STATEMENT OF THE HON. G. WILLIAM WHITEHURST, CONGRESSMAN FROM THE SECOND DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

I was lucky. All of my 18 years of teaching were spent at Old Dominion University. Of course, the early years were at the Norfolk Division of William and Mary, ODU’s antecedent.

Looking back, having been away from the campus for more than a decade, I have the memories of most teachers whose careers go back over a generation: I remember principally my colleagues and my students and understandably take great pride in the achievements of those students. Most have succeeded, and some have succeeded very well. One is a member of the State Corporation Commission; several are bank executives; others are on City Councils; still others are respected physicians or practicing in other forms of health care. The legal field is peppered with students who sat in my classes, while others have achieved success in other professions and in business. Equally satisfying to me are the legion of teachers whom I had the privilege of teaching.

All of these graduates are testimony to the quality of instruction at Old Dominion throughout its history. It was the one thing we had to offer in those early years. I remember Lewis Webb telling us at the first faculty meeting of the year that he was primarily interested in good teaching from his faculty. Publishing, research, and other academic pursuits had to come second. We had neither the resources nor the budgets of the larger institutions who could afford those luxuries for their faculties. But we had dedicated and competent teachers nevertheless.

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One of the exciting aspects of coming to the Division in 1950, fresh out of college, was to watch and be a part of the school’s dramatic expansion. It had a profound impact on my own academic growth. By 1956, it was clear that Lewis Webb was going to lead us into a full-fledged four-year college program. We even dreamed then of graduate courses leading to doctoral degrees. I knew that if I was to share fully in that rich experience, I would need a Ph.D. in History. Thus the Division’s transition to Old Dominion College served as an impetus to me to take leave and pursue work on a doctorate in order that I might keep pace with the development of the institution that nurtured my career in education.

Janie and I have so many pleasant personal recollections. I sponsored a fraternity, she a sorority. We chaperoned dances, went to the basketball games in the old gym, had a myriad of students in our home, and one summer when I wasn’t teaching I sold Fuller Brushes with two of them -- and, I might add, made more money doing it. Stan Pliska, Bob Stern, the late Admiral Harold Wright, and I were the nucleus for a Social Studies Department that grew, divided, and subdivided.

The faculty parties were family affairs, and Lewis Webb was father, brother, and chaplain, as well as boss, for all of us. Only those who shared those early times can appreciate the devotion he inspired in us. We knew that no

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one cared more for that school than he did, nor was anyone

more assiduous in looking after the welfare of faculty and students alike. Nothing could be more fitting than to have the student center named after him.

Finally, being a native of Norfolk, I grew up with a strong civic consciousness, and during those 18 years that I was on the faculty, I was reminded over and over how much the success of our college was due to the generosity and interest of citizens outside the academic community. The Division might have become Old Dominion College and then Old Dominion University on its own, but it would have been immeasurably delayed had Lewis Webb not had the support of the Alfriends, the Dardens, the Hofheimers, the Kaufmans, the Greshams, and the countless other friends and families of Tidewater who sensed the potential of creating a great urban institution of learning in their midst.

Old Dominion has been fortunate to have its leadership in capable hands throughout its history. Both Jim Bugg and Al Rollins have been worthy successors to Lewis Webb, developing new programs, establishing new patterns of growth, and extending the University’s boundaries not only along Hampton Boulevard and toward the water but, more important, to academic horizons that we could only glimpse 30 years ago.