Meet You at the Sundial
Before the days when students gathered and met their friends at the statue of John Wesley in front of Wesley Chapel, there was a time when that meeting point was the sundial in front of the Administration Building. Generations of students have paused there. Seniors pass by it as they line up for the long march down the campus sidewalks to their Commencement. Some think of time as they pass.
The first sundial was purchased and installed in 1907 by William A. Haggerty. A graduate of the West Virginia Conference Seminary in 1897, Haggerty went on to Ohio Wesleyan University, Harvard University, and Boston University before being appointed by President Carl Doney as the first Dean of the College in 1907.
There is a photograph of the second sundial in Our Home Among the Hills, by Brett Miller. At the left of the picture is Dr. Thomas W. Haught who is regarded as a major figure in the making and the recording of WVWC History.
Sundial Traditions
Alumni of West Virginia Wesleyan College have come to associate the word Sundial with the Alumni magazine that helps keep them informed about happenings at the college today — at this time.
What may come as a surprise, however, is that from May 1927 through May 1928 there was a column in the Pharos called The Sundial. This column was intended to be a place where students could write opinion pieces and make their thoughts known. For a time it did work that way until apathy set in and entries became less frequent. When that happened, the editorial staff had to fill that space. In 1930, a new editor and staff tried to revive it, but it didn’t fare any better than it had done previously. Click here to see an example of this column from February 15, 1928.
The topics covered during the run of the Sundial column in the Pharos can tell us much about life here in days gone by. Indeed, reading about what was important to students in early days is almost like a time machine.
Among the topics included were:
- Fraternities and Sororities
- Popularity Contests
- The need for lockers in the Gym, Cloakrooms in Haymond Hall of Science, and the request for rocking chairs to replace the desks in the classrooms
- Freshman rules and traditions — which today we would call hazing
- Literary Societies
- Exams (pros and cons and the problem of cheating)
- Chapel (pros and cons and the problem of rude students and faculty absences)
- School Spirit and the need for building a community without cliques
- The Point System
- Are college professors human beings?
- World affairs
Sundial Alumni Publication
The first issue of the Alumni Magazine named The Sundial was September 1955. In it, Dr. Thomas Haught wrote a brief history of the Timeless Sundial.
The Sundial Today (2018)
Sundial #4 is in place today, and was given as the Class Gift from the Class of 2003. Once again, the arm has gone missing. It has been said that this makes for a better conversation for young couples who pause there to discuss the mysteries of time.
