Link 1995 10 (Vol. 45, No. 3).pdf - DRC Home - Wilmington College

mon engineer; when we go to war, we dreadfully
want an uncommon admiral or general,"
said Hoover, whose address was later
broadcast nationwide on radio. "Only when
we get into politics are we content with the
common man.
"Our full hope of recovery into a moral
and spiritual world is a wealth of uncommon
men and women among our people," he
added. "It is our education institutions that
must promote and train them."
Inspired by their College president and
a former president of the United States, WC
students continued their volunteerism efforts
with a series of self-help projects on
campus after Marble Hall was completed.
Although not to the extent they worked
on Marble Hall, students engaged in such
labor as painting, laying floor tile, assembling
auditorium seats and planting shrub­
bery for Kettering Hall, Friends Hall, the
original Pyle Center and Boyd Auditorium/
Fine Arts Building
Photo by Randy Sarvis
Marble Hall stand.' as a monument to student volunteerism.
Sam Marble, who left the College in
1959 for a position at a Michigan school,
and those students of the late 1940s and
1950s have left a legacy
of selfless service that
continues to positively
affect the institution today.
"This College could
have gone into oblivion if
not for Sam Marble's leadership
during that critical
time," Stuckey said, noting
Marble Hall stands as
a lasting symbol of how a
small college can make a
large impact.
"The block work's not
perfect, but it has stood all
this time."
Dignitaries of the Day Offered Praise and Encouragement
On the occasion of the dedication of
Marble Hall, Oct. 27,1950, special greetings
and words of praise and encouragement
were sent to WC students, faculty
and staff by 10 prominent American leaders
of business, industry, the arts, exploration
and literature.
They included: Charles F. Kettering,
inventor, philanthropist and vice president
of General Motors; E. Stanley Jones,
minister and author; Elton Trueblood, philosopher
and author; Adm. Richard E.
Byrd, explorer; Benjamin Fairless, president
of U.S. Steel; Ralph Bunche, Nobel
Prize winner; Benjamin Fine, an editor
with The New York Times; Henry Ford II,
president of Ford Motor Company;
Clarence E. Pickett, American Friends
Service Committee; and Frank Lloyd
Wright, architect/inventor.
Excerpts from their messages include:
"/ have been associated with a great
many of the schools which have had cooperative
courses. I know of no better way to
have cooperative education than to do
both the industrial and academic in the
same place."
— C.F. Kettering
"Today in colleges we tend to have
too much teaching and not enough learning,
while in government we have too
much central direction and not enough
local responsibili y. The college can help
the nation by beginning a reversal of the
popular trend anc' Wilmington, I am glad
to say, is moving in this direction. "
— Elton Trueblood
"Young men and women who possess
this kind of spirit are the sort of
people I like to take with me on expeditions
where loyalty and determination
and good will are essential traits for success....
If the peoole of this nation possessed
and demonstrated the spirit shown
by your college, I would have no doubts
about the outcom?."
— Richard E. Byrd
"Is there to be found anywhere a
more heartening example of enterprise,
devotion and self-reliance? Once again
the urge to accomplishment, by way of
soul-satisfying application of hard work,
has shown its pcm er to transform dreams
into realities and to build not only structures,
but moral f'bre as well. The qualities
here mentioned are the very elements
which have developed a free people as the
proud citizens of a country rich in opportunity,
bent upon assuring their welfare
by their own honest efforts.
May the livinq spark which has been
struck at Wilmington College inflame the
minds and hearty of oncoming generations
throughout America, that they, too,
may build and accomplish and wax strong
in a land of freedom. "
— Benjamin F. Fairless
"You have recaptured something of
the spirit of the frontier and of the pioneers
—a spirit our people have tended to
lose as they have become industrialized
and effete. You, your school and your
careers will be the much better for it. "
— Ralph Bunche
"Unfortunately not realized in many
quarters is the fact that a democracy
provides not only privileges but demands
responsibilities of us. I think that the students
of Wilmington College have shown
the community and the nation that they
fully recognize the importance and the
value of responsible living. "
— Benjamin Fine
"/ have read with great interest the
account of the building of your dormitory
at Wilmington. It is an inspiring story in
the classical American tradition. "
— Henry Ford II
"As you know, I am sure, that the old
gospel of work as the salt and savor
especially of education — provided the
heart and mind is with the hand — is
applicable to your effort at Wilmington, I
am glad to send an amen to the dedication
of your effort."
— Frank Lloyd Wright
The Link 7