“For now over 75 years, The Baylor Line has been publishing vivid storytelling from across the Baylor Family. I don’t think our archives full of deep, inspirational features should live solely on shelves, so we are bringing them back to life in BL Classics. This 1969 Classic article reflects on the career of Dean W.C. Perry, his numerous and substantial contributions to Baylor University, and the positive impression that he not only left on the student body — but also the impact working with Baylor students left with him.
From the office that involves feeding, housing and disciplining Baylor students, Willie Clayborne Perry has watched the changes that twenty-seven years can bring.
He figures that during that time his office must have come in contact with more than 50,000 students and their parents. Many students say he is the first person they met at Baylor.
The changes have left their mark on him, on the students and on the entire university. When he retires next June 1, Perry will take with him memories of nearly three decades of student life.
He came to Baylor in August, 1952, as Dean of Men, became Dean of Students in 1962 and Vice President for Student Affairs in 1968. His duties have included overseeing the residence halls, food service, parking, the heath center, post office, telephones, rental property, the Student Union Building and AFROTC.
His manner belies the authority and responsibilities he has had. He seems more like someone’s grandfather — a little gruff, a little set in his ways and concerned about his brood.
He also has a wealth of stories about student life at Baylor. He discusses now with some regret strict policies followed by the university until students demanded their rights. He talks with humor and aggravation about pranks that plagued his work — particularly in the early days. He predicts housing trends at Baylor.
Perry came to the university with experience as a public educator. He had spent ten years as principal for Iredell Public Schools, plus a total of twelve years as superintendent of Walnut Springs and Meridian Public Schools. He was working on his doctorate and wanted to be near a library.
The early years as Dean of Men were not good years, he said. “For the first few years I felt without question that I had gotten into the wrong place. I felt like I had to get out.”
During those days, discipline was a major part of his job. He described the task as none too easy, with one or more serious problems cropping up daily, compared with only one or two serious problems monthly now. He was often called to the campus at night to handle problems, and far more students were dismissed from the university than are today.
These were the years of the pranks — from the harmless to the more serious. The Waco Creek bridge was being destroyed about once a year, one of the most annoying of the pranks. And he recalls that three “preacher boys” put a boy in the trunk of an old Chevy coupe and hung his arm out, with his white shirt sleeve covered with catsup. Calls poured in to the police, who were soon out looking for a dead body in a trunk.
Perry explained the evolution of what could be called “second chance discipline” and said he has softened as he has gotten older. From the one some might have called “Dean of Mean,” he has become someone very concerned about giving people a fair, if not easy, shake.
Student Congress was organized about the time he came to Baylor, making the beginning of a big change. “Up to that time, students were to be seen and not heard,” he said.
The student government proved helpful, paving the way for more changes. “We’ve learned; we’ve both benefitted by it. The administration has learned it’s good to listen to students. The students have learned they get more done by working with the administration,” he said.
“In every case where we have given them more responsibility, they’ve accepted it very well; and it has made for a better university,” he said.
Perry is not afraid to talk of the mistakes of the past and his regrets about some of the university’s past actions.
He is proud of Baylor’s present disciplinary committee plan, which gives students a chance for a hearing. Students appear before a group of their peers, professors and an administrator and respond to written charges.
Perry, chairman of most such hearings, said from six to twelve are held annually, resulting in from three to eight people being sent home every year. Drug problems, mostly use of marijuana, are the most frequent issues at the hearings — more than all other problems put together. Still, he thinks Baylor’s drug problem is minor compared to the situation at other schools.
Perry emphasizes that the university likes to handle its own disciplinary problems. Some students are sent home; others are asked to notify their parents of the trouble they are in, but are not asked to leave.
If police were called in to handle the cases, the students would be faced with tremendous expense and have criminal records in the future, Perry said. He does not think it is right for students to be “branded for life” for “one small mistake.” He said Baylor’s reputation may enter into the school’s desire to handle its own problem, but he stressed the importance of the other factors.
He is not proud of the time, before such student hearings, when students were called in before the dean of men or women, and “we just gave them their trip home — C.O.D.”
As an example, he told a story about a “little freshman girl” from a South Texas town. The girl went to a brithday party and “came in and she couldn’t walk straight.
“Her daddy was called to come and get her and bring her home without any recourse, without any hearing, without any consideration.
“That was a mistake on our part. We did not try to work with the girl. We just sent her home. This is not the way we handle things today.”
Such strict policy resulted in the problems of the late ’60s, when students rebelled, Perry said.
