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

Building Project Was PR Bonanza
"We had a good story."
In spite of the hoopla gained from politicians
who jumped on the Marble Hall
bandwagon; in spite of the public attention
surrounding the praise of Wilmington College
by such dignitaries as Henry Ford II
and former President Herbert Hoover; and
in spite of public relations director Ira G.
Hawk's media contacts and effective PR
techniques, at the heart of the whirlwind of
media coverage was a darn good story.
"There was a tremendous outpouring
of cooperation from students, faculty, staff
and the community," said Hawk, a 1946
Wilmington graduate and the director of
public relations, admission and alumni during
those dynamic years early in Sam
Marble's administration.
He said the building of Marble Hall was
representative of "an exciting era of new
opportunities" in the country after World
War II that continued to gain momentum.
"It was a new era and people were
enthusiastic about it, and Sam Marble was
able to challenge them," Hawk said recently
from his home in Bonita Springs, Fla., where
he retired after a long career with GM.
Hawk recalls being privy to Marble's
plan before it was unveiled at the convocation,
so he contacted the local media about
attending with the promise of something big
in the works. They were not disappointed as,
before the day was over, the president had
given a rousing talk from atop the podium;
students had broken ground with 150 shovels;
and the construction of the new dormitory
had begun with student volunteers.
"It was a very dramatic beginning,"
Hawk said.
Before long, regional media in Cincinnati,
Dayton and Columbus caught wind
that something unique was happening in
Clinton County. From there, the story spread
across the country — and the world.
"We got a number of stories on the
wire, and we placed pictures on Associated
Press and United Press International as well,"
said Hawk, who put in hundreds of overtime
hours taking photos, writing stories and
facilitating international media interest.
In addition to those Ohio newspapers,
stories appeared in such publications as the
8 Fall 1995
New York Herald Trilune, Christian Science
Monitor, San Francisco News, Washington
Post, American Magazine,
Newsweek, Time, Pathfinder Magazine and
Look — to name a few.
"When the story ultimately made the
Reader's Digest, that was the capstone,"
Hawk said, noting the coverage went beyond
strictly news stories and included editorials
lauding Wilmington's self sufficiency
and pioneer spirit.
The building project was news world-wide.
The New York Times described the
project as something "unique and exciting
in higher education."
The Providence Jc urnal wrote that WC
"has discovered all in cne process an excellent
substitute for football, a fine antidote
for mere learning, a fresh classroom technique
and the irreplaceable consolation of
doing work with one's hands."
"It is a heartening story," wrote the
Manchester (England Guardian, "an instance
of the spirit whi:h makes the United
States a great country :o live in."
During a stretch of the construction,
Radio Luxemburg was regularly broadcasting
a status report by WC students throughout
Europe.
As the College was inundated with photographers,
radio crews and news reporters,
Marble was more than accommodating, as
he and Hawk realized the value of the publicity,
not only because it provided positive
public relations opportunities and helped
motivate the students to continue working,
but it was helpful in attracting money and
contributions of materials, which, ultimately,
proved essential for completing the project.
Marble was undeniably at the eye of the
media hurricane. Hawk likened the aura
surrounding the young president to the excitement
generated by John F. Kennedy a
decade later.
"Here was a bright, charming energetic
new president in Dr. Marble," he said, noting,
at 32, he was the youngest president in
the country. "He had great enthusiasm; he
dared to be different; students identified
with him; and he had a wife who looked like
Ingrid Bergman."
Newsweek said Marble — "a Ph.D. in
dungarees" — looked more like a college
president "than (actor) Ronald Coleman ever
will."
In addition to looking the part, Marble
seemed to possess an endless supply of
profound statements quoted by the media,
some of which portray the building of Marble
Hall as a microcosm for something greater:
"A college education does not excuse a
man (or woman) from work; it only entitles
him (or her) to do it," Marble told the Columbus
Sunday Dispatch Magazine.
"There are so many things to be done...,
and I don't know of a better place than
Wilmington to help young people learn to
make a contribution to community living
and influence the whole education system...,
yes, even the world."
In describing the building project.
Marble told Newsweek: "We are not primarily
interested in saving money, although
that, of course, is pleasant. We are trying
rather to teach our students that seemingly
insoluble problems — like the construction,
without sufficient funds, of desperately
needed campus buildings — can be solved.
"In later life they will perhaps then be
encouraged to tackle other seemingly insoluble
problems — like world peace."
— by Randy Sarvis