Emerson College - Emersonian Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 10 text:

This . . . Js Emerson Four years ago the largest class in the history of the college, to that date, made their entrance. They were the Class of 1950. Now, the four years gone, this class is graduating. During their span, they accomplished many things. And so by looking back into this period, we feel that we can best give you a glimpse of Emerson College. All phases of Emerson life have advanced. Our increased en- rollment necessitated improvements. Our radio department grew. Our faculty increased. Our administration was enlarged. In line with the increase in enrollment, our student activities also increased. The college catalog well details the administrative and academic end of the school, but we feel the real life and backbone of a school lies in the students and what they do. Therefore, we have gone back into four years to show you just what we have done. By reading and viewing this section, we feel that you will be able to say, This ... is Emerson .” ivry. The foremost student groups in a school are the individual classes. At Emer- son, each year, the various classes try to present some kind of affair. The first event sponsored by the classes, is a co-operative affair called the Interclass Dance. The Student Government sponsors the event, but calls upon representatives of various classes to aid them. During our school years we saw this fete held in several Metro- politan Boston Hotels, including the Statler and the Bradford. The Frosh are the experimentalists of the college. The type of affair which they present, generally during the second semes- ter, varies with the mood of the incoming classes. One radical freshman group, in recent years, sponsored an affair called The Backwards Dance,’’ in which girls were expected to pay the way for the boys. But this delightful idea, unfortunately, did not result in a tradition.

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Dedication The only conclusive evidence of a man s sincerity is that he gives himself for a principle. Words, money, all things else, are comparatively easy to give away: hut when a man makes a gift of his daily life and practice, it is plain that the truth, whatever it may be, has taken possession of him. . . . Lowell. For these reasons, so excellently expressed, and be- cause he has done so much for Emerson College with a cer- tain perfection and a personality embodying the finest in taste and culture, we dedicate the 1950 Emersonian to CHARLES W. DUDLEY, JR.

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The Sophomores, however, have their work cut out for them by tradition. Theirs is the annual and happy right to serve a faculty tea. Generally a November date is set aside for this. With the Juniors we reach what is regarded as the outstanding social event of the Emerson school year, the Junior Promenade. Held in one of the local hotel ballrooms, and featuring a good area orches- tra, this affair requires the most preparation. For most students, it is the Emerson social must. And finally we reach the Seniors, who lend an annual climax with their Commence- ment Ball, held each year during the final week of school. Hell Week should not be forgotten in recording the activity efforts of classes. The victims of the year before, the Sopho- mores, take over the gentle torture rites of this harrowing week for Freshmen. The punishment during September, 1949, in- cluded the wearing of baby bonnets, and the shortening of skirts for the girls, and the wearing of similar bonnets, a nd hitching up of the trousers for the boys. The Hell” comes in the form of making speeches, reciting poems, et cetera, and on the final night of the affair, the neo- phytes are taken through the torture cham- bers which the ingenious Sophomore group has set up. Similar feats of Hell” are duplicated annually by our fraternities and sororities during the weeks they set aside for hazing their new members. On other pages we have discussed the theatre at Emerson. This, as well as radio, is part of our training at the school. But annually a certain bit of initiative is allowed the students. In the theatre, we find it in the form of independent productions which students put on. They are generally sponsored by a sorority or a fraternity, and are, generally, on the lighter side. The school abounds in