Gathered at the top of the tower of the Godsey Administration Building following Founder’s Day 2008 are, left to right: front row, Tom and Julie McAfee, Julie Hodges, Cara Burgess and Doug Pearson; back row, Steven Stinchcomb, Ferrol Sams, Sam Oni, Eva Walton and Chris Dubberly.
Spires and Towers
Dr. Ferrol Sams Jr. still remembers the fragileness of the ladder that he climbed to reach the tower in the Administration Building in the early 1940s. There have been a good bit of improvements in the ladder since the early 1940s, but the feeling of climbing the tallest spire, scribbling your name on the walls, and looking down at Mercer’s campus is still special to Mercerians.
When Dr. Sams, a 1942 Mercer graduate, last climbed the tower in 2008, as part of his visit to campus to speak at Mercer Founder’s Day, he was still moved — albeit winded — by the experience.
“It was beautiful up there,” the Whisper of the River author said. “The wood on that ladder seemed a hundred years old, but it was a beautiful view.”
Beth White, a 2008 graduate, does not quite remember where she signed her name during her tower climb as a freshman, but she does remember the impact of the experience.
“I really enjoyed looking down on the entire campus,” said White, who is currently attending Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law. “My mom attended Mercer in the 1970s and did not get to go to the tower. A big part of enjoying it was because of reading Whisper of the River.”
Sam Oni, the first black student to attend Mercer, signs his
autograph on the tower following the 2008 Founder’s
Day program.
The book, published in 1984, tells the story of a young man, Porter “Sambo” Osborn Jr., while he attends Willingham University. The story, based on Sams’ tenure at Mercer, is fiction based on “mostly facts,” Dr. Sams said with a smile.
“I would not have changed the name of the university in the book,” said Dr. Sams, who admits the recognition by Mercer has meant the world to him. “Heck, I thought I was going to get sued by Mercer.”
Today, each fall, part of freshman orientation includes a trek up a combination of ladders, spiral staircases, and wooden stairs to reach the tower overlooking campus. Students write their names, graduating years, and sometimes favorite messages anywhere from the first stairwell to the actual tower.
For Dr. Sams, who is surprised that the tower trip has become a tradition, believes it is a fitting part of the Mercer experience.
“That whole book is the story of how an ignorant, innocent young boy can go to Mercer and come out four years later a changed person, almost a man,” Dr. Sams said. “Mercer is the hero of the book.”
Mercer Traditions by contributing writer Gerry Ford