Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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President Rondileau The tragic assassination of President John Fitz- gerald Kennedy Friday afternoon, November 22, re- minds us most poignantly that life is a series of be- ginnings and endings. For several days the whole na- tion was caught up in sensing our national loss and in giving tribute to a gallant leader who lived and died for his country just as truly as if his life had been lost in action during a military campaign. Yet as we are taking the measure of our loss and this ending to one man ' s career and one President ' s leadership, we necessarily have to go forward and make a brave new beginning. The experience of our entire nation has its counterpart many times in the life of each and every one of us. There are endings and there are beginnings. We lose a dear one — a parent, a broth- er, a sister, a grandparent, a very close friend, and some of us in later life a husband or wife or even a child. For a time it seems as though life has come to an- end and it is hard to find strength and courage to make the necessary new start. Yet it must be made; life must go on. It is a curious fact that we have been so made biologically that we must sleep in order to maintain our health, vigor, or even life itself. Thus automatically our life consists of a series of beginnings when we wake up in the morning and endings when we go to sleep at night. This fact gives us not only biological re- cuperation, but just as important, psy- chological renewal. We have a chance to make a fresh start. The problems, real and fancied, momentous and triv- ial, assume a new perspective as we make a new beginning after we have of necessity through sleep withdrawn for a time from the pressure of the day ' s wor- ries and concerns. In the same way, we face the signif- icance and reality of beginnings and end- ings each semester, each school year, and indeed as an entering freshman and graduating senior from this college. The same is true with many events in our lives. Going to a new job, for instance, may involve leaving old friends and as- sociations and making new ones. It is a rare person who has no qualms what- soever about such endings and new be- ginnings. Yet it is helpful for us to know- that this is the great inherent nature of life itself. If we are thoroughly prepared personally and professionally, and if we have an abiding faith, we can live tri- umphantly through tragic endings and challenging beginnings. It is the honest hope and prayer of the faculty and administration of this college that every student may gain the knowledge and wisdom and deepen his faith through his experiences at Bridge- water so that he may acquit himself proudly in whatever challenging begin- nings and poignant endings he may en- counter at the college and throughout his life. Adrian Rondileau President 9

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... A Bridgewater Graduate • On the occasion of dedicating Bridgewater ' s and the Nation ' s first Normal School building, my most illustri- ous predecessor, Horace Mann, remarked that Among all the lights and shadows that ever crossed my path, this day ' s radiance is the brightest. Bridgewater ' s radi- ance has not diminished with age, but the flame has burned brighter with each passing year. For a century and a quarter its ever-widening circle of influence has been felt in this Commonwealth, throughout America, and on distant shores. But its influence, in the language of Emerson, stems from the lengthening shadow of great men and women who have been — and are — Bridgewater. • The class of 1964 enters the profession near the mid- point of a rather t urbulent decade. Less well-trained students and those lacking inspiration might falter, lose their sense of mission, and become engulfed in the trappings of an affluent society. The Bridgewater spirit pivots on a total and continuing commitment to what is good and excellent, and it is this spirit which points the way. For those of us who were privileged to arrive on campus a few years earlier, we are confident that to- day ' s graduates will serve the cause of education with distinction. The torch is in competent and willing hands. As you begin this new and challenging assign- ment, may your future be blessed abundantly with hap- piness and success. June 7, 1964 Owen B. Kiernan Commissioner of Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . Carries Home ssssss

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Dean of Studies LEE HARRINGTON A.B.. Holy Cross; M.Ed.. Bridgewater State College Deans Dean of Men HENRY A. MAILLOUX B.S., Fordham University; M.A., Columbia University Women M. SHEA B.S. in Ed., Bridgewater State College: M.Ed., Boston University; Ph.D.. University of Connect;