Aurora University - Pharos Yearbook (Aurora, IL)

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Perhaps the cardinal advantage of a small liberal arts college is the intimate relationship of the student with his teachers. At Aurora College this advantage is supplemented. Not only is personal at- tention given in the Classroom but it is also the purpose of the college to assist in the development of the total person- ality. This theory is implemented by persons of Christian conviction who are con- vinced that the hours spent in sympa- thetic counseling guide young people to wholesome concepts of serviceable liv- ing. The two persons on the campus who perhaps most nearly personified these ideals this year were our two counseling deans, Mrs. Elizabeth S. Knechtel and Mr. Harold A. Cooprider. Their coun- seling duties were supplemented by such things as Mrs. Knechtelis active part in the social functions of the college women such as VVomenis Day and Mr. Coop- rider's enthusiastic participation in in- tramural games. OUR COUNSELING DEANS

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PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT- EMERITUS President Stephens this year wrestled with the problem of how Aurora College could best serve its young people. Realizing that the exploration of bet- ter ways of teaching values has large educational significance, President Ste- phens this year gave his leadership to a group of Aurora College teachers who worked intensively on this instructional emphasis. Like his predecessor, Dr. Orin Roe Jenks, who for many years has given un- selfishly of his strength to promote Au- rorais interests, President Stephens has brought to the heavy demands of the college presidency a spirit of Christian service. In January, 1951, his chapel address, HHis Hand on Your Shoulderf epitomized the humility and faith with which Theodore P. Stephens, in a difii- cult year, looks ahead to a useful future for Aurora College. -23..

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Our Faculty Character and scholarship are the ideals of Aurora College. These ideals must be gained individually but they can be observed collectively in the persons of our faculty members. The scholarship is witnessed not only by the Ph.D's on the faculty register, but by those Who are still engaged in graduate study. To observe the character of these persons is not difiicult. It is evidenced in student-counselor conferences encouraged by this years new mid-quarter grading system, and student-faculty sports of which the annual Thanksgiving Day football game is an example. The personal contact between faculty and students at Aurora is signally close. Whether one is Cheering beside the Pfeiffers at a football game, playing opposite Mark Trumbo in a volley ball eon- test, or being entertained by the Faculty Quartet at a Christmas party, he is impressed by the fellowship between the instructors and students. These ideals are immutable in one sense, but to uphold them in a changing world a progressive attitude is needed, and this atti- tude is shown by our faculty in their attendance at conferences of educators and the research conducted this year under the direction of Dr. Ralph W. Tyler of the University of Chicago. Left to right, Iirst row: Clarence Smith, Doris Colby, Ethel Tatper, Frances Preslar, Sonya Spiesman, iMadge Finlze, Frances iMundell, Theodora Simlen, Hlice Walker, Eleanore iMcFarlane, Dorothy Grouse, Isobel Pfeiffer; second row: Gerald Rirhardson, Jlarlz Trumbo, Moses Grouse, Clyde He- u'itt, Carl Selin, Iiarold Cooprider, Slanley Perry, Samuel thFarJane, Laverne Gillaey, Theodore Stephens, ?Villiam Tliornboruugh, James Crimi, x1311 Colby, Robert Pfeiffer, Phillip Lewis, Barron Knechtel.