December 15, 1997
Department of History
College of Arts and Sciences
421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8344
DeLand, FL 32720-3756
Phone: (904) 822-7535
Fax: (904) 822-7544
Dear Former Students and Other Friends of Stetson,
At the request of a number of Stetsonites, especially a female group that I call the DeLand Mafia
Gang of Five—Dianne Dixon '57, Merrill Maguire Skaggs '58, Sue Perdue Hilton '52, M.A.'66, Jean
Donnelly Maclay '61, and Carolyn Miller Parr '59 - I am bringing back the History Department
Newsletter for another final appearance (about like the numerous "final appearances" of Frank Sinatra,
I suppose).
I love writing the Newsletter, but I would like it better if I were not burdened with the mechanics of
printing and mailing. Annette Patterson '89, M.S.'95, our talented and charming Director of
Development, paying obeisance, I suspect, to my advancing years and infirmity, has promised to take care
of that. I would like it even better if I got paid for writing it. I don't mean personally; I don't need the
money. I would love, however, to help Annette and to inspire you to do something for our University.
Stetson is very proud of its record of giving by alumni, with 40% of its graduates giving and thus placing it
in a relatively high rank among colleges. Yet I find it shocking that 60% of Stetson's graduates do not give
to the University. This participation is vital to the University as it is the standard whereby many
foundations and large donors decide where to place their money. I hope that the drive I am linking to this
Newsletter will result in a broadening of alumni support.
Our Wynn-Johnson Book Fund drive was highly successful resulting in almost $30,000. We were
helped by family and friends of the Wynns and Johnsons who contributed substantially. Since we cannot
hope that these donors will contribute again in such large sums, w are casting our net wider this time with
alumni. Much of the Wynn-Johnson Book Fund was spent to buy a wide swath of the London Times on
microfilm, a valuable resource for our students.
This drive is designed to call attention to a crisis that the University will face in coming years.
With the expected continuing rise in tuition, there is a danger that Stetson will become a college for the very
rich or the very poor. Without scholarship help, the middle class will find it increasingly difficult to select
Stetson University. University administrators are, of course, aware of the problem as they focus the
Annual Fund on scholarships. The Gualala Foundation, in establishing the Edmunds scholarships, is also
working on the problem.
I propose a Student Retention Fund that will aid students who, although having a satisfactory
academic record at Stetson, find themselves unable to meet the increases in tuition that we know are
coming. The fund will be administered by the Student Financial Planning Office with History, Political
Science, and American Studies majors being favored.
Some of you are already regular contributors to the Stetson Annual Fund. That is fine, of course,
but if you do so though us, there is an additional payoff. We will have a plaque on the third floor of
Elizabeth Hall to honor donors to the "Student Retention Fund". In addition, if you direct, the plaque will
include the name of any person you wish to honor. I would anticipate that these would be former
professors, but members of administration can be included - no animals please. To illustrate, the
designations would go like this:
