Culver Military Academy - Roll Call Yearbook (Culver, IN)

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16 Reactions to Religion Independent religious congregations have been burgeoning this year—mostly cults with a select membership of one. A poll taken at the year ' s outset noted not only a number of agnostics, but the presence of such fractional groups as Existentialists, Epicurians, and several Protestants. Normally lenient towards these sects, the Academy’s religious liberality was protested when a prominent teak Buddha (Clyde) was deposed as a trinket. The Chapel is the center of Culver’s non-sectarian worship during weekly matins and Sunday chapel services. Religion is not as conspicuous the remainder of the week when barracks echo “Oh God!” more often than the sanctuary. While unbowed heads might indicate those who refuse to recognize God at all, others find His omnipotence stretches far enough to provide Cordon trips to Beason Park to escape Saturday Inspections. I will not worship that which ye worship; nor will ye worship that which I worship . . . Ye have your religion, and I have my religion. The Koran

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Spirit. It’s usually lowest in the morning. It touches bottom somewhere between 6:40 and 6:43. During the fall, the Culver Song and a “Big 15” are measures of spirit. What could be more exciting than a football game, especially when it’s a required formation? But, by the end of the first quarter, most of the Corps’ enthusiasm is gone. Most of the Corps is gone, too. Only the Band remains without absentees to make up in quality what is sometimes lacking in quantity. Not all activities lack interest at Culver Military Academy! Every Thursday evening three quarters of the first class unite in front of the television set in Beason, where for one hour Star Trek overrules any other preoccupation. Culver has other big events that evoke spirit throughout the year. Homecoming. Mother’s Day. Haircut Day. Friday. Nothing is achieved without enthusiasm— the way of life is wonderful; it is by abandonment. Ralph Waldo Emerson Reactions to Spirit 15

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Culver students fall into one of two dissimilar categories — cadets or coeds. What are girls doing enrolled at a military academy? Until recently, the answer might well have been, “They’re not girls, they’re coeds” — a generic term labeling the daughters of the faculty. After 10 years of sitting in the remote corners of classrooms, the girls have finally come into their own. Besides attending classes, they have participated in football games (selling refreshments), publications, theater, and occasionally the dances. Yet, most of the Corps lives for the guest weekends and a date with a girl from home or, at least, the risky venture of a blind date. No matter how hard coeds tried, most cadets maintained a certain reserve absent from other encounters. With most people there will be no harm in occasionally mixing a grain of disdain with your treatment of them; that will make them value your friendship all the more. Arthur Schopenhauer Reactions to Girls 17