Birmingham Southern College - Southern Accent Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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falls to the Alumni Association. It seems to me that there should be some advanced steps made towards the organization of our Alumni and towards the accomplishment of a greater work by our Association. In the first place, I believe a more effective organization should be completed. An- nual dues ought to be charged each Alumnus and the Treasurer instructed to collect them each year. Chapters of the Association ought to be organized in every town and city where there are enough former students of Southern University for organization. These chapters ought to meet once or twice each month in a social way and talk over college days, or any other plans the members might wish to discuss together. They would be kept in touch with the Home Chapter, or with the central office of the Alumni Association. The results of such an organization are immediately evident to those who wish to follow out this line of thought. In the next place, some way of keeping the Alumni informed of what is happening and being accomplished for the institution should be provided. The Secretary of the Association, or some one appointed for that purpose, should be instructed to have litera- ture printed each year and mailed to the Alumni. This should not always carry a peti- tion for money, for even the most loyal Alumnus is occasionally anxious to hear some- thing else about the school. If literature is sent only when money is needed, it will soon begin to find a safe resting place in the wastebasket, possibly before it has been read. Would it not be possible for an Alumni Journal to be published each quarter? If not quarterly, let it be published annually and a copy be mailed to each Alumnus. It could be made very helpful and would meet a crying need among our Alumni. The funds for its publication and for all other expenses of the Alumni Association could be secured by urging each Alumnus to pay his annual dues. There would be difficulties to overcome before this plan could be realized and many details would have to be considered, but these obstacles can be removed and greater things accomplished by the co-operation of those who have gone from the halls of old Southern University. How do you feel towards such a progressive step, fellow Alumnus? As Alumni, let us not forget that our Alma Mater still nestles among the stately oaks in the same old college town ; that her classic halls still ring with the cheers and shouts of buoyant youth ; and that she still performs the silent, yet glorious work of moulding characters and shaping destinies. Let us recall what she has meant to each of us and show our appreciation by a united effort to advance her interest and an enthusi- astic loyalty to sustain her cause. C. A. Haskew, ' 1 4. 22 k

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The Alumni — A View of An Alumnus T IS generally conceded that the success of any institution of learning largely depends upon the fidelity and enthusiasm of those who compose its Alumni. Such being the case, it is very essential for every institution to have a live and wide-awake Alumni Association. Especially is this necessary for the Southern University and all other small Christian colleges. The pressure from State schools is becoming so great that it is making it difficult for our church institutions to exist, and all indications point to the fact that this pressure will become greater and stronger as the years pass. With this condition existing, it is very necessary that we, as Alumni of Southern University stand true to the school which is so dear to us and which has had such a powerful influence in shaping our lives for greater accomplishments and higher ideals. I come as one who has the utmost confidence in the loyalty of the Alumni of South- ern University, and I trust I shall be pardoned if I develop a few suggestions which will be based upon that fidelity for their successful realization. It may be that the contents of this article will be classified as the hazy dreams of a fantastic dreamer, but it is my firm conviction that these things are in the realm of the possible and that their realiza- tion can be assured by the proper co-operation of those who have the interests of Southern University at heart. On the other hand, it may be that some of the ideas, which will be advanced in this article, are already being successfully carried out by our Alumni Association. I rejoice in the great work that this organization has done and I am indeed thankful for the close friendship and personal acquaintance of many of those who compose its membership, but I believe we are all compelled to admit that we are not accomplishing as much as we ought to accomplish for our Alma Mater and for the interest of our Alumni. The graduates of the Southern University are to be found in almost every state of the Union and also in many of the foreign countries. Many of her sons and daugh- ters go out from her sacred halls at graduation never to have the opportunity of visit- ing the institution again. They feel the fires of patriotism and devotion to their Alma Mater raging and surging within their breasts, but because of the fact that they are not kept in touch with the life of the school those feelings grow less intense as the years go by. I believe it is possible to keep our Alumni intensely interested in the welfare of the college, and in so doing, wonderfully assist in promoting the worthy enterprises of the institution. I am satisfied that the Southron is accomplishing a great work along this hne, and I feel that it is the duty of every Alumnus, so far as he is able, to encourage this worthy effort of the students of Southern University. The work of the students, as excellent as it is, cannot meet all the demands of the Alumni and keep their enthusiasm for the institution aroused. Part of this task naturally

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