GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
H	1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1465
     

 
Sponsors:	Representatives Baddour;  Bell, Creech, Russell, and Tucker.	
Referred to:	Rules suspended, passed 2nd & 3rd readings.	
September 17, 2001

     
A JOINT RESOLUTION HONORING THE MEMORY OF THE REVEREND DAVID WELLS HANSLEY, A FOUNDER OF MOUNT OLIVE COLLEGE, THE ONLY CHARTERED AND ACCREDITED COLLEGE IN NORTH CAROLINA SPONSORED BY THE NORTH CAROLINA CONVENTION OF ORIGINAL FREE WILL BAPTISTS, ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING.

Whereas, David Wells Hansley was born December 21, 1909, at Folkstone, in Onslow County, North Carolina, to David Cicero and Sunie Avie Heath Hansley, the grandson of Jesse Heath, a Free Will Baptist minister, and of John Hansley, Jr., a Primitive Baptist minister; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley attended the Turkey Creek School and Dixon High School in Onslow County and later sought higher education as he became a licensed minister in the Free Will Baptist denomination on August 3, 1930, at the age of 21; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley was ordained in 1932 and was married in 1933 in the Edgemont Free Will Baptist Church parsonage to Mary Elizabeth Clements of Durham, who would spend many years teaching in North Carolina's public schools and providing for the education of youth in her church; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley dedicated himself to the work of his church, ultimately serving 37 Free Will Baptist churches in 15 North Carolina counties from 1931 to 1988, including Wake, Durham, Franklin, Orange, Johnston, Sampson, Pitt, Wilson, Greene, Wayne, Lenoir, Onslow, Craven, Carteret, and Tyrrell Counties; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley was elected in September 1949 to serve as chairman and treasurer of the Board of Christian Education of the North Carolina Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, the third-oldest religious body in the State; and
Whereas, on September 12, 1951, David W. Hansley presented on behalf of the Board of Christian Education (including the Reverend S. A. Smith of Beulaville, the Reverend R. H. Jackson of Carteret County, and D. B. Sasser of Wilson) to that convention, meeting at White Oak Church in Bladenboro, a resolution to establish and sponsor an institution of Christian higher education in North Carolina and won the adoption of that resolution; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley provided leadership in securing a charter on behalf of that convention and its Board of Christian Education from Secretary of State Thad Eure on November 27, 1951; and
Whereas, originally known as Mount Allen Junior College, the institution opened in 1952 and operated for its first year at Cragmont Assembly, near Black Mountain, under the direction of President Lloyd Vernon; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley was elected the chairman of the college's first Board of Trustees in September 1953 when the college was relocated to the Town of Mount Olive, in Wayne County, nearer to the center of Free Will Baptist Church constituency, the board having arranged to purchase, and having begun renovation of, the former Mount Olive Grammar School for use as its campus; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley, representing that board, chose the Reverend W. Burkette Raper to serve as president in August 1954, and in September they opened the college with its first convocation before an enrollment of 22 students in programs of arts, sciences, and business; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley served as chairman of the Mount Olive Junior College Board of Trustees from 1953 to 1963, during which time the college earned accreditation from the North Carolina College Conference in 1958 and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1960; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley continued to serve on the Board of Trustees until 1970, and with the support of the Free Will Baptist Church, Dr. C. C. Henderson and other Mount Olive civic leaders and citizens, the college expanded from the original grammar school building to a core of buildings on a 100‑acre campus along what is now Highway US 117 bypass; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley remained an ardent supporter of Mount Olive Junior College and saw the fruition of his vision when Mount Olive Junior College accomplished the transition from a junior to a senior college, and when Hansley personally awarded the first baccalaureate degree to Calvin Mercer, a graduate of the college's ministerial program, in May 1986; and
Whereas, David W. Hansley died on April 24, 1989, at the age of 79, was honored in a memorial service held on the campus of Mount Olive College, and continues to be remembered for his leadership in helping to found the college and through the David W. and Elizabeth C. Hansley Endowed Fund on the campus; and
Whereas, Mount Olive College is recognized and accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and offers opportunities for higher education at its 138‑acre main campus in Mount Olive, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, and through distance‑learning centers in New Bern, Wilmington, and Research Triangle Park; and
Whereas, on September 12, 2001, the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists met at College Hall on the campus of Mount Olive College to celebrate the founding of the only college chartered and accredited in North Carolina sponsored by that body, on its fiftieth anniversary; Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
SECTION 1.  The General Assembly honors the Reverend David W. Hansley as a founder and trustee of Mount Olive College, and the college's sponsor, the North Carolina Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, for their steadfast commitment to providing Christian higher education in North Carolina.
SECTION 2.  The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the chairman of the Mount Olive College Board of Trustees and to the President of the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists.
SECTION 3.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.