The Bluefield College Story Lighthouse on the Hill: Retired Senior Professor of History By: Rev. David M. Armbrister Resiliency! This is a word that aptly fits the story of Bluefield College. Financial issues have beset the school since its beginning, often giv- ing those directly associated with its operation, as well as those simply interested in its welfare, concern about its continuance as an education- al institution. If there had not been men and women of strong faith and characterized by their willingness to make great sacrifices, the college might not exist today. There would be no eighty-fifth anniversary celebration in 2007. We can be thankful for that band of men who made that trip to Bristol, Virginia in a day when travel was not easy. The enthusiasm and drive that they took with them established a model that others would follow in supporting a Baptist college and, initially, a fitting school equivalent to a high school for southwest Vir- ginia. The courage and determination that ac- companied their great belief that the school was in God’s plan continued to uplift and guide the institution through its early years. These same qualities and convictions have enabled the school to overcome its problems and emerge as one of Virginia’s leading institutions of higher learning today. The author of this work has sought to present this marvelous story in a manner that will cap- ture the unique spirit of this school and those who have been associated with it through the years. His prayer is that the story will awaken a new understanding of the service that the col- lege has rendered in its eighty-five years and provide the groundwork on which it can go for- ward in the years ahead. Many students await the opportunity to receive their education at Bluefield College. The Bluefield College Story Lighthouse on the Hill: Retired Senior Professor of History By: Rev. David M. Armbrister Lighthouse on the Hill: The Bluefield College Story “This college will be a powerful lighthouse for the youth to whom no college had come before.” Baptist General Association of Virginia Report, 1923. By: David M. Armbrister Senior Professor of History, Retired © 2007 Wordsprint, Inc. Printed and bound in the United States of America ISBN No. 978-0-615-16621-6 Library of Congress Cataloging – in Publication data i — TABLE OF CONTENTS — Chapter One: Getting Underway – No Small Task, 1915-1922 ...............................................................................1 Chapter Two: Up and Running: Slowly but Surely, 1922 .....................................................................................14 Chapter Three: Settling In – Staying Longer, 1934-1988 ........................................................................................40 Chapter Four: Changing Complexion – Campus in Motion, 1989-1996 .............................................................88 Interlude: Getting the College on Track Again, 1996-1997 ..................................................................................101 Chapter Five: Accepting the Challenge – Moving On, 1997-2006 ......................................................................103 Chapter Six: Assessing the Past – Considering the Future ..................................................................................130 ii — PREFACE — nofficially, I have been labeled the historian of Bluefield College. In 1950, Dr. Charles L. Harman, only four years into his presidency, UIt is true that I did write an abbreviated history of the college as addressed the audience in attendance at the annual session of the part of the celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary in 1972. I also Baptist General Association of Virginia. He remarked that, on behalf co-authored the work, Dr. Charlie, biography of the college’s longest of the entire college community, “we want to thank our Virginia serving president, Dr. Charles L. Harman. I collaborated with my Baptist men and women for backing this ‘Light’ which God has good friend, Dr. Jack Brown, on this project. At the time, he was planted here high on this great Appalachian plateau.”2 Some forty- serving as Dean of Students at Bluefield. I believe that, through these five years later, Mrs. Norma Mahood, now Mrs. Norma Mahood-Bay, avenues and my long association with the institution as a faculty a 1990 graduate, expressed the following thoughts in the interview member, I do possess a reasonable amount of knowledge about its conducted with her: history. Yet, at the same time, when I undertook the challenge of th I love where it sits…when I see that college on the hill, to writing a full history of the school for its 85 year in 2007, there still me, it’s a beacon that sends out rays of hope for a better remained many gaps in my knowledge of its life. world through education fostered in a warm Christian Research that actually began in 1995-1996, only to be set aside for atmosphere.3 nearly nine years, and then resumed again in 2005, undergirded the effort to put together a meaningful history. This research basically This concept has remained very strong throughout the years. concluded around the middle of 2006, although bits and pieces of When I asked Dr. Primitivo Delgado, former professor, Academic useful information continued to be gathered beyond that date. This Dean, and Chairman of the Division of Humanities at the college, research has provided for me a much greater insight into the total what he might consider an appropriate title for the book, his prompt history of the college, while, at the same time, it has also instilled reply was “why not The light on the hill?”4 I had said nothing to him in me a much deeper appreciation of the role that this institution about my own thoughts on the matter. Since I have always valued has played in the realm of higher education. Throughout the entire any advice that Dr. Delgado offered on any matter that I would process, my prayer has consistently been that the finished product take to him for his input, I found great satisfaction in his response will do justice to the story of this fine school and that it will also regarding a title. It helped in fortifying my belief that what I was provide enlightenment and enjoyment to those who read it. already considering was a suitable choice. The college seal contains three Latin words – Deus meaning God, There are additional references that I could cite to strengthen Patria, meaning country, and Lux, meaning light. While each of these my decision for the title selected, and I honestly believe that it is words speaks clearly about the purpose of Bluefield College and has highly likely that the idea of light or lighthouse has occurred to importance, I selected Lux as the key consideration in determining many persons over the course of the life of the college without their the title for the book. Throughout its history, there have been any thoughts ever being recorded. When one views the full scope of the number of references to the school as a light or lighthouse. From the influence exerted by this institution during its lifetime, it can truly minutes of the meeting held at the First Baptist Church in Newport be said that “light,” “lighthouse,” “beacon,” or similar descriptions News by the Baptist General Association of Virginia on November 3, fit quite suitably. For those who may not have seen the college from 1922, come the words describing the college as a “lighthouse on top such a perspective, I sincerely hope that this account will serve to of the Appalachian Mountains.”1 This was barely two months after lead many to share this concept. Even moreso, I earnestly hope and the school had officially opened its doors to receive that group of pray that there will be renewed and increased support to ensure that pioneer students who were enrolled for its first semester. this light will continue to burn brightly and, as Mrs. Mahood-Bay iii said, to send out “rays of hope for a better world through education the interviews conducted, and my own personal experiences as a fostered in a warm Christian atmosphere” for a long time to come. student and faculty member, things of significance from every While great scores of Bluefield College graduates or attendees decade. I have also made a conscious effort to present the whole have first-hand knowledge of the school, this knowledge might well of the college’s history and not to leave a picture of two separate be limited in its scope. Certainly this would be the case when looking schools – one a junior college and the other a senior college, while, at back at its earliest years. While there are materials that cover the the same time stressing the importance of this change for the college decades of the 1920’s, ‘30’s, and ‘40’s, the people who experienced and the students served by it. the college during those decades are fewer in number every day that It has been a challenging but wonderful and rewarding experience passes. The opportunities to see and converse with them are very for me to be engaged in this project. There were those moments rare today. In addition, one must also consider the transition from when I did stop and question my worthiness in undertaking such junior-college to senior-college status. This development has left a monumental task. Words of encouragement from my wife and many on both sides of this transition with incomplete knowledge from others at the college and outside of it helped in getting me back and awareness of the different phases of the school’s history. This on course and in strengthening my perseverance to continue the writer hopes that the total history, as it unfolds in this work, will work. In the final analysis, I can truthfully say that the rewards far aid in opening up greater knowledge and understanding and will outweigh the efforts and time expended. Now I await the responses encourage new or strengthened loyalty to Bluefield College and the of those who read and see this book in regard to its readability and fulfillment of its mission in this new century.