Pryor Scrapbook Clippings, 1945-2000

Personalities ............... Dr. Joseph Pryor 1 · Pryor~stie~Sinoe·1.951 by Boo Mitchell Dr. Joseph Pryor, Dean of the University, is a well-known face at Harding. He obtained his doctorate in physical chemistry at Louisiana State University. He has served as yearbook advisor for 35 years. "Dr. Joe," as friends affectionately call him, works early each day to rearrange class schedules and class meeting places. He has come- to be symbolized by his ever-present bow tie. Bison: Is it true that you wore bow ties all the way back in college? . . Dr. Pryor; No, not much. I didn't start wearing a bow tie until probably 1951 or 1952. That's about all I've worn ever since... .I just like them. You can snap them on and you don't have to tie them. Bison: A majority of scientists have come to the conclusion that evolution took p1ace on this ~rib. Someevenespouse atheism. Why do you think they ·come to that conclusion? Dr. Pryor: I think a lot of it comes to the fact that back in the Renaissance period · certain people were supposed to be Christians, but really were not practicing Christianity. The people rebelled a~t that. / That's one factor. There's another factor for some and that's that they like to appear . intellectually superior.. .I think some want to do what they want to do without fearing any con– sequences of their actions. And to do that they have to kill their conscience. To help do that, they g~t away from the idea of God. Those are three reasons that have led people to this con– clusion . There are many scientists ·that are ·devout believers 'in God - some who are very fundamental Christians. Bison: What are your feelings on evolution? Dr. Pryor: As far as man evolving, I don't believe man evolved from a lower form of life. I think there is evidence that at a certain point in time, the various species ttuit exist today suddenly appeared in the differentiated forms. I think that we're seeing in our time a turn away from evolution on the part of many scientists. Bison: Does "grade inflation" 1 take place at Harding? Dr. Pryor: Yes, although "grade inflation" was con– siderably less than the national average. This was something that largely took place during the sixties-during the time of ex– treme student activism which was prompted somewhat by the resistance to the draft and their resistance to the Vietnam War. There were many intellec\pals who'opposed the dra(t and smce one facet of the draft exemption was the upper GPA level of young men, it got to the point where many ~ig universities like Stanford, Harvard, Yale - the elite schools - would give the whole class A's in defiance of the draft board. This, however, is turning back t.o traditional standards and I think we're in a state of 'deflation' of these grades... Also, I think here, where we have a high level of conscientious students, that · students took their grades seriously and worked bard. We by Doug Thompson The main reason for a 9 a.m. chapel is to avoid letting all 1 students out for lunch at the same •, time. Dr. Joe Pryor said that most students will eat at their 1 first opportunity. For many, this opportunity would be the 25 minute "safety valve" break m the schedule, if chapel started at or around 11 a.m. "This is not the lunch period. If more than 200-300 students leave no free period, I'll have to ask some to make a class change," he said. "We had a chapel at 8:55-9:35 in 1952-1953, and the dean of .students was beseiged with complaints. We scheduled the next year's chapel at a later time, so that all students got out at the time they were ac– customed to eating lunch," he said. . "I can still remember looking out of the old science building and seeing lunch lines extending - ck almost to the library. Students complained of standing in line for _. . . Dean Pryor didn't have the situation that existed at Stanford or the University of California at Berkeley where entire classes were given A's in opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War. Bison; How do you determine .grade inflation? · · Dr. Pryor: You run the average GPA for a given year...There was a definite in– crease in mean GPA-more A's and more B's were being given. 20 minutes without moving a step - the cutting in line was so bad. That was when we had 854 students total. Today we have more per cafeteria," he said. The next fall we went back to an early chapel, and received no complaints whatsoever," he said. It is an academic rule that there be time for two three-hour labs with a class period in bet– wee~. To avoid lunch time, .the _chapel must be scheduled early. To prevent labs from extending to ·.the early evening it must be scheduled at about'9 a .m. Although many students like to; sleep in, especially on Tuesday and Thursday, Pryor said he felt they would prefer 9 a.m. c~ to any other alternative. One proposal, for instance, was to have classes begin . at 7 in the morning. "Adjustments might be made, but in light of our scheduling experiences this seems to be the most practical schedule possible," Pryor said. 'f-?'1 . ,.