Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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role. Such visions are too easily lost or readily discarded as our college days go by. We pattern our lives, not accord- ing to goals but ex- periences. We have had four years to fortify our- selves with the self- reliance necessary to our success. After our first several months of study, within the class a maze of borderlines

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h: Our years at Lehigh have pas- sed, the last grade has been recorded, our triends have dis- persed. We face the world with eager, a spirit of accomplish- ment, and a wealth of self- confidence and independence. But a tinge of uncertainty and anxiety must interfere some- what, since to remold ourselves into a useful member of today ' s complex world is no small task. Some of us may even refuse to acknowledge our membership to such a tangle of troubles, but the transition is inevitable. Whether to add to or detract from the turbulence of our so- ciety is an individual decision, but as a class, we have the un- deniable responsibility of flexib- ly applying our skills toward the betterment of an extremely inter-related society. Lehigh ' s traditional aura, to some of us, may appear as an obstacle to our adaptability. We have been crammed full of educational know-how but have had time for only a sprinkle of applicational practice. How has Lehigh prepared us for our confrontation? To the majority of us, goals, purposes, and patterns of life are all quite nebulous. The ideal engineer, lawyer, teacher, doc- tor — these are our visions. But only a very few of us can begin to project ourselves into such a

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evolves. Each student finds (or falls into) his special nook, surrounded by his close companions. Gradually we exchange the bonds of class loyalty for our pseudo- independence or group identity. Before long, conflict- ing and coexisting loyalties have replaced our unity: fraternities vs. residence halls, beer-guzzlers vs. heads, jocks vs. bookworms. The list is endless. But through such partitions we have acquired a characteristic self- assurance and a wholesome boldness as Lehigh graduates. As a graduating class, then, each one of us must attempt to reunite the class of 1970, not physically of course, but in the spirit of a common purpose of assistance and adaptation to our society. 2£ Each of us knows how he has changed in his years at col- lege. But what about Lehigh itself? Yes, she too has changed. In containing, educating, and tolerating her students, Lehigh has be- come, literally, more universal. We, her students, are ourselves uni- versal and unpredictable. And as we change, the university, in order to fulfill its functions, must also modify itself. Therefore, regardless of our apathy, our introversion, our in- sularity — in spite of these — we, the students, have changed Lehigh! Lying beneath her incredibly traditional, collegiate ex- terior is a viable internal structure which has proved to be watch- ful, tolerant, and, above all, responsive. As she must, then, Lehigh is slowly removing her mantle of tradition and taking on a visage of change and adaptability. The 1970 Epitome has the purpose of testifying to this gradu- al transmutation in Lehigh ' s mode of existence.