Interesting Dates
April 2nd, 2010In twenty-seven days, I will be history. My tenure as president of Hiwassee comes to an end with the May 1 Commencement activities.
I continue to read and reflect on Hiwassee’s. There is a critical theme: persistence and determination.
Documents from the early 1900s indicated there was within Methodism a sense that
Hiwassee was “different, . . . a friend of the poor, and people of the church understood the poor.”
This sense of mission took hold, and the Holston Conference Board of Missions received favorably a proposal from the college to establish a Missionary Training School. The Board of Missions also moved to assume responsibility for the college. A May 1908 agreement with the Holston Annual Conference indicated the conference would: maintain a “capable faculty of not less than three teachers”; keep property in good condition; maintain a course of study equal to two years of collegiate education; and be designated a “junior college.”At that time, Hiwassee ceased granting the Bachelor’s level degree—or a law degree which the college attempted for a brief period. The college focused on the grammar school, high school, and junior college level.Hiwassee has a tradition of making a significant contribution to the mission of the people called Methodist.
In 1921, 200 Holston Conference Methodist preachers had studied at Hiwassee College.
In the mid 1920’s Emory & Henry College needed funds to match a proposed gift from the Methodist General Board of Education. Hiwassee loaned the first fourteen thousand dollars of income from a Christian Education Fund drive to help its sister receive the gift.
In December 1928, Hiwassee College was admitted into the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools—the pre-curser of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. This was an important mark of institutional maturity and strength.
Almost simultaneously, the region’s and nation’s economy began to wither. Many colleges closed. Hiwassee hung on, determined—as it is today—to fulfill its recently reaffirmed mission.
Within a year, the school became perilously close to losing its recently won accreditation. An issue was the library—as well as deteriorating economics that was facing the entire region. The college needed $30,000—a huge sum. A bequest from the estate of Professor Street provided funds to buy neighboring land, which became the venue to feed students and faculty and to provide scholarships for needy students.
Despite ongoing financial challenges, Hiwassee continued its concern for the poor and needy. In 1933, twelve children from the Holston Orphanage came to Hiwassee.
Hiwassee’s persistence and determination—and mission—continue.