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 In a new book, "On Solid Rock: The Founding Vision of Florida Presbyterian / Eckerd College" (Eckerd College, 2008, $25.00, http://www.eckerd.edu/onsolidrock),
Stephanie Kadel Taras, Ph.D., a 1989 graduate of Eckerd College and
granddaughter of the founding president, William H. Kadel, recounts the
history of one liberal arts college that demonstrates why our society
needs liberal arts colleges and the graduates they produce. The Burning
Bush, a print by artist Robert O. Hodgell, one of the College's first
Visual Arts faculty, graces the book's front cover.
Anchored in the College's founding and its first ten years, "On Solid
Rock" is a history of a southern college born in the civil rights
movement that became a leader in integrating higher education and
college sports. It explains why Eckerd College is located in the City
of St. Petersburg and how the College and the City have impacted each
other. It is a story that tells us it takes courage - more than mission
and vision - to create a lasting liberal arts college and curriculum. Dr. Donald R. Eastman III, President of Eckerd College, commissioned
"On Solid Rock." He says, "Stephanie has given life to the inimitable
spirit of the College in its early days - a spirit that continues to
inform and inspire everyone who is a part of Eckerd College."
In the process of researching the College's history, Dr. Kadel Taras
interviewed founding faculty and surviving family members, former and
current faculty, staff, and administrators, and students from the
founding class and the College's early years: Louise Bevan, Clark
Bouwman, Jim Carlson, Jim Crane, Sarah Dean, Carolyn Horton Hall '64,
James R. Harley, Keith Irwin, Katharine Meacham Conover, Peter Meinke,
Sterling Watson '69, Tom West, William C. Wilbur, and Grover Wrenn '64;
and others, who have passed, Marjorie Carter, Kenneth Keeton, John
Satterfield, and Billy O. Wireman. Their names are recognizable to the
thousands of alumni and students who recall Florida Presbyterian /
Eckerd College as a place of transformation.
From production to publication, "On Solid Rock" has been a
collaborative effort across the College's decades of graduates, all of
whom are employed by Eckerd College. Cathy McCoy '71, Acquisition
Assistant in the Technical Services area of the library, assisted Dr.
Kadel Taras with accessing previously recorded interviews and archival
materials. Creative Director Dawn Regan Ellenburg '86 designed the book
and managed its production.
Dr. Kathryn Watson '69, Associate Dean of Faculty Development for
Academic Affairs and Assistant to the President for Academic Affairs,
was the driving force behind On Solid Rock becoming a reality. "My life
and this book have been transformed by my mentor, Kathy Watson," says
Stephanie. "Her guidance of this book from inception to completion and
the joy of our collaboration have strengthened me and this story.
Knowing that I thrive when loved, she has been unstinting."
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AN EXCERPT FROM THE PROLOGUE
"On Solid Rock: The Founding Vision of Florida Presbyterian / Eckerd College"
That summer a black student had applied for admission to Florida
Presbyterian College. He had graduated from St. Petersburg's all-black
Gibbs Junior College, and there was no question among those who
reviewed his application that he was qualified to transfer to Florida
Presbyterian and join the class of 1964.
The all-white, mostly male faculty of FPC had come from both northern
and southern states, but every one of them expected to be teaching in
an integrated college. None of them would have come to Florida if he
had thought the college would not accept black students. But the
unthinkable happened: When the trustees heard about the new student, a
slim majority voted not to accept him.
John Bevan, the dean of faculty, remembers, "I don't know of anything
that has shaken me in higher education in my life experience more than
that. It was the complete devaluation of everything we had done."
Bevan asked the president of FPC, William Kadel, what it would take to
the get the board back together and reconsider. Kadel said,
"Resignations." By the next day, Bevan handed Kadel twenty-two
resignations, with Bevan's own letter on top.
Copyright © 2008 "On Solid Rock: The Founding Vision of Florida
Presbyterian / Eckerd College" (Eckerd College, 2008) by Stephanie
Kadel Taras, Ph.D.
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ABOUT ECKERD COLLEGE: "Transforming Lives for 50 Years"
In 1958, the Florida Synod of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., voted to
establish Florida Presbyterian College. Students arrived two years
later. The school was renamed Eckerd College in 1972. The rest, as they
say, is history.
Located in St. Petersburg, Florida, Eckerd College was founded in 1958
as a private, coeducational college of liberal arts and sciences
related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Eckerd's 1,800
residential students from 45 states and 28 countries choose among
thirty-eight majors leading to a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of
Science degree. In addition, 1,000 students are enrolled in the Program
for Experienced Learners, a bachelor's degree program for adult
learners. Eckerd's Leadership Development Institute executive education
program, Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC),
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Elderhostel identify the college
as a national leader of innovative programs in continuing education and
lifelong learning. A Phi Beta Kappa institution, Eckerd is one of only
40 schools listed in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives.
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Stephanie Kadel Taras, Ph.D. is a 1989 graduate of Eckerd College and
granddaughter of the College's founding president, William H. Kadel.
She has been a professional writer for eighteen years. Her company,
TimePieces Personal Biographies in Ann Arbor, Michigan, helps people
preserve the stories of their lives in books that honor them. She has
interviewed hundreds of people about their lives and work, including
teachers, business owners, community leaders, musicians, farmers, and
parents. She also teaches about life story writing and interviewing.
Stephanie received her Ph.D. in education and sociology from Syracuse
University and an MA from the University of Michigan. She recently
completed a term as vice president of the international Association of
Personal Historians with more than 600 members in 11 countries. When
she's not writing institutional histories or biographies, Stephanie
writes music reviews for the Ann Arbor Observer and people profiles for
business and arts magazines. |
""On Solid Rock" is the story of how a few men fought for a dream of a
college like no other, and in the process fought for justice," says Dr.
Kadel Taras. "It is a story of a small college in the 1960s and 1970s
that reveals the story of our nation at that time."
for more:
http://www.eckerd.edu/50/index.php?f=osr_prologue
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