Friends,

I am writing with the sad news that William R. "Bill" Rogers, who served Guilford College as its sixth president and was a friend and mentor to more than a generation of Guilfordians, died Friday afternoon, July 15, at the age of 90. 

The Rogers family will hold a memorial for Bill on Friday, July 29, at 2 p.m. at the Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well Spring Retirement Community.

Bill and his wife, Beverley, who survives him, were active in the life of the College, in the wider community, and among Quakers from their arrival in 1980 until long after he retired as president in 1996. For so many people, the Rogers are synonymous with Guilford, and with Bill’s passing, we who love the College have lost a true friend.

During Bill’s 16-year presidency, the College moved forward on many fronts, including the establishment of the Friends Center, the Office of Campus Ministry, and the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program. College relationships with Friends throughout North Carolina and the nation were strengthened.

Bill was proud of the development of interdisciplinary studies at the College, an exchange program with a university in Japan, the strengthening of other study abroad programs, and the creation of a Sport Studies major, the first undergraduate academic program of its kind in the nation. Guilford became one of the early Bonner Scholars Program institutions.

Hege Library was expanded and the Guilford College Art Gallery was added. Bauman Telecommunications Center opened and became central to teaching and learning at Guilford. A major fundraising campaign, QUEST, raised millions of dollars and increased the College’s endowment. The sesquicentennial of the institution’s founding was celebrated in 1987.

Bill’s leadership is recognized in these accomplishments, but according to faculty, staff, and students of that era he is best known for his consensus-building, humility, and friendship. He is remembered for enjoying lunch with students in the Dining Hall or dinner at Ragsdale House, and taking part in choir tours and Quaker sporting events. He not only knew the names of students and alumni, he knew about their lives.

Bill was a musician, a classic car enthusiast, and a sailor, and he had all sorts of creative outlets. An artist, his pen-and-ink drawing of a great Black Oak that stood outside New Garden Hall has been a part of the College’s logo system for decades. He sketched many of Guilford’s campus buildings. And he loved woodworking. Before he came to Guilford he fashioned a love seat out of a felled elm tree that resides in the library to this day.

I did not know Bill nearly as well as many of you did, but I sense the profound impact he made on so many lives. 

Please hold Bev and their family, including son John Rogers (Dana), daughter Susan Apple ’83 (Bill), daughter Nancy Glassmann, and seven grandchildren in the Light. Messages may be mailed to Bev Rogers, Well Spring Retirement Community, 4100 Well Spring Dr., Apt. 113, Greensboro, NC 27410.

Sincerely,
Kyle Farmbry
President