Manchester College - Aurora Yearbook (North Manchester, IN)

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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

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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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ties where Manchester students have lived. May this spirit never die, for the only reason for Manchester ' s existence is to serve humanity. Through her alumni, the influence of Manchester College reaches around the world; the field from which the future alumni come is much narrower. Among the adherents of the Church of the Brethren the Col- lege draws her students from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan; among other folk, thousands of people living within a radius of fifty miles from North Manchester regard Manchester as their home school. In these two areas Manchester serves a specific need; she is not engaged in ruthless compe- tition with other schools for the exploitation of the region. Her con- stituency needs a college and she is attempting to serve its needs. In the extent of our field and in the good-will of our constituents rests a major hope for future growth. But from whence come these bases of our strength? What produces this comradeship of spirit, this enthusiasm for service, this good-will in hundreds of homes? No one would hesitate to declare that it was Presi- dent Winger, and those who work closest to him would be the first to assert it. With no desire for personal honor and with a rare modesty that frequently covers the real extent of his enormous labors, he has spent him- self and his resources freely in the interests of the school that he loves. His abounding energy, his warmth of spirit, his strength of mind and magnetism of character attracted other men around him, who contribut- ed in other but lesser ways to make the school a success. The faculty, which has grown in size and strength due to his inspiring leadership, has never been content with minimum performance. Strong in formal academic training--in college and university degrees—its mem- bers have engaged in a ceaseless effort to improve the art of teaching in the class-room. Though burdened with heavy schedules, they have snatched a little time away to engage in productive scholarship. If such a happy combination of factors, producing a recognized standard of excellence in the primary values of a college, brought us into the North Central Association, what does that membership mean to the students and alumni of Manchester College? The recognition thus given our Alma Mater, has a certain value in itself. Thousands of friends most intimately in touch with the college have recognized her merit for some few years; the national recognition now accorded exalts her to a position on an equality with the best institutions of our land, and those less fam- iliar with the real work of the school will use the fact of accreditation as external evidence of recognized merit. It will improve the standing of Manchester graduates in institutions where our contacts have been few, and increase the interest of thousands of patrons in the school who may not be assured of its growing stability and performance. The fact of recognition is adorned with most significance as we redouble our efforts to maintain the values that led to it, and avoid the error of depending upon its own inherent worth. --Andrew W. Cordier Page Twenty-two