Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

Page 13 text:

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniKiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiraiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih 1917 CLASS RECORD 1917 He has ever kept in intimate touch with the details of student and faculty matters, and has guided the progress of the college with a strong but usually invisible hand, acting not as a driver, but as a leader. The quiet smoothness with which the Haverford machinery runs has led some facetious students to misquote Browning so far as to say: Ike ' s in his office — all ' s right with the world. President Sharpless is the author of a number of books, both historical and scientific, of which the following may be mentioned: The Spirit of Early Quakerism (1890); The Relation of State to Education in England and America (1893); Quaker Experiment in Government (1898); Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History (1900); Quakerism and Politics (1905); Some Facts about Quaker Government in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool (in Haverford College Studies); The Quaker Boy on the Farm and at School (1908); The American College (1915); also The Quakers in the American Colonies (in collaboration with R. M. Jones and A. M. Gummere); Astronomy and Natural Philosophy (with Dr. G.M.Philips, 1882). In academic matters President Sharpless has always been a champion of liberal educa- tion as opposed to narrow specialization. His recent book, The American College, shows a sympathetic study of higher education in this country. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Association of College Presidents, of which he was at one time chair- man. In local politics he has taken a keen interest from the standpoint of clean citizen- ship, and is a former president of the Main Line Citizens ' Association. Particularly in recent months he has been active in the peace movement, and is one of the vice-presidents of the League to Enforce Peace. In matters athletic he has stood firmly for clean sport and strict amateurism — for gentlemanliness and playing for the love of the game. As Haverford athletics have grown to their present proportions they have been built upon this ideal, and the keenness of our athletic conscience is based on these principles. President Sharpless is extremely fond of out-door life and usually spends his summers in the Poconos, often going on fishing trips to Canada or Carolina. His love of recreation and his keen sense of humor have kept him ever young. His personality is summed up in a few words by Dr. F. B. Gummere when he says: He has done what seemed right to him, irrespective of the popular drift. He has thought the best of everybody and a thousand students have felt the spur of this confidence; but he has invariably given them a round, unvarnished tale of their deficiencies and faults. ... In brief, his absolute honesty and his invincible optimism, working without lapse or exaggeration upon the student body, have been the main factors in bringing the college to its present state of grace.

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though tl|e beeba that are here set boioii be little reab nor long remeiitbereb, if this book shall serbc in later life to reneto a single bision or recall a single memorg of these fonr college uears, bie shall not I|abe foorheb in bain