Stetson Cupola 1982-11-1

t,%o>< ™'ve,S// Stetson Pro Deo et Veritate 1983 1 I / Vol. 11, No. 1 (USPS990-560) Fall 1982 100" ^ar Opens Stetson President Pope A. Duncan welcomed more than 1,000 special guests, new students, faculty, alumni and public officials during the Convocation ceremonies opening the university's 100th year. Chancellor J. Ollie Edmunds of Jacksonville delivered the featured address to the audience, which included presidents or delegates from 24 colleges, 39 representatives of Baptist churches and associations, and more than 100 public officials. The services were held in the Forest of Arden. Dr. Edmunds reminisced about his 61-year involvement with the university as a student, trustee, chief executive and now chancellor. He cited the Stetson Centennial as an important milestone in the history of Christian higher education in the state of Florida. ' 'When a committee of the Florida Baptist Convention started looking for a site for a female college, there being no schools for women in the state at that time, Henry DeLand proposed that they merge their plans with the existing academy in DeLand. Thus Stetson became the first co-educational college in Florida," Edmunds explained. "This was 50 years before the women of America would even have the right to vote, and at a time when most colleges in the nation limited their enrollment to males. Stetson also had the first woman law student.'' The chancellor praised President Duncan and the faculty for their efforts in maintaining the school as a "premier academic institution in the private sector. '' I hope during the next 100 years that Stetson will continue to be a small, distinctly Christian community of scholars, without any interference by either governmental or ecclesiastical authority," Edmunds stated. "I hope that our president and our trustees will never be timid about vigorously resisting any attempted illegal intrusion upon their independence." Edmunds closed urging faculty and students to look to the future with optimism and faith. Referring to the dreams of Stetson's founder, Henry A. DeLand, for the school, Edmunds said, "Mr. DeLand, we have not abandoned your dream. What is past is prologue: And the Best is yet to be." Phi Beta Kappa Chooses Stetson Stetson University, Florida's oldest university, has been selected for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, America's oldest fraternity, it has been announced by Dr. Pope A. Duncan. Stetson is the first non- doctoral degree-granting university in Florida to have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The university received notice of acceptance from Kenneth Greene, secretary of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, in late August. Stetson was one of only six colleges or universities throughout the nation to be granted membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1982. The prestigious fraternity grants charters only once every three years, so new memberships will not be awarded until 1985. Duncan cited the Phi Beta Kappa selection as a symbolic event for the university. "Coming as it does on the advent of our Centennial Celebration this school year, our acceptance by Phi Beta Kappa is a historic milestone for Stetson," he said. "Needless to say, we are excited and pleased by the opportunity of having a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on campus." He expressed his admiration for the faculty group who secured the fraternity's approval. There are 16 Phi Beta Kappa members on Stetson's faculty. According to Dr. John Hague, chairman of Stetson's American Studies department and a leader in the effort to obtain the Phi Beta Kappa charter, the acceptance was the end result of a three-year process. Hague was made chairperson of the effort to apply for Stetson's membership in the fraternity just prior to the 1980-81 school year. A preliminary application was drawn up and submitted to the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. This resulted in a visit to Stetson by a committee from the fraternity organization. After an exhaustive, in-depth review of details relating to the university's academic quality and institutional stability—budgets, plant, athletic programs, library holdings, admissions standards, faculty degrees, scholarship programs, etc.—as well as a followup application of even greater documentation, the committee agreed that Stetson deserved affiliation with the venerable liberal arts institution. "We were one of 78 colleges and universities that applied to Phi Beta Kappa at that time," Hague said. "After an initial check-up of each applicant, the committee decided to visit only 12 of the 78 schools." Of the dozen finalists, only six, including Stetson, were awarded membership. Hague indicated that the University of Miami also received its notification as one of the six. The only other chapters in the state are at the University of Florida and Florida State. As the first university of exclusively sub- doctorate level education in the state to be selected for Phi Beta Kappa membership, Stetson "has received a great tribute to its commitment to undergraduate education," Duncan said.