William Carey College - Crusader / Pine Burr Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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Campus Development if ' ' 1 1 ; t ie As visitors to Europe know, a campus does not a college mf ' j! make. Classes meet where the professors are, often in ge buildings and rooms scattered all across cities the size of Paris. Nevertheless, in America campuses have importance, es- pecially in creating a sense of community and establishing traditions. South Mississippi College boasted a campus of some ten acres of cut-over land with essentially three main structures, including a huge administration complex and two frame buildings. Located on the slight rise upon which Tatum Court now sits, the admin- istration building was virtually an all-purpose unit. It not only housed the offices of administrators and faculty but also in- cluded classrooms, the library, and a 1500-seat auditorium, which illustrated the faith of the college inasmuch as the student body numbered only 200 or so. The tragic burning of this build- ing in the 1910 session so devastated the college ' s resources that the school closed. When the institution opened again in 1911 as Mississippi Woman ' s College, now under Baptist administration, an initial assignment was to construct another multi-purpose building at the heart of the campus. By 1914 a splendid new administration building was completed and named for W.S.F. Tatum. the col- lege ' s original benefactor. The basement of the colonnaded brick edifice contained the home science department and a gym- nasium (as strange as the latter may sound, the basement would later contain a swimming pool, which would then convert to a post office and snack bar. and finallv to its present status as a theater.) The second floor had offices and a 600-seat audito- rium, which, although it had side windows, was atrium-like, thus suggesting the name Tatum Court. The third floor included a li- brary, music and practice rooms, and a chemical laboratory. Campus visitors from the twenties to the sixties still remember afternoon Chorale rehearsals sending out their sweet music which, because of their lofty position, prompted one alumnus to observe that it was like angels from heaven. Other buildings that date from the Woman ' s College era include the dormitories Ross and Johnson halls, a 16-bed infirmary (now offices for the School of Business), and Crawford Hall, pre- viouslv the President ' s home. When the school became coeducational again and took the name William Carey in 1953 an ambitious building program be- gan. Starting with Lawrence Hall in 1954 as a men ' s dormitory, twelve new buildings in twelve years rose up to dot the campus. Where possible the parallel avenues of trees on the front campus were guarded as if they were human. When Thomas Fine Arts Center claimed the location of storied Philo Fountain another fountain, illuminated with colored lights in the evening, was do- nated bv a friend of the college. Again, in the interest of tradi- tion, when it was imperative that the college have a new admin- istration building. Tatum Court was remodeled in its historic style rather than a modern one. On the Gulf Coast campus sim- ilar respect for landmarks has been the pattern. The handsome administration building that stands watch on the Gulf waters has been remodeled to maintain the character it had for half a century with the Gulf Coast Military Academy. On the New Orleans campus, by contrast, the opposite course has been followed. Exigencies of the situation demanded a brand new, ultra modem facility for the School of Nursing. Just this year the seven-story, nine million dollar building opened that now houses the School of Nursing, making it the South ' s most modern complex of its kind. One only wonders what those New Orleans founders of South Mississippi College in 1906 would think if they could see what their college has in their own Crescent City today!

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A Planned and Orderly Expansion of

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Students at Carey find time to pursue other areas besides aca- demics. They enjoy eating, play- ing a little tennis, and raiding the recreation room!