Daemen University - Summit Yearbook (Amherst, NY)

Page 10 text:

The dual aspects of architecture, beauty and utility, are achieved in the harmonious blending of individual elements. As the outward expression of an architect’s concept, a building combines balance, proportion, sym- metry and order into an expressive entity, complete in itself. It is more than fanciful analogy that the basic laws and principles of architecture are applicable to the proper course of our lives as college students; in fact, the architect of a building is the ectype of the Divine Architect Himself to whose guidance we must submit our lives if we wish to achieve our proper end. To recognize order and design in our lives is to perceive that Divine Architect. On Him and in Him we build the foundation, strengthened as we are by a deepening comprehension of supernatural truth and by a more in- tensified realization of the beauty and logical precision of philosophic thought. The order, which of necessity must exist if we are to attain to completeness and beauty is neither achieved in- dependently nor is it thrust upon us. It is the natural and supernatural potential within each of us, brought to fruition by our teachers, who as guides and counselors, are co-operating artisans aiding us in executing the Divine Plan. Built upon the enduring foundation of Christ Himself, the strong walls of our educational development are as steadfast as the eternal verities they represent. It is appropriate that the Concentrations should be symbolized by these sturdy walls, broken as they are by windows which admit the light of wisdom. If any architect has attained the subtle quality we name beauty no matter how delicately refined its linea- ments may be, a building cannot survive the test of utility unless it is bound together intrinsically by an exact system of inter-relations which are predetermined in relation to purpose. It is in the religious and social as- pects of our lives, bound together under the one word activities” that we find this inter-relationship at Rosary Hill College. The hearth, symbol of unity, has been chosen to represent the inter-class spirited enthusiasm and co-operation which serve to unify all the diverse elements of college life into a common whole. The satisfactory completion of any design depends upon minute attention to detail and step by step accretion of elements without losing sight of the goal—which is first in intention, but last in execution. It is thus that we strive to achieve maturity and completeness in our college lives. Therefore, it is by steps—the steady pro- gression upwards—that we symbolize our progression through the college years. Standing, finally, at the door, paradoxically symbolic of both the end and the beginning for us, we come to a fuller realization of what we have built and to a more poignant awareness of what we have yet to build. It is now for us to bring to completion what was begun under the watchful guidance of our teachers — with a wisdom that was not our own—and thus fulfill our sacred destiny according to the master plan of the Divine Architect—because life is building, we are the builders. 7