Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Alfred McKemy, president, left and John Dunlop, members of the Board of Regents, present Opal Eckert with the university ' s two highest awards at the summer commencement. Eckert was the speaker at those exercises. ( huck IssBCCson A llllle doubl mixed with a lot of pleasure summed graduation up for Roger Hagewood and Georgia Collins at Nor- thwest ' s summer commencement. V ;5t«- I Graduation

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An end and a beginning IS Commencement Day, May 9, 1981 and the changing scene bore out the old axiom that the more things change the more they stay the same. As graduates left the familiar world of school, they moved into the world of uncertanties in new op- portunities... became freshmen again, in the words of Dr. Richard Leet, who spoke at Spring Com- mencement. During the exercises, Leet was honored with the presenta- tion of the University ' s Distinguish- ed Alumni Award. Leet told the graduates that until that day parents, teachers, all socie- ty, had planned, supported and en- couraged each new beginning of growth and education. Now, each graduate will have to look after his own growth, said Leet. A living example of the changing scene at Northwest and beyond is Leet, who, after graduating from Northwest in 1948, took respon- sibility for his own growth and is now president of Standard Oil of In- diana ' s Amoco Chemical Company. That achievement made a deep im- pression on many seniors as they sat in cap and gown. It occured to me that you can succeed no matter what, if you ' re bound and determined to, said Dave Ceperly. That idea was echoed by Mary Beth Clayton. Describing Leet ' s speech as down-to-earth, she said, he was an inspiring example of someone who had graduated from Northwest and made his mark in the world. The point was that it was up to you to do what you can. After their years of study and before the beginning of their careers, in what Ceperly defined as a few short minutes, Clayton and 366 additional seniors received their bachelor ' s degrees, and 28 graduate students were awarded their master ' s degrees. Graduation Like Leet, Opal Eckert spoke of beginnings to the graduates at the August 7, 1981 summer commence- ment. Reaching into the last cen- tury, Eckert thanked those respon- sible for the beginning, for the vi- sion and the fulfillment, of the university itself. The promises of that beginning have been passed to each Northwest graduate, said Eckert, and it is up to each to make and keep promises to themselves and others. Drawing on her years of English study and instruction Eckert sug- gested that graduates study Robert Frost ' s poem about promises, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Out of Frost ' s hesita- tions and meditations came the deci- sion to move on to complete his goals. Receiving master ' s degrees were 130 graduate students and 102 seniors received their bachelor ' s degrees. Eckert, who earned two undergraduate degrees and her master ' s at Northwest, was presented the Distinguished Service Award and the Distinguished Alum- ni Award, the two highest awards given by the University. A student and a teacher for 52 years, most of them spent in northwest Missouri, Eckert ended her teaching career as an instructor of English and journalism at Northwest. Commencement, spring and sum- mer, 1981: for the graduated, new beginnings and promises to keep; for the undergraduates, the beginn- ings of preparation for the changing scenes of life. Dr. Richard Leet, a 1948 graduate of Nor- thwest, delivers an encouraging speech at the university ' s spring commencement. Leet is president of Standard Oil of In- diana ' s Amoco Chemical Company.

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The news hit Maryville during those lazy, crazy da ys of summer making it not such a quiet summer. Summer school enrollment rose almost five percent from 1980, said Linda Girard, registrar. She said the increased enrollment was not com- pletely unexpected. Northwest ' s enrollment has been rising for the past few years. This might be due to the unemploy- ment rate. If students are not able to find summer jobs, they are more likely to come back to school. University students were not the only ones to come to Northwest dur- ing the summer months. Junior high and high school students also invaded the campus for week-long workshops and camps, which included basketball, computers, tennis, volyeball, cheerleading and music. Hundreds of students from Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska came to Northwest for these camps. During the middle of July, Nor- thwest ' s President B.D. Owens at- tended a five-day conference in Costa Rica. Owens was sponsored by the Costa Rican government to attend a worldwide conference of university presidents held in San Jose. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the establishment of a university for peace in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government pro- posed the idea of a university for peace to the United Nations who ap- proved the idea, Owens was one of 250 university presidents from around the world to be invited to the conference. The Costa Rican government paid for the trip. I feel the university for peace is a remarkable idea, Owens said. Peace is a critical and essential part of our world today. By focus- ing academics on peace, world rela- tions may have a chance to improve. After most of the 1981-82 school year pre-registration had been com- pleted, it was decided last summer to change Franken Hall, normally a women ' s residence hall, to proximi- ty housing. This decision came in early June from Bruce Wake, direc- tor of housing. Wake said that this decision was made after seeing the large numbers of pre-registerd students and to decrease the need for more housing for male students. Also in early June, Northwest ' s practice football fields were the site of the Carson and Barnes Circus, sponsored by the Maryville Jaycees. The circus performed two shows on Northwest ' s campus. The circus, which featured 61 diesel trucks for carrying equipment and 35 motor homes which provided sleeping quarters for the circus employees, showed Northwest students and Maryville citizens near- ly 30 different animals in its five- ring show, along with acts on the flying trapeze. On the international scene. Nor- thwest students making their way through the hot Maryville summer, were able to witness a royal wedding on July 29. It was the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and it took place in St. Paul ' s Cathedral in London. About 2,500 guests, possibly a million onlookers along the route of the royal proces- sion and 750 millions others wat- ching on television at home witness- ed the historical event. Television news coverage covered, on the average, a six-hour time span the morning of the wedding. On the local scene. Northwest students were shocked when the small Northwest Missouri town of Skidmore made national headlines. On July 10, Kenneth Rex McElroy, a 47-year-old Skidmore farmer, was shot while sitting in his pickup on the town ' s main street by a group of vigilantes. -Anne Henry 20 Summer School I,