Eckerd College - Logos Yearbook (St Petersburg, FL)

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The big event was ground breaking on September 24, 1961. One hundred eighty-six shovels had been collected by the committee from various colleges and universities across our land. After a speech by Vance Packard, music by the Concert Choir, and lots of so- lar radiation, we, the college community— students, faculty, administration, and trustees —gathered by twos and threes on the pad for the Dendy-McNair Auditorium and jointly turned our shovels and spades of earth. One year later, almost to the day, the men moved into nearby, but not quite completed, dormitories. Meanwhile, the latest news of construction was of constant interest. Our biggest hassle that semester was the dispute over the court system. The Honor Court justices had spent the summer re-thinking our needs and the means we hod for meeting them. They proposed three levels of courts instead of the existing two. For weeks we argued the issue. At one point it looked as though the majority of students favored the two-court system. Then, strangely, the cry was all in favor of the three-court system. Then, the cries faded and nothing was done. Life is full of paradoxes, and one is evident among the students of FPC: Wher- ever you may go during the hustle, to class, meals, and other activities, you hear murmurs of discontent, though they often rise above a murmur. If you have time to drop everything and join in to ofFer your opinion, you probably could offer quite a few complaints and suggestions yourself. Why? Because it is the same old tune, with a !arge chorus, in notes of discord, the words being: Where is social life at FPC? Until the other night, many people would probably have an- swered: There is none! However, on October 20, in the snack bar, a group of students held an informal get-together, with some guitars, songs and enthusiastic singers. Not only did people hear news of it, they came, enjoyed it, and stayed! There was a chain reaction from this spontaneous activity and the enthusiasm spread like sparks. There are several reasons that social life is just two words to be cut t o ribbons here, yet there are no reasons for the lock of initiative among the students to do some- thing to give those two words meaning at FPC. It takes a few ideas, a lot of enthusi- asm, and a great deal of initiative and leadership. How about it? When you claim that social life is lacking, ask yourself what you are contributing. Did you fill out one of the suggestion blanks of the Social Club [Social Committee]? Have you taken interest in the clubs, student assemblies, and other offered activi- ties? ' ° The word apathy was not yet part of our vocabulary, but the phenomenon was. Con- nected with it was a slow decline of our morale. It was at its usual low before Thanks- giving and Easter. All was not black that semester. Far from it. Despite staff troubles, the Trident published two issues. The Drama Club began to practice for Henrik Ibsen ' s Hedda Gabler, the choir went touring. The Men of N (wing, that is) held Soiree d Tara as the Fall For- mal. We began to enjoy the second Artist-Lecturer Series. The Science department got a three-year $30,000 grant from the Research Corporation of New York. We chose our cheerleaders and watched the basketball team prepare for a new season. We were hosts to the Southern Judo Championship in our lecture-hall-dance-hall-chapel-

