Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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ARNAULD PERRY GILPATRICK 1937-1956 Since the tragedy which struck Kenyon on Thursday afternoon, May 3, more than one Kenyon man, I am sure, has asked himself why? 7hy this needless waste? I am equally certain that on second thought each has con- cluded that with our finite minds we cannot be expected to comprehend the infinite. We must have faith that in the divine purpose of an omniscient God there is reason for all sadness. I he individual or group which has learned how to live with uncertainty has achieved maturity which is the end of all true education. Kenyon men have moved one step closer to that goal as a result of the events just past. I he moral life is thus infected to the end by the imminence of tragedy. Yet, we are advised not to brood upon it, but rather to try and develop the rational ethics which would help us to meet inescapable catastrophe and un- merited suffering when they come. Thus wrote Phil Rice not many months before his own tragic death.

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A TRIBUTE OF THE FACULTIES OF KENYON COLLEGE TO GORDON KEITH CHALMERS Under the leadership of Gordon Chalmers, Kenyon College achieved a reputation of eminence rarely coualled among small colleges. Some of the signs of that eminence arc public- the Kenyon Review, for example, which he caused to be established in the first year of his presidency. The several conferences which he arranged on the campus extended the fame of the College. At the time of his death he was planning another such conference for 1957 on the timely theme of “The Essentials of Freedom. ’I he School and College Study of Admission with Ad- vanced Standing, which has resulted in the Advanced Placement examinations of the College Board, was Gordon Chalmers’ creation; it is widely known as “the Kenyon Plan. The School of English, during its years at Kenyon, brought to the College some of the world’s most distinguished literary scholars. Even more valuable, perhaps, arc the achieve- ments which are not so obvious outside the College. During several years, fifty per cent of Kenyon grad- uates have entered graduate and professional schools, very many of them with distinguished fellowships. . . . During several years, no man who had the recommen- dation of the College has been refused admission to the medical schools. . . . Visiting examiners of Kenyon candidates for the Degree with Honors have many times remarked that the candidates were com- parable to candidates for the master’s degree at the examiners’ institutions. The Faculties, during these same years, have like- wise been honored by a large number of grants for research; many have accepted invitations to serve as Visiting Professors both in America and abroad; they have been officers of national professional societies and members of many committees on national edu- cational at) airs. An unusually large number of the Faculties arc not only teachers but active scholars, whose annual list of publications is long and diverse. Gordon Chalmers never ceased to insist on the im- portance of continued study. If a member of the Faculty was given a chance to do research, at home or elsewhere, the President was always ready with help. No matter what the labor and inconvenience to him, he would make it possible for the member to accept the appointment. He steadfastly respected the ability of members of the Faculties to compete with their peers in scholarship and publication as the proper grounds for promotion to the rank of pro- fessor. He was devoted to memories of his years at Oxford, and though he did not try to remake an American college after the pattern of an English one, he did try to make it a community of scholars. Gordon Chalmers never forgot his responsibilities to Bexley Hall, the Divinity School of Kenyon Col- lege. He gave a full share of his time and counsel to the affairs of the Seminary and took the lead in every activity to promote its welfare. During his administration the Theological Faculty was augmented, the number of students multiplied, and the program of the Seminary enlarged with continued maintenance of high academic standards and emphasis on rigorous intellectual discipline. . . . The same rigorous standards that he advocated for undergraduates and the Faculties, he applied to him- self. His list of publications is long, including his recent book. The Republic and the Person. He made- innumerable public addresses, and was not more ready to speak to an eminent body than to small local groups. Always the theme was the same—a demand for genuine academic excellence; a rigorous insistence that the intellectual and the moral cannot be separated without disaster to both; a passionate plea for liberal education as distinguished from superficial vocational- ism. His eloquence sprang from knowledge and conviction, and earned him national fame among persons concerned about education. He was pleas- ingly and rightly proud of his election in 1955 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. . . . Everywhere in committee, in meetings of the Faculties, on the public platform, and in print— Gordon Chalmers spoke his mind, and he preferred others to do the same. He both believed in and practised academic freedom. He held his own con- victions tenaciously, but his Faculties knew- that he guarded their right to hold different ones. They could dispute with him in matters of collegiate policy, but there could never have been a dispute about their right and duty to teach the truth as the)’ saw it. In a period when academic freedom has been so much challenged, his recognition of freedom as the essential condition of sound learning will be remembered among his greatest contributions to Kenyon College. During the twenty years of his administration, the College was never free from financial worry. In the face of sometimes overwhelming difficulties, Gordon Chalmers rejected all solutions which would have lowered standards or altered the character of the College. He insisted that we must do two things at once: raise academic standards and balance the budget. He more than once suggested, somewhat wry- ly, that such an effort was reactionary. But he persisted in it; he made Trustees and the collegiate Faculty understand what he was trying to do, and he won their support. He was succeeding in both parts of the effort. Gordon Chalmers gave himself unreservedly to Kenyon College. He never took a leave of absence and rarely even a vacation. There was no aspect of the College that was not under his direct supervision. His relentless energy affected all who worked with him. It seems impossible that that energy is gone. It has left a permanent impression upon Kenyon College.

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Chuck and Perry,—we knew you for what you were and loved you for it. If you had to go, we are grateful that when the end came you were doing that which you loved most to do. For you the strife is o’er, the battle done, the victory of life is won.” We shall not mourn, we who remain, we shall glory in the fact that we numbered you among our friends. We have closed ranks; we shall try to fill the gap you have left; we shall carry on the fine traditions of manhood you exemplified. We will not fail. Each of us has found new meaning in the Greek philosopher's saying: The helping of man by man is God.” And now, back to work. —Gordon Keith Chalmers —May 5, 1956 CHARI.ES FREDERICK WALCH 1935-1956