Bluffton University - Ista Yearbook (Bluffton, OH)

Page 29 text:

ls :SIA Uhr Gatvmag tn fbppurhmitg O speak of a gateway to opportunity undoubtedly appears to some people as gross an inconsistency as speaking of Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. We accede this supposition if Opportunity's Gateway symbolizes spontaneous and wholesale accumulation as the lapping of the clear and sparkling waters of the Ponce de Leon's Fountain typifies the gift of perpetual youth. But if a young person should be placed in such an environment, that the scope of his intellectual eye be so widened as to comprehend in some measure Nature's enigmas, to understand the whims of humanity and to rejoice in his joys and sympa- thize in his sorrows, that a knowledge of the laws governing life and humanity be obtained to enable him to better enjoy life, and that he be prepared for his chosen vocation and life's work in such a manner as to render the greatest possible service to humanity, then, and only then would he have truly entered the Gateway of Oppor- tunity. Such a Gateway, and in no wise idealized, young people have found the one pictured above to be. 27

Page 28 text:

'W' 5. Frupuarh M1-n's Enrmitnrg NE of the objects of the great forward movement of Bluffton College, was to provide a much needed dormitory for men students in our institutions. The plans for the same were drawn by the well known architects McLaughlin and Hulslcin of Lima, Ohio, and submitted at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees February 1. 1917. The above cut shows the building to be of much the same style as Ropp Hall. Accommodations will provide for seventy-Eve roomers. The estimate cost is 535,000 of which a little more than S3000 has been subscrib- ed to date. The erection of the building has been postponed due to the abnormal con- ditions brought about by the war, but the construction will be begun as soon as condi- tions warrant. Just as Ropp Hall was made possible thru the generosity of the Ropps of Bloom- ington, Illinois, the opportunity is yet open for some friend of the boys of Bluffton Col- lege to provide this much needed building as an enduring movement of their faith in the possibilities of creating Christian young manhood in and thru their donations. 26

Page 30 text:

'Wa .Cl 4 Umilight an th: Qlampuu UNSET, the beautiful close of a balmy spring day! The radiant sun sinks slowly behind the distant horizon and casts over the bolder colors of the trees, flowers, buildings and drives, an iridescent shimmer of a rose. As the light gradually vanishes, the tall, stately trees become indistinct and mingle with the bushes and shrubs in a gray blur. The wild flowers at their feet become only moving fiecks of white in the twilight. The reflection of the college building fades from the mirror of the lagoon and leaves only the smooth surface of dark water. One last red ray cuts through the gathering gloom then disappears, leaving the campus wrapped in a soft and stealthy darkness. The quiet is broken only by the whisper of the winds through the leaves and by the occasional monotonous song of the frogs in the lagoon. Twilight on the campus is a scene that would make an artist long for more vital tints and a poet for a magic pen. 29 .