As-soon as I stepped on i"*- =cw 1t-tl::ff a:i Dn lhmm
By CaleyAnderson Contributing Writer [email protected]
You may know Dr. Charlotte
Thomas as the philosophy professor or the Great Books
teacher at Mercer, but she was once here as a student - roamilg the campus. aftending
Greek mixers, ind questionin! her major just like us. Origi-
nally from St. Pete, Florida,
Dr. Thomas found Mercer and immediately felt a connection. From 1985 to 1989, she lived here as a student, and after
four years of living in Atlanta to complete graduate school at Emory University, she re-
turned as a professor in 1994. As a Mercer alumni and a current professor, Dr. Thomas has plenfy to share about Mercer, past and present.
Cluster: As
a student,
what
made you choose Mercer? Dr. Thomas: When I came to
Mercer,
it
was a bit different
than it is now. Around 35-4AVo of Mercer's student trodv was from Florida. When I was still living in Florida- my Sunday school teacheq Jean Kinlin who happened to be the first female to serve :rs SGA President at Mercer when she attended in the late 70s - looked ar me and said that I should go to Mercer. I had been accepted to several
Grcat Books tnack- I was in the
third group of students ever to go through Great Books at Mercer. In my first Great Books class, my professor was Mike Cass. He was one of those people who did and said whatever came to his mind. If students ever began relying on him too much for conversa-
tion in class, he would actually sit under the table to get th-e students to talk to each other.
When I was in that class, it was like I could see light coming out of the book when he opened it - you could feel the power of the book. Ir felt like real and important things were Cluster: How did you decide the major you wanted to pur-
sation that Kirby Godsey was misappropriating funds. After this, his image of the hero of academic freedom changed a bit. In fact, Mercer staff mem-
nior year.
him. So, I had a lot to cover
Mereer ar this iime, but sincE was on the way. I wanted to stop by and check it out aeain. As-soon as I stepped on i"*pus, it just felt lilie home to
it
me.
Cluster: Where did vou lir-e while you
\A-ere at
lfercer.l
Dr. Thomas: I lir-ed in a corner room of Porter's third floor for
my first [s-o re€rs at \Iercer.
pq aft- conditisning in 169 building *-heo I tived there. so u-e he"'{ a lnse bor fan sining in tfre *,indov,-- I cea't remember &e t€et er-er being a prL"'h+em- ritts$gh Ir migbr be ha;a$ir se difu't start schooi There
r*-a_.
about philosophy, until several
fessors recommended thtt I talk to Tom Trimble, who was in charge of the philosophy department. So I had to overload on classes, but on tlme.
I still graduated
Cluster: While here as a student, were you involved in any
Mercer organizations, such ai Greek life. religious organizaDr. Thomas: Oh 1es. I pledged Phi Mu as a sophomore. seried as Chief Justice of the Honor
pus religious group called the Glad River Congregation. This group was created in the 60s by professors who had become unhappy witli con._vEitionul i.ligion. There weren't a iot of people rvho attended reguiariy,
but a good number of thoie
*'ho did were some of the best professors \lercer has seen, including Dr. Trimble.
I
have
had the .nique opporhtnity of
learning from some of these great professors as a student and then as a fellow teacher.
Apprenticing under
these
people helped me become the teacher I am today. Cluster: Do you have any interesting Mercer lVlemories to
share?
Dr. Thomas: My time at Mer-
a student was a very eventful time campus-wide. Fustlr. rhe Georgia Baptist Lco\lnnon e-ame dori'n hard cn \trei-;er. and then-current kesi&.r K1x.L'r' Go3.er de-
milud g !fum, mtl mnc tr{P lqlmrffii4rr{mft$ dilsTl
lryS:c" !:rL-E &:-f,. I :::eiid ]b. GBC a luir:---:;
cetr as
:=.H' \!--='s *-j:=;:
as
News Editor. Cluster: How does coming to Mercer every day as a professor differ from doing so as a
of my general education pro-
unc Segmbea Ci=w Do yo., have a faTcre ptdesssrw s€ry abo{rt a pr:essor 1t-tl::ff a:i r f,EfiEef - N=cwmrnre =-ic=e :[eru. m h&:ym. r ;rrn**sgcni
Dn lhmm *ten ri.g l
bers marched in protest against
I didn't really think
During this time, we stayed at the Alumni house, went to the Rookery, and had dinner with lege tour all around the Southeast. We didn't plan on visiting
moit
outrageous scandal of this time, however, was the accu-
Dr. Thomas: I came here with no idea what my major would be. At first, I thought I might be a math or computer science major, but I changed my mind quite a bit. I didn't even take a philosophy class until my ju-
Council and s'as Neq's Editor of The Cluster duri_ng m-vtime as an undergrad- I x-as also invoh-ed in an on-cam-
the Registrar. I-ater in the year,
preciate this. Possibly the
sue?
tlons or campus leadership?
