Samford University - Entre Nous Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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ai I I - 'K' s X , Q x 'gif 57 i 1' i e . Dr. Corts and his many responsibil- ities as President of Samford University.

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New Samford president says An air of expectancy hangs over Samford University's campus this week as parents unload boxes and help their freshmen students get settled in for fall term. One of the fathers himself will be a newcomer to the university nestled at the foot of Birmingham's Shades Mountain. Dr. Thomas E. Corts takes over as president of Samford Thursday as his daughter. Jennifer. begins studies as a freshman at the Baptist liberal arts school. Corts, who has been president of Wingate College in North Carolina for the past nine years, succeeds Dr. Leslie S. Wright who is retiring to become chancellor. Corts describes Samford as a jewel of a place, a quality institution with a bright future. The new president said he hopes to build on the founda- tions laid by Wright. But he said his primary interest is in trying to make a lasting impact on students' values and in commitments to academic excellence rather than in bricks and mortar. Many institutions face difficult times because of declin- ing enrollment, but Samford's well-defined mission and role as a Baptist institution give it distinction and stability, he said. Declining enrollment certainly will be a pressure, Corts said. But he said standards will not be lowered to maintain enrollment. The university is at capacity with about 4,000 students, and plans are to remain at that level, he said. We will try to assure quality and quantity of students,', he said. Corts said he wants to focus on quality so Samford can reach even greater distinction. There are a lot of ideas in them have a price tag Dr Thomas Corts the world of education, all off t Excellence is his commitment ' 'wvvi' ffl I A key ingredient will be to boost the university's endow- ment of S7 million, which he called extremely modest for Samford's size. He said he doesn't have a firm goal or timetable, but S50 million would be a good number. During Corts' tenure as president of Wingate, endow- ment funds of the 1,500-student college more than doubled from S2 million in 1974 to S6 million in 1981. There are alot of ideas in the world of education, he said. All of them have a price tag. A top priority will be to make international studies a central commitment of Samford if the institution is will- ing, he said. Global perspectives can be emphasized in courses, reading assignments and through special programs in which students study abroad, he said. At Wingate, he started a program that allowed students at the midpoint of their sophomore year to travel abroad at almost no additional cost. Samford can make a commitment to giving students an international education as some schools do for supporting football, Corts said. Students need to have a global view of events and a glimpse of what it means to be a world citizen because of the importance of international trade in the business world, as well as the Baptist tradition of pumping money into healing and teaching in other countries, he said. Corts, a 41-year-old native of Terre Haute, Ind., is a graduate of Georgetown College with a doctorate from In- diana University. Before going to Wingate, he was coordin- ator of the Kentucky Higher Education Consortium and director of planning, executive dean and chief operating officer at Georgetown College. By Jean Lufkin Bouler The Birmingham News

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A NEW ERA DAWNS: . NAUGURATIO Pianist-composer Dave Brubeck and former Chicago mayor .lane Byrne joined noted lecturers from the fields of religion and economics on a series of programs celebrating the inauguration of Samford Llniversity's new president, Dr. Thomas E. Corts, Sun- day-througlvWednesday. Nov. 6-9. Also participating in the four-day event were Dr. John Heller, former Yale University medical professor and author of the book REPORT ON THE SHROUD OF TURIN1 Dr. Donald Ratajc- Yak. nationally known economic forecaster from Atlantag and Dr. Gerhard Claas. general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. Dr. Corts was formally installed as Samford's 17th president on Wednesday, Nov. 9, during an ll a.m. program in Wright Fine Arts Center at Samford. Dr. Claas, a German pastor who was elected to head the BWA in 1980, delivered the major address. Inauguration Week began Sunday, Nov. 6, with a lecture by Dr. Heller. a key member of the scientist team that investigated the Shroud of Turin in 1978. Dr. Heller. whose book on the Shroud was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection last June. discussed the exhaustive study made on the relic which many believe to be the burial shroud of Jesus. The scientist team tackled the question of how the image ofa face was formed on the Shroud. Dr. Heller answered questions from a panel of religion news editors on Monday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. in Wright Fine Arts Center. Dr. Ratajczak, who has earned a national reputation for accura- cy in his economic forecasts for such bodies as the Joint Economic Committee ofthe US. Congress, spoke Monday, Nov. 7, in Wright Fine Arts Center. His talk focused on A1abama's economic future. Mrs. Byrne, who served as Chicago's first woman mayor during 1979-83, spoke Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Wright Fine Arts Center. A former Commissioner of Consumer Services ofChicago, she imple- mented numerous budgetary reforms during her tenure as mayor which reduced Chicago's accumulated debt by more than S100 million. Brubeck, a popular musician who has become an influential force in contemporary sacred music in recent years, performed with his Quartet and the Samford Festival Chorus on a program entitled f'An Evening with Dave Brubeck Tuesday, Nov. 8, in Wright Fine Arts Center. The musician-composer has been critically acclaimed by church musicians for such works as To Hope: A Celebration, his most recent work, and his oratorios based on the life and teachings of Jesus, Beloved Son and The Light in the Wilderness? Dr. Claas, from Wetter, Germany, was elected to head the BWA at the 14th Baptist World Congress in Toronto, Canada, three years ago. The Alliance is a worldwide fellowship of 127 Baptist conventions and unions from 90 countries dedicated to strengthen- ing international cooperation among its 30 million members. ' llctipltf