In his forty-seven year association with Berea College, Charles Noble Shutt touched virtually every aspect of the college from the placement of closets in Draper building to the organization of the academic departments. His career encompassed the reign of three college presidents and weathered two world wars. Shutt first came to the college in 1915 as a Latin and German teacher. He later taught history and English, and was known as the leading grammarian on the campus. In 1924, Shutt assumed the role of Head of the Academy. In 1937, under the leadership of Francis Hutchins, Berea Academy and Berea College underwent an academic reorganization creating an Upper and Lower Division. The reorganization created a new position for Shutt, who assumed the title of Dean of the Lower Division, encompassing grades 11, 12 and the first two years of college. Shutt remained as Dean of the Lower Division until 1947, when the college again underwent a reorganization. At this time he became the Director of Guidance and Testing, a position he held until his retirement from the college in 1962.
Shutt was born in 1894 in Scio, Ohio to Professor and Mrs. H.M. Shutt. He graduated from Canton High School, Canton, Ohio in 1910 and from the Wooster University, Wooster, Ohio in 1915. In 1917, Shutt married Elva Alice Weidler, also a graduate of Canton High School and at the time of their marriage, a teacher at Dueber School in Canton, Ohio. After their wedding the Shutts stayed briefly in Canton, then spent the month of August 1917 traveling in the mountains of North Carolina. They returned to Berea for the Fall semester of 1917. There is one mention of Shutt having served in the first World War, and a corresponding notation of Elva not living in Berea for one year in 1918. However, draft cards dated 1915-1917, are the only records of military service. The couple had two children, a daughter Muriel Vae (Duff) and a son, Nole MacHenry. Elva died in September of 1941 from complications of abdominal surgery, only a few days before her 48th birthday.
In 1945 Shutt married Jane Markarian, who came to Berea as a student from Scranton, Pennsylvania in March 1944. At Shutt’s suggestion, and with his financial assistance, Markarian left Berea College to attend the University of Chicago for academic year 1946-1947. The two were married in August 1947, while both were attending classes in Chicago. Markarian returned to Berea with Shutt to complete her senior year of college. She later went on to complete her medical degree in psychiatry and became a physician with Berea College Health Service. Markarian and Shutt had three children, Christopher, Constance, and Barbara. The family lived in Berea until 1963, when Shutt retired and moved with his family to Cincinnati.
In 1955, at the age of 61, Shutt served as an advisor to Tunghai University in Taichung (Formosa), Taiwan. Berea College president Francis Hutchins granted Shutt a six month leave of absence for the task. While in Tunghai, Shutt concentrated on creating a student labor program for the university.
Shutt was a popular and respected teacher and administrator. In 1940, while serving as Dean of the Lower Division, Shutt was honored for 25 years of service with Berea College. The program was attended by over 1,000 Academy students, faculty and alumni. In 1970, Shutt returned to Berea’s campus for a tribute titled, “Our Day with Dean Shutt”. Alumni from twenty six states and Canada attended the event where Shutt was honored as an “iron fisted,” but “big hearted,” teacher and disciplinarian.
Shutt passed away in 1973, at the age of 79. He is buried in the Berea Cemetery.
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