Month: April 2018

Of Thee We Sing

When President Wallace B. Fleming wrote our Alma Mater in 1918, this was the campus he was inspired by. 100 years later, some things look familiar — and yet very different.

We have sung this music, with the lyrics set to the tune of the opera Lucia di Lamamore, thousands of times in the past century. Or, rather, we sing the first verse – perhaps because it is a bit musically challenging for many.

There were actually four verses, with the last repeating the first. On rare occasions we have included the third verse.  My personal favorite, however, might actually be verse two. Here are the lyrics to all of the verses.

When asked, many people believe that our official Alma Mater is actually a different song altogether. We sing My Home Among the Hills at all occasions. It brings a tear to the eye, as these types of songs tend to do. But this is actually a pretty modern phenomenon.

Written in 1963 by E.W. “Bill” James of Clarksburg, this song was first part of a play that James wrote to celebrate the West Virginia Centennial. It encompasses the entire state, and is especially descriptive of North Central West Virginia, where WVWC is located. He was a Trustee of WVWC from 1964-1978, and received an Honorary Degree in 1973.  Our choirs have enthusiastically embraced this musical tribute to the area.

One celebrates the earliest years, and the values that make us who we are.

The other celebrates the beautiful place where we are located.

Both bring a tear to my eye.

To explore the West Virginia Wesleyan College heritage further, please visit https://DreamersAndGiants.com 

 

 

WVWC Choir Sang at Uniting Conference in Dallas….50 Years Ago Today

April 26, 1968

Exactly 50 years ago today, Assistant Professor John E. Taylor conducted as the WVWC Choir sang at the Uniting Conference in Dallas Texas in 1968. This was a huge deal. And, they did as well as you would have expected — and received a standing ovation from the approximately 10,000 people present.

According to the 1968 Murmurmontis:

“The highlight of the year for Wesleyan’s choir took place in Dallas, Texas. The tour choir received a standing ovation during its appearance at the Uniting Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist Churches.

Wesleyan is very fortunate to have such an outstanding choir. Mr. Taylor, though his rehearsals consumed much of the members’ free time, has once again produced an excellent choir. Chapel services are held weekly with the Wesleyan choir providing the music. The Chorale as well as the choir present many special performances each academic year.”

Mr. Taylor is one of those people who was a Giant. A name that many may have forgotten or never heard.  His work followed the work of Irma Helen Hopkins (1958-1965), and the work he did here has been carried on in like fashion by such people as Larry Parsons (1969-2013) and Dan Hughes (2012-current).

We may not realize it, but all of us are standing on the shoulders of Giants.

If you would like to learn about more of the Giants at WVWC, be sure to check out https://DreamersAndGiants.com

Awards and Awesomeness

 

How do I know this? Because I have seen them in action. In the assembly on Saturday, awards were presented for Academics, Arts, and Athletics. There were Outstanding Writers, Researchers, Musicians, Dancers, Speakers, and Teachers. Marketers, Economists, Political Scientists, Historians and Humanitarians. It was impressive. As the students went forward to receive their certificates and plaques, I had a wonderful feeling that the world would be just fine with them in charge.

As if that was not proof enough, I have also seen them in action giving presentations, singing and playing in concerts, and on the athletic fields.  I’ve seen theater productions, dancers, and students organizing and leading worship services in Chapel and on Ash Wednesday.

West Virginia Wesleyan College was founded by the Methodists in 1890, and has long nurtured and valued these qualities. It is what makes us who we are. Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the date that the Methodists and Evangelical United Brethren Churches joined together as the United Methodist Church. As I was reading through this wonderful list of 50 Reasons to Celebrate the United Methodist Church, I recognized that tradition in our students. The celebration is the same!

To name just a few of the things that I recognized:

#1  John Wesley

#5  So many amazing kids, doing so many acts of kindness for their neighbors

#7  Young Adults sharing their gifts

#11 Care deeply about climate

#16 Promote ecumenical dialogue

#23 Use their talents to praise God and grow in their faith while inspiring others with their music

#31 To alleviate human suffering and advance hope and healing

#34 Volunteering in relief efforts around the world

#37 To address the mental physical and spiritual well-being of all

#29 To remember our role as stewards of God’s earth and care for creation

#40 Taking a stand against racism

#42 Wesleyan Heritage which put an emphasis on “practical divinity”

#47 Social Principles and Social Creed

#50 Our history, which gives us roots and can inspire us today

I think that the Founders would be proud!

 

Pathways of Wesleyan

The pathways of Wesleyan are busy places. People have walked them for nearly 128 years. People have come from all over the world. They have come from down the street. They walk in the sunshine, the rain, and the snow.

Admission tours are the ones where there is someone walking backwards and pointing out the sights to tour groups full of people who are walking slowly and looking around.

New students often look uncertain for a day or two, but soon they are striding confidently toward classes or the cafeteria or the library. They are on their way to their future.

After Commencement, the faculty lines the pathway to applaud the hard work and success of their students. Tears are sometimes shed.

These pathways are beautiful.

