Penn State University - La Vie Yearbook (University Park, PA)

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CE D LA VIE 15 never used his high position to force information. I never knew a time when he was not willing to meet students more than half way on any reasonable propositionf' I have talked with a great many State boys since graduation, and the almost universal verdict is that he grows bigger as we see more and more of other men. He wears well and stands up good and strong when subjected to comparative tests. I think it was during my junior year that a few of us conceived the idea of re-establisl1- ing fraternities at the college. A committee of four went to the President's office and pre- sented our case. As was his custom, he listened to everything we had to say, and, while non- committal in his remarks, ended by saying: 'Young men, I have found that the best time to set a hen is when the hen wants to set.' One of us suggested that the fraternity hen was call- ing for eggs, and tl1e interview closed.. At the january meeting of the Board of Trustees, the restrictions were removed and fraternities were re-established. U I enjoyed him most in the lecture room, for, to my mind, he was a natural born teacl1er, and, since he was full of his subject, we were always impressed with his breadth of view. I look upon it as a great privilege to have been under his instruction, and even now recall some of his magnificent talks on International Law. State has always had her share of good in- structors, but Dr. Atherton is in a class by himself, was the big man of the college, and the unbiased historian must so place him. He was especially strong witl1 illustrations, and had more ways, direct and indirect, of explaining things and making them clear than any man I have ever met. He told few stories, but he never told one with a double meaning, and the story was always told to illustrate a point. He never told one simply for the sake of telling it. He had two striking peculiarities in the lecture room. He very seldom, if at all, repeated what he had said, and only occasionally looked at the class. Apparently his mind worked better when his eyes were focused on the floor or on a book, and while he generally held a book in his hand it was seldom open. When he spoke to a particular student he looked at him, and that look meant many different things to those who knew himf' He did things that did not meet with our approval, but, as I look back upon him from the vantage point of years, when I subject them to the tests of a maturer judgment and from an unprejudiced point of view, I find that he was most always right, and that we were most always wrong. There is no man that I have subjected to more exacting tests, no man that I have ex- amined more rigidly for purposes of comparison, no man that I have more frequently set aside for some new standard of measure, some new god, no man that I have tried harder to find fault with and criticize, and yet, taken all in all, I am compelled to say that Dr. Atherton is by ,far the strongest man I have ever met. I have met those who could excel him in certain particulars, those who could shine where he could show but little light, those who could draw while he would repel, but, taken all in all, he belonged to that family of college giants of whom there are few. ' With all due modesty I will say that I have met with some measure of successuas a teacher and a disciplinarian, and one of the contributing causes-the chief- one-is tl1at I have ever before me the question: How would Dr. Atherton handle this proposition or this case ? H In the past fifteen years I have been intimately associated with five college presidents and I have successively compared each one with Dr. Atherton and-no discredit to them- each one has grown smaller by the comparison, not because of their lack of ability, but be- cause Dr. Atherton is my standard, and I am forced reluctantly to admit that my standard is too high and that I am expecting too much. His indiscretions, if there were any, I have for- gotten, his errors, if there were any, I have forgiven, and since he has been the greatest in- spiration of my college life, I shall always cherish his memory and remember him for the great work he has accomplished. It is not necessary to erect a marble shaft over his grave-' State' is his monument. , , During my college days and since, on all occasions when I needed counsel, I always found in President Atherton a helpful, sympathetic friend. VVhen a student at the college I had frequent cause to come in contact with President Atherton on personal matters and also general student matters, and without exception, if the subject was stated in a straight-forward