I went with my mom on a col-
nation, featuring racy photos of-Mercer students'partying.' Of course the GBC did not ap-
happening.
other colleges, including Cornell and Vanderbilt, but lwanted to check Mercer out. Jean
Kinlin drove me up for the weekend to tour the cAmpus. I felt an instant coutection.
announced Mercer University as the #9 party school in the
student?
Dr. Thomas: Since I was a
philosophy major and now I'm a philosophy professor, I go down the same halls I did aJ a student - therefore it seems familiar. But I've gotren into my routine as a teacher here, so i don't think about it very often. If any friends from my days as a student visit me, that's q'hen
I really start to remember.
Cluster: Is there an\1hins that has drasricailr oh*e.i on }{ercer's g"*pui si,nce 1:ou -eraduated:.
Dr. Thomas: Or-eraIL
I'd
sav
the student body is smarrei
with more ambition. It's developed into a really wonderful place - it's better. The campus itself is even more beautiful. I am still nostaigic for my mentors and the spirit they brought to this place. My professors were very serious about education, but fun and playful, too. They balanced a focus on ethics, faith and excellence wiJh a
mindset that was not so inter-
in professionalism and bureaucracy. We may have lost ested a
I
little of that as a faculty. But think today's students will
certainly be more prepared to work in the professional
world. Cluster: Did you always plan to work at Mercer? Dr. Thomas: I went to grad school wanting to teach somewhere like Mercer. Actually, I *'as the first person to be hired in the \{ercer Philosophy De-
paitnent in l0+ vears. and the [-] lr --'114i e\ er to be hued ia :-e
r:-.:--r--
I h-:
e: J-ri
You may know Dr. Charlotte
Thomas as the philosophy professor or the Great Books
teacher at Mercer, but she was once here as a student - roamilg the campus. aftending
Greek mixers, ind questionin! her major just like us. Origi-
nally from St. Pete, Florida,
Dr. Thomas found Mercer and immediately felt a connection. From 1985 to 1989, she lived here as a student, and after
four years of living in Atlanta to complete graduate school at Emory University, she re-
turned as a professor in 1994. As a Mercer alumni and a current professor, Dr. Thomas has plenfy to share about Mercer, past and present.
Cluster: As
a student,
what
made you choose Mercer? Dr. Thomas: When I came to
Mercer,
it
was a bit different
than it is now. Around 35-4AVo of Mercer's student trodv was from Florida. When I was still living in Florida- my Sunday school teacheq Jean Kinlin who happened to be the first female to serve :rs SGA President at Mercer when she attended in the late 70s - looked ar me and said that I should go to Mercer. I had been accepted to several
Grcat Books tnack- I was in the
third group of students ever to go through Great Books at Mercer. In my first Great Books class, my professor was Mike Cass. He was one of those people who did and said whatever came to his mind. If students ever began relying on him too much for conversa-
tion in class, he would actually sit under the table to get th-e students to talk to each other.
When I was in that class, it was like I could see light coming out of the book when he opened it - you could feel the power of the book. Ir felt like real and important things were Cluster: How did you decide the major you wanted to pur-
sation that Kirby Godsey was misappropriating funds. After this, his image of the hero of academic freedom changed a bit. In fact, Mercer staff mem-
nior year.
him. So, I had a lot to cover
Mereer ar this iime, but sincE was on the way. I wanted to stop by and check it out aeain. As-soon as I stepped on i"*pus, it just felt lilie home to
it
me.
