Friends,
As most of you know, during the weekend, July 7-9, the USC Alumni Association, North America, held its biennial Conference in Atlanta. I attended along with a few others on this Listserv. This was the 13th such conference, but my first. I was asked to provide a report for the benefit of the rest of you. I will try to do so. I will be depending mostly on memory, since I did not go with the objective of reporting, and the request to provide this report came towards the end of the conference, so I did not take detailed notes. In order not to weary you, I will do so in three installments. In this first part, I am making some introductory observations and reporting on the Friday night activities. In the second installment, I will deal with the Sabbath day activities. The final installment will deal with the Saturday Night Banquet and business meeting, and end with some closing observations.

The meeting was held at the Emory Hotel and Conference Center. This is a well-appointed conference center on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta. Its urban location notwithstanding, the Center is in a very quiet setting, surrounded by trees, and providing a very agreeable setting for unhurried reflection. Most out-of-town participants stayed in the hotel, while others, myself included, stayed with relatives in the city and commuted to the conference center for meetings and meals.

Participants began arriving on Thursday and Friday, and after registration and dinner on Friday afternoon, the conference began with a worship service hosted by the local chapter. Unfortunately, the start was somewhat inauspicious. Two factors contributed to this. First, a significant number of pre-registered attendees had still not arrived, and so the attendance was somewhat below par. Second, and of more concern, was the fact that there seemed to this observer to be a communication breakdown within the local chapter, resulting in the tardy arrival of some program participants, and the non-arrival of others. Conversations with local alumni suggest a general lack of awareness of the weekend activities among local CUCians. The result was a disappointing attendance of local Alumni throughout the weekend.

After a stuttering start however, things went underway as we were treated to a very thoughtful devotional presentation by a Pastor Cort, (first name slips my mind) who is a youth pastor in a local church. After the devotional, North America Alumni president Shirley Baptiste welcomed
participants, and made some opening remarks. In her remarks, Shirley Baptiste prepared us by highlighting some of the issues facing the college as it transitions to a university. She then introduced Dr. Joan Francis, history professor at Columbia Union College, who gave the opening presentation. Joan's presentation put the weekend's activities in historical context, and continued in the vein started by Shirley. The issues highlighted include (1)The transition from College to University and all that this transition entails (2)Rapid increase in enrolment as the T&T Government increases its investments in tertiary education, (3) Changing demographic as a larger proportion of student body is non-Adventist. During the discussion that followed, a pivotal question arose, and one that would resonate the following day as well, was: "what is Christian about Adventist education".

By the end of the night's proceedings, it was clear to me that a highlight of this conference (as, I imagine, for all such meetings) is the opportunity to meet people I had heard about but never met, (including some on this Listserv) and, especially, dear friends I hadn't seen for literally decades. As people arrived, surprise was followed by pleasant surprise. The effect was probably accentuated by the fact that I have been exiled to the far reaches of the continental northwest for the past 15 years, outside of the normal lines of traffic of the typical alumnus of CUC/USC. So for me the treat was particularly exquisite.

The Sabbath morning services were held, not at the Hotel, but at the First Lithonia SDA Church in the Lithonia district of Metropolitan Atlanta. The Sabbath School service got underway shortly after 9:00 am. The Sabbath school followed the traditional format, except that the lesson study was abbreviated in order to provide time for the major conference item for the morning which was a panel discussion focusing on the issue: How do we keep the mission and vision of the school vibrant and relevant? I was asked to be moderator of a panel comprising Dr.Walter Douglas (Emeritus Prof, Andrews), Dr. Faye Brathwaite (former Oakwood Accounting Prof), and Dr. Leon Wilson (Wayne State Sociology Prof). All are CUC alumni, as was Joan Francis the previous night. The panel was able only to scratch the surface of the issue, but participants particularly emphasized the importance of USC personnel modeling the mission of the institution, integrating faith and learning, and focusing on meeting the needs of the community to make USC the best (Christian) institution in the Caribbean.

In the divine service which followed, Dr. Clinton Valley delivered a dynamic and challenging sermon, in which he encouraged the congregation to put new wine into new wineskins. The sermon was appropriate in the context of USC's new status, and the need to begin anew to revision, and find new solutions to the problems of educating the youth of the Caribbean. "We always do it that way" is a response that would be found wanting.

An element of the service which I found particularly moving was a Litany of Remembrance which the congregation participated in. This was a means of honoring the memory of Alumni who had passed from this life since the last Alumni conference. It turned out to be quite personal for me as I read the names of persons who were dear to me, but who are no longer with us. In particular, I was reminded of my dear late uncle, Sampson Archer, and my late friend Pat Saliba. It was a small ceremony that I had not expected, and which I was both gratified and moved by. After the service, and after an interminable, but enjoyable, period of meeting old friends, we finally repaired to the hotel for lunch, and the afternoon meeting. The first part of the afternoon meeting involved two presentations by alumni who were also former business managers of CUC. Abraham Moore was Industrial Coordinator and then Business Manager of CUC during the early to mid 1970's. Since then, and for the past 20 years or so, he has been the VP for Financial Administration at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Mr Moore's presentation addressed the principles underlying financing an institution such as USC. Maxwell Blackeney is currently an Associate Director of the General Conference Auditing Service, and recently ended a tour of service directing GC auditing activities in Africa. Maxie (who is a member of this Listserv) served at CUC as Business Manager during the early to mid '80's. I was particularly intrigued by these two presentations, especially Maxie's, in which he used four African Adventist Universities (anonymous in order to preserve private financial information) as case studies of institutions which have recently, like USC, made the transition to University. The comparisons of two similar (to USC) and two contrasting institutions was most instructive. Blackeney particularly noted the need for internal controls to be put in place in order to ensure financial integrity as the scale of operations expand. USC President Trevor Gardner responded to these presentations, and then, after a brief respite, gave a presidential report to alumni. In his report he noted the rapid increase in enrollment, and mentioned several initiatives currently being worked on and soon to be announced formally. These include organizational changes, a research consortium, and industrial developments. In the area of agriculture, for example, he noted that the college is now self-sufficient in vegetables, and an apiary is being developed for commercial production of honey, and also for biological research purposes.

