Mose Bass managed, no, presided over, the men’s dormitory at Georgia Teachers College, (Georgia Southern University) Statesboro, GA. Mose Bass governed his charges with unmitigated care, attention , and skill. There is a quip you likely have heard: “Some people are born great; some people achieve greatness; some have greatness thrust upon them.” Mose Bass was all three. Ask any GTC student of the era. A gregarious man, cheerful, and instinctively inclined to build up others, Mose Bass met life and the men in his charge with vigor and optimism. Mose Bass greeted each man of his charge with a large, happy, “How ‘ya do’n?” He made it his mission to know each man, and called him by name.
Mose Bass exceeded expectations. He noticed if you were homesick, or lovesick, and would sit with you in your room and listen like Job’s friends. I don’t know how many petty conflicts he calmed. I do know the had the respect of everyone. Mose knew who had difficulty waking up mornings; those were honored by their door being flung open at 6:30 a.m. with a hearty “Good Mornin’ Babe!” —and if one was too reluctant to arise, he found himself unceremoniously dragged onto the cold tile floor. No one was ever injured by Mose’s skilled maneuver. (He was practiced!)
One student of that era said Mose would frequently fry fish on weekends and invite him and other guys to eat together. He said Mose cooked the best fried fish he ever tasted! When any notice was posted on any bulletin board on campus about an upcoming event, or anything else—weighty or trivial—there would always be a notation on the bottom of the notice—in mysterious handwriting— “approved by Mose Bass.” Another student told me, “I honestly do believe we would not have felt any posting was official until we saw Mose’s approval. Best kept secret at GTC was who actually wrote the ‘approval.’ It may just have been the first person who happened to see the post, but it was always there!”
Most males of college age are referred to as “Men.” Even though in class we were called, “Mister,______”, I never heard anyone resist or resent being one of “Mose’s Boys.” Actually we guys preferred to be referred to this way, as if it were a mark of prestige. Lost Key? Homesick? Mose was Mr. Fixit. He could be depended on to keep our trust better than a counselor. Although no one enjoyed a laugh more than Mose Bass, he never had fun at the expense of one of his boys.
One of the most endearing gestures toward Mose Bass was the Dedication Page of the 1955 GTC Reflector (the Yearbook). You can read the students’ sentiments below his picture;
You’ve seen those words before . . . just as you see his shiny face and toothful grin wherever you meet him on campus. Down through the years as the human alarm clock he has become a tradition among the T.C. men, and that familiar signature always mysteriously presents its forged approval on the notices of the campus bulletin board. So THE REFLECTOR staff and the senior class want you to know that this, too—the 1955 edition—is “approved by Mose Bass.”