463

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With a passion for clarity and order in all things he felt that
there should be some definite statement of the mission of the University.
He lost no time in pointing out that the University was the one continu-
ing agency in the State constantly at work on the problems of illiteracy,
poor health, and low economic status.

Very early in his administration he initiated a complete survey of
the administrative structure of the three branches of the University
and the Consolidated Office. Many significant decisions came from this,
and there followed a revision of the Administrative Code of the
University. This was approved by the Board of Trustees in 1954.

President Gray understood the valuable potentialities of an intro-
spective study of the University by representatives of the three
faculties. To effectuate this he instituted the annual "State of the
University Conferences," and brought the trustees and public school
officials in on these discussions.

As spokesman for the University he constantly advocated the needs of
the three institutions to the people of the State, and their legislative
representatives, always exerting every effort possible to present the
needs for increased faculty, greater research possibilities, and
permanent improvements. He was uncompromisingly insistent that the
faculties be staffed with highly competent teachers, and, once this
personnel was selected, that the individual faculty member work and
live in a congenial atmosphere. This included not only adequate salary
schedules with a long range program of encouragement, promotion, and
retirement, but an atmosphere in which the faculty members' rights to
academic freedom were scrupulously safeguarded. He believed in and
fought for the principle that merit increases and promotion funds should
be handled at the discretion of University officials and not the Budget
Bureau.

Gordon Gray visualized the University as the capstone of North
Carolina's educational effort, but he never lost sight of the dependence
of the University upon the public school system of the state. He
sought to keep the gap between the State's high schools and its colleges
from being too formidable for the young man or woman handicapped by a
mediocre preparation, and encouraged the installation of statewide
testing programs in the high schools as part of this effort to bring
the University and the public schools closer together.

Perhaps Gordon Gray's aims for the University of North Carolina can
best be epitomized in words taken from his recent presidential Report
"The ultimate object (has been) to develop renewed and increased morale
and excellence in instruction, research, and in attention to students."

He has never compromised with his strong insistence on excellence in
all phases of the University life, and has upheld the highest tradi-
tions of the University of North Carolina.

On the 10th of June, 1955, Mr. Gray tendered his resignation as
President of the University, in order to become Assistant Secretary of
Defense for International Security Affairs, with the following statement:

"The insistent request of the national administration that I accept
this new responsibility confronted me with a most serious problem
involving, of course, conflicting obligations.

"I arrived at the decision to return to the service of the Federal
Government only after the severest deliberation.

"I consider the office of the President of the University of North
Carolina one of the highest honor and trust and of great responsi-
bility. I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for my election to
this post in February, 1950, and for the opportunities I have had
to serve the State. I can only express the hope that in a small way
I may now be able to make a contribution to security and peace in
the world."

The Executive Committee at its regular meeting on November 14th has
adopted the following resolution: