Realty duo re'sound'ing hit - Hoover Library

llJi\1C Family Tradition By Carolyn S",man Ingalls
A year ago the Hill requested information on generational
families. families with members from three or
more generations who attende~ WMC. The Hill
wanted to learn more about alumni for whom .Wester.n
Maryland College has become. if not a family tradition.
at least a long-standing habit. Numerous replies
were received, some even in the form of family trees,
Among the names that appeared are ones that will
be recognized by nearly every reader. Do you remember
a classmate named Ward, Holloway, or Truitt. or
Thompson How about Nicoll. or Elderdice. or Reed!
The list goes on with Herings, Rices, Dunlops.
Shroyers and waltaces. Some of the relationships are
so convoluted that even an Alex Haley would have
difficulty figuring them out. Often the family name
that connects all the grandfathers. daughters. cousins.
and aunts appears only once or not at all. But they
were all here and continue to come. In the estimation
of Gerald Clark, '63, associate director for development,
at least 20 percent of each class had or has a
relative on the Hill.
Why all this lack of originality Cora Virginia
Perry. '36, who has been at the college as student then
administrator since 1932 and who has WMC family
ties of her own, believes it is because many studentsto-be
are brought here for Homecoming and other
events from the time they are in baby carriages. She
hypothesizes that this trend (of generational families)
may be changing as students who may want to come
here for the environment must, due to vocational
choices. look elsewhere.
Family members who responded to the article were
asked why they chose WMC. if they were influenced
by family members, and if they tried to influence their
children. Charlotte (Reed) Cushing. '52. said
laughingly, "I had no choice!" She grew up in a
"Western Maryland household" and had parents,
grandparents, aunts, cousins, great uncles. and. various
other relatives dating back to the class of 98,
establishing a pattern she was happy 10 follow.
"Western Maryland became a part of my life
there was never any doubt in my mind. I remember
when Igraduated, it was Nanny's (Susanna (Garrison)
Wheeler, '02) 50th year (since graduation) and almost
my mother's 25th (Charlotte Louise (Wheeler) Reed,
'29). That was special."
Rev. W. Dewitt Dickey, '37, said that while he
does not agree with all the present policies of the
college, "At the time I thought it was the best school
possible I never thought of another." He said that
he definitely influenced his daughter. Mildred (Dickey)
Thomas, '62, for whom WMC was an only
choice. He been prepared for Western Maryland
had
by his father. Thomas M. Dickey, '99.
In the opposite vein, Joseph Eline, E. Jr .. '52.
reponed that he was not swayed by family tradition
(his mother in the class of ex '28 or his grandmother.
ex '92), but chose WMC because he was' . interested
in a small, liberal arts college.thut sports had
and a degree that meant something." His daughter.
Elizabeth (Eline) Andrews, '77. decided she didn't
want to go to WMC because her father had, but
changed her mind when she visited the campus and
the town.
For Warren Ledford, '43. WMC was an easy
choice as he lived in New Windsor and commuted as a
day student for three-and-a-half years. He became
familiar with the college during his youth when ~e
attended summer youth retreats here. His father, WIlliam
A. Ledford. '10, however. had come 1111 the way
from North Carolina to find Methodist Pr~testant
a
college. William spent eight years here, fi~st 111 prep
school, then the college, and finally sen:mary. For
son David Ledford, '72. WMC was. agam. an only
choice, although family visits back to the ca~ptls had
been rare. As high school counselor, his father.
a
Warren, knew that WMC "still had its good reputation."
Mary Virginia (Bankert) Appler. '51. sent iriforrnalion
about her generational family. Mother Anna Elizabeth
(Ward) Bankert graduated 1924 and two of
in
her children are also Western Marylanders. Gilbert
~~~~h_:"~7~r',,,:~,~!::'b~a~~~:,, '~~r~:~~r~::~l~~~
'ege Park as a sophomore. She said that family tradition
played Some part b~t it was only a secondary
conSideratIOn. "Mother liked it so much and I heard
from other Sources that it (Western Maryland) was
good. My brother was there and liked it and I knew it
had good chemistry department."
a
Roby Franklin Day, '98. sent four sons. a granddaughter.
and a grandson to WMC (Stockton E., '23;
Chapin .. '26; James R. '29; Jackson W., '31,
W
Bonnie Jean, '82; and Jackson H .. '63). Son Jackson,
'31 , told us that for three of the brothers there were no
other thoughts. The fourth brother had a scholarship
to Cornell but chose WMC, anyway. Roby !ay was a
"Maryland country boy with a Methodist background."
who had been orphaned and borrowe~
money attend WMC. The college helped make to II
POssible and he remained a very loyal alumnus, encouraging
his sons to attend. Jackson Day believes
things at WMC are "looking up."
