The Magazine of Florida's First Private University
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Vol. 20, No. 1 - The Magazine of Florida’s First Private University - Summer 2003 STETSON U N I V E R S I T Y Seeds of Stetson stories grow from commitment to values trategic decisions made in the 1990s to integrate Stetson University’s core values more thoroughly into the central mission and life of the university are having a profound impact. Values- driven social responsibility initiatives are transforming our culture, making us a more diverse and inclusive community. We Sare moving “within and beyond the ivory tower” to become a partner in local, state, national and international projects. Our efforts also have a direct and positive impact on grass-roots local, national and international communities. Stetson family members involved in these initiatives have inspiring messages, experiences and stories that we want to share. The Stetson Stories Project attempts to tell Let’s those stories. Storytellers believe that life has value, meaning and purpose. They believe that if one life has meaning, all life has meaning. Stories animate Talk the value, meaning and purpose of life. Stories animate the lives of individuals and about communities — and universities as well. Stetson Stories are about Stetson impassioned people making a difference. Many of these stories have a Stories strong emphasis on social justice. They are inspiring. By Dr. H. Douglas Lee They animate the lives of the individuals involved, President and the life of the university. President Doug Lee takes a moment to speak with history major Prashant Patel (seated) and In this issue of Stetson graduates Courtney Nall and Chris Girata. Both University magazine, we Nall and Girata held leadership positions in the share some of these student-run community service organization, inspiring stories. We invite Into the Streets, while attending Stetson. you to join us. Become motivated by your Stetson colleagues, their achievements and their commitments and, as members of the Stetson family, please share your stories with us as well. STETSON U N I V E R S I T Y VOLUME 20–NUMBER 1 C O N T E N T S FEATURES Life journeys not always in straight lines: Pope and Margaret Duncan 2 • Pope Duncan reflects on 60 years’ experience with Stetson University 4 • Leaders of Stetson: Duncan interviews with 30 volunteers preserve history 5 Passion, love for teaching bring Lovell to Stetson 6 Counselor breaks barriers for children 8 Business education prepared Larry Johnston for corporate career 9 H. Douglas Lee, President Partners in education: Stetson University and public schools 10 Linda P. Davis, ‘73, Vice President for Stetson landscape looking more like old Florida 12 University Relations Brian G. Miller, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Danielle Laprime, ‘95 MA, editor and designer DEPARTMENTS Cover: Some of the many stories of Stetson University inspired the Let’s Talk Opposite page photographic quilt on the cover. From innovations in teacher Cupola 14 education to participation in Alumni News 14 community service to devotion to Reunion Highlights 20 environmental initiatives like the native landscape project, the Stetson Under the Cupola 22 community is committed to making the world a better place. Stetson University is published semi-annually by Stetson University, DeLand, Florida 32723, and is distributed to its alumni, families and friends. Printed by Independent Printing, Daytona Beach, on recycled paper. Visit Stetson University on the Internet: www.stetson.edu Life journeys not always in straight lines: Pope and Margaret By Betty Brady r. Pope A. Duncan was in his second college presidency at Georgia Southern College when he became president of Stetson University in 1977, and most people remember him as an administrator. But he is a professor at heart. “Pope always wanted to teach,” said his wife of 60 years, Margaret Flexer Duncan. Son of an Athens, Ga., minister, Duncan began college on his 16th birthday. DInterested in science, he studied physics, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia. But when his father died, Duncan thought hard about how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. “A theology professor encouraged me to consider the relationship between science and religion. He told me, ‘You’re young, go to seminary for a year. It won’t hurt.’ So I taught physics for a year and saved money for seminary. Once I got to seminary I never thought about doing anything else,” Duncan said. He earned a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in church history from Southern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary in Louisville, Ky. “I got a doctor- ate in order to teach,” he said. Duncan’s first teaching job brought him to Stetson with Margaret, his wife of three years, whom he met when they were students at the University of Georgia. She had earned degrees in math and physics, and taught math both before and after their marriage. She had also spent a year as a traveling teacher in Georgia Baptist churches. “I learned a lot that year,” she said. “They put me in the poorest homes. I learned to eat fatback.” Of college, she said, “I love music, and began as a music major, but no one ever told me that music majors have to practice six hours a day! I was working, and lucky to practice for an hour. So I switched to math and physics, but I completed minors in music and French.” “We met through the Baptist Student Union,” he said. “She asked me to date her friend. I thought I’d rather be dating Margaret. We married in 1943. I was at seminary and earned $100 a month as pastor of a church outside Louisville.” Duncan taught religion at Stetson for six years. Then the couple moved to Wake Forest, N.C., where he taught church history for 10 years at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. A highlight of those years for her was a year they spent in Switzerland where he had a sabbatical to study with a professor in Zurich. Margaret Duncan was indirectly responsible for her husband’s first administrative job. Visiting her Pope and Margaret Flexer Duncan 2 STETSON UNIVERSITY Duncan family in Brunswick, Ga., she attended the groundbreaking for a junior college. Pope Duncan heard about it and joked, “They should make us president….” Word got around the small community, and while he wasn’t offered the top job, he was hired as dean, and put in charge of Brunswick College while it was being built. “I was the first employee,” he said. “I hired the first secretary and the first librarian. I had everything in place when the president came six months later.” Leaving teaching was difficult. “It was a real dilemma,” he said. “I love to teach, but we had some financial problems, and we decided to take the plunge. I remembered something that Hugh McEniry, a friend from my Stetson teaching days, had said when he moved from being an English professor to being dean. “I had asked in frustration, ‘Why do they want to take a great teacher and make him a dean?’ “He just looked at me and said, ‘Pope, you wouldn’t want a sorry teacher for your The Duncans in 1946 dean, would you?’” Duncan didn’t stay a dean long. The presidency of South Georgia College opened suddenly and Duncan was hired – while still dean at Brunswick. “I’m probably the only person in the world who’s been dean of one college while president of another,” he said. But two jobs 80 miles apart were too much and he resigned from Brunswick. “Once I got involved in administration, I enjoyed it,” he said. “I missed teaching and my students, but the truth was I didn’t have time to miss them much. Teaching and administration are two quite different roles. To move from one to the other, you have to be willing to make the change, to make yourself a student of your new role. “Everything I learned along the way I found some use for as president. I had the opportunity to interview prospective faculty in the sciences, for example. Having Pope, Margaret, and daughters Mary taught made me sensitive to faculty issues. There was nothing lost across the years.” Margaret, Kathy and Laurie in 1964 His move to administration meant changes for Margaret Duncan, too. “I didn’t have any idea how much work it would be – for both of us,” she said. “Being a first lady at a college is hard work, but I enjoyed the fringe benefits, such as getting to know every- one in town. You’re invited to everything.” She did find time to write during her years as first lady. “I’ve been writing poetry since the sixth grade,” she said, “and in 1984 I published a book, I Would Bring Stars, that included poems written over more than 45 years.” She also wrote a weekly newspaper column called People, Places and Platitudes when they lived in Georgia, earning her $2 a week. “I loved doing it,” she said, “but when we moved to Stetson, I didn’t have the time for it.” Now retired, they spend part of their time in DeLand, where Duncan is working on his memoirs, and part of their time in Black Mountain, N.C., where they have a second home. Their life journey has taken him from physics to church history, from teaching to administration; and she has moved from music to physics and math, from teaching to first lady at three schools — writing poetry all the way. And always on the journey they were busy raising their three daughters. “We feel fortunate now that we can have a quiet life,” said Margaret Duncan.