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[music]

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This is a place we know.

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 Here in North Carolina's historic
 Mecklenburg County,

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it is not just another town,

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it is a place that has influenced the
 life,

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the people of a wide region.

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Whatever the season and however we come
 upon it we see it,

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we remember it, as a place in which we
 have faith.

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It has for those who know at a tone of
 reverence

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 for things of the spirit.

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It is quiet and it has an academic
 dignity.

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Yet there's lots of collegiate life and
 student fun, too.

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It has been so since 1837.

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Davidson College.

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More important to Davidson than
 buildings,

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 more significant even than courses,

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 is something else. 

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That more important thing is people, students,

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 alumni, friends, faculty, and staff.

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Whether we review faculty names

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 in an old Davidson catalog

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 for the antebellum year 1848

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 or recall our postwar faculty a hundred

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 years later in 1948,

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 we see the sort of people who know the
 college

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 and who will ever honor Dr.
John R. Cunningham.

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Churchman, educator, gentleman.

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No film and no book will ever record

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 to our full satisfaction

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all the accomplishments of his sixteen years

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 at Davidson.

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Each of us must call

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 upon his own memories to document the
 achievements

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 that have steadily highlighted these
 years.

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Each future generation will tell the epic
 story

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 of '41 to '57 at Davidson. 

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Let us look for a moment at one part of
 that story,

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 a project that symbolizes the spiritual

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 strength that will perpetuate the
Davidson

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 that has been built by such men as

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Henry Lewis Smith, William Joseph Martin,
 Walter L. Lingle, and

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John R. Cunningham.

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During Dr. Cunningham's

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 early years at Davidson

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the need for an appropriate and inspiring

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 place of worship was seen as a definite
 necessity.

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And we all remember how pictures such as
 these

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 were used to dramatize the need.

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Plans were drawn and the idea became a
 dream and a challenge.

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Over much of a decade, the work went
 ahead to secure the necessary funds.

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The dream seemed almost within our grasp

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when Pearl Harbor on December 7,
 1941,

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 heralded World War II and a special

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 phase in Davidson's history.

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 Building plans were shelved as Davidson
 College

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 became a part of America's wartime team.

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Careful management and full cooperation
 with

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 the armed services enabled the college

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 to achieve distinction and yet

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 hold its own as an educational
 institution,

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 both during the war and in the difficult
 postwar years.

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It was a critical time where Davidson had a leader
who could

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 guide the affairs of the college with
 care,

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 vision, and great wisdom.

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After the war and with inflation,

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 the dream of a new church remained,
 despite

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 a successful pre-war fund drive,

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still just a church on paper.

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It was then that

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Dr. Cunningham and the college trustees swung

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 into action with an unprecedented two
 and a half million dollar

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development program

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 to raise additional funds for the church and

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 the gymnasium and to satisfy many

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 other pressing needs.

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To underwrite the biggest financial effort in
 Davidson's history

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 was an operation that took faith and
 prayer

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 and organization. A time consuming

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 mobilization of Davidson supporters
 everywhere.

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It required travel, too. Months and months
 of travel.

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 Sleeper jumps, bus rides, one night stands.

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In fact, it has been a timetable
 existence for

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Dr. Cunningham throughout these sixteen years.

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Year after year, he has told the Davidson

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 story to people in New York, Philadelphia,

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 Washington, Richmond,

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 Raleigh, Charlotte,

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 Atlanta, Jacksonville,

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 Miami, and everywhere else where
 Davidson people live.

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Proof that the story was well told

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 has come in the return in dollars of course,

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 but also in a widespread expression of
 enthusiasm and understanding.

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Evidence that Davidson is moving forward

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 as an ever better liberal arts college

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 serving the church, the South, and the
 nation.

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The development program had not been
 completed

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 in 1950, but we held a parade

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 of progress homecoming anyway.

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The Charles Worth Johnston Gymnasium was dedicated that year.

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We talked about plans

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 for another dream, to convert the old
 gymnasium

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 into a college union,

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and most important,

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we broke ground for the new college church.

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 An act of faith that the church would be
 completed

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 and that many essential phases of
 Davidson's

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 academic program would be strengthened.

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There were days of excitement in the
 process.

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Historic, unforgettable days.

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 The time honored old church, which had
 served long

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 decades of service,

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now was torn down so that a new church

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 could rise on that lovely and historic
 site.

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Soon, we gathered for another momentous day

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and the cornerstone was laid.

