Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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1 President L. Wilson Jarman tmmmmummlmimmi

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BLyiL iwmiii t Wititffiiiifmffll .TT i iliSiiiES tF E fiiSS m m A Message from the President ONE hears much nowadays of what college does nr licaild ilo for a student ; and this is well. Certainly a student should expect somelhiiit; i a college, something heyond that which would ha e In en lurs hud she lUMr enlered there. Just what it is that college does for a student, and Imw sucli is ilcme, are matters aliout which some difference nf iijiinlim has ai)M n. .lec iiniianieil liy much discussion. In this short mes- sage we wiiuld raise an entirel)- dilTrnni i|nr ii(in, equally important as the other, though not so generally ree it;iiizeil ; U ' lhil shmihl ;,■ slmlciit do for tlic coUctje? Possihly the average student does not realize the extent of the contrihution she makes tn her institution, and the importance of that contrdmtion. A consideration of what a college really is will help towards a clearer understanding of these matters. Woodrow Wilson once said that an institution is just a particular way of doing a certain thing. Taken with all its implications, this makes a most satisfactory definition. Among the implications certainly are personalities, ideals, and traditions. Buildings and equipment are a part of a college; yet the personnel, as represented by the trustees, officers, faculty, and students, is a more important part. And then beyond even these in importance comes the vast body of ideals and traditions that really make a college. Tlu- former change, sometimes rapidly, as administrations come and go ; the latter change, or should change, very slowly. A college is of its very nature conservatixe, otherwise it would hardly be a college, but rather a shifting, changing reflection of things as they might appear to be for the passing moment. Whence then come this stability of purpose, this sense of assurance as to fundamentals, these ideals and traditions that go to make an institution? Has it occurred to you that the ideals and traditions are largely a composite nf the lives and characters of the students who friim year to year pass through the college? Would you know the why of Mary Baldwin of today, then know that vast number of young woinen who for nearly one hundred years have been li ing and still li e in her halls. The very fact that nther personalities have left their impress here at the college makes it possible for you in a sense to become a composite of yourself plus those who have gone before. Since, then, the CMntribulion n{ each stu lent is a part of herself, it is well worth one ' s while to slud ' hdw slie inay contribute the best of herself to her Alma Mater. What type of person vvoulil ciii wish your college to produce in the years to come? How would you help to set e eii a bi,L;lnr standard for Mary Baldwin girls? Obviously, the student ' s contribution to the ideals of the college will coiue through her living according to the present ideals, or through her helping to set up those that are higher. She must meet or raise the ideals of the college today by doing a high type of academic work. After all, the college student must acquire both knowledge and power. These appear t.i cnine by hard work. If a shorter and easier way be found to attain them, they will lose their alue to a corresponding degree. Let us not deceive ourselves here. A good college encourages bard wiuk: inspires it, demands it. As in all such matters, the final burden here rests uiHin iIk indi idii.d student. Many of the students of this session have made a definite contribntiiin tnwards maintaining and even raising this standard of the college. The cnllege ideal of honor for the individual and for the group must be upheld. A col- lege withdut the highest ideals of honor is a power for evil and not for good. I presume that this truth is so olivious that none will deny it. Yet human nature is such that some may think lightly at times of the great principle of honor, and some possibly not at all. Surely there is no more important phase of college life today; and none where there is needed deeper interest and iiKiri ' faitlil ' ul endea -or. - nd finallx- tin ' .tiid. ut must rnhi ate in herself those attitudes and ideals that are truly represenlatixe i.f tlu colli .ye, those social and iiersonal attitudes and graces that reflect them- selves in the charactiristic charm and culture of Mary Baldwin women. These ideals and altitudes sweep through the whide range of human interests and attainment, from those lesser, shall we sa , idc.disnis which, permeating the human fabric, manifest themselves in certain intriguiiiL ' dillrr.nces which make up a personality of charm, to those larger funda- mentals that consiitnti tin ery basis of character. Know then the ideals uf your college. Live them, thereby leaving thetu for others. Re- joice in the thongltt that through the body of intangibles that makes the college a clearing house of ideas and ideals, the student can jiroject herself into the lives of her countless suc- cessors, who will take her contribution of personality and power and multiply them a thous- and fold. L. Wilson Jarman. ss

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ih Dean M. Elizabeth Peohl mwii II iiiiiiwmitiiiiiiwMiiiffflinwriiiiMri ' ivMiiwritfmii .