Mansfield University - Carontawan Yearbook (Mansfield, PA)

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CARONTAWAN

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Our school has existed for 130 years, which seems like a long time. Its evolution has included the stages of classical seminary, normal school, state teachers college, college, and finally Mansfield University. When compared to Harvard and the College of William and Mary, which were founded in the 17th century, Mansfield is young. When compared to the early European universities such as Siena and Padua, we are infants! But despite our relatively recent origin, we have a commonality with all our predecessors. All universities have had at their core students who seek to change their lives and faculty members who want to help them. All universities have had a curriculum and a mission. That mission was sometimes narrow - to prepare clergy -, sometimes broad - to provide a liberal education -, but a mission was always present. Through the years, universities changed. The curriculum was expanded by the addition of new courses. Faculty members became more specialized. Classrooms became part of an elaborate physical plant and clubs, teams, and social activities became more important. Students changed also. Their numbers increased, and as their needs changed, they sought new services. Mansfield is a reflection of the evolution we have described. Our student body has grown from less than 200 to more than 2,000. In 1857 our faculty included les than a dozen teachers, now we have 170. Our original curriculum consisted of about 50 courses; today we offer more than 500. We had one building; now 30. Until a few years ago we sponsored three or four athletic teams, none for women; today we have 14, half of which are for women. A discussion of the historical development of universities is less complicated than attempting to depict their future. Nevertheless, I will share some estimates. Many people believe that change comes slowly to the academic community. I suggest that during the next decade universities will change more rapidly than before. These changes will occur as a result of public pressure, as a result of student demands, and because of the impact of new methods of instruction. I suggest that the character of the student body will also show significant change. Its age will change, its racial and ethnic composition will be different, and attendance patterns will be less traditional. Finally, the composition of our faculties will change. Nationwide, it is estimated that 50% of the professoriate will retire within the next ten years. There is a growing concern related to the quantity and quality of the pool from which replacements will be drawn. Mansfield University has met many challenges during its 130 years, including two world wars and the great depression. Mansfield has changed from a narrow, prescribed curriculum to a broad one with over 50 different major programs. Just as we met these earlier challenges, so will we meet those of the future. We will do so because education is of timeless value. Education is of inestimable value in obtaining job skills as the foundation for a career. But even more important than this, education makes students better. It makes them wiser; it gives them a perspective against which to measure their own lives; it gives them the sophistication and the virtue necessary to be citizens in a successful democracy. Our country, more than any other in the world, recognizes these values of education. These values lay behind the founding of Mansfield Classical Seminary in 1857; they underlie the Mansfield University of 1987; and they will support the Mansfield University of the twenty-first century. For you, the members of the class of 1987, I can only hope and trust that Mansfield has, indeed helped to make you better. Recall for a moment what you were like as you first stepped onto the campus and compare that with what you are now. Now you are going into the wide world, and for many of you that is more than a little frightening. But you are ready, believe me, to join the generations of Mansfield graduates who have made their mark on that world. You may think that you are leaving Mansfield University, but that is not so. You are merely passing from the stage of student to that of alumnus. You will never, truly, leave Mansfield, and Mansfield will never leave you. I wish you the best.