Summer - Lee University

OPENING THOUGHTSFrom President Paul ConnDepartments12 Campus News23 Faculty Facts24 Athletics30 Torch Travels30 Who's WhereCleveland Mayor Tom Rowland, right, andLee education professor and ClevelandCity Councilman Bill Estes, watch as thefirst of three Billy Graham Ave. signs aremounted by City employee Tim Presley.Billy Graham AvenueVisitors to our campus will soon see a new and unfamiliarstreet sign along Ocoee Street. “Billy Graham Avenue” now marksthe northern boundary of our campus.The new street name replaces “15th Street” for two blocks—that’s the stretch that runs from the Beach Science Buildingparking lot on Ocoee eastward to Parker Street.The Cleveland City Council, at the urging of Mayor TomRowland, voted in a unanimous 7-0 action to rename the streetearly this spring, as a way of honoring the legendary Baptist ministerand recognizing his connection to the Cleveland community.As most Lee alumni already know, Graham lived on OcoeeStreet when he was a freshman at Bob Jones College. He was askinny North Carolina farm boy, just beginning a ministry whichwould eventually make him one of the most universally admiredpersonalities of the Twentieth Century.In that year in Cleveland, Graham lived in the men’s dormitorywhich we now call Medlin Hall. He worked in downtown Clevelandselling shoes at the J.C. Penney store, and his walks back andforth from Medlin Hall to downtown Cleveland were probably littledifferent from the experience of thousands of Lee students since1947, when Lee College bought the campus from Bob Jones.Graham is said to have preached his first sermonin a small church in Bradley County as a student thatyear. He decided early that Bob Jones College wasnot a good fit for him; he was uncomfortable withits narrow brand of fundamentalism, and transferredaway after one semester. This decision foreshadowedthe "big tent" brand of evangelism which would laterbecome a Billy Graham trademark, a welcoming andinclusive style of preaching which brought millions ofnew believers into the Kingdom over the next halfcentury.For many decades, young Lee College/Universityministerial students have wondered exactly whichroom in Medlin Hall was home to the famous evangelist.Billy Graham slept here, but where, exactly?I have been asked the question many times, but wecan find no record of Graham's room assignment.Lee University is proud of our connection, howeverscant, with an individual who embodies so manyof the qualities we regard as important. When MayorRowland asked for our support for his initiative to gain officialrecognition of "Billy Graham Avenue" from the Graham Association,we readily agreed. Such permission is not often given by thatorganization, and now that it is done, we feel that Cleveland,even more than Graham himself, is honored by the new name.