“We were in a rut. ‘You do this or else— we’ll send you home without any choice,’ ” he said.
“Then we went too far out on a limb, and the students challenged us. Some of our strict measures caused them to rise up against us.”
Although Baylor did not experience as serious a problem during the ’60s with student rebellion as some other campuses, the problems did leave their mark.
“This caused us to reorganize, replan, redo all our rules and regulations. We wrote the Student Rights and Responsibilities Act.”
The unrest of the late ’60s brought about a reevaluation of policy and a Student Rights and Responsibilities Act
At the time of student unrest, some university administrators thought perhaps as many as fifty percent of the students were involved, according to Perry, but the group actually numbered less than ten percent.
“The people who were objecting and fighting were so loud that they seemed a much larger group,” he said.
Such student unrest probably was partly due to natural evolution and partly a reflection of things going on over the country, he said. However, he was quick to admit the university shared the blame. “We brought part of this upon ourselves by not being more considerate of the students.”
To work with students now, Perry has an open-door policy, coupled with consideration.
“I believe if we’re going to take on a position of responsibility we should be kind and considerate to all students and assist all of them. We like to keep the door of our office open without appointments — students can come in to see us any time during the day and call us any time, day or night.”
A growing problem that confronts him is the lack of housing as Baylor’s population grows. The question of housing brings new students to his office the first time and may very well bring them back again.
Since residence halls are so expensive to build, it is more and more likely that the university will continue utilizing the efforts of private companies, which have built numerous apartment complexes near the campus, he said.
The day may come when all upperclassmen will live off campus, he said. The best solution he thinks would be to offer all freshmen the space to live on campus and then allocate the rooms to others if the freshmen choose not to live in the dorms.
With an increasing number of students living off campus, Baylor’s regulations have changed from the days when the university wanted everyone in the dorms. It was difficult for Baylor administrators to realize that younger students could live off campus and do well, Perry said.
A reverse trend has appeared with increased campus dining, even though more people are moving to apartments. As food becomes more expensive everywhere else, students decide they want to board, he said. He also credits the improvement of dining facilities, citing massive remodeling at Penland.
Changes have occurred in the students themselves — changes for the better, Perry thinks. Today’s students are content to be “old, common Joes, without putting on airs,” he says. “They are sensitive to the needs of others. Ten to fifteeen years ago, the story was that God was dead, and now students don’t mind saying, I’m a Christian. Students are more bold.”
Parents change, too, from the days when they were in college. Whereas they might have complained about the conservativeness of Baylor as students, in latter years they are pleased about it. They express their appreciation to Perry for things he did when they were in school and urge him to do the same with their children.
However, the man who is now working with the children of students he helped when he first came to Baylor will soon step down. He seems determined not to make a nuisance of himself, although he is quick to add he will be around if he is needed.
“When I retire, I want to retire.” He does not want someone “wishing that old guy would get out of their way.” Perry is ready for retirement, knowing Dr. A. A. Hyden has been trained to succeed him.
The change will be a big one for him. Baylor has been his life. He estimates that he has lost fifty weeks of vacation during his time at Baylor because he could not get away to take it. Only once or twice has he taken the three weeks he is allowed, especially since the housing situation has become critical during the summertime.
After retirement, he will work with his son Bob, who has a Houston building firm. Perry and his wife, Oretta, will spend some time travelling, getting ideas for homes.
He said he has enjoyed building since he was young. His hobby is making things from scrap lumber, and his office contains pictures he has framed with old wood from Old Main and Baylor Stadium.
His love of building is reflected at Baylor. He helped plan eight of the buildings on campus.
In addition to signs of his hobby around his office, various plaques, certificates and diplomas dot the room. Almost unnoticed, sitting back on a bookshelf, is the diploma marking receipt of his doctorate from Baylor in 1956. The location seems characteristic of a man who has been “Dean Perry” for so many years, instead of going by the more formal title of “Doctor.” He said he had never felt it necessary “to blow off” about having the degree and has never felt cocky on the job. It is apparent that even now, close to the end, he still does not. However, the job has been good.
“I did not plan to stay. I planned to go back to public schools. But I got here and after three or four years I began to like the work. You know, young people will make you a little bit younger if you deal with them day by day.” As Perry speaks of his tenure at Baylor, he chooses his words slowly, and he speaks with feeling.
“I realized I was dealing with the finest people in the world. I know that Baylor students come from the choice, select homes in the country— Christian homes. And you can’t find a better group of parents than the fathers and mothers of Baylor students.”
