MURFREESBORO, NC –Travel back in time and relive memories of roller skating, hair crinkling, and wide-collared shirts with Dr. Christopher White, President of Chowan University, and his latest CD entitled, You Light of My Life: Love Songs of the 1970’s. This new release makes number fifteen in his collection with easy listening ballads and number one hits from the era.

After weeding through his file cabinets full of music, the handpicked songs on this CD are sure to make perfect gifts. Dr. White has put his creative spin on timeless classics from artists like the Beatles, Lionel Richie, Barbra Streisand, and Dolly Parton.

Like his other recordings, Dr. White shares with listeners a part of his life. During the 70s he and his wife, Linda Fleming White, gave birth to their two sons. This was before he became an administrator in higher education, allowing him opportunity to wear his big glasses, leisure suit with the “monstrous” collar, and long hair, as shown on the back cover of the CD. “A long time ago I made the decision to stop trying to be like everyone else,” Dr. White comments about the photo, “I am who I am.”

Chowan University has a very approachable president, though many students and community members are unaware of Dr. White’s musical talent. All he needs is a quiet place, a recording piece by the piano, and he can do it all himself. “Murfreesboro Baptist Church is the perfect place and I am glad that I could record there,” Dr. White says as he describes their exceptional piano. 

Music was not always Dr. White’s love, he explains, “I started playing in elementary school and all the way up through high school I was the only boy taking piano lessons.”  Feeling ostracized, he quit numerous times, but his mother sent him back. Even though he still does not consider himself a great musician, he knows that playing music is something his mother would have liked. “My mother loved music, but because she was one of thirteen children, she lacked the opportunity to learn to play,” he says. “She made sure that all of her children could play piano and we still do to this day. Now, I absolutely love it!”

When asked why he continues to make CDs, Dr. White says, “I do it because it is relaxing for me; I’ve been a college president for thirty-one years and I love to grab music and sit down at a piano to play.” The feedback from previous CDs in his collections is astonishing. He has received letters from people who use his CDs to help them wake up, sleep, and/or sooth sick patients. “It is also a nice way to raise money for a great cause,” Dr. White adds. All proceeds are given to the Chowan Christian Student Association for ministerial student scholarships and student mission trips.

Dr. White made the release announcement at the Chowan Christian Student Association’s (CCSA) spring dinner on April 24th. He encouraged those present to spread the word and support the cause. To order Dr. White’s newest CD, You Light Up My Life: Love Songs of the 1970’s, call Portia Davis of the President’s Office at (252) 398-6221 or e-mail davisp@chowan.edu.