee-2 :il Ugx Q. ta. I he word 'work' is a much ma- ligned term today . . . it is what binds a person to himself, and a community or civilization together. , Graduation 187

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I Approach life's work with discipline and imagination . . . discipline that leads people to choose whether to spend their time shoddily or well . . . imagination re- leases us from the prison of ourselves and is not an escape, but a plunge into the reality around us. , into the world around usf' The imagination I refer to is a part of every human life that is well lived. It belongs to a parent who can 'imagine' the joy and the fear and the terror of being a childg it is a parent who can understand the adolescent's needs and the dis- covery of a new and challenging world. It is the 'imagination' of a man or woman who can identify with a partner's needs . . . a politi- cal leader who dreams that free men think and who writes the Declaration of Independence . . . the businessman who thinks and 'imagines' new ways to bring com- fort or ease or necessities to hu- man life around the worldf' Dr. Dykeman described a visit to the Nazi death camp of Dachau where she and her family sensed 'the depravity that is possible to the human mind. The visit was redeemed, she said, by a poorly printed pamphlet her husband found at the camp, the writings of a Dutch prisoner which argued the message of the camp was to prac- tice more humanityf' You are a part of the elite now, Dr. Dykeman said in reference to the gift of education conferred upon the students. Don't hide the knowledge away in your own little 'forbidden cityf This is the vision you face to- day, Dr. Dykeman concluded. That is the challenge that you 186 Graduation I would suggest to you that there are two ingredi- ents to making your work important and to making your work well done and enjoyed, and they are two of the most misunderstood words today. The first word is 'discipline,' discipline that makes you make choices between whether you will spend your time shoddily or whether you will spend your time well, whether you will choose the second best or whether you will choose the best. The second ingredient is 'imaginationf reflecting not strictly in the sense of the poet's imagination or the author's imagination but imagination that lets one identify with the experience of others, Dr. Dy- keman pointed out. The imagination is not an es- cape from the world, it is a plunge into the reality

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Dr. Janet Carroll's enormous energy, creativity and dedication to Lees-McRae College began in 1978. Dr. Carroll has had exten- sive experience in theatre and is noted for her Blue Ridge Commu- nity Theatre productions: Fiddler On the Roof Annie, Oliver, My Fair Lady, and Barnumg and her work at the Green Park Inn: Tin- types, I Do, I Do, Chapter Two, and her work in the outdoor dra- ma, From This Day Forward. However, she is best known for her work with the Lees-McRae Performing Arts Department which has produced many plays and musicals which include: Li'l Abner, Guys and Dolls, Annie, Get Your Gun, Dracula, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy Friend, and The Miracle Worker. Dr. Carroll was presented the second annual Cultural Arts Award for her work as a volunteer in community affairs and her many contributions in profession- al theatre. Dr. Carroll has established an expansive program in performing arts, adding an exciting dimension to campus activites, that provides both a creative outlet and aca- demic credit for students. She has designed a performing arts program that consists of dra- ma, two choruses, a clogging team, and a faculty bluegrass band. She has expanded the the- atre department to five produc- tions during the year, including a major musical which attracts hundreds of patrons each fall. She has produced a Christmas Show since she came to Lees-McRae and this production is followed by a non-musical drama in the spring and children's show which is per- formed throughout the area. She was responsible for reviving sum- mer theatre which was popular in the late '60's and early '70's. Her name is synonymous with performing arts at the college, in the area, and in the Southeast. This gifted lady is asomething spe- cial' to LMC students and area citizens alike. And, the 1986 Ontaroga is hon- ored to acknowledge Dr. Janet Barton Carroll for her outstanding service and contributions to Lees- McRae for the past eight years.