Throughout the interviews, a theme that seemed to
take precedence over family tradition was the quality
of the school, little touch of familiarity helps when
A
beginning an experience as new as college life, but
few parents would encourage their children to atten.d
an institution, no matter how deeply-rooted a tradition,
if it had not maintained its reputation quality. for
We asked Philip Uhrig. M.Ed. '52, alumni di.re~tor
for 29 years and now director of deferred giVing.
about the similarities Or differences he has seen
among alumni over years, He replied that the
the
sameness among the students earlier on was based on
a Methodist background. While this .[s not so true
anymore. students still come from Similar home~,
with common values and from the same sort localities.
of
He believes that the sons and daughters who do
choose WMC "cast aside the idea that this was
Mom's or Dad's college but inside they're proud and
very much like their parents, Mr. Uhrig also reports
that alumni as a whole are more supportive now than
they ever have been, and !nore proud of ~heir alma
mater. He believes that the increased financial support
from alumni is a good indicator of approval of the
college's present situation.
Les Bennett. director of admissions and financial
aid, has found that students are greatly influenced by
their parents in making a choice of college. While
some parents push too hard, most act as counselors.
As far as family tradition affecting college attendance,
he believes, "There's an awful lot that's healthy in
~~~~nf;ke f~r;i~o~JJ~~~'n:~gh~'~d :r;'~~f:e elt~~1
believe tradition is good . ~here's a sense of parncrpmin~.
of being in touch With the past and the fu-
Choice of college is mainly dependent on whether
or not the institution meets the individual needs of the
student. One explanation for the interesting phenomenom
of generational college families was summed by
Mr. Bennett: "The relationship provides the initial
exposure 10 the institution, but it's the strength of the
college itself that clinches n."
As the WMC family continues to grow. so grows
the number of future Western Maryland prospects to
continue the tradition. Last year alone approximately
30 new babies of alumni sported bibs, courtesy of the
Alumni Office. Look OUI class of '97!
News From The HIll
News From The HIll
Poll-Sci Students
Conduct Survey
Nine members of a senior research seminar in
political behavior. taught by Dr. Herb Smith,
assistant professor. have completed a
Westminsler housing survey. Under a $1,500
grant from the city, students visited n~arl~ 3O
randomly selected homes within the city hmJts
seeking responses to the s.urvey. questionn~ire.
Based on a 1977 questtOnnalre, the reVIsed
housing survcy includes 50 questions designcd
to determine housing needs within the
community aceoriling income and family
to
size. Upon completion of the to.tal project. Ihe
survey redesign, data eollecllOn, com~uter
analysis (programmed by D~. Ethan SeJdel,
assistant professor of economICS), final repan
of results and interpretation will be presented
to the city. It will then be used by the city in
determining whether housing needs are
evident, and so, in preparation a Housing
if of
Assistance Plan for the Department of Housing
and Urban Development. According to the
survey, 66.3% of those questioned rate
satisfaction with their present home as
"good" or "excellent."
Smith, quoted by the Carroll County Times,
explained that the survey affords students the
chance "link concepts and theories of
to
survey research with the practical application
of writing, administering and interpreting a
survey,"
Piggybacking the hOUSing survey are an
additional 20 questions on Blue Laws, state
and national politics, religion and Western
Maryland COllege-community relationships.
Findings on COllege-town relationships will be
published, when available, ina later issue of
Newsfrom the Hili.
Class members involved with the project are
Richard Braver, Michael Williams, Ellen
Sanorio, Steve Anuszewski, Sue Grafton,
Steve Timchula. Phil Lapadula, Dave
Moskowitz and Prichard.
lane
Blackwell
Named to Staff
maintenance for Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
in Baltimore. I3lackwelljoins the college com.
