Wake Forest University - Howler Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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The spirt of the original Wait Chapel rises amid the magnolias on the old Wake Forest campus.

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A Changing Face Tells Story of Progress Samuel Wait saw more than pine trees and fertile soil when he looked out across the rolling hills of Wake County on a sunny day in 1SH. He saw an institution ot higher edu- cation founded upon the base ot Christianity which would serve the cause of North Caro- lina. It is doubtful that Wait could sec ahead to the Reynolda campus. Still, the dreams and aspirations that were to have a humble beginning in a manual labor institute arc the same as those which animate the bearers of the Wait heritage. A Yankee preacher who came south found Baptists divided still without the basic rudi- ments of organization. His first task was to gather the threads of the denomination and form the Baptist State Convention. And then he set out to found a school for the training of young men in a Christian context. I he first years were ones of struggle. Feuding Baptist leadership fought the grant- ing of a charter by the State Legislature. Only with the vote of the Episcopal Speaker of the 1 louse ot Representatives was the tie broken and a dream made a reality. Now began the hard task of making Wake Forest succeed and to this Wait gave his all. Still, there were others who could come to love a small college in a small town. Thete was Kitchin who expanded the medical school and moved it to Winston-Salem. And there was Poteat who led through the hectic years ot the first war in Europe and the loss of students, and the first battles with the Baptists over the teaching ot evolution. Deacon Hollow meant much to many. To some it was the place where they found them- selves de-educated as Gerald Johnson put it. To those ot a scientific nature, it was the first college in the South to use the labora- tory method of instruction and to teach evolu- tion. And yet, to members ot the faculty who gave sf willingly of their time without proper remuneration, it was supreme service. Today it is again struggling to reach the heights of Wait ' s vision. Now an idle dreamer can sit on the grass pecking through the blossoms of the magnolia, seeing Wait ' s dream a reality, now moved on to an area of greater service. ■

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