Lipscomb University - Backlog Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

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Backlog: What percent of other church affiliated students come to Lipscomb? Collins: About 90% of the students who attend DLC are members of the church of Christ ... Ten percent would be with other churches. Backlog: What are your responsi- bilities to this college as it’s Presi- dent? Collins: | serve as the Chief Execu- tive. Decisions stop at my desk. | work under a Board of Directors. This board meets quarterly. We have an Executive Committee on the board. The Executive Committee meets on call. The work of the Presi- dent is to give direction to the school, to coordinate the school. Basic decisions come to my desk and final decisions have to be made. | have the Vice President for Cam- pus Affairs, Vice President for Busi- ness Affairs, and the Vice-President for Institutional Planning who report to me. This is a job of Director, Coor- dinator, and 50% of my time is given to fund raising. Whereby, we are try- ing to work in development to keep the school strong in a financial way. Backlog: Do you find any free time with the responsibilities of this job? Collins: Not as much as being Vice President. We have to arrange free time on the schedule like anything else. We do take time to relax. We are trying to work out a schedule to be with the family as much as possi- ble. We have to schedule free time as we schedule busy time. Backlog: How did you choose Christian education as your future and how did you begin? Collins: | came to Lipscomb as a student. My mother wanted me to come, and my father also had the desire for me to come. | came here. My wife and | met at Lipscomb. When the opportunity came in 1944 to return to the school to help raise money. | thought of my two daugh- ters and | wanted them to have a Christian education. | gave up local church work and evangelistic work to some extent to come back to Lipscomb. Basically, | guess because | loved the school and | wanted my two girls to have a C hristian educa- tion. | saw the opportunity of making Lipscomb a four-year college and thus | returned. Backlog: What type evangelistical work did you do? Collins: | was doing local work with the church at Old Hickory. They al- lowed me to hold a number of meet- ings which | refer to as evangelistic work. Thus, | changed the course of my life to some extent in giving up fulltime church work and a number of meetings each year. | came to Lipscomb and went to Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ on a part- time basis. Later in 1955, | gave up local work entirely and held more meetings. | enjoyed evangelistical work from 1955 to this past year when | became President. | still hold a few meetings, but | have had to cancel many of them. My life has changed to a great extent since be- coming President. Backlog: How long do you plan to stay with David Lipscomb College? Collins: | have no real plans | have always said that | would like to retire when | am in the middle sixties. That means in three or four years from now. : Backlog: We will hate to see that. Collins: Thank you. We have to re- tire from Lipscomb when we are sev- enty. | am sixty two years old and that would mean that | would have to retire in eight more years. Backlog: How much has Lipscomb changed since you first attended? Collins: The basic ideals have changed very little. We still have our required Bible, and we still have chapel as we had while | was a stu- dent. Certain customs have changed in regard to dress and cer- tain behavior patterns have changed, but the basic principles are the same. Every teacher is a Chris- tian as when | was a student. As | mentioned, we have a controlled en- vironment. There have been certain rules that have changed in regard to dating. When | was a student, if a girl and boy went to town on a date, they went in a group with a chaper- one. Things like this have changed a great deal. Willard Collins — President of David Lips- comb College. (1). President Collins joins in the fun of Bison Day after being decorated by the social clubs. (2.) President Collins takes time out to visit with two of his four grandchildren. (3.) President Collins prepares to speak before the student body. (4.) OPENING 11

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| COLLINS — THE FACE OF LEADERSHIP Backlog: What does Christian edu- cation mean to you? Collins: Christian education by definition is composed of these two definitions in my life. Christian means in the likeness of Christ and Education means bring up. (Eph 6:4) Therefore, Christian education means to bring a person in the like- ness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Backlog: Why do you believe in Da- vid Lipscomb College? Collins: | believe in Lipscomb be- cause of its purpose. The purpose is Christian education. | believe in Lips- comb because its purpose is to bring up people in the likeness of Christ, and in this way | believe Christian education is the hope of the world. We are a distinctive type school. Backlog: Is this purpose being used 100% at Lipscomb? Collins: We are always improving. Every teacher is a human being and, therefore, each can improve himself or herself. We are striving to keep the purpose of Lipscomb, but | am sure it can be improved. — Backlog: Why does David Lips- comb College need a year of renew- al? Collins: Lipscomb is an old institu- tion. It began in 1891. As the years go by, there is a tendency for Lips- comb to be taken for granted. At the beginning of a new administration, it seems to me to be a perfect time to call for a year of renewal in which we seek to really build enthusiasm for Christian education. We are striving for the spiritual and academic worth of the school and | think it can be improved. Backlog: What are the results so far? Collins: There have been four committees appointed. Reports will come to me at the beginning of the Spring Quarter. So far, the attitude of the students has been wonderful, and the faculty has worked hard. It seems to me the results of the year of renewal, so far, are great. We have a more positive attitude on the campus with the faculty and the stu- dent body. 10 OPENING Backlog: Do you believe Lipscomb prepares its graduates adequately to meet the world’s demands? Collins: Some say we have a ‘‘hot house environment” in the sense that we overly protect the people, but | think in this world with televi- sion and other communications me- dia that it is very difficult to have a “hot house environment” in the sense that we overly protect people. We do have a controlled environ- ment. | believe the business world is looking for people who are honest, who have character, and people who stand for that whichis right. We at Lipscomb are striving not only to give a good academic training but to teach a person to stand for the right and stand against the wrong. Backlog: How do you foresee the future of David Lipscomb College? Private colleges are in trouble fi- nancially. | believe the alumni at Lipscomb will rally. Lipscomb can have a bright future because of its purpose. We believe that many who have been to Lipscomb will rally be- hind the school. | do see a bleak on oF of af Bf i ES } ES | p future for private education in gen- eral, but Christian education is a wide open market. We are reaching about 12% of the young people who go to college from the church of Christ, and since we are affiliated with the churches of Christ in the sense that we depend upon the chureh for many of our students, for faculty members, and our board members, | believe that a school like Lipscomb can go forward in the fu- ture. Backlog: Do you see a greater change to bring more students to Lipscomb? Collins: According to a survey made by Reeder Oldham conducted at Freed Hardeman College at Hen- derson, Tennessee, we are only reaching about 12%, take or give one percentage point. The young people who are members of the church of Christ and go to college, in other words 12% of high school sen- iors who graduate, go to Christian colleges. That leaves a market of 88%. We have a big market to sell and | believe we can reach from 15% to 20% in the near future.

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‘a : Those faces — amused and mis- chievous, quizzical and kind, intense and appreciative. Remember ... ... the blush of the girl at the pro- posal of the boy. ... the benign look of the teacher who receives a ‘‘yes’’ answer to a ‘““how’’ question. the raised eyebrow of the chapel supervisor at the fifth flat tire in a month. ... the slow smile of reassurance from one friend to another. ... the nervous twitch of the freshman donating his first pint of blood. ... the proud look of the sopho- more who can distinguished be- tween red and green knights, Monta- gues and Capulets. ... the pleased expression of the junior who has finally declared his major. ... the furrowed brow of one en- tering senior seminar. the grimmace of the runner breaking the tape. ... the heavy lids of the typist as she pulls her last foot-noted page from the machine. ... the villainous grin of an active during initiation rites. the gratitude on the face of the college president at a prolonged standing ovation. eens per” aeeneS et: | 12 OPENING