Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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: jnSTORYvOFvSo.- ' DP E may conceive of college life as a grand drama, enacted year after year by those who are wrestling with ignorance, intelli- gence being the prize. While there is great difference in detail, the salient feat- ures are always the same and serve as links which connect the annual dramas, showing that they are the same thing seen from dif- ferent standpoints and enacted by different persons. Thrice have the scenes shifted in their order before cur eyes, and we have advanced from silent spectators to the chief actors in the play. One by one the scenes which have become familiar during the past three years move before us for the last time Is it, then, any wonder that we take part in them with a will hitherto unknown and watch their departure with longing, wistful, per- haps tearful eyes? A few weeks ago we saw the last tussle on the campus that will grace the eyes of ' 83, and now the class is called upon to produce a record of its deeds for the last Epitome that will be published during its college life. Hv perusing the volumes which contain the history of past ages, we learn th ' atwar and discontent constitute the historian ' s most ordinary topics. Those who have manfully met us on the field of battle we have long since vanquished, and though discontent may for a season have reigned beneath the hard rules of the Faculty, the difficulty has always been settled in an amicable manner. The skirmishing of those who accuse us of clownish behavior when we promise ourselves a good time and day free from restraint at the Allentown Fair, or of those who, forgetting that the student is human, would deny him the pleasure of a cane-rush or an occasional bon fire, is not worthy of notice at this place. The struggles of individuals to acquire studious habits by overcoming more natural inclinations must ever remain a private matter, while much of great interest dare never pass beyond the class barriers. These considerations render the task of the historian somewhat difficult : yet so numerous is the material from which to compile, that the difficulty becomes one of selection. The second term of our junior year was characterized by no extraordinary event, save that a prolonged enforced vacation prevented us from displaying our muscle at the sports and our capacity for food and mirth at a class supper, while it obliged us to keep our minds on the stretch to accomplish the year ' s work, which, nevertheless, we did with credit to ourselves. And here ' 83 14

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flISWYTOFm- i j

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found an opportunity of establishing a new custom at Lehigh, which met the hearty approbation of all. We gave the class which had received us with jeers and taunts when first we came to Lehigh from our comfortable homes, a glori- ous send-off in the shape of a hop, when they for the last time left Lehigh to return to their homes, thus earning their thanks and the praise of the ladies for the splendid get up. As seniors we present a solid front. A seemingly insignificant accident has prevented one man from being with us hitherto. He has the heartfelt sym- pathy of the entire class, and we earnestly hope that he may soon be restored to his place. What can argue more strongly the good feeling which pervades the class than the unanimity of the class elections ? Five minutes was found amply sufficient for transacting that important business, though it may seem rather degrading to prescribe such narrow limits for a senior class meeting. However, we boldly asserted our dignity one morning when pressing business induced us to enter into a conspiracy against the powers that be. When we compare the University as it now is with what it was when ' 83 first approached its walls, what a contrast ? The neglected campus, with its sev- eral foot-paths, has been converted into a magnificent park, with splendid drives and walks ; the trees which once added to the gloomy and deserted appearance, now, together with carefully kept flower-beds, enhance the beauty of the scene. The thousands of volumes in the library, and the gymnasium, soon to be completed, with a new laboratory and chapel in prospecto, render the student unwilling to part with his Alma Mater. To leave the exterior, not only has Packer Hall been refurnishe.l, but what more concerns the welfare of the college, the Faculty has been greatly enlarged both in numbers and in talent. Then, too, we have witnessed, but not passively, the establishment of a first-class college paper ; we have seen a literary society rise, and, alas ! fall, while the engineering society is thriving. Though intruding upon the domains of orations during commencement week, a few words concerning the future of the class may not be amiss. The often asked and seldom satisfactorily answered question is, What do you intend to do after getting through ? A few hinted that their intention is to make Paris howl, but it is improbable that their efforts will be crowned with such unprecedented success. If it be our lot to toil on in obscurity, let us remember that honest diligence is its own reward. And now, having discharged my duty as historian, I step from the stage, hoping that ' 83 may hold her own while at the University, and that the same success may accompany her in after life which has characterized all her efforts here. Historian. ' ?