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STETSON-LETTER
VOL. 5, No. 2
STETSON UNIVERSITY, DeLAND, FLORIDA
JANUARY, 1957
NATIONAL HONORS GIVEN STETSON PRESIDENT
Dr. Rice Gives
Planetarium to
Stetson University
A planetarium for study of the constellations has been given to Stetson by
Dr. Laban Lacy Rice, Orlando educator,
luthor and lecturer.
The planetarium, manufactured by Dr.
Armand Spitz, projects the heavenly bodies
on a dome 20-feet in diameter. Operated
mechanically, a full display of the sun,
moon, stars and planets in a twenty-four
hour period is shown in about six minutes. The device may be stopped at any
position for detailed study.
Approximately 40 people can witness
the display at one time. Dr. Rice gave the
initial lecture and succeeding ones are
being presented by Dr. John V. Vaughen,
Prof. Emmett Ashcraft, and other members of the faculty. Public school classes
and interested parties have visited Monroe
Heath Museum to hear the lecture and
witness the display.
This planetarium was last used three
years ago as Rice Planetarium in St.
Petersburg. After a year, Dr. Rice abandoned the project and this spring he offered to give it to Stetson. His offer was
readily accepted as Stetson had for several years needed such equipment to expand courses in astronomy and make
available this study for interested persons
and groups.
Dr. Rice, born October 14, 1870, in
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Annual Open House
Set for February 3
An informal open house for the parents
of Stetson University students will be held
Sunday, February 3. This is the day before
classes resume for the Spring Semester and
many parents accompany students to De-
Land on this date.
Dr. Edmunds and Dr. Arthur G.
Coons, president of Occidental College
in Los Angeles, look over a program
of the Association of American Colleges
following the election of Dr. Edmunds
as president of the Association to succeed Dr. Coons.
Stetson Remembered
In Merrill Will
Stetson University is a partner in the
investment firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce,
Fenner and Beane by provisions of the
will of Charles E. Merrill, investment
broker and distinguished alumnus, who
died in October. He was in the academy
in the early 1900's and in 1946 received
an honorary degree at Stetson.
Stetson will receive three percent of the
income from the $5,500,000 trust after
certain stipulated gifts are made. The
trust is a special partner in the brokerage
firm which, through Mr. Merrill's business acumen, put Wall Street on Main
Street by selling stocks in chain-store brok-
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Dr. Edmunds Named
President of Assn.
of American Colleges
A signal honor to President Edmunds
and to Stetson University came in mid-
January with his election to the presidency of the Association of American Colleges at the organization's forty-third annual session in Philadelphia.
Dr. Edmunds is the first president of a
Florida college or university to be accorded
this honor. He also is the first Southern
Baptist to be elected. He succeeds Dr.
Arthur G. Coons, president of Occidental
College of Los Angeles, California. Dr.
Edmunds served last year as vice-president,
the previous year as treasurer and for two
previous years as a member of the board
of directors.
His election came following a report
of the chairman of the nominating committee, the Rev. Farther Joseph R. N.
Maxwell, president of Boston College and
himself a former AAC president. Other
officers elected include William W. White-
house, president of Albion College in
Michigan, vice president, and treasurer.
Theodore A. Ristler is executive secretary of the organization which has as
members 90 percent of the four-year liberal arts colleges and universities in the
United States. The organization maintains its national headquarters in Washington.
Dr. Edmunds, since he accepted the
Stetson presidency in 1948, has frequently
received national recognition because of
his positive stand in behalf of the private
colleges of the nation. He has devoted
a great amount of time to presenting the
needs of private colleges to the large
corporations which are now giving financial support to these independent institutions of higher learning.
Alumni in the vicinity of Philadelphia
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HAVE YOU GIVEN TO THE
1957 UNITED STETSON PROXY ENDOWMENT FUNDI
