“Nothing Like it in the World”
by W.G. Nelson
My title is borrowed from historian Stephen Ambrose’s most recent book, Nothing Like it in the World. Ambrose has visited our campus as to deliver one of the first Distinguished Scholar lectures and is fondly remembered by many of our senior faculty. The author of more than 20 books, he has been attracted to epic struggles in U.S. history: Western Settlement, The Civil War, World War II, and the Cold War leadership which followed it.
Nothing
Like it in the World is a saga of the building of
the first North American transcontinental railroad, an ambitious undertaking
at a critical juncture in U.S. History. It was begun in 1863 in the midst
of the worst threat this young nation had faced, the Civil War at a time when
the conflict’s outcome was anything but certain. Its foremost backer
was Abraham Lincoln, widely considered by contemporary historians to be the
greatest of American Presidents, but probably one of the most detested national
leader in our history. There were many plots to take his life before John
Wilkes Booth succeeded in April of 1865. The project was an uncertain enterprise
that was threatened not only by the loss of this influential friend but by
internal companies, financial failure, and government scandal of unprecedented
proportions. It is a fascinating chronicle of a success that came out of many
failures, personal, corporate and national, to become a great blessing and
lifeline to this fragile continental nation.
To say of anything that there is Nothing Like it in the World is a bit of a boast even if one is talking about this great construction project. Claims of superiority are bound to be the fodder for energetic debate. Such discussions are usually irresolvable.
I remember hearing similar claims by Northwesterners some years ago. I am a Southwesterner by birth and was a Westerner by residence as I grew up. I had since lived in most other sections of the country by virtue of occupational call and preference. Often I would hear these advocates of the Northwest speak in superlative terms suggesting that “There is no place like it in the world.” I was quietly tolerant though cynical and would occasionally challenge this assertion. One such conversation with a friend ended when he reminded me that he had lived in the same places I esteemed and the Northwest and that I had not lived here so I was not in a position to disagree.
I was further amazed to find some of those same Northwesterners who were graduates of Walla Walla College making the claim that there was “No place like Walla Walla College.” I thought at first that these people were deluded. I later concluded that there was an ironic accuracy to their observation because I had looked at the map to find College Place. I could find Walla Walla but not College Place. There really wasn’t any place like it in the word because it apparently didn’t exist in the view of the cartographers.
Life is full of paradoxes because some years later my wife and I were contacted about coming to, of all places, Walla Walla College in College Place, WA. By this time I had gotten a more detailed map and had even visited the campus once for a brief hour so I had confirmed its existence.
My initial impressions of this campus still stand out in my mind. It had a much older physical plant than I had imagined. And while it was in a beautiful setting and had some new facilities under construction the unmistakable marks of time and use were apparent in many of its buildings. I was taken with the vitality of the students, faculty and staff, with the understated excellence of the academic program, and with the depth of alumni loyalty. As I discussed the need for physical facility renewal with my colleagues it was apparent that our program was better than structures which housed them. And perhaps that is how it always should be even as we prepare for renewal.
The results of a government mandated facility seismic fitness analysis in 1995 made it clear that some of the worst campus structural problems were with our historic Administration Building. Further studies were done and we then started brainstorming with various groups to determine what would be the most prudent path to follow as we looked to provide for present and future needs on this campus.
We reluctantly concluded that it would be best not to attempt to renovate the Ad Building. Replacement seemed preferable because its structural problems were so extensive. We shared this analysis with many groups by way of developing consensus and proceeded to the point of preliminary planning and fundraising for a capital campaign that would make a new Ad Building a focal point.
We further determined that if we were to replace this historic structure that we should do it in a way that would tie the old to the new. And we would try to recreate the look of the present building by making the new building evocative of the old, even down to its four, er three front columns.
I still remember the moment that I realized that there are three and no four columns. I had been here on campus several years when it was pointed out to me. I couldn’t believe that I could have overlooked that fact. And I was not the only one, for when we discussed our plans for the facilities with alumni groups I would frequently ask those present how many columns the present Ad Building porch had. There was always an extended silence before someone ventured an answer which was often wrong. I would also ask if anyone knew why there were three. At one of these meetings one alumnus volunteered that he was sure that it was a tribute to the trinity, one column for each remember of the Godhead.
While that was a throwaway comment it has remained with me ever since. Everyday as I enter and leave the building I am visible reminded by the three columns that this is God’s college. And this association reminds me of the 127th Psalm’s assertion that “Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain.”
Is there any doubt that this house, this Administration Building, which had graced our campus from its inception in 1892 was erected by men and women who were inspired by the Lord of the universe. Who would have predicted a bountiful future was ahead when G.C. President Olson suggested that “the only thing now to do is to go ahead and make success out of the failure that was the attempt to found WWC to that point? And who know what good could come of the efforts of UC Conference President Henry William Decker whose advocacy of the college’s founding was in part responsible for causing him to lose his job several months before the college opened. And who knew what blessing would accrue from the gift of 40 acres of orchard property from local physician and Whitman College trustee, Dr. Nelson G. Blalock. And the speculation could go on and on.
“Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain.”
This house and the college it has sheltered have not been built in vain. Six generations of young women and men have walked through its columns and on out into the word to bless both the church and society. And while we had hoped that the Lord would have come ere this we continue to be true to the original vision that inspired this bold venture. So we have come together today to celebrate this old building and to look forward to a new one which can help us keep our faith in the original vision.
I have become a believer where I was once a cynic. Walla Walla College is a place not built in vain. Walla Walla College is a place redolent with the presence of the Lord. Walla Walla College is a place like nowhere else in the world. And may it always have an Administration Building with a three column porch. W