Merrimack College - Merrimackan Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

Page 17 text:

Many historic places surround the college area. Among the most notable is the house of Anne Bradstreet, revered American poetess, located in the town of North Andover. Sanctuaries dedicated to the memory of Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Greenleaf Whittier are also close by. Slowly but surely a campus quadrangle began to evolve. A photograph taken from the second floor of the Fac- ulty House shows a volley ball game, a tag football match and a relaxing lunch period stroll. Located close to the scenic New England seashore, the college enticed students from its towns for the winter months, but in the summer they returned to its warm sands. A playground for all students in the Valley area it provides jobs and a summer meeting place.

Page 16 text:

[WNORTH ' AMOOVER. oweuu organic, inorganic, physical and advanced chemistry. The inter-collegiate debating team made its appearance on the forum, the Glee Club performed brilliantly at an Easter concert, while the Dramatic Club staged a rollick- ing jenny Kissed Me. The first Junior Week instituted the traditional round of varied activities that makes it the social event of the year. The skeletons of the Liberal Arts Building and the Faculty House were assuming shape as the fourth ac- ademic year began — a golden year, which held within its compass the very first Commencement rites of Merri- mack College and the planting of coeducational facilities here. The mid-winter presentation of the Dramatic Club, the two one-act comedies, shared a program with the Glee Club’s comic opera. The college joined the National Federation of Catholic College Students and the Merri- mack Chapter of the American Chemical Society con- vened for the first time. Lastly, as one of the college’s numerous enrichments of the life of the region, the Seniors entertained 291 happy orphans at a Christmas party. The spring term brought the all-male cast musical review of the Ja-Di-Gon-Sa, written and produced by the club members. As the Juniors continued to erect the distant outline of Junior Week, the Seniors dropped one by one from social life to prepare for their Compre- hensive and Graduate Record Examinations. In the spring Room Service, one of the most brilliant of the On-Stagers’ biennial farces, received critical accolades. Then the massed conviviality and release of Junior Week, the Senior banquet and outing, the bacculaureate service, and the mingled splendor and joy of Commencement . . . Is it an exaggeration to say that of the many com- mencements that will be observed on the campus of Merrimack, the first alone will blossom longest in the remembrance of those who witnessed it? The succession of events on those two days was stirring and unforget- table . . . Fathers McQuade, Gildea and Burns were ministers of the Bacculaureate Mass at the gymnasium Located a short distance from Merrimack, the town of Andover is a small, mostly residential district, with a wealth of his- torical background, that celebrated its tricentennial anniversary not long ago. The teeming city of Lawrence, the center of the important tex- tile industry in New England, sends many of its youths to Merrimack. Various classes take advantage of its valuable facili- ties. Port ■UAVERHILL Methuen 0 Law re nc- T 5L Sh awsh een GEOR ETOlON p ) Rouj ey j) )pswic+t V I ® 0 o AWDOV VVOBgR.N yVEL- Ps Ut EW TOM @ Boston the rapid development...

Page 18 text:

on Saturday, June 2, 1951. The Very Reverend Joseph M. Dougherty, O.S.A., Prior Provincial, in his address reminded the graduates that only self-sacrifice can guarantee happiness. On Sunday afternoon, a scene of latent drama and pathos unveiled before an audience of parents, relatives, and friends. First, the procession of graduates, faculty, marshals, distinguished guests and delegates marched around the Science Building, down the middle isle, and up to the decorated dais erected on the front entrance.- Most Reverend Thomas F. Markham, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, pronounced the Invocation, and the Prior Provincial, Father Dougherty, delivered the Ad- dress of Welcome. Then, Father McQuade conferred honorary degrees of Doctor of Law on Archbishop Cushing and Governor Dever; after which Fathers Gildea and Burns presented the first graduates for their di- plomas. William O’Connell, Jr., delivered the valedictory, and Father McQuade led the graduates in a Pledge of Loyalty: “to hold my degree as a sacred trust, an emblem of my obligation to serve, to hold it with untarnished The pioneer class received their diplomas at the historic first graduation, and memories of four years of friendship swelled up in the hearts of the undergraduates who were their friends, as they witnessed the conferral of degrees on a sunny Sunday afternoon, June 3, 1951. (Insert) William F. O’Connell, Jr., B.S., President of the Class of 1951, delivering the Valedictory address.