Manchester College - Aurora Yearbook (North Manchester, IN)

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r Recognition by c 71orth Cental Association = he entrance of Manchester College into the North Central Associa- m tion of Secondary Schools and Colleges is an epoch-making event in the history of our institution. Her full accreditation in America ' s most outstanding standardizing agency has provided an excellent occasion to take stock of the assets and evaluate the factors responsible for her growth. , jj The real vitality of Manchester College has never been demonstrated so clearly as in this year of depression. With the ever-mounting assets of many schools it might be assumed that even less favored colleges could continue to survive and develop on the surging tides of prosperity. In the hour of economic stress, however, while the accumulated assets of many strong institutions vanished away, our comparatively meagre resources were preserved against any serious loss. In the general soundness of our investments, in our ability to meet all current expense, and in directing our available assets into the channels most necessary for sound institu- tional growth, the year 1932 has been a conspicuous one; the depression has revealed our financial soundness, and demonstrated beyond doubt the fact that our strength is due to a policy conceived by our administrative officials years ago and adhered to with dogged persistence. Keep our ex- pense within our income, they insisted, but strive earnestly to make progress. Twenty-one years without a deficit, accompanied by a steady and well-balanced growth is the result. Their policy of conservative progressivism has met with success. The soundness of our finance, the adequacy of our plant, the excel- lence of our laboratories and libraries, and the convenience of our class- rooms, a ll admitted by the North Central officials, are the necessary ma- terial bases for the attainment of the higher ends of education, the train- ing of character, the improvement of the mind, and the development of a spirit sensitive to personal and social needs. In this later realm, examiners for the standardizing agency found an unusual situation on our campus. If college life should constitute an accurate cross-section of life, severe departmentalization, a spirit of of- ficiousness manifested by either teacher or student, and an air of dictation have no place in the college atmosphere. On our campus these conditions are conspicuous by their absence. The administration does not regard itself as an exalted body sitting upon Olympian heights, issuing its dicta Page Twenty

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= he present era of Manchester College began with the election to the y presidency of Manchester the present incumbent, President Otho Winger, who for nearly twenty-one years has seen the development of a small and a comparatively unknown institution into one that has won the respect and admiration of thousands of friends in many states. Inheriting only the ideals of the institution and a small number of faithful col- leagues with a little equipment, but rugged faith in the worth whileness of the things for which Manchester College stood, President Winger, as administrator, executive, teacher, and personal inspirer, has seen the insti- tution grow in twenty-one years to achieve a position more enviable than the most courageous dared to anticipate. In each of the capacities in which he has served, President Winger has shown the splendid qualities of leadership that not only distinguished him personally but have given the stamp and the impress to the insti- tution under his charge. Both because of necessity and because of versatility, President Winger has taught in many fields, proving himself always scholarly in his mastery of subject matter and contageous in his enthusiasm for sound scholarship. Though his present duties forbid extensive teaching, he has never lost sight of the classroom and its purpose, and if it were necessary again, President Winger could demonstrate his mastery in many fields, of which philosophy and history would probably be his favorites. To illustrate from analogy, President Winger has seen and been re- sponsible for a metamorphosis of the college from the crysallis into its present well-developed form. Such a statement does not minimize the splendid contribution made by others: the deans, the faculty, the stu- dent body, the alumni, and particularly the Church and the constituency, but it is intended to mean that without the clear vision and the undying devotion and sacrifice of our great President it would not have happened. The college has passed through vicissitudes and trials that most of us who share her glory know nothing about. But just as we enter into the glories of the labors of others, so as a college family we are basking now in the sunshine of achievements that we should never have won without the leadership of President Winger. Courageous, honest, sincere, unselfish, loyal, and self-sacrificing, Presi- dent Winger has wrought even better than he knew. To crown such a noble life with the honor that has recently come to Manchester College is fine, but the love that all of us have for him in our hearts, and the feel- ing of gratitude in thousands of hearts for an unending inspiration is finer. Greater than any praises that we can sing is the sentiment of love and good will that we cherish for President Winger, and we want to re- joice in our new won Victory, as a Victory first and foremost for our chief. Long live our Chief! --J. Raymond Schutz Page Nineteen

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to a group of docile teachers and students. It does not aim to keep itself immune from teacher and student sentiment, but welcomes every sincere expression of it. Apart from the technical provision, which places full- fledged faculty members on the administrative board of control, the weekly faculty meetings provide a sounding-board for the expression and molding of policies that find their way into the permanent structure of college life. Upon less formal occasions--in the offices, in the corridors, or on the campus--opinions may be freely exchanged between teacher and administrator which leave their impress upon the policy of the school. The students have shared with the faculty the advantage of free con- sultation and expression of opinion. Through the organized student as- sociations as well as through the channel of individual student initiative suggestions have come to the administration which, in their fulfillment, have greatly enrichened the life of the school. Although a few student restrictions have been established, their reasonableness and the conscious effort to avoid an accumulation of them, which would produce an ar- tificiality of life, have caused the great mass of students to develop a wholesome and spontaneous freedom within them. The contacts of teacher and student on our campus have also been rich and permanent. What teacher has not felt the inspiration of students eager to know, ambitious to improve themselves, and desirous of filling some useful place in life? What student has not felt the bouyant in- fluence of some teacher who has helped to unfold life and reveal its entic- ing interests? Here students talk freely and constructively with their instructors; here instructors enter freely into the work and play of their students. This mutuality of interests, this freedom from academic barriers that divide human beings into artificial castes creates for us a true comradeship of life in which old and young, president and freshman, find a true unity of spirit. It is in an atmosphere of freedom such as this that one may find a virgin soil for the development of rugged Christian character, intellec- tual enthusiasm, and the ambition to be a vital factor in the work of the world. In fact, without this outward turn of our interests the vigor of our college life would soon wither and pass away. College life should not develop an aversion for the homely interests of the local community. The philosophy of our school and the numerous references that come from the president ' s rostrum to maintaining an active interest in com- munity life have had their favorable effect upon hundreds of communi- Page Twenty-one