97-Year-Old Alumna Returns to Campus

By Rachel Forrester

More than 70 years after first stepping foot on campus, Sylva Pearce Compton (MA 58, BA 47) walked through the doors of Quay Hall and her memories came flooding back. The 97-year-old Greyhound calmly and intently made her way through the hallway, noting that she continues to dream about her days as a coed. Back then, Quay Hall was called the “Women’s Hall” and Sylva, her sister and two other students pushed all of their beds into one room to use the other as their own personal common area.

Sylva Pearce Compton in the ENMU Music Building in 2018.

Things on campus have changed quite a bit since then; the rooms in Quay Hall are now used for offices, and there are multiple newly renovated buildings including the Music Building and the Golden Student Success Center, both of which Sylva was able to tour. While she walked through the Administration Building, a portrait of Sylva’s relative C.M. Compton Jr., one of ENMU’s founders, watched over her.

“I loved it. I absolutely loved it,” Sylva expressed about her tour. “As a student, I spent a lot of time in the music room but I had never seen Buchanan Hall. So that was fantastic for me since Gillian Buchanan was my favorite professor.”

Sylva (pictured center) playing drums as a student in 1943.

Sylva also spent some time in ENMU Special Collections, flipping through the yellowing pages of past issues of The Chase, lighting up each time she recognized a person or a fond memory. Sylva became a Greyhound in 1941. She joined the Kappa Delta Alpha sorority and really enjoyed her classes with Dr. P.M. Bailey who chaired the ENMU Speech Department for many years. When asked about her studies, Sylva candidly explained that she majored in “fun.”

Sylva left Eastern temporarily when she married Benjamin Lee Compton in 1943. She enlisted into the Women’s Army Corps, but returned to school two years later when she and Ben had their first child, their daughter Carol. Sylva recalled this period of her life, stating with gratitude, “There were times that former ENMU President Floyd Golden actually took care of Carol so I could focus on my studies. Carol played while he tried to get work done. Bless his heart. He was precious to me,” Sylva remembered of Dr. Golden.

Sylva found her wedding announcement in a past issue of The Chase, archived in ENMU Special Collections.

After earning her bachelor’s, master’s and multiple teaching accreditations from ENMU, Sylva continued to feed her passion by teaching elementary and junior high music classes for 25 years in Clovis. She also had a son, Steve, who now resides in San Angelo, Texas, and she also spent a year teaching in Taiwan.

Sylva cherishes her time singing with ENMU’s vocal quartet and playing drums in band. She returned to campus for a second visit this past November to attend ENMU’s annual POPS Concert where she enjoyed the performances by the ENMU Wind Symphony and especially the Swanee Singers, an all-girls group this year.

Sylva was voted as having the “Best Personality” in the 1943 Silver Pack yearbook.

“I was very glad to be able to meet Mrs. Compton and hear some about her Eastern experiences,” said ENMU Director of Choral Activities Dr. Jason Paulk. “My hope is that she is able to continue to be involved in some of the exciting things happening in the Music Department and on campus.”