The
Davidsonian
Independent Student Journalism Since 1914
inside
davidsonian.com
The place of minority religions within a Presbyterian college is examined
Volume 121, Issue 18
April 12, 2023
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Student Body President Ronan Towell ‘24, speaks to the Board of Trustees about Title IX
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A review of the Sweet Heat Chicken Sandwich at Davis Cafe
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The Yowl investigates former President Carol Quillen’s indictment
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Doug Hicks Inagurated as 19th President of the College MADELINE RICHARD ‘26 (SHE/HER) AND SOFIA CIMBALLA ‘26 (SHE/HER) SENIOR STAFF WRITERS
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n May of 1990, Doug Hicks was an economics major defending his senior thesis in a Chambers classroom. Now, that very thesis sits in the President’s office, serving as a reminder of his time and commitment to Davidson Hicks said his return is only natural – “I love Davidson and I have a real appreciation for its values, and they formed me, so it’s not a coincidence that there’s a fit because Davidson is such a part of my own upbringing.” Hicks term began at the start of the 2022-23 school year, and he was officially inaugurated on Mar. 31. Dr. Suzanne Churchill, Professor of English and co-chair of the Inauguration Advisory Committee explained that the process for planning the inauguration weekend began in December of 2022. “I think the series of events surrounding the inauguration fulfilled our goals, bringing us together after an era of pandemic and uniting us in a shared sense of community, whether we were reflecting on the painful parts of our history or committing to the work of hope for a better, more equitable future,” Churchill said. In line with their mission to cultivate a sense of community during the inauguration, the Advisory Committee had the interests of alumni in mind. Chelsea Savage ‘21 works in the Alumni and Family Engagement office and has witnessed alumni’s enthusiasm about Hicks’ inauguration firsthand. “I run the social media accounts for the alumni team, and all the comments on there have just been overwhelmingly positive and excited,” Savage said. “Some people really resonate with his messages [...] about giving Davidson hope, his initiatives towards DEI work, and the Commemoration Project.” Savage also commented on Hicks’ selection process. While she was not part of the selection committee, she feels that the group “really put a lot of consideration into making sure that the actions that [Hicks] had taken [at his past institutions] support the leadership’s vision for where Davidson’s going in the future,” Savage said. In particular, the committee was impressed by “his work with commemoration [at Emory University and Oxford College].” While at Oxford College, Hicks was the co-chair of Emory University’s Twin Memorials Working Group, a project intended to honor the enslaved people who worked on university campuses in Atlanta and Oxford. Hicks’ efforts with the Twin Memorials Working Group echo Davidson’s own Commemoration Project. Hicks believes his past experiences have provided him with the skills and expertise to best serve this “special community,” noting his time at the University of Richmond, Colgate University, and
President Doug Hicks accepts the Davidson College Mace at his inaguration ceremony on Mar. 31. Photo by Sydney Schertz Oxford College at Emory. “I’ve spent my career in liberal arts colleges with high academics and commitment to the full self, and those experiences have helped me a lot,” Hicks said. “And I’d like to think I have both academic understanding and good people skills. I enjoy alumni, I enjoy parents, students, faculty and staff. I love all aspects of the job.” Hicks expressed a deep appreciation for Davidson’s community. “I love the perennial strengths of Davidson, specifically the friendships I’ve seen formed and the mentoring the faculty and staff provide for students and this adds up to community. It’s just an incredibly special community.” When asked about his proudest moments as president thus far, Hicks again emphasized the college environment. “I think promoting the community post-pandemic is one of the most important things we can do because if you don’t have a sense of human community and people’s belongingness it’s hard to have any educational attainment. So in order to have people learn and study, you have to feel at home and I think we’ve helped that transition.” Hicks connected his academic background to his preparation for the role of college president. After graduating from Davidson, Hicks went on to pursue a Master of Divinity at Duke and a PhD in religion from Harvard. “I think about my education, both in religious ethics and economics, they’re both about building a better society or building
a community where everyone is treated as a moral equal...” Hicks said. “And so I see connections all the time between what I read in philosophy, religion, economics, political science that connect to leadership.” In terms of future goals for the school and his position, Hicks hopes to promote inclusivity. He said his work is guided by the key question: “do people experience belonging and full membership in our community?” Hicks also acknowledges that much of Davidson’s past has failed to fulfill this goal of inclusion. “The enslaved laborers who built our early buildings weren’t full members [of our community] at all. That’s an extreme opposite of what we’re hoping for.” Dr. Churchill connected the inauguration festivities to this vision of Davidson’s future. “Participating in the inauguration events felt like practicing hope,” Churchill said. Hicks emphasized in a symposium on Mar. 31 about Davidson’s future that the Davidson community must acknowledge its unjust history in order to move towards a more equitable and empathetic future. Addressing these memories is a challenging task for a new president, yet Hicks is enthusiastic and grateful to be part of the change. “It’s a true honor.”
Alum Visits Davidson to Recount his Time as a Prisoner of War VIOLET CALKIN ‘26 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER
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hen Porter Halyburton ‘63 graduated from Davidson, he was met with a choice: enlist voluntarily or face the draft. Determined to fly an F-4, Halyburton — a newlywed with an English degree in tow — entered flight school. In February of 1964, he left his wife, Marty, and their five day old daughter for Vietnam. He would fly 75 missions and endure seven and a half years of captivity as a prisoner of war (POW) before seeing them again. Halyburton’s imprisonment began after his plane was shot down on Oct. 17, 1965. Previous to this flight, he was frustrated by the lack of consequence of his missions on the progress of the war. “I was pretty disillusioned with what we
were doing because we weren’t doing what we needed to do if we wanted to win the war militarily. Political considerations took precedence,” Halyburton said. “When we got this mission on October 17th, we knew that this was a big deal. It was a major communication link from China to Hanoi. Take out the bridge, railroad, all that — that was our mission.” Flying at treetop level over a valley, Halyburton’s plane was hit in the front cockpit. The pilot was killed, but Halyburton was able to eject from the vessel before it hit a mountain and exploded. He was listed as killed in action, a status that his family wouldn’t be aware was incorrect for 16 months. His wife Marty, their daughter and his other loved ones memorialized him with a tombstone, grieving his tragically unknown fate. Meanwhile, Halyburton began life as a captive at the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison. Over the course of his captivity, Halyburton was moved
thirty times and housed in eight different prisons. He endured torture and was placed in solitary confinement, as well as life with one to fifty cellmates. Along the way, he withstood hours and hours of interrogation, was nearly killed by locals on a march through Hanoi, and suffered dysentery and starvation. Throughout these conditions, Halyburton pledged to remain true to his duty. “I said, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to survive and not give in. Initially, that was my whole focus: I’m going to stay as healthy as I can, I’m going to eat everything, I’m going to exercise as much as possible. I’m going to keep my mind and spiritual life active,” Halyburton said. “I also learned pretty quickly that our covert communication system was so important.” The prisoners developed a tap code for communicating between walls in cell blocks. By utilizing American phrasing and attempting
to be discrete, they were able to keep their Vietnamese captors largely in the dark. “It was important to say, ‘I just went to a quiz and here’s what they asked me, here’s the kind of pressure they put on me and here’s the punishment that I got.’ Chances were somebody else from our cellblock would go through the same kind of interrogation,” Halyburton said. “It was very important to keep everybody up to date on a day to day basis, and if you had a new name of a POW. We spend a lot of time keeping our list of names up to date.” Despite hours of interrogation and continually worsening conditions, Halyburton continually refused to divulge information to his captors. In an attempt to push him over the edge, they boarded him with — and ordered him to be caretaker for — a Black prisoner.
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