Reflections of Dr. Ray Spence

    Dr. Raymond L. Spence Jr., who arrived in Richmond as pastor of Second Baptist Church in 1962 and quickly became a vital member of the Collegiate family, remembers those times quite well.
    “When Collegiate was just getting things together, every private school we played would beat us,” said Spence, a defensive end and offensive tackle at LSU in the late 50’s.
    “There was one phrase that I never really liked but had to learn to accept.  The opponents, people you knew, would pass by and always say, ‘You all are such good sports.’ What that really meant was, ‘Well, we beat you again.’”
    Don’t misinterpret. Spence believes wholeheartedly in fair play.
    “I wanted to be a good sport,” he continued, “but I wanted to win too.
    “Bit by bit, we became the team that won.  It gave me a good inner feeling when people quit saying that to us.
    “When that changed, I was so happy.”
    Becoming competitive in athletics isn’t the only change that Spence, a Board of Trustee member from 1971-1993, has seen during his 50-plus-year association with Collegiate.
    Today, the facilities are state-of-the art, even opulent.
    The school has the wherewithal to fund programs that were only dreams in the days when the school operated on a shoestring budget.
    “Actually, less than a shoestring,” Spence said.  “I saw us come to the end of the year at times and have less than $1000 in the budget.
    “We had to be very careful how we allocated resources to meet the needs of our faculty and staff.  Teachers worked for very little.  There was no retirement, no health insurance.
    “The faculty just came and taught.  My wife (Ann, a kindergarten teacher) was one of them.  We were glad she was here and glad things worked out as they did.”
    He recalls other budget-related challenges.
    “We didn’t always know whether we’d be able to have a certain number of classes,” said Spence, who served as Board chair from 1982-1984.
    “How many children would be coming to kindergarten?  Would we have three sections or four? What would the numbers be when we added the all-day kindergarten?
    “Who would come to 9th grade? Would we have enough students to have a certain number of classes, a certain number of teachers?
    “That was always a tense time because of the finances. We never had enough money.”
    Spence recalls the icons who led the school through the early years on North Mooreland Road.
    Catharine Flippen headed the Collegiate School for Girls on Monument Avenue, then the new Girls School, and along the way oversaw the move west in the late ‘50’s.
     Malcolm U. Pitt Jr. headed the Boys School in its early days and, when Mrs. Flippen retired in 1972, became the head of Collegiate School.
    “Mrs. Flippen was a very gracious, intelligent, inclusive lady,” Spence said. “Her leadership was strong enough that she got the point over, but she was never confrontational.  
    “Buck Pitt was equally quiet and gracious and got his point over.
    “I was amazed by the lack of rancor that always moved us through those very difficult times.  
    “We discussed things, but the disagreements never carried over to the friendships.  That, to me, was a high-water mark.  Collegiate has been characterized by that spirit through the years.”
    Over the years, Spence, like so many others, has come to understand that the confluence of leadership excellence set a positive tone for Collegiate.
    “Things don’t happen because we’re lucky,” he said.  “They happen for a purpose.  
    “There was a purpose and a reason that Mrs. Flippen and Buck Pitt were here at a time we needed them.
    “Because of their lives and their personalities, Collegiate’s purpose was met.”
    Spence has seen Collegiate from pretty much every angle.  He was a frequent chapel speaker years ago and taught Bible in the Boys School.
    He and Ann sent their sons Lee ’79 and Walter ’84 to Collegiate.  Walter’s son Bucky is a 2014 graduate.
    Over the years, he’s attended myriad musical performances, theatrical productions, and athletic events and still checks the progress of Collegiate athletics on the sports page.
    An astute observer, he has found that, though much has changed, much remains the same.
    “I’ve always seen the support for students,” he said.  “That attitude still exists.  
    “I’m always proud of Collegiate and proud to have been part of Collegiate.”
        -- Weldon Bradshaw

    (Ray Spence remains busy in retirement.  He’s the chairman of the board of the Carmel School.  He serves on the executive committee of MEDARVA. He continues to counsel and perform weddings.  He loves the outdoors and spends time at the Chesapeake Bay and hunts occasionally.  He’s also training a new puppy.  “I’m not sure why,” he says, “but I really enjoy it.”)