Mary Washington College - Battlefield Yearbook (Fredericksburg, VA)

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Dr. Grellet C. Simpson CHANCELLOR OF MARY WASHLXGTOX COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 4 11 J3

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I know I can speak for all of you — faculty, staff, students and friends, in saying that on this night when once again at this convocation we come to- gether to begin a new college session, our fervent aim and desire are that our purposes as an aca- demic institution will be so clearly stated and exemplified, our program of instruction of such high caliber in its scholarly profundity and its creative integritj ' , our students so committed to the task assigned and the goals to reach for, that a person may say that at Mary Washington College, using Gertrude Stein ' s words, They have done it, they do it, they will tlo it, and they do it in every way in which education is thought about. And when that is said, a very great deal will have been said — and done! I am suggesting that instruction and education need not be or do the same thing — in fact one can be almost the enemy of the other. Instruction may become dogma, propaganda, prejudice — partially informed opinion — everything that the cultivated intellect would consider base and un- worthy of a society of free men dedicated to the pursuit of Truth. Likewise, education may claim to be all things to all people, devoid of the intel- lectual responsibilities of choice and decision, merely a reservoir of information, of unassorted bits and parcels, without substance, and basically without essence. It is foolish, certainly now, to believe that all information — to quote Bacon — all knowledge — can be any one man ' s province — but it is also equally true that one man ' s province is certainly not all knowledge. In the great drive of mankind for the cultivated intellect, one of his essential goals is to achieve some grasp of the mj ' stery of the world, some light on the enigma without, and on his iden- tity with this enigma. I think the great Pascal has stated the point more clearly and more pro- foundly than any other writer with whom I am familiar: When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in an eternity that stretches behind and before, and the little space which I fill and even see, engulfed in the immensity of spaces I know not me, I am frightened and astonished at being here, rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there; why now rather than then. If our methods and scope of instruction or learning here at Mary Washington are such as I have described, and I believe that they are; if you as students are prepared and committed to make use of the opportunity which has been afforded you to achieve the cultivated intellect ; if one so instructed and so educated is readj to face the problems and to discriminate between logical progress and mere expediency in the real and very material world, as and in addition to what Pascal described as the illogical enigma without, then I am inclined to agree with Ger- trude Stein that Almost anything is not done in the way it is thought about — but education is. And that, my friends, is saying a very great deal! (From the Chancellor ' s Convocation Address, September 17, 1964.) Dr. Simpson upholds the college ' s interest in the arts by attendimj an exhibit in the du Pont galleries Chancellor Simpson ' s dedication to Mary Washington is apparent as he addresses the first Convocation of the Year

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Dean Alvey found time to entertain at the campus Christmas Party Dr. Edward Alvey, Jr. DEAN OF THE COLLEGE As Dean of the College, Dr. Edward Alvey fills a vital position of responsibility and leader- ship. Yet despite the frequently burdensome duties of his post, Dean Alvey is always ready with help and advice for students. Together with his friendliness and his cheerfulness, his sincere interest in the students has gained him the respect and friendship of the whole campus. 4 12