Marmion Military Academy - Pass N Review Yearbook (Aurora, IL)

Page 12 text:

' Dedication Father Sebastian, O.S.B., ends his twenty-fifth year as a priest on June 7th of this year. Since 1939, he has taught history to Marmion cadets; and for almost as long, has been Freshman Latin teacher. In 1949, he was appointed Alumni Director, and since the move to the new campus he has been Business Manager. This man is one who is connected with a student during his stay at Marmion and after his graduation. As Alumni Director, he keeps an eye on the products of Marm ion to evaluate education ' s effect and to help maintain bands between the individual, his class, and his school. Father Sebastian remarks that it ' s difficult to forecast who will become what, or be where, or when. He has watched unnoticed factors change men from patterns they set up and obeyed at the academy to unpredicted goals. In some cases, war has caused deaths of men younger than he. His work and his vocation have caused twenty-five years to hurry by, and we mark the end of their passage with this dedication.

Page 11 text:

It used to be slightly embarrassing when a cadet was asked about some of the more technical aspects of Marmion. Eventually, he knew, he would ha e to admit the rather funny fact that his school had no classroom building. Swimming pools were unquestionably superfluous, and athletic fields could be shared with the Lake Street campus quite easily; but there was shame in not having a classroom building. IBA Now, Marmion can show off to the best. Classes have been mcvea Pof the dormitory and into a new home. The new building is a place for study and general pursuit of knowledge; and since it stands for this purpose alone, ' it has assumed an atmosphere impossible in the old days. Naturally, facilities for learning have been markedly improved in the past four years. More classrooms, larger and in some cases specialized to facilitate and improve instruction, enable Marmion to educate better than in any period of her history. Science laboratories, considered indispensable to understanding of the sciences, and even a language laboratory for practical instruction, are now in the classroom building. The Academy can finally settle down to normal processes of learning; the elevation of the calibre of students is in progress.

Page 13 text:

M(iT lion ' s President As President of Marmion Military Academy and Abbot of Marmion Ab- bey, Father Abbot Gerald Benkert, O.S.B., Ph.D., has accepted and ful- filled towering responsibilities. Because of his effort and delegation of powers, his small community is able to educate and train more than a thousand students at one time. MtitMstratioH It seems that Marmion Military Academy is enjoying a period of expansion and development that can not be accidental. Since construction first began, there has been a growing, adding muscle to curricular structure. This activity has been a result of the lead- ership of Father Joseph Battaglia, O.S.B., A.B., A.M., as Headmaster. Mat mien ' s Headmaster