The Victoria College, 1925-2000: A Tradition of Excellence

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
…Louise Hume interviewed an interestingly
dressed applicant for a job. As college registrar,
Hume was responsible for hiring the individuals
who worked in her department. There came a
time when she needed to employ a secretary. A
very buxom young lady applied for the job and
was interviewed by Hume. The applicant wore a
tee shirt with the word “boo” that ran across the
breast portion of the garment. Hume attempted
to avoid looking at the woman because every
time she did, her eyes saw the “boo.” The young
lady did not get the job.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
✯
Above: Martha Watts, registrar, has
witnessed numerous technological
changes in her office over the years.
Below: Morris Azbill, English
instructor, was assigned to work in
the bookstore during spring
registration in 1983.
amount of the faculty’s time when Burdine first
arrived on the campus was the girls’ dress code.
At a faculty meeting, he addressed the issue and
remarked that the dress code was like a newspaper
story, “the women’s skirts should be short
enough to be interesting and long enough to
cover the subject.” President J. D. Moore looked
him “square in the eye” and asked, “Mr. Burdine
what is the subject?” The instructor’s “only
response was to shut up and blush.”
…Morris Azbill was arranging his office after
being hired by the college to teach English.
When the football program was dropped, the
Boys’ Dormitory was converted into a classroom
and office facility, primarily for English instruction.
In the reconfiguration of the interior of the
building, the kitchen area was turned into faculty
offices. Azbill was assigned accommodations
that were shared with C. F. Schneider and
Kenneth Greenhill. To liven up his allotted area,
he decided to place an 8” x 10” cartoon on the
wall. The item featured a man with a funny
expression on his face with a large screw sticking
through him. The original cartoon had a
caption that stated “work diligently with integrity
and you will get your just reward.” Azbill
removed the statement beforehand. Being a new
instructor and having been told by acquaintances
that the college was very conservative, he
asked Schneider and Greenhill if they thought
President J. D. Moore would object to his displaying
the cartoon. The two men responded
that to their knowledge Moore had never been
in the office, and “they didn’t think it would
bother him anyway.” Azbill proceeded to attach
the sketch to the wall “and within five minutes
the door opened,” and Moore entered the room,
looked at the picture, “never said a word,
turned, and walked back out.” Although
Moore’s visit didn’t phase Azbill, Schneider and
Greenhill were “pole axed.” The three English
teachers searched the office looking for a listening
device because they just “knew it had to be
there.” Finding none, Azbill hypothesized that
214 ✦ THE VICTORIA COLLEGE, 1925-2000