St Andrews Presbyterian College - Lamp and Shield / Bagpipe Yearbook (Laurinburg, NC)

Page 22 text:

mm A6ministRAtion= If 1968 was a good year for George Wallace and Dick Nixon, it was Ex- cedrin headache No. 69 for incumbent Presidents. Consider that in 1968, President Johnson wrestled with such problems as Vietnam, racial violence in the cities, gun control, nuclear disarmament and the national budget. Ansley C. Moore that same year had to act on such matters as open dorms in a church related school, drinking on campus, students drawing knives on each other and raising thirty mil- lion dollars to build a science build- ing and new dorms. Perhaps the toughest problem of them all is the fact that with a school as new and innovative as St. Andrews, there are no pat answers. Decisions have to be made with an ear tuned to the present and an eye turned toward the future. 18 ° ' v ■ ' ' ■ ' -■■ ' ■ ' ' '

Page 21 text:

What we have then is an eclectic gathering of students descending on a town the likes of which most have never seen. Reactions vary, usuall) according to the style of the place from which they came; some laugh, others condemn, a few simply ignore Laurinburg. It is possible to spend four years at St. Andrews and never come into real contact with the cul- ture around us; it is possible, but if that is how we choose to spend our college experience, then we have real- ized onlv half of the total experience. We cannot stay within our walls; to experience St. Andrews without ex- periencing Laurinburg is a cop-out. The culture in which we interact is fundamental to the St. Andrews stu- dent, if he is indeed a student.

Page 23 text:

A president, anv president, has the ultimately significant and sometimes unfortunate distinction of being the foremost representative of his institu- tion, whether it be a nation or a col- lege. His personality and character carry the image of that institution to the rest of the world, and more often than not judgments are made on the strength of that image. He must con- stantly be on top and ahead of the current school issues and controversies. His is the task of pulling together the various bits and pieces of the total character of the college, and then making decisions and passing judg- ments on the basis of his awareness of the particular ' s relation to the whole. At the same time he must enter- tain visitors, travel extensively and somehow come up with the millions of dollars necessary to keep the college alive. It is inevitable then, that when the machinery breaks down for any one of a thousand reasons, the first cries of anguish are usually directed at the president. Add then to problem solv- ing, money raising and decision mak- ing the task of simply keeping a cool in the constant flak of student criti- cism, and vou understand a bit of what it is to be president of SA. If it often seems shrouded in mystery from our point of view, it is usually because there are implications we never have to realize, and if he seems out of touch with student life it is of- ten because he is the victim of student prejudice or endless administrative duties. There are obviously few re- wards for his efforts, other than wit- nessing the coming of age of the in- stitution to which he has devoted so much energy, especially in his last year as President. It is only regrettable that he has had to give so much time to obtaining the materials needed for the physical plant that he could not maintain the personal contact that is so essential. Dr. Moore ' s retirement is a genuine loss to St. Andrews.