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Now, bit by bit, the dream was coming true.

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Progress was really being made and shared

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 by Davidson men. 

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Consecrated leaders who had already laid the
 foundations

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 for the progress of these and future
 days.

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Before long, we watched, along with 
Dr. Cunningham

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 and many of his coworkers, as the new

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 gradually took the place of the old.

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 Outlined against the sky, the steel

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 and brick and stone were, and are,

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unimportant in themselves.

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But as the structure slowly took shape,

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 we saw it as a symbol of other less
 visible developments.

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[music]

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We can see in this progress things of
 special interests,

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 whether we look at our fine

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 new Charles Worth Johnston Gymnasium,

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 or our handsome William Henry Bell
 dormitory,

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 or still another new dormitory to
 replace

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old Rumple, or the college union

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 as a much needed center for campus life.

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Nor would we forget the new plans for
 faculty housing, 

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 a steadily increasing faculty salary scale,

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many more student scholarships, and

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 countless other improvements that we
 know about,

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 but which cannot be photographed.

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These things, considered along with
 material gains,

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 mean increased academic excellence,
 prestige,

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 and sound educational progress.

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Now no longer a dream,

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the Davidson church is a reality.

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It is a part of a rich heritage of faith
 for the future.

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Each time we experience its unique
 fitness

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 for this college, we do honor to the man

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 who guided it from blueprint to
 completion.

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The man who worked always to enrich and
 undergird

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 the training of Christian leaders for
 this

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 age of new and overwhelming challenges

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 to the human spirit.

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These sixteen years with Dr. Cunningham as president

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have been marked by a

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 sense of planned continuity,

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 an attitude of what should be, can be.

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Remember when the new library was opened
 in 1941,

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how we all joined up with the famous book

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 brigade to transfer the books from the old
 library

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 to their new home.

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Now, in 1957,

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if the library doesn't accommodate the
 learning that is basic

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 to a liberal arts program of Davidson's
 type,

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 we make plans to enlarge it, to push out
 the back wall if need be, 

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to build additional space

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 for more books and study room.

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[music]

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The new is important, but the old is
 never forgotten.

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[music]

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With care for detail and beauty,

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Dr. Cunningham has worked to develop the old
 campus as

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 a useful memorial to Davidson's heritage.

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 In restoring these ancient structures

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we strengthen a college which is kept in
 step

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 with the resurgent South, and yet held

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 fast to the best and most noble of its

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 century old traditions.

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Thus, this spirit of progress and
 planning,

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 set in motion by Dr. Cunningham,

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challenges us to finish the

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 old quadrangle in years to come.

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There is also need to study and improve
 fraternity

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 housing and dining arrangements.

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[music]

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As we review these dream sketches,

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 we are again reminded that what should
 be at Davidson

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 can be at Davidson.

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[music]

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We who are concerned for the religious life of

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 our nation and world are encouraged as

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Dr. Cunningham begins a new and important
 task.

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He will work not just for Davidson, but
 for all the

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 colleges, seminaries, mission boards,

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 and total program of the Presbyterian Church U.S.

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 In this larger field of service

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he will continue to tell an important story of

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 Christianity at work in our world and our day.

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It's a story which he as a churchman,
 educator,

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 and leader will tell with devoted skill
 and effectiveness.

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The monumental good he has done will live

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 in our hearts and minds forever,

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but we also honor the modest charm and
 warm friendliness

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 with which he, Mrs. Cunningham,

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and their family have lived in
 our midst.

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We are pleased that they are not going
 very far away.

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In fact, it's just down the road a piece

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 from the president's home at Davidson

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 to their new home in

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St. John's Wood in Charlotte.

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This new home base will be headquarters for
a full, busy life.

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As Executive Director of the Presbyterian
 Foundation, 

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Dr. Cunningham will have as his territory

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the entire General Assembly of

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 the Presbyterian Church U.S.

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Hence, it is with deep joy and a sure prophecy

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 of his future accomplishments, that we
 honor

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 our friend,

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Dr. John R. Cunningham.

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Go forward sir with our prayers and warmest,

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 best wishes to strengthen in this
 crucial day

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the church, local and worldwide,

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 which in common with this college, is

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 builded upon the foundation of the
 apostles and prophets,

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Jesus Christ himself being the chief

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 cornerstone in whom all the building

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 fitly frame together groweth

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 unto unholy temple, in whom

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 ye also are builded together

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for inhabitation of God through the spirit.

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[music]