Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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Until last year there was no question who was the most unpopular figure in the Haverford com- munity. Almost any student would have nominated Aldo Caselli for that distinction. If this role has now been usurped by a more appropriate candidate, Mr. Caselli unfortunately still runs a close second. Disliked by many students and feared by all, he is resented primarily for the seemingly unreasonable decisions that issue from his office and reflect his absolute power over matters financial. Over the years this refentment has fostered an unwarranted view of Mr. Caselli : he is thought of as an inscrut- able alien who commands maliciously from on high. This legenary monarch of Whitall is supposedly a living exponent of injustice and tyranny, as the name he is sometimes dubbed reflects : IL DUCE. Few are willing, in the adamant self-righteousness of petty complaining, to grant that there may be more to Aldo Caselli than their prejudices admit. In his administrative capacity Mr. Caselli has the thankless task of controlling the financial operation of the College. Any project involving money, whether it emerges from the table of the Board of Managers, from a student organization, or from any other source, must pass through the Comptroller ' s hands, where it is pragmatically evaluated in terms of the financial state of the College. Given Haverford ' s chronic financial di- lemma, it is imperative that plans be cut and channeled to conform to the practical situation. Mr. Caselli does precisely that, in true European style. He has managed to run this college on a proverbial shoestring, shunning the principles en- shrined in the American committee system : low efficiency and high waste. With such a centralized system it is axiomatic that various factions will be dissatisfied. But t is equally undisputed that the business world is characterized by a perpetual cut-throat struggle for success or at least for sur- vival. It is Mr. Caselli who mediates between this world and our quasiutopia, and we fare quite well by him. But the nature of his job, due in part to the Administration ' s impressive talent for fund- raising, and in part to the incessant destruction of College property by unidentified students, de- mands that internal financial policy be conducted with the same standards of stringency. It is easy to see how people who are not acquainted with such methods will be offended by their impersonal coldness. Yet Mr. Caselli is hardly misanthropic; the spontaneous warmth of his Mediterranean spirit is obvious to all who know him. The accusation that he dislikes students is not only incorrect, but quite irrelevant to any criticism of him ; our new Dean of Students thinks himself the friend and perhaps the father of all students . . . Mr. Caselli certainly expects a lot of the stu- dents. As Comptroller he invariably sees all the adverse and for the most part immature mani- festations of their character. When constantly confronted with expensive repairs due to destruc- tion of College property and nobody willing to stand up and assume the responsibility, he has little choice but to blame the entire group. This is heartily resented by innocent and guilty alike. In this light it is not too difficult to conceive why Mr. Caselli thinks the students are immature. But of course, he belongs to an unenlightened generation of bourgeois ethical principles and can- not be expected to understand that to throw food or destroy property is not to signal immaturity, but only to exercise inalienable rights, manifesta- tions of freedom and individualism, which have nothing to do with intellectual character. What is more, he adheres to the taboo belief that each individual is a member of society and must there- fore conform to certain standards of decorum and assume responsibility for his behavior. If Mr. Caselli is critical of student shortcom- ings, he is equally cognizant of academic merit. Because of his administrative position, he does not often come in contact with students on an intellectual level, but if sought out, he is exceed- ingly happy to share his knowledge. Those who have attended the Italian Opera courses in the Arts and Services program are well aware that Mr. Caselli is more than a college administrator. Few people realize that our Comptroller is a prolific and enthusiastic contributor to the intel- lectual productivity of Haverford. Mr. Caselli has an innate passion for teaching and discussing his culture that can only be understood if one realizes his personal commitment to the humanities. His 10

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out, they occupy a position indefensible on intel- lectual grounds, and the ultimate result of this condition will be a decrease in Haverford ' s stature as a college. Further argument insists that Quaker piety (but not pietism) has largely disappeared at the College, and that Friends wish to continue in power here mainly for reasons of personal expediency and doctrinal pride. Haverford ' s aca- demic environment would, by this argument, not deteriorate as a result of withdrawal of Quakers from the Administration. Liberals contend that, if appointments to central authority at the College were made on the basis of individual competence, without reference to religion, the number of able candidates for the College ' s administrative posts would immeasurably increase. Haverford would be less restricted in its choice of leaders, and there- fore enjoy more competent administration. Wails and platitudes greet suggestions to the Administration that Friends relax