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In ResponseCompleting the Equation
After reading both the "Degrees of Transparency" and "Building Baylor, Together"
articles (summer issue), I was disappointed at the total disregard for
the important role played by staff at Baylor University. Each of these
articles addressed the operating functions of the university, ways
Baylor might be strengthened, and the essential involvement of
administrators, the Board of Regents, faculty, and alumni, with some
mention of students. Unfortunately, the value-added presence of more
than twelve hundred indispensable staff was left out of the equation
completely.
I beg to differ with Dr. Lynn Tatum's grouping of board members,
administrators, and faculty as the only "three entities involved in the
management and operation of the university." The Staff Council at
Baylor University is an active, representative organization of staff
from all classifications and from all divisions of the university. The
Council covers the gamut of technical, clerical, professional, and
executive staff. Staff members readily serve alongside faculty in many
capacities as well as participate in the major strategic planning
process within their divisions.
Baylor staff may not be as involved in the tenure squabbles and other
faculty/administration issues that have garnered so much attention
lately, but for the sake of building a better, more unified Baylor, we
would do well to remember that each of us--faculty, administrators,
board members, students, alumni, and staff--has a stake in Baylor's
future.
Angela Funai
Chair, Staff Council
(Editor's note: The Line regrets this oversight. For more about the Staff Council, click this link: Staff Meeting.)
Odes to Harrington House
Harrington House ("This Old House,"
summer issue) was also used as a Sophomore House during the quarter of
September 1950. One of the roommates married during the quarter, and we
had her wedding reception there. I don't know if it was used as housing
any other quarter or not.
Martha Nell Thomas Lundquist '53
Cupertino, California
Thank you for the thoughtful article on Harrington House, home of my
grandfather, Dr. John T. Harrington, and the place where I was reared.
The doctor was a member of Baylor's Board of Trustees for an amazing
forty-four years, serving as president for nearly half of those. He
also served as physician for students and co-founded the Baylor Medical
College.
During those early years of Baylor's life, Doctor Harrington discovered
that the most effective way to help a Christian university was to
include the opinions of everyone. People often came directly to his
home at 1313 Eighth Street to bring concerns about Baylor to his
attention, entering the comfort of our library room--sometimes even the
doctor's bedroom--to sit and talk before an open fire.
He would look at each visitor intently out of his one good eye and
listen just as carefully to the troubled professor, the confused head
of a department, an uncertain student, and occasionally even a puzzled
president. He democratically gave each his personal consideration and
wisely included each in the solution of whatever problem was at hand.
Harrington House is Baylor's only remaining historic residence. Your article in the Baylor Line
states that currently its fate is classified as "unknown" and that
future uses of Dr. Harrington's home have yet to be determined.
Harrington House is more than a building whose uses are yet to be
determined. It is not, of course, a newly constructed architectural
mass of steel, brick, and glass, but neither is she just a remnant of
Victorian splendor. This elegant lady, gracefully standing among lovely
old oaks and a few simple hackberries, is still--in her way--every day
addressing the Christian spirit that necessarily surrounds great
learning on the Baylor campus. Harrington House's very presence reminds
every new wave of freshmen that something important began
here--something worth cherishing--and thus remains an enduring symbol
and reflection of all that is Baylor.
Louise Durham Denham '36
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont
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