Boston Latin School - Liber Actorum Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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JOSEPH L. POWERS, Headmaster Page T irel re

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ADMINISTRATION

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A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD MASTER During the war years my Year Book message was addressed to boys who knew they were about to enter the armed forces and understood that their education was to be interrupted for an indefinite period and perhaps brought to a tragic end. The plans which they had made for college and for their future careers had to be suspended, at the best; and no boy could tell what lav ahead of him. We know with how splen- did a spirit those boys accepted the situation and offered their futures — in so many cases, their lives — to the defence of our country. Thank God, you are not called upon to make such a sacrifice. You can make your plans without any foreboding that they will suffer such dislocations as your elder brothers had to face. As the representatives of the nations meet in conference, we hope and pray that they may work out some arrangement which will ensure a lasting peace in the world. At any rate, please God, the probability of war seems remote at present; so you will doubtless be able to complete your education without interruption. This does not mean that you have no problems to solve. There is the immediate one of admission to college, and you all realize the seriousness of that problem. With civilian admissions limited because of the operation of the G. I. Bill, a high-school graduate’s chances are poor unless his scholastic performance and his personality record are high. That situation is likely to ease off somewhat after a few years; but just now it is apt to mean rejection, and post-graduate work, for boys with merely passing records. There is one interruption which may affect all secondary-school graduates. I refer to the possibility that the Congress may vote for universal military training. This would mean that a graduate would have to spend at least a year in training, either following his graduation from school or within the next four years. He would probably be allowed to choose his time of service; and each boy would have to settle that question according to his own plans- bearing in mind that much may happen in four or five years’ time. I think it is fair to say that the boys of Class I will, in all probability, be able to finish their college education without disturbance and should make their plans on that basis. Incidentally, they should pass the word along to the oncoming classes, that admission to college is harder to gain than it used to be. The Head Master and the Faculty extend sincere good wishes to you boys of 1947, and trust that you may prosper in college and in all your undertakings. Page Thirteen