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Cake Race
The Davidson College Freshmen Cake Race is a tradition that has endured by embracing change. This race, which has been held every year since, (except during WWII and 1972) has become a trademark of Davidson College and its incoming freshmen; it is the Cake Race (On your mark…get set…go for Cake). Although the race has been an annual event ever since, it has gone through some alterations in order to keep up with the changing face of Davidson College.
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Kuykendall, John Wells
During his tenure as president, Davidson College completed a $160 million capital campaign, the largest financial campaign ever mounted by a liberal arts college at the time.
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Kirkpatrick, John Lycan
With a strong background as a minister in Virginia and South Carolina and an educational background that included Hampden-Sydney and Union Theological Seminary, Reverend John Lycan Kirkpatrick was elected President of Davidson College in 1860.
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Libertas
First published in February 1996, Libertas is a student-run publication for Davidson, “conceived by students in response to the recognizable gap that lies between The Davidsonian and Hobart Park” to further the dissemination of the wide ranges of ideas, beliefs and values of the Davidson College community.
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Book Brigade Instructions
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Carnegie, Andrew
Born in 1835 in Scotland, Carnegie’s childhood was poor. As a young teenager, Carnegie’s family moved to the United States to escape famine, where Carnegie worked for the railroad companies. His evenings were available, and as Alberto Manguel explains in The Library at Night, he found “the intellectual wealth of the world” in a free public library in downtown Pittsburgh (Manguel 99). Later in life, when Carnegie became a successful steel magnate, he remained convinced that the best gift one could give to a community was a free library.
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Blake, John Rennie
From 1871-1877, Davidson College had no official president, but was administered by a faculty chairman, Professor John Rennie Blake.
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Leland Park '63
An alumnus from the Class of ’63, Dr. Leland Park served as director of Davidson’s E.H. Little Library from 1975 to 2006. Dr. Park earned both a masters degree from Emory, and a doctorate degree from Florida State University, in library sciences. He was a recipient of the North Carolina Library Association Distinguished Library Service Award, he was, as former president Robert F. Vagt states, “He is the weave of the Davidson fabric.” (Syme) In his own words, Dr Park valued, “…the daily ringing of the bell and saying hello to others on the campus walkways….” As Director of the Library Emeritus, Dr. Park will never be out of reach of the bell, campus walkways, or the library he helped raise. (Syme)
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Laundry
By the early 21st century, the Davidson College offered a full service laundry facility, a free self-service laundromat, and two smaller free self-service laundromats located in the senior apartments. Students are charged a mandatory fee bundled with their room. However, this system has been a long time in development.
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Lake Campus & Lake Wiley
For more than a hundred years, water activities have been an important aspect of Davidson College. This important aspect of college life has focused around two lakes: Lake Norman and the lesser known Lake Wiley.
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Knox Hall
Groundbreaking ceremony April 24, 1980. Hall first occupied in September 1981.
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Knobloch Campus Center
Cornerstone placed November 5, 1948. Dedicated on October 22, 1949 as Charles Johnston Gymnasium. Last basketball game played in gymnasium, February 25, 1989.
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Kelley Program in Historical Studies
The Kendrick K. Kelley Program in Historical Studies is Davidson’s unique honors program for history majors, and encompasses multiple components all designed to foster the study of history.
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Junior Year Abroad
A year of study in a foreign country, confronting the student with new combinations of old ideas and opening his intellect to the possibilities for the development of new ideas, is an invaluable adjunct to any college program.
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Junior Speaking
The Junior and Senior Speaking exercises grew out of commencement activities, when representatives of the two literary societies would present orations as part of the ceremonies.
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July Experience Diploma
July Experience Diploma
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July Experience
The program opened in the summer of 1976, with a first year enrollment of 45 students. By 1984, the program would have 88 students. Since its inception, the program has become highly regarded and inspired similar programs at other schools.
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Journey to Nicaragua
Since 1999, the Chaplain’s Office has co-sponsored a reverse-mission experience called the Journey to Nicaragua
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Johnston House
Built circa 1883. Acquired by College in 1961. Student
Housing, 1977-1987. Building remodeled for administrative offices in 1992.
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Johnston Gym Articles
Johnston Gym Articles
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Johnston Gym & Knobloch Campus Center
In 1949, R. Horace Johnston and his sister Rosa Johnston Stokes, Davidson class of 1911, gave a $100,000 gift to the college toward the completion of the new gym (Beaty 329). As a result, the new gym was named the Charles Worth Johnston Gymnasium, in honor of Horace Johnston’s father, who had passed away in July 1941.
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Jackson Court
Built in 1928. Court named in honor of F.L. Jackson in 1960 and
converted to residential and office use.
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ITS User Services Building
Both the College and community will use a new $55,000 post office being constructed
alongside old Carolina Inn on Main Street.
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Biology Department
In the 1800’s, Biology had little place at Davidson, although some lectures on botany and zoology were a part of the required geology course.
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Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award
At Fall Convocation, on Saturday, November 2, 1991, Dean of Faculty Robert Williams announced to the Davidson College Community that a teaching award had been created to honor a Davidson faculty member that displays “an exemplary love of teaching.”