many. Derby recommended that salaries be raised and living conditions be improved as soon as possible to help in recruiting teachers and students.
President Derby's successor was fittingly one of the many alumni who championed a future for Ferrum Training School, Nathaniel Davis of the class of 1924. Under his leadership, the school continued its transition into a junior college and instituted an annual hike for the students in the surrounding mountains. By the 1950s, the junior college transformation was complete, with the high school division closing in 1955.
=== Ferrum Junior College ===
With the arrival of the new President C. Ralph Arthur in 1954, a new era on campus began. President Arthur pressed the Methodist Church for stronger financial support, oversaw the removal of undercredentialed and ill-trained faculty, and the hiring of professional collegiate-level educators to be enticed by school-provided housing that President Arthur convinced the board of trustees to build. President Arthur was a tireless …
