Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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I i problems cannot be solved without great sobriety, which, we believe, the youth of the nation is ready to afford. It is no longer an idle observation that free- dom of thought faces a serious crisis. Nor is it any longer vainglory to say that some of us will die in its defense. The Evergreen Annual will presume to speak on behalf of the entire graduating class in offering some statement of our thoughts in the year of our departure. As ideas progress with time, words attach new and different meanings. The term Liberalism, for instance, once meant an honest out-reaching in search of some- thing better for men ; it implied the courageous casting- off of obsolete conventions and the expression of man’s initiative in his own behalf. The true humanism for- merly associated with the word has shaded into some- thing quite different, and is equated with a system of government repugnant to democratic ideals. All this is most unfortunate. It has thrown up impregnable walls between the Christian humanist and the sincere ‘liberal,’ both of whom are striving for precisely the same thing — a happier, more rewarding existence for the world’s downtrodden, and an opportunity for them to work out their lives in peace and security. The differences between materialistic liberal and Christian humanist are basic to the ills of our time. If the latter could compromise his position at all the problem would be much simplified. But this would involve compromising truth. The one great fact barring cooperation is the exist- ence, now considered problematic, of an Absolute. A large segment of mankind, of which the Loyola man is a part, believes that human affairs must be worked out with a view to this contingency. This includes realiz- ing that creatures legislate for themselves only insofar as their law conforms to the law of nature. There is also an opinion that a human being is a thing of dig- THE REV. JOSEPH K. DKANE, S.J. Problems of curricula, coordinating campus activities, interviewing students and attending to the many details of college administration is the job of Father Drane as Dean of Loyola. His insistence on high scholastic standards and his encouragement of extra-curricular activities has given Loyola an even more pronounced atmosphere of academic vigor and achievement. nity and perfectability and does not need to be nursed and ministered to throughout his life by those who are, for some reason, better fitted for the business of living. It is more to the point to insure for humanity an atmosphere of tranquility in which the families of a commonwealth can attempt w ' ith freedom “the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection,” and also progress industriously without fear — using individual initiative — toward a greater share in the w ' orld’s goods for themselves and for their children. Loyola College has passed the century mark in wis- dom and grace. The ascent to maturity is not a great deal different in a college, which is a living, breathing thing, and in a man. Loyola today feels its responsi- bility more than ever. It also feels pride in the accom-

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LOYOLA OF THE EAST ) A powerful institution of learning eomes of age firm in its ideals of training the eomplete man L oyola College of llie East tliis year celebrates its one hundred-first anniversary in the service of the people of llahiniore. In doiii so, it enters the com- munity of great American colleges having more than a century of tradition in the education of youth. The class of 1953 is happy to he present at this point in Loyola ' s history, and offers its sincere congratulations to the Jesuit Fathers for their success in establishing a powerful and effective institute of learning. Loyola College has come of age. In five score years and one she has made important contributions to the worlds of government, business, the arts, the Church, medicine. Since 1852. before the Civil War, before radios and automobiles, when the first class of ninety students was admitted to a three-story building on Holliday street, Loyola has continued to train men according to the centuries-old educational system founded by the Society of Jesus and tried in all parts of the world. The Loyola graduate does not leave the classroom with ready solutions for the world’s ills, nor does he approach life with the false confidence of the optimist. THE VEKY KEY. THOMAS J. MURRAY SJ. As President oj Loyola College, Father Murray has the responsibility oj directing policy for the school, travel- ing to other colleges and universities for educational conferences, and seeing to it that academic life at Loyola is well integrated within itself and also in its relation to the Baltimore community . During his three years at Loyola, his smile and good humor, together with his friendly nature have made him a popular figure among the student body. He has, however, been given reason to suspect that the perfection of human society is not, as an over-zealous Briton once told Henry Adams, “the London dinner and the English country house.” ' More important than axioms and formulae is an angle of vision on life which conditions our activity and gives purpose to all the minor and insignificant affairs we conduct daily with the people around us. [ The editors of this Annual think it important that the | class of 1953 make some statement of beliefs, in view [ of the developments of history in recent years. These j ( E

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})lisliments of the past aiul a great liope for the future instruction of its youth. The maturitv of a young man often comes in the form of wliat we might call an emancipation. One day the prejudices of his lifetime, the beliefs of his fathers, and the very mores which bred him are placed under scrutiin and examined in the light of his experience. A part is retained; and a part is abandoned. A feeling of fri ' edom and elation accompanies this examination; it announces to him that henceforth he must judge and choose for himself the objects and ideas he wishes to make his own; that he must force circumstances to do his bidding as if he were alone in the world. When he manages to choose effectively that which is good and abapdon that which is not perfective to him, then he is operating successfully as a man. Then he has come of age. William James has said that some men imagine themselves to be thinking when they are merely rear- ranging their prejudices. It is to be hoped that our prejudices are so few that any arrangement at all will serve. There is a beautiful idea in Thomas Aquinas to the effect that we become what we know. Therefore by knowing the universe we somehow become the uni- verse. By knowing a man we somehow become the man, attaching something of him to our own per- sonality. It would seem then that since man is en- THE COLLPiGE’S finances were in the hands of, top, left to right: Josepli May, the Rev. Andrew Hofl ' man, S.J., treasurer, and Mary T. Windfelder. The library stall is composed of Zygniunt Kudnicki, Jean Webb, Mary Lou Wunder, Gibson Paul and Lea Waters. WILLIAM M. DAVISH, S.J. Dean of Evening Srhool MISS CATHERINE McDonald Registrar PAUL J. GIBBONS SJ. Assistant to President 8