Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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Unfazed by their new life .it Haverford, the Rhinies went through their early days in an enthu- siastic, if not distinguished, fashion. Even in the embryonic stage, the Class of ' 59 showed it- san guine disposition by holding its own in the water fights, pond dunkings, and other aspects of creative play promoted by the Customs Committee. Untamed by the sedate rigors of Customs, the Freshmen finally met their match in the sophisticated Bryn Mawrtyrs and the suave upperclassmen at the tradi ' tional Bryn Mawr mixer. However, before the belligerent Rhinies were shepherded into the true path, they did manage to make their presence known to a few unwilling Sophomores. The pond received members of both classes with its customary muddy welcome, and the tug-of-war resulted in a soggy defeat for the Sophs when the Rhinies dragged them all over the gooey Homecoming football field. Seeking solace, the Soph ' omores pilfered in cloak and dagger fashion the Customs ' trophy which was to be presented to the Freshmen. Perhaps the Rhinies were over-oriented ; The Freshman Class at any rate, they survived the early season jousts better than their predecessors. Since the freshmen were more rowdy than usual Customs succeeded more than usually. Though anti ' social intellectuals suggested that less antiquated manifestations of adolescence might strike Haver- tord ' s imaginative mind, the Frankensteins capped in black vigorously applied themselves to creating Rivalry. Besides Customs, the freshmen were subjected to the usual long distance swimming test and the psych tests to ascertain their neurotic potential. Later in the year, there was the Baldwin dance, etc. Through the year, we have come to know them. Selected judiciously, seeded carefully, weeded occa- sionally, the new crop of Freshmen, — in spite of Barclay floodings and academic drought, — will un- doubtedly grow tall in their chosen fields. It ' s all a sort of tradition.

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Advent in Autumn While it was still so warm that to wear any thing over a tee shirt was to dress formally, for a few days once an hour the Paoli local deposited a dozen or so men at the ultra-suburban Haver- ford Station. Typical of the returning students who bustled efficiently with their bags was Pramote Changtrakul, one of the most cultured members of Haverford ' s international set. Rumors say that he keeps a harem somewhere near Bangkok, so perhaps he was returning from there. Or perhaps he was returning from Washington, where it is hinted he spends weekends negotiating defense contracts for the use of teak wood in rifle st neks and PT boat hulls. At any rate, with a calm based on three years ' practice. Prom went about performing the myriad duties involved in getting settled, — last minute course changing, buying books, finding out where and when classes meet, checking the stored hi-fi equipment, bargaining for room furnishings, and mostly saying Hi! enthusiastically to people he never knew and even more enthusiastically to those whose names he had forgotten. Of course, such conventions come easy to Prom. In Freshman year he confounded his tutorial sec- tion by reading his papers in Thai: he and John Ashmead have been fast friends ever since. Simi- lar tactics failed with Herman Somers, so he majored in Phil. Such charm ensures his voca- tional success, even if he does choose one of the suggested extremes; a coup in Siam or YMCA lectures on the contemplation of Nirvana. Six

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The New Administration ARCHIBALD MacINTOSH Vice-President It befits her regal Anglican dignity that nothing should ever really ehange at Haverford. The face of the sea, always changing, ever constant, may be a vainglorious or debasing metaphor, but comes in- evitably to mind. Even Haverford ' s greatest changes were surface ones. The loss of the former president, the speculation about the new one, were subjects for conversation; but such conversations seldom inv plied or mentioned change. This was indubitably attributable to our consciousness of perfection. Consequently, when in the first Collection after the Winter holidays, Mac, by announcing nothing to the contrary, announced his own assumption of the multitudinous and diverse duties in the empty office, the students reacted with a calm suspiciously akin to indifference. Mac was just as available as ever for dispensing academic largesse, for giving the crucial nod of acceptance to the hand-picked members of the Class of ' 60, and for sharing the loads on various semi-neurotic chests. It was an ap- parent reserve mixed so finely with patent friendli ' ness that made the undergraduates aware that, al- though he could see through them, it was all right — in fact, it was fortunate. The role of the administration as such in the lives of the students is harder to determine. It is true that it didn ' t meddle in those two most delicate areas that are covered by the Honor System, but then, this was mainly due to the Council ' s careful (and oftimes difficult) telepathctic knowledge of what would hap- pen if . . . And of course the students were blandly ignorant of the deliberation and execution of those policies which most essentially shape a Haverford- ian ' s existence. An occasional delegation stormed Roberts Hall, delivered a harangue against Meeting, or parking regulations, and retreated. For the most part, however, they didn ' t meddle in administrative affairs; more because of satisfaction than through a sense of proportion.