I have spent the entire afternoon on the Big Sandy campus. It was a revelation! I had forgotten how beautiful it is!
And many of the inside facilities are actually superior to those on the Pasadena campus. I found everything beautifully maintained, both on grounds and in buildings. It is a superior facility!
After conferences with Raymond McNair, deputy chancellor at the Pasadena campus; Leon Walker, to be deputy chancellor at the Big Sandy campus; Don Ward, to be dean of faculty at Big Sandy; Ron Kelly, to be dean of students; Ellis LaRavia, director of grounds at both campuses; and Leroy Neff, my executive assistant: considerable progress was made in selection of the faculty of the reopened Ambassador Junior College – to be a two-year college, opening this fall.
I cannot announce the new faculty until members have been contacted and their appointments confirmed. But I can tell you that all considered faculty members are loyal members of the Worldwide Church of God. Also that the proposed faculty, subject to their acceptance, will be selected from 10 Ph.D.s and eight holding M.A. degrees – none lower.
We were enthusiastically elated over the prospect of such a fine and highly qualified faculty – and all dedicated members of God’s Church!
I had not seen the new Science Lecture Building, with its labs and a lecture auditorium seating 200, and available for classes other than those in science. It is a fine facility in every respect, up to Ambassador standards.
I was surprised to see, on inspection, that dormitory buildings are in excellent condition. The Library Building – in fact all facilities – are in excellent condition, and have been well maintained.
It was a joy to have luncheon served in the same seat I had previously used for years – and the room seemingly as new as when first occupied.
The auditorium is a beautiful facility as it was remodeled some little time before the closure of the college. It will seat more than 2,500 – twice the seating capacity of the superb Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena – and a beautiful room.
We all felt like shouting for joy. The campus, with very little work to be done on it, is ALL READY for reopening to new students this fall. One hundred new freshmen will be admitted. Seventy-five sophomores will be transferred from Pasadena.
