Smile You're On Candid Camera
ECU memories submitted by alum Thomas B. Carroll, '61 & '63 in honor of the centennial.
In the Spring of 1961, three weeks before graduation, I received a summons from Dean James Tucker to report to his office immediately. Like most students a call from the Dean's office could cause an acceleration in cardiac rhythm, a cold sweat, and a great deal of intense and in depth cogitation in an attempt to figure out what academic, social or behavioral “crack” your posterior just fell through.
After a great deal of soul searching I could not think of any transgression (at least none of recent origin) that would warrant the attention of the Dean. So like a reluctant school child having been called to report to the Principal's office, I slowly made my way to the "head shed" to see what I had done wrong, walking slowly and dragging my heels the entire way.
After waiting for what seemed an eternity in Dean Tucker's outer sanctum, I was escorted into his office like a convict going before the Warden. The Dean allowed me to "cool my heals" before his desk as he went through a stack of papers on his desk. When he had finished reading and signing them, he finally put his pen down and fixed me in that infamous Dean Tucker stare.
Having already served in the U. S. Marine Reserve for five years, I knew to
fix my eyes on a spot two inches above his head and to glue my eyes on that spot on the wall. After another indeterminally long period of time which felt like his eyes were burning holes in my head and that he was reading my mind, he finally made the following pronouncement, "Mr. Carroll you will not be graduating with your class." My worst nightmare had been realized . . . You know the one, where you forgot that you had registered for a course, never attended and had failed? Somehow I managed to squeak out a, "Why not?"
Dr. Tucker then dropped the bomb by stating, "You have not passed the Swimming Proficiency Test." After the initial shock wore off, I giggled and then looked around the room to see where they had hidden the camera because I just knew I was the brunt of the old Allen Funk "Candid Camera" scam. I had just completed my fourth year on ECC’s Swimming and Diving Team during which time I had been recognized eight times as a N.A.I.A. All American, earned four Varsity letters, been a member of a relay time that set a national record and won a National Championship, and served as the Co-Captain of the team as a Senior. The thought of me not graduating because I had not passed a basic swimming competency test was just too ludicrous to even enter the field of fantasy!!
I explained to Dean Tucker that I had been a competitive swimmer since the age of five, and reminded him that I had made "A’s" in Phys. Edu. 55 and 155 -- Freshmen and Varsity Swimming. He patiently waited for me to finish before taking a copy of the college’s catalog from his shelf, turning to the section on "Graduation Requirements," and reading me the part from it that stated that in order to graduate from ECC a student had to either pass the Swimming Proficiency Test or take and pass Beginning, Intermediate or Advance Swimming. I tired to explain to him that Phys. Edu. 55 and 155 required swimming proficiency beyond that taught in any of the courses mentioned or measured by the
proficiency test. But my words of protest could have fallen on deaf ears and had more effect than they did being wasted on Dr. Tucker. He was adamant. Rules were rules, no exceptions would be made in my case.
At this point, the Dean informed me that there was one way for me to make graduation with my class. The last possible time to take the test was that afternoon at the college pool in fifteen minutes and if I hurried I might be able to make it. So I did just that, literally running across campus in order to get to there in time.
When I got to the gym and to the pool area, my heart jumped with joy when I saw that Dr. Raymond Martinez was preparing to administer the test to a group of the saddest looking people I have ever seen. This was their last chance to meet this requirement of graduation and if they didn't pass their degree would be withheld.
Ray Martinez was my coach, so I just knew he would put a stop to all this
foolishness and simply add my name to the bottom of the list without me having to “suit up”. When I told him of my dilemma, he just smiled with that mischievous grin he always got when you know there was the devil to pay. He told me to go get my swimming suit on . . . Or, I could give the test to the group waiting like the condemned wait for the hangman to spring the trap, and if I did, I could add my name to the bottom of the list of those who passed.
Needless to say, about this time I was not a very "happy camper." However,
I was running out of options and really didn’t want to have to get wet that afternoon. So I reluctantly agree to Dr. Martinez's blackmail scheme because over our four years together I had learned that when he got that look in his eye any additional discussion, like with Dr. Tucker, was an utter waste of breath. So give the Swimming Proficiency Test I did, my name appeared on the list of those who passed and I got to "march" with my class later that month.
Postscript: But like every dog has his day and most even are able to extract
their revenge in the end, on that particular day in May in the year of 1961, each and every person who reported to the college pool for the ECC Swimming Proficiency Test somehow managed to pass. Gee, isn't that a coincidence?!!? I still chuckle about this even after forty-six years and have told this tale to just about everybody who would listen. Later when I became a community college administrator I tried to remember to try to find a way to accommodate students whenever possible while maintaining the intent of the rule(s). Sometimes
you just have to bend a rule when circumstance makes doing so more humane and logical.
