Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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DEDICATION Charles Monroe Coffin, former chairman of the department of English and secretary of the faculty, died in California during the summer of 1956. This news was a great shock to the academic world, and to those who knew Dr. Coffin personally the shock was overwhelming, for his influence was deoply felt wherever he was known. At Kenyon College we miss him not only as a scholar but also as a teacher. Wo miss the inspiring oxample he set, the help ho was so willing to give, the rare sense of humor that could be so sharp, and the conversation in which he so excelled. Dr. Coffin was no mere scholar; he was a gentleman first. He fit himself perfectly into the collogo community, whether it be at a party, a baseball game, a committee meeting, or in the classroom. His profound insight penetrated the fields of politics, literature, athletics, philosophy, student government—to name a few; but more importantly, he had the ability to judge men. His students, colleagues, and friends know how capable he was in this respect. Nothing establishes greatness quite so definitely and painfully as death. While e lives tho adjective groat may occasionally be used in reference to a man, but the expectation of yet more accomplishments delays definite assignation of the torm. But death forces us to take the final look at the record to see whether a man was truly great or not. Surely, then, here was a great man, a man whose many a ents were dedicated to further scholarship and right conduct. What Kenyon Uollogo hopes to do for the Kg nvftn i— 1------— - ' I, ,— -=wu.area to further scholarship and right conduct o ogo hopes to do for the Kenyon student has been variously and expounded Let us hope simply that Kenyon College can cultivate n calibre of Charles Monroe Coffin. often verbosely more men of the