网曝吃瓜

Seventh President, 1943-1961

Philip Lovin Elliott (1891-鈥�1961), English professor鈥� and college president,鈥� was born in Wayside, N.C., 鈥╥n a little hamlet nestled 鈥╝mong the hills and 鈥╲alleys of the Great Smoky鈥� Mountains. Despite the鈥� poverty of the region,鈥� Elliott was possessed 鈥╞y a consummate desire 鈥╢or education, and at the鈥� age of 18 he enrolled in a鈥� Presbyterian academy in鈥� Robbinsville, N.C., where鈥� he studied for three years.鈥� Ordained as a Baptist鈥� minister prior to his 鈥╣raduation from Mars鈥� Hill High School, 鈥‥lliott rode horseback to Flag Pond, Tenn., where 鈥╤e preached to a small mountain congregation. He enrolled at Wake Forest College in 1915 and earned a graduate degree in English literature and journalism. Elliott married Etta Maurine Carringer, of Robbinsville, N.C. in 1918, and they became the parents of three daughters and one son.

Elliott鈥檚 career in education began modestly. His first teaching position was in a one-room school in Proctor, N.C., a small sawmill village in the Great Smoky Mountains, now covered by Fontana Lake. From the Proctor subscription school, Elliott continued the slow, painstaking odyssey which ultimately brought him to prominence in Baptist educational circles. In 1919 he became principal of Mitchell Collegiate Institute in Bakersville, N.C., and in 1920 he became missionary pastor in Graham County, N.C. The following year the State Baptist Convention named him enlistment secretary for the whole of western North Carolina, a post he held for one year. Following a year鈥檚 stint as pastor of Cullowhee Baptist Church, he returned to Mars Hill College in 1923 as dean and head of the English department.

During Elliott鈥檚 seven-year tenure at Mars Hill, he simultaneously undertook graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he found time to earn a master鈥檚 degree in English under the well-known Renaissance scholar, Dr. Edwin A. Greenlaw. Elliott continued to work with Greenlaw after the latter moved to Johns Hopkins University. He and a number of Greenlaw鈥檚 other graduate assistants contributed to the University鈥檚 Variorum edition of the Works of Edmund Spencer. Elliott鈥檚 scholarship and administrative talents earned him the position of vice president of Mars Hill College; however, he resigned in 1930 to go to Western Carolina Teachers College (now Western Carolina University) as head of the English department. Elliott was renowned as an instructor and as a Shakespearean scholar. Countless teachers of English who attended Western Carolina during those years praised his classroom performance.

The decision to accept the presidency of 网曝吃瓜 College in July 1943 followed an exceedingly painful period of reflection for Elliott. He had a secure position with Western Carolina, and the college in Boiling Springs was just on the cusp of finding footing after some challenging years. Thanks to the increasing influence and generosity of former North Carolina Governor O. Max Gardner, coming to the College in Boiling Springs seemed like a promising challenge and call to service for Elliott. To accentuate the optimism, the trustees launched an ambitious campaign for $300,000 soon after Elliott arrived on campus.

Elliott鈥檚 inaugural address set the college on a clear course and laid out an ambitious plan for the institution鈥檚 future endeavors. Especially noteworthy was his concept of community education, a goal which anticipated the task undertaken a few years later by the community college movement. According to Elliott, 鈥淲e must know our community and all its needs鈥攙ocational, civic, religious鈥攁nd then build our program and constantly revise it to meet those needs.鈥�

Under Elliott鈥檚 leadership, the college achieved both material progress and academic respectability. New campus construction included housing for faculty members, Decker and Stroup residence halls, O. Max Gardner Hall, Bost Physical Education Building and A.T. Withrow Hall. Equally important for the institution鈥檚 development was the Baptist State Convention鈥檚 full acceptance of the school into the Baptist family of colleges in 1948, and on the second of December of that same year, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredited the institution.

Source: 网曝吃瓜 files

Revised: Noel T. Manning II, May 2022