C. C. Selecman | |
---|---|
3rd President of Southern Methodist University | |
In office 1923–1938 | |
Preceded by | Hiram Boaz |
Succeeded by | Umphrey Lee |
Personal details | |
Born | Savannah, Missouri | October 13, 1874
Died | March 27, 1958 Dallas, Texas | (aged 83)
Education | Central College |
Charles Claude Selecman (October 13, 1874 – March 27, 1958) was an American Methodist pastor and the third president of Southern Methodist University from 1923 to 1938. Selecman entered office during a difficult financial time for SMU and managed to put the university on sounder footing while expanding the campus and growing the enrollment.[1] These achievements would largely be overshadowed, however, by his chilling effect on SMU's intellectual and social environment.[2]
Selecman was a religious fundamentalist and opponent of secular education who banned dances, shuttered student groups he opposed, and fired faculty with whom he disagreed, including theologian and future Vanderbilt chancellor Harvie Branscomb.[3][4] In Charles Ferguson's 1929 satirical novel Pigskin, a character based on Selecman is described as "a cross between the Apostle Paul and Benito Mussolini."[5]
In 1938, Selecman was elected as a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and departed SMU. In this capacity, he would lead both the Oklahoma Conference and the North Texas Conference.[1] He would ascend to the Methodist Church's highest office, becoming president of the Council of Bishops in 1945.[1]
:1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).