Dean Walter Whybrew was the executive Vice President of Lambuth College in 1980 when I arrived. He started at Lambuth in 1957 and was Dean and Registrar when my mom started there in 1959. Over the years he served as Registrar, Dean of Admissions, Academic Dean and Executive Vice President. In addition to his other duties, he helped form the Lambuth band and led them for three years until they could hire a full-time director to the staff. He was beloved staff and students and is best remembered for a speech that he made during freshman orientation.
Before I tell you what he said, you need to know that Dean Whybrew suffered from rhotacism. This is a speech impairment where the person replaces “r” sounds with “w” sounds. The classic example of this is Elmer Fudd calling Bugs Bunny a “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”. While I didn’t spend a lot of time around him my first few days on campus, it didn’t seem to bother Dean Whybrew that he spoke this way. But it would have probably been a good idea for someone to have reviewed what he was planning to say during freshman orientation before he said,
“And wadies! We will be doing womb check once a week!”
A nervous group of freshman students resisted the urge to laugh but you could feel the tension in the awkward silence of the situation.
Dean Whybrew would retire in August of 1981 as I was about to begin my sophomore year. I’m sure it was planned well in advance and a reward for his years of hard work and service to the school.
