Mohney: Competition helps groups to improve

Recently, I wrote an article about the installation of A. Lee Burns III as new headmaster of the McCallie School. Early in the day that the article appeared in the newspaper, I received the first of many similar calls. In fact, I hadn't even had my first sip of coffee when the first call came. It was a man's voice. He complimented me on the column, and then the question: "When will you give equal time to Baylor?"

I explained that I had already set up an interview with Scott Wilson, Baylor's headmaster and I was planning the column for late October. As other calls came, I realized that competition can be healthy because it helps both groups to strive for excellence.

Of course, it's not hard for me to write about the Baylor School since I'm the mother and grandmother of Baylor graduates. I still feel a sense of excitement when I walk across the beautiful 35-acre campus on the banks of the Tennessee River.

This year, Baylor celebrates 100 years of being on the present campus. I asked Wilson, "What's the most important event that has happened since you were a student here?" Without hesitation, he replied, "the admission of girls in 1985."

Ironically, he was opposed at first to the whole idea. Incredulous, I asked "Why?" He explained that his years at Baylor were so happy, he didn't want anything to change.

The wise headmaster at the time, Herb Barks, put Wilson in charge of the admission of girls, and Wilson soon saw the wisdom of the decision. Only 41 girls enrolled the first year; the student body numbered 500. Today, there are 1,030 students at Baylor, and exactly one-half are girls.

My last question to Wilson was, "What is your vision for the future?" His reply was quick and heartfelt: "That every student may leave as a whole person -- physically, mentally, spiritually -- and that each will make a positive difference for good in our world."

Contact Nell Mohney at nellwmohney@comcast.net.

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