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A. Stetson Univers
Winter 1999
Stetson University Alumni News
Volume XXIV No. 1
Stewart lecture encourages ethical concern
and provides a means for action
I" the United States doesn't learn to
embrace its diversity, religious bigotry will
tear apart the county as it enters the next
millennium, veteran broadcaster Bill Moyers
warned in a speech at Stetson University.
"How do we avoid the intolerance, the
chauvinism, the fanaticism, the bitter fruits of
faith that occur when holy
scriptures are used as a wedge
to drive people apart?" Moyers
asked his audience during
Stetson's 1998 Stewart Lecture.
A crowd of around 2,000,
including faculty, students and
Central Florida area residents,
repeatedly applauded Moyers
as he talked about the ethical
problems that will accompany
the increasing diversity in this
nation.
"The world has shrunk, and Moyers
we cannot avoid the claims of different
people, different stories and ideas impinging
upon us," he said. Stetson President Doug
Lee said that Moyers' work is important to the
Institute for Christian Ethic's goal of encouraging dialogue among leaders in areas of
ethical concern. In announcing last October
that Moyers would speak at the university,
Lee committed proceeds from the event to
Home and Neighborhood Development
(HAND) for a Spring Hill revitalization
project, an ongoing effort to help low income
families purchase affordable housing in the
Southwest DeLand neighborhood of Spring
Hill. A housing organization serving West
Volusia County, HAND was founded in 1968
by a group of concerned citizens, including
Stetson faculty, staff and administrators.
Stetson University professors presented a
gift of close to $7,000 to the executive
director of HAND.
"We are happy to fulfill our commitment to
HAND's program to support residents of
Spring Hill," said Lee. "The project is an
excellent match with Stetson's ongoing
outreach initiatives, which are based on our
belief that social responsibility, values and
ethics are critical to the education process."
Half of the gift represents donations received
at Stetson's Nov. 11 Stewart Lecture, featuring
Moyers. Stetson matched the more than $3,400
in contributions with money presented to the
university as an anonymous gift for the Spring
Hill program.
An ordained Baptist minister who
lecided to devote his life to journal-
sm, Moyers repeatedly praised the
university for its commitment to instill
ethical standards in students while
encouraging cultural diversity.
"The life of the mind and the life
of the spirit are strongly linked at
Stetson," he told the audience. As
the Year 2000 approaches, hysteria
over predictions of doom probably will
increase, Moyers said. This type of
hysteria has struck before — in the
Year 1000 when many people again
believed that the coming of a new millennium
meant the end of the world.
"Stetson's strong historical traditions, and its
influence not only in spiritual but secular
circles, make this an ideal place for the calm
and deliberate examination of what it means to
be religious in a modern democracy," he said.
Much of Moyer's speech was drawn from his
experiences in producing a recent 10-part
television series on the book of Genesis. The
series, which aired on Public Broadcasting
Service stations, entitled Genesis: A Living
Conversation, features representatives from
several faiths, novelists, artists and educators
discussing the first book of the Bible.
"The Bible is not for indoctrination, but for
education," he said. "We looked for people who
had a real commitment to the Bible and who
brought with them a quality of openness."
Moyers and his wife, ludith Davidson, an
education specialist, collaborated to create
Public Affairs Television Inc., which produced
hundreds of other hours of PBS programming.
The winner of more than 30 Emmy Awards
for his television work, Moyers began his career
in journalism as a 16-year-old cub reporter in his
hometown of Marshall, Texas. He served as
executive editor of the series "Bill Moyers'
Journal;" as senior news analyst for the "CBS
Evening News;" and was chief correspondent
for the documentary series, "CBS Reports."
Moyers also was deputy director of the
Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy
and was a special assistant to President
Lyndon B. Johnson from 1963 to 1967. He
left the White House to become publisher of
Newsday.
Moyers was the fifth speaker in the Stewart
Lecture Series since the Institute for Christian
Ethics was founded at Stetson in 1991. Other
lecturers have been former President Jimmy
Carter and Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond
Tutu and Elie Wiesel.
Before the lecture, Moyers joked that
Carter, Tutu and Wiesel are mountains while
he is a foothill. "I've lectured at Harvard, Yale,
Berkeley and other large institutions, but I
haven't seen a more impressive succession of
names in a campus series," he said. "It's a
tribute to the vigor of Stetson's commitment
to the Institute for Christian Ethics."
The lecture series is named for the
university's first dean of the chapel, Irish
missionary and pastor James A. Stewart
of Jacksonville. Led by Stetson Professor of
Religious Studies Dixon Sutherland, the
institute is designed to bring together the
university and religious communities and to
encourage students to be involved in civic
affairs and to be socially responsible.
As we have moved into the new
school year, there is a tinge of
.fall in the morning air, and rye
grass is springing to life in DeLand.
With the excitement of a new season, we
begin counting the days to Stetson
Weekend — just around four weeks —
and all the events associated with
Reunion, Homecoming, and our
special public announcement about the
$200 Million Campaign.
The addition to the duPont-Ball
Library is well under way and should be
near completion in February. And if you
have not seen the new Hollis and
Wilson Centers, you are in for a treat.
The new baseball stadium (Melching
Field at Conrad Park) is scheduled to be
dedicated during Stetson Weekend,
February 19-21.
Be sure to make your plans for
Stetson Weekend. It promises to be
one of the best ever. S^\
PCiCtru
Meadows, '59, '63 MA
itive Director, Alumni Association
