Mercer University - Cauldron Yearbook (Macon, GA)

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Zeb Vance has met more fine persons than anyone at Mercer. To understand Albert Schweitzer one must realize that he failed to find not only the Jesus of History hut also the Christ of the Faith, P, Harris Anderson is Mercer’s best hope for capturing the Sword Drill championship at the C.B.C. There have been at least three senators in American history who accomplished less than Herman Talmadge. A complete listing of the Thesis can he found in the index 27

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95 Thesis ])fSPIII THF PACT tl.il Man in Luther would have been horrified at the making light of ilr fine tradi- tion oE tlmi» writing, the appearance of the Mercer version ol the Great Re. former’ challenge can lie said, with some justification, i« luive been one of the highlight» of Mercer liturgical gear. I hi- (not tea t om of the these is un- known and the only due lies in the prologue which stales that the purpose was to lining to light the truth, Had this ten fly been the rase however, the attack on various professor would not have excluded two or three very out- standing members of the Mercer theo- logical community who though incisive, are not vcthally inspired and arc not infallible in matter of faith and morals, though they speak with a Southern Mis ■i'-ippi twang or boil from rural West- erly Georgia, Verily then, the authors bad not the revelation of the entire truth in mind when writing, hut rather spoke from a standpoint of good natured gibing with rival faculty membri» with whom they compete for theological and ecclesiasti- cal supremacy. The humorous motivation of ihe theses did not, however, prevent some real truths 'l«-mp brought to light even though this «my have been by mistake rather than intention. Constructive eriticLsini of the Baptist hierarchies, agencies, program , policies and philosophic' were also induded, to llie delight of those who feel the ten- dency of the stauncher Baptists to In-- conn- too Southern and sn on. All of these insights of course were intended in nought hut the most serious vein anrl any unthinking prolate who thought differently had only to s«.r upon the sanctimonious author to have any of lit doubts erased and his faith restored, Professors to hare the brunt of the thi-srs, including cine in particular, who though not nimie suspicion hitiiscjf as a possible author, still maintained his innocence vehemently and scoffed at the criticism as that of ravenous wolves- and fundamentalia in liberals clothing come to attack the trite sheep. Among the faults of the Southern Baptist Convention are• ( ) if is loo Southern; (2) it is too Baptist; ($) it is too conventional. Southern Baptists should be loyal to their theology as soon as they develop one. The Social Gospel movement dwindled away when the only poor people left were dirty. Kierkegrmrde must have been very disap- pointed if he found any other people in heaven.

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THE OLD All Ul.Tl.DlNC » the renter of our university and hn . been since the mustardsecd of Jesse Mercer moved from Pen field, ft e often point to it with amusement, but seldom with pride, forgetting that encased within the fantastic architecture, is the heritage of our university; that tire wont and winding staircases littered with cig- arette butts are the wooden reminders of tin: ascents and descents of gen- erations of students; that tlu? falling plaster was once- X new and stable nnd a equally as hard ns ff their heads; that the now con- demned attic was once the scene of the secret rit- uals of fraternal tics. While t n d a y it is an impres- sive re- ality, althou- gh not a very firm one,, some ■fit! years ago in I be- fall of 1872 the Atl Bui Ming was just art idea in the heads of the leaders of Menrer. G. P. Randall of Chicago was the architect of the new academic building which was to lit a model of ‘'permanence, beauty and convenient .” After a travail which was lengthened by unusually wet weather, a financial depression, a campus epidemic of meningitis and the destruction of the plans for the building in the Great Fire of Chicago, the Ad Building was at last delivered, all members intact, to its present site on the campus. Today the old building is considered by many to be an eyesore rather than an object of “permanence, beauty, and convenience,” and wild conjecture as to the style of its architecture is often overheard. It is Art Professor Marshall Daughter y's reliable opinion that the structure is a French Chateau in the style of the lime of Francis I. Professor Daughter)' further says that the building is an example of the finest style of its time, and that although it is an ar- rhitcclural horror, he Has a great sentimentality for it and would little to H-e it destroyed. Further discussion with him revealed that much deceit is tu Ik found in the building's ornamentation which seen» to he stone, hut is actually tin, and requires re painting at intervals of several years. Through the years there have Lecn many renova- lmus and small changes in the structure, The most recent interior Improve, merit were made in January nf I Unit). 'They consisted of q new paint job for ilui steps, and a coal of walltex. a sub stance similar 10 wall paper, for the walU.Tlje refill ishing also in. eluded tower- ing thr e oiling as it las! re- sort to keep I h e plaster from flaking P e rhaps the must not iccablfi exterior addi- tion is the al um- in urn awning which was added 195fi and adorns the back entrance. Al- though it is very handy for keeping dry while- opening Uifi- brdlns. for its lack of architectum! beauty, it has been colled “Ilie great- est disaster ever to strike the building,” Merceriana received u scare in 1958 when some- one noticed, that the great steeple of the A«| Building had begun lu Iiran. The event rated Cluster coverage, and was also the object of much speculation by physics prufis-or Powell Bush who stated that if the tower leaned any further it might pull over the entire building. The relic of what was once the epitome of acadcmii architecture Inis survived both disaster» and mockery, how- ever. and -till serves as a reminder of the richness of life at Me rear and likewise of the traditions of all university life. It remains an object of beauty at sunset, and. for veil!- I come, yearbooks will he delighted with its photogenic quali- ties. Mercer University’s Administration Building