(Sep 11, 1903 - Nov 13, 2001) The fifth president of Emmanuel College was W. G. Drum, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Drum on Newton, North Carolina. Born on September 11, 1903, he attended Ball's Creek Consolidated School in Catawba County. After several years of schooling, he heard about Franklin Springs Institute, and in 1923 at the age of 20 he came to Franklin Springs to enter the tenth grade. On the very first day at school he was converted and put his life in God's hands. During the two years he was enrolled, he sat under the teaching of G. F. Taylor and worked on the college building project pouring concrete. He was one of the five graduates of 1925.

From Franklin Springs Woodard Drum moved to Wilmore, Kentucky, where he spent three years studying at Asbury College and graduated with the A. B. degree in Biology. He then returned to his native North Carolina and accepted the position of principal of the MacPelah Grammar School in Lincoln County. After a year he transferred to Sherrill's Ford High School for two years, where he taught science courses and then taught science for a year at Ball's Creek Consolidated School, where his own education had begun. The next year (1933) he was promoted to Superintendent of the Sherrill's Ford District where he served three years with distinction.

W. G. Drum's accomplishments in education reached T. L. Aaron, the new president of Franklin Springs Institute, and in 1935 Aaron made one of the wisest decisions of his life; he invited W. G. Drum to join the staff as principal of the high school. Then Drum made a farreaching decision. He had already been rehired for the 1935-36 year at Sherrill's Ford School, so he wrote Aaron to explain why he couldn't come. Aaron and one of the faculty members, W. J. Nash, then traveled to North Carolina to convince Drum he should come. Still wavering in his decision, with the local school board refusing to let him out of his contract, he drove to Franklin Springs to explain to President Aaron why he could not make arrangements to join the staff. However, as he has stated many times, when he arrived on the campus something (or Someone) told him he was to stay. And he did.

Mr. Drum had a number of jobs in those early years-teaching, supervising boys, and working the farm. In 1939 he became the first Dean of Emmanuel College assisting President Aaron in many capacities. For ten years he continued in this supporting role through the expansion of the school, until in August of 1949 when T. L. Aaron was stricken with a heart attack. All of a sudden W. G. Drum was called upon to pick up the mantle just as "acting president" in 1950 and then, upon Aaron's death in 1951, he was named president. The school was fortunate to have a man of his experience and character at that time.

Having already served the college with distinction for 16 years, W. G. Drum was to accomplish much more in the next 19 years as president. The list is impressive indeed. One of his main goals was to see the high school and college fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A second goal was to continue developing the physical plant and campus, and yet a third goal was to achieve more active participation from alumni and church constituencies. All these were realized. With the able assistance of his wife, the former Louise Sisk, he vigorously moved the school forward.

To move toward full accreditation, in the 1950's faculty members like John W. Swails, Harold Paul, and C. Y. Melton were added. To build the library resources Dorothy Poteat joined the staff along with Myrtle Fleming who developed the science curriculum. Later Beatrice Coley provided leadership in the area of English and drama. Under the guidance also of Ruth Tew, principal of the academy, in 1958 the high school received full accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The accomplishment of accreditation by the high school was followed for the next nine years by similar focus on the two-year college program as President Drum was ably assisted by C. Y. Melton who by now had earned a doctorate. The culmination of many years of hard work was the granting of full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and School in 1967.

W. G. Drum set out to continue the expansion of the campus. In 1953 a new, large wing of was added to the girls' dormitory to greatly improve the appearance and capacity of Jackson Hall. Valuable property bordering on U. S. Highway 29 was purchased in 1953, and steps were taken to beautify the entrance to the campus. A new water and filtering system was put into operation in 1954, solving some long standing problems in this area. In 1958 Wellons Hall, a men's dormitory, was added to provide additional housing. ln 1962 three duplex houses for faculty were constructed near the campus, and in 1963 the "gymtorium" was completed. This gymnasium/auditorium had been an open-air structure doubling as a "tabernacle" for the Georgia Conference and a basketball court for students during the school year. Initially constructed by the conference, was donated to the college with the understanding that it could continue to be used for camp meetings during the summer. The shell of a building was enclosed and a student center wing added under the leadership of Charles Bradshaw, a former student who later was to become Administrator of Advocate Press and Chairman of the Emmanuel College Board of Education.

During President Drum's administration, ivolvement from laymen increased, the Woman's Auxiliary of the Pentecostal Holiness Church began the "Feast of Ingathering," and an outstanding faculty was recruited. Upon his retirement in 1970, Mr. Drum as President Emeritus continued his enthusiastic support of the college up until his ascension in November of 2001. His life was indeed an example for future generations to follow.

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