The conference ended with a Banquet and business meeting. The food was good, with a Caribbean (jerk) twist. The banquet began with the singing of the National Anthem of Trinidad and Tobago. Apparently this is a tradition, honoring the country in which USC is sited. Some at my table wondered whether, as a matter of protocol, the US national anthem should not also have been sung. Something for future organizers to consider.

If the national anthem did not transport us to Trinidad and Tobago, MC for the night, Tony Sebro, ensured that we got there by inviting alumni to sing along in the chorus of Lord Melody's classic calypso (popularized in this country by Harry Belafonte) "Shut yuh mout', go away, Mama look a boo-boo dey". USC Director of Alumni Norma Greaves greeted alumni, and then, in a presentation called "Remember When" led us down memory lane, reminding all about experiences on campus in the good old (and not so old) days. She almost wore out her welcome with one riddle too many, but it was all in good fun, and thoroughly enjoyed.
Dr. Gardner also gave a report on the proposed dormitories, and invited alumni to come to Trinidad next year, early August, for the 80th anniversary celebration, where he promised to accommodate us in the new residence hall.

The business part of the evening involved voting changes in the Constitution to, inter alia, bring the legal name of the organization in line with the change in name of the institution, and to adjust the length of the terms for officers. The Alumni voted to change the name from CUC Alumni Association, North America to USC Alumni Association, North America (these names are at best, approximate. The important fact here is that the new name of the institution replaces the old in the name of the Association). It was also voted to extend the terms of office from two to three years. Presumably, that means that future conferences will be triennial rather than biennial. There was some discussion about the propriety of other changes in the constitution, however, at the end all the changes were passed easily.The results of elections were also announced. The nominating committee had previously selected a slate of candidates, and these individuals had been voted on by mail ballot. The newly elected officers for the next three years are as follows:

Fitzroy Maitland, President
Slimen Saliba, First Vice-President
Jonathan Straughn, Second Vice-President
Myrtle Walton-Hensley, Third Vice-President
Amryl Greaves, Executive Secretary
Lester Langford, Treasurer
Gordonoss St. Hilaire, Asst/ Treasurer
Lorna DeLancy and Yvonne Roberts, Recording Secretaries
Ruby Pascall, Social Secretary
Anesther Shaw, Archivist
Ellis Pascall, Finance
Claire Hosten and Sylvan Lashley, Planning & Development
Naomi Modeste (W/Coast) and V. Arthur Huggins (E/Coast) Recruitment
Myrtle Arthur(USA) and Claudia DeLeon (Canada), Communications
Leon Wilson, Board Representative
Abraham Moore, Timothy Greaves, Delegates-at-Large

Now, for whatever it is worth, let me make a few observations.
First, although I met several people who are my contemporaries, there were few whom I could find that were appreciably younger than me. Since I am on the wrong side of fifty, that represents a real problem for the future of our alumni association, and therefore, our University. A cursory look at the new officers also suggests the same problem. My estimate is that the average age is above 60. A way has to be found to recruit and involve younger alumni. I am happy to be involved, but I wonder how many other alumni there are who, like me, were only vaguely aware of the Association's existence, and would not get involved until asked. I hope I am now on someone's mailing list. Second, the music for the weekend was good when it happened, like on Sabbath morning when two young men presented a steel pan duet, or on Sabbath evening when six young men sang very harmoniously for vespers. Unfortunately at least on two occasions, appointed musicians did not appear. As a music lover myself, I found that disappointing.

Third, the food was also good -- tasty, varied, well prepared and presented. It is always a challenge planning meals for diverse tastes. I would observe, however, that any gathering of alumni of an Adventist college should provide for vegetarian, even vegan needs. I may be reflecting my northwest sensibilities here, but although I am not the strictest of vegetarians, I often wondered how my wife and my daughters, whose dietary preferences are rather more strict than mine, would have fared if I had brought them along. Not very well, I am afraid. Vegetarianism is not unique to Adventists anymore. Surely any food service organization worth its salt in the 21st century must have in its repertoire adequate provision for vegetarians and vegans. It may be well to consider choosing future conference sites with this in mind.

Finally, a lot of hard work went into the planning and execution of this conference. I do not know the names of all who were responsible, but I would like to extend my appreciation to them all, and especially to outgoing president, Shirley Baptiste, and the chair of the planning committee, Joan Francis, for the job they did. There were some hiccups, to be sure, but on the whole things went quite well. I thoroughly enjoyed my participation in the conference. I am looking forward to the next one. In the interim, maybe I'll even see you in Trinidad next year.

- Austin C. Archer -