Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HOMO SAPIENS, ESQ. A Biography in Four Chapters

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EDITORIAL APOLOGY O daughters of men! wise are you beyond the wisdom of children, for you have dedicated your Hves to the pursuit of that greatest of all studies, the study of Man! Fathers, who begot you; brothers who have teased you, and worshipped; cousins, uncles, and nephews, who amused you; and lovers, who adored you; all melt into one great mystery of Manness, whose secrets you shall discover, whose hearts you shall bare, whose souls you shall unfold to the awaiting world in all the solemn splendor of true scholarship — O noble virgins! Wise were you when you searched the seas and mountains, the sands of desert and the fruitful valleys, and brought back not a jaguar, not an emu, but a man — O noble virgins! It is in humility before you, then, that we who chronicle these few brief moments of your lives, dedicate ourselves to the cult of that human race. True, our pens are chained, our eyesight hindered, by the limits of our experience; this world. in which we forage for scraps of insight is a tiny world, cloistered from the rough winds of commerce and war — but even so, perhaps this one slight glimpse of one slight aspect of our subject may assist you in your researches. What is set down in these pages is tendered with modesty and a true scientific passion for data. You guessed as much, didn ' t you, when we sent you those questionnaires? O noble virgins! Our chief regret, of many which obstruct the even tenor of our sleep, is that the data we have obtained concerns not man, but woman! Bear with us, dears, and remember that even woman may be a noble subject! Perhaps the abstractions which we present here may be of assistance to you, when, your loins girded and your tools at hand, you face the world from Rockefeller Arch, and begin your ordained work. Remember, too, that these abstractions constitute a chart of one rib of that great Adam you are to explore. O noble virgins!

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The Year Book of 1933 CHAPTER ONE On September 25, 1929, at 6:30 in the evening, we hundred and score noble virgins seated ourselves in Pembroke Hall before plates of brown and evil soup. We proved our courage by consuming it utterly. Thus, symboHcally, the indomitable will of ' 33 was set forth. This was only the first of many ordeals designed to eliminate the unfit, if there were any such. Next we had to learn the lay of the campus, in spite of the decorative twists of the Handbook map. This effort ended in success, as did also those to learn the workings of the library and the whims of the Self-Government Association. Our achievements on the English Placement Tests alone remain a mystery. Five days later the upperclass ' men invaded our new domain. We held doors open for them, but we were having as good a time as they were, so what of it? The triumphant result of our Parade Night assured us that we were of no inferior mettle. Our scholastic careers, too, began to take form. We all ordered Barrett Wendell ' s English Composition and Hill ' s Rhetoric to be the nuclei of what would undoubtedly be distinguished libraries in the near future. Distribution, of caps and gowns in which we were to sing in Greek, no less, marked the climax of our elation at being in college. When we had appeared in this same costume for one whole Monday, the novelty wore off. From then on we began to feel chagrin at being only Fresh ' men. On Banner Night the Juniors gave a skit taking off professors we didn ' t even know. We were left with a slightly hollow feeling. The next great occasion was the first of the Bryn Mawr series. We all turned out in our best dresses, prepared to absorb Culture. Alas, that in years to come we should only remember the occasion when the pre miere danseuse nearly lost her skirt; Hallowe ' en brought various excite ' ments. Denbigh, stronghold of democracy, celebrated innocently with a pig. But in Merion, where a primeval caste system still prevailed, Fresh ' men were frightened all night only to be humiliated the next morning. The less intellectual side of college, which most of us had become aware of through wide-eared listening in the smoking rooms, found overt expression in the Pembroke Passion Players. The discussion of the Liquor Question in the Auditorium awakened us further to opinions ■ [ 13 ]