Amherst College - Olio Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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Dedication Professor Laurence B. Packard left his mark, that of intellectual curiosity intermingled with dynamic instruction and understanding kindliness, indelibly on the Amherst campus. During his 30 years as our foremost historian, Professor Packard taught more College students than any other man. He authored two books, THE COMMERCIALREVOLUTION and THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV and was the founder and co-editor of the Berkshire Studies in European History. Creator of the History 1-2 sequence, his contributions to Amherst education are far from temporal, for the legend of this course and its antecedents will rightfully be told and retold to Amherst men for years to come. To the mem- ory of Laurence B. Packard, we respectfully dedicate the 1955 OLIO. Professor Charles L. Sherman came to the Amherst College faculty in 1929 as Associate Professor of Latin. A versatile and dedicated scholar, he remained one of the College's outstanding Citizens for 25 years. Appointed full professor in the Departments of History and Political Science in 1940, Professor Sherman contrib- uted to a number of professional iournals and was the editor of John Locke's TREATISE ON CIVIL GOVERNMENT, as well as translator and editor of DIODOROUS' HISTORY. Those of us who came into contact with him, whether in the classroom, on the tennis court, or anywhere in Am- herstown, will never forget his infectious lightheartedness, sincere solicitousness, and unfailing interest in campus affairs. To the memory of Charles L. Sherman, teacher and friend, we respectfully dedicate this yearbook.

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Foreword For a long time now, a yearbook, like a degree or a cap and gown or a key or a ring, has been one of the manifest symbols of graduation from college. It is generally felt that college years are memorable and important years, and ought to be recorded in bound and illustrated editions replete with pictures and comments, and this feeling has persisted through time so that yearbooks have become a tangible tradition of college. Almost as if people, realizing the corroding effects of time upon all things, have wanted to galvanize their memories with words and pictures-a yearbook has come to be an invaluable mnemonic, a sentimental bulwark against age and transition. Yet this simplicity of purpose belies the difficulties inherent in any attempt to give definition to that which has come to pass. A college year resists being cast into neat sentences. It is a tenuous, important thing-an emotional quantity in the life of every member of the community. A college year is eight months of doing and thinking and growing for each individual involved. That which the undergraduate and graduate shall remember ofa year in college, that which they shall consider meaningful, shall be deter- mined by uniquely personal criteria. The editors of this volume have realized these things and rather than attempting to measure this most recent year at Amherst in its true perspective from the dubious vantage of May, have merely tried to describe objectively the current facets of an Amherst education-in words and pictures to delineate the events of 1954-55 which undoubtedly shall have left their imprints upon the individual and his College. This evidence shall follow, and we can only be mindful of the fact that each shall give it meaning and interpretation as befits his peculiar context. '

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The Foirest College 1954- 5 God help the youth who hums an old tune. Looking back at Amherst, one might allow the pixie of his imagina- tion to light upon an athletic vein of the past year: to rejoice with the victor and emphatize with the vanquished, to speculate over the myth of McLaughry's migration, the depth of Dunbar's disappointment or the tribulations of trite training trivia. Or, were he more inclined toward intel- lectual reverie, thoughts of increased requirements in hu- manities and languages, six-week or eight-week marking periods, the perceptive Theta Xi report, and the administra- tion's admonitions against staying too loose might be the colorful pieces in his mental patchwork. Should he hap- pen to be a social enthusiast, after perusing his cluster of gentleman C's, he might recall with nostalgia the solici- tousness of Art Davenport, who agreed to audit the house social accounts, the attainment of TOOW: rushing, the some- what rude interiection of pledge training into the otherwise serene spring season, the tranquil beauty of Paradise Pond, or the rotten smell at Barsi's. Were his thoughts dominated by campus activities, perhaps the great literary merger, which interrupted SABRINA'S tainted act as well as CON- TEXT'S sophisticatedly dry production, or the disappear- ance of a longstanding class rivalry, or the College's apathetic reception of Swarthy Sabrina, or the speeches of Kinsey and Commager fon politics at home and abroadj would breach the widening gap between then and now. However, regardless of which may be his principal strain of reiminiscence, the individual must temper it to some degree with the broadening influence of the Amherst en- tirety. Accordingly, we see that this year, as usual, the football and basketball teams performed well. Though the wrestlers floundered and the soccer team slumped notice- ably, the squashmen finished up strong and the swimmers