Grand View University - Viking Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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The Rock This year the Viking dedication features the Rock on the front lawn which is a familiar sight to all friends of Grand View College. This is a gratifying act, for the Rock is a symbol of the past history of the college. It was undoubtedly brought to our campus by a glacier, perhaps from a nearby limestone deposit such as the Ledges. It lay for centuries in the prairie grass of what was to become Iowa and thus it symbolizes the element of Belonging which is so essential to any school for young people. It was part of the history of the college from the founding days when it protruded from the ground a few feet from the corner of the west wing, and it has for fifty years been a decoration on the lawn. Children of the faculty and the neighborhood have crawled over, young athletes have jumped it, hundreds of couples have had their pictures taken beside it, and dozens of suggestions have been made for a permanent inscription on its front. It is a gratifying situation when young people of today are aware of the past and devoted to it. Grand View College has an interesting and significant past. It was created by the dreams and the sacrifices of immigrant church people who desired good things for their children. It has lived and grown in the city of Des Moines and therefore has the patina of a pioneer institution. It has been the expression of great educa- tional ideals and interesting and valuable experimentations. It has been the home of great teachers and the educational cradle of men and women who have served their country well. It has survived the trials of fire, financial loss and depression. It has always been alive and its life has been fascinating. It is gratifying when young people of today are aware of the past and devoted to it, for in the meeting of the ambitions of youth with the knowledge and experience of the past the present gains its vitality. Today is but a moment and there are those who live as if the instantaneous character of the moment was its main feature. But this is not so. It is true that we must be gloriously alive at the moment, but it is also true that there is glory in anticipation and memory. Without these the glory of the moment would be tragically thin. The philosophy of exist- entialism which dissociates the present from the past and the future is a negative and pagan philosophy. History is God's way with men. History is the content of the flow of time. It's main feature is continuity. Knowledge of the past and vital interest in the present is therefore good preparation for the future. William Allen White once said: I do not fear tomorrow for I know yesterday and I love today. This is a good word to remember. Our tomorrows are not going to be easy. We are faced with grave problems. But it is my hope and my sincere belief that Grand View College offers a good preparation for responsible and vigorous living in a great tomorrow. Our Rock symbolizes our history as a prerequisite for today and as a preparation for tomorrow. But it also leads our thought to the great Christian symbol for the faith upon which we build and upon which God builds his church. The Christian faith is also our heritage of the past, our foundation for the present, and our hope for tomorrow. Without it all other elements of life lose their significance. May we all individually and as a college community build upon that Rock. J. KNUDSEN. .. 9 -