Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

Page 25 text:

 = History = of = ’93. h ® •AKLYI.K has said that all history is made up of the biographies of great men. Yet this is a history, though it deal only with the birth and existence of the Class of 93. No discrimination is made between its members, and the biographies of indviduals contribute equally to this masterpiece. Therefore—and the conclusion is logical—the members of 98 are all great men. No man was ever truly great whose greatness was ought but the result of the working of a master mind, directed in its efforts by a pure and simple life. In these men. then, we may reasonably expect to find both these « harac- teristics; nor will he who seeks them here be long in doubt as to their existence. So unqualified for membership in this talented organization is the ordi- nary man, that by far the most of those who sought to win a sheep pelt along with those who have since proved themselves worthy of the honor and respect we, as a Class,have always commanded, failed ignominiotislv. Before the com- pletion of the Freshman year more that forty-five percent, of the original num- ber had returned to the domestic hearth to receive condolence from sympa- thizing parents. Our life in College has been the truly ideal one. so strikingly contrasted with that of many of our fellows that our unostentatious demeanor and pure motives have made of us the example of all high minded students, and the tar- get at which the vicious and idle “ hurl their arrows of jealously and spleen. So untainted with idleness and immorality is the character of the Class, that “Ninety-three, the Ideal, ’ must come to signify in College circles much the same as did the oft quoted proverb of the (Jreeks — “ a life like that of I’arme nides,” the Eleatic sage. 19

Page 24 text:



Page 26 text:

So remarkable was llie growth in wisdom of the first principle, the funda- mental element, the essence of the (’lass, that at the close of the Sophomore year forty-three per cent, of the remainder of the Class confessed their ina- bility to maintain a respectable position among ns, and withdrew. Nor were any of these men such as could not attain a position of prominence in any other Class, as is shown by the fact that they will all (save one who has already won a by no means unenviable name in the ministry of the Church), receive degrees from either the University of Michigan or from Williams, even before Kenyon shall have made herself forever famous by conferring similar titles upon ourselves. Membership in such a Class is, of course, desirable, and not a few from oilier noted institutions have endeavored to gain admittance; but from among them all, one, and only one, remains. He has been with us two years, and given ample proof of superior ability, sagacity, and forethought. Our history, as our life in College, is unmarred by acts of overbearance and tyranny, and in retrospect appears an application to reality of the doctrine of harmony and proportion advanced by Pythagoras and his disciples five cen- turies before the Christian Era. Historian.