Fordham University School of Education - Grail Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Just call me Eros! By far the most profound change that oc- curred in second year was one in our attitude toward ourselves and our activities. As Fresh- men we were too inclined to take ourselves too seriously, to try too hard to impress ourselves and other people with our importance in the universe. ln Sophomore year we began to de- velop that ability to laugh at ourselves that is always the mark of a fully mature person. The dances we attended were still gay cinderella affairs, The discussions we engaged in were still Olympian in consequence. The political coups we engineered in Student Council were still marvels of statemanship and the term papers we wrote were still masterpieces of erudition. But beneath it all, begining to view life sub specie aeternitatisw, we realized that what we were doing was merely practising for a real world outside, and an even more real world to come. Very early in the term we made our ac- quaintance with the class of '52 our foils in the initiation period and future sharers of coordi- nated extracurricular activity. With diabolic ingenuity, we cleverly concocted and proposed a series of initiation regulations that was al- most identcal with every other set of personal indignities of years gone by. l-lectoring these poor colleagues of the class of '52 until the avocation palled, we witnessed the evident en- Laughing with Lucien. joyment with which they cooperated in their own downfall. ln the traditional bury the hatchet post initiation set-to we wassailed each other in complete camaraderie with the traditional Nedick's Orange Drink. Regarding these innocents with unre- strained paternalism, we wondered whether we, too, were like these poor misguided souls when we were freshmen. ln a flood of reminis- cent self-pity we acknowledged the resem- blance. Very soon, however, distinct types began to emerge from the amorphous mass that con- stituted the class of '52 and from these types distinct personalities evolved. They also had their student leaders--such persons as John Lewis, George Martino and Pat Nicholas engin- eered the politics of the class even as we had run our politics. The activity conscious mem- bers like Alex Maccia, the Conroy twins and Rosemarie Rotondi soon made their presence felt on the various clubs. Creative writers like Ed Young and Bill Peltier began to scribble for the school paper and the athletic set led by Paddy Fahey began to dribble basketballs. Their poets Barney Donovan, Hazel O'Rourke and others began to write and be roundly de- nounced for cultural deviationism by the usual set of aesthetes the class possessed. Freshmen are ever the doormats of the Guess what we're serving? As they were when first we knew them . . .

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lems of the past and provided a plentifully stocked larder of food for thought. The qualities that characterize a good teacher do not necessarily exclude an exhaus- tively profound knowledge of the facts of subject matter. Coupled with warmth of per- sonality, enthusiasm, the ability to generate thought and develop logic entities, the impar- tial teaching methods of Mr. Reeve soon stood out for us as a model to be copied in our future activites as teachers. History was, for us during Sophomore year, no sterile record of the ob- scure deeds of long-dead men, but rather the record of the living thoughts of men of the past having much to offer toward the solution of modern problems. The teacher who teaches only subject mat- ter is a pedant. He who instructs and educates students is an ideal. Such was Mr. Flynn. His uncompromisingly realistic attitude came as a welcome respite from the high flaunted ideal- istic clap-trap that, essentially false, we ex- perience too often today. However much our youthful idealism disagreed with his views, we could not but arouse a profound interest in them and be the gainers from having experi- enced them. He always permitted and encour- aged those of us who had logical objections to his interpretations. His classes were never dull and he held us in continual amazement at his unfailing ability to pick up the class at just the point where he had left off with never a note in sight. An undistributed middle, l'm afraid. ' What-my picture? Another one of those gimmicks! We were profoundly shocked and saddened at the sudden and untimely death of the be- loved Dr. Deshel. We never fully realized the benefits we had gained through our short but intimate acquaintance with this Christian gen- tlemen, nor can we conceive of those we lost through his demise. The teacher who gains the most respect and gratitude is the one who demands much from his students. Compelled to devote many long hours of study and effort in order to get along with Fr. Smith, we benefitted from our association with this kindly but obdurate task- master and realized that if more of our teachers were of his stamp, we would gain much more from our studies, ln Art Appreciation, we trekked merrily along to the unfailing humor of Mrs. Nihill. The darkened room resounding with laughter was the hallmark of our reception of art from this engaging personality. At the end we came to some appreciation of the history and criteria of good art and wondered why a comparable course in music appreciation had never been installed in the curriculum. Well, it was this way.

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. . . and as they are now. upper classmen and the class of y52 could claim no exemption in this regard. We pleaded, cajoled, exhorted and extorted their monetary and moral support for our endeavors and they responded with all the enthusiasm associated with freshmen. They patronized our dances, bought tickets for our raffles and in general were the buyers in a market predominated by sellers. They in turn shared in the exploitation of freshman classes that came after them and so on ad infinitum. Much more socially conscious as a group than we, they soon exhibited a happy unity of friendship in all of a great series of informal parties. ln the tradtional round of welcome back, pre-midterm, post-midterm, pre-Christ- mas, post-Christmas, pre-endterm, post end- term, Easter and farewell bacchanaliae they characterized themselves with a fun-loving merry spirit of fellowship that we envied and strove to imitate. As the term progressed, we began to enter more fully into the extracurricular activities program. Club and committee meetings, pro- jects and general bull sessions began to occupy much more of our time. We began to break down the chrysalis of self-consciousness we had developed as Freshmen and participate more fully in the general stream of school activity. ln the Student Council our representatives worked on revisions of the newly adopted con- stitution and planned for a bigger and better All School Affair. This was the year that the School of Educa- tion officialy affiliated itself with the National Student Association. Under the leadership of Ed Cook, Harry Barletta and George Lynch, who distinguished themselves among their associ- ates from other colleges throughout the coun- try, an N. S. A. Campus Committee was formed. As a group the Sophomores so dominated this committee that Larry Berglas and Jim Ryan were selected alternate delegates to represent the School of Education in this national organi- zation of college students. Later on in the year, . . . and after all my work. John McCullough so distinguished himself that he was appointed a regular delegate, ln future years the wisdom of this choice was fully vin- dicated when, in his senior year, McCullough brought credit to himself and to the School of Education by being elected by his colleagues in the N. S. A. to a coveted position on the Na- tional Executive Council, a steering committee for this nationally known student organization.