Lincoln University - Lion Yearbook (Lincoln University, PA)

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r PROFESSOR WALTER L. WRIGHT, Claw Advisor A HISTORY OF THE CLASS OF ’31 Theodore V. Walker, Historiographer TIK tusk of any historiographer is ime cnveIoj c l In dlfll- ouitlcs, particularly so. if Ills writings concern contem- porary events In which he takes a delinite part. In this position lie is too readily Inlhicnccd by prejudice, bias, emo- tions, propaganda, and personal desires to impress the render of the authenticity of the work. Therefore. If the following paragraphs manifest any decider! leaning towards praise of Phi Delta Chi. please pardon me. but yet. look upon many of them as honest facts and upon the others as candid opinions. The summer months of the year 1027 may be well regarded as the formative period of an institution destined to become the great class of Phi Delta Chi. During tills interim, there were no conventions, no wars, no formal declarations or decrees announcing the birth of tills new organization; but rather there was a gradual and unseen rallying of the fu- ture members of a great class to the trumpet call of the goddess Minerva. September IS. 1027. marked the formal convention of that body as an Integral part of Lincoln Uni- versity. Pouring into this picturesque valley of Chester County with its rolling hills and wooded knolls came a horde of no strong with the desire for wisdom burning within them. This, I venture, was the chief Intent and purpuse. In this Great Trek were men strong in their convictions that Lincoln was now at an advantage with the accretion of such a body of promising young men. But. as many now surviving may well remember and attest, this idea and many another liaughty. self-important and egotistical atti- tude were soon dispelled from our minds under the most stern yoke of sophomore oppression and persecution. This leveling process had Its genesis at the little railroad station, L

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TIIK CLASS OF 1931 Frank A. Dk Costa, President Siiiri.ky F. Baskkrvh.i.e, Vice-President Theodore F. Wai.kkr, Secretary Byron F. Reed, Treasurer Class Color, Lavkndkr and White Class Motto, •‘Frikndmiiii , Education, Grace Frederick D. Alexander Ralph L. Baker Lewis V. Barnes William R. Bennett David V. Bradley Samuel Lewis Bullock Albert C. Burwcll John D. Butler Jonathan M. Chatman Roland H. Cunningham Jefferson D. Davis, Jr. Frank A. Dc Costa Frank E. Durnell Jasper C. French Edward B. Grasty Jeremiah F. Harmon John Hawkins Theodore F. Hawkins Grover C. Hawley Edward K. Hightower Theodore H. Hinton Dcnby Hobson Ralph T. Holt Bernard S. Hughes George W. Hunter Hubert M. Jackson Arnold L. Johnson Leroy D. Johnson James 0. Lee Lucius J. May Stephen P. Moore Thomas O. Mosley Overton E. Olds Vernon A. Overton Percy H. Post Byron F. Reed Frederick F. Richards Eitcl W. Riley Fletcher V. Rollins Willis B. Slieftnll Charles L. Simms John B. Smith John M. Smith Samuel G. Stevens John T. Sydnor Augustus M. Tabb Hcnslic E. Tann Leon H. Thomas William H. Waddell Theodore F. Walker William T. Walker Thomas A. Webster Charles S. West Clarence W. Wilson Horace C. Woodland Robert L. Young 7

