Posted by Gerry Wilkinson (posted by Jerry Klein) on August 09, 1998 at 23:08:54:
Gerry posted the following on the WRTI Old Gang home page following the destructions of Thomas Hall. I'm posting his words here so they will endure even if/when the home page changes. -- Jerry Klein
Gone But Not Forgotten
The following are the thoughts of Gerry Wilkinson....
It's like knowing a close friend or relative is really sick. You know they're not going to
make it, but it's always a shock when they're gone. My visit to campus on Saturday,
August 8, was like that. I knew that the week before, 75% of Thomas Hall was gone and I
fully expected it to be gone when I drove up Broad Street, past Norris to circle around
looking for a parking space. But even I was surprised by my reaction that the original
home of WRTI was gone. Liacouras' Legacy of "Temple Town" is fast becoming a reality,
though an error I believe. Temple was never meant to be what Liacouras is trying to make
it. The original concept was a place of education and though sponsored by a Baptist
Church, people from all walks of life were welcomed. Dr. Russell Conwell always believed
that success was within reach of all of us. Some, he thought, just needed a hand up not
out. The original notion was a place of learning for working men AND women, a place
where they could learn and grow and with that growth prosper. Peter Liacouras, the
University current President, no longer, it seems believes in Dr. Conwell's vision. Pete
thinks that the University needs more dorm residents and less commuters. He's playing
the University up for the rich, or at least the richer. Certainly this is a step or two away from
Conwell's teachings. Temple must compete, we hear. They need new dorms, new stores,
new everything. Tradition be damn. Our university for too long has destroyed its history.
President Gladfelter tore down Dr. Conwell's first church in 1969 and to honor his legacy,
Gladfelter Hall sits where Conwell's first Philadelphia place of worship once stood. A
dozen years before, President Johnson destroyed Conwell's first home in Philadelphia,
just a couple steps away from Thomas Hall. Peabody Hall now rests upon that site. While
they couldn't name that building in his "honor," they did name the structure next to it.
Shortly, the University will also demolish Wiatt Hall, named after Hattie May Wiatt, a little
girl in Conwell first church and the one who basically started the building fund for The
Baptist Temple. Soon that will be gone. Why in 1964, not happy with all this other
nonsense, the University dug up a whole cemetery including Conwell and his Wife to
make a parking lot.
While I'm sure termites would consider their chewing away at a building to be progress,
the willful destruction of our University's history is not. I know some have suggested that
the new dorm be named Sacked Hall, I think it would be better named Liacouras Hall. Let
us not forget what he has done. It is his legacy, let it have his name. It is a Temple tradition
for the sacker to have the new building named after him. Liacouras has said that
civilization builds on top of previous civilizations. However, keep in mind, the people of
Babylon never sacked THEIR OWN CITIES. Let the new building be named Liacouras Hall.
We will not forget what he has done but we must say NOT AGAIN.
While the University seems to feel that its history is not important, it is vital. To show
Temple's beliefs, all you have to do is look in Mitten Hall at the bust of Russell Conwell.
There is NO IDENTIFICATION WHATSOEVER. Just of a bronze head of someone. It just
happens to be the founder of our great alma mater, the minister of the Baptist Temple,
from which the University derives its name and is now the oldest free-standing structure
on campus. But for incoming freshmen, it's just a head of someone. Will they ever know
who? Shall they learn about the "Acres of Diamonds?" To these incoming
undergraduates, Conwell is just a hall. They know not of the man's vision or dream!