Tapley, Earl
Earl M. Tapley's (1913-2014) connection with Lee University began as a student (at the Bible Training School) and then as an administrator and professor at Lee College. He has the distinction of being the only person to serve the institution as Acting President.
Tapley arrived at the Bible Training School in January 1934. Originally from Smyrna, Georgia, he had been pastoring in Louisiana just prior to his arrival at BTS. In fact, he was pastoring the churches at Dunn and Gilbert, Louisiana and was pastor to the parents of BTS superintendent at that time, J. H. Walker. He completed the three-year program in two years– taking general and religious courses. He also included the third year of high school English.
During the summer breaks, Tapley evangelized in Alabama. To pay for his tuition, he also worked as the school janitor and had a Saturday job at a grocery store to pay for books and other expenses. He graduated in 1935 as salutatorian of his class. In his salutatory address, he noted, “If success in any undertaking were always easy to reach, there would be nothing to spur us on to our best efforts. If there were no difficulties to confront, life would hold little incentive for any of us– for the harder the way is to climb, the more satisfaction there is in persevering to the end. God holds our destiny in the hollow of His hand and shapes our paths according to His own all-wise, all-powerful plans. So what does it matter where we may be led if we have the assurance that we are but carrying out our allotted part in the divine plan if we are assured that whatever we may be called upon to do will be for our own best interest and the betterment of humanity.”
The summer after graduation, Tapley married Ruby Franklin, who had attended BTS and sang in the “Harmony Four” female quartet. They began their life together pastoring in Lindale, Georgia.
In 1946 Earl Tapley was hired at BTS and College as the Academic Dean and the school’s first Vice President. By this time the school’s two-year junior college was in its fifth year and additional accreditation efforts were underway.
He was among the earliest members of the institution with a graduate degree, having graduated from Vanderbilt University with the Master of Arts degree at Peabody-Vanderbilt and with studies in the Vanderbilt Divinity School. During his time working at BTS and College he began studying for his doctoral degree.
Most interesting, is that Earl Tapley suggested the name ”Lee College” (in memory of F. J. Lee) for the school once the relocation to Cleveland had been determined in 1946. BTS and College President E.L. Simmons agreed, the Board of Directors agreed, and the announcement was made at the graduation exercises on May 22, 1947. That summer it relocated to the current Cleveland campus its new name.
Earl Tapley was one of the key visionaries of the “new Lee” who saw what the school could become. He also served as Acting President for a few months in 1951. He then assumed an administrative role at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago, and joined the Methodist Church as a minister before again serving as a college professor and administrator. He also was a consultant and accreditation examiner of colleges for national and regional accreditation associations.
In 2010 the biology laboratory in Lee’s new Science and Math Complex was named in his honor. Dr. Tapley died in 2014 at age 101 following a successful career in education and ministry.
/ L.F. Morgan
Tapley arrived at the Bible Training School in January 1934. Originally from Smyrna, Georgia, he had been pastoring in Louisiana just prior to his arrival at BTS. In fact, he was pastoring the churches at Dunn and Gilbert, Louisiana and was pastor to the parents of BTS superintendent at that time, J. H. Walker. He completed the three-year program in two years– taking general and religious courses. He also included the third year of high school English.
During the summer breaks, Tapley evangelized in Alabama. To pay for his tuition, he also worked as the school janitor and had a Saturday job at a grocery store to pay for books and other expenses. He graduated in 1935 as salutatorian of his class. In his salutatory address, he noted, “If success in any undertaking were always easy to reach, there would be nothing to spur us on to our best efforts. If there were no difficulties to confront, life would hold little incentive for any of us– for the harder the way is to climb, the more satisfaction there is in persevering to the end. God holds our destiny in the hollow of His hand and shapes our paths according to His own all-wise, all-powerful plans. So what does it matter where we may be led if we have the assurance that we are but carrying out our allotted part in the divine plan if we are assured that whatever we may be called upon to do will be for our own best interest and the betterment of humanity.”
The summer after graduation, Tapley married Ruby Franklin, who had attended BTS and sang in the “Harmony Four” female quartet. They began their life together pastoring in Lindale, Georgia.
In 1946 Earl Tapley was hired at BTS and College as the Academic Dean and the school’s first Vice President. By this time the school’s two-year junior college was in its fifth year and additional accreditation efforts were underway.
He was among the earliest members of the institution with a graduate degree, having graduated from Vanderbilt University with the Master of Arts degree at Peabody-Vanderbilt and with studies in the Vanderbilt Divinity School. During his time working at BTS and College he began studying for his doctoral degree.
Most interesting, is that Earl Tapley suggested the name ”Lee College” (in memory of F. J. Lee) for the school once the relocation to Cleveland had been determined in 1946. BTS and College President E.L. Simmons agreed, the Board of Directors agreed, and the announcement was made at the graduation exercises on May 22, 1947. That summer it relocated to the current Cleveland campus its new name.
Earl Tapley was one of the key visionaries of the “new Lee” who saw what the school could become. He also served as Acting President for a few months in 1951. He then assumed an administrative role at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago, and joined the Methodist Church as a minister before again serving as a college professor and administrator. He also was a consultant and accreditation examiner of colleges for national and regional accreditation associations.
In 2010 the biology laboratory in Lee’s new Science and Math Complex was named in his honor. Dr. Tapley died in 2014 at age 101 following a successful career in education and ministry.
/ L.F. Morgan