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12 formulated, or begun. In an end-of-the-term furor, the Trident proposed, and the Col- lege Community decisely rejected, a plan for Freshman Initiaton. Help Week was to take Its place. All the major foundations of student life were laid. We had reason to congratulate ourselves and the mentors who had pushed, coaxed, kicked, and smiled us through the year and its many triumphs . . . and troubles. Especially dear to our hearts was Western Civilization: SUDDENLY, LAST SEPTEMBER ... It all started (but really it may not hove be- cause I can ' t be sure of my position In the time continuum) v ith the need to es- tablish a frame of r eference for my Existential search for meaning In the macroform of the culturally relative reality which I, in my alienation, perceived to exist. The crying need to maintain and enhance my phenomenal self on the proper levels of relative morality acceptable to my culture led me to contemplate the symbol in the vain hope that I could achieve Nirvana. But some Sebastian at the Spring Formal kept urging me to gouge ' em, and be real and study the microform. I Next slide, please.) Anyhow, one day I quit picking my boils long enough to ask the elastic universe whether or not it was relevant to ask where I was at. From ten heterophonic voices shouting in ostinoto motif come back: Frankly, we don ' t know!, which. Doc, is why I ' m here. Now, if you ' ll just shut your window. . . ' The summer of 1961 was notable in three ways. We had our first language summer school. With Ford Foundation backing, we tried and partially succeeded in recruiting more students than in 1960. There was only twelve more to be exact, but in the process of getting that class 162, our field workers brought our college to the attention of a wide section of the nation. Of less note, but equal importance, was the slow but sure work of the ground breaking committee. We were honored by the Danforth Curriculum Conference in the form of an invitation to Dr. Bevan and three of our professors to attend a curriculum workshop in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We were the talk of the conference. Pre-college conferences were notable for Dr. West ' s cooking of steaks, upperclassmen ' s doing too good a job of telling freshmen how tough the academic load was, and trips to the new campus. Most of our mentors got well earned and much needed vocations. The Year of Disillusion 1 96 1 -62 Our second year began with the usual rush of testing, orientation, and registration. Help Week was not as successful as had been hoped. Distance and conflicting pressures pre- vented thorough planning and execution. One hundred Founding Freshmen came back to greet with great joy and relief the new Class of 1965. We spent a lot of time those first few weeks just getting acquainted. We spent even more studying. Those of us who hod made it through the first year had a seriousness of purpose and a much better un- derstanding of what college was all about.

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14 auditorium during early November. Our professors, administrators, students, and musicians spoke and song at increasing numbers of engagements. Our sailing club contributed its share to our tradition of creating new institutions by doing some of the major work in founding the Southeastern Intercollegiate Sailing As- sociation. In the first regatta (November 23, 1961) we lost to Stetson Law School, Stetson University of Deland, and St. John ' s River, Junior College. In our second regatta, during Christmas vacation, we came in second, behind Rollins College. The approach of Christmas brought exams, college Christmas Vesper Service, the an- nual Choir Concert, a semi-formal at the Million-Dollar Pier, several receptions, and preparations for Mid-Winter Semester. The Men of N gave the Christmas serenade. We studied, took our exams, and were glad to escape the concrete peninsula for a few weeks. Our second winter term was more serious than the first. Except, that is, for our represent- atives in Mexico who managed to fall off mountains, drop soap in streams, and In general enjoy themselves while studying Spanish and Anthropology. We who stayed at home found time for the Snack Bar, sleeping late, and enjoying ourselves, too. But a great deal more work got done than In the preceding year. The second semester, 1961-1962, was probably the lowest ebb in our corporate spirit. Trident told the story. Headline: WE ' RE BACK IN THE SADDLE. The date, March 9, 1962. It was Volume Two number three. A new staff had finally been formed. CONSTITUTIONAL FUTURE IS DIM? After a four-month pre-occupation with trinkets and trivia, taking port in a revival of student interest is really exciting. This interest hod nevertheless led thus for to a most unfortunate course of action. The SGA had again set out to constitute a com- plete judicial system, this time beginning with preliminary referendums to deter- mine which of four basic types of judicial system the students prefer. We cannot help thinking that a few students have started at the same point in our problem— the middle— as we did before; that we are pursuing a fixed goal with even more desperate obstinacy than before, and that we will reach the same sort of impasse. We have called the present course desperate. Only the tremendous administrative pressure now being applied could force the Constitution Coordination Committee to hope for success. The CCC and the whole student body have been led to believe that the faculty is ready to assume full disciplinary authority unless the students constitute a new court system, immediately. We submit on good authority that not only are many faculty unaware of this proposal, but also that concentrated effort by the administration will be required to cram such a proposal down the faculty ' s throats. In this light the administration ' s threat appears as a scare tactic of the most vulgar kind. The justification ofFered for the tactic seems to be this. You have been unable to constitute a satisfactory court system in eighteen months; therefore, you must do it in one week. We beg the authors of this logic to run, not walk, to the nearest Johnson or Irwin. Considering the circumstances, we believe that the pres- ent course of the student government is cowardly, short-sighted, and will almost surely prove futile.