their absolute control of Haverford ' s Corporation and Board of Managers. The Society of Friends has groomed Haverford as its own son, and in return it seems to demand the gratitude of alliance and control. Such protective, possessive exercise of self-assumed social power is perhaps part of the Quaker tradi- tion. A history professor at William Penn Charter School once contended that Quakers held political control of Philadelphia for one hundred twenty-five years after they ceased to be a voting majority; he argued that they accomplished this control by means of their continued position of financial dominance over the city. This argument seemed to indicate that it was a tradition for Quakers to cling to social institutions established according to principles of the Society of Friends. The ques- tion whether Quakers reahze that their achieve- ment in Haverford College will be enhanced, rather than harmed, by a lessening of their clench on the College at a time when it does not profit from their monolithic control, is likely to decide the educational importance of Haverford College in the future. J. B. Sunderman

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love for art, literature, music and history is evi- denced by his extensive and profound knowledge of these domains, and the enthusiasm with which he evokes them. In the diversity of his talents, in his sensitive approach to art, and in his amusing philosophic SAVOIR VIVRE, Aldo Caselli is a Renaissance man PAR EXCELLENCE. It is rare that a non-professional interest in art will result in scholarly investigation, but this is the essence of Mr. Caselli appreciation. One corner of his living room is piled with books of the to be read and studied category: this pile is in a constant state of flux. The remarkable gamut of subjects and languages is an indication of the breadth of his studies. He is extremely competent in discerning the general from the particular. This talent is put to good use in his approach to the humanities, which spans the boundaries of lan- guage and form in an attempt to examine the similarities and differences of artistic creations i n their historical context. He has a list of publications that is extra- ordinary in size and scope for a business adminis- trator. During the years he lived in Egypt (1933- 38) he was deeply impressed by the wealth and delicateness of Islamic culture. He learned to read and speak Arabic, and furthered his previous knowledge of Islam, its history and its influence on European development. He has translated a book on the topic from Italian into English, and prior to 1938 wrote over 40 articles on Islam for Italian newspapers, magazines, and journals. Mr. Caselli is also a literary critic and writes articles for some of the leading American journals ; his latest review is in CRITIQUE (Fall, 1963), on S. Pacifici ' s GUIDE TO ITALIAN LITERATURE. He is a student of aesthetic theory and is espe- cially interested in Croce and Ruskin. His rela- tionship with Italian literature is intimate. Dante, of course, is one of his great favorites ; when dis- cussing a problem, he can immediately produce from memory an appropriate passage from THE DIVINE COMEDY. The warmth and understand- ing with which he reads poetry is indicative of his deep love for the beauty of his native language. His appreciation of the French language is almost as great. It is natural that he should admire Cha- teaubriand, who so well understood the magnetism of Italy. Mr. Caselli ' s familiarity with European art is no less thorough. It is astounding with what detail he can describe developments in painting and the connections between literary and artistic move- ments. But it is perhaps his knowledge of music and, in particular, of opera that is best known at Haverford. His courses concentrate on the bio- graphical details of the composers and librettists as well as on the operas themselves. In this way he dramatizes the important relationship between a society and the operas it produces. He has just completed a cross-reference dictionary of opera which will be published in Italy this year. His first-hand experience in the organization and operation of institutions of higher learning in both Italy and America has produced several informative studies. One appeared in 1960 under the auspices of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and the Catherwood Foundation, and another will be published by the University of Wisconsin Press. As for the future. Mr. Caselli is contemplating a study of Samuel Morse, who not only invented the Morse code and the electric telegraph, but was a painter as well. Mr. Caselli ' s philosophy of life nicely comple- ments his humanistic endeavors. His is a world of culture and refinements ; his interest in the human- ities is highly personal. Although not his career, they are his first love. He indulges in art, music, poetry and history for pleasure ; they have become an essential part of him. And he writes about his interests with the same passion with which he teaches or discusses them. He is not pedantic or pretentions, but original and unassuming. More- over, he enjoys arguing and is always ready to consider new ideas and new approaches to prob- lems. In commenting on life in the United States or, more particularly, at Haverford, his wit and pragmatic cynicism are strongly colored by his sincerely humane Latin spirit. He is a keen critic of Haverford, but he also loves it very much. Such a man is a wonderful asset in our community. It is unfortunate for us that our view of Aldo Caselli is so tainted with the narrow-minded criticisms often levelled against him. Jonathan P. Kabat 11