[mpoverlay]Just one year after tornadoes swept the campus and damage nearly all of its buildings, the Shaw University community yesterday commemorated the comeback with a community tour of renovated facilities and grounds. 

“Isn’t this beautiful?” Dr. George Debnam, the school’s retired physician, said to no one in particular during a tour of the student center. Debnam, who arrived on campus as a 15-year-old freshman in 1944 and whose name is now on the school’s administrative building, Debnam Hall, echoed the sentiments of administrators and students when he said the campus is in better condition now than before the storm.

Debnam, who served as Shaw’s campus physician from 1962 until 2001, said many of the buildings were built in the mid-1960s and in need of restoration. “Your car, your house, yourself – everything changes after 50 years,” he said.

The students point to the newly tiled bathrooms, new walls and the refurbished kitchen in the student center. But Smith, who oversaw the restoration, pointed out the things casual observers cannot see, such as the electrical wiring and plumbing. (News & Observer)[/mpoverlay]

Shaw University