This all began so long ago, yet I remember the day vividly. It was a Thursday in late August, and the late summer sun in North Carolina was beating down on Davidson College, when my phone rang as I walked out of the Chambers Building on Davidson’s campus. I did not recognize the number so I answered as I always do to strangers, “J.D. Merrill.” It was a reporter from the Raleigh News and Observer wanting to know the student body’s reaction to the departure of Davidson College’s President, Thomas Ross, to the Office of the President at the 17-campus University of North Carolina System.
Davidson College's 17th President, Tom Ross '72.