Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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THE KENYON MAN X JUNK 8, 1953, NIXKTY alert young men formally conclude their lives as students at Kenyon College. Hundreds of colleges and univer- sities throughout the nation will graduate men this month, hut somehow the Kenyon man differs from the thousands who will graduate from other institutions. It shall he difficult to describe precisely where this difference lies, but we feel that an inspec- tion of what a Kenyon man is will hear interesting results. The foresight of individual, independent thinkers has accounted for all the progress of humanity since the beginning of time. Similarly, it is the foresight of the Kenyon man which gives him so much j otcn- tiality. All of us have heard colleges and universities praised and even evaluated on the grounds of a par- ticular academic department, a particular member of a faculty, or even for a publication sent out in the name of the college. Praise for such things is natural and just, but it takes more than one par- ticular virtue to make a college distinguished. This is perhaps an obvious truth to a Kenyon man. but it is not so obvious to others. There are still those who decide a college’s worth by its beautiful campus, its convenient location, or even by its famous foot ball team. We at Kenyon arc more singular in our definition of a good college. We believe that intel- lectual weight will always, in the end. tip the scales of value. Perhaps the most telling characteristic of the Kenyon man is his new understanding. He is the product of a liberal arts philosophy. Particulars arc to a large extent, no longer the objects of his con- centration. He has learned to see the universal in the concrete. Whether he approaches education through the arts or the sciences, he will try to meet paS thret

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his fellows at a common point of understanding. This common point is truth. Perhaps the Kenyon man is not yet satisfied with his interpretation of truth, but at least he knows its shape. Understanding is the root of love. From his four years of living in a free-thinking society, the Kenyon man has philosophically upheld this first principle. Saint Paul gives what is |x ssibly the world’s most | erfect measure of living. After enumerating the transitory experiences of lift---the things that pass away — Paul stated in conclusion three |ualities that are permanent — and of these three one is the greatest. The supremacy of lore in the trilogy of graces has heen tested by the Kenyon man through his long ex- amination of philosophy, history, and literature. The first principle has passed all intel- lectual tests. Talk not of wasted affection, affection nearer was wasted; If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, returning hack to their springs, like the rain, shall Jill them full of refreshment: That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the fountain. I ongfellow stated it well. The fountain sends the Kenyon man forth, but he returns again to the fountain. Nothing is thrown away at Kenyon. The necessity of keeping the whole experience intact makes it necessary to keep on file all that is read or seen. The young man begin- ning at Kenyon has brought with him a few lean threads of truth. At Kenyon these threads will be untangled, added to. and woven into a handsome fabric. r Z' frmr