Gannon University - Lance Yearbook (Erie, PA)

Page 19 text:

ijmim an eircloU . Through the next few years, Gannon College underwent a phenomenal period of growth, which up to the present time, has increased the college plant to fifteen buildings, the faculty to nearly eighty members, and the total number of students to over one thousand. The college grew not only physically, but reached higher achievement in many fields; quality and diversity in academic fields, student acti- vities, sports, and all other forms of inter- collegiate comparison. After the war, and despite the pre- vious humorous references to the young institution as being a local school or Perry Square University, the public be gan to take cognizance of the college school which was growing to a place of national prominence. 1 1 HI 3 2 5E Jl 1 i ■4 v-' != ' ■ P iMHHlraHHlM nSd . £?. Wt irf A JnMF - J ■ T ™ 3- - fc -r x tl w » • -%- n ' - ' M But sometimes in growth there tends to be the evils which can detract from the glory of the increase itself — there is the natural inclination to sacrifice quality for quantity, or the even greater student problem of the individual's being lost in a crowd to the consequent loss of individual attention, and the grave error of impersonality in the educational system. Strangely, Gannon College escaped these potential shortcomings without the faintest trace of no- ticeable change. It can be said without qualification that there never was a student for whc.m a faculty member had no time. The astounding fact is that since the increase in size, the administration has taken more particular efforts toward the individual. This is a situation which is truly unique here at Gannon, and no one takes more pride in this attitude th;m do we, the students. — 15 —

Page 18 text:

Qf rum QJjunww • • iijmnmij: s • • ♦ From humble beginnings . . . how trite this phrase has become! But in all the instances which caused its overuse, none was more appropriate than our own reference to the phrase in regard to the earliest origins of Gannon College. For the entire college consisted of one large mansion and one small building at the time that the charter was granted in November of 1944. The college, which was named by Monsignor Wehrle in honor of Archbishop Gannon, was received with surprise and uncertainty by the people of the city of Erie. At that time it was during the Second World War, and it seemed doubtful that a male college could survive with the current lack of manpower. During this time of struggle, the perseverence and foresight of men such as Archbishop Gannon and Monsignor Wehrle showed the promise of what was to come. — 14 —

Page 20 text:

Of tint mill qJiIciiL . . . Gannon College may be seen in many ways, viewed from many aspects, from with- out; hut only from within can it be seen in its entirety. To illustrate the student's aware- ness of their good fortune, and to allow the undergraduates to express their feelings on this view from within, we asked individ- uals from each of the four classes to develop our theme as it makes its impression on them. The results were fruitful, as can be deter- mined by reading these articles which ap- pear at the beginning of each o f the class sections. But we, the Seniors, by virtue of the fact that the approaching graduation will end our everyday contact with Gannon Col- lege find that this respect for the college is both reasonable and sentimental. In contrast with mathematics, phil- osophy teaches us that the whole is great- er than the sum of its parts; and we Sen- iors, through retrospective analysis, can realize the value of this in reference to our years here at Gannon. Certainly the education from matriculation to gradua- tion is much greater than the sum total of all the curricular and co-curricular hours which were consumed. For here we learned to absorb the principles of the sub- ject matter, and blend them into our lives, thereby developing the intellect and per- sonality, with a consequent development of our ethical standards and the concepts by which we live. — 16 —