Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

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DAVIDSON 1964-65 This year has heen a year of change aiul desire lor more change: change the faculty oath, change the drinking rule, change the fraternity system, change the required .Utendani.e .u chapel and Vespers rule, chanye tlie football program, change the whole subsidized athletic program, ciiange the S. C. Tournament rules, ch.iii e the lighting system around the c.impus, change our morals, change, change, change, nothing is good by itselt. But this is not to say that this ear is so different from any other year ex- cept to say that this year some change has taken place, perhaps more in many fields than was e er expected. Quoth an ancient Greek sage, there is nothing permanent except change. The 1965 Quips and Ckanks allempts to aipiiire a small part nl this change. During tlie imir ears set aside for collegiate experience, the entire emotional and intellectual make-up of us all undergoes a degree of change. What, though, c in,i ,isk. is ilu- purpose I lluse changes? The answer, simple enough, lies in a hii nf pliiliis()|ih basic to this insti- tution: Da ' idson is a pri aie college wiili .1 public responsibility. To serve the public, the college must meet increasing demands of society. Translated intt) |iractical terms, this means rigorous academic iei|iiire ments. but e en more, it means that Da idson must jireparc its slutlents to meet the challenges of life, to become a whole iierson; intelligent, yes, but also fluent, social, sensitixe, cultured, and wise. And in the end. what shall we tt ' rm the ultim.ite challenge— lour years of college, successfully completed, ielding the degree, and its symbol, a single fold of parchment? That and a dime will get you a cup of cofTee. Indeed, the greatest challenge lies not specifically in Ixxiks, grade-point averages, athletics, clubs or chapel. All these follow when the one is achieved. The sole, all-important ch.illcnge that Davidson oilers is the simple challenge to find one ' s self.

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Reaction follows challenge as assured ly as an effect follows a cause. And they are all unique, unmistakably stamped with the mark of the individual. Re- actions give birth to forced decisions- failure to react is as revealing as full scale reaction. Da idson students have been challenged this year, and to say the least, the reactions have been felt down to the very foundations of this institution. A little over eight months ago the annual pilgrimage back to this bastion of higher learning ground into high gear. Greek wheels, sporting idealistic soiled rush insignia, took the irgin crop in hand and began to play the big brother role. In the freshman dorms, Pop warned Junior to watch out for card sharks and loose ladies, and Mom wouldn ' t lea e until she rechecked the name tags on her poor dear ' s underwear and had the bed covers turned down. Roommates gawked at each other, find- ing nothing in common except mem- bcrsiiip in the Beta Club, and wonder ing how Mrs. Nicholis could possibly have paired them unless she drew the lefto ers from a hat. At any rate, the partnership would do well to sur i e si.x weeks. Group meetings of the freshmen and of the football team monopolized early campus activity, the former learning the true meaning of the slogan on tiie rug in the Davidsoniana room in the library, Alenda Lux LIbiOrta Llbertas, the latter wishing they had never heard of Alenda Lux in any form. The pur pose of Davidson was somewhat con fused as rush parties preceded classroom acti itics. You remember rush. Riisii is the time ol WAV when e ervono m.ikcs up his face, and the basements become unusualK crowded. Each fraternity has a different system: some just circulate, others divide and conquer; one grmip has hand signals, and one just sings gross fraternity songs. (Funniest thing, that last one hasn ' t lost a boy in years.) Rush is o er, and the brothers wipe o(f the smile and get back to the business at hand. It ' s time for that soiihislicated, social endeavor, the first fraternity party. Now, contrary id po]iular mis conceptions (especially among the fac ulty since they aren ' t allowed to recog nize such things and therefore can ' t attend), Davidson ' s fraternity parties arc actually quite ci iii ed. I hcse par ties see Da idson ginijcmen escorted by all sorts of female accompaniment, Queenies, townies. Briars, Conversies, Scottkins, Salemites, home-townies, and, alas, nursies. Nursies are the perennial nemesis of the fraternity system, running back home to mommy with wild tales of nocturnal naughtiness, which they explain in the most elaborate medical terms. Ihere ought to be a law against nursies, or at least against their mothcfS ' . Page Si.x