Shaw University’s Best Kept Secret . . .

William Spann would rather I not mention his name in this column about life at the Shaw University Alumni House Complex, known by most of us as Shaw Farm.

He’s already enjoyed his share of the limelight, assures Spann, a Shaw Hall of Fame alumnus who, after a stint in the U.S. Army, returned to the school – and his football scholarship – to graduate in 1956. He later returned to Shaw to teach, coach and lead the Bears’ athletic department.

“I’m not interested in highlighting me,” insists Spann, 85, as we settle in at his Shaw Farm office.

Still, I told him, I want to follow up on a conversation with my neighbor and community environmentalist, Norman Camp, about Spann’s leadership to revive Shaw Farm; about the life he’s since breathed into the rustic white house that sits on 40 acres and a pond at 2901 Rock Quarry Road; about how he’s maintained its historic character in an area that is quickly transforming into a hotbed of development.

And how – despite health setbacks of his own – he’s kept it moving, busy with quiet energy and the activity of alumni gatherings, community events and a weekly breakfast of alumni and neighbors, with connections either to Shaw or to each other.

“We just shoot the breeze and talk about affairs of the neighborhood and what to do about them,” said Camp, a breakfast regular who learned and taught with Spann at Shaw.

Now, amid the morning chatter about things such as local politics, education, spirituality and business development, there’s new focus on constructing a community walking trail at Shaw Farm. Camp and others leading the effort envision a “nice community feature,” an oval, half-mile trail that leads to the pond.

“That gives me as much satisfaction as when I earned my terminal degrees, to see men and women in the community come together, the camaraderie, the diversity, the dialogue, the conversation,” Spann gushed, applauding the volunteer spirit that fuels his passion. “It’s really a very satisfactory feeling, more so than money.”

Shaw acquired Shaw Farm around 1963 under the leadership of James E. Cheek, a Shaw alumnus who had returned as its seventh president and lived in the house until he left in 1968 to lead Howard University. Cheek’s brother, King Cheek, then took over Shaw’s presidency and Shaw Farm residency until 1972, Spann said, describing the home as “an elaborate showcase” with white carpeting befitting the Shaw president, “an icon in Southeast Raleigh.”

Residency of university officials continued at Shaw Farm until the mid-’80s.

“After that, the place went down, down, down,” Spann said. It became storage for Shaw, a dump for community trash, an unofficial homeless shelter and home to a man raising three liberated pit bulls.

In 2004, when Spann was Shaw’s AD and chairman of the Department of Allied Health Professions, he joined a group of alumni meeting during homecoming to plan a golf tournament – on the steps of Estey Hall.

“Where else?” one of the men replied when Spann questioned the meeting spot.

“That really made an impact on me: Here we are significant and important people, graduates of Shaw University, who return to campus with our contributions, but we have nowhere to meet and relax,” Spann said.

Spann formed a group of supporters and went to then-President Clarence G. Newsome with a proposal to reinvent Shaw Farm as a gathering place for alumni and friends.

“That’s a swell idea, but I can’t help you,” Spann recalls Newsome saying. Spann, understanding budget constraints, sought only permission.

“We rolled up our sleeves and came out here, working from early morning until late dawn,” he said of 11 volunteers of alumni, community friends and athletic boosters.

The group replaced the roof, painted the house, removed trash and other remnants, refurbished the barn that now houses Shaw records and cleaned everything, including “dog mess.”

“We had several members quit,” Spann said, “but the six of us…we kept on working, kept on working.”

Alumnus Horace Graham worked and now enjoys what Shaw Farm offers alumni and the community.

“It’s a source of pride for Shaw University,” Graham said. “It’s a meeting place in a central location, so now we can say, ‘Meet me at The Farm.’ ”

SOURCE: Written By Lori Wiggins