~unity with an extensive background in coolmg.
plumbing. healing and electricity. Cur.
rently he is enrolled in the industrial engineer.
1I1g techlllcal cUfT)culum at Catonsville Community
College
A member of the National Association of
Power Engineers, Blackwell's interests in.
cludethedcvelopmenlof:lpracticalandeco_
nomica! solar heating plant
Roben D. Blac~we!l has been named SUPCf_
intendemofbulidlllgsundgroundsal
WMC
Formerly assistant superintendenl of 4~--------~U
Hill Earns
Good Marks
from Alumni
The Office of Development has compiled a
summary of alumni opinions about Newsfrom
Ihe Hill. The compilation is based on
responses to the questionnaire printed on,the
back of the alumni survey which was malled
nearly a year ago. Of the 10,536 fOnTISmailed.
6,653 (63.1 %) were returned to the college.
The compilation is based on 6.104 of the
returned fonns. excluding those Q!1 which The
Hili questionnaire portion was not completed,
those returned because of incorrect address,
etc. Percentage computations arc based on thc
number of responses to each question.
• 5,627 persons responded to "I read News
from the Hill: 82.8% said yes: 1,5%, nO:
and 15.7%,gometimes
·5,510 responded to "I read Alumni
Letters:"' 78.6% said yes; 2,9%, no: and
18.5%,sometimes
• ~,378 responded to "The format of The Hill
IS:" 76.9% said good' 209% fair and
2.2~, poor. Several pe~son~ ex~resS~d the
desire to see The Hill return to magazine
format. It is unlikely, however, such a
change will be made. The cost 10 print
16,000 copies of The Hill with a magazine
fonnat comparable in contcllI to the currenl
t~bloid format would run almost $1,000
higher per issue or almost $4.000 more a
year. This COSt adjustment would force the
PUblic Information Office to make
conSiderable cutbacks on other much
needed publications.
• 5,267 responded to "Stories in The Hiff
are:" 72.3% said good; 27,2%, fair: and
.5%, poor
• 5,429 responded to "I think The Hill
performs its function of keeping me
mfonned about WMC:" 45.1% said very
:",ell; 53.6%, adequately; and 1.3%,
madequately,
• 5,324 responded to "I think The Hill
performs its function of keeping me
Infonned about the alumni:"' 40.4% said
~ery well; 56,3%. adequately: and 3.3%.
Inadequately,
Printing
Costs Up
with paper and printing.cosls high rand getting
hi Iher). duplicate mailings of Neu"~'[rom lilt.'
Hj, arc not only eXlraneous-they re expensive.
If you are receiving more thun one copy
of each issue. please help us sav.e money by
sending one set ofduplicale mailing labels to
the Alumni Office along wilh thIS coupon
checked:
o ONE'S ENOUGH!
PoSlage costs ;Ire considerable: 100, on mail~
ings like the Hill-bul no ~laillng costs a~c as
~~~.s ~~sey!~r ~~I~~i~;I~~ua:~t~~lrl~r:s~)d ~~
help the Hill find your home. pleasecmplctc
coupon below and send 10 Ihc Alumn[ Office
c/o
NAME:
the college
ADDRESS
CITY
o ON THE
STATE_ZIP_
MOVE.
__
_
Spring Sports Schedule
Date Sport Opponent
March
Lacrosse(M}
Villanova
22 " Lacrosse(M) Fl.lirleigh Dickinson-Madison
April
I Baseball (M) Johns Hopkins
Tennis(M) Johns Hopkins
Track & Field WaShington
(C)
Lacrosse{M)
Loyola
Franklin Lacrosse(W) & Marshall
Tennis(W) Franklin & Marshall
Baseball (M) Messiah
Golf (C) Lebanon Valley
Golf(C)
Dickinson
Tennis(M)
Gallaudet
Lacrosse(M)
Swarthmore
Baseball(M)
Loyola-2
Tennis(M)
Lycoming
Lycoming
Track & Field (C)
Golf (C) Loyola
Tennis(M)
York
Lacrosse(W) Millersville Stale
Lucrosse(W)
UMI3C
Tennis(M) Franklin & Mtlrshall
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