Knox College - Gale Yearbook (Galesburg, IL)

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CHAPTER ONE Knox In a i ar Year mln Reaiew September, 1941-that meant school and the business-as-usual sign for some six hundred young midwesterners. The dor- mitories and fraternity houses again came to life. After a summer's silence, the new crop of campus chat- ter and the current rqcll Une- 3 I. M juke favorites C El- mer's Tune and 144 Zane! Chattanooga Choo- Choonj joined with the old reliable bell above Old Main's Amer- ican Gothic to form a choral background for an American scene. The stage was set in the same old way. There were different faces Csome of the familiar ones wcren't back because Uncle Sam had taken a handj, different jokes, different tunesg but it was the same old plot -for the first act, at least. The author added a couple of lines by Williain Allen Wliite and othersg minor changes were made in the stage business-a murder , different football scores, different chapel programs. But only those who had roles in the production thought that it was some- thing entirely new and different. Those who thought it was new and dif- ferent loved itg those who knew it was old stuff loved it too. It was just college life- and whether the actors knew it or not, it was symbolic of something worth keeping. The show was playing to a full house. The Hrst act included rushing and football and Homecoming and vocational guidance conferences. The curtain came down on a song and dance routine called Christmas Prom. According to the playbill a former premier of Belgium was to take a promi- nent role at this time. But a short, yellow-skined fellow who didn't know his lines or his place made a faulty entrance and tried to grab the spot- light. That was December 7. There were no spectacular reactions to report. No one attempted to offer any epic- making statements as to the part of Knox College in the world at war. Certainly changes were made, but through it all it was obvious that a majority of those in- volved had their feet on the ground. On that Sunday afternoon, men in fra- l5liJXi'lf was lo he found at Knox .IS it could be found at few places throughout the world during a hectic year. The opportunities to meet together in the homes of fae- ulty members were to be appreciated even more in mem- ories than during the peaceful evenings themselves, 7

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ternity houses were excited enough to listen to news bulletins instead of the professional football game in progress. Later in the evening they drifted off to the movies. Some sat up late listening to the same news items repeated again and again. No one was prepared for rqlay in classes Monday morn- ! ing-it was only the beginning of a slight tendency toward an it doesn't make any difference whether I study anyway atti- tude on the part of many students. Profs dismissed their eleven o'clock classes early so students could hear President Roosevelt's message to Congress. In Seymour Hall fsee picture on page 65 nearly a hundred stu- dents and faculty members gathered around the radio--a serious, tight-lipped circle. And after the president had spoken his S00 words, the group stood silently at attention while the National Anthem came over the radio. That afternoon Colonel Porter told the 200 military students that they should plan to stay in school until called. Every stu- AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE private citizen, Williaiii Allen White of Emporia, Kansas, captivated students with friendly chapel talk in October. He is shown below visiting the Phi Delt house and being shown around by college-treasurer McClelland and Corky Cordell. dent should finish his college career if pos- sible, he said. During the week following the declara- tion of war, Dr. Paul Van Zeeland, former premier of Belgium, was on the campus as a speaker on the Finley Foundation. He told Knox students that democracy and American youth would win the struggle for freedom. But he was quick to point out that the way would not be easy-a sentiment echoed many times later during the year. Dr. Van Zeeland's addresses help- ed clarify the whole bewildering situation. President Davidson paid tribute to Van Zeeland's work in an open letter to Knox students in the Student issued the Friday after Pearl Harbor. He went on to say that the college would not slacken pace, 'because education will be more needed tomorrow than today or yesterday . . . our task is to guide our college experience- possibly remake our program-so that it will be of greatest use in the days and years ahead . . . The prophesied changes in the program Were quick to come. The next issue of the Student announced that the second se- THE HONNOLD LliCTURllR for the year, Rockwell Kent, distinguished artist and lecturer, chats with Fran Parker, George Brown, and Bill Polhemus at the Phi Gam house. Mr. Kent was on the campus for three weeks and became well-acquainted with manylstudents. 8