DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

Page 19 text:

With the arrival of spring the business of school was once more proceeding with equa- nimity. DePaqu undergraduate contributions to the service had been slight, and both faculty and student body were once more absorbed in the routine of lectures and examinations. What the next year and the Following years would bring was largely a motterot conjecture. lt was evident that most of the Freshmen and sophomores would return in the toll. Juniors who Failed to meet ohcicers, training require- ments registered in the draft and planned to beat the lottery by going to summer school. Refusing to be pessimistic, Depouw looked ahead with a smile. Upper leFt-ln early days of the wor, four Phi Psis run 18-hour-c1- day news service. Upper right- President Wildmon presents oc- celeroted program to faculty and students. Lower lettoOn Febru- ary 16, selective service registers ePouw men, Lower rightoFar- sighted students and faculty disw cuss post-wor adjustment.

Page 18 text:

It did not take DePauw long to recoil From the initial stupelaction that came with the news of Pearl Harbor. Like someone who has sat on a hot iron, the student body erupted with rage and indignation. The Stars and Stripes were uncovered and rolled out windows; riFIes were snatched From corners and platoons were maneuvered about East College; several students hurried to Washington. Everywhere students swapped rumor and prognostication; everywhere roclios chanted communiquess ln one house a press room operated eighteen hours a day posting bulletins All this the administration viewed with some- thing of tolerance, more of disapproval. Agreeing that it was advisable to dampen the Fiery spirit somewhat, that body clrew itseIF into battle array, shoved into the breach the president ot the University, the president of the student body, and all lorensicclly inclined deans. This First speech ottensive was an apparent success: there was no exodus of males to recruiting stations; classes continued as usual; and the rage gradually subsided into a glowering antipathy. Meanwhile many chairs were being drawn up to the mahogany table upstairs in the Administration Building. Conferences were the rule: the Student AFFairs Committee con- terred With the administration; the president with the deans, the cleans with the registrar. Revolutionary alterations in courses and policy seemed imminent, but only vague rumors leaked out From the red brick building. Then, shortly before second semester registra- tion, the administration loosed its volley. Men twenty years old before the First 0F the year found themselves directly in line ol Fire,- they were to be members ot a class in physical Fitness. Furthermore, the whole curriculum had been streamlined and remodeled to otter courses in shorthand, typing, and navigation. The school year was hacked 09 a little at both ends to make room for a summer session, but students who had hoped for the abolition at Finals were disappointed. All in all the ad- ministration's second oFtensive was considered quite successful. ll there were any complaints, it was not because the measures had been too progressive, rather because they had not been enough so.

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The Face of DePauw during the years has undergone considerable lifting. New struc- tures have usurped the places of the venerated buildings of the 19th century; new faces have replaced those of the Grand Old Men of the faculty. The bonds oi the yesteryear might break altogether were it not For tradition. In time the physical ties will be severed, but tradition will always animate the ghost oi the DePauw 0? yesterday. Most publicized link with the past is the Boulder, which in its resting place beside East College is this year stonily celebrating its golden jubilee. Outwardly nothing more than an oversized rock, the Boulder is steeped in the traclition oi the past and present: it has served as the rallying point For warring sophomore and Freshman classes, the gathering point For return- ing alumni, the rendezvous lor campus enamore atae. It has been the phlegmatic spectator to countless pledgings, the passive victim of Wabash paint brushes. It was during the Columbian Exposition at Chicago that the Boulder was brought to De- Pauw. A Farmer originally unearthed it near Morton, and, thinking it a turtle shell, cannily erected 0 Fence around it and charged the curious admission. Dr. John Clark Ridpath, professor of natural science and ardent De- Pauw booster, conceived the iclea of bringing the Boulder to the campus as a memorial to the Columbian Exposition, all oF which was duly accomplished with the aid of two teams of horses, several lengths oF chain, and much 18 perspiration. Ridgecl with sinews of rock Formation, the Boulder still commemorates the Exposition with its seldom read inscription: u'l492-Columbian Boulder-By the Alumni, to Alma Mater ancl Posterity-i 899. A custom in which the Boulder played a vital part and which today is slowly expiring is the annual lreshman-sophomore battle. Before the advent of President Edwin H. Hughes, the struggles sputtered continuously, culminating in a melee about the Boulder on February 22. Disparaging such misdirection of energy, Pres- ident Hughes succeeded in 1906 in abolishing the incessant warfare, failed to substitute a tug of war For February 295 grand Finale, the ghost of which is still reenacted each Fall between halves of the First Football game. Unlike Old Gold Day, which can trace its birthday back to 1907, many of DePauws Festive occasions have no detinite date marking their inception but seem to have evolvecl gradually and obscurely to their present status. Such are Mothers' and Dads, Days, celebrated in May and November. May Day has come through the years accompanied by colorful pageantry, the origin of which cannot be ascribed to any one year. Other traditions become so legendary that it is cliicult to separate lact lrom Fancy. Such a one is the owl. Almost conclusive, however, is the proof that the bronze bird ol wisdom does not hoot at passing maidens. Originally intendr ed For decorative purposes, the bird perches atop a post-War monument which was once a Fountaini but which lost this utility when the cost of continually running water proved excessive. For over a century Depauw has been soaking up tradition, until today it is well stocked in all that goes to enrich a college's background. lts traditions are few but well founded; its customs small in number but Firmly established. Fifty-Year-Old Boulder -f