I am not the first to love and enjoy them — and I won’t be the last. There was a Dean named Arthur Allen Schoolcraft, who wrote a wonderful reflection about them for the yearbook in 1955.  He tells about the students who have come, have walked these pathways, and who have gone out to change the world. He talks about the professors who helped to make that happen. It is not long, but once you read it you will never look at these pathways, or the people who walk them, in quite the same way again. Take a look at Pathways of Wesleyan.

It begins…….”The pathways of Wesleyan are as numerous as the ever-increasing host of students who come hither, over hill and dale, over land and sea, and over the long stretches of the years; who live, and labor, and learn together, on this campus beautiful, and wholesome, and enlightening; and then go hence to domiciles, and duties, and destinies as different as their points of origin, and as they themselves.”

For more stories and information about the people and events that are West Virginia Wesleyan, be sure to check out https://DreamersAndGiants.com.

Hooray for Spring!

Hooray for Spring!

May has been celebrated at West Virginia Wesleyan College for a very long time. With the school calendar being much different in the early years, often there was a May Festival complete with a Queen and her court. A serenade, variety show, or play was provided for the entertainment of the Queen, her court, and the assembled crowd.  For example, in 1928 Queen May Gibson was entertained by The May-Pole of Merry Mount” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1929 brought “The Law of the Fairies” to Queen Marian Canan.  The entertainment in 1930 included individual and group singing, dancing, and acting which was based around the theme of the Italian Love Story of Harlequin and Columbine.

Those early years, the event was generally planned and directed by the Woman’s Athletic Association. Beginning in the early 1950s, it transitioned to be a function of the Community Council and the Special Events Committee

Tonight (April 14) we will find out who the winners will be for 2018. Best of luck to all!  Click here to see who has been victorious in the past. And, maybe, help fill in some of the blanks for us!

Planting Seeds

Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.

These words, from Hamilton (The World Was Wide Enough) ring very true for many of the Dreamers and the Giants. Conversations with Lincoln, a two-day event last weekend, is a great example. They were brought to the attention of the gathered crowd by speaker, Beth Wasson.

Charles Aubrey Jones yearbook photo 1904

Charles Aubrey Jones, graduated from the West Virginia Conference Seminary in 1904. Although this was a preparatory course, I think most of us would find it pretty daunting.  Latin and Greek, Geometry, Botany, History, and Literature, and more. Click here to see what courses Charles Aubrey Jones had to master!

His path then took him to Ohio Wesleyan and beyond. Along the way, he served as the personal secretary to U.S. Senator Frank B. Willis and later to Governor Myers Y. Cooper of Ohio. While spending time in Washington, D.C., he became acquainted with Colonel O.H. Oldroyd — a person who was an avid collector of all things Lincoln. In fact, Jones and Oldroyd were active participants in saving the house where Lincoln died from becoming a parking lot!

Charles Aubrey Jones began collecting Lincolniana as well, and amassed a very fine collection of books, pamphlets, handbills, signatures, framed portraits, and one of only 33 bronzed copies of a rare Life Mask. All of these things (at the time the third largest such private collection east of the Mississippi), he willed to his Alma Mater, West Virginia Wesleyan. He wanted to promote scholarship about Lincoln, and to spark the interest of future students.

Last year, on Valentine’s Day, the funds that he had provided along with the collection made it possible to bring in a world-renowned Lincoln scholar, Ronald C. White. On that cold winter evening, the garden planted by Charles Aubrey Jones was sprouting.

Lincolns visit AMPL
Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln visit with Brett Miller in the Upshur Reading Room

The speakers and events of last weekend’s Conversations with Lincoln were organized in large part by students. They were supported by History faculty as well, and by Trustee Kevin Spear – himself a 1976 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan.  Events were held at Buckhannon-Upshur High School, and 4th and 5th grade students had a chance to visit with Mr. Lincoln at the Upshur County Public Library.

Charles Aubrey Jones must have been beaming with pride to see others singing his song. And, quite possibly, the song of Lincoln as well.

 

Giants Among Us

Coston, Phyllis and Herb walking
September 2017

The sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in Buckhannon was full this afternoon. Full of people who had come to celebrate the life of Phyllis Coston. Although only 4’11” tall, Phyllis was one of the great Giants. People came to express support to her husband, Herb, and to share stories of how this wonderful woman had impacted their lives. They came to honor her teaching, her sense of humor, her tenacity. They came to honor her faith and the way she lived it and shared it. Many mentioned how much they loved seeing Phyllis and Herb out walking and talking together on campus.

However, this week West Virginia Wesleyan has lost not just one, but two of the Giants. Phyllis Kohl Coston died on March 25, and Dr. Robert Chamberlain on March 29. They are both prime examples of why I am compelled to keep working on DreamersAndGiants. Their stories must be collected, organized, preserved, and shared.

Dr. Chamberlain‘s service will be at noon on Thursday in the very same place. Both of these wonderful people have been very active members of First United Methodist Church. He served as the college physician and team physician at West Virginia Wesleyan for fifty years. He has cured many and comforted many. I can only imagine what new stories I will hear on Thursday.

Chamberlain, Robert Luikhart

Please click on their names to learn more about them. And, while you are there, you may discover that there have been many Giants walking the pathways of the West Virginia Wesleyan College campus through the years. Each has made their mark. Each has impacted lives. Each has stories!

Paula Lowther McGrew ’78