When Men Were Boys: An Informal Portrait of Dean William Tate

For more than 60 years his name has been associated with the University of Georgia. But he was always more than that. Southern apologist. Counselor. Eternal Sophomore. Wild Bill. God's Angry Man. Storyteller. Track star. Historian. Humanist. And this biography is more than the story of the Dean and the legends which surrounded him. It is the dramatic tale of a man who faced moral crisis during the potentially destructive integration riots of 1961 and saved a university. It is the entertaining tale of the rites of passage of college students everywhere. It is filled with the sounds of laughter of a master storyteller who wove together wit and wisdom. It is the chronicle of the passing of the Old South. Bill Tate was America's foremost Dean of Men and "Wild Bill" to three generations of college students. With his roots buried deep in the marbled mountains of North Georgia, he inspired his students with visions of the Renaissance of the South. A stern disciplinarian, he dwelt among his students, calling them by name, keeping the University of Georgia open during the political and racial disturbances of more than a third of a century. His love for the University of Georgia, his love of education, and his love for the South would make him a legend in his own time.