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

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'radford Crain Receives Warm 'Welcome Home' ne of the most candid greetings of the inaugural ceremonies of Bradford L. Crain of Lees-McRae College came from John Wilson, representing the faculty, who stated, This is sort of strange, like walking into someone's house and welcoming them homef' Wilson was referring to the fact that Dr. Crain has been here since February and had made tremendous strides in directing the programs and policies of Lees-McRae College since his arrival. We hope this inauguration will stick, Wilson went on. We don't want to do this again for a long time. As they say around here,stay with us. Bradford Lee Crain and his wife, Alice, left, stand together during inaugural ceremonies. James Garland, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, swore in the tenth president of Lees- McRae College. 2 - Inauguration Academicians from scores of educational institutions followed a kilted bagpiper through the Lees-McRae campus Friday morning, September 20, on their way to celebrate the inauguration of Bradford L. Crain as the college's tenth president. Trustee' Chairman James Jick Garland swore in the new president and presented him with the schoolis medallion and charter after a dozen greeters from the localcom- munity, alumni, student body, faculty, advisors and trustees praised contributions they said Crain had already made to the 85-year-old institution. Friday morning's inauguration was the culmination of a week of special activities held on campus to celebrate the event. In the words of Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees John Jack King, He hit the ground running and hasn't stopped yet. ,Crain called' upon faculty members to join in a grand partnership with me as 'we imaginatively and with faith carve our institutional aims into these mountains. - I-Join in a grand - Partnership I -. s-is - - 'L ,.,...as. gg... 1 Ns.- Ti Fi .t's like walking into someone s house and welcoming him home. I - John Wilson

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We are thankful, Dr. Crain, that you have chosen to be with us and work among us. There have been a lot of changes so far, and we've looked at these new things that happened fthese changesj. It's sort of like looking back on Vatican II. There were a lot of sweeping changes in the Roman Catholic Church at Vatican II. And as these were evaluated and analyzed, Pope John XXIII made this statement: 'This is what we intend to do. We intend to let in a little fresh air.' And, Dr. Crain, we've breathed the fresh air and we are enthused with new vigor and vitality and we are ready to go into the future. And, as we look into the future we have some hopes. One of the hopes is that this inauguration will stick. With all the fun and excite- ment and the honor of the whole thing, we don't want to do this again for a long time. We have another hope. This hope is found in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, a familiar passage where it says that all Christians are to be agents of reconciliation. Our hope is that you will, as you work and lead us, join us together into a community with a common purpose and a unified mission so that when people leave Lees- ,McRae College they may experience success and will, very definitely, because they have been' here, go into the world with peace and spread some unity and be themselves aides of recon- ciliation and understanding. - Dr. John C. Wilson The Reverend Clernen ts E. Lamberth, Stated Clerk of Concord Presbytery, gave the inaugural prayer. Banner Elk attorney Edward R. Hardin sang the opening anthem, and Dr. John Wilson delivered greetings from the' faculty. There is an air of excitement in our college because We know where we are going. Not every college is so fortunate as We. We know where we are going, in part, because we understand and cherish where we have been. , -Bradford L. Crain Inauguration - 3