STETSON-LETTER
VOL. 7, NO. 2
STETSON UNIVERSITY, DeLAND, FLORIDA
JANUARY, 1959
Half - Million Given For Building Program
GlFTS AND PLEDGES totalling more than $500,000 have
been received by Stetson University in the last three months
for its building program, Dr. J. Ollie Edmunds, president, told
trustees of the university at the annual meeting. These gifts are
in addition to others received for faculty salaries and recurring
operating expenses.
At the university's 75th anniversary convocation, held last
November, the trustees and a group of civic leaders laid plans for
a long-range development program designed to provide $6,000,000
for new buildings and a substantial sum of additional endowment
for the university during the next five years.
Since that time a quiet effort has been begun to acquaint a
number of prospective donors with the university's plans for the
future and to enlist their financial support. Later it is planned to
extend this solicitation program over a wider area, with the active
cooperation of many more of the institution's alumni and friends.
Of the total announced at the meeting nearly a quarter of a
million dollars has been subscribed by individual trustees. Included also is approximately $150,000 recently contributed by the
Florida Baptist Convention toward the amount required to meet
the university's most immediate building needs.
Alumni Give $14,106
For Swimming Pool
A MONG the buildings planned for Stetson are a new library,
-^*- science center, men's gymnasium, school of music building,
fine arts center, chapel, building for the school of business, an
infirmary, and additional facilities for outdoor recreation.
The objective for the current academic year was set at
$1,250,000, almost half of which already has been subscribed, according to the announcement.
Four new members were welcomed as trustees of the university convened on the campus for the annual meeting.
Attending their first meeting were Charles W. Campbell, Jacksonville vice president in charge of South-Central operations for
the Prudential Insurance Company of America; Ralph H. Ferrell,
Miami, attorney and first deacon emeritus of Central Baptist
Church, Miami; H. Terry Parker, Jacksonville, merchant, farmer,
and member of the board of directors of Gulf Life Insurance Company, and Mrs. G. Dekle Taylor, Jacksonville, past president of
the Duval Medical Center Auxiliary and the Duval Medical Society-
Auxiliary, a member of the board of the Junior League of Jacksonville and teacher in Riverside Baptist Church.
'T1 HE FOUR trustees, elected last November, fill existing vacancies and those caused by the resignations of Judge O. R.
Reaves of Tampa, and Miss Helen Holbrooke, of Asheville, N. C.
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EARLY ADMISSION STUDENTS ABOVE
FRESHMAN AVERAGE IN CLASS
A total of $14,106 was contributed by the
members of the United Stetson Alumni
last year toward the cost of building a
swimming pool on the Stetson campus.
This sum, together with $793 given for
this purpose several years ago, brings the
amount available for the pool construction to approximately $15,000. As considerably more than this will be required to
provide a pool that will meet the university's needs, it has been decided to defer
building it until such time as additional
funds, either from alumni or other sources,
become available.
In the meantime, all of the United
Stetson Alumni gifts earmarked for the
pool are being set aside in a special swimming poo! fund to remain intact, along
with the earlier gifts, until they are expended for the purpose for which they
were given. The university is hoping to obtain capital funds to finance more adequate gymnasium and sports facilities on
the campus and the swimming pool is to
be an important part of this development.
By A. F. Tuttle and Harland Merriam,
Directors Program of Early Admission and
Advanced Studies
'"p HIRTY-EIGHT high school juniors
who entered Stetson as freshmen last
September after studying English, mathematics, and developmental reading in the
University's eight-week Early Admission
Summer Program, have completed their
first semester in college with an average
grade above the freshman average.
All of the 38 had at least a "C" average.
Twelve made at least a "B" average. Eleven made the honor roll.
Not only did this group attain an overall "B minus" average, which was considerably above the freshman class average,
but most of these Early Admission freshmen carried heavier course loads than did
the majority of the class.
The 38 able high school juniors who
proved in the first semester that they can
handle college work were far from single-
minded in their concentration on their
studies. All took college life in stride.
Each student participated on one or
more extra-curricular activity such as campus politics, college newspaper work,
sports, fraternities, Glee Club, band, or
denominational group programs. A number of them were chosen by their classmates for places of leadership in these
activities. They gave to these activities
the same energy, enthusiasm, and finesse
which had made them both popular and
successful in high school.
'T' O THOSE who have wondered whe-
ther capable high school juniors can
make mature adjustments to college social
life, these students seem to provide a positive answer. Certainly in their first semester
these 38 students have made this crucial
academic and social transfer surprisingly
well.
In the midst of the criticism that is
directed toward our high schools today,
theirs is another voice attesting to the fact
that much good teaching is going on in
our Florida schools, that there are many
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