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q Q g o 14. PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE DR. ATHERTON IN HIS OFFICE alumni successful in various walks of life-engineering, journalism, law, col- lege teaching, etc., etc:-whose experience with men in the world at large has given them standards ofjudgment: I first saw this great and good man twenty-five years ago when he walked up to the main college building in company with the late Professor james Y. McKee, during the drill hour, when the cadets were at 'parade rest.' My first impression of him has not changed in any material point in all these years, but the original estimate has been amended from time to time as my range of observation has broadened, and the revision has always been to his credit. He appealed to me as being much above the average-out of the ordinary-a man who knew things, and one who is master of self. Then, too, there was something about lnm, his general make-up, that demanded respect for the individual. He took in the situation from the start, accepted the conditions as they were and had been as history, and proceeded to make more history, and make it fast. He was a modest man and did not expand his chest and throw back his shoulders with importance because of his position, but he was President. He never appealed to me as an orator, he never came up to my ideas of a public speaker, his gesticulations were very poor and frequently meant nothing, but as a talker who said things, as a talker who gave you thoughts to carry home, he had few equals and no supe- riors. He could say the right thing at the right time and in the proper manner, and, being trained in law, was especially resourceful. I remember that one day a great educator of the State visited the college and talked to the students in chapel. In his remarks, which were in the main good, he paid special attention to the nobility and purity of womanliood, but, un- fortunately, by inference, left the impression that the life of a boy or a man would be about the same, pure or not pure. The next morning in chapel Dr. Atherton's reply to this speech was one of the finest tributes to the purity and nobility of manhood I have ever heard, and were it in print would be a classic. This speech was the talk of the students for weeks. We were never nervous for fear he would not say the right thing. A bright VVestern editor some time ago said of President Roosevelt: 'He is not what I would call an orator, but he is one of the best single-footed talkers 'I I have ever heard? I can say the same for Dr. Atherton. I learned to know Dr. Atherton well during the four years of my college life-possibly better than most students, since I was frequently called to his office for a discussion of things I did and things I failed todo, and now, as I look back upon those school-day experiences, tht- man grows on me. To the best of my knowledge he always played fair, never took a nu-an :idx'antagc, and, if he wanted information, went for it in the most direct manner, and 3 1 . nffff ' grilllil YCIQS- :EDT 1 f ,ffir :Cf coil' ,wmv gird- III?-' If Q ami -if look Z? Oi SUTM I1Z'3'7 IIIOIE 7 have sion i ILE what br r.:f book him. the ra' Hll III alrey arriva- lor so: fail' r by... i f PHIECZ ,.. llllrrt who: teatr . Ever is and Y C3IlSi too h A gflllef Fork la his flllraj. s. found had : T -L 4. gefltji' -. .--v-sf-, N- -.. .- . 1 .. .. -., ,. .zs,.q.s--..,,,,...,,,..uL-.,...-.'-... ,.4-eg.-.gf',,g-,g..1n.. -af-gggbqaggggighhg.,-c,.,:,,.,c:,A,,n, I ',.4,,,:--..-I: , .1 ' ,mg ,, ,., ,w,4,4rmii H L . eatll t

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JD CL lg PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE v- MS- . '-'ek T1 I V 'fr' t U .it -X NX -N . , af A 1' :Z'..f SCHXVAB AUDITORIUM HTHE JEWEL OF HIS EVEN 4- INIARKS THE GRAVE OF DR. ATHERTON manner, relving on the merits of the cause, the Doctor was always receptive and considerate, and the merits of the cause governed the Presidentls decisionf, I was ever impressed with President Atherton's interest in every State man-First, as to that nianls own welfare, and second, that the manls life should be an honor to l11S.A1IH3 Mater. Further, every State man whom I have heard express himself, who came in direct Contact with Dr. Atherton, endorses what I have here statedf, it it N 9? it J Une man, when beyond the average age of Students, came upon a Penn- State catalogue and greatly wanted to take a college course. He says: I finally arranged to borrow what money I needed in small sums, just as I needed it, from a friend. This arrangement continued for Freshman year and for a few months in Soph- omore. One day I received a letter in which my friend stated the regret that, on account of some trouble, I could obtain no further remittances from him. You may judge of the way I felt. For some days I went about simply dazed. I was progressing so Well in my Work that I could not think of quitting, yet that seemed the only alternative. I wrote several friends and relatives, but to no purpose. One relative who had abundant means turned me dOW11 flatly. I saw no prospect ahead except to give up, as I had absolutely no money and 110 K'llllllCC to get any. Finally, in desperation, I went to Dr. Atherton and told him everything. II.e talked with me long and earnestly, and before I left the office he told me to get the idea ol quitting out of my mind entirely. He said, in substance, that he would either put me in the way ot earning the money I needed or furnish it himself, if he had to borrow it. You can IYHWMIHC IIOW I felt. My hopes, all my prospects for the future, which had Seemed just slip- lml! llcfmlfl my reach, despite everything I could do, were suddenly put into my hands agam 1 ------ -sw NA. -1.1,-,ru-.-,vq-9...-u....,,....-,.,, - , V A .