Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2014

Cedarville Magazine | 9 They stepped out of the car to find a tiny campus surrounded by cornfields. Cedarville had recently transitioned from its Reformed Presbyterian roots to Baptist leadership. The Depression and war years had been tough on the small school, but a new President — Dr. James T. Jeremiah — and an eager constituency had breathed new life and hope for the future. Dr. Maddox’s experience and earned doctorate brought credibility to the administrative team. He immediately set to work on accreditation matters. The newlyweds rented a home on State Route 42, across from a Shell gas station. The new Mrs. Maddox quipped, “At least I can watch the trucks go by!” A former Executive Director with the Girl Scouts in Waukegan, Illinois, she was not particularly excited about the move. She had left behind a 12- year career directing 750 women and more than 3,000 Scouts to come to a small, struggling campus with 98 students. But she saw this adventure as a new season of life, and she was determined to make the most of it. In 1959, when one of the speech professors left to pursue mission work, Miriam Maddox was hired to cover his classes. One term led to another, and her responsibilities and influence grew. She taught interpretive reading, acting, play production, voice and diction, and speech. In addition to teaching, she started and coached the debate team. For nearly 14 years, she directed most of the campus plays. She finished her career conducting individualized speech therapy sessions every Tuesday and Thursday in her office on the first floor of Williams Hall. Although Maddox never held a formal leadership position or served on academic committees at Cedarville, her influence and professional accomplishments were significant. She was well educated and professionally accomplished, INFLUENCE by Janice (Warren) Supplee ’86 She was well educated and professionally accomplished, but it was her influence on the campus culture and the individual lives of students that forged her legacy. I n July of 1956, Miriam Boltz and Dr. Clifford Maddox left their comfortable lives in the Chicago suburbs and arrived in the sleepy village of Cedarville, Ohio. The engaged couple were longtime acquaintances, and both had been widowed years before. When Dr. Maddox accepted the job to become Cedarville College’s first academic dean, he did not want to move alone. He asked Boltz to join him— as his wife. They married on August 25, 1956. As part of my doctoral program, I was asked to research and share the story of a woman in educational leadership. MiriamMaddox came to my mind. I had never met her, but her name was familiar — a women’s residence hall on campus bears her name, and I knew she had a connection to Cedarville’s communications program in which I’d studied. What began as the task of writing a paper became the privilege of sharing a life story. I discovered a woman who left a lasting mark on Cedarville University and who still inspires vivid and meaningful memories for all who were touched by her life — literally thousands of former Cedarville students, her faculty and staff colleagues, and Christian leaders with names you would recognize. This is Miriam Maddox’s story, although she would be quick to say it is God’s story. For nearly four decades, Cedarville was blessed to be a part of this story, and we are all the better for it.