Cluster: Where did vou lir-e while you
\A-ere at
lfercer.l
Dr. Thomas: I lir-ed in a corner room of Porter's third floor for
my first [s-o re€rs at \Iercer.
pq aft- conditisning in 169 building *-heo I tived there. so u-e he"'{ a lnse bor fan sining in tfre *,indov,-- I cea't remember &e t€et er-er being a prL"'h+em- ritts$gh Ir migbr be ha;a$ir se difu't start schooi There
r*-a_.
about philosophy, until several
fessors recommended thtt I talk to Tom Trimble, who was in charge of the philosophy department. So I had to overload on classes, but on tlme.
I still graduated
Cluster: While here as a student, were you involved in any
Mercer organizations, such ai Greek life. religious organizaDr. Thomas: Oh 1es. I pledged Phi Mu as a sophomore. seried as Chief Justice of the Honor
pus religious group called the Glad River Congregation. This group was created in the 60s by professors who had become unhappy witli con._vEitionul i.ligion. There weren't a iot of people rvho attended reguiariy,
but a good number of thoie
*'ho did were some of the best professors \lercer has seen, including Dr. Trimble.
I
have
had the .nique opporhtnity of
learning from some of these great professors as a student and then as a fellow teacher.
Apprenticing under
these
people helped me become the teacher I am today. Cluster: Do you have any interesting Mercer lVlemories to
share?
Dr. Thomas: My time at Mer-
a student was a very eventful time campus-wide. Fustlr. rhe Georgia Baptist Lco\lnnon e-ame dori'n hard cn \trei-;er. and then-current kesi&.r K1x.L'r' Go3.er de-
milud g !fum, mtl mnc tr{P lqlmrffii4rr{mft$ dilsTl
lryS:c" !:rL-E &:-f,. I :::eiid ]b. GBC a luir:---:;
cetr as
:=.H' \!--='s *-j:=;:
as
News Editor. Cluster: How does coming to Mercer every day as a professor differ from doing so as a
of my general education pro-
unc Segmbea Ci=w Do yo., have a faTcre ptdesssrw s€ry abo{rt a pr:essor 1t-tl::ff a:i r f,EfiEef - N=cwmrnre =-ic=e :[eru. m h&:ym. r ;rrn**sgcni
Dn lhmm *ten ri.g l
bers marched in protest against
I didn't really think
During this time, we stayed at the Alumni house, went to the Rookery, and had dinner with lege tour all around the Southeast. We didn't plan on visiting
moit
outrageous scandal of this time, however, was the accu-
Dr. Thomas: I came here with no idea what my major would be. At first, I thought I might be a math or computer science major, but I changed my mind quite a bit. I didn't even take a philosophy class until my ju-
Council and s'as Neq's Editor of The Cluster duri_ng m-vtime as an undergrad- I x-as also invoh-ed in an on-cam-
the Registrar. I-ater in the year,
preciate this. Possibly the
sue?
tlons or campus leadership?
I went with my mom on a col-
nation, featuring racy photos of-Mercer students'partying.' Of course the GBC did not ap-
happening.
other colleges, including Cornell and Vanderbilt, but lwanted to check Mercer out. Jean
Kinlin drove me up for the weekend to tour the cAmpus. I felt an instant coutection.
announced Mercer University as the #9 party school in the
student?
Dr. Thomas: Since I was a
philosophy major and now I'm a philosophy professor, I go down the same halls I did aJ a student - therefore it seems familiar. But I've gotren into my routine as a teacher here, so i don't think about it very often. If any friends from my days as a student visit me, that's q'hen
I really start to remember.
Cluster: Is there an\1hins that has drasricailr oh*e.i on }{ercer's g"*pui si,nce 1:ou -eraduated:.
Dr. Thomas: Or-eraIL
I'd
sav
the student body is smarrei
with more ambition. It's developed into a really wonderful place - it's better. The campus itself is even more beautiful. I am still nostaigic for my mentors and the spirit they brought to this place. My professors were very serious about education, but fun and playful, too. They balanced a focus on ethics, faith and excellence wiJh a
mindset that was not so inter-
in professionalism and bureaucracy. We may have lost ested a
I
little of that as a faculty. But think today's students will
certainly be more prepared to work in the professional
world. Cluster: Did you always plan to work at Mercer? Dr. Thomas: I went to grad school wanting to teach somewhere like Mercer. Actually, I *'as the first person to be hired in the \{ercer Philosophy De-
paitnent in l0+ vears. and the [-] lr --'114i e\ er to be hued ia :-e
r:-.:--r--
I h-:
e: J-ri
