Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

Page 22 text:

Election-Central Highlighted Nov. 2 Eve With the passing of November 2, 1976 — Election Day — went the last of the campaign speeches and debates, whistle- stops and fund-raisers which had, for so many months, dominated American po- litical thought. The culmination of the campaign marked for many the realiza- tion of hard-won dreams; for countless others it meant the disillusionment of defeat. For winners, losers, and constit- uents alike, the election heralded change, yet emphatically reminded us of the sta- bility inherent in our system. Vibrant political awareness pervaded Lenoir-Rhyne during the fall of 1976. Visiting state and local office-seekers helped to stimulate this atmosphere, as did the efforts of campus-based groups such as the College Republicans and the Democrats on Campus. An L-R voter registration drive in October, soon fol- lowed by a mock campaign debate, were two of the highly successful ventures sponsored by such student groups. Election Central, the all-night vigil of November 2nd, garnered tremendous student and community support. An es- timated 450 people packed Cromer Cen- ter for the returns-watching party spon- sored by the Political Science-Pre Law Club. On the agendy were candidate in- terviews, question and answer sessions, and a student-faculty panel discussion. The events of the emotionally charged evening unfolded, and the victors became apparent. As they did, the campaign machinery of 1976 came slowly to rest.

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PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CARTER, REAGAN, MADE HICKORY STOPS jkVK - ' A frenzy of pre-primary activity thrust Lenoir-Rhyne into the mainstream of national politics during March ' 76 as we hosted the top three contenders for the Oval Office: the incumbent President, Gerald Ford, his Republican adversary, Ronald Reagan, and the leading Demo- cratic challenger, Jimmy Carter. P.E. Monroe Auditorium was filled to capacity for Jimmy Carter ' s March ad- dress, in which he discussed the strategi- cally important North Carolina primary, as well as his stands on revenue sharing, abortion, federal work programs, and the New River Dam project. One week later. Republican Ronald Reagan, accompanied by actor Jimmy Stewart, traveled to Hickory for an after- noon rally at Catawba Mall. The former Governor of California spoke about the negative effects of an overextended fed- eral bureaucracy, our national defense program, and relations between Cuba and the United States.

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In the picture on the opposite page a portion of the large crowd gathered for Election Central is shown. At right, this page. Dr. Lowell Ashman of the LR Political Science Department speaks of the merits of the Carter-IVlondale ticket while President Ford gleams from the poster behind him. Below, left, a group of students gather on the Center Lobby stairs as they await election returns: Walt Cleckley, Andrea Shreve, Margaret Alister, and Fred IVleuter. Below right like Samuels awaits results. « imjuu«nimmm -iii.] !- .iiM Ti v l.»..JIll l- 1 1i |i l lnmililln.]J j i . m,..i,..,,i i.. .