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where to our surprise uiul displeasure, we were grcctctl with sophomore trunks. bags nnd then some more trunks. We succumbed, but rather reluctantly, for. we who idealis- tically had come In honest quest of knowledge and Intel- lectual truth, found to our discomfiture something In the way of knowledge not to be found In textbooks. Gradually, however, this goading became less and less offensive and more and more a thing of the past. The Class of '.it easily weathered the Initial storms of uuadjust- ment and disorganization and made a definite step towards organization. Tills move was made manifest in a class election of officers. An unhpic plan of trial officers was adopted whereby it was ho| ed that a truly great leader would be found in a body meeting for the first time. Jerry Harmon. Pierce and llradlcy were installed successively before It was decided by vote that Hannon would be the permanent chief executive of the year 1027-28. Avery. Sheep Jackson. Harmon. Young. Sydnnr, Pierce. Muhond. Hill Clark. I.a Mar and Allen answered the call for football material. They were determined to make good and they did. These men bail braved the rabble of an older Lincoln. It had been conclusively proved to the upper-classmen, who more or less religiously believed that preps, dogs, or what you may. were not capable of making a Lincoln squad, that that day had forever passed. When our lirst Howard-Lincoln game was just a few days away and when hazing seemed to Ik shelved for Tlianksgivlng Day preparations, our beloved sophomores secretly were planning a subjiigtum in the form of the tra- ditional hair cut. Some escaped, but these were few In number, and many were forced to undergo this ordeal. Yet. desfiitc this set-back, we bucked the team and a good many bahlheads were greatly admired by the fair sex oc- cupying the stands in Philadelphia on that Great Turkey Day. In football, as well ns In all the other sports, the number of classmates drawn upon for varsity sport participation was so great that Intramural athletic glory was denied us for some time. We must admit the defeat handed us in our lirst Freshman-Sophomore Football Classic. Likewise, set-backs were suffered In Intramural basketball, baseball and track. In the late spring of tluit year, the annual debate between teams representing the Freshmen and Sophomore ('lasses spelt yet another defeat. Can we account for this reverse by saying that good debaters are few In number and that our best were lighting for the glory of Lincoln? We must give the above as an explanation, for Huskcrvlllc. Rogers. T. F. Hawkins, and F. A. De Costa were doing their bit for ‘31 via Intcrcollcgintc debating. When this seemingly unsuccessful first year closed, the Class of 31 had established an enviable and unbeatable record In scholarship. Four of her sons attained for the year a First Honor Group rating, an achievement un- equalled in many a year. These men were De Costa, George Hunter. L. 1). Johnson, and T. F. Walker. The Second Honor Group rating was conferred upon twenty others. Moreover, It am be truly said that Phi Delta Cli! rcallv demonstrated and dclinitely established her worth and use- fulness to this, our Alma Mater. Sophomore days, «lays of revenge and self-assertion, ar- rived. It was now an opportunity t«i show our ascendancy. A change of executives occurred at the beginning of this. iiir second year. F. A. IX Costa received the presidency, which office he held for Ihe next three years. Let ills re- elections indicate his ability for leadership. Ills straight- forwanlness, wisdom, tact, courage, and pleasing person- ality. Days of hazing are days of gieat lear of possible appre- hension and we found it so much to our disgust. Kleven jolly sophomores became entangled in a faculty lrug net. Sadly do we recall Ihe days when tlic faculty, believing that rabbling had reached serious stages, determined to cast into the cold worhl eleven of our outstanding ami noble classmates. Sadly lo we all it call the final appeal for mercy mid for a reconsidering of Unit famous decree of expulsion, and tlrnt. when unable to move an unrelenting faculty, we llireritenc l strike, which falling, we sheepishly watched the fallen gods trek homeward alone. Yet it must be admitted that those few who had averted such a catastrophe were men who looked much ahead of tiiat memorable «lay of tense feeling. Yet. again it is commend- able that, with such a handicap, Steven of the eleven, having recovered lost ground, formed an important part of the graduating laxly of 1031. Neither the Freshmen-Sophomore football game nor de- luite for this year were won by the mighty gods, but rather by our «logs. These defeats were most exasperat- ing. Yet. Phi Delta Chi Is proud to boast of the main- tenance of the enviable record established the previous year in varsity sports. Moreover. In Intramural track we were supreme. Thus ended a year «if strife, destruction and very little of construction. The Junior Prom occupied the minds of all from Sep- tember through April of the year 1029-30. The cry was f« r a superb affair, outstripping all previous attempts. The scroll-form invitations were truly indicative of Its remark- able brilliancy. Ask any one so fortunate, as to have re- cclved a bid. what a rip-roaring success II was. Comas and Hacchus had surely placed their spell over Ihe gathering. Alumni reluctantly admitted that the hall and the cabaret paity that followed were the climax of all previous Junior Proms promoted by a class of Lincoln University. Another outstanding achievement rcglstercil by us in tills year was our uudlsputc l victory in the intramural track competition. We took everything and as usual we soon lost our stellar trackmen for the coach drafted Hughes, Archie Lewis, and Cissy Jackson as good varsity promises. The last-named draft victim must be rcintrixluccd. Jackson, we arc proud to shout, was Ihe only four-letter varsity man in the entire student body and the only one since Coach Tnylor. who, as an undergraduate, achieved the same dis- tlnetlon. At last longed-f«ir senior days arrived, but with a great shrinkage In our numbers. Out of tlic 119 men matriculat- ing in I027, scarcely 80 survived the ravages of time. Tills history would be far from being complete if mention were not made of those who had engaged In intercollegiate athletics during one or more of the four years. TRACK Huskcrvlllc. Hradlcy. Hiillock, Darnell, Ix c, Syd- nor. Hughes, Wilson, Cissy Jackson. FOOTHALL- -Hnskervlllc. Bullock, French. Hub Young. Harmon. Avery, Pierce. Allen, Sydnor. Maliuod. Slice]) Jackson, La Mar. Reed. Cissy Jackson, Hill Clarke. Hughes, Pickett. HASKP.THALL De Costa. .1. Hawkins. Heal. Hobson, Sydnor. Cissy Jackson. HASRRALL Harmon. L. I). Johnson. Sheep Jackson. La Mar, Hill Clarke. French, Richards. Pierce. Mnluiod, Cissy Jackson. SOCCKR W. T. Walker, Hobson, Cunningham, .1. H. Smith, Reed, linker. On May I. 1031. we were royally entertained al the Junior Prom by our most capable hosts. Ihe Junior Class ‘32. Yet I cannot truthfully state that this prom c piallc l ours. After four long and arduous years of scholastics struggles amid keen competition, F. A. IX Costa received Ihe coveted award of Valedictorian «if his class. The title of Saluta- torian was bestowed upon Theodore F. Walker. Inevitably, college «lays swiftly pass imbued with fond memories, but our recollections will but slowly fade away. And so. Ik re we are In the last stages of college life eagerly awaiting our day of Commencement. Yet It is with the deepest regret that we realize we must linnlly leave these sacred walls. To some, college has been a resting place for weary week-enders, to others a hermit's retreat; to still others, a place f«ir preparation, but now a new vista lias been opened unto all. a new avenue of upproa -h lias been cut lcn llng us over another rocky road of trials and tribu- lations. successes and failures to the summit of n Greater Knllghteumcnt. Hchold! we are now facing a world in which problems must of necessity be solved. Are we prepared to travel ahead and discover a modus «qicruudi? If we are. let us be sure to go and to return for